I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 166 Hofburg (2)

   Chapter 164 Hofburg (2)

Not to mention how Prince Conti slandered the hygiene of the Austrian hotel, after he arrived in Vienna, the hospitality he received was also what he expected. People, there is no such condition to make the prince feel at home. Their court still maintains the habit of dumping dried flowers and plants on the ground to hide the traces of feces and urine. The black double-headed eagle, but if you look closely, you can see that the tassel is covered with dust, and there is no bathroom in the palace room, only a crude "prayer room". As soon as he saw this, Prince Conti immediately felt a hair on his buttocks. cold.

According to convention and tradition, the envoys of the French always had to be delayed for a few days before they could see the Archduke of Austria and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, but this time Prince Conti had a special mission, which Leopold I knew very well , he was reluctant to grant Louis XIV's "request," because it also meant that he was tacitly allowing France to carve up Spanish territory, but he was also well aware that the Pope's theologians had determined that there was a relationship with the Spanish Teresa In Princess Sha's marriage contract, King Philip IV of Spain did not fulfill the agreement, and the queen's dowry worth half a million livres was never delivered to Louis.

But it would be nonsense to say that Leopold I had no plans to annex Spain. After all, before fulfilling the marriage contract, he was the one who insisted that his wife, Margaret, never give up her inheritance. Now he and King Louis of France own Spain separately. The daughter of King Philip IV, the two sisters of the current Carlos II, one never gave up the inheritance, the other was because the contract was first broken by Philip IV, and he justly asked for a return, he and Louis It can be called two jackals, just to see who is more fierce and cunning.

In addition, Leopold I and Louis were of the same generation, and they were only two years apart. Speaking of which, they were still related. It was impossible for young people not to compare each other, so although Leopold I allowed Conte The prince lived in the Hofburg, not because of how much he valued the envoy, but because he wanted to show his strength to this French prince and envoy, like an eagle proudly spreading its wings in front of the enemy, not only that , When Prince Conti came to meet Leopold I at the agreed time, he was told that the king suddenly became interested in hunting and went hunting with a group of ministers.

If it was Prince Kongdai standing here, he would turn around and leave, but Prince Conti just said with a smile that he was willing to wait for the king here, so the king's chief servant arranged two servants to serve him. It is allowed to walk in the square in front of the audience hall, which is proudly called Kaiser's Square by the Viennese - Hofburg, like the Louvre, has also undergone many reconstructions and expansions and is surrounded by curved buildings. In front of the square is a vast cross garden, and behind it is a continuous dense forest. If Prince Conti has not seen Versailles under construction before coming here, he may feel that this palace is indeed magnificent, but unfortunately he has seen Versailles. Hofburg was eclipsed.

However, it is said that Leopold I also planned to build a new palace on the left side of the old palace, and then connect the two into one, and divide it into an inner and outer palace. The inner palace is used for accommodation and living, and the outer palace is used to receive envoys and meet the governor. Handle state affairs, etc.

   But just looking at the location of the new palace, Prince Conti laughed from his heart, even if the new palace is completed, it is impossible to have the magnificence and spaciousness of Versailles.

Now Prince Conti has some understanding of His Majesty's intentions. The reconstruction and expansion of the old palace can indeed save a lot of costs and troubles, but the old palace's old atmosphere will inevitably spread to the new palace. It is not as good as a complete one The new and bright New Palace is pleasant and happy - and rather than expanding the New Palace, Prince Conti would like to suggest that Leopold I renovate the original room in the Hofburg, he thought he The room that was assigned was entirely a prank on the French by the Austrians. Who knew that when he walked down the corridor, he found that the other rooms were no better. The stairs and corridors had no niches, no domes, and nowhere. The statues were placed, the wall lights were dim, the room was cramped, and the color in the corners of the carpet was completely wrong with the center point - bright in the corners, dull in the center, and apparently had not been swapped in a long time.

Except for the cross garden in front of the square (that is, a cross-shaped road is reserved among the vegetation), the dense forest behind the palace has not undergone any careful care, the flowers are messy, the branches are twisted, and the vines are crawling everywhere. To the astonishing thorns - poor Prince Conti was totally unaware that he was just spoiled by his cleanliness and obsessive-compulsive king, in fact, in this day and age, the concept of pleasure is not that much Understand or value, or in other words, they do not have this awareness in many places, and of course they will not do it.

   Not to mention Austria, even people in France, the popularization of knives and forks only happened after the daughter of the Medici family married into the French royal family.

And Louis, for the empty treasury, consciously spread the idea of ​​​​carnival from Paris to everywhere, and the fueling of the various places once again promoted the progress of Paris. All the changes came quickly and violently, even if the Austrians Willing to accept French fashion, they can't have everything the Parisians have so quickly.

Prince Conti's exacting demands did not reach the eyes and ears of those Austrians. To be honest, they preferred to think that the occasional ignorance of the French envoys was just because they were deterred by the tallness and grandeur of the Hofburg, and their heads Unconsciously, they raised their head high, and a proud smile hung on their lips, and at this moment, they heard the sound of the trombone outside the door, and the sound of the piccolo, "Ah, it's His Majesty that is back." They said, so Prince Conti went out with them to greet them. It was indeed Leopold I and his ministers. They were all dressed in Spanish clothes, mainly black - black coats, trousers And leather boots, white leggings, only lace around the edges of the coat and the neckline. The wide-brimmed hat he wears is also gray and black, with only an eagle's feather in one corner.

Leopold was dressed like a triumphant general, with golden shoulder straps (and the only place with color) on his body, and a dagger and a musket dangling from his belt. The young man, who knew he was the king's servant, rode and led a horse, and both horses were full of prey, from colorful pheasants to rich hares, and a fat buck, Seeing Prince Conti, Leopold I jumped off his horse with just one jump and landed steadily, "Welcome!" Tidu worked in the Spanish army, and Conte came to see him specially, but Conte at that time and Conte now are two people at all.

Let's talk about the Leopold I that Conte saw at that time - at that time he was just a prince, a child, even weaker and more humble than today's Leopold I, today's Leopold I Excited, strong, and even a little arrogant, he raised his hand to Prince Conte, and said with a pretense of intimacy: "Alas, come here, my dear friend," he said, leading Conte inside. Go: "I may hate all the French, but you may be an exception, and your brother, because you used to stand beside my cousin and fight the French with him."

This sentence really made Prince Conti laugh and cry, and he couldn't help but feel vigilant. It seems that His Majesty is not an easy person to get along with. He took the opportunity of bowing his heart to widen the distance from Leopold I, Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at this majesty calmly. It would be said that this majesty was two years younger than his good king, but judging from his face, Leopold I had completely lost his youthfulness. Youthful, a full-blown adult - Louis can be a little childish at times by comparison - his face (especially his chin) and somewhat hunched body also reveal some Habsburg genetic disease clues.

After Colbert established the French Academy, in order to be able to talk to the king, Prince Conti also participated in several salons in the academic world, but he understood very little, only one thing was remembered by him Very firmly, that is the harm of consanguineous marriage to children. After all, the examples of stillbirth, deformity and genetic disease are really shocking.

As a king, there is no need to say how important the heir is. Now his king and Leopold I are so eager to even put on a mask on their faces, not because the envoys are all at the coronation ceremony. Saw the new king of Spain, Carlos II, who was almost the same age as Louis XIV when he came to the throne, but looked like a baby cursed by the devil, unable to walk, sit still, and talk The words did not convey the meaning - such a fragile cub, surrounded by only a shallow mother and an ambitious illegitimate brother, the end of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty is just around the corner.

  Oh, yes, Prince Conti said in his heart that the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire has no children yet.

  ——

Prince Conti never imagined that when Leopold I heard his intentions and read the letter from their king, he happily agreed. Louis XIV's proposal was to divide Spain with Austria, but if possible, Prince Conti can guarantee that his good king will deliberately swallow the whole of Spain and its dependencies. Did Leopold I think so? But it is clear that his judgment on Leopold I was correct, but not correct enough. At a meeting with only a few people, Leopold I did not hesitate to reject the proposal of his brother-in-law, and it was quite Strictly rebuked the French king, because according to his words, according to the will of God, they should have protected the weak relative of Carlos II, not to rob him, the issue of the French king is obviously beyond a king The moral borders of due and the moral code of a knight due. ,

Prince Conti had no choice but to leave in anger. After that, his request for an audience was repeatedly rejected. After a week, he wondered whether he or his king had made a huge mistake. For example, Leopold I was indeed a living saint. What…

Of course, the Prince, who has never been good at observing words, noticed that even once, Leopold I was not as upright as he said, but he was French, and Austrians generally hated the French. Therefore, there are almost no eyeliners and spies that he can use. He is not sure whether Leopold I has a covenant with Spain, or is he interested in joining forces with other countries? Or stand with the Church of Rome again? He didn't know these things, and naturally he didn't dare to act rashly, so as not to push things in an irreversible direction.

   And at this moment, his servant said that a lady wanted to see him.

   "The lady?" asked Prince Conti.

"The lady," replied his servant, an answer which would have easily made the master lift the whip and give him a few strokes, but the servant's deliberately accentuated pronunciation reminded Prince Conti at once of a man, yes, lady, in French It is pronounced Milady.

"Welcome!" Prince Conti led her into a secret room, and then put her hand to his lips: "What kind of wind brought you here?" This is also something for the wife, Prince Conti. I heard that she had a humble status and had been in prison, so she could not be recognized by people and became an officially recognized "lady of the royal family", but she was indeed a lady who was very favored by the king. No matter what, she had the right to visit the king at any time. This is similar to Madame Lavalier and her younger brother Philippe, but Prince Conti also heard that this lady was originally a secret agent of Mazarin. After the death of Mazarin, she joined the entire network of agents. Inherited by the king Charlie.

Milady just smiled and let His Royal Highness kiss her hand. Her present day was something that little girl of the past could never have imagined. She also knew very well who gave her all this. She might be the bishop who found out Yes, but no one can compare to the power that the venerable His Majesty gave her—"Your Majesty knows you have some small problems," she said with a smile, taking Prince Conti's hand in return, "so just let I'm coming."

  Prince Conti, instead of feeling joy, felt a gloomy chill. A week may seem like a long time, but when the distance is long and the two countries are hostile to each other, such a quick response can only mean that the king is probably watching him all the time.

   (end of this chapter)