I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 212 Henrietta's Persuasion and the Decision of Charles II (5)

The king threw a number on Prince Conti's face with ease, "Also, not three hundred and fifty thousand, but nine hundred thousand, sir." But he did not intend to embarrass Prince Conti too much, "What you said Three hundred and fifty thousand, probably referring to the three places of Nimes, Montauban and La Rochelle." These three places are the places where Henry IV specially enshrined the Huguenots to hold ordinances in the Edict of Nantes. City.

   "You know everything, Your Majesty." Prince Conti quickly agreed.

"But in 1598, there were still a million Huguenots," said Louis, "so how could the number of Huguenots not increase but decrease in these short decades? "

   "Of course it's because the condemned lamb has gone astray," said Prince Conti.

"I don't seem to know that," said Louis; "they did not go astray, but left France, monsieur, if they were only fools like Lorraine and Alsace, France had no shortage, and neither would I. Too stingy, but the problem is that these Huguenots are not poor peasants, but artisans, merchants and scholars, they not only take away their beliefs, but also their wealth, knowledge and connections, they go to To the Holy Roman Empire, to Switzerland, to Brandenburg, to the Netherlands, to wherever Protestantism dominates, enriching the foundations of France's enemies, revitalizing their economies, expanding their horizons, but made France weak."

   "Your grandfather issued the Edict of Nantes for this very reason." Madame Prince Conti suddenly interjected, and Prince Conti gave her a surprised look, a little angry.

"How can a place that requires special permission to maintain its faith compare to a place that honors its own faith?" Louis raised his hand to stop Prince Conte's plea: "My grandfather, great Henry IV, who used to be a Huguenot, I must say that although he converted, he still maintains 120,000 guilt for his original belief, and the Edict of Nantes came because of it, it was just his move It was not possible to exchange the gratitude of the Huguenots. On the contrary, they thought it was a betrayal. My grandfather and father could be said to have died because of it, and I have suffered several accidents because of their presence. ."

"That's really a bunch of ungrateful people." Prince Conti shouted indignantly. Louis didn't realize the smile. To be honest, the Bourbons were also Huguenots originally, but later the Valois dynasty died out, as a Napoleon King Henry IV of Walla became king of France only for this he had to convert to Catholicism, and thus buried his death - but specifically, even if it is not Louis who is here, but any sensible Kings will not shake their thrones because of their beliefs - to put it bluntly, the king of France, François I, the Big Nose, also allowed Lutherans to speak at the palace when Luther launched the Reformation. , so from when will France become a country with the Catholic faith as orthodox? Of course, it was because the then Pope Leo X and the French King Francois I signed the "Bologna Agreement", which gave the French king the right to appoint bishops and the right to tax the church property of the Roman Church. Of course, the French king would not want it. Get involved in the murky waters of the Reformation.

Because of the Protestant Reformation, it was originally born by the princes in order to seize the church's personnel appointment and financial certification rights into their own hands. Without interest, the kings would not even move their little fingers, but in contrast, the French princes, The merchants and the guild controllers were strongly in favor of the reformation, but in that way, it was no wonder that Bishop Richelieu hated the Huguenots deeply, even if they took food from the French king and cardinals. Before the edict, he presided over several successive wars against the Huguenots, such as the siege of La Rochelle, where the bishop even went to the battlefield in person.

His successor, Bishop Mazarin, inherited more than Bishop Richelieu's property. For the Huguenots, he was also a black bishop in red, and for Louis, he had a strong sense of the relationship between Catholicism and Protestantism. There is no interest in the fight between them, or to be more correct, he hates the behavior and ideas of these people who are trying to split France and create a "national China" rather than just assassinating him, which the young king will never allow. - For this reason, he not only must strictly monitor these Protestants, but also prevent them from flowing out, because those Huguenots who have fled in exile are not just living their lives peacefully after they have escaped, they amass property , recruiting murderers, spreading rumors, sneaking back to France again and again, setting off waves of rebellion.

"I'm not going to deny the Edict of Nantes outright," said Louis, "but I'm not going to sit back and watch them continue to grow without any scruples." Especially, when he was abroad, the French had to be as stable as a rock. .

   "Then you are ready to..."

"The Great Migration." Louis said with a blank face, if there is a fruit-laden grape growing in front of your window, and you want that sweet fruit, but don't want it to cover your eyes and block the warm sunlight, then What should you do? Of course, it is transplanted to other places, but it is not easy to do this. There are many smart people in the Huguenots. They can see the king's plan at a glance, and people at this time also Not very willing to leave their home.

   "Philippe, Duke of Orleans, will come forward to invite them. Except for La Rochelle, Nimes, and Montauban, I will specially grant Orleans as a place of trust for the Huguenots."

   "The Church of Rome will be furious!" said Prince Conti.

"How does Orleans compare to England, and Ireland to Scotland?" Louis said. "When they still need me to mediate, they don't care too much about it." The cardinals of the Church of Rome would not believe him, Instead, he will believe in interests. When the power of appointment and taxation is still in the hands of the king, how can he show mercy to the Huguenots.

On the side, Mrs. Conti showed a thoughtful look. In this way, the Duke of Orleans is a very good candidate. First of all, although his right of succession has stepped back one place after the birth of Prince Louis, he is still the closest to the throne. One of the people who never ignores him as long as he has bad thoughts, and everyone knows that the Duke of Orleans is deeply favored by the king. If he asks the king to make Orleans a city of freedom of belief, the king may agree, and then, To win the duke's conversion, the Huguenot leader had to show sincerity.

It's just that His Majesty is really bold. After all, Orleans is much closer to Paris than Nimes or La Rochelle. If the main force of the Huguenots were gathered in Orleans, there is no doubt that it would be a threat to Paris, but Likewise, Paris poses a threat to them..."I have no idea of ​​putting all the Huguenots to death," said Louis: "Besides the chief evil, they are my subjects, if only they will be loyal to me, loyal In France, I am willing to accept them."

Prince Conti breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, as long as the king did not want to drive these Huguenots to Orleans with troops and muskets, but hung up a sweet bait to bribe them, he The errand is not difficult, and he finally knows why the king asked him to do it. The original military leader of the Huguenots was Louis I. De Bourbon, Prince Condé, Henry IV's Uncle, he was killed in the 1569 War of Jagna, the war between Catholics and Huguenots.

Although the Huguenots have always regarded Henry IV and his descendants as rebellious, they have never forgotten the entire family of Bourbons, the five brothers, the King of Navarre, the cardinal, the Duke of Enghien, the Vendou The Duke, Count of Avazon, and Prince Condé were all Huguenots—for them, Prince Condé and Prince Conti would be the most suitable candidates for French kings if they converted to Huguenots. But before that, being able to persuade the Duke of Orleans to convert to Protestantism was undoubtedly a poisoned dagger in Louis' heart.

   "What do you need?" asked Prince Conti.

   "Artisans, merchants and teachers," said Louis.

   "Forget about the merchants and the craftsmen," Prince Conti asked, "but those teachers, they're preaching some . . . outrageous nonsense."

"They will bring about change," said Louis, who tried elementary education at Versailles, but it was difficult, reluctant to condescend to teach some of the sons of farmers and craftsmen in an age when scholars were almost equal to priests Yes, but the original intention of the Huguenots was "followers of the Geneva Reformation." It can be said that they took the lead in attacking the Roman church with education. They vigorously promoted primary education in the areas under their control, allowing co-educational schools, using French replaces Latin, faces lower-level children, and exempts tuition fees. The downside is that they, like mission schools, focus on religious education, using the Bible as a textbook for liberal arts, mathematics as an auxiliary, and natural science is even less. Involvement, and the quality of teaching staff is not high, cramming teaching and corporal punishment are prevalent, and the quality of teaching is unsatisfactory.

But these were also corrected in the later period. The Huguenots continued to absorb foreign knowledge and experience. While expanding their horizons and influence, they were also continuously cultivating more teachers and opening more School.

   Even with the support of the king, Paris and Versailles have so far only had fourteen schools, while in the Huguenot cities there were as many as sixty-five schools, which could accommodate thousands of students at the same time. And unlike students from mission schools, Huguenots pay more attention to practicality. Compared with ancient books, church history, or rigid teachings, schools in Protestant denominations focus on mathematics, grammar and medicine. , After the students leave the school, they not only have good cultural literacy, but also have careful logical thinking, and have the courage and ability to solve practical problems. Some schools also open specialized courses for merchants, craftsmen, and scholars, and there are even those titled alchemy. The physics and chemistry courses of the academic head.

Of course, after having Descartes and the school of fish attracted by him, it is only a matter of time before the king wants to set up such a school, but after all, he is still a mortal and cannot do everything himself. If there are ripe fruits that can be picked, Then why not?

In addition, although the Castel Sant'Angelo was besieged, the Roman Church has always been a shackle that the French royal family could not get rid of. Everyone is Catholic, and the members of the royal family are no exception. If the king does something that is not in line with the teachings, the church will immediately seize it, but if the Huguenots do it, the Roman church will have nowhere to intervene— If they are heretics already, are they still afraid of a small excommunication from the church and a big excommunication?

   After setting the purpose of these Huguenots, Louis looked at Mrs. Prince Conti again: "Those Bohemian witches will be handed over to you."

   "I looked at your map," asked Madame Prince Conti. "Are you planning to mix these Bohemians with Huguenots?"

   "Or else," said Louis, seemingly helplessly: "The hatred between Catholics and Huguenots is enough to start another war."

  In other words, Your Majesty, Madame Prince Conti said in her heart, you cherish your people, but you are indifferent whether it is a Bohemian witch or a Huguenot, no matter how damaged they are.

Of course, she was not stupid enough to say it, she just bowed her knees and expressed her acceptance of the job. Manit told the king that there were only three thousand Bohemian witches. "Company", that is, the wizards of Gayola, under the joint pursuit and persecution of the Inquisition, the witches who came to Orleans, the wizards have exceeded 10,000, of which Bohemian witches are the most, they are not as good as the witch order The members are so powerful, some of them are even more ignorant, and they are no different from those Roma who are wandering around - those talents are also used by them as a tool to swindle.

These people were strictly monitored, and the new settlement was like a wedge between the Catholic area of ​​Orleans and the area reserved for the Huguenots. Presumably, there will be many in the Orleans area. Weird rumors - an artificial and natural line of defense, but I don't know how long it will last.

  ———

May 29 is the birthday of Charles II. Because he likes horse racing, gambling, watching drama and dancing, and holding banquets, Charles II, who is affectionately called the Happy King by the people, is also called the Happy King when he is forty years old. It is logical to invite many troupes to London to present a wonderful performance for him and his people.

Of course, the "Brilliant" troupe in Paris will also be on this list. It can be said that it is half of the troupe used by the French royal family. When it landed in Dover, it was carefully searched aside. They complained again and again, but they really did not carry any lethal weapons except for the daggers used for decoration and performances, and the women in the theater also outnumbered the men, but when they entered London, they were attacked by sand again. Interception by soldiers of the Earl of Fodsbury.

  John Locke sat in the carriage hidden in the darkness, watching the troupe who dared to speak out. His entourage was confused: "Could they bring anything dangerous?"

   "I don't know, but it is because I don't know that I need this search."

   But to Mr Locke's disappointment, the soldiers ended up with nothing.

   (end of this chapter)