I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 150 Three years later (4)

The king's intentions were obvious, and Mr. Cole would not be so foolish as to lie about the behavior of Louis XIV. He sat upright in his seat, as if he had not thought of it at all, but turned his head and continued to listen. Description of the Duke of Luxembourg.

The Duke of Luxembourg not only met the Duke of Don Juan in Toledo, but was also received by King Carlos II of Spain in the next few days. In other words, the person who wanted to see the Duke of Luxembourg was the Queen Mother of Spain. The princess of Austria, she was only twenty-nine years old this year, but she looked older than a woman of forty. Besides the torture she suffered in the short months after her husband's death, there was Her ill-fated fate.

If anyone is willing to look through the history books, he will see countless unfortunate women in the history of Europa, almost from birth, they are destined to become a property, a proof or a pledge, their personal preferences. , her thoughts and beliefs are involuntary, and it depends entirely on how her father and her husband arrange it. Although the church has always been very strict about marriage, in fact, in order to achieve an alliance between countries, the princesses don't talk about love, even they The marriage has often become a disgusting joke.

For example, Henry VIII, who left people less than a hundred years ago, people often talk about that he once married six queens, one was imprisoned to death, two were beheaded, two suffered from puerperal fever, and only the last. One died well, and the one imprisoned to death was Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon, the Spanish princess who had been the wife of Henry's brother Arthur, and they were married less than a month ago. At that time, they both contracted the cold, Arthur died, and Catherine was lucky to survive, but if she knew what happened next, she would definitely hope that she would not come back to life - the eldest son and heir of King Henry VII of England died, but he still wanted to maintain his relationship with him. The Spanish alliance, and then Henry married his brother's wife - but after the marriage, Catherine gave birth to five children, four died, only one daughter survived, which is known as Bloody Mary, which made Henry VIII furious, Especially when he looked at himself getting older, but still didn't have a son. In England, where the Salic law was implemented, this meant that the Tudor dynasty would become extinct after just two kings.

When he roared at Catherine: "A brother who marries a brother and sister-in-law will have no descendants! (The Bible says so, Catherine must be heartbroken, and this marriage contract may not be her willingness, but in her own destiny, she What right to have a say? This was the case when she was married to Arthur, when she came close to becoming the wife of Henry VII, and is the same now, despite the Pope's disapproval of Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine, she was expelled from the court and unknown in a monastery Her only daughter, who was illegitimate because Henry VIII denied the marriage, even had to serve her half-sister.

And a hundred years later, Mary of the Habsburg also encountered this problem. Yes, her original husband was Philip IV's crown prince Balthasar, that is, Philip IV and Princess Elizabeth of Bourbon. The eldest son, unfortunately, the marriage was only set, and the crown prince was infected with smallpox and followed in the footsteps of his deceased mother. After three years of hesitation and negotiation, Philip IV, who had no heir, became Mary. Her new husband, Philip IV was forty-four when they married, an age difference that sent her straight to **** or to the grave.

This is the case with the Queen Mother that the Duke of Luxembourg met. Compared with another Habsburg princess, the Queen Mother Anne of France, she is more gloomy and thin, and she is not even comparable to Teresa, who is like a transparent person in the court. Queen - The queen can still get the love of her husband. Philip IV of this little wife, in addition to maintaining the alliance between him and Spain, is to hope that she will give birth to a child as soon as possible. They married in 1949, Philip IV died in 65 years, and the last child, Carlos I, was born in 61 years. In this short ten years, Mary gave birth to a total of five children, with almost no breathing time, frequent The birth destroyed her health and took away the last shreds of fantasies.

Sitting next to Carlos, holding his hand tightly, as if holding the authority of Spain, Mary was wearing a black mourning dress, with a portrait pendant of Philip IV hanging on her chest, and her neckline and cuffs were dark. The velvet was covered with snow-white spun yarn. She had the same idea as Duke Don Juan, and also came to seek support and help from France... She showed much more sincerity than Duke Don Juan. To put it simply, she gave It was the engagement of Carlos II.

   "But I don't have a daughter yet." Louis said that Queen Teresa has not been pregnant again in these three years, nor does Madame Lavalier, and the illegitimate daughter cannot be made public.

   "The Duke of Orleans has it, Your Highness," said the Duke of Luxembourg.

Not long after the Duke of Orleans married Princess Henrietta, he followed the king's orders and went to Lorraine, but before that, Princess Henrietta was pregnant. In 62 years, she added a little princess to the French royal family, because The Duke of Orleans went to Lorraine, and the Queen Mother Anne was worried that Princess Henrietta lived alone in Orleans, or the castle of Saint-Cloud, which was bought by Philip in 1958, as his and Henrietta's The princess' new home.

The castle of Saint-Cloud is located on the upper Seine, but a mile or two from the Louvre. Even so, the Queen Mother and the king insisted that Princess Henrietta and her daughter live in the Louvre. Everyone knows that the king and the king The queen mother loved Wu Jiwu and extended her love for the king's younger brother Philip to his daughter. Louis bowed his head and said nothing, and the room fell silent. Of course, the Europa people, who were still ignorant of the dangers of consanguineous marriages, would not understand the king's concerns, to them This is indeed a good thing - Spain used to be an extremely powerful empire. Before, the candidates for the two consecutive French queens were still from Spain. Now, the king of Spain must even submit to the daughter of a duke, like a The king of England must also salute the king of France, the ambassador of France has the right to walk in front of the ambassadors of other countries, and many other vain titles, which can not help but make them secretly rejoice.

And Louis was thinking about something else entirely. For France, whether it was Spain, or England, or the Holy Roman Empire...or Holland, as people say, the best enemy is the dead enemy, and he wants to Said that the best enemy country is the chaotic and weak enemy country, but in Spain, he has more things to think about. After all, Spain is closely connected to the Holy Roman Empire, and Cole guessed correctly, the reason why the king is in the most In embarrassment, the dowry that disappeared inexplicably was not pursued. It was still out of consideration for the right of inheritance-even the marriage of a king, at this time, Europa was like a kind of transaction. One party violated the contract, and the other party You can confidently claim your power.

Now it seems that although Maria of Austria has lived through a painful marriage, she is obviously more politically sensitive than the Queen Mother of France, and she offers conditions that the French cannot refuse. Duke Juan's verbal check was more credible and more attractive.

The only thing to worry about is the physical condition of Carlos II, the French would like to see a stupid waste sitting on the throne of Spain, but once he married the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, then he naturally became a Fascian. Witnesses of the covenant, once they die, the tug-of-war between the two countries will not only restart, but the Duke of Orleans's small county master will also become a hostage. If the king or minister is not willing to pay enough price, waiting for the small county master's death. There might just be a desolate monastery.

"Even if we discuss marriage, we will have to wait until five or six years later." Louis finally said: "Tell Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Spain, I am very willing to have this marriage, but not now, even if it is just an engagement - I think she will be willing. ."

The ministers looked at each other clearly. That's right, don't think that only the French want to delay. The situation between countries is always changing. No one knows what France or Spain will look like in a year. The Queen Mother was only upset because of Duke Don Juan's aggressiveness and had to make concessions. After two or three years, this marriage will not be brought up again, it still depends on the situation of the two countries, and... that His Majesty Carlos II His physical condition - although Louis could sacrifice for the country, as could his younger brother Philip, but Louis felt that he probably couldn't do anything about marrying the niece he had grown up with to a dying man.

After this discussion, the king's working hours in the afternoon also came to an end. The king got up first and walked to the gate. The ministers followed in a file. Sometimes the king would designate one or two lucky people to stay. It is about the important affairs of the previous day, they will talk about tomorrow's work for a while, and then depending on the situation of the day, the king will invite them to dinner, which is a kind of encouragement and praise, but such opportunities are rare, in Orleans When the duke returned to Paris from Lorraine, this privilege must have belonged to him.

No one was left by the king today. He went straight to the west wing where the Queen Mother lived. Princess Henrietta and her daughter were also there. In order to avoid some unbearable rumors, the king rarely went to see Princess Henrietta in person. This People who used to be interested in themselves, or the king of France, but now that they have discussed the matter of the daughter of the duke of Orleans, the king will go and talk to the duchess himself - every wall in the court has an ear, every sculpture If he can speak, if he doesn't, then the next day's gossip will definitely drive this mother crazy.

Crown Prince Louis was the first to run out to meet the king. As Milady said, little Louis inherited the Habsburg black hair, but from the perspective of facial contours and eyebrows, he and Louis were very similar. What worried Louis was that the big Habsburg chin did not show up in this child. His chin was round and small, very cute - until the age of three, he always wore a similar small skirt, but from his After becoming gender-conscious, Louis held a "slinging ceremony" for him, so now he dresses like a little knight.

Sitting obediently on the kneeling stool at the feet of the Queen Mother, the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, from the Prince of the Dauphin Louis, to the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, their little princess, and all the noble ladies were all around her. When they saw the king coming in, they immediately bowed their heads and bowed their knees. , the room suddenly spread a wave of satin and velvet. Compared with a few years ago, the colors that the king can see are more colorful and diverse. Now almost all the wizards provided by the Mancini family are doing things for the king, and among them Most of them are refining and configuring the dyes needed by the king. Before large-scale production is not possible, the price of dyes is still quite expensive compared to later generations. Some colors such as royal blue or snail purple still need to be denominated in gold. , but the people who can surround the Queen Mother will not be shy.

The king even saw pink velvet, which was bright and delicate, and looked at the luck of wizards very much - even if some wizards who were too black-handed had profound research on potions and skillful techniques, it was difficult to recall one in a hundred times. , and even if it succeeds this time, it's hard to say next time - he found out that it was Princess Henrietta, because the Duke of Orleans was in Lorraine, and in order to ensure that the secret of the dye was not wrong, the king entrusted this matter to Brother, someone may ask, Lorraine and Alsace are not peaceful, what if someone deliberately destroys or exposes... But that's why the king put them in Lorraine, besides Lorraine's mountains and forests , the people of Lorraine and Alsace know very well that they are different to the kings of France than the people of Paris or Orleans or Lyon, and if I must say, they are probably the same as Brittany Or the Provencals are similar, so the semi-martial law in Lorraine and Alsace is more acceptable to the local people than in other places.

   They were still Spanish before, and after the French came, riots and escapes continued to occur. In this case, they were treated more severely, which is understandable.

Under the Queen Mother's signal, the ladies stepped back one after another. When the Duchess of Orleans was about to leave with her daughter, she was stopped by the king's sight. "Take your little sister to play." Louis said to the Crown Prince. .

After the two children went out, Louis told the Duchess of Orleans the news from the Duke of Luxembourg. The Duchess looked very bad. She held the arm of the chair, as if to draw courage from it - there will be many people looking forward to this door. Marriage, but she is also very clear that the side of Carlos II is either Don Juan of Spain or Maria Anna of Austria, and these two countries are enemies of France. It was more complicated and worse than what happened to Queen Mother Anne and Queen Theresa.

   "Don't worry too much," the king said softly. "I assure you, dear brother and sister, if you don't want to, I won't nod in this marriage."

   The Duchess of Orleans just smiled hard. It wasn't that she didn't believe Louis, but she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to say what she didn't want to say.

   (end of this chapter)