I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 177 Louis XIV's first imperial expedition! (2)

The appearance of the Bohemian witch made the king a little uninterested, because with Joan of Arc in front, Louis still had some expectations for it, at least the French court could not be all from Gayola The wizards, wizards and wizards There are also factions and regions. Although some of the wizards of Gayola are from Anjou, that is, the French descendants of Naples, in the court, it is not a good thing for any power to come out on top. The right to shine in the dark. He thought he could see another mature system, even if the number was not ideal, but what he saw was a discrete, collapsed, and unconnected wizarding group, which made the king feel lower than an ambitious **** , because a mass of loose sand is obviously more difficult to use and master than a sharp sword, and when the two sides go to war, Gayola Wizard's approximate crushing advantage over Bohemian witches makes the king change his original mind.

  Since there is no place available, and there may be confusion in France, then - what Marie said is not a complete lie.

Manit didn't know that their fates were doomed the moment the king saw them - it was not without reason that the existence of the inner world, and that the wizards always maintained a certain connection with the outer world, there was no stable A place to live means that thoughts and knowledge cannot be fully carried forward. Bohemians are free, but this freedom is obtained with precious inheritance. Books, materials and scrolls cannot be preserved, even if Incantations can be passed down orally, but there will always be mistakes or losses due to various accidents, and there is the so-called dignity of being stubborn on the outside, and the so-called ignorance driven by ignorance-they have been away from the palace for too long, long ago. Forget those intrigues, or rather, these witches are not good at this in the first place.

After losing their greatest value to the king, they failed to seize the only chance of life. If they immediately decided to crawl at the king's feet and give everything in exchange for the continuation of the order, there may be a future, but even with Visa In the reminder, they still hesitated for several days before giving up their original fantasy and summoning the witches to Calais, where the wizards of Cayola will retrain and instruct them, and there will be a thousand of them. The witches go with the army - they will never know, the king has signed a secret order in his heart... After the Battle of Flanders...

The king hangs a huge global map in his study, although there are many distortions in this map, especially for the two new continents, the other continent... has not yet shown the real original appearance, and now it is still called the new continent. The Netherlands, as soon as he saw this map, Louis had to suppress the boiling blood in his heart again and again. It was too early. He and France's long political career has only taken the first step, and this step is It is not that he can go well, and it will directly affect his subsequent rule. It can be said that the people watching him may exceed all the past, from the Pope of Rome, to Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, and Charles II of England, Even Elarius, the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition (until now, he has not put all his bets on the king), and Gayola, ruled by the Mancini family, and the rest of the world...

When Philip, the Duke of Orleans' younger brother walked in, he saw this scene. He was one of the few people who walked into the king's room without asking. This privilege made many people both envy and hate. He also knew that , Even Prince Kongdai questioned this right in front of the king, and the Queen Mother did not agree with it, they may not be out of selfishness - after all, he is too close to the throne, and ambition can also be cultivated.

Even his wife, Princess Henrietta, once persuaded him to keep a distance from the king as a subject and the king, to give up some insignificant powers, to avoid arousing the suspicion of the king, but the proud Philip never put these words Put it in my heart, brother Wang dares to give it, doesn't he dare to accept it? Although it is said that if the king wants to take back these powers one day, he will gladly offer it. Even if the king asks him to leave Paris, return to Orleans, or be exiled to Leon or Marseille, he will not Fearless, he is no longer the young child in a small skirt, and will shamelessly test his brother's sincerity towards him because of the cowardice in his heart.

But recently he did see the king staring at the map from time to time - some places are still not recognized by people, just like New Holland has always been regarded as an island, only the king believes that it is a new continent no less than America and Africa, Only at this time, France could not make enemies on all sides. In fact, their expedition to Flanders made the Netherlands full of uneasy and impetuous emotions, not to mention Leopold I, who realized that he might have been fooled, It's just that everyone now knows that the Holy Roman Empire and France have reached a secret agreement, which is kept in the hands of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in Italy. , ah, he glanced at the intelligence in his hand, maybe another attack on France had already begun.

"You mean that the Austrian envoys are moving around?" Louis opened the secret letter, read it again, and handed it to Philip. "Wait a minute," he said, "I'll let Bontang light the candle first." Just now, When he was reading the secret letter, he felt a little tired, and when he looked up, he found that it was already dark. As soon as he saw the Duke of Orleans with the secret letter box entering the room, he immediately exited the room. Immediately brought in a few servants with candlesticks, the room was suddenly bright as day, only a few seconds before and after, obviously did not wait until the king ordered to remember to prepare candles, the Duke of Orleans was reading the letter - he was just from the spy here. After learning about it, the specific content still depends on the letter. While glancing at Bontang, it is no wonder that the king has always trusted this valet. Apart from the affection that has been with him since he was a teenager, this valet has always been by his side. Thoughtful.

  When the squires were all out, Philip put the secret letter back on the desk, and the beautiful, feminine face with a soft outline was covered with a faint malice: "Netherlands, Sweden, and England."

"It's the most likely." Louis said, needless to say the Netherlands, the so-called Dutch Netherlands is the Netherlands, and the Spanish Netherlands is the only barrier between France and the Netherlands, when this land belongs to Spain , because there is a France, Spain is not a big threat to the Netherlands, but if France gets the Spanish Netherlands, then the door of the Netherlands will be opened to France; as for Sweden, Karl X, that is, Queen Christina His cousin, who had died in 1660, is now seated on the throne by his son Karl XI, regent by five ministers appointed by his mother and father, and Sweden's hostility to France stemmed from the French The protection and connivance of the abdicated Queen Christina, they are worried about the comeback of Queen Christina anytime and anywhere.

   "So do you want to support Ms. Christina?" Philip asked.

Speaking of Christina, Louis couldn't help frowning. He did have such a plan at first, but Christina, this lady's various actions are really unbelievable, and she dare not make any arrangements, since she was in Fontainebleau Judging from the declaration that she wanted to retake the throne from her nephew, she was an impulsive and unruly person, and she was impulsive and unruly. Judging from what happened during the reign, it was too extravagant and extravagant to make it difficult for the people in the country to make a living. The worst thing is that Christina is now forty years old, and there is still no suitable marriage. , of course, has no legal heir, and even if she gets married immediately, she may not have a child right away - and she has now converted to Catholicism, that is to say, has been disqualified from inheriting the Swedish throne - the Swedish Protestants will not Allow them to have a Catholic queen, so...the obstacles to electing Christina are more and more serious than in Mazarin's time.

   "What kind of man is Karl XI?" Louis asked.

Philip quickly sorted out the information he got from the envoys and spies in his heart. Karl XI came to the throne at the age of five, and his mother and ministers ruled Sweden on his behalf, but the Queen Mother and the powerful ministers of Sweden were obviously not as good as Mazarin and his ministers. Queen Mother Anne, "It is said that the king has not been able to read a chapter of scriptures smoothly to this day," said Philip. "He was not too keen on learning, preferring to hunt on horseback, and spoke little other than German. language, and very shy, communication with ministers must go through the queen mother, our envoy has almost no contact with him, he should say about things outside Sweden, no, he should say, for things outside the court, should be a I don't know."

  Louis lowered his eyes slightly and read the secret letter again: "So what do people think of him?"

"Honest, upright, and pious." Philip said, and he laughed too. For such a monarch who was imprisoned in a deep palace, their ministers and the people still firmly believed that he would be a good king. It is said that the Queen Mother and the Regent of Sweden are very good at manipulating public opinion. After all, the signboard must be resplendent to ensure that every will issued in his name can be recognized and obeyed.

"He's eleven... years old now," Louis doesn't think everyone can have another mature mind like himself, but eleven years old is... old enough for a king, "I There is one thing for you to do," he said: "Philip, try to get close to Karl XI and see if he really likes hunting, or must like hunting..." If it's the latter, then he might be able to switch In one direction, a child can understand what others "want" him to do and what "hobbies" he has, instead of rashly claiming power without any certainty like Ms. Christinen, but this is the point , enough to make Louis change his mind.

   "If it is the latter," Philip asked, "do you want to fight for Charles XI?"

   "It's still a long way from winning," said Louis, "but if he wants, I'll be his supporter." He pondered, "Wait, do you have a portrait of Charles XI here?"

"Portrait?" Philip said, "Yes." It's just that he was wearing a small skirt. Because Philip lived in the Louvre, the portrait of Karl XI in the box was quickly brought over. It is a small portrait, only the size of a palm, but judging from the portrait, Charles XI has no signs of deformity or genetic disease. "Brother?" Philip asked tentatively, "Are you intending to take Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth is the second child of Louis and Teresa. She was born in 1962, only one year younger than her eldest brother, but Louis remembered that she was not all because she wanted to win Karl XI of the Netherlands. It can be said, ha. The curse of Busburg has spread throughout Europa, but if his children want to continue the marriage between the royal families in the future, I am afraid that it will be difficult to avoid the blood of Habsburg. In this way, Karl XI will undoubtedly become a king. Quite a good candidate. His maternal blood comes from the Elector of Saxony, and his paternal blood comes from the Elector of Pfalz. The secret letter said that although the king is almost equivalent to an illiterate, he is very healthy and strong.

What a healthy and strong king meant to marriage and the covenant that marriage brought, Louis knew all too well. He had hoped that Charles II would have an heir as soon as possible, but it was a pity that this romantic monarch had several illegitimate children. , but his queen has not given birth to a son to him until today, and it seems that the hope is getting slimmer... In the UK, there are also many people who support the Duke of York, the younger brother of Charles II - the Duke of York has a son, But just because of his ambitions, Louis would not support him - the Duke of York has always knelt to Parliament for that position, and it is conceivable that once he became king, the British anti-legal faction would immediately prevail. In this case, he still Willing to continue to be friends with Charles II.

Now Philip can finally understand why his brother wanted to keep Charles II wholeheartedly in the first place, and refused to recognize the orthodoxy of Cromwell, the protector of the country. If Cromwell is sitting on the throne now, I am afraid that the British Will be more active than the Holy Roman Empire - the Hundred Years War between Britain and France, it is not only the French who are worried about it, especially in recent years, the situation of the United Kingdom in France can be called a sharp turnaround. Come, also lost Dunkirk, and because of the engagement of Princess Henrietta and the Duke of Orleans, France got a whole thirty huge ships, so they were able to form their own fleet, and they chose to forget those bulky ships. Almost all of them gave up, constantly attacking Charles II and his close ministers who made this choice.

But from the point of view of Charles II, his choice was right, at least with the support of Louis XIV, the members of the parliament, and those ministers, even if they were constantly criticized for his actions, they never dared to step out The last step, let alone dealing with him as his father, Charles I, he would only have to endure for a while, and when he had amassed enough strength, it would only be a matter of time before he could take back the king's power - and Louis had nothing to do with it. As I said, the only worry is the life of this friend. The reputation of the "Happy King" has even been heard by French farmers in Marseille. Such an all-night carnival is very harmful to the body. He didn't want to suddenly one day, the bad news of Charles II appeared in front of him along with the British warships.

"But now Charles II doesn't seem to have much strength against the British Parliament." With Charles I in front, the members of the parliament were very wary of the king, and Charles II can be said to be quite pro-French, which has also attracted a lot of people of dissatisfaction.

"There's no need for Charles II here," said Louis. "The Netherlands and England are still at war--even if they join forces for a while against France, and the rift is not for nothing, let you, and D'Artagnan, Let everyone in Ang act, I want to find out, how many irresistible hatreds are there between Britain and the Netherlands, and who do they belong to?"

The Duke of Orleans nodded, and the king's sight was still on the map at this time, which made the younger brother's sight follow, so he saw a dart inserted in the southeastern Languedoc, painted red There are still several darts on the map, namely Charente in the southwest, Saint-Eastern, as well as the Roir River region and Poitou, as well as some places in Brittany and northern France, so he immediately As you can guess, these darts represent the gathering place of the Huguenots.

The Huguenots are French Protestants, originated from Calvinism, and there are many enmities between the French royal family who believe in Catholicism. After the death of tens of thousands of Huguenots and the conversion of the Huguenot leader Henry (later King Henry IV of France), the struggle between Catholics and Huguenots never ceased. The disturbing undercurrent finally eased a little when Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes, but with the turmoil of recent years, those hateful scums have been brought back to light, the assassination of Louis in Dunkirk, and Lorraine. And the riots in Alsace, almost all the secret hands of the Huguenots are in it.

"Not now." Under the worried eyes of his younger brother, Louis still shook his head. He went to investigate the strength of the Huguenots in France, although some Huguenots were expelled in the Lorraine-Alsace incident. , but there are still 500,000 Huguenots in France, most of them innocent, and most of them are lords with fiefs, big merchants, guild leaders and handicraftsmen - they are very important to Louis The subsequent plan has a very important role, and cannot be killed or expelled because of the king's momentary anger. Although this can make the Catholics happy, it will be a big blow to the French economy.

   "But you can't let them go," Louis said, and he put his hand on the corner of the map.

   (Add more thousand words to achieve!)

   (end of this chapter)