I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 247 The end of the war, the beginning of the war (3)

The Palace of Versailles in later generations has another name, the Palace of the Sun, because it is not only the palace of the Sun King, but also because it shines brightly in the day and night - these lights come from the decorative lines and statues on the walls. With the gold and silver foil on the door and window frames, as well as the sunlight and candlelight refracted by the huge floor-to-ceiling glass - in order to ensure the splendor of this palace, the subsequent royal family and government have to pay a large sum of money every year to repair the wind and rain. Gold and silver foil damaged in the sun, this fee is almost never in arrears, except during the two world wars.

At that time, the royal family and the government did not hesitate to defend the huge legacy left by the Sun King to France. One day, a poet occasionally passed by the Palace of Versailles, and saw that this magnificent palace like a giant also revealed a little bit of vicissitudes of life, and he couldn't help feeling sad. In the morning paper, not many people paid attention at first, but they did not know that from that day on, the people living in Versailles found that people were coming to them one after another, with their usual tools, equipment, paint and a small amount of gold leaf and silver. Foil, without being hired by anyone, restores this giant's original look.

There are more and more people like this, and reporters are coming. After their propaganda, the French, who can only live on potatoes and corn, have taken out the last bit of gold and silver—forks with coat of arms, girls’ hair Clips, bases and handles of ceramic kettles, even wedding rings, dentures in old people's mouths... these have all been turned into giants' mantle, and no one knows if these sacrifices will turn into a pile of bricks and rubble tomorrow. —The bombing of Paris was not over yet.

It was only later that people learned that the enemy general had indeed received an order to bomb the Palace of Versailles - the Palace of Versailles was no longer a simple building or a work of art at that time, it could even be said to be the spiritual sustenance of France and the Allies, and the Palace of Versailles shone brightly. The sun king seemed to be able to protect his people for a day, but the general refused the order very resolutely. He said that he did not want to be a sinner to the entire human race, and the order was quickly transferred to another general. Although the general succumbed, the bomber crews that were dispatched suddenly became sluggish. The bombs they dropped either destroyed the farmland or damaged the canals. Anyway, the Palace of Versailles stood safe and sound until the end of the war. The French government only needs to repair and dredge the artificial canal before it can reopen to the outside world.

Surprisingly, although the French government was the victor, they not only awarded "Louis" to those who had worked hard to restore Versailles (whether it was free work or donations of gold and silver), or to those who came after Fourteen Medals of Courage" (this is specially set up by the Sun King to motivate those who are not directly involved in the war, such as armaments, logistics and transportation, but have a great relationship with the success or failure of the battle), announcing that they and their descendants will always be able to In addition to the free visit to the Palace of the Sun, the same preferential treatment was accorded to those soldiers who could be checked but did not carry out the order to bomb the Palace of Versailles.

Although this has also caused a bit of criticism - but the general public, especially the French, still think that this move of their royal family and government has not lost the reputation of the Sun King. You know, the Sun King also called one of his biggest enemies at the beginning. , sent to be a king.

  ———

   Of course, Louis at this time did not know that three hundred years later, his descendants and the government would be able to do such a strange thing, and he did not hesitate to give him the first cauldron. He now has only contentment and excitement in his heart.

Mr. Levaux, the original architect of the Palace of Versailles, originally expected to expand Louis XIII's hunting palace into a U-shaped building, and then extend its wings to the left and right sides. This idea is not incorrect, but it cannot be. Satisfying the appetite of Louis XIV, his original idea was that this new palace was to replace the original political and economic status of Paris. Louis XIII's hunting palace may be very meaningful, but even ignoring its small size ( Relatively speaking), its location also caused people to be constrained later if they wanted to expand the Versailles area with the New Palace as the center, so the king pointed out another wider place - there was still a They are all swamps and dense forests. After several years of burning trees and draining the swamps, a huge open space was finally leveled.

The soil excavated during the simultaneous canal project was transported here and compacted into a high platform. The height of this artificial hill is about 300 feet. Climbing up from the hill requires 700 steps, although every 30 steps There is a platform to rest and look at the distant scenery, and it is enough for people who are not active enough to be out of breath. Therefore, on both sides of the steps, there are ramps with twists and turns, and those who have received the king's permission can ride on the shoulders, but There are very few people who have obtained this privilege for the time being. Prince Conti is one of them, as well as Philip, Duke of Orleans. In fact, Philip and Prince Condé can walk up on their own feet - after all, they are all soldiers, but Orleans. The Duke has always been the most hated guy in Paris. Unlike the Prince Conti, who quietly admitted his lack of physical strength and sat on his shoulders to enjoy the wonderful view, the Duke of Orleans's big hat decorated with diamonds and feathers is like a Eye-catching like a flag, when he saw His Majesty the King standing on the terrace, he was waving his hat desperately at his brother...

The Queen Mother sighed: "You should ask the Duke of Orleans to restrain himself," she said tactfully: "After all, this is a formal occasion."

"I think it's very good for Philip to be like this," Louis said. "Mother, all I've done is to hope that you can have no scruples." He glanced at Philip, who had jumped off his shoulders and rushed towards him happily. : "Although this is just the beginning."

Louis only thought it was the beginning, but for many, he was already standing in the hands of the goddess of victory, the king at the center of Versailles, the cross of the cross, the tower that was once used to celebrate the great Flanders. The Hall of Victory receives kings, dukes or envoys of various countries - this hall has been designated as the Hall of the Goddess of Victory. On the high platform where the gilded Goddess of Victory stands, the king who is favored by her stands under the canopy, dressed in china. Wearing a uniform, wearing a crown, and holding a scepter, when he called himself the Sun King, many people laughed in secret, but now, who doesn't think that this title complements the king?

The first person who came forward to meet was, of course, one of France's most powerful allies, King Carl XI of Sweden, who was allowed to walk a step away from the king and kiss the king's hand after saluting, like the French's Dauphin-like, as described long ago—if King Charles II of England was here, too.

The king of France has this qualification. As early as 996, the French king Robert the devout achieved equal status with the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; when Henry V asked the "fat" Louis to surrender, the fat man The king immediately summoned tens of thousands of soldiers at Saint-Denis, directly scaring Henry V away, and his short reply with the phrase "Bah, Germans." has survived to this day; After the alliance between the Roman Empire and England, it was confirmed by the then Pope Innocent III that "the king of France does not recognize any secular authority higher than him"; needless to say about the outstanding exploits of the beautiful man Philip IV; Louis IX, also It is Saint-Louis, and it is openly said that the French king who rules France because of the royal blood is better than any emperor who is elected by election (because the Capet dynasty has an unbroken line and has been passed down for eleven generations); fourteenth-century jurisprudence The family wrote in the legal document that "the king is the emperor in his own domain."

Of course, all of the above can only be a real deterrent when France's national and military strengths are dominant. After Karl XI bowed his head and kissed Louis' hand, he stepped aside to serve the future King Frederick of Denmark. C. IV gave up his place, he also respectfully kissed the king's hand, and then came Pedro II, the regent of Portugal, who was born in 1948 and had a good appearance, but the expression of everyone who saw him was full of expression. Subtle changes...because his mother-in-law is the granddaughter of Henry XIV and his lover, and the wife of the current Portuguese King Alfonso VI. To put it simply, Pedro II not only conspired to seize the power of his brother, Also took his wife as his own - and in a sense Louis XIV was the... uncle of the Portuguese queen.

Although there are not a few kings who have married their sister-in-law, the most famous being King Henry VIII of England, but such a scene is still a bit embarrassing - three kings (although Pedro II is still the regent now, but We all know when he will become king. It depends entirely on his heart) Then comes the duke and the elector, and the envoy of England is the Duke of York, his face is pale, and he seems to have not recovered from the grief and anger of being deceived and played by his brother. , After saluting, his eyes unconsciously fell on the Duke of Orleans beside the king. For a moment, he cursed secretly in his heart that this pair of brothers would have irreparable cracks in the future because of the wall.

The Duke of York was followed by the archbishops of Münster and Cologne, who were later also a religious prince, from Rome, who was very annoyed that the duke of Orleans had placed him after the archbishop of Cologne and even the bishop of Munster, but there was nothing he could do about it. Before the start of the war, it was France who asked the Church of Rome, and the bribes from this Louis XIV were extremely rich. Even so, the Church of Rome continued to urge Louis XIV to fulfill his promise as soon as possible. Convince Charles II to restore the Catholic faith, while at the same time flirting with Leopold I - before Amsterdam was conquered, the bishops of Rome agreed that the French king would fall into the quagmire of Holland because of his greed, and wanted to take advantage of the fire In addition to Leopold I, there are also this group of **** who are always sanctimonious. They can be said to be full of hatred for France. They may have used the world to threaten them at first, but since the king who has no taboos has successively bribed them. After the priests, vampires, werewolves and wizards of the Inquisition, they had few cards left to play.

The cardinal stepped back, and the person who stepped forward was Jan Sobieski. People are still a little unfamiliar with this name, because he is just a great nobleman in Poland. The commander, he inherited the blood of the maternal line, with military talent and boldness beyond ordinary people, he has two kings of Poland before and after, whether it is the former king John II who has abdicated to the monastery, Kazimierz, There is also the newly elected Michau Krebut Wisinowitzky, who is not paying attention to him, and works tirelessly to make himself the king of Poland, and his wife is a French , he has thus been winning the support of Louis XIV.

Then came the envoys from Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, Brandenburg and other countries. They tried their best to take a calm attitude, but everyone knew that they must be very frustrated - especially Carlos II. And the messenger of Leopold I, but on such occasions, no one dared to speak out—compared with them, the Russian messenger was quite relaxed, and he was commissioned by the Romanov Tsar to explore the prosperous country and Its rulers - especially since Sweden is already allied with France, relations between Russia and Sweden are not very good.

In addition to these people, there is also an unexpected guest, the messenger of the Ottoman Turkish Sultan. If Louis XIV and France are like the rising sun, then the Ottoman Turkey is like the setting sun. Although the color is dim, it still has a huge body. , terrifying, their sultan was at war with Poland not long ago, so Jan Sobieski glared at him, and his heart could not help but raise a strong concern - after all, the alliance between France and Ottoman Turkey can be traced back to the earliest During the time of François I…

The last one who was allowed to step forward was the ambassador of the Swiss Confederation. Switzerland and France have always had a long-term employment relationship. Swiss people are not uncommon in the French army, but after Louis XIV came to power, the king encouraged the French to protect their own The country does not employ foreigners, so the proportion of Swiss in the French army is greatly reduced. The Swiss parliament suspects that this is France's intention to separate from Switzerland, or even a precursor to aggression, and it will stand against the French side in the previous war— Their bet was undoubtedly in the wrong place.

What is even more ironic is that when the messenger from Basel was signaled to retreat, he dared to ask: "Your Majesty, the glorious Sun King," he said: "And The Dutch messenger is waiting for your call."

Louis XIV, who had already turned halfway around, paused for a moment, then turned around, and with an unpredictable smile, tapped the ground with his cane, and after a crisp tuk-tuk, there was silence In the Hall of the Goddess of Victory, people can only hear the voice of Louis XIV, "Netherlands?" He said softly: "What Holland?"

   After that, no one dared to make a sound, and everyone bowed deeply or bowed their knees to send the mighty ruler out of the hall.

   (end of this chapter)