I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 308 Frederick and the Grand Princess (4)

It is not surprising that Frederick had such a strong curiosity and a feeling that was infinitely close to goodwill towards the Grand Duke. Although the Grand Duke had a beautiful face, as the son of the Grand Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia, Frederick There are not a few beauties that I have seen, and there are a few who are better than the big county lord in terms of beauty alone - but the big county lord has something that most women in this era do not have, that is, confidence and love for themselves, this point We see it all the time in men, but rarely in women.

In Louis XIV's day, women were seen as mature but insane pseudo-adults who had to make sacrifices all the time, becoming a wife, a mother, in order to be considered "complete" or dedicated to God, but this can also be understood as a marriage, where the nuns are the brides of Christ, they serve God as a wife serves her husband, guaranteeing their piety, chastity and poverty.

Of course, we know that women's ambitions and yuwang are in fact no inferior to any gentleman, not to mention the former Mancinis, not to mention the queen mother and queen, but the Duchess of Longueville, who is constantly arguing Is his brother fighting for the throne with Louis XIV, even at the expense of his husband and lover, just because he is tired of embroidering and having children?

At the beginning, Frederick also believed that Louis XIV's eldest princess and grand princess were also such characters. The Sun King educated and guided them. Like some old and cunning monarchs, they married not a daughter, but a daughter. Spies, and sometimes their sons, manipulate their husbands and wives to benefit their parents' family, or even annex another country, which is not uncommon in Europa's history.

However, as he gradually got to know the great county master, Frederick realized that Louis XIV's expectations for his daughter and niece may not end there. In this world, there are still only male masters who have almost all the power and power. When it comes to speaking, he actually intended to give them a place in the Palace of Victory - Frederick could have imagined that, once he married the Grand Duke, the Grand Duke would undoubtedly have taken over some of the Grand Dukes (or Prussians). King), she will not obediently settle in the inner palace, living on fertility and "love".

Are you scared? Perhaps, not only Frederick, but even Brandenburg's envoys, also experienced three painful stages of disapproval-approval-disapproval. At the earliest, he disapproved of the marriage, and Brandon The Grand Duke of Fort thought exactly the same, they could not anger Leopold I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire; later he chose to agree, because he had seen how the French king favored this niece, and learned about the dowry of the grand lord—the great The lord's dowry may be 800,000 to 1 million livres, which is far more than a princess, and the Duke of Orleans also intends to give her an outer domain (not in France), and she may also have an army, These are like helping Brandenburg-Prussia, which is bound to expand outward. In addition, as Frederick said, sometimes, when others don't give you something, you can ask for it yourself; but in the end, why did he Disapprove? Again, the Grand Sheriff was not the Queen of Brandenburg-Prussia that people expected.

Just look at Louis XIV's mother and wife, and they don't even allow the king and queen to have sincere feelings. If the king is unwilling to accept the "royal lady", he will be with the royal family. The lady has an illegitimate child, they can spread rumors about the king's reproductive problems, and then doubt whether the queen and the king's direct son are of pure blood - don't laugh, Louis XIII is not the kind of king who is keen on women's sex, he prefers to hunt and play cards with the gentlemen , so the rumors that the kings were more likely to prefer same-sex couples burned like wildfire, and Louis XIII had to go to a "Royal Lady" first, and then to have the same room with the queen, with Louis X Four and the Duke of Orleans, even so, before and after Louis came to the throne, there are still people who say that Louis XIV had another biological father...

   This is still based on the premise that the Queen Mother rarely intervenes in government affairs.

Once the grand county lord marries Brandenburg-Prussia, she must become the king's think tank, or a "skirt minister", and the nobles can endure a country's "royal lady" signing the king's documents, but They will not tolerate the Queen pointing fingers at them, and even God may not be able to estimate what kind of terrifying conflict will arise at that time - especially the Grand Princess is deeply favored by the King of France and the Duke of Orleans. This is a double-edged sword. Landenburg-Prussia everyone cheers her when she needs support; but if the grand dame is humiliated, or even hurt, in Brandenburg, it may be the king of France to go to war against Brandenburg Best excuse.

   "You know," the envoy reminded worriedly: "If your marriage contract is reached - you have such a strong wife, you may not be so happy in many places?"

  Frederick has been in Paris for several months. In addition to often going out with the Countess, he and the Countess sometimes call "Mr. William". Correspondence in the name of "Ms. Mary", discussing some of their encounters, or the review of certain books - unlike the dates he once had, Frederick felt like he was in another open university Studying here is busy, trivial and heavy, and has an indescribable sense of fulfillment.

Of course, it was much harder to be with the Grand Lord than Frederick's usual dances, dinners, shopping or gambling, especially since he realized that if he and the Grand Lord became husband and wife, this situation would also become After normality - Frederick would not like it, or would be unbearable, but as the future Grand Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia, more likely - the king, he liked it.

   He admits that there is a cowardly and pleasure-seeking part in his nature, and it is precisely because he knows that he has such a weakness that he needs a wife like a grand princess even more.

"Besides," he added, "sir, I think we all overlooked one thing," the young Archduke's son touched his chin—he had a little beard in Prussia, but it's all shaved in Paris It's clean, after all, the French all look at their king without a beard: "My marriage to the grand princess is not yet settled."

   "Besides you, are there any other suitable candidates?" the envoy said disapprovingly.

   "Really," Frederick recalled some of the rumors he had heard: "For example, Carlos II."

  ———

   "How is that possible!" cried the Archbishop of Toledo.

"It's impossible," said Juan Patinho. Under pressure from the outside world, Don Juan José, the illegitimate son of the late King Philip IV, had to have a relationship with Carlos II's mother, Marco, who had been expelled by him. Queen Dowager Lea performed a show of love for each other. Although Juan Patinho was a subordinate of Duke Don Juan, no one could deny his loyalty to Spain and Carlos II, so after a period of tug-of-war Later, when he returned from Paris, he was promoted to the Minister of the Navy. It is not necessary to say how important this position is in the Spanish court. At the same time, he is also in charge of foreign affairs, which can be said to be half the prime minister.

Now the "half prime minister" is about to be overwhelmed. Maybe it's because France seems satisfied after swallowing Flanders and the Netherlands, or the Holy Roman Empire is also busy dealing with the Ottoman Turks, and the British are also Busy dealing with the Roman Church and Louis XIV, who had once again turned from an ally into an enemy... There was another wave after another between the Duke of Don Juan and the Queen Mother, and several times their musketeers and guards, Fighting directly on the street makes people panic.

If this is just a return to the old ways, then Juan is about to be exhausted and their king Carlos II. As we all know, the consequences of the Habsburg's blood being too rich all fell on Carlos II. He even Not as good as Portugal's Alfonso VI, Alfonso VI is only physically disabled, but his mind is clear, but Carlos II is just a beast who can only scream and roar.

Juan Patinho succumbed to an illegitimate son because he tasted the bitterness of failure again and again from this king, who always seemed to be immersed in another world (maybe hell), unable to understand what others meant , and cannot be understood by others, Juan knew very early that Carlos II was unable to fulfill his obligations and use his power.

But this situation suddenly changed. One day—of course, the darkest and most evil things in the world are involved. Before Juan and those who are bound to oppose know, Carlos II A potion made by the devil's servants - Duke Don Juan and Queen Maria do not think they are at fault, it is said that this potion can prolong the life of a terminally ill person and make him look like a strong young man Normal people.

Thinking of the engagement Carlos II had made not long ago, they may have planned to ask the Habsburg princess to have **** with Carlos II as soon as she turned twelve - maybe they would have a healthy one. What about the son?

Juan does not deny that he also has such thoughts. After all, they have become more and more worried over the past few years. Carlos II is the last person in the Habsburg of Spain. If he dies without a biological child, then his sisters will be born. The sons of his sons are eligible to inherit the Spanish throne - given that the two sons born to Leopold I by Margaret of Spain have unfortunately died, it is most likely that her sister gave birth to the youngest son of King Louis XIV of France. louis.

All nations tremble at the thought of a single Bourbon co-owner of France and Spain—so that Louis XIV could gain without a single soldier a territory larger than Flanders and Holland combined, and With a longer coastline, his dauphin also married the daughter of the King of Portugal, although the princess would have sworn to renounce her right to inherit Portugal before she was married - but Queen Teresa of Louis XIV never swore an oath. ? no?

With such a threat, even the Bishop of Toledo had to put up with it under the beheadings of Duke Don Juan and the Queen Mother, let alone others, but fortunately, their king is indeed recovering. , and the doctor also said after the examination that the four body fluids of the king have been balanced, especially the precious yellow bile, which means that the king's masculinity is increasing, and the king's personal attendant also said that the egg has been empty since the king was born. The egg has also gained weight... This is good news for all Spaniards, and given that Carlos II is thirteen years old, it has also been suggested that a few suitable "ladys" should be arranged to accompany the king.

   Queen Mother Maria and Duke Don Juan had a rare agreement, they refused such a request, even if it caused people's suspicion, they still insisted.

  Only Juan Patinho and Archbishop of Toledo know why they did it - because Carlos II not only recovered his body - his mind finally returned to this body after thirteen years.

Although Carlos II has regained his consciousness, because he spent the previous thirteen years in a daze, he is like a baby who just came to the world. He is interested in everything and will try with great interest. It also imitates people's words and actions, which may be ignored at first, but are soon returned by loyal attendants to the Archbishop of Toledo and the Admiral Patinho - one of whom is a supporter of the Queen Mother, One is the supporters of the Duke of Don Juan, but the wonderful thing is that they are more loyal to the king, of course they hope... I hope the king can make up for the missing thirteen years as soon as possible, but neither the Queen Mother Maria nor the Duke of Don Juan are. Maintain an indifferent and ambiguous attitude.

   They didn't want Carlos II to have his own mind at all - because then the power in their hands would be taken away by the king.

Although Archbishop of Tolede and Juan Patinho repeatedly persuaded them, but their own interests were concerned, these two high-ranking people who were not very smart were very determined - Archbishop of Toledo and Patinho had no choice but to Secretly moved his hands and feet, as if Juan sent his niece to be the king's maid-his niece was a smart and learned girl, and the archbishop sent his disciple who was only ten years old. The son of the church gardener, it is for this reason that he can be kept by the king's side, but he can become a disciple of the archbishop, and he is destined to have outstanding talents. With his company, Carlos II has been infinitely close to a normal. people.

But even if Carlos II can become a healthy person, it is impossible to deny the previous engagement with the Habsburg princess and renegotiate with France, and if there is no problem with Carlos, then the daughter of the Duke of Orleans will also Not so qualified anymore.

   (end of this chapter)