I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 342 The Children's First Wedding (2)

At about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV, well-dressed, also came out of his palace - this huge old mansion originally belonged to the Duke of Colonna, but before Louis XIV entered Rome, Colonna The head of the family has already given up the mansion, and hangs the banner of the golden lily on a blue background under the lintel and terrace.

This hospitality is totally worth it. Louis XIV did not ride a horse this time, but took a carriage to Florence. In the carriage, he was accompanied by the Marquis of Lois and the head of the Colonna family. He has a very common name. Giovanni, so common among Italians, had the look of any Italian, with dark hair and eyes, and an air of melancholy unease.

Louis XIV was surrounded by the Dauphin, Prince Louis, who was a little excited. Of course, who wouldn't want to meet Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, a world-famous resort, even if Paris and Versailles came to the fore, people would still say " They are like the second Florence", thinking that he will soon go to that city like pearls and flowers, the young prince couldn't calm down at all.

Louis gently embraced the crown prince's shoulder, and kept his sympathetic eyes. The city's information had already been sent to his desk in great detail. In the letter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he also euphemistically Tells some humbling facts - Florence may have been like pearls, like flowers, but now the luster of pearls has long since disappeared, leaving only a dull yellow skin, and the flowers have already withered, barely able to be used to recall the past. color.

   It seemed that the Dauphin the little Louis was bound to be disappointed with the thousand brave and hopeful soldiers.

  ———

Nicolas Katina and Sebastian Vauban walked side by side, today they were all dressed very brightly, as were the soldiers and officers, their horses were brushed several times, each mane All glowing, their muskets and scabbards wiped, their boots fitted with sterling or silver-plated spurs, and some draped in furs from cavalry or Tartars , regardless of how hot the weather is today.

   They were quite elated at first, but the further they went, the more silent they became, their eyes filled with disbelief.

When Catina and Vauban came to Colonna, they were also shocked by the town's failure, but they immediately thought that this was just a Roman town, not a big city like Siena and Florence. It's not surprising that people's livelihoods are dying for various reasons - and the poverty and desolation here have also made them less troublesome - Italians have a bad impression of the French, but the residents here found that these French soldiers did not Looting, neither killing people, nor burning their houses, if they fancy their things, whether it is accessories, furniture or food, they are willing to buy them with real gold and silver Ecu and Louis (coins), They immediately put aside their prejudices and happily started trading.

The idea of ​​Catina and Vauban is of course wrong. The Colonna family has been operating in Rome for many years, and has produced a pope and several red princes. How can their ancestral land, the town of Colonna, be like an ordinary village in France. So desolate and poor? It's just that the lords of Italy still inherited the practice of hundreds of years ago, and they are reckless and reckless on their people.

They thought that the situation in Colonna was bad enough, but after leaving Colonna, the road under their feet quickly became broken - literally broken, the road built in ancient Rome may have several It has not been carefully repaired for a hundred years. There are cracked stones everywhere, thorns grow from the cracks, the cracks form pits, and there is still water in them. In addition to these, there are fallen trees, spreading to the road. The vines on the top - some of the fallen trees are natural, some are man-made, there may be a lot of robbers who want to rob the trail, they put down the trees, but they found that it was not a lamb, but an armored man. The lion ran away immediately.

  The soldiers had to take off their beautiful coats and get to work, luckily they were used to doing that too, after all their General Vauban was an infrastructure maniac. The road was quickly cleared, the carriage continued to move forward, and the crown prince, Little Louis, kept looking out.

He saw the long and monotonous brown charred that spread to the horizon. Although Tuscany was not considered to be the main grain producing area in Italy, the crown prince Louis had personally participated in major projects, and had also visited with his father. The farmland of Versailles, of course, he knew that this situation was a bit abnormal, the ground that had been cultivated or harvested was not like this.

They came to a city in the evening. The mayor and the citizens greeted the King of France and his army on both sides of the street. When the Dauphin jumped out of the car, he almost tripped over a bush of ryegrass. He ate a I was shocked and thought that someone had accidentally dropped a bale of horse grass here, but then I realized silently that the ryegrass did not fall on the ground, but grew out of the cracks in the masonry, just like the ones they passed by. Like the road, the streets and alleys in the city are actually overgrown with grass.

This wasn't the most shocking thing to him—after dinner, the mayor came to thank Louis XIV for his generous gift of bread and coins, as compensation for disturbing them, "If you want to thank I," said the king, "will then bless the marriage of my son, the Duke of Colonna, with the Princess Anna, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany."

   "We will do a Mass and a procession across the city to thank you for your generosity and to wish your son and his bride a healthy heir."

The king smiled. The wedding was purely political. "Just wish them happiness and well-being." He said, "I will present another twelve boxes of candles, a set of silver utensils, and a set of silverware to Siena Cathedral. There's some linen."

   "On behalf of all Sienaians, allow me to thank you, Your Majesty," said the mayor.

   "Siena?" The crown prince was still drinking his milk slowly, and he couldn't help but look at the mayor in horror: "Is this Siena?"

   A trace of shame and resentment crossed the mayor of Siena's face, but not to them, "Yes," he said sadly: "This is Siena."

Siena, Prince Louis the Prince couldn't believe it at all. He looked out subconsciously and saw only darkness - Siena, which was once prosperous and prosperous, now has only a few sparse lights at night, and the whole city is silent. Like dead. Because he had been on the carriage, the crown prince could not analyze the size of the city, but when he saw the poor road conditions, mottled walls, dull clothes, old furniture, curtains, and metal fittings with rust, he thought that This is a little-known town.

"Cities are going to decline very quickly." Louis XIV said on the sidelines: "The bigger the mill, the harder it is to turn it. Once it loses its protection and nourishment, even if it is Paris or Versailles, It will become what you see now."

   "Sorry," said the dauphin, the little Louis, to the mayor, "I didn't expect such a change in Siena."

   "Nothing," said the mayor, "even me, when I came back twenty years ago, I almost didn't recognize that this was my Siena."

"You are a man of duty," said Louis XIV, taking out a gold louis from his pocket as a reward, and when the mayor resigned, the look on the face of the young dauphin suddenly became complicated: "The tin Jena has become like this, Florence..."

   "Not the worst." Louis XIV comforted, but little Louis was not comforted at all.

Fortunately, with such mental preparation, when they arrived in Florence the next day, the Marquis of Lois heard the Dauphin's relief clearly. He thought he would see a Florence that collapsed like those ancient buildings near Rome. No, it is just like what Louis XIV said. Although the flowers wither and the pearls lose their color, they are still flowers and pearls. The humanistic thoughts, literature and art here once illuminated the entire Europa like a torch, and now it still has its afterglow.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany, his younger brother, and his son and daughter greeted Louis XIV at the city gate. Although he had a bad idea, Louis XIV, who was always modest, would not embarrass his son's husband. He took a few steps forward, took Cosimo III's arm, and walked forward with him.

Everyone smiled. The Florentine and the French, who were enemies nearly two hundred years ago, are now in love with each other like friends. If anyone asks, they will say that the feud between Florence and France has long been When Marie Medici became Queen of France, it was over, and now they have two more beautiful women made in heaven - although the identity of the Duke of Colonna is still up for debate, but the stupidest Florentines also know that they want to make the French royal family more. A Medici queen is out of the question.

The Duke of Colonna grabbed the arm of the prince, the little Louis. If he hadn't passed through Siena, maybe the little Louis would not have noticed it at all - the road was obviously cleaned and brushed, although the gap could not be covered, but they were clever It is filled with finely broken stones. These stones are not filled casually. No matter the color and shape, they are quite consistent with the surrounding stone bricks. It even seems to be intentional. Sculptor of Medici and Florence.

The walls here have also been decorated and painted. The areas that cannot be covered are covered with silk carpets, draperies and flags. They also cover some alleys with lush flowers. It may still be a mess inside. He sighed in his heart, "What's wrong?" Duke Colonna asked.

"It's nothing." Little Louis said that he had decided to use part of his income in this wedding to thank the people who came to bless the newlyweds. The people of Florence were obviously not so happy - although they saw the people on both sides of the street. People still wear silk coats, but the old and new silk is always the easiest to see. In the court of Versailles and Paris, under the guidance of the Duchess of Montpensier and other noble ladies, whether the material and wearing time of the clothing are not The details of the fit and other issues were numerous, and the crown prince of Jiazhen immediately saw that this might be their last decent dress.

Three days later, they welcomed Pope Innocent XI with a group of red princes, and more priests, and the sight of red wide-brimmed hats and hooded cloaks rubbing against each other in the streets Florentines have already Haven't seen it for hundreds of years, they ran excitedly around the room just to witness the grand scene, and countless people knelt on the ground begging for blessings - the Pope also gestured, granting their wishes .

Needless to say, not only the king of France but also the Grand Duke of Tuscany became generous with the ceremony completed in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the banquet that followed. Potatoes - this is a food from France and you can eat and drink as much as you want.

  When people were full, they started dancing and singing. They sang a euphemistic and touching love song, as if they were expressing their deep love for the newlyweds in the room.

The newlyweds in the room really have no love at all. The Duke of Colonna is eighteen years old, and the young Prince Louis, who is one year younger than him, has already fallen in love, and he is no longer a child - I can't blame Louis XIV, Cologne The Duke of Na was looked after by Madame Milady and Marie Mancini before and after they reached adulthood. Although the backgrounds of the two were vastly different, they had a common idea, that is, the love of the Duke of Colonna should not be allowed to come before that. The career was thwarted, so in their arrangement, the Duke of Colonna naturally accepted a girl, they had a good time, and then said goodbye to each other when Colonna returned to Paris.

The Duke of Colonna's character has a part that belongs to Louis and a part that belongs to Marie, Madame Milady wrote in the letter, so he regrets the lost love, but he does not feel pain and regret, maybe because This question had an answer before he even started writing—in short, the Duke of Colonna was already a real adult. In contrast, even after a few years of education in Paris, Princess Anna still maintained the original simplicity and innocence.

The last step of the ceremony is the new couple's intercourse. The Duke of Colonna and the County of Anna mainly complete this difficult task under the watchful eyes of witnesses - this is quite rare in France, but it is still quite popular in Italy. The witnesses are Innocent ten. I, Louis XIV, Grand Duke of Tuscany and... Dauphin Louis the Younger.

Although the same room was just a fake ceremony, the Duke of Colonna couldn't help but give him a roll of eyes when he saw little Louis who was standing in the corner winking at him, but he also knew that his father did this for the sake of them. This pair of half-brothers is more related. After all, the witness is to sign the marriage certificate and stand up to testify when someone questions the marriage.

  Louis XIV is the current king of France, but little Louis is the future.

Unless Louis XIV becomes a member of the blood family, whether it is the little Louis or the Duke of Colonna Luciano, the people who can lend a hand to each other must be each other and not others, which is why once Marie Mancini Having said that, Louis XIV had to imprison her—for the brothers Luciano and little Louis would not go down the road of brotherhood, the king would never allow any possible regrets and loopholes.

It was said to witness the completion of the **** ceremony, but the newlyweds just sat beside the bed under the watchful eye of the witnesses. After praying for a while, they were all done. Princess Anna developed a good work and rest habit at school in Paris. It was time to start rubbing her eyes, and the nanny and maids escorted her back to the next bedroom, where the Duke of Colonna stayed, lest anyone question the legality of the wedding because he appeared in public on the wedding night.

On the contrary, Louis XIV and the Grand Duke of Tuscany can appear together in the hall to receive congratulations from the people. In the Pitti Palace, all they see are smiling faces, and all they hear are flattering words. Not as embarrassed as the commoners they saw when they came to Florence, their clothes were bright and colorful, their jewels gleamed, and gold and silver coins were thrown in shell bowls at the crowd, and every time someone shouted Viva Florence. , long live the Medici and France, or the Sun King...

When the banquet was halfway through, people who were very drunk also appeared. The Pitti Palace, like the Louvre in the past, did not have any sanitary facilities, so some people vomited directly on the floor, and some people threw themselves behind the pillars. Depends on things - indulging in his own desires, well, I mean, the part other than letting go, Louie just gets up from behind the long table - since he's the most powerful person here, he doesn't need to explain it to anyone After he left, the banquet continued until the early morning of the next day.

The next morning, the sun had just hit the dripping beast of the Pitti Palace, and it was time for Mass. The men and women who had been sloppy in the previous night got dressed, looked straight, and pressed their painful foreheads into the sparse and bright room. In the procession, they heard sermons in Santa Maria del Fiore, received the Holy Communion, and visited the reliquary, probably the best preserved place of Florence's glory, everything—ceiling paintings, frescoes, marble columns, The ground, the stained glass statues, the gold and silver vessels, and the countless sacred relics all show how glorious this city was.

At least one-third of the utensils, textiles and reliquaries seen in the cathedral were donated by the Medici family - there are also scrolls and rosaries left by two Medici popes in the reliquary. Precious souvenirs, there are also all kinds of rare things that Queen Mary Queen Mother sent back to the cathedral one after another - frescoes and ceiling paintings were also completed by painters enshrined by the Medici family, and they have also been taking care of the repair and maintenance of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. Responsible, their piety illuminates Florence like the sun.

   (end of this chapter)