I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 347 How to persuade a stubborn person

The room where Cosimo III and his son Ferdinand were located was the favorite room of Cosimo III. Not surprisingly, it was full of the luxury and boasting of art by the Medici. Raphael and Daphne hung on the wall. The paintings of masters such as Qi and Titian, the frescoes of Michelangelo and his disciples on the ceiling, the exquisite sculptures and gorgeous gold and silver utensils in the corners, the drapery on the chairs and windows are all gold velvet, the floor The silk carpet above is from Istanbul, and the twelve candle lamp holder on the top is from Lorraine, France. The prismatic glass lampshade above reflects countless gorgeous light colors. Anyone who enters this room can't help but feel Dazzling.

Ferdinand's eyes fell on a painting, which was Raphael's "Lady with a Veil". When his mother left Florence, she didn't think about taking any of the three children with her, but remembered secretly in her luggage. This painting was hidden in it, and it was found out... At that time, he was nine years old, and in some cases he could hold a coming-of-age ceremony in advance. She probably did not expect how embarrassing her eldest son would be, his sister and brother. At that time, he could only cry, and he stood numbly in front of his furious father, giving up the last hope of family affection.

Cosimo III probably would not have thought that his seemingly rude and carefree eldest son actually has a sensitive and slender heart, and the reason why he is determined to leave Florence, leave Italy, go to France, go to Paris and Versailles, except for the disgust in his heart With this increasingly lifeless city, like a pool of stagnant water, bred with rancid moss and sticky foam, there is also yearning for Paris, known as the second center of the Renaissance, and Versailles, known as the paradise on earth. Curious, there is also Louis XIV.

Louis XIV, the Sun King, people say that he is famous, but Ferdinand is full of longing for the warmth between him and his two sons. It can be said that Louis XIV, a Frenchman, has become what he imagined. Father, gentle, but also majestic, knowledgeable, but not free to indulge.

Little Louis and the Duke of Colonna, a wedlock son and an illegitimate son, are of the same age, and it stands to reason that their relationship will not be very good, but they can be like real brothers now, and their father must have spent a lot of time in it, of course. , you could say, it's a political ploy - King Louis XIV, who used **** to expand his power and territory, is not the first and won't be the last, but how he and the Duke of Colonna get along, and the Dauphin Ferdinand sees how little Louis gets along. People can say that Louis XIV is ambitious, but his true feelings cannot be disguised.

It's like walking on a winter night and seeing a warm and bright room with a roaring fire. Even if you can't go in, it's a good thing to lean against the window to absorb a little heat and light. Ferdinand accepts it. The invitation of Little Louis was more because he wanted to see more of this scene. Besides, once he came to Versailles, in addition to being the son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he was also a relative who was not on the surface. Little Louis said, Will prepare his room on the side of his room, as everyone knows - the crown prince's room is never far from His Majesty's room.

"I won't change my decision," Ferdinand said, taking his eyes off the portrait and placing it on the carpet, a silk rug almost equal to the weight of silver that Cosimo III was furious with. The spice wine in the dropped cup was stained, but it doesn't matter, there are hundreds of similar silk rugs in the Pitti Palace, ready to be exchanged - he said before Cosimo III got angry again: "But I I can stay in Florence until the French are gone and I will meet the daughter of the Grand Duke of Bavaria and then...I don't think it will take too long to negotiate the engagement, I want to go to Versailles before winter comes, father, little Louis told me , in winter, the Versailles Grand Canal will freeze," he said leisurely: "The ice is not very thick, but after salting it, they can freeze more solidly, and we can play sledding and ice skating..."

   "You are an adult," Cosimo III said gloomily.

   "Where I am has nothing to do with my marriage," Ferdinand said, "Just like you and my mother, you have been inseparable since the first day of your wedding, but it didn't affect you having three children.

"I don't need you to comment on my marriage with your mother," Cosimo III hesitated for a while, and his weak character once again prevailed: "If the subsequent marriage goes well, you can accompany Duke Colonna and your My sister goes back to Paris, or Versailles, but I can only give you one year."

  Ferdinand nodded indifferently. When facing each other, Cosimo III couldn't take him. Far away, in another country, what could the Archduke do? He didn't think he had to pay for himself at Versailles, Louis XIV was wealthy and generous was something everyone knew. He is still his son's brother-in-law.

   "Then I'll leave first, oh, by the way," Ferdinand held up a print in his hand, "I have something else to talk to you about, father."

  ———

   At this point, Louis and Little Louis have returned to the Pitty Palace, and they are rightfully living in the best rooms, and they can see the beautiful Burberry Hills when they open the windows. The site selection method of Pitti Palace and Versailles Palace is somewhat similar. They are both backed by hills. The side of Burberry Hill facing Pitti Palace has been carefully maintained like a courtyard. It is beautiful all year round, but here It's not as good as Vers, where gas lamps are lit at night. There are no lights at night here. The cobalt blue sky is dark silhouettes of hills. The beauty of the day is suffocating and depressing at night.

Although he knew that Madame Milady had gone to arrange the protection of the unfortunate Judahs, the little Prince Louis was still worried, and only a little bread was used for dinner. Louis XIV did not force him to eat, but ordered Bontang to send a stack of small Biscuits, when he and little Louis were sitting in front of the fireplace, when they finished their government affairs and homework for the day, they could eat them at will.

   "Father," Little Louis couldn't help but ask after copying a few articles absentmindedly, "Has your messenger gone to ask the Archduke about this?"

  Louis XIV touched his chin. In the midst of heavy government affairs, it is also interesting to occasionally take time to tease his son: "What kind of answer do you think Cosimo III will give me?"

  Little Louis hesitated: "If Ferdinand hadn't mentioned this to his father...I don't think it would be too difficult."

Huygens was trying to raise a ransom before, which means that people in the square can still use the ransom to pay back, but Ferdinand-although he didn't get along with the Archduke's son for a long time, at Versailles not only accepted the king and teachers How could the crown prince, who also received the guidance of your daughter, not know how to guess people's hearts? He saw at once that the relationship between Ferdinand and Cosimo III was very bad. Cosimo III was not a good ruler or a good father. Unlike Louis XIV, Louis XIV certainly He was under great pressure from childhood, but he never unreasonably transferred it to those around him, including his subjects.

A father like Cosimo III is undoubtedly unfamiliar to little Louis, but after the battlefield, this level of evil is not enough to make little Louis make a fuss. He is sincere out of pity, and perhaps there is a little politics that he doesn't even know about himself. Instinctively came to invite Ferdinand to Paris. In the heart of little Louis, coming to Paris and Versailles was not for Ferdinand to waste his studies and abandon his home country. It is normal for princes and dukes of one country to study at universities in another country. , Didn't Frederick, the son of the Elector of Brandenburg, go to Paris to study?

   "Why do you think so? Tell me, why did the Archduke reject my messenger once Ferdinand brought it up?" Louis continued to ask with interest.

"Because... Cosimo III is not a tolerant person like you. He-he seems to be smooth, but in fact, he will not give in on some issues, especially those that touch his bottom line, such as Princess Margaret, The little prince Louis analyzed slowly, Louis did not urge him, but pushed the cookie plate forward: "The problem between him and the Princess Margaret should not have come to the negotiating table." He Glancing at his father, Louis nodded, indicating that he understood what he meant - a happy political marriage? Almost none, indifference is good, there are husbands killing their wives and wives killing their husbands in history, but almost all of them are directly related to kingship, inheritance or territory, like a lion and a tiger biting each other , Cosimo III's problems - his wife does not love him, loves vanity, profligate, steals the husband's property, etc., can not be compared with the former, and he only needs to pay a little attention to France to know Louis XIV How much he hated the Duke of Gaston and his daughters other than the Duchess of Montpensier, he could have used the simplest method—that is, to have the guards capture the Princess Margaret and put him in a strictly guarded building. In the abbey, when it was common for a woman to enter the convent (even if she was still in a marriage), he did not need to pay more than a hundred livres at all, and more importantly, this event also made Louis XIV. Seeing his weakness, the marriage contract between the Duke of Colonna and the daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany was made.

   "Go on," Louis XIV encouraged.

"He couldn't have power, he couldn't have love, or a chaste wife, his mother... didn't have much love for him, he was quite distant from his children, he wasn't close, he was surrounded by incompetent little people ," Having said this, Little Louis emphasized: "Not only is it despicable, but also useless. You told me that when a person exists in this world, there are always needs, and these needs are increased layer by layer. The Grand Duke is well-off, and he is not lacking in people's recognition of him - after all, he is the ruler here, but he is emotionally empty, and this emptiness will always be made up. Mrs. Milady talked about faith and morality before - she did not finish. , but I can guess that Cosimo III has now invested almost all his feelings in his faith, and in order to show his piety, he did not hesitate to put an entire duchy on the altar."

"Of course he would like his heir to behave like him," said little Louis, "so when the student said, Ferdinand went to the Archduke to ask for an amnesty for the Jewish people. , because...because his heir is bewitched and is on a deviant path - he will immediately order the soldiers to put those people to death!"

   "That's too bad, isn't it?" Louis said softly.

   "But you must be able to do it, right?" said little Louis confidently.

   "It depends on Mr. Spinoza."

   "Well, can Mr. Spinoza's knowledge be able to impress Cosimo III?" Little Louis asked in surprise.

Louis burst out laughing, "No no no," he shook his head: "On the contrary, dear—" He thought for a while, and said: "On the battlefield, if a mercenary from humble background is captured, he will most likely be taken immediately. Kill, but a knight, or a general, even if his captor does not accept redemption and is unwilling to forgive, he will not simply kill him."

   "Mr. Spinoza..."

"Mr. Spinoza...do you know how he got from Amsterdam to The Hague?" Louis XIV did not wait for little Louis to answer: "He was born into a wealthy Jewish family, he was born intelligent and accepted After a systematic education, the future was as bright as the rising sun of birth, but the problem is that he is too sensitive, you know, my child, when a person can see things in a year, he is a smart person. He is a wise man when he can see things in ten years; he is a saint when he can see things in a hundred years - but if he can see things in a thousand years thing," he said a little helplessly, "that's a true Satan."

"Although what he sees is like a leopard in a tube, as little as the sand between his fingers, but this is like wildfire, which can completely destroy the current religious system - I can't tell you, because your current thinking is immature, It's going to have a big impact," Louis continued, "but you remember, I'm talking about all the religious systems now."

   This conclusion made little Louis gasp for breath.

"Do you know why he was publicly expelled by the Judaic Church, and he couldn't even stand in Amsterdam, so he had to go to The Hague to grind his lenses, but the Roman Church didn't want him?" Louis took a cookie and put it in the mouth of little Louis, "Because they didn't want him to be known to more people."

   "It turned out...to this extent..." Little Louis subconsciously took a bite of the biscuit: "But you are willing to accommodate him, where the church..."

   "I will tell the church that Spinoza's theory will be limited to a tolerable range." Louis XIV said: "Of course, if they don't believe it, I can't help it."

"Anyway, Mr. Spinoza was already in Paris at that time, right?" said the little Louis, who no longer pursued what Louis did not want to tell him: "So, Spinoza is different from other people, even other people. People will be censored again because of him, so we have a little time, but how do we convince Cosimo III?"

   "Frankly," Louis replied, "I do have a candidate, but I don't know if he'll be willing to speak for me."

  ——

   How to convince Cosimo III, this is indeed the question.

The messenger of Louis XIV was politely rejected as expected. If it was just a group of Judas, Cosimo III would not care to forgive them, but if there is Spinoza among them, it is two different things. Spinoza's name It is only passed down by some people, but his theory is really provocative - Clement X once said that his sin was a hundred times heavier than that of Martin Luther, because his articles were too easy to bewitched. Someone else, not even just a young man, don't forget that the Elector of Brandenburg wanted to hire him before.

Cosimo III threw the scroll directly into the fireplace, lest he be tempted, and then had the soldiers transfer all the Judas in the square to a Medici estate in Artimino, formerly the A square castle, just right for holding sinners.

Cosimo III had intended to burn these horrific heresies himself, but he had the old habit of hesitating, because he remembered that Spinoza also had supporters, in Amsterdam, in The Hague, in Florence he was Silent asylum, and Louis XIV had already asked him for redemption, if instead of agreeing, he executed Spinoza, would those who admire Spinoza have any sympathy for him? some bad idea?

   He is a devout believer himself, and he naturally knows how much people will fight for their beliefs.

   But the Jesuits may have known that Spinoza was here, and so would Innocent XI of Rome, and perhaps he should have given Spinoza away?

  While waiting for his judges to submit his incriminating evidence and confession, he drank wine to relieve his troubles, and the next morning, he suffered from gout.

Anyone who has ever suffered from gout knows how torturous a gout attack can be, and Cosimo III had to close his door to thank guests and summon a doctor to bled him—there were originally wizards in the Pitti Palace, but since Cosimo III decided to Using religion to numb himself and ease the pain, he does not see any wizards, and only rubs the ointments of wizards when necessary, and it is for this reason that his gout is constantly getting worse.

Fortunately, after talking to him, Ferdinand stopped wandering around, and seemed to really concentrate on waiting for the visit of the envoy of Leopold I, and Cosimo III let his brother Francesco come to Pi. Tigong came to watch Ferdinand to avoid accidents.

  The trouble is that his illness also delayed Louis XIV's trip. After all, it is very rude to leave without formally saying goodbye to the host when visiting a place.

   (end of this chapter)