I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 353 Lively Rebellion (5)

   It was a sedan chair adorned with roses and ribbons, enough for the ladies of half the palace to dress themselves up.

And unlike Colbert's small sedan chair, this sedan chair is in ancient Roman style, that is to say, people are not sitting in it, but half-lying. The wavy pattern, the end of the armrest is ivory, and it is carved into a protruding swan head. The seat cushion and backrest are filled with silk and plush, and there are also pillows decorated with tassels.

The two servants who carried the sedan chair were not only dressed better than the average provincial nobles, but also had the same appearance and stature, even if they were placed in the king's army (later scholars learned that they were indeed officers, Willing to do such a lowly thing is purely out of love).

   A person who is qualified to sit on such a sedan chair is, just as people imagined, a woman with a beautiful appearance and high spirits. She gently shook the ostrich feather fan with one hand, and held a boy's waist with the other, so that he would not fall off the sedan chair because he was too naughty. She was not affected at all by people's exclamations and praises. The person who gets her response will smile slightly, or stretch out a feather fan to tap the other person's shoulder, or reach out for a quick kiss.

   "My God," Torricelli was Italian after all, "is this Aphrodite and Eros (the ancient Greek **** of love and beauty and her son)!"

"For some, it is," Spinoza said, and swallowed the second sentence. For others, she was the three-headed dog of Hades, but he did not know about it. Say slowly to your two companions: "She is the Marquise of Montespan."

   After saying this, the other two suddenly realized, "But doesn't it mean that this lady also has her own room in the Palace of Versailles, and is second only to the queen?" Did she go out and come back today?

"How is it possible, today is a big day for her and her children." Spinoza said: "She may have brought the little prince to Versailles before, but you must know that before the king admits it, Queen, Crown Princess, Royal Lady, no matter who is pregnant or who has a child, it is all fake and non-existent, even if he is right in front of you, you cannot talk to him or even look at him, otherwise it will be considered an arrogance."

   "Wait, why should the king admit this kind of thing?" Torricelli asked in surprise.

Compared with Torricelli, who has been in Florence, Huygens has lived in France for a while: "I don't know why, but it's not a year or two that there have been such rules in the French court," he said: " A friend of mine said that not only must the pregnant woman or the child be ignored, but even the pregnant woman herself, if the king does not announce her pregnancy, she must appear at the banquet in the palace, dance, drink, and spend the night with gambling and games. , but also wear corsets, make-up, not unkempt and shame the royal family."

   "Uh...that means this lady also needs to be..."

   "No, Louis XIV was quite lenient with his royal wife," said Huygens: "He sent her to Fontainebleau."

This is not considered to be at the court, but the problem is that after the little prince was born in Fontainebleau, the king went to war not long after, and this period of time was torture for Madame Montespan. He is proud of the king's child, but until the king admits it, no one will look at the child. He has no name, and he cannot enter the Louvre or Versailles, and even the Duchess of Montpensier dares not take him. In front of the Queen Mother, she could only persuade her that the child would be recognized as soon as the king came back.

   But when the Duke of Colonna and the Duke of Harlepur were born, it is said that the king was waiting in the room outside, and the Duke of Harlepur was given the title of duke and a large territory at birth.

There is a reason why Madame Montespan became more and more mad as she quelled the riots in Paris.

It was precisely because she had been suppressed for so long, that as soon as she got the king's approval, she couldn't wait to show the whole of Versailles with the king's son. She had a room in Versailles, but she had to take Auguste back to Fontaine first. Bailu, and then from Fontainebleau back to Versailles.

It was always very slow to carry the sedan chair up the steps. Fortunately, it was approaching September, and the sun was not so strong. Mrs. Montespan adjusted her wide-brimmed hat, and then pulled her son and put it on him. Today she With her children will be the brightest stars in Versailles, and what she once lost will always be regained.

Spinoza looked at the sedan chair and shook his head. In fact, even as a person who had only been in Paris for a few days, he could see that this lady and the previous two royal ladies, the Duchess of Colonna, Brussels The Duchess was a completely different kind of person, and the King treated them differently. Perhaps Madame Montespan was happy to enjoy the power, splendid clothes and jewels, the flattery and attention of everyone, but the more she did. , the king used her with less scruples.

Spinoza said in his heart that people say that Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a tolerant and merciful person, but let him say that this majesty is like a businessman who pays a fortune. repaid.

Then, Louis XIV bought them from Cosimo III, Huygens was an excellent mathematician and physicist, Torricelli can be said to be the heir of Galileo's heir, what could he do for this majesty? where? As requested by the former Elector of Brandenburg, he could give lectures at his university, but he could not talk about religion—the idea of ​​religion he held would never be accepted by any religion today.

  ———

   "About Baruch," confessed Louis XIV to Bontang, "is a one-time capriciousness of mine."

   "It's strange," Bontang brought a cup of black tea and a little honey prunes to his master: "You were not very willful when you were four years old, but when you were forty years old, you became self-willed."

   "When I was four years old, I had no willful power." Louis said bluntly: "I even have to continue wearing a skirt until I become king. Now that I have power, can't I be willful once in a while?"

   "But if you do, the Church of Rome will definitely have a headache."

   "Sometimes their reaction is really fast." Louis said: "But I will properly resolve this matter and tell them not to worry."

   "This is the first time I have ever received a bribe from Rome," said Bontang. "It makes me even more curious, Your Majesty, that this Monsieur Spinoza was previously unknown."

"If he can communicate with Descartes, he should not be a nameless man," Louis squeezed a piece of honey prunes. "The reason why his fame did not spread is that he was expelled from the original Judaic church. , that is to say, he is a Judah, but the society of the Judah will not accept him anymore, he cannot become a professor or a scholar, the young people of Judah will not listen to his courses, and there will be no Judah merchants to fund him, so He can only rely on the most basic manual work to support himself.

You also know that the people at the bottom are not without the characteristics of intelligence and bravery, but just to survive, they have exhausted all their strength, and of course it is impossible to climb up. In The Hague, except for Huygens, who does not care about class and beliefs Apart from his friends, Spinoza could not enter the door of any salon, and of course his ideas and thoughts could only be hidden like jewels locked in a box. "

   "You make me wonder," said Bontang, "what on earth does he have in mind?"

"He is the enemy of all religions." Louis dropped such a terrifying sentence lightly, and only Bontang could continue to hold the silver pot steadily and refill him with a cup of hot tea: "His main theme, speaking of it Very simple, Bontang, he admits that there is a God in this world."

   "That's fine, Your Majesty," said Bontang.

"But he doesn't admit that this God is human," Louis looked at the ripples in the silver cup that had not yet dissipated: "He didn't admit it, he didn't admit that this **** would think like a human being, with human **** and human feelings. , will abide by the moral concepts and codes of conduct of human beings - he even believes that God is incorporeal, he is omnipresent, but he cannot be felt, heard or seen by anyone, and he has no subordinates and creations, no angels, There is no devil, there is no **** and heaven, he is an idea in the dark, a first and a last, and he will not change his deeds because of human actions, whether he is doing evil or doing good."

Even Bontang, after hearing these words, couldn't help standing there for a while, and then he said slowly: "Martin Luther just took a small step, but this gentleman wants to fly. "

"Well, so he is the enemy of all churches and believers." Louis said, so the Judean church dared to expel him, but the Roman church did not dare to judge him publicly, because his thoughts were like a powerful poison, even if it was Diluted in the sea, it can also poison all people - Martin Luther just wanted to cut off the redundant branches and leaves of the church, and he almost became the sacrifice of the church. If it wasn't for the battle between the church authority and the kingship at that time, it was already heated up. At this stage, Martin Luther's transformation was exactly what the grand dukes and kings needed. He was protected by many princes, and he could not die safely.

As for Spinoza, if his interpretation of God is believed, then the foundations of the three existing churches will collapse overnight to the point where they cannot be rebuilt—don’t look at the three churches ( Let Protestantism be included in Christianity for now) call each other pagans, and there have been several religious wars that lasted for nearly a thousand years, but their source is in the same place, both in Jerusalem, and God has different names in their books , but at the end of the day, its torso isn't much different from its limbs.

What Spinoza is doing now is to dig up their roots, let the branches wither, let the fruits fall, and let countless people who live on it, and even grab power and wealth, empty their hands overnight, from the most glorious throne. up and down in the dirtiest quagmire.

   "How would you like to persuade Spinoza?" asked Bontang.

   "If I said no, what would you do?"

"I will only follow the orders of one person, and that is you." Bontang is not a very religious person, or he would have left Louis long ago - in one way or another, as Louis said, he was his friend With relatives, "But I think he will cause you a lot of trouble." Even if the church cannot publicly judge Spinoza, it will definitely try to silence him forever.

  Louis raised his hand, Bontang bowed his body knowingly, His Majesty whispered a few words in his ear, and could not help making the loyal court steward laugh: "You are so bad," said Bontang.

"I don't know if I can convince Spinoza with this, but I can give it a try." Louis said, taking another prune. He raised his mouth and eyebrows: "Bring me some more prunes." The strong-flavored prunes tasted so good with black tea.

   "It's almost there," Bontang glanced at the plate: "The dinner will begin in three hours."

"All right."

   "Then, Your Majesty, may I ask another question?"

"Please say."

   "You keep saying that you are wayward, because Mr. Spinoza will not bring much benefit, but will cause some trouble, right?"

"Yes."

   "But you don't want to watch him die because you have the same thoughts as him, don't you?"

   "Yes, Bontang."

   "Then you are not a pure atheist."

   "I used to be," said Louis, "but since I became Louis XIV, I don't think so."

   Bontang bowed and stopped talking.

Louis didn't lie to him, he was indeed an atheist until he became Louis XIV, but his ideas fit invisibly with Spinoza, if there was an omnipotent god, no matter what he The name appears in the history of human beings, so isn't he to human beings like human beings to ants? Will a person care whether the ants worship him or not, whether he loves him, will he put on the grass and leaves collected by the ants, and will he eat the fruits offered by the ants? Will he order the ants to form a church to proclaim his greatness?

   Even if the **** is kind enough, he will only sprinkle a little more sugar.

   He will not, and neither will God.

  ———

Before the dinner, Baruch Spinoza got the opportunity to meet the king, which made Mrs. Montespan not very happy. She thought she could occupy all the time of the king before the dinner, but she was not enough to make the king change. To the extent of his own thoughts, everything went on as usual, but when he walked into the small room to be seen, Spinoza, who was calm even in the face of the king, was a little dizzy.

  This is the highest point of the French Pyramid of Power.

Spinoza knew only a few people, who had accompanied the king to Florence, and a man who, in every respect, was above anyone else, whom Spinoza had not seen, but could guess. The person to whom everyone should bow and salute is the king's younger brother Philip, the Duke of Orleans, the king's most trusted younger brother, and a general. He wears crimson shoulder straps, a forest green background, and a silver thread. Embroidered coats and cream-yellow skinny trousers, such contrasting and bright colors, may not be easily adopted by noble ladies, but in this duke, people can say that people and clothes complement each other.

He shares some similarities with Louis XIV, and some not so much—mainly the softly contoured eyes and lips, probably inherited from their mother, the only parts of the Habsburgs that are not too much to criticize , he had no beard like most French men, and he looked very young and in good spirits.

Speaking of beards, there may be only Spinoza with beards here. Whether it is a Judah or a scholar who advocates ancient Greece, they all like to have a long beard. In addition to the torture of life and the church, his temples are gray early. , the beard is also mottled like quail feathers, and in fact he is not a few years older than the Duke of Orleans, but he looks like two generations.

Nor should the Duke of Orleans say that he was staying in the waiting room. He walked straight in, said a few words to a few people he liked, and went to the audience room. Spinoza was keenly aware that the other party was looking at him. He glanced at him, but almost everyone here had to look at him, because he was different from the usual people from his clothes to his appearance.

One by one the people in the waiting room dwindled, and Spinoza, without a doubt, should always be the last, but the best thing about Louis XIV was not to give hopeless hope, and Bontang was that rough estimate. The man of time and number - he knew the king, knew how long he would spend on whom, he looked at the clock, and when he felt it was almost done, he came out and asked the people in the waiting room if they wanted tea, the phrase For the king's personal attendants, it is to tell them euphemistically that the king has no time to accept their audience today, and they will come back another day.

   After the people left one by one, Spinoza was finally summoned by the king.

At the time of Louis XIII, the dinner started at ten o'clock in the evening and ended at two or three in the morning (usually the king would go to bed before twelve o'clock), but we all know that dinner is too full, and eating too late is bad for the body Unfavorable, but this is the tradition of this era, so after the completion of the Palace of Versailles, Louis XIV changed the dinner time to 8 o'clock and ended before 12 o'clock in the evening.

If those who had been fortunate enough to meet the king before, had witnessed Spinoza being brought into the audience room, their eyes would have bleed with jealousy, because the king had left the scholar an hour and only a few minutes with them. The time of the audience is completely different.

It was not the first time that Spinoza had seen Louis XIV, and he bowed to his majesty--and was surprised to find himself in the room, the king, and a servant, M. Bontang, who was said to be the man who was allowed to The first person you should meet after entering Versailles.

   (end of this chapter)