I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 523 The King of Italy (6)

   "I will give you an amnesty," Louis XIV said to the Genoese, "and the Spanish government will repay you in instalments, on condition that you become a member of the Italian Confederation."

   I raised my head and saw that everyone present stood up involuntarily.

Unlike scenes in plays and novels, virtually everyone present at the meeting—those able to speak and make decisions—explores every possible development in the most exhaustive way before anything important happens. and guesswork, and even prepared various countermeasures and answers to be given. It's not going to happen like that kind of sudden attack and asking unsolvable problems.

  So… of these people, it’s possible that I’m the only one who is really puzzled by the decision made by Cosimo III, my father.

  So it is, if Louis XIV proposed this condition, my brother and I sacrificed is not without reason.

Italy's current power, except for those innocuous minor powers, as I said before, in the peninsula mainland, Milan and Naples are Spanish heritage, Genoa and Venice maintain a subtle neutrality (previously biased towards Habs). Fort), Tuscany undoubtedly belonged to Louis XIV's sphere of influence, in addition, there are three islands, from top to bottom are Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, Corsica is the smallest, Owned by the Genoese, Sardinia is also the heritage of the Spaniards, Sicily is the largest, but it belongs to Savoy - which is why the messenger of the Savoy royal family is here and holds a high position.

It is not surprising that Louis XIV is now contemplating the entire peninsula, like several French kings before it, but if he was not seeking merger, union, or even the implementation of his policies and laws on the Italian peninsula, the opposition he encountered would not be would be too intense.

  My father taught me about the differences between empires, kingdoms, duchies and even princely states, as well as federal, confederate and other forms of government. This is the first knowledge that any nobleman needs to know and understand. It is as important and closely related to inheritance law and heraldry law.

Louis XIV chose to implement the federal system on the Italian peninsula and the surrounding islands, which will undoubtedly relieve many people, which means that the new king of Italy will not have the same power as the Sun King to the country, the nobility and the people. Venice, Genoa, Tuscany... etc. will be a member of the Italian Federation in the future, but relatively, they and we can still have relatively independent legislative, judicial and administrative organs, and can still have greater autonomy, although in the future we will Being Italians, not Venetians or Tuscans, we have no right to wage wars, or to form alliances with other countries - if it was the Renaissance three hundred years ago, maybe some people would disagree, But now, when the Italian peninsula almost no longer belongs to the Italians, even Venice and Genoa...they don't have much room for manoeuvre and struggle.

Not to mention Genoa, this small country is always facing the threat of Milan and Savoy, whether it is Habsburg or Bourbon, as long as you want, you can conquer this land and the people above at a small price at any time. , Venice, it was really brilliant, but after losing Crete, it quickly weakened, especially in order to survive (airway), it had to fight again and again with the behemoth Ottoman Turkey, constantly The battle on the ground has consumed the last bit of its blood. How could such a hollow body be able to withstand the blow of a beast like France? Especially France is not like the Ottomans, their army can attack Venice directly through Milan or Tuscany, Venice's army has always been a lame, although its emblem is a lion with wings - but everyone Knowing that this lion has never been powerful on land, as for its navy...well, at least we can say it was once powerful.

   After Louis XIV promised that he would return Crete to Venice, the Venetians tacitly agreed to become a member of the Commonwealth.

  …

   After that, someone proposed to add the word "sacred" to the Italian Federation - fortunately, this proposal was rejected, but the word "sacred" was mentioned, and the expressions of several ambassadors became a little weird.

  Although in name, the establishment of the Federation was to undertake the call of the Roman Church and the Pope to launch the tenth holy war against the invasion of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

   But we all know that the enemy that this federation will eventually face is the Habsburg of Austria, Leopold I, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

  Leopold I's biggest bargaining chip may be to form a secret ally with the Sultan Mohammed IV of Ottoman Turkey. Don't ask me how I know, France was the initiator of this kind of thing, and Leopold I was just a poor imitator.

   Even my elder sister said that as long as you look at who gets the benefit in the end, you will know who is the hand behind the shady scene.

   Not to mention Leopold I, Louis XIV was not a good man - I don't mean to be disrespectful here, it should be a positive evaluation for the king.

   In the face of the alliance between Leopold I and Mohammed IV, his counterattack was quick and targeted.

Yes, the popes elected by the red princes in Rome are old and timid, but as long as they are people, they all have desires. The original Innocent XI was to become the pope, and the current Alexander VIII—yes An old man who could die at any moment, an old man who had the greatest power in the world, what would he long for?

The continuation of the    family? Glory and power of blood relatives? And... sublimation and merit after death? Even a person as cunning as a fox and as vicious as a tiger like Alexander VI would still hold the hands of the bishop in fear and expectation when he died, repent and plead, not to mention that if he did not become a pope like Alexander VIII, he could only say that he was Mediocre incompetent people?

   But the more mediocre a person is, the more willing they are to risk everything at the last minute.

The cardinals and those who were against Louis XIV made deals with him, with his family, the family got money and positions, he became a pope, but there were so many popes, he had two hundred popes before him , there will be more in the future, his reign will obviously not be too long, one or two years is the limit, he also has no talent, no courage to come up with any policy that can make people shine, he will be a man in the future. Ordinary people with a bewildering look on their faces—like the unknown among the two hundred popes.

Even in a dream, he didn't expect himself to be like St. Peter's. Even the infamous Alexander VI, he couldn't do it, his illegitimate son Pierrot was not like Alexander VI's illegitimate son. As ambitious as Cesare, he thought that the biggest decision he made would not be to question the Ciel of Bourbon's succession to Spain.

  Louis XIV told him that you were wrong.

He can be the second Urban II to revive the authority of the church, or the second Innocent III to raise the authority of the church to the highest position. Even if things go unsatisfactory in the end, he can be The third pope who launched the Crusades dies alongside the first two.

   As many people remember Urban II and Innocent III as Alexander VIII.

  When Elarius said, "As long as you have issued this will, even if you will answer the call of God tomorrow, you can still be ranked among the saints." When Alexander VIII was sure that he could not stand this temptation.

   Although this will can only be regarded as an introduction.

  How difficult is it to integrate the Italian peninsula that has been divided for nearly a thousand years? But for Louis XIV, now is a good time. As the so-called clenched fist can make the flour into a ball, the princes of the Italian peninsula will not compromise without facing a huge pressure that can swallow them all. , it can even be said that even with such pressure, without enough interest temptation, it is difficult for them to work together.

   Now the external pressure and internal temptation are borne by one person, that is the Sultan Mohammed IV of Ottoman Turkey.

Today's Europa people, especially Italians, still have fear of Ottoman Turkey in their hearts. Although they may not admit this, but after the great battle, Louis XIV was keenly aware that a single shadow of Ottoman Turkey might still be enough to cover up An elephant that covers the sky and the earth, but this elephant is too old - or, the "slave" system of Ottoman Turkey has limited its energy and development from the beginning, even if it benefited and became powerful at the earliest, but Unless the courtiers, officers and soldiers of the Sudan are dolls without self, this kind of thinking and behavior of treating all the people under the Sudan as slaves is doomed to collapse this once mighty behemoth.

   Couldn't Mohammed IV and those around him see the benefits of the reforms introduced by Louis XIV? The kings of Europa learned a lot from him, either explicitly or implicitly, but the sultan could not, the sultan could not, he did not even dare to buy too good weapons and equipment, and did not dare to let too many people see the outside, he could only Do your best to pick up what's available, and put them carefully in your court and army.

Perhaps some of the changes that have taken place have given Mohamed IV confidence and made some people timid, but Louis XIV knew very well that it would take him twenty years to take control of the French ship. How could the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which is bigger, more varied, and more complex than France, have undergone earth-shaking changes in such a short period of time?

The system designated by the first sultan came to fruition at this time - there was no systematic organization, no matter the court, the court or the army, only the sultan could issue orders. The result is that even if the sultan is an angelic power, he His will can only reach the small part that he can see, hear, and touch.

   Maybe give him enough time, this will will slowly permeate down like milk poured into the soil, and eventually spread all over the place and reach the bottom, but...

   But these are things that I only realized after a long time, when I was already a seasoned official.

  …

  The Commonwealth of Italy was established shortly after this meeting, and the Duke of Colonna, Duke of Anjou, and Grand Duke of Tuscany were elected King of Italy.

   and, leader of the Tenth Crusade.

  …

   In fact, even at the time, I knew that the young Italian king was not relying on Italians, but French.

Louis XIV insisted on tying the princes of Italy to the chariot of the Federation, not because of their poor fighting power, but to avoid treachery after the war - this kind of thing Italians are quite good at, the so-called covenant To the king, the dukes and princes were better than a piece of paper—the Sun King used the Ottoman Turks to intimidate them, and at the same time he used the Ottoman Turks to tempt them.

   After all, these wicked politicians use the phrases that they can go to heaven if they die, but the real land and ports can.

The tenth crusade is no different from the previous nine. What the enthusiastic and elated guys are looking forward to is looting, occupation and other things that cannot be written on the parchment. The Sun King has promised, in After the jihad was over, he would divide the spoils fairly.

   Booty, no longer the sultan's tent, the horses or the Tatar's stinky boots or the like - but the territory of the Ottoman Turkey.

Venice is of course Crete, Genoa can get back its colonies in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and Naples can not only eliminate the threat of Ottoman Turkey (generally, the Ottomans will land in Naples if they want to attack Italy), but also get more Compensation - Depends on where they can hit.

  Yes, the Sun King never thought at the very beginning that he would just beat those hateful infidels back to their country and stop, no, it should be said that this crusade is to retake those lands that originally belonged to Catholics.

  It was only then that the best hope for him, for Italy, was to expel the Ottoman Turks from the peninsula.

   (end of this chapter)