I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 575 Da Kongdai bids us farewell (middle)

"Then this matter..." Elalius asked. Innocent XII was very concerned about this matter. Except for the Catholic king who had the upper hand in the war against Ottoman Turkey for the first time in nearly a hundred years, the Crusaders' Victory would also bring untold wealth and population, as well as important ports and territories—critical for the Church, which had lost France and Spain.

   "No matter what the future holds," said the Duke of Orleans, "if the eyes of these great nobles can be turned abroad, Ludwig I will definitely be willing."

   Little Eugen nodded quickly and heavily, and the little Duke of Enghien also showed a clear look. He had completed all the history courses before, how can the king of France concentrate his royal power? It wasn't because in the Hundred Years' War and the Thirty Years' War, in order to fulfill their obligations, plunder wealth, and invade and occupy territories, the nobles of France often stayed on the battlefield for several years, ten years, or even decades, and their territories were controlled by the king. Officials managed it, and their knights and soldiers became less and less. When they were exhausted and wanted to go home, they found that they had lost the ability to make the king fear.

  Why were the great nobles of Poland able to easily elect and depose the king? It is also because in order to capture slaves (Cossacks and Tatars), suppress the rebellion of serfs, and compete with other nobles, they built their own armed forces - the familiar winged cavalry, yes, the world-famous winged cavalry. Not from Poland, not from the king, but from the Schlachtas.

Before he was injured, Ludwig I was actively contacting the Roman Church and the new king of Italy, intending to use this great cause as a bait to lure the great aristocrats in the country to travel thousands of miles away, on an unfamiliar battlefield. Consume their soldiers, and he can take this rare opportunity to consolidate and develop his own power, and now he can be said to be a great lord that cannot be underestimated, but when these great nobles return, they will find that no matter what Whether it is politics or the military, they have no place to stand.

The best thing is that once this method is adopted, these nobles can't help but be moved, and they can't pick out any mistakes. After all, as a Catholic country, it is a matter of course to respond to the call of the church. From a moral and religious point of view, there is no flaw. - Even if they have believed in everything from nobles to serfs since the fourteenth century - Catholics, Protestants, Eastern zhengists, Yisilanists, and even very friendly to Jews...

As for whether they participated in the Crusades, whether they could obtain the large fortune they wanted, look at the three former knights, especially the Knights Templar in France. What they gathered was even the king coveted. money!

In particular, it is worth mentioning that the great nobles in Poland have been particularly sensitive and eager to money recently, for nothing but because France, the former big buyer of wheat, is gradually getting rid of the war, and the only war of Spanish succession not only Entering the semi-cooling period, it is still playing outside France. France, the Netherlands, Flanders and Lorraine, and America have all grown a lot of wheat, potatoes and corn, and the harvest is quite good, at least New granaries were being built all the time, and the demand for imported grain was slowly dropping. ,

The French can live without the Poles' wheat, the Poles can't stand without the French's china, glass, lace, jewelry... But these things are called luxury goods because they are expensive, not to mention the inside Many things that are easy to wear and tear, such as lace can hardly pass water, glass and porcelain are easily damaged during cleaning and use, except for delicate jewelry... No, these jewelry also need maintenance, and maintenance costs are high , but without maintenance, gold will quickly become dull, gems will turn black, pearls will turn yellow, and silver will turn black in a few days.

   These all require money, not wheat.

When the agents of these great nobles shook their heads and reported to them, they were not angry, but their anger was useless. They complained to Ludwig I, or forced him to ask the French merchants to continue buying Their wheat yielded little success, but even if Ludwig I could do it, he would not satisfy the hopes of these great nobles, otherwise how would he lead them to where they wanted?

While he "managed" to persuade some French merchants to continue to buy Polish wheat, he told these great nobles that he was intending to join the Tenth Crusade to refill the hole that he had made from building an army. Hearing what he said, some of the great nobles were immediately moved. After some consideration, some people felt that they could try it. If Ludwig I was not injured, this plan may have progressed to the final stage. , they can see the winged cavalry flamboyantly in Rome.

"But the first thing is to send the Duke of Enghien to Warsaw first." The Duke of Orleans said that once Ludwig I died, they had to make sure that the elected Polish king was still Bourbon, that is, Henry Bourne On the side, the little Duke of Enghien should also appear at the coronation ceremony immediately as his only heir - it will also make sense when he wants to "inherit" this position in the future.

   Otherwise, those with ulterior motives will surely say that he is not a Pole, and he was not present when the Polish king was crowned.

"How shall we go?" asked Eugen the Younger. To go to Poland, they must pass through the entire Holy Roman Empire, or from the region that runs through the turbulent Hungary, or around France, and from the North Sea through Denmark and Denmark by boat. Norway, and only after arriving in Sweden went to Poland.

  The Duke of Orleans only pondered for a while before deciding: "Follow the Holy Roman Emperor's team."

It is not uncommon for a    mission to follow its own or allied troops to the next destination after completing a mission. Although the Habsburgs were in decline, in order not to desecrate the majesty of the emperor, the elector and the Austrians prepared an army of about five thousand men for his majesty, and escorted him all the way from Vienna to Rome, and from there. Rome goes back to Vienna.

   An army of 5,000 people can play a deterrent role even on the battlefield, not to mention just to ensure the safety of a small group of people? Their journey was unexpectedly calm and peaceful, perhaps because the emperor and the other electors also did not want to speak to the French for a while—except King William I of Prussia, who always called the Duke of Orleans: "Best in-laws! "He shouted to little Eugen: "What a young man with a bright future!" Although he didn't recognize the young Duke of Enghien, he also said sincerely after knowing that he was a Bourbon: "Every Bourbon is loved by God. !"

Then, he told the duke of Orleans a lot about the lord of the county, thanking him again and again for marrying such a good daughter to his son, and he invited the duke to breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, and also Hunting, dancing together—when they parted ways in Prague, William I, with an attitude of absolutely not allowing him to refuse, forcibly left half of his guards, that is, five hundred people, all capable young men, They've all been on the battlefield and killed people.

   "This majesty has found something." Little Eugen asked.

"There is no doubt," said the Duke of Orleans helplessly, "I used to think that Frederick... Now I think about it, it is the father who has the son." Known as the road of Adonis, the various actions of the Prince of Prussia, Frederick, are indispensable.

"Be careful!"

The attendant walking in front of them suddenly shouted, and little Eugen immediately took hold of the short spear, but the Duke of Orleans grabbed him and pulled him back so hard that he almost dislocated him. Eugen only had time to open his mouth, and before he could ask any questions, he saw the bright moonlight suddenly dim, and a large black thing was pouring down from the heights, and then he heard a cry - "Dump the feces. , pedestrians avoid!"

Realizing what was falling from the sky, splashing on the ground, and sticking to their boots and trousers and cloaks, little Eugen could not help but let out half a curse, half because of the stench It was frantically pouring into their mouths and noses, and the Duke of Orleans even coughed, and the French attendants around them couldn't help but show a disgusting look.

The attendant who opened the way for them was from Prague, which was not surprising, but he still scurried into the darkness, and after a while, he pulled a skinny woman down, and he whipped the scabbard and beat him fiercely. He got up and beat the woman screaming - little Eugen looked over and saw black marks on the woman's head and face by the silvery moonlight. He had seen injuries and deaths, of course. Knowing that it was blood, he glanced at the person beside him, who immediately stepped forward knowingly, stopped the Prague man, and gave him and the woman a silver coin each.

   Little Eugen breathed a sigh of relief. Although...it was very unbearable and unpleasant, but it was not yet to the point of killing people.

   They carefully bypassed the place before returning to the official residence where they were temporarily staying.

   "This is Prague, right?" While bathing in the room next to the bedroom with the Duke of Orleans, behind the steaming white mist, little Eugen couldn't help but say, "How... how could it be like this?"

Prague was only eighty leagues from Vienna, but when he was in Vienna, he hardly noticed any inconveniences in his daily life—not only that Mrs. Olympia thought Vienna was like Paris, and any Frenchman who has been there People in Paris, France, will feel that Vienna is like Paris, as if returning to their homeland. There are things in Paris and Versailles, and Vienna has them. The gas lamps that never sleep, the clean and wide streets, the diversion of people and horses, the lush and prosperous street trees on both sides, the small But there are exquisite gardens, neat and bright residential areas, splendid palaces and majestic cathedrals, complete water and sewage systems, and everyone dresses gorgeously and behaves elegantly.

"You don't think Leopold I is worthless now, do you?" The Duke of Orleans frowned subconsciously. The whole of Prague couldn't find a fully equipped bathroom. They still use a bathtub with water in the bathtub. It was sent by the servants to bring it up from the downstairs little by little, then poured it into a cauldron in the fireplace to heat it, and poured it into a tub for them to use, this tub—apparently so old, the Duke tried his best not to think that it was sent in the first place. No matter what it is used for, I can't stand the roughness of it - even if it is covered with silk, I can feel the dense small thorns poking at his thigh.

"No one knows better than me how much His Majesty the King spends on public facilities in Paris and Versailles," said the Duke of Orleans, propping himself up with his arms through gritted teeth: "Well, use that money for that. It's enough to have an army."

   "Your army," he added.

   Little Eugen couldn't help showing a look of awe.

   "So don't think of your father, I mean Leopold I was nothing, in fact, if he had been born earlier or later, he would have been a good emperor."

The Duke of Orleans said: "Do you think any monarch, lord or official can make a fake like Vienna? You are wrong, stupid boy, my brother used his own money, Leopold De I, too, but those people, if you give them a chance to make a name for themselves, they will naturally be overjoyed, but you have to say that this money will be used for people's livelihood, sorry, this is absolutely impossible, if any of them Some people are willing to use it in the army, or use it to pay the salaries of officials, they can be said to be a good person, and in the end, most of them are used to fill their personal desires."

   Little Eugen said nothing.

   "Eighty leagues," said the Duke of Orleans, "is enough to change--no, keep many things the same."

   "But... don't they feel guilty?" Little Eugen asked, "They can make their people better off."

"How are the lowly commoners," said the Duke of Orleans, calmly and cruelly: "have anything to do with them? Why should they care that this will neither make them prosperous nor make them rich. little things?"

Little Eugen knew that the duke was right, but he still remembered the sleepless nights in Vienna, and those ordinary people who came to see off Leopold I. They were not officials or nobles. Although they were neatly dressed, they also looked It can be concluded that they are not rich people. In the era of inconvenient transportation, even if they live in the suburbs of Vienna, it takes a lot of time and money, but they still come and are crowded on the streets of Vienna.

  Prague is only eighty miles from Vienna.

   Little Eugen suddenly understood what Louis XIV meant. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have understood the admiration of the Sun King and his younger brother for Leopold I.

   (end of this chapter)