I Am Louis XIV

The room where Cosimo III and his son Ferdinand lived was Cosimo III's favorite room. Unsurprisingly, it was full of the Medici's luxury and boasting of art. There were paintings by Raphael and Daphne hanging on the wall. There are paintings by Michelangelo and Titian and other masters. There are frescoes by Michelangelo and his disciples on the ceiling. There are also exquisite sculptures and gorgeous gold and silver vessels in the corners. The chairs and curtains on the windows are all made of gold velvet. The floor The silk carpet on the top comes from Istanbul, and the twelve candle lamp holders on the top come from Lorraine, France. The prismatic glass lampshade above reflects countless brilliant colors of light. Anyone who enters this room can't help but feel... Dazzled by it.

Ferdinand's eyes fell on a painting, which was Raphael's "Lady with a Veil". When his mother left Florence, she did not think of taking any of the three children with her, but she remembered secretly leaving them in her luggage. She hid this painting in her pocket, and it was found out... He was already nine years old at the time. In some cases, adult ceremonies could be held in advance. She probably didn't expect how embarrassed her eldest son would be. His sister and The younger brother could only cry. He stood numbly in front of his furious father, giving up the last hope for family affection.

Cosimo III probably would not have thought that his seemingly rude and carefree eldest son actually had a sensitive and delicate heart. The reason why he was determined to leave Florence, leave Italy, go to France, Paris and Versailles was because of the disgust in his heart. Looking at this city that is becoming more and more lifeless, like a pool of stagnant water, breeding rancid moss and sticky foam, there is also a longing for Paris, known as the second Renaissance center, and for Versailles, known as heaven on earth. Curious, there is also Louis XIV.

Louis XIV, the Sun King, was rumored to be famous, but Ferdinand was full of longing for the tenderness between him and his two sons. It can be said that Louis XIV, a Frenchman, became what he imagined. My father is gentle, yet dignified, understanding, yet not indulgent.

Little Louis and the Duke of Colonna, a legitimate son and an illegitimate son, are of the same age. Logically speaking, their relationship would not be very good, but now they are like real brothers. Their father must have spent a lot of thought on it. Of course, , you can say that this is a political method-King Louis XIV was not the first to use illegitimate children to expand his power and territory, and he will not be the last, but how he got along with the Duke of Colonna, and the king Ferdinand saw how the prince and young Louis got along with each other. People could say that Louis XIV was ambitious, but true feelings could not be faked.

It's like walking on a cold winter night and seeing a warm and bright room with a roaring fire. Even if you can't go in, it's nice to lean against the window to get some weak heat and light. Ferdinand accepted it. Little Louis's invitation was more because he wanted to see more of this scene. What's more, once he came to Versailles, in addition to his identity as the son of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he was also a close relative. Little Louis said, His chambers would be prepared on one side of his chamber, and it was known that the Dauphin's chambers were never very far from those of His Majesty the King.

"I will not change my decision." Ferdinand said, moving his eyes from the portrait and placing it on the carpet. The silk carpet that could almost be compared with the same weight of silver was destroyed by the anger of Cosimo III. The mulled wine in the thrown cup was stained, but it didn't matter. There were hundreds of similar silk carpets in the Pitti Palace, which could be exchanged at any time - he said before Cosimo III became furious again: "But I can stay in Florence, wait until the French are gone, and I will meet the daughter of the Grand Duke of Bavaria, and then... I think the engagement negotiations will not take too long. I want to go to Versailles before winter comes. Father, little Louis and I said, in winter, ice will freeze on the Grand Canal of Versailles," he said leisurely: "The ice layer is not very thick, but after spreading salt, they can freeze stronger, and we can play sledding and skating... "

"You have come of age." Cosimo III said gloomily.

"Where I am has no hindrance to my marriage," Ferdinand said: "Just like you and my mother, you seemed to be inseparable from the first day of your marriage, but it didn't affect the fact that you had three children.

"You don't need to comment on my marriage to your mother." Cosimo III hesitated for a while, and his weak character once again took over: "If nothing goes wrong with the subsequent marriage, you can accompany the Duke of Colonna and your Sister, go back to Paris or Versailles together, but I can only give you one year."

Ferdinand nodded indifferently. Face to face, Cosimo III couldn't do anything to him. A hundred miles away, in another country, what could the Grand Duke do? He did not think that he would need to pay his own way in Versailles. Everyone knew that Louis XIV was wealthy and generous. He is also his son's brother-in-law.

"Then I'll take my leave first. Oh, by the way," Ferdinand raised a printed book in his hand, "I still have something to talk to you about, father."

——————

At this time Louis and little Louis had returned to the Pitti Palace. They lived in the best room of course. When they opened the window, they could see the beautiful Burberry hills. The locations of Pitti Palace and Versailles are 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 Unlike Viles, where gas lamps are lit at night, there are no lights at night. The cobalt blue sky shows the dark silhouette of the hills. The beautiful scenery during the day is suffocating and depressing at night.

Although he knew that Mrs. Miledy had already made arrangements to protect those unfortunate Jews, the crown prince, young Louis, was still worried and only used a little bread for dinner. Louis XIV did not force him to eat, but only ordered Bontang to send a stack of small bread. Biscuits, he and little Louis were sitting in front of the fireplace, and they could grab them to eat while they were finishing their government affairs and homework for the day.

"Father," little Louis couldn't help but ask after absentmindedly copying a few articles, "has your envoy already gone to ask the Grand Duke about this matter?"

Louis XIV touched his chin. Among the heavy government affairs, it was interesting to occasionally take some time to tease his son: "What answer do you think Cosimo III will give me?"

Little Louis hesitated for a moment: "If Ferdinand hadn't mentioned this to his father... I think it wouldn't be too difficult."

Huygens had been working hard to raise ransom before, which meant that the people in the square could still be redeemed with ransom, but Ferdinand, although he did not get along with the son of the Grand Duke for a long time, not only accepted the king's relationship with him in Versailles. How could the Crown Prince, who had received the education of a teacher and the guidance of a noble lady, not know how to guess people's hearts? He immediately saw that the relationship between Ferdinand and Cosimo III was very bad. Cosimo III was not a good ruler, nor was he a good father. Unlike Louis XIV, Louis XIV was certainly He has been under great pressure since he was a child, but he never unreasonably transfers this pressure to the people around him, including his subjects.

A father like Cosimo III undoubtedly made little Louis feel strange, but after going through the battlefield, this level of evil would not make little Louis fuss. He was really out of compassion, and maybe there was a little bit of politics that even he himself didn't know about. It was instinct to invite Ferdinand to Paris. In the heart of little Louis, coming to Paris and Versailles did not mean that Ferdinand would abandon his studies and abandon his country. It was 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 Grand Duke reject my envoy once Ferdinand mentioned it?" Louis continued to ask with interest.

"Because... Cosimo III is not a tolerant person like you. He - he seems smooth, but in fact he will not give in on some issues, especially those that touch his bottom line, such as Margaret County. Lord," the crown prince, Little Louis, analyzed slowly. Louis did not urge him, but only pushed the cookie plate forward: "The issue between him and Princess Margaret should not have appeared on the negotiation table. "He glanced at his father, and Louis nodded, indicating that he understood what he meant - is there a happy political marriage? Almost none. Treating each other indifferently is considered good. In history, there are husbands who kill their wives, and there are wives who kill their husbands, but these are almost all directly related to royal power, inheritance rights or territory, just like lions and tigers biting each other. , the problems Cosimo III encountered - his wife did not love him, loved vanity, squandered wantonly, stole her husband's property, etc., could not be compared with the former, and as long as he paid a little attention to France, he knew that Louis X As much as the four pairs of Duke Gaston and his daughters except the Duchess of Montpensier hated him, he could have used the simplest method - that is, let the guards arrest Princess Margaret and put her in a guardhouse. In the strict monastery, it was common for women to enter the monastery (even if she was still married). He did not need to pay more than a hundred livres. More importantly, this incident also made Louis The Fourteenth saw his weakness, and then there was a marriage contract between the Duke of Colonna and the daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

"Go on," Louis XIV encouraged.

"He cannot hold power, love, or a chaste wife, and his mother... doesn't have much love for him. He is quite alienated and not close to his children. He is surrounded by incompetent little people. "Humans," Little Louis emphasized: "Not only are they despicable, but they are also useless. You told me that when a person lives in this world, he always has needs, and these needs increase step by step. , the Grand Duke has no worries about food and clothing, and there is no lack of people's recognition of him - he is the ruler here after all, but he is emotionally empty, and this emptiness must be made up for. Mrs. Milady mentioned faith and morality before - she I haven’t finished, but I can guess that Cosimo III has now invested almost all his emotions in his faith, and in order to show his piety, he would not hesitate to sacrifice an entire principality on the altar.”

"Of course he would hope that his heir would behave like him," said little Louis. "So when the student said that Ferdinand went to the Grand Duke to ask for an amnesty for the Jews, the Grand Duke would not only refuse to give it, but would even become furious. , because...because his heir has been bewitched and is walking on the path of deviance - he will definitely order the soldiers to execute those people immediately!"

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

"But you will definitely find a way, right?" Little Louis said with confidence.

"That depends on Mr. Spinoza."

"Hey, could Mr. Spinoza's knowledge actually impress Cosimo III?" Little Louis asked in surprise.

Louis laughed loudly, "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 a humble background is captured, he will most likely be captured. Kill him immediately, but a knight or a general, even if his captor does not accept redemption and is unwilling to forgive, he will not kill him so simply."

"Mr. Spinoza..."

"Mr. Spinoza... do you know how he went from Amsterdam to The Hague?" Louis XIV did not wait for little Louis' answer: "He was born in a wealthy Jewish family. He was intelligent by nature and After receiving a systematic education, his future was as bright as the rising sun when he was born, but the problem is that he is too keen. You have to know, my child, when a person can see things within a year, he is a A wise man; when he can see things within ten years, he is a wise man; when he can see things within a hundred years, he is a saint - but if he can see things within a thousand years, he is a wise man. "It's a matter of guilt," he said a little helplessly: "That's an out-and-out Satan."

"Although what he saw was only a glimpse of a leopard in a tube, as little as sand between fingers, but this, like wildfire, can completely destroy the current religious system - I can't tell you, because your current thinking is not yet mature. , will be greatly affected," Louis continued: "But you have to remember, I am talking about all religious systems now."

This conclusion made little Louis gasp.

"Do you know why even though he was publicly expelled by the Judean Church and couldn't even get a foothold in Amsterdam and had to go to The Hague to grind lenses, the Roman Church didn't want him?" Louis picked up a piece of biscuit and put it in little Louis' mouth. "Because they don't want more people to know about him."

"It actually...has reached this level..." Little Louis subconsciously took a bite of the biscuit: "But if you are willing to tolerate him, 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, there is nothing I can do."

"Anyway, Mr. Spinoza was already in Paris at that time, right." Little Louis said, and he no longer pursued what Louis was unwilling to tell him: "So, Spinoza is different from other people, even other people." People will be scrutinized again because of him, so we have a little time, but how do we convince Cosimo III?"

"To be honest," Louis replied, "I do have a candidate, but I just don't know if he is willing to speak for me."

————

How to convince Cosimo III is indeed a problem.

As expected, Louis XIV's envoy was politely rejected. If it was just a group of Jews, Cosimo III would not care about pardoning them, but if Spinoza was among them, it would be a different matter. Spinoza's name It is only passed down from the mouths of some people, but his theory is indeed very provocative - Clement X once said that his sin was a hundred times worse than Martin Luther because his articles were too easy to confuse. It's someone else, not just a young man. Don't forget, the Elector of Brandenburg also wanted to hire him before.

Cosimo III directly threw the scroll into the fireplace to avoid being tempted, and then asked the soldiers to move all the Jews in the square to a Medici manor, which was located in Artimino. A square castle is suitable for imprisoning criminals.

Cosimo III originally wanted to burn these terrible heretics himself, but he fell back into his old habit of hesitation, because he remembered that Spinoza also had supporters, and he had received support in Amsterdam, The Hague, and Florence. Silent asylum, and Louis XIV has also made demands for redemption from him. If he not only did not agree, but instead executed Spinoza, would those who admired Spinoza have a crush on him? Some bad thoughts?

He is a devout believer and naturally knows how far people will fight for their beliefs.

But the Jesuit monks may have known that Spinoza was here, and Innocent XI of Rome would also have known. Perhaps, he should still hand over Spinoza?

While waiting for his judges to submit evidence and confessions to him, he drank wine to eliminate his worries. As a result, early the next morning, he suffered from gout.

Anyone who has suffered from gout knows how torturous a gout attack can be. Cosimo III had no choice but to close the door and call a doctor to give him bloodletting treatment. Originally, there were wizards in Pitti Palace, but since Cosimo III decided In order to use religion to numb himself and relieve the pain, he did not see any wizards and only applied ointments from wizards when necessary. It was for this reason that his gout was getting worse.

Fortunately, after talking to him, Ferdinand stopped wandering around and seemed to really concentrate on waiting for the visit of Leopold I's envoy. Cosimo III also asked his brother Francesco to come to Piedmont. Di Gong came to keep an eye on Ferdinand to avoid any accidents.

The trouble is that his illness also caused Louis XIV to delay his trip. After all, it is very rude to leave a place without saying a formal farewell to the host.