I Am Louis XIV

"Is it true that to become an emperor or a king, the necessary condition is not blood, not the law, but whether it is shameless enough?" The Duke of Orleans sighed after reading the letter handed to him by the king.

Louis smiled. This is why he has insisted on the loyalty of the Duke of Orleans to him for more than 20 years. No matter what the situation, he never hurt his younger brother and courtiers. That's why he said so presumptuously: "I am also the king. ,” he said, “You scolded me too.”

The Duke of Orleans made a grimace. As a man who was almost forty years old and his daughter was about to marry, this grimace was cute beyond his age.

"But you're right." Louis said, "Whether it's an emperor, a king, or even a governor or a mayor, as long as he is willing to be responsible to his people, he can't be too constrained by morality. "

The Duke of Orleans smiled, and looked at the little prince Louis who was beside him: "Are you a little confused, Your Highness?" Of course he understood, he was the governor of Lorraine and Alsace a few years ago.

Prince Louis thought for a while: "I can probably understand what you mean, but..."

"But there's always a feeling that I can't get over it, right?" The Duke of Orleans took out his gloves and patted his palms a few times as he wished: "Tell him about it, Louis."

The crown prince immediately looked at his father, and of course Louis was willing to give him an answer.

It is not for nothing that the Duke of Orleans said that before, and in this secret letter from King William I of Prussia to King Louis XIV of France, he can be said to be a scoundrel-he accused Louis XIV of Li How obscene and disgusting is Opold I? He asked William I to continue the marriage contract with the daughter of the Duke of Orleans. Except for the agreement, a large part of the princess’s dowry will be used to repay the Duchy of Austria’s debts in the Great War. In addition to the debts owed, everyone knows how much the Duke of Orleans loves this daughter, and Louis XIV also favors this niece. It can be said that for the sake of the princess, they will not do anything to the Principality of Prussia...

In short, Leopold I wanted both money and people - he had the audacity to ask William I of Prussia to stand with him after the marriage contract, and to be an enemy of France, for which he even promised The daughter of the King of Prussia would be the latest marriage partner he would consider if his son Philip were to succeed to the Spanish throne.

Even if William I couldn't be said to be dismissive of this, he didn't dare to believe it, mainly because of the character of Leopold I...Louis XIV's emphasis on and doting on his daughter and niece has always been the Habsburg faction. The target of ridicule—the father in ancient Rome was the master, and he even had the power to buy and sell his children. The father in the Middle Ages was a lord, and he could also control the lives of his children. Fathers in this era are still ashamed of tenderness—but it is undeniable that Louis The tenderness of fourteen pairs of children is like fur covering steel, making him look less cold and aggressive.

Leopold I... especially the eldest princess Antonia, the little queen of Spain, was so bold that she took advantage of the riots in Toledo, the king was seriously ill and dying, and the queen mother ran to Rome overnight when she went to see God one step earlier , asked the Pope to dissolve her engagement with Carlos II on the grounds that there was no consummation of the house, and denied that the boy came from her stomach, which caught everyone by surprise.

Although the Spaniards had red and swollen cheeks, did Leopold I look good? It is not uncommon for fathers to be mean and vicious to their daughters. Many princesses lived alone in the monastery because the king refused to give the dowry, but it became known to the whole world that the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire married his only eight-year-old daughter The monster... it's kind of...

Anyway, William I would never think that he could arouse Leopold I's sympathy more than Princess Antonia. From then on, they could live in peace, but before the bride's dowry was counted, the last layer of fig leaf was torn off there-in the next few decades, or hundreds of years, the princes and princesses of the Kingdom of Prussia Marriage, I'm afraid it won't get much trust on the political level.

But did that get in the way of Leopold I, or rather, the Habsburgs of Austria? , Of course not, not only not, there are many benefits! Without the help brought by the marriage, the future development of the Kingdom of Prussia would inevitably be difficult. As one of the seven electors, Leopold I did not have to worry that it would pose a threat to his descendants.

William I explained the situation very simply. He did not want to be an enemy of France, nor did he want to be an enemy of Austria and its allies. Just look at the map and you will know that he did have difficulties-Prussia is located in the upper right corner of the Holy Roman Empire, and France is separated from Austria and other electors... If he insists on joining the French camp, it is hard to say whether the army can go out of the empire.

"He put this issue in front of us," Prince Louis could not help but said, "just to make us forgive him for his 'powerlessness'."

"It's not an exaggeration to say he's betting on both sides." The Duke of Orleans said: "We can make a bet that if the balance of victory and defeat is tilted towards Party B without limit, he will definitely wake up in time and make the right decision."

"For William I and the Kingdom of Prussia, this is the right approach, but it is a bit shameless." Louis looked at the crown prince: "Now, this is what I want to tell you."

The Dauphin stood up.

"The Duke of Orleans said before that anyone who is an emperor or a king must be so shameless, yes, child, when you are just a person, you can stick to your beliefs, morals, preferences and even eccentricities, but once you are not When one is alone—a husband is responsible for his wife, a father is responsible for his children, a son is responsible for his parents, and a king is responsible for tens of millions of people behind him— For this responsibility, you have to abandon a lot of things, many things that are common to ordinary people, your love, family affection, yuwang, beliefs, and then your morality and thinking as a person..."

He took a deep breath: "I have tried to stick to my bottom line, but there are always people who keep trying to break it." The Duke of Orleans walked over and put his hand on his brother's shoulder, and Louis held his hand: " So, I am also constantly retreating, I am not perfect, boy," he said: "Now I can't hold on much, except for you, my blood relatives, and Bourbon, and all I have is France and Bourbon. My people..."

"Father……"

"Son, I'm not here to talk to you to turn you into a ruthless and cruel person like Leopold I." Louis stretched out his hand to the crown prince, who immediately walked over knowingly, Louis held his younger brother by the hand, Holding his son with one hand: "I will only tell you, in fact, my bottom line is that my relatives are above France," he felt a slight tremor in the hand he was holding, and he looked at the crown prince, comfortingly Smiled: "You should also be aware, my son, there is a saying that there are three kinds of people in the world, men, women and kings, yes, sometimes a ruler is similar to a monster, but this is not taken for granted Yes, I have always believed that even a king should be a person first, completely leaving out emotions, and what remains is only daunting and disgusting."

"Like Carlos II and Leopold I?" Little Louis asked in a low voice.

"That's true of all tyrants," said Louis. "Some of them fail, some of them succeed. I don't want you to be like that, but I want you to understand that some people are like that, and when you deal with them When the time comes, you have to stand in their position and use their brains to think about it, so as not to fall into a passive situation."

"To put it bluntly," added the Duke of Orléans, "a knight knows how to fight a knight, and he also knows how to fight a despicable thief."

"But what if I have to make a choice?" the crown prince asked.

"You can make the decisions you want," Louie said, "but like I said, before you make any decisions, you have to take into account the responsibilities you bear, and you have to remember that you are doing it for Twenty million people of France speak for themselves as Leopold I and King William I of Prussia speak for the millions behind them."

"I think I understand what you mean," said little Louis, "their behavior is indeed shameless, but if it is for their people, this kind of shamelessness is a noble behavior." If he becomes a king in the future, he will It is necessary to make such a choice. In addition, when he faces enemies and allies, he must also take these into consideration-when they love their own people, they must be cruel enough to the people of other countries to maintain The balance among them is why my father said that a king who is not hated and hated by the people of other countries will not be a good king.

There was silence in the room for a while, the crown prince was still chewing and comprehending the teachings of his father and uncle, but Bangtang stepped forward gently: "Please forgive me, I don't want to disturb you, but gentlemen, the people in the Hall of Victory People have been waiting for a long time."

—————

As described before, the Palace of Versailles is a large cross-shaped building. On its first floor, the center is the Hall of Victory, the front is the Grand Gallery, and the left and right sides are Bacchus Hall, Neptune Hall, and Venus Hall. With the Mars Hall, behind it is the Jupiter Hall and the Juno Hall for the king's office. They were talking in the smaller Juno Hall just now.

The reason why Leopold I held a grand banquet was his son's name day, but Louis XIV held this banquet as a prelude to having children-not him, but the young generals who were about to go to war.

Different from the wars of later generations, in this era, generals who are officers and commanders need to take the lead, especially when charging, even for a noble person like the Duke of Orleans. Louis XIV, as a king, also It is also necessary to appear at the forefront of the battle line-so, in the army, the loss rate of nobles is no lower than that of ordinary soldiers, and many families have become extinct because of this.

Therefore, before an imminent war is approaching, the most important thing for the young generals has nothing to do with the military—those who are not married should get married as soon as possible, and those who are married should have children as soon as possible. , the child must also be a boy.

And in this war about the succession of the Spanish throne, the newcomers who are valued by the king and who have been honed and tested are all on the expedition list. Therefore, in addition to prominent people such as Joseph, the grandson of the Duke of Vendôme, and Eugen of Savoy, even Jean Bart, Villars, Seigneur, etc. who have a daughter The nobles' eyes are shining.

In addition to the above five people, there are hundreds of school officers and lieutenants here. Needless to say, the names of the officers who can stand in this hall can be recorded by the king. In terms of 10,000 steps, even if they unfortunately die in battle or become disabled due to injury, the insurance system and generous pensions implemented by the king in the army can also ensure that his wife and children have no worries about food and clothing, and there are also various compensations for military families. Privileges—such as licenses for brewing, leasing, and trading in salt and iron, admission to the military academy without examination, or qualifications to serve as clerks or administrators in post stations, post offices, and other departments established by the king, etc., etc. wait,.

People call it "the king's shelter", and the soldiers will proudly claim that the king is their "father". Their loyalty to Louis XIV may not be inferior to those who followed St. Louis to the Holy Land for pilgrimage and battle. The imperial knights, Louis XIV often called them his "children" without hesitation.

These are enough to attract many nobles outside of Paris and Versailles, or those financial upstarts who are even more disdainful than "robed nobles". You can only start with the army, and these officers often make people misunderstand that the officials of the conscription include their appearance as one of the conditions-but people in this era do recognize that ugly people are cursed by the devil, and their appearance The dignified people are nonsense who have been blessed by angels—anyway, these young men, even if they can’t be called handsome, are extremely upright or majestic, dressed in tailor-made military uniforms specially ordered by the king to have the most exquisite craftsmanship and vision. When they walked into the hall with a calm demeanor and a determined look, the ladies beside them inevitably raised their feather fans, hid their reddish cheeks and shining eyes behind them, and looked at these officers through the gaps—the inside Most likely there are their husbands.

For girls who still have good fantasies, grand, young and strong officers are of course better than potbellied, old officers, and for officers, these ladies either have a brilliant family name or a big A considerable dowry is far more suitable than the women they can choose. They puffed out their chests, their eyes were bright, and they tried their best to put on a perfect posture.

This subtle change could not escape the eyes of the noble ladies, who whispered and were overjoyed, until the double doors from the Victory Hall to the Juno Hall swung open, and the ceremonial officer came out, shouting "The king is coming!"

This is a scene no matter how many times the Duke of Orleans has seen it, he will never get tired of it. The bustling hall suddenly fell silent, the men shook their hats like straw blown by the wind and quickly bowed their bodies, and the ladies looked like delicate The frail Luo Hua hung her head down and opened her skirt on the floor, only the sound of the king's cane hitting the floor could be heard in the room.

The king walked three or five feet before people got up one after another. As soon as they raised their heads, their eyes focused on the king's back—whoever can walk behind the king at this time shows that he is one of the king's favorite people.