I Am Louis XIV

"Are you going to rest now?" Bontang asked.

"No hurry," said Louie, "I think little Louis may come to see me soon."

If anyone wants to see the king, they all need to make a request, wait for the arrangement, and then wait. Only the king's mother, younger brother, wife and children do not need this procedure. Sure enough, the crown prince knocked on the door ten minutes later and asked himself respectfully May I speak with His Majesty for a while.

He was welcomed into the room by Bontang, and as soon as he saw hot black tea and two cups on the table, he knew that all his thoughts were within his father's expectations. Come,

"Hey, why are you so shy, my child, didn't you act very brave just now?" Louis teased, while reaching out his hand to signal his son to sit down beside him.

"But I don't rely on my talent or talent," Little Louis said distressedly after sitting down, holding a teacup, "I rely on your authority."

Louis nodded, "Show me."

"What?"

"The things your friends prepared for you." Louis said. Little Louis hesitated for a moment, but he still took it out and handed it to his father. Louis read it slowly as if he were admiring a volume of poetry or a play. it.

Little Louis looked nervously at his father's expression from behind the cup. Louis XIV has been in power for twenty years, and the French royal power has been concentrated to such an extent that even the church cannot restrain the king's decision. Once he is judged useless by the Sun King , or have ulterior motives, no matter what talent or courage you have, don't even think about getting ahead in French politics or the army. It can be said that this group of young people headed by the Marquis de Lafayette is completely using their own future to guarantee the stubbornness of the crown prince. They are a little impulsive and naive, but they are very cute.

Although this speech is very long, it still looks very fast. Louis first gave his son a gentle look to prevent him from being too frightened, "You have a group of good friends."

"Yes, Your Majesty, they are fine young men."

"Don't be nervous," Louis said, "I can see that they are serious and carefully prepared this speech for you." The king could see that they had taken out all the treasures that could be presented to their friends, which was very valuable, and he hoped that little Louis would value this rare friendship—"But you are useless."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I'm useless." Little Louis replied with a trembling voice. He was facing the invisible pressure exerted by Louis XIV. He had seen countless people kneeling and bowing their heads here, but he didn't know it until he felt it himself. How terrifying, this is a Sisyphus-like fear in hell-one mistake, and you will be smashed to pieces: "I chose...another way."

"Why?" Louis asked calmly, almost turning the question into a narrative sentence.

"I just thought of you, father," said little Louis, "a very simple math problem—Your Majesty, the teacher told me that you have to solve hundreds of government affairs and make thousands of decisions a day," he raised Beginning: "You don't start a debate with ministers every time you make a decision...and I am your heir, you should expect me to think and act in your way."

Louis smiled: "So this is your decision, kid, but you still look a little unhappy because you didn't convince them by your own strength."

"Now let me make an analogy," said Louie, "if I wanted you to hunt me a lion, or a bear. Would you go?"

"Yes." Little Louis replied firmly.

"Would you borrow a shotgun from me if your friend could only give you a dagger?"

"Will do!"

"It's not that different," Louis said. "If I were an ordinary father, you could only borrow a shotgun, but I'm a king, and you could borrow my authority. In fact, I am very Glad you can do this, because many rulers are not necessarily stupid, they can even be called smart people, but they just can't determine their position-this is not surprising, many people have such delusions-think I am perfect myself."

"But a king who wants to compare his talents in law and literature with his ministers, and his talents in command and war with his generals, is like a knight who jumps off his horse and compares who can run faster with his horses. It is an extremely ridiculous behavior." Louis said bluntly: "You will be a king in the future, my son, and you will have a vast and rich country, and your people will be as numerous as the stars. There are countless outstanding ones, and what you have to do is to select them and put them in the right place, instead of competing with them for honor and status, just like competing with a horse for the bridle and saddle."

He took a sip of tea and continued: "You have to control them, keep your eyes on the front and look at the original place at all times, you have to make accurate choices, issue clear instructions, and drive the chariot of France to a bright future."

Hearing this, Little Louis couldn't help showing a look of fear: "That's what I'm worried about, father," he said, "How can I always make the right decisions like you?"

"I don't always make the right decisions." To the crown prince's surprise, his father said so confidently: "I have also made wrong judgments, son."

"How is it possible?!" Little Louis almost jumped up from his chair, his eyes widened, and he couldn't believe that the person in front of him was indeed his father, Louis XIV, the Sun King of France.

"I'm just a mortal too, boy." Louis said, "I've made mistakes and hurt others. It's just that some mistakes can be undone, and some can't." He said, "This is the second thing I want to tell you. This is an important thing," he said in a low voice, "never forget that you are just a mortal, you can make mistakes, you have weaknesses, you are not perfect, sometimes, you even have to allow yourself to trample on the bottom line of law and morality, you have to be ruthless Weighing, judging savagely, judging brutally - you have to understand that you are not an omnipotent God, you can only make a choice, between danger and more danger, between cruelty and cruelty, between pain and pain, sometimes Their boundaries are so small, and the time left for you is so short—once you make a mistake, your crime may exceed a hundred times the number of criminals in all prisons combined, because no matter how cruel they are, they cannot Thousands of people died in the decision."

"How dreadful, Your Majesty."

"It's no more terrifying than if you think you're a saint who doesn't make mistakes," Louis said. "If you don't admit that you can make mistakes, you lose the possibility of correcting them." He shook his head: "I know what you are afraid of, but when You have all the power in your hands, and you have to bear all the evil consequences of this power." He shook his son's hand: "For example-this time, you hold my power in your hands, Told them three facts, which the ministers could not deny, yes, boy, France is stronger than Portugal, and I am its master, and you are my heir, and you need not To intimidate and humiliate your wife with those tedious ceremonies, to show your majesty, yes, that is all right, but if your behavior stops there—I shall be disappointed.”

He looked at Little Louis: "...Tell me, what else are you going to do?"

"I...I will give Isabella a secret letter." Little Louis's eyes flashed a trace of astonishment and remorse: "I want to tell her my thoughts right away, before the matter is settled!" He After being reminded by my father, I suddenly realized my mistake: "I want to let her know about this matter immediately! This matter-the one who is most likely to bear the consequences is not me, but her! I... Father, please help me !"

"Okay," Louis said with a smile on his lips: "Until you redeem your mistake... I can ask them to delay the decision on this matter, but if Isabella says no, child, what will you do?" What to do?" He paused: "That would be a very shameful thing, and after that, any decision you make or what you say will probably not be so powerful."

"..." Little Louis stood there with a painful expression on his face: "That's my fault too."

"Yes, it was your fault," said Louie, "but you might be able to redeem it, and that might be the best thing about it."

———————

Bontang held up a stack of "King Bread" and watched little Louis run away in a hurry. He looked at Louis: "What did you do?"

"Give him a little reminder." Louis reached for the bread, Bontang moved the silver tray away, and the king's valet showed disapproval: "If it's the one I thought, you should have reminded him earlier .” Instead of casually mentioning it at this time, and then watching his son’s joke.

"If it weren't for that..." Louis said, but didn't go on. But Bontang has already understood—little Louis is different from Louis XIV. He has not suffered any hardships, and even his only younger brother was born after he became an adult, and he is about to become the king of another country. France is going to prosper Walking on the road of prosperity, there is no enemy worth fearing, and his future is bound to be full of flowers, without any filth and obstacles.

But is this a good thing? Of course not, especially in the future when he will still hold the power that was concentrated to the apex during the period of Louis XIV-Louis is not worried at all that little Louis will become a tyrant like Nero in the future, but he is worried that he will not be able to bear the burden. He collapsed under the pressure and guilt brought by power... Before he became a king, he had to admit that he was just a mortal who could make mistakes.

A mortal who knows that he will make mistakes can only see if he has made a mistake when he looks back at the decisions he has made-otherwise he does not even have this concept, how can he make due judgments?

Even Louis XIV himself... didn't realize what a big mistake he had made until after Mary's death.

But at that time, Louis XIV was only surrounded by his mother and younger brother who needed his care and concern. Bishop Mazarin and other ministers were also teaching a king. When Louis realized that he was just a ignorant mortal, there was no room for redemption.

Bontang put down the tray silently and let the king take a loaf.

———————

Through a wizard that only Louis XIV could drive, Princess Isabella, who was preparing to marry far away in Portugal, received a secret letter from a raven the next night. The secret letter was short, but it also made her heart fluctuate—of course she knew about this ceremony, she had teachers from Portugal and France, as well as senior female officials, and her mother also euphemistically mentioned this test to her ——Perhaps for those ministers, parliamentarians and the king himself, this matter should be taken for granted and not worth mentioning, but for the parties involved...

Isabella's mother was a princess of Savoy, and she went through the same hardships when she married to Portugal. Some people may say, aren't these noble princesses naked under the watchful eyes of the maids when they are bathing and going to bed? But the same thing, driven by malice and goodwill, will have two completely different feelings-even if there are no male officials in the ceremony, only female officials and maids, but it is ridiculous that these maids and female officials from the man's country, It is very likely that she will become the king's "royal wife" in the future.

There are very few kings like Louis XIV, and even fewer royal ladies like the former Madame La Vallière. No one knows that these young women hide behind those harsh eyes when they surround the future queen. What kind of jealousy and hatred are like poisonous stings. Sometimes, before the queen arrives at the church, all kinds of secrets about her body will fly to the whole court and everyone will know. Put privacy in your mouth and chew it repeatedly.

Those female officials and maids who are struggling to climb up will also regard the queen's physical weakness as a weapon to attack the king-no one can be a perfect Virgin Mary, and even the slightest flaws will be eliminated. They exaggerated again and again to arouse the king's dislike of his wife.

Of course Princess Isabella would not be happy to face such a predicament, but Prince Louis Jr. also wrote honestly that if she hadn’t gone through this ceremony, as the first person to try the forbidden fruit, she would later be in the Palace of Versailles, She may have to face many criticisms and attacks on this matter. As a queen from Portugal, she has to bear enough pressure-he doesn't know whether this matter will eventually become the last thing that crushes her a straw.

He apologized to her for failing to consider for a moment how this had affected her—or, rather, wished he had thought it would be good for her, and regretted it, but assured her that Isa Any decision Bella makes will have his full support.

Princess Isabella did not think long, and she wrote back a letter to the Dauphin of France, her future husband.