I Am Louis XIV

It was not that Cosimo III had not urged Ferdinand, hoping that he could return to Italy and his father's side as soon as possible - he originally wanted Ferdinand to study at universities in Versailles and Paris, as well as with the king - especially In the latter case, teaching by words and deeds is not just a noun. What can be learned from the side of Louis XIV is far more useful to a future ruler than what can be learned from any learned scholar in any university. No university can teach a king.

The problem is that things went counterproductive. When Ferdinand arrived in Paris, he simply couldn't care less about life. Although he was not a fool, he lacked ambition. When a young prince like Frederick met Louis XIV, he would develop the idea of ​​"I want to be like this too." "The king's idea", Ferdinand seemed to think that if Luciano, his brother-in-law, had one-tenth of Louis XIV's talents, he would prefer to be a wealthy idler.

"If Luciano, Duke of Colonna, eventually becomes the King of Italy, then I will still be the Grand Duke of Tuscany. If not, the future Grand Duke of Tuscany will still be a descendant of Medici. Regarding this, We don’t need to worry too much.” This is what he said in his letter to Cosimo III. We don’t know what Cosimo III thought of it, but future generations are all moved by this gentleman’s open-mindedness or laziness—— He was well aware of the hedonism pursued by people in peacetime and disdained any hard work. He had no interest in being a Duke or a King. Therefore, he insisted not to return to Italy because he knew very well that once he returned, Once in Italy, he would never think about leaving again. Someone would always push him to the side of Leopold I or Louis XIV.

But can the dwarf between the two giants survive their fight unscathed? Ferdinand didn't think so at all.

Apart from the above reasons, Ferdinand also has another reason why he is unwilling to answer Italy, and that is that his gout symptoms actually improved a lot in Paris and Versailles - gout is a traditional disease of the Medici family, and we now know that this is because It was caused by the patient consuming too much wine and seafood, but people at that time didn't know this - they only used bloodletting and absinthe to treat gout. This method was undoubtedly effective, and the latter came from wizards. The key point is that when a patient is receiving treatment while still drinking a lot of alcohol, eating meat, fish and shellfish, even modern drugs will not help.

Moreover, gout was not regarded as a "bad disease" in this era (for example, leprosy was considered to be contracted by sinners), but gout was regarded as a noble disease because it often appeared in the bodies of princes and nobles. ... There are even Roman doctors who say that the "gout goddess", the daughter of Dionysus, the god of wine, and Aphrodite, the god of love and beauty, gave them "godly diseases" because of her partiality towards outstanding figures, while in the Bible It is also recorded that King Asaph of Judah once suffered from gout - because of this, people suffering from this disease are not very urgent about how to treat them, and may be complacent in private until the pain is unbearable and seriously affects their movement and life. That's when you feel scared.

Even two French kings had severe symptoms of gout. However, at the time of Louis XIV, Louis XIV only tasted champagne and wine occasionally, and was not very keen on sea fish and shellfish - because at this time The preservation methods are not that convenient. It takes a lot of manpower and financial resources to keep sea fish fresh, and meat is also very restrained. In short, in the Palace of Versailles, eating and drinking is not respected, and exquisite and light food is what people like.

When Ferdinand arrived at the Palace of Versailles, he felt quite uncomfortable for a while. More importantly, Versailles was not like Siena or Florence. It was far away from the seaside. He could not eat the fresh seafood as before. Slowly, , his eating habits were also reversed, and his gout condition improved greatly.

Unfortunately, improvement does not mean recovery. He still has frequent attacks in spring and autumn, and sometimes summer. The pain of gout attacks is comparable to any torture. At this time, he cannot think. He was also unable to move, so Ferdinand was deeply puzzled. How could people in the Tuscan court expect a man like him to compete with the healthy and strong Duke of Colonna?

Cosimo III was not ignorant of his eldest son's heart, especially since he himself had been a gout patient for more than thirty years. Compared with his eldest son who was still able to move, he could not even leave his bed. Looking at the Duke of Colonna walking towards him, he felt sad. Although he had initially made up his mind to marry Louis XIV, part of the reason was to prevent the Duchy of Tuscany from being divided up due to the extermination of heirs. -The worst situation is that if he dies, his eldest son dies, and his second son dies too, the Principality of Tuscany ceases to exist - but if the Duke of Colonna is still there, then the Medici bloodline It will still be passed down in the bodies of their descendants. Even if the French king could not make Luciano the ruler of Italy, he could at least ensure that the Duchy of Tuscany continued to exist.

This kind of thing, where the son-in-law finally takes over the power from the father-in-law, is not only common in Italy, but also in France, or any European country. But on the one hand, if you really see the ending, on the other hand, it is not Blame Cosimo III for feeling miserable.

Louis XIV stood up, walked towards Cosimo III, stretched out his hand to shake his hand in a friendly way, and then he looked at a boy next to Cosimo III. He had obvious features of the Medici family. It seems that this is the second son of Cosimo III, Gil.

Gill was less than ten years old this year. At his father's signal, he took a few steps to bow and salute the King of France. In just a few steps, Louis could not help but be slightly surprised, and he also guessed why the Grand Duke of Tuscany was so humble - - Whenever a father or a king has two sons, then the second son is almost a backup for the first son. If the eldest son is not inferior or incompetent, the second son will take his place, but... take a closer look at this child. , although he is still so young, he has already shown signs of unhealthy health. His face is swollen and his steps are hobbled. Because gout will first cause pain in the big toe, he will habitually walk on his heels to avoid causing pain, even if it does not hurt. It would be like this when he was wearing it, which would look ridiculous, and then there was his extraordinarily fat belly. If you removed the other parts, Louis would believe it if you said it was an adult's belly.

The wizards reported that Cosimo III was about to die soon, maybe within the next few months. So, even if his eldest son Ferdinand could return to Siena, no matter how courageous and talented he was, as long as gout attacks, Tuscany is leaderless, and Gil is like this now... Even if he suddenly collapses and goes to heaven with his father, it won't be a surprise. Moreover, he is so young, and at this critical moment, no one can help him. He will be given time to grow up.

Cosimo III was about to apply holy oil, but he still insisted on coming to see Louis XIV. All he expected was those things. Because his physical condition did not allow it, the negotiation between him and Louis was quick and brief, and he did not leave the room again. At that time, all the power in his hands had been transferred to his son-in-law. Although it was the same before, there was no formal procedure, and it was not impossible for someone to trick him. He would take refuge in a monastery in Siena to recuperate. , with his second son Gil.

This is equivalent to the Grand Duke of Tuscany sitting down with France at the card table. It is more reliable than a verbal or written covenant. For the Medici family, this was a big gamble and they lost it. It is worthless. If you win the Medici badge, you can add a crown. After a humble little druggist in Florence became the tyrant of Florence, the Pope, the mother of the Queen of France, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany, he finally became The lord of a country.

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Compared with Cosimo III who acted decisively, the Angevin nobles of Naples were much slower.

The first person of the Angevin dynasty of Naples was Charles I, also known as Saint Louis, the younger brother of Louis IX. After he was named Count of Provence, he participated in the Crusades with his brother, and later reached an agreement with the pope at the time. Together they dealt with their enemy, the then Holy Roman Emperor Conradin, who seized Naples and Sicily from him and became the King of Sicily and Naples. Later, he also became the King of Jerusalem, etc. Not to mention - Spain, or correct In other words, King Pedro III of Aragon has always claimed his right to rule Naples and Sicily.

After that, the Angevin family ruled Naples for about two hundred years. Alfonso V of Aragon inherited the will of his ancestors and finally took Naples and Sicily to his own name. When he died, he gave Sicily to Son - what is now Sicily in Spain - then gave Naples to his illegitimate son Ferdinand I.

Therefore, if you insist on pursuing it, according to canon law, the Spanish rule over Naples is not legal, because illegitimate children have no right to inherit their father's property. This is why France has been seeking the throne of Naples.

But compared to the former Rene of Anjou, Louis XII of Valois... the identity of the Duke of Colonna is not so confident, although he used the identity of his wife as the granddaughter of the Duke of Bourbon-Gaston, But everyone knows that he is where he is now because he has a good father.

The Angevin nobles suffered a severe blow during the reign of Alfonso V, but with the decline of Spain, their power once again reached its peak. Of course, they were willing to accept a descendant of Capet - Capet. The bloodline has never been cut off, but like all the princes, they hold on to the power in their hands and are unwilling to let go.

They said that if Louis XIV came to be the king of Naples, they would be willing to bow their heads, but for such a young man... they were unconvinced.

Again, given enough time, Louis XIV had thousands of ways to slowly wear away their will - after all, he was no longer a novice, right? But now, facing the offensive of the Ottoman Turks - given their tactics of using numbers to suppress the enemy's superiority that have hardly changed for hundreds of thousands of years, the soldiers of Mohammed IV will be like a roaring wave. The peninsula is constantly being flooded, with Naples and Sicily bearing the brunt.

Sicily can be said to be one of the important assets managed by the second son of Louis XIV, and Naples is the place where the eldest son establishes himself as king. It is inevitable that these two places will become battlefields, but they must not be occupied by the Ottoman Turks, otherwise Even if they can be recaptured, the Ottoman Turks will only leave you with a messy white land.

But just like all areas in Italy, the nobles in Naples also work in their own way. They also have people with long-term vision and people with strong discernment. The problem is that no matter how smart people are, once they come into contact with their own interests, they will inevitably become The slowness is disgusting - in Naples, Luciano's policy is not completely impossible to implement, but it is very...very...very slow, and when you want to accuse someone, it is difficult to find the root cause, or, Even if you find the root cause, you will find that the other party has nothing to pursue... After all, everyone's private property should be protected, and this is written in any legal book.

But everyone has to negotiate and negotiate, so time is wasted in vain, and it may even be in vain...

That's why Luciano cried uncontrollably when he saw his father. Young people like him are not afraid of suffering, injury, and fatigue, but they really can't stand such small, complicated and lengthy torture.