I Am Louis XIV

"I will grant you an amnesty," Louis XIV told the Genoese, "and the Spanish government will repay you in installments on condition that you become a member of the Italian Confederation."

I raised my head and saw that everyone present straightened their backs unconsciously.

Unlike scenes in plays and novels, in fact, before anything important happens, everyone present at the meeting - those who can speak and make decisions, has made the most detailed possible developments. Exploring and guessing, and even preparing various coping methods and answers to be given. Things like sudden attacks and unsolvable problems will not happen.

So... among these people, I may be the only one who is really confused by the decision made by Cosimo III, my father.

I see, if this is the condition proposed by Louis XIV, the sacrifices of my brother and I will not be considered without reason.

The current forces in Italy, except for those insignificant and small forces, are as I said before. On the mainland of the peninsula, Milan and Naples are the heritage of Spain, and Genoa and Venice maintain a subtle neutrality (originally favoring the Habsburgs). Castle), Tuscany undoubtedly belongs to the sphere of influence of Louis XIV. In addition, there are three islands, from top to bottom, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily. Corsica is the smallest, It belongs to the Genoese, and Sardinia is also a Spanish heritage. Sicily is the largest island, but it belongs to Savoy - which is why the envoy of the Savoy royal family is here and holds a high position.

It is not surprising that Louis XIV, like several French kings before him, wanted to plot the entire peninsula, but if he was not seeking annexation, unification, or even the implementation of his policies and laws on the Italian peninsula, the opposition he encountered would not be surprising. It would be too intense.

My father taught me about the differences between empires, kingdoms, principalities and even principalities, as well as political systems such as federations and confederations. This is the first knowledge that any nobleman needs to know and understand. It is as important and closely connected with inheritance law and heraldry law.

Louis XIV chose to implement a federal system in the Italian peninsula and surrounding islands, which will undoubtedly make many people breathe a sigh of relief. This means that the new king of Italy will not have the power to control the country, nobles and people like the Sun King. Venice, Genoa, Tuscany...etc. will be a member of the Italian Federation in the future, but relatively, they can still have relatively independent legislative, judicial and administrative agencies, and they can still have greater autonomy. Although in the future we We will be called Italians, not Venetians or Tuscans, and we have no right to wage wars or form alliances with other countries - if it were the Renaissance three hundred years ago, maybe some people would not Agreed, but now, when the Italian peninsula almost no longer belongs to the Italians, even Venice and Genoa... they don't have much room to maneuver and struggle.

Not to mention Genoa, this country has a small territory and is always facing threats from Milan and Savoy. Whether it is Habsburg or Bourbon, as long as they are willing, they can conquer this land and its people at a small price at any time. , as for Venice, it was indeed glorious, but after losing Crete, it declined rapidly, especially in order to survive (route), it had to fight the behemoth Ottoman Turkey again and again, constantly The war on the ground consumed its last bit of essence and blood. How could such an empty body withstand the blow of such a ferocious beast as France? In particular, France is not like the Ottomans. Their army can directly attack Venice through Milan or Tuscany. The Venetian army has always been lame. Although its emblem is a lion with wings - but who Everyone knows that this lion has never shown its power on land. As for its navy... Well, at least we can say that it was once powerful.

After Louis XIV promised that he would return Crete to Venice, the Venetians acquiesced in becoming a member of the Commonwealth.

…

Later, someone proposed to add the word "sacred" to the Italian Federation - fortunately, this proposal was rejected. However, when the word "sacred" was mentioned, the expressions of several ambassadors became a little strange.

Although in name, the Federation was established to answer the call of the Roman Church and the Pope to launch the Tenth Holy War to jointly fight against the invasion of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

But we all know that the enemy this federation will eventually face is the Austrian Habsburg, Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire.

Leopold I's biggest bargaining chip may have been his secret alliance with Sultan Mehmet IV of Ottoman Turkey. Don't ask me how I know this. France was the initiator of this kind of thing, and Leopold I was just a poor imitator.

Even my sister said that as long as you look at who gets the benefit in the end, you will know who is the hand behind the scenes.

Not to mention Leopold I, Louis XIV was not a good person - I don't mean any disrespect here, this evaluation should be positive for the king.

Facing the alliance between Leopold I and Mohammed IV, his counterattack was fast and targeted.

Yes, the pope elected by the red princes of Rome is old and timid, but as long as they are human, they all have desires. The original Innocent XI wanted to become the pope, and now Alexander VIII—— For an old man who may die at any time and already has the greatest power in the world, what would he long for?

The continuation of the family? The glory and authority of blood relatives? And...sublimation and achievements after death? Even a man as cunning as a fox and as vicious as a tiger like Alexander VI would still hold the hands of the bishop in fear and expectation when he died, repenting and begging. What's more, if someone like Alexander VIII hadn't become the Pope, he would have been A mediocre and incompetent person?

But the more mediocre people are, the more willing they are to make a desperate move at the last moment.

The cardinals and those who opposed Louis XIV did make deals with him and his family, and the family received money and positions. He became the pope, but there were so many popes. There were two hundred popes before him. , there will be more to come. It is obvious that his reign will not be too long. One or two years is the limit. He has neither the talent nor the courage to propose any policies that will impress people. He will be just a Ordinary people who make people look confused - just like the unknown person among the two hundred popes.

Even in his dreams, he did not expect that he could become a being like St. Peter. Even Alexander VI, who was notorious and criticized by thousands of people, could not do it. His illegitimate son Piero was not the illegitimate son of Alexander VI. For an ambitious man like Cesare, he thought that the biggest decision he would make would not be to question the inheritance of the Charles of Bourbon to Spain.

Louis XIV told him, you are wrong.

He can become the second Urban II to restore the authority of the church, or he can become the second Innocent III to elevate the authority of the church to the highest position. Even if things do not develop satisfactorily in the end, he can also serve as The third pope to launch a crusade lived alongside the first two.

There are as many people who remember Alexander VIII as there are people who remember Urban II and Innocent III.

When Elario said, "As long as you issue this decree, even if you have to answer God's call tomorrow, you can be ranked with the saints." Alexander VIII was sure that he could not stand this temptation.

Although this decree can only be regarded as an introduction.

How difficult is it to integrate the Italian peninsula, which has been divided for nearly a thousand years? But for Louis XIV, now is a good time. As the saying goes, you can mash the flour into a ball by clenching your fist. The princes of the Italian peninsula will not compromise unless they face a huge pressure that can swallow them all. , it can even be said that even with such pressure and without enough temptation of interests, it will be difficult for them to work together.

Now the external pressure and internal temptation are all borne by one person, that is Sultan Mohammed IV of Ottoman Turkey.

Today's Europeans, especially Italians, still have a fear of the Ottoman Turkey. Although they may not admit this, after the great battle, Louis XIV keenly realized that the Ottoman Turkey may still be able to cover up the Ottoman Turkey with a single shadow. The elephant covers the sky and the earth, but this elephant is too old - in other words, the "slave" system of Ottoman Turkey restricted its energy and development from the beginning, even if it benefited and became stronger from it at the earliest, But unless the sultan's ministers, officers, and soldiers are all self-less dolls, this kind of thinking and behavior that regards all people under the sultan as slaves is destined to collapse this once powerful behemoth.

Couldn’t Mohammed IV and those around him see the benefits of the reforms introduced by Louis XIV? Many kings of Europa have learned from him either openly or covertly, but Sudan can't. Sudan can't. He doesn't even dare to buy too good weapons and equipment, and he doesn't dare to let too many people see the outside. He can only He tried his best to pick up the few usable things and carefully placed them in his palace and army.

Perhaps some of the resulting changes gave Mohammed IV confidence and made some people timid, but Louis XIV knew very well that it would take him twenty years to control the French ship. How could the Ottoman-Turkish Empire, which was larger, more varied, and more complex than France, undergo such earth-shaking changes in such a short period of time?

The system designated by the first sultan produced bad results at this time - there was no systematic organization, no matter the court, palace or army, only the sultan could give orders. The result was that even if the sultan was an angelic power, His will can only reach the small part that he can see, hear, and touch.

Maybe if you give him enough time, this will will slowly penetrate downwards like milk poured into the soil, and eventually spread everywhere, reaching the lowest level, but...

But these are things that I didn’t realize until much later, when I was already an experienced official.

…

The Commonwealth of Italy was established shortly after this meeting, and the Dukes of Colonna, Anjou, and the Grand Duke of Tuscany were elected kings of Italy.

and, leader of the Tenth Crusade.

…

In fact, even I knew at the time that the young Italian king relied on not the Italians, but the French.

Louis XIV insisted on bundling the Italian princes into federal chariots, not to count on their pitiful fighting power, but to prevent anyone from betraying their trust after the war - the Italians are quite good at this kind of thing, the so-called To the king, the princes and the princes, the covenant was just better than a piece of paper - the Sun King used the Ottoman Turks to intimidate them, and at the same time he also used the Ottoman Turks to tempt them.

After all, these evil politicians can use the rhetoric of going to heaven if they die, but real land and ports can.

The tenth crusade was no different from the previous nine. What those excited and elated guys were looking forward to were plundering, occupation and other things that could not be written clearly on parchment. The Sun King had promised that in When the holy war is over, he will divide the spoils fairly.

The spoils of war were no longer the Sultan’s tents, horses, or Tatars’ smelly boots—but the territory of the Ottoman Turks.

Venice is of course Crete, Genoa can get back its colonies in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, and Naples can not only eliminate the threat of Ottoman Turkey (generally speaking, if the Ottomans want to attack Italy, they will land in Naples), but also get more Compensation - It depends on where they can hit.

Yes, the Sun King never thought at the beginning that he would just push those hateful pagans back to their country. No, it should be said that this crusade was to regain the lands that originally belonged to the Catholics.

It was just that at that time, the best people expected of him and Italy was to expel the Ottoman Turks from the peninsula.