I Am Louis XIV

Chapter 564 The King of England bids us farewell (Part 1)

Jean Bart only drove a small fleet in this operation. To put it simply, there was only one battleship, three frigates and a few small ships. The place where the incident occurred was very close to the French port of Calais, and even more so. In the middle of the night with only the moonlight and starlight illuminating the whole operation, the whole operation was very fast, and the people on the ship were all trustworthy subordinates - that is, the former privateer crew members. Most of them were not very aware of the earth-shattering things they had done - - Pirates not only rob merchant ships, but sometimes also serve as maritime mercenaries to kill opponents on behalf of their employers. For regular soldiers, this behavior will make them regret their lives, but they did not take it seriously at all. When they returned to the port, they received the reward. When Jin and Yu were on vacation, they would happily hold hands and lean on each other's shoulders, happily having fun.

This matter did not happen until much later, when the chapel of the St. Nicholas Monastery built by the king on the sand island collapsed. When workers came to repair and rebuild the foundation, they discovered that there was a sarcophagus underground. Inside the sarcophagus is a skeleton. This skeleton has its hands crossed on its chest, pressing a silver badge of the Orange family and a sharp sword. This can prove that those who rest here are not the victims of the pirates - because the pirates will not leave anything valuable to the dead, including gold, silver and weapons. So people followed the clues of the silver badge to find out - although William Orange's direct bloodline has been cut off, the bloodline of the Earl of Nassau has been successfully passed on. After identification, he is indeed an Orangeman. .

Although it is not certain that he is the last member of the Orange family, William III, who suddenly disappeared at the end of the War of Spanish Succession and never appeared again, most people believe that he is - some parliamentarians and clergymen of that era. Even members of the royal family vaguely mentioned in their memoirs, letters to friends, or conversations with their descendants that the Congress at that time had made a resolution that they not only wanted to impeach the crazy Charles II They also wanted to curb the ambitions of James II, Duke of York, who might have become a Catholic. Simply put, they did not want to choose one of the two rotten apples. They set their sights on the other side of the channel, once imprisoned by Charles II. Over the years, William III, who unexpectedly got to know many British ministers and parliamentarians, came into their eyes.

For the sake of Britain and their own power, these parliamentarians boldly decided to welcome William III back to London, let him marry the eldest daughter of James II, and then elect him to become the king of England. As for the other two, who knows? What kind of accident?

But they failed to see William III at the agreed place. Even if they were sure that William III and the envoy boarded the ship in Rotterdam, when the ship left the port, it no longer appeared in people's sight. Disappeared silently, as if it had never existed in this world - the conspiracy of Congress had to come to an abrupt end...

After the body of William III was exhumed, some people said that it might have been done by the then French King Louis XIV. However, some people immediately retorted that the Sun King did not need to do such a thing that would damage his reputation. If he was worried that William III would be resentful for losing the Netherlands, which would directly affect Britain's policy towards France - not to mention whether Congress, which had already completed the writing of the Bill of Rights, would allow him to put personal vendettas before state affairs. He said that his power at that time was still divided between his wife, Queen Mary, who was stillborn, and Queen Mary would not necessarily support such a stupid behavior.

Some people even say that Louis XIV has always respected the power and prestige of the king over the country. When Charles II was still the Duke of Cornwall, only Louis XIV in France was willing to lend a helping hand to him. At that time, the British The brief alliance with France in the Thirty Years' War had ended and the relationship had returned to enemies. Louis XIV did this only because the Duke of Cornwall was the undoubted heir to the throne of England. He was helping a king. Rather than Charles II—these were written by Bishop Mazarin himself in his memoirs and are absolutely infallible.

At the end of the debate, one conclusion was accepted by most people - that is, William III at that time may have been completely tired of the fighting and conspiracy in the world, managed to get rid of the control of the British, and prayed to Louis XIV for asylum, and the merciful The Sun King graciously forgave the sinner and allowed him to spend the rest of his life as an ordinary priest in an unknown monastery.

This is not surprising. It is very common in Europe for monarchs or dukes to escape into monasteries after losing power. It is shocking and inexplicable to be beheaded like Charles I.

Well, let's not think about what William III would have said if he knew what was going on. His death left many people in London sleepless about it.

Among them was Mary, the eldest daughter of James II.

To talk about Mary, we first have to talk about her mother and her maternal grandfather. As we said before, her maternal grandfather, the Earl of Clarendon, was originally a lawyer with a civilian background. He was later promoted to a member of Parliament because of his outstanding talents, and later became the king. Lord Chancellor of Charles I, and Lord Admiral of Charles II. But tracing back to the origin, he is a new rich among the new rich. Even if he is canonized as an earl, he will still not be included in the scope of marriage by his class within three generations.

But his eldest daughter, Anne Hyde, became the wife of the Duke of York, the second heir to the throne. Everyone knew the calculations, transactions and some contents that were too obscure to be mentioned, even if Charles II later claimed, That's because they were in exile at that time, and as the most loyal person among the courtiers (Hyde left the UK with his family at that time and traveled to many places with the Duke of Cornwall), the Earl of Clarendon should receive this Testimonials.

Look, everyone, praise - obviously not for the Duke of York. The Duke of York finally reluctantly accepted this wife because Hyde was already Lord of the Admiralty at that time, and he was eager to take over the authority of his father-in-law. Later, he achieved his goal, but that By that time, Anne Hyde had already died in pain due to constant childbirth and her husband's indifference. The Earl of Clarendon was so full of hatred for this son-in-law that even when Charles II repeatedly wanted to deal with the Duke of York, he did not stop.

Growing up in such a family, you can imagine how difficult it was for Mary. She not only had to protect herself, but also her sister. No one seemed to remember that she was just a girl - her father hated her mother and hated seeing her. To her and her sister, like Charles I, he also hoped to have a son as soon as possible. He ignored his two daughters. Except when he forced them to say mass (Protestants did not say mass), he did not even want to look at them. Mary was only one year younger than the French crown prince and was born in 1962. Her peers had already given birth to several children, but she and her sister were still in the middle of nowhere. It seemed that the final outcome would be a monastery.

With such heavy sorrow and hatred, it is not surprising that she eventually betrayed her father under the instigation of the congressmen. To be on the safe side, she did not tell her sister or anyone around her about this matter, but she really wouldn’t. Does anyone know? She wasn't sure.

In particular, although people did not know what happened to William III, his sudden disappearance was visible to everyone. As a result, the Dutch rebels were leaderless, and the ministers and generals in Utrecht were at a loss. Even The governors of the British provinces of South Holland and Zeeland also urgently sent a secret message to London to seek a way to deal with the matter. This matter could not be concealed under any circumstances, because the Duke of Utrecht was recognized as the Some people believe that this was the British intention to invade Utrecht.

This crime made Charles II and even James II look completely ridiculous. Why would they destroy such a useful puppet by themselves? William III can not only appease the hearts of the Dutch for them, but he can also be hated and cursed by the Dutch on their behalf. If necessary, he will be a perfect scapegoat - so they must find him to avoid this always unruly man. The unruly nephew did something unexpected.

But if you really want to investigate, there is no way to hide the conspiracy of Congress - they were even informed of the conspiracy in advance by the King of France. Charles II and James II failed to notice it before because their war had been moved to In the center of London, that is, in the triangular area formed by Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and St. James's Palace, James II is in St. James's Palace and Charles II is in Buckingham Palace. The distance between them is It only takes about ten minutes to walk, not to mention riding a horse. They and their supporters are already red-eyed, and the Thames River is full of corpses.

Under such circumstances, of course James II couldn't help but care about a nephew thousands of miles away, but he didn't expect that he didn't care, but someone did. After reading the information sent by his subordinates, the former Duke of York, James II now let out a grim laugh: "Oh my God," he said, "I'm not even sitting on the throne."

He stood up and looked at Buckingham Palace not far away. Buckingham Palace was much more brilliant and vast than St. James's Palace, but James II firmly believed that the palace with the same name as him should be able to bring him good luck - the lights and lights of Buckingham Palace Like St. James's Palace, it had not been lit for several days and nights. Presumably Charles II, his brother, had stayed up all night for a long time like him.

He took the information, tore it into pieces, and trampled it under his feet along with the newspaper - the newspaper was clearly accompanied by a picture of King Charles II and the Queen, as well as a cradle. It said that the Queen lost a child at the same time. He also got a child. At this time, it was undoubtedly a blessing from God to the British people, and it meant that Charles II was the chosen one - just like Job, he would receive God's promise to bless his bloodline.

James II took a sip, as if he couldn't express his inner hatred without such rude behavior. The son Charles II got from the devil must be dead, because at this time, he couldn't hide it. It can only be claimed that the queen is pregnant again. A pregnant woman could hardly be seen four or five months ago, and his war with James II lasted only a few days.

"Don't try to defeat me with this." James II said, "Is your wife the only one who can be pregnant?" He immediately ordered his subordinates to say in their newspapers that his wife was also pregnant.

When he didn't notice, the musketeers outside the window and the sound of cannons were becoming sparse. They were fighting fiercely for days. Even if the officers shook their money bags, the soldiers couldn't hold on. The civil war in London was going on. Evolution in the direction of the Spanish succession, that is, from tactics, combat power and combat readiness to perseverance determining everything.

James II once again looked at London shrouded in darkness, then turned and walked towards the bedrooms of his two daughters.

They were all gone, and James II was not surprised, "Then where did they go?"

A maid wanted to speak, but was glared hard by the princess's wet nurse. She flinched for a few seconds, but then stood up tremblingly: "They are in the chapel, Your Majesty." The older wet nurse made a sound Howling, leaping at her, they struggled together, the maid was young, but the wet nurse had a heavy body, and the two were inseparable, until James II impatiently ordered the attendants to pull them apart.

"I remember you," "That's all?"

"Someone else... Your Majesty, went to St. George's Cathedral..." the maid stammered.

James II's face darkened. His second wife, the daughter of the Duke of Modena, was associated with the support of the Duke of Modena, so he left her in St. George's Cathedral to avoid any accidents. It seemed that this The two daughters who were usually lukewarm towards their stepmother also knew how powerful they were and were willing to bow to the "pope's woman" (as they called their stepmother).

If such a thing had happened before he learned of his eldest daughter's betrayal, James II would only be satisfied, feeling that his two stubborn daughters finally began to know how to obey their father. But now he can only laugh angrily, Mary and her sister obviously wanted to use their stepmother's reputation to beg his forgiveness - after all, if the daughter of the Duke of Modena was not their biological mother, she would also be suspected as a stepmother if they were severely punished. It was the evil man who instigated James II to commit murder.

It's a pity that they were wrong. James II was obviously not the kind of person who would be threatened. He rushed into the chapel with his attendants and pulled out his two daughters who were huddled at the feet of the Virgin Mary for shelter. Pull all the way to the square of St. James's Palace.

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