I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 203 The Triumph of Louis XIV (3)

This bathtub is not sterling silver, but a white fir bathtub covered with a layer of silver foil. In the seventeenth century, the silver foil was not as thin as a cicada's wings, and the surface was not as smooth and flat. In addition, the size of the bathtub that can even accommodate a horse costs at least 100 pounds of silver. Looking at this large and shining bathtub, Louis first laughed, "Why do you think of giving me such a bathtub?" He casually "You know my bathtub is broken?"

   "I don't know, brother," said Philip. "It's just that someone gave me something gratuitous."

What Philip is talking about is an ancient and time-honored tradition. After conquering the city, the mayor must hold the silver key that symbolizes the city's authority to the victor. This silver key is often very large and almost has adult men. The arm is so long, but there is another kind, that is the silver plate of victory. Compared with the key, the silver plate that sometimes even requires two strong soldiers to carry will undoubtedly cost more silver, and it is often engraved on it. The victor's brilliant achievements, in terms of heart and weight, the latter is definitely better than the former.

The number of cities that surrendered to Louis has already exceeded two hands, and the king only got a bunch of silver keys. Now, it is actually the king's younger brother, Philip the Duke of Orleans, who has been in Courdeker, Ghent and Bruch in succession. The land was given a huge silver platter of victory, but these people probably wouldn't have thought that although Philip, Duke of Orleans was a young man, some of the weaknesses of young people - like frivolity, arrogance or innocence are not too much, yes, Everyone says that the Duke of Orleans has been spoiled by the bishop and the queen mother, but, perhaps only the king knows that it is not easy for his brother to grow into what he is now - when almost everyone is encouraging you to be lazy, When playing and not thinking, even with Louis' help and efforts, as long as he dares to relax a little, now... there may be no Duke of Orleans recognized by Viscount Turenne and Prince Condé.

"I really want to see the faces of those people." Louis said, those who were trying to provoke his relationship with his younger brother probably didn't expect that Philip would be able to overcome his own vanity, without the slightest hesitation. He beat it into silver foil and made a huge bathtub for his brother...

"That's it." Philip said cheerfully. They didn't need too many words between their brothers. The king's answer had already given him the best answer. The reputation of the world can never be compared with the trust of his brother. "I Gather those people and let them watch what the craftsmen do, brother, and the faces of other losers are no different."

"You're quite right, we've seen too many of them," said Louis, while Bontang on the other side, after the two distinguished brothers had gone away, was overjoyed to call in his squire, He moved to the room next door to the king's bedroom - Philip looked around with a slightly disturbed expression, and Louis knew at first sight that it would be difficult to hide from him - because of all the peculiarities of the curse of Saint-Denis, not everyone knew it The king had been assassinated once, but the original bedroom was uninhabitable, and it was splattered with filthy paint - it took days to deal with, so the king moved to the right wing of the palace, but the Duke of Orleans knew the palace Etiquette and tradition, so at a glance, this is not supposed to be the place where the king is staying.

  Louis simply talked to Philip about the previous incident. The expression on Philip's face kept changing, and then he complained a little and said that he should also be involved.

  Louis smiled and shook his head, "Don't say that," he said, "Little Louis is not yet ten years old. If something happens to me, you will take care of him and my country on my behalf."

  Philip stopped: "You will live a hundred years, Your Majesty."

   "I hope so," Louis took Philip's hand, and he changed his mind: "You are going back to Paris with me, brother, I think mother, and Henrietta, must miss you very much."

  ———

  The Louvre.

The king's letter was quickly sent to Paris. The queen mother has been safe and healthy recently, but her eyes are not as good as before. The Duchess of Montpensier is obliged to take on the important task of reading the letter for the queen mother. , Queen Mother's two real daughters-in-law, Queen Teresa of Spain, and Henrietta, Duchess of Orleans of England, have to withdraw a stone's throw, allowing the Duchess to occupy the position closest to the Queen Mother, but in the French court, This is what it should be. The Duchess of Montpensier is of Bourbon descent, and the two ladies are only foreigners, and even if they have fathered children for the king and the duke, they are still vaguely excluded.

"Again: about the Duke of Colonna..." The Duchess of Montpensier paused for a moment when she read this. Everyone present knew that the little Duke of Colonna in Italy was in fact the king and Marie. Mancini's illegitimate son, but the king managed to reach an agreement with the Colonna family to replace a son of the Colonna line, thus guaranteeing the unquestionable status of the little Luciano's legitimate son, although he still could not Encroaching on the French throne, but it is said that the king intends to make him inherit Naples. Speaking of which, if the Duke of Colonna can really rule Naples, it may be more acceptable than the former Swedish queen Christina.

But no wife likes her husband's illegitimate child, and the Duchess of Colonna is really aggressive, and she is fighting with the king's royal wife Lavalier and the king's secret lover Madame Milady. As the king's wife, and directly targeting the queen, if the king forgets to go to Calais because of his busy business, she will ask the little duke of Cologne to write to urge him. Once the king goes to Calais, he will not be back for several weeks. Of course, everyone who knows the inside story understands that the king is nothing but appeasement and responsibility for this former lover, but it is true that Queen Teresa has suffered a lot of grievances because of this.

Queen Teresa was very calm, the love and respect she received from Louis gave her enough confidence, the indifference of the Queen Mother, the neglect and precaution of ministers, the whispers, ridicule and temptation of ladies, she did not endure it Have you dealt with it, and she already has a son and a daughter, as long as she keeps herself safe, then everything the king gave her will not be taken back, and even more - Louis is a soft-hearted person, she thought: "Then How about we invite Prince Conte to meet the lord?" she asked tentatively.

The Queen Mother glanced at Teresa in surprise. They wanted to let the Count of D'Artagnan serve as a messenger to meet the Duke of Colonna. The Count of D'Artagnan was the king's close minister and had this qualification, but Prince Conti It is different. First of all, he is a prince after all, and he is also the younger brother of Kong Dai, and he has also traveled to many countries under the king's attention. He has met the kings of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, and reached two important things. Although the covenant with Leopold I is similar to fraud, the engagement of the eldest princess with Karl XI of Sweden does have his unshakable merits, but then again, this candidate seems to be more than Dada The Count of Niang is more suitable. He can be said to be the relative of the Duke of Colonna, because his wife is also one of the Mancini sisters. From the king's point of view, he is also the patriarch of the Duke of Colonna, but, Let's put it this way, the Count of D'Artagnan will go down a little, and if the Prince of Conti is the messenger, the people in the French court will all look at the Italian Duke.

  Teresa looked at the ladies calmly. She didn't know what the Queen Mother and them would think, but whether as a father or as a king, Louis would be happy.

   "That's it." The Queen Mother made the final decision.

  ———

At this time, the king who was considered by the queen to be merciful and kind was telling Bontang that he hoped to see the silver plate of victory that the Flemish people had dedicated to him before returning to Paris, he said with a smile: " Unless they don't think my exploits are brilliant enough," he said, "and remind them that as a king I seem to prefer gold to silver."

Bontang has nothing to say. For a king, asking for bribes and offerings outright seems like a bit of that... But Louis was never the kind of person who would change his mind for the sake of fame, and sat by the king's side. Brother Wang has laughed unceremoniously. I don't know who provided these Flanders with such a trick. Perhaps for them, this disparity in treatment will inevitably make the king doubt himself. His younger brother, and then deprived the Duke of Orleans of his military power, treated him coldly or even exiled him back to Orleans, they would probably never believe that in the face of the throne, there are still people who can still trust each other - and Louis's move, although it is a loss of grace, can also It is another strong and direct blow - these Flemish people, it is a little difficult to take out the silver plate that was dedicated to the Duke of Orleans, and now the king asks for a gold plate... I am afraid that the Marquis of Lois and the Mr. Colbert needn't worry too much about the supply these months.

In addition, in order to offer such a gift, the people of Flanders will inevitably be exploited and oppressed again. Their hatred for King Louis XIV of France will only deepen, but it must be said that the king treated them kindly, Will they be grateful and take Bourbon's rule in peace? Just look at Lorraine and Alsace. After returning from there, he also talked to his brother about his worries about the expelled Lorraine and Alsace. What did his brother say?

  The hatred of the enemy is the best compliment to a king.

Moreover, the cities conquered by the king, Charleroi, Atre, Lille, Brussels, etc., their resentment will not only go against the French, but also against Ghent and Coudker, after all They got off to a good start...

Duke Philip smiled and watched Bontang resign. Bontang can be said to be an invisible high-ranking minister by Louis' side. He is the king's tongue. Presumably those Flemish people will eventually give in - after all, Louis also said, If they feel that his achievements are not enough for a silver plate, the king can add a little more. He still has nearly 50,000 soldiers here... Seriously, the king's new army is already much better than the mercenaries in previous wars, at least They don't loot and rape, and the residents who are driven away are also allowed to take their belongings. A golden plate of victory is not impossible, just a resounding sound for those with ulterior motives. Slap it.

As Philip thought, the Flanders finally gave in. They had to send a pure gold victory tray. It was oval, three feet long and two feet wide. This is not something that can be easily carried by two people. The weight of it - and it is not something a city can afford, fortunately the king did not push too hard, looked at it, and accepted it happily, although the Flemish people still played a little trick - it stands to reason that on the tray It should be Louis's exploits in the war, but speaking of this, the first expedition of the French king was Flanders, so they carved a picture of Apollo kissing Cassandra on the tray.

Cassandra is the princess of the famous city of Troy, she slept peacefully in Apollo's temple, was kissed by Apollo, and was endowed with the power of prophecy, but later she arrogantly rejected Apollo's courtship, so that Apollo Luo cursed her and said that her prophecy would not be believed by anyone, so that when the Trojan War was about to end, although she tried her best to dissuade the Trojans from dragging the Trojan horse into the city, no one was willing to believe her...

The personal coat of arms of Louis XIV is the sun. Here you can think of Flanders as Troy, or France as Troy. You can explain it any way you want, but what makes them stunned is that not only does France have a not very particular There is also a king who is not very particular. Although he accepted the gift, he immediately gave it to the Marquis of Lois and asked him to smash it and exchange it for military supplies.

  The Marquis of Lois was reluctant: "Your Majesty, it would be great to show this golden plate to people in a triumphal ceremony."

"We will have more golden plates," the king comforted him. "I will set up a special exhibition room at Versailles, and then appoint you to be the manager of it, and you can see it as you like. "

The Marquis of Lois rolled his eyes not so respectfully. He had been with the king for a long time. He also knew that his king was not the kind of small-hearted villain. The king would not take such petty actions. , even seemed close, and sure enough, the king seemed to apologize and put a bunch of grapes in the arms of the Marquis of Lois - but when Lois came out of the door, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. His father was an army officer. Minister, the king's thoughts on Versailles cannot go beyond this old fox. Of course, he knows that Versailles will be the political center of France in the future. When the king said this, he is undoubtedly promising that Versailles will soon have a room for him.

   "Did you promise the Marquis of Lois?" Bontang said as he came in: "He looks as if he just stole a chicken."

   "That's what he deserves." The king said, "Whose letter is it?"

   Bontang offered the letter in his hand: "It's from Paris."

   "Oh, it looks like they should all be arranged," said the king, taking it and opening it with a letter opener. "Will there be a problem? Versailles, I mean?"

   "They are busy day and night."

   "I may have to let you go first, Bontang," said the king, "I don't want anything to go wrong."

  This triumphal ceremony, the king is preparing to hold it in the new palace of Versailles.

   (end of this chapter)