I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 208 Henrietta's Persuasion and the Decision of Charles II

   And the messenger that Charles II wanted to see was not one, but two.

Here I want to mention the current situation in the Netherlands. As we all know, the Netherlands did not have a long time of independence. Like all the Netherlands, it originally belonged to the Spanish royal family of the Habsburgs, but because the king and queen of Spain had no relationship with this region. There was not much pity, only blood was sucked on them, so much so that the populace of Holland staged one of the biggest rebellions in 1568, and thereby broke away from Spanish rule.

Now, some people may be surprised, because their leader is none other than Prince William of Orange, and who is this prince, he is first and foremost the heir of the Earl of Nassau, which is located in Rhineland Pfa Ertz, the Count of Nassau naturally also belonged to the then Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. When he was young, he grew up in the palace of the Emperor and his sister Mary, the Viceroy of the Netherlands, in Brussels when he was young. Later, his cousin Rene Sharon was killed in battle, and he inherited the title and domain of the Prince of Orange (Orange is located in the south of France). He first married the daughter of a Dutch lord, and two The union made him the greatest lord of the Netherlands, and when his wife died, he married the daughter of the Elector of Saxony at the age of twenty-eight.

Such a person should have been the most trusted person in the Habsburg family. Who knows, after seven years in power in the three provinces of Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht, in the face of the "Smashing Icon Movement" When the rebel army became more and more in full swing, the Habsburg apostle not only did not stand on the side of the Habsburgs, but on the side of the people. Even at the beginning, the strength of the rebels was far inferior to that of the Spaniards. , William Orange had to flee to the Holy Roman Empire, even so, he still took out all his property, recruited a mercenary army, together with the people of the Netherlands and the enemies of the Habs, dragged the Spaniards into the endless abyss of war.

After eighteen years of this war, William Orange turned from a wealthy country into a family with four walls, but this was not without compensation. The people of the Netherlands have always believed that William Orange was qualified to be the king of the Netherlands, William Orange. Embracing the popular support, he was then assassinated by a fanatical Catholic two days before his coronation.

Here we will mention the reasons for the Dutch rebellion. In addition to the heavy taxation mentioned above, there is also the fact that most of the people of the Netherlands are Protestants, and the Spanish Inquisition not only has the right to judge These infidels still have the right to confiscate all their property. After being constantly exploited, even the last bit of property and the safety of their own and their relatives cannot be guaranteed. It is no wonder that these Netherlandish people decided to rebel against the time. The tyranny of King Philip II of Spain - William Orange was also originally a Catholic, but after deciding to fall to the Netherlands, he converted to Protestantism and became a Protestant.

It's a bit cold to say that William Orange is arguably the most important reason for the independence of the Netherlands. It can be said that without him, there is no Netherlands now, but after his death, the Netherlands seems to immediately Forget his favor—there are two distinct factions in the Netherlands, one of the republicans, the leading members of what is now the Dutch parliament, who believe that any autocratic regime, any autocratic monarch, It is a blasphemy of liberty and justice, an unacceptable existence, and they firmly disagree that the Netherlands should be ruled by a king again; while the other group, those who are more inclined to the monarchy, support William Orange's. Heir, Wilhelm II as ruler of the Netherlands.

The Wilhelm II was naturally quite dissatisfied with the republicans. For him, his father was the founder of Holland, and he and his descendants were also irrefutable rulers of Holland. Louis XIII contacted and intended to use the power of the French to attack those areas that did not obey him, so as to own the entire Netherlands, but before the covenant was reached, he suddenly died of smallpox infection, only twenty years old when he died. At the age of four, his posthumous son came to this world eight days later - it is difficult to say whether there is a dark wizard like Bosch.

It is the heir of William II who can speak in terms of Dutch rule now, William III, who is nineteen years old. His mother is the daughter of Charles I, that is to say, he is the nephew of Charles II. It is a pity that this It does not affect the relationship between Britain and the Netherlands - because the young prince is temporarily unable to grasp the authority that originally belonged to the Orange family, his father died suddenly when he was born, and in order to compete for the guardianship of William III, he also It is the so-called Regency, his grandmother and his mother had an unprecedented war. His grandmother wanted to educate William III in the model of the heir of the Orange family, that is, the king of the Netherlands, while his mother was more willing to let him be by his side. Surrounded by enough Britons... This dissatisfied many people, and then the Elector of Brandenburg and his wife (Sister of William Orange) inserted into it at the behest of Parliament and became the real leader, Since then, William III's educational rights have been transferred to the Dutch Parliament.

The Dutch parliament, which advocates republic and self-government, is not polite to the descendants of the benefactors. It can be said that the Netherlands is the guardian of William III rather than the Netherlands. It is better to say that the Netherlands is the caretaker of William III. Every book, every word said, is subject to close scrutiny.

Not only did the Dutch parliament happily convene a state council in the second year of William II's unexpected death, it announced that the Dutch Republic would no longer set up a unified army (that is, an army loyal to the king), and that the defense affairs of the provinces should be weighed by the provinces themselves. , they abolished the office of power, and excluded all those who supported the Orange family, issued a related decree, deprived the Orange family of political rights, and stipulated that the descendants of the family could never hold public office.

Things changed. After Charles II came to the throne, as the younger sister of Charles II, Mrs. Prince of Orange went to London to congratulate her brother. Who knows, on the way back, this distinguished lady was sick. , had to entrust his son to his elder brother, Charles II. Although Charles II was very cowardly in the face of the British Parliament, he never humiliated his identity when he faced the Dutch Parliament. Although Britain was still the loser in the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the Netherlands did feel the difficulty of this enemy, and at this time, Charles II took the opportunity to pull William out of the control of the Dutch parliament. His guardian thus became his grandmother.

Under the guidance of his grandmother, William III became a strong-willed and ruthless man. He never forgot the glory of his ancestors and the ingratitude of the Dutch. During the long-term ruling process, the originally close provincial alliance gradually appeared to split. The omen, coupled with the moderates in the Netherlands, can also be said to be fueled by the royalists. Even if the republicans in the Netherlands were strictly guarded, William III eventually became a member of the CCP, and he was also a member of the army. Supreme Commander.

It was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, John de Witte and his brother who was hostile to William III. The Prime Minister was an extremely stubborn person and a representative of businessmen, so he ignored William III's concerns about France again and again. , constantly weakening the army under the Prince of Orange, vetoing a series of proposals by Orange and his subordinates to build fortresses, walls, and fortifications, and exerting influence on any decision made by William III so as not to Some failed and so on - they were not stupid, but thought they should be more prepared for the rise of the Orange family than the French army.

  The Prime Minister's messenger and William III's messenger arrived in London on the back and forth, and their missions overlapped to a certain extent, that is, trying to reach a covenant with the United Kingdom to resist the French invasion.

It’s just that compared to the messengers of William III, the messengers of the Dutch Prime Minister are much more slack and perfunctory. Obviously, they also know very well that Charles II, who has been fighting for power with the British Parliament, does not have much worth fighting for. Charles II also saw this. After more than ten years of torture, the "Happy King" was able to quietly send the Prime Minister's messenger away, but he couldn't help but be full of anger - as soon as the messenger left, The sorcerer came to report and told the king that the messenger had gone to Mr. John Locke, who said he was a philosopher, but was in fact the head of the Earl of Shafordsbury. The Count was once a royalist, but since the time of Charles I, he has become a mad rebel. Not only is he always vigilant against the king, whether it is Charles I or Charles II, he is also extremely hostile to France, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands. The messenger went to him, no doubt, to perform his real duty, to make a covenant with the Parliament of England, not with the king.

Charles II laughed angrily, and what made him even more humiliated was that the messenger did the right thing. He now has no real name and doesn't even have his own standing army - and then the messenger of William III gave him another huge blow, Not that the messenger also went to Mr. Locke or any of the rebels, but because Charles II found that he could not help his nephew.

   He has no money, no armaments, and no soldiers. His ideas cannot shake the ideas of the members of the council, and his suggestions will only lead them to make the opposite decisions.

He could not become an enemy of France, not to mention the protection and help that Louis XIV once gave, just because Louis XIV valued and supported the power of the monarch, Charles II, who was also a king, had to shout in his heart, If Louis XIV was thwarted in the war with Holland, would it do him any good? No! The only one who is proud of it is the parliament, and the little power left in his hands will be further taken away!

When the messenger of William III left, the self-conceited well-hidden sight—mixed with pity and disappointment—bruised the heart of Charles II like a rasp, and he nearly cancelled his engagement with Princess Henrietta. The conclave, fortunately, he resisted his impulse. When people lit candles, the wizard brought Princess Henrietta, the sister of Charles II, the same name as their mother, before Charles II ascended the throne, While in exile, she and her mother took shelter under the Queen Mother of France.

Princess Henrietta, also the Duchess of Orleans of France, met Charles II, the first thing was to look at each other's faces, both sides had the same mind, so they laughed together, Charles II looked at Henrietta, his little sister, with ruddy complexion and round limbs, wearing expensive pearls and diamonds, without a sad face, could see that although she was an Englishman and had only one daughter with the Duke of Orleans for the time being, in the In the French court, he did not receive much scrutiny. When he felt relieved, Henrietta was also looking at his brother. Compared with Henrietta, Charles II was much worse than she thought—Charles II Shi was 30 years old, eight years older than Louis XIV, but now he looked like he was eighteen or more years older than Louis XIV, his curly hair covered in hoarfrost, his cloudy eyes drooping A pair of huge eye bags, and the corners of his mouth and eyes are full of mean wrinkles. Although his clothes are luxurious, his arched stomach and thick neck all indicate that his health is worrying.

"Oh, my brother," Henrietta couldn't help but cried out, and she rushed forward and fell into her brother's arms, weeping bitterly: "God testify," she was both sad and angry said, "They tortured you like this!"

Even Charles II couldn't help but be moved. He didn't have much affection for this sister - mainly because they barely met each other. Not long after he ascended the throne in London and brought Henrietta and his mother back to England, Henrietta married to England again, but Henrietta's feelings did not contain too much hypocrisy. Of course, she did not have any deep memories of this brother, but after being in the Louvre for a long time, because of Louis, she The feelings between relatives, and the authority a king should have, couldn't be clearer. When he saw his brother's decadence in this state, he couldn't help showing some true feelings.

Charles II stroked his sister's back, "Come, sit down, my dear sister," he took Henrietta's hand and let her sit beside him, "it's really good to see you like this. The only good thing about this time, you look good," Charles II observed again: "Better than when you were in London."

   "This is because there is no one in Paris who dares to point fingers at the king," Henrietta said.

  Charles II's face sank immediately.

   (end of this chapter)