I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 266 The Value of Mrs. Montespan (6)

Poland-Lithuania was once a vast country with a large population, many of whom migrated from various places to the Great Plains, including Cossacks (aka free men), Tatars and Hungarians , the Tatars in Lipka migrated there in the fourteenth century, they were neither Catholic nor Orthodox, but the same faith as the Austro-Turks, but because Poland has always been a multi-faith country, the king has always They are very tolerant, so they have a high tolerance for the great Polish nobles, because after leaving Poland, no matter where they go, unless they go to Ottoman Turkey, it is difficult for them to find a place that allows them to worship and rest.

The previous Polish government recognized their military legitimacy, granted the Lipka Tatars the status of the chief nobles, allowed them to believe in their own gods, and according to the agreement, gave them enough rewards and commissions in exchange for them to fight for the government. - They also faithfully fulfilled the peace treaty. As the largest military force in the Federation except the winged cavalry, they kept their promise. Even during the Great Flood, the Tatar Khan came to rebel against them and failed, but during the Great Flood After the period ended, the Polish Schlachtas were suspicious of them instead, because they were Tatars, and when Sweden was at war with Poland, the Tatars were clearly on the side of Poland's enemies.

Although Sobieski strongly discouraged, the Polish government finally banned all the privileges of the Lipka Tatars, including their freedom of belief, prohibiting them from building their own temples, etc. In addition to these, the nobles also unanimously passed relief The decision to pay three-quarters of the army has left many Tatars without food or clothing.

During the reign of John II, these Tatars had already broken out several disturbances, but such disturbances did not make the nobles change their minds, on the contrary, they felt that they had indeed anticipated the sins of these "ungrateful" people, Tried and weakened them, so Sobieski rarely stood on the same side as the king - because these nobles were dissatisfied with the Tatars only because for a long time, the great Polish nobles continued to accumulate land and raise them. Serfs, this place is not rich but it is vast, so they want to drive the Tatars out and take it for themselves.

Thanks to the combined efforts of John II and Sobieski, in '68 they managed to re-granted most of the privileges of these Lipka Tatars - mainly on the religious side, but once the mirror appeared The rift is difficult to make up for the original appearance. Sobieski still remembers the humiliating face of the leader of the Tatars, and he still thinks that when the mission of the special envoy is completed, he will try to visit Lipka in person. Once, to stabilize the previous alliance, even if he married his daughter to their big leader, Alexander Klitzynski, he would not hesitate.

But the king of France stayed on Sobieski for a month and a half, and the great nobles did something stupid—they cut three-quarters of the Tatars' military pay before, but this time they even cut the last quarter. Not even one of them...

With the guidance of the Lipka Tatars, the Ottoman Turkish soldiers entered the Polish territory unimpeded, and captured the Kamiens fortress overnight, the last fortress of Lviv. A shield stands on an isolated island in a river valley. The canyon washed out by the river is a natural moat. The narrowest part is 300 feet wide and 100 feet deep. There is only a narrow passage to connect with the outside world. It is a unique and dangerous terrain. Let this castle be called the "City of God" - because it has never been taken in battle, and this time too, the Lipka Tatars knocked on the castle's doors.

   "How is the gathering of our troops?" Sobieski just asked casually, but he never got an answer, and his heart sank.

Michal I died, the great nobles of Poland gathered in Warsaw, ready to elect the next king, and while they were arguing, the Ottoman Turks had already begun to advance, and when they heard the news of the enemy's invasion, they were still there. There is a lot of clamor for the cost of raising an army - some say taxes should be raised, some say it should be borrowed from merchants, no one says I'd like to pay the cost first, or send my soldiers, because now the great nobles are made by The original small and medium aristocrats gradually annexed each other, and they did not trust others - even if they fought for the country, it was difficult to ensure that no one behind them would take advantage of the fire.

Sobieski didn't dare either. He listened to his subordinate's report expressionlessly. He was so disheartened that he didn't know what to say. Holding his wife's hand with his backhand, there was a burst of grief and guilt in his heart—because he had made an agreement with his wife before that their eldest daughter would be sent to Lipka. Now it seems that this is their luck and Poland's Unlucky.

Sobieski now vaguely perceives why he was able to escape Versailles so easily. It was not the benevolence of Louis XIV, nor the greed of Madame Montespan, but they did it deliberately—Lviv and Warsaw were far away, If he went to Lviv to intercept the Ottoman Turks, then he would have no way to control the election of the king far away in Warsaw; if he chose to return to Warsaw, but those Shirazta would accuse him of putting power before duty, It's not impossible that he wants to be the new king of Poland, but it must be very difficult and unpredictable - and can he really watch the Ottoman Turks' Hippach cavalry across the land of Poland?

  The king of France asked him to choose between personal desires and loyalty to the country.

   "Let's go to Lviv," Sobieski said.

  ———

"Maybe you're going to Lviv first," said Louis, standing with Prince Condé at a table the size of a pool table—or rather, it was originally a pool table, but Louis had turned it into a sand table. , Regarding the situation in Poland, the king's missionaries and spies have already explored, Mrs. Montespan provided more detailed information, and mathematicians and sculptors made sand tables based on maps and records, although it cannot be said to be absolutely accurate and complete, But it has been able to be applied to the real battlefield.

"His Holiness the Pope of Rome will issue a decree calling on all Catholic nations to share the same hatred," said the Duke of Orleans, although the close relationship between the Roman Church and France has long been in name only - given the papal Noble Phantasm developed by King Philip IV the handsome man of France Avignon, and the indifference that Louis XIV showed after he took power - it is clear that the ruler who became king as a child was an extreme egoist, although no one dared to say it, but those close to him knew that, The king didn't care much about whether he was going to ascend to heaven or go to **** in the future. All he cared about was the present.

   And he probably never feared those things in the dark. Prince Condé remembered that when he and the little king first met, he dedicated a werewolf's fur to him—Prince Condé had no good intentions. The king of the king did not show any hesitation - he means, the instinctive fear of dark creatures, he also has many brave and strong soldiers under his command, but a weak witch can scare them to death, which is a religious man for a long time. Caused by persistent indoctrination - they always try their best to portray the devil and his minions as horrific as possible in every sermon, otherwise where is the market for their holy waters, spells and crosses, and holy relics? ?

   But probably no one dared to intimidate a king - Cardinal Mazarin treated him as his own son.

   Of course, at that time, Prince Kongdai managed to escape from the pursuit of a group of werewolves without knowing the king. "This is a good opportunity," said Louis, looking at the Prince of Condé and the Duke of Enghien beside him: "if you are elected king of Poland, then they have reason to ask you to be generous."

   "I prefer to go with the army," said Prince Condé.

   "Yes," said Louis. "You can choose from your army." He said, "You can take anyone with you as long as they want, you want."

   "Can Captain Vauban be okay?" Prince Condé asked immediately.

   "Well, this won't work," said the king, "because as soon as he gets back to Versailles, he'll be a general, sir, you can take your soldiers and officers, but the general can't, it's mine."

Prince Condé was just joking. The Duke of Enghien looked at his father cautiously. Of course he was willing to follow Prince Condé to Poland. Although Louis XIV was a tolerant king, as long as they were his subjects for a day, then their His life and wealth were in the hands of the young king for a day, and from the past, even if Louis was a benevolent ruler, he would be as ruthless as a hurricane and rain when the bottom line was touched.

And just like what happened to his father, if Prince Kongdai raises troops to rebel, then he is a traitor who betrays his master. Anyone can crusade him on this charge, and their thrones and their descendants will never rest in peace. - But once they become kings of Poland, it will be extremely beneficial to Louis XIV and Prince Condé. Louis XIV does not have a big hidden danger, and he can take back the fiefs, castles, etc. of the Condé family on the east side of Paris; What about the Prince? He could get a rich and vast country - provided they could subdue or destroy all the Schrachtas, it would be a long and brutal campaign, but unlike the Fronds, the Prince of Condé could have an entire France as backing.

   "Can you make it in time?" Duke Enghien couldn't help asking: "The last time the Poles elected the king, it took nearly three years."

"The Ottoman Turks will make them smarter," Louis said. "Even if Sobieski went to Lviv, it would not be possible to fight an army of 80,000 people overnight, unless Leopold of the Holy Roman Empire. I am willing to support them..."

   "Would Leopold I be willing?" asked the Duke of Orleans.

   "Generally speaking, yes," said Louis, "but if His Excellency the Pope of Rome will issue an edict, to us, to France..."

"When did our relationship with the Church of Rome become so harmonious? Your Majesty, Clement X is an eighty-year-old fellow, but his ambitions are no less than that of Clement IX before him. "

   "Is it because of the conversion of the King of England?" asked the Duke of Orleans.

"It's not about this," said Louis. "They will never let go of their bargaining chips until they see Charles II or his little prince, or the Duke of York convert, and this time we want to thank them. Mrs. Montespan, she has given us some indispensable help, and I think maybe in a few days, the edict will arrive."

Prince Kongdai lowered his head and coughed, so that he could barely hide the strange expression on his face. To be honest, it was the first time he saw a king who used a royal wife as a secret probe and a foreign minister. Of course, the royal wife had intervened in government affairs before. But it is also the first to use the gorgeous appearance and graceful posture to win the favor of the king before gaining power, but in the king's case, the whole thing can be said to be reversed. Qualified to perform her true duties.

If Louis had heard what was in his heart, he would have told him of course that, of course, since there were not many people around him who could be trusted, or in a general sense, he certainly hoped that they would To be able to have a multi-colored and diverse talent, so as to help him run this huge kingdom completely, rather than the chaos of Paris as before, the king can't live in Paris - knowing that the royal lady has a direction in the court tradition The king's power to recommend officials, and if his royal wife is a fool, will he continue to follow the tradition, or let her get out and cause another uproar?

Mrs. Montespan was indeed a wise lady, as she said, her mother taught her how to use her beauty, and her two fathers taught her how to use her wit - she made herself a king The most needed appearance will appear at the most opportune time. Who else can the king choose if she does not choose her?

"Madame Montespan..." The Duke of Orleans stopped as soon as he opened his mouth. He almost forgot that there were Prince Condé and Duke of Engien here, but not only the king, but even he could guess the shadow behind Mrs. Montespan. Where did it come from.

The Duke of Enghien also seemed to want to ask something, but the Prince of Condé put his hand on his shoulder, and now the child did not know much about the secret qualifications—though he was also amazed at how the king could share one with the witch. A bed, but now it seems that witches are not so bad, at least in the past, just keeping Jan Sobieski in Versailles for a month and a half couldn't do so much.

  Although the conflict between the Polish nobles and the Lipka Tatars was provoked, it was a decision made by Mrs. Montespan after learning of the death of Michal I.

   (end of this chapter)