I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 267 The Nightmare of the Grand Princess

Louis never doubted that women could be as ambitious as men, and Madame Milady proved that a woman could find joy in blood and howl, but Madame Montespan was more than that, as she did. As said, she learned from her mother how to use her beauty and charm - she entered the court and became a royal lady, and it was not long before she was recognized by most people, the queen mother's love, the queen's approval, the mother of Montpensier. Needless to say, the duke was originally the introducer of Madame Montespan, and although the ladies were jealous, they had to learn to dress up from her—this was something that neither the Duchess of Colonna nor Madame Lavalier could do. It did. Although Marie Mancini, the Duchess of Colonna, was born beautiful, her beauty was always a little bit arbitrary. The monotonous economy of Gayola Island and the closed environment made it difficult for her to get along with her. A noblewoman was so accustomed to being swayed by fashion that it was Louis who asked her to do so for the first time when she dressed up grandly.

As for Madame Lavalier, it's not that she doesn't want to dress up, but she prefers a neutral face, which makes it difficult for her to find a balance between powder and lace. For Louis, if she can wear tight-fitting long Pants and shirts and vests are quite heroic, but women are not allowed to do this in this era, unless she admits that she is a servant of the devil - when Ms. Joan of Arc was tried, she was accused of wearing men's clothing, as a royal lady , she absolutely can't do this - so even in the palace, she dresses and dresses very elegantly or even plainly, and some people say that she looks very religious.

   But such as Madame Lavalier, it is completely inconsistent with people's imagination of royal ladies - Madame Montespan is. Louis is the Sun King, and she is Venus, the embodiment of love and beauty. She not only dresses up as a goddess and asks LeBlanc, the king's royal painter, to paint her portrait, but also constantly buys clothes, jewelry and all kinds of exquisite and gorgeous utensils, furnishings and furniture. Even when there are no dances and banquets, she dresses herself up perfectly.

She wears a delicate hairstyle, which is different every day; the number of jewelry she wears sometimes exceeds that of the queen and queen dowager; she is either swinging a delicate fan or holding a satin sachet embroidered with flowers; Ribbons, shoes, and garters all matched the clothes, and sometimes she would walk through the crowd with parrots, stoats, or little monkeys holding their heads up—they were also dressed in velvet or satin, with their paws on them. With a gold chain.

She is so extravagant, so arrogant, and so irresistible, more and more people are chasing and flattering her, especially after she has indeed obtained official positions for some people The people who came in were like sharks who smelled blood—Mrs. Montespan's bribe soon exceeded her annuity and the king's reward, and she finally got what she wanted, and accepted it in wanton enjoyment People's envy and jealousy.

"Is this all right?" asked the Duke of Orleans, who was standing with Louis in a hidden corridor. Through the slightly opened door, the huge hall could be seen brightly lit. People were dancing or gambling. , or drinking and indulging themselves, and their center is always Madame de Montespan, who lies on a couch surrounded by marquis and dukes, vying to speak to her, viscounts and barons Kneeling at her feet, serving the goddess like a servant.

   "What do you mean?" Louis asked.

"The officials she recommended." The Duke of Orleans was worried, because Madame Montespan almost always refused to come - he knew how strict the prince's requirements were for officials, and those who were ready to make a fortune Is the person really qualified for the position given by the king?

"Why not," said Louis, "I can appoint them and I can dismiss them," he nodded to his brother, turned and left the corridor, and the Duke of Orléans followed immediately: "The primary and secondary education in France can only be said It’s just getting started.” Although Louis began to popularize education a long time ago, he was even willing to put up with those Huguenots, but education has never been achieved overnight, especially officials, they need to have a certain thinking Ability, calculation ability and clerical writing ability, where do such people have the most other than aristocratic families? Church, and businessmen.

Most of the people who visited Mrs. Montespan were businessmen, who either wanted to use the power of the state for their own personal gain, like tax collectors, or they wanted to change schools and climb up, "If I appointed these people, The ministers must be talking, either trying to talk me out of my mind, or attacking the new officials, framed, implicated, or more outright murder," Louis' cane and heels rattled rhythmically in the corridor, in the silence. In the corridors of the 1970s, they are like the soundtrack to a play opening: "But if Mrs. Montespan was their recommendation, they would be more receptive to them, because in their minds a king should be like that. , of course they have any dissatisfaction, and they will also be against Madame Montespan, not me or those officials, then..." Louis paused slightly, but the Duke of Orleans already knew what he would say.

Although the king of France has been working on recovering the territory and unifying the kingship, this is almost equivalent to grabbing meat from a tiger's mouth. It is not as simple as facing tens of thousands of enemies on the battlefield. As we all know, there are many nobles in robes today. It is from the censor class, but after generations of inheritance, the robe nobles are almost becoming another threat, such as Fouquet's family.

The king now not only needs a large number of censors to weaken and manage the domestic power, but also other people to monitor these censors, but as I said before, the people who the king really hopes are either still in school, or just fledgling, directly. Pushing them to those cunning officials and ministers is purely wasteful, and it will even arouse their vigilance - then let the people recommended by Mrs. Montespan go, their origin and needs are destined to be with those stubborn forces. Conflict arises - what to do next is the king's business.

   Of course, if there are outstanding talents among them, the king will not be stingy with promotion.

There is one more thing that Louis did not tell the Duke of Orleans, and that is Madame de Montespan, and there is one more thing that the Duchess of Colonna or Madame Lavalier could not do, although she could be said to be at the right time. When the time comes, it is to paralyze the princes from all directions with all kinds of extravagant, exciting and unique ways of enjoyment - the king can bend down and bribe a duke of Lorraine, but every time he does so, he loses the respect and awe that people have for him. Now, it's just right for the royal lady to do this, because to a certain extent, many of her actions can be summed up as "being favored by the king", no matter how arrogant and corrupt she is, it doesn't matter - no , It should be said that without such a temptation, how can people be surging like bees and flies, and then gradually indulge in the sticky honey, unable to break free until they die?

   Did Mrs. Montespan notice this too? There should be, but here is what she is most proud of. She has learned from her two fathers how to stand in the king's shoes and think about anything, no matter how big or small, she dances on Louis' bottom line, but also holds enough Chips, guaranteed not to be completely rejected by the king.

Louis did not express this idea to the Duke of Orleans because the Duke of Orleans was also one of his "spokesmen". When many kings could not express their opinions directly, the Duke of Orleans was his mouthpiece, but he did not want his younger brother to be with Montes. Madam Pan was connected, so she simply skipped - "Are you going back to the Queen Mother? Or to your suite, or condescend to stay in my room for the night?"

The Duke of Orleans was a little hesitant. Of course, the king's suite had the largest number of rooms, and he also prepared a side bed for the ministers and their close people after the overnight meeting. This is a privilege, although the Duke of Orleans often enjoys it, "The Grand County The Lord is still a little feverish, and I want to go back and have a look."

  Louis was taken aback: "When? Why didn't you tell me, have Varro Vesalius or Charles Lom been there?"

   "I've seen it, but it's just a cold." The Duke of Orleans said quickly.

"Don't take it lightly." If there is anything that terrifies Louis most in this era, it is the injury. Not to mention that the wizards have potions with quick effects and high curative effects. There are no instructions for this potion, and no one knows what will happen if you drink it. What are the consequences, but if there is a choice, wizards are undoubtedly more reliable than any doctor today - especially children, even in Paris, in Versailles, the infant mortality rate is still a shocking number, Louis never thought that the court Exceptions are made to children in

   "I'll go back tonight and watch, and come and talk to you in the morning," said the Duke of Orleans.

   "Okay," said Louie, "don't forget it."

  ——

   In fact, the suite of the Duke of Orleans is not far from the king, after all, he is the king's favorite brother.

When he walked into the room of the big county master, he rarely showed a smile. Although the situation of the big county master was as he said, he was only suffering from cold. After two imperial doctors took turns to see him, he only drank a bottle of potion, which was much better. - The illness of the Grand Princess still comes from her heart.

Some people may be confused. The princess is only one year younger than the princess Elizabeth. She is only ten years old this year, but even if she is only ten years old, because precocious traits are very common in children in the seventeenth century, especially in the court, She is this identity again - she thinks no less than a minister or a lady.

   General gossip can't hit such a child, so there is only the most terrifying thing for both the princess and the princess.

   marriage.

Even Louis's eldest princess, Elizabeth, accepted at a very early age that her marriage would inevitably be the result of a peace treaty or transaction. This is their obligation after accepting the support of their subjects. The Lord and the eldest princess are about the same age. They never imagined that they could have a satisfactory husband. They only encouraged each other in private and told each other to be strong, no matter if the husband was old, sick or married to a hostile country. To persevere to the end, for yourself and for your country.

When the wedding of the eldest princess was put on the agenda, but it was not yet decided, the princess was worried about her. Everyone knew that Louis XIV loved his children, but he loved France more. For France, he would definitely The eldest princess's marriage was weighed over and over again - as a king rather than a father, but fortunately Louis XIV finally settled on the Swedish king Carl XI. Carl XI was not only a good man of his age, but also in good health, although his appearance was incapable of Compared to Louis XIV or the Duke of Orleans, but also very manly.

The Grand Princess once saw them walking arm in arm in the holly labyrinth of Versailles. It was said that the king had a great lack of education, but he was not ashamed or discouraged by it, he could not write poetry Or write an article to express love, but can choose gifts for his fiancée from the prey he gets from each hunt, and he is also willing to accept the gift of reading and writing from the eldest princess - Versailles has a well-stocked library, the king Comfortable tables and chairs were set up there. The crown prince, the eldest princess and the princess were all frequent visitors there. Now Karl XI and the eldest princess are often there, reading a book side by side.

The    Grand County Master knew that this was the intention of His Majesty the King. Although he chose Karl XI for the sake of the country, he also definitely hoped that his daughter would have love with her husband, rather than obligations and tricks.

  Envy? Of course, the Grand County Master also has a good father. Although the Duke of Orleans was seriously absent during her growth, since the Duke of Orleans returned to Paris and came to Versailles together, her father's love is as tight as the winter sunshine. Wrap her tightly, filling her heart with happiness.

As if it was for this kind of happiness, a bad news came. The grand county master heard that the Spanish envoy Juan Patinho returned to Versailles immediately after returning to his country. This time he was not He came empty-handed, with a large portrait. What kind of negotiation would require a portrait? Of course marriage.

   In Spain at this time, the regent Don Juan Jose, who was born in 39 years, was already married, and even if he was not married, he was not qualified to marry the daughter of the Duke of Orleans, so there was only one candidate - King Carlos II of Spain.

When it comes to age, Carlos II was born in 61 years. Compared with Karl XI, he is even more collectively called. But long before the war against Flanders, someone mentioned that Carlos II and Karl XI The marriage of the eldest princess Elizabeth was only rejected by Louis XIV. Although Carlos II is the king of Spain and is close in age, the bad consequences of the Habsburg inbreeding have been precipitated in him to the extreme, all you can think of He has all the bad things about him - a protruding and twisted jaw, crooked teeth, crippled legs (he learned to walk when he was ten years old) epilepsy, dementia...

For example, Karl XI's shallow knowledge is acquired, then Carlos II has suffered the most terrible curse, God's punishment, his situation will only get worse and worse, not better, No wonder the ministers and generals of Spain would rather obey the arrangements of an illegitimate son than serve such a king.

   But others say it would be a good choice - for the king of France.

   (end of this chapter)