I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 293 The coveted crown princess

Of course, Princess Anna of the Medici was very happy to see Madame Aubigne in the ranks of the teachers in charge of the lower school girls. She couldn't even help but wave her hand gently to her maid, and Madame Aubigne winked at her. Eyes, she continued to sit upright - the Duchess of Orleans knew that the king valued this girls' school, or an example, so she imitated some girls' schools (there were already some small girls' schools at that time, mainly a convent and a certain down-to-earth lady. It is set up in one's own residence, usually with only a few students), which stipulates a uniform style of clothing for students and teachers, and at the same time, it is also to prevent outsiders from sneaking into the school and causing accidents.

The lower grade students wear white linen or cotton dresses, the upper grade students wear blue dresses, and the teachers wear black dresses. Some senior grade students are not used to it, but it is the first time they see There are so many people of the same age, and their identities are similar - even if they are not so similar, the father and brother of the other party must be future important officials who can be remembered by the king's name and family situation - so within a few days, they became familiar and intimate.

Of course, the most popular fans are the eldest princess and the lord of the county. Not so unexpectedly, the one with the most friends is not the eldest princess, but the lord of the county. It is normal to think about this. The eldest princess has already decided on Sweden's King Carl XI became her husband, and the lord of the county has always been rumored that she will become the queen of Spain, but as Carlos II signed a marriage contract with the eldest daughter of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the lord of the county could not help but be coveted again.

Although in most cases, the prince of the county is most likely to conclude a marriage contract, that is, a political marriage, but if it is the great nobles of France - it is not impossible, the Duke of Orléans, the younger brother Philip is deeply valued by the king. Trust, if you can start from the ignorant grand county lord, then shake the Duke of Orleans, and finally obtain the king's approval, then the dowry of the great county lord alone is a coveted income.

The eldest son of Prince Conti is the last possible candidate. He is twelve years old this year, about the same age as the grand county master, and has inherited the beauty of his mother. His father and Louis XIV can also be counted as half-brothers, and he is also the king of Poland. The younger brother of King Dewig I has great hope of success. Prince Conti's second daughter is also eleven years old. This time, she was sent to St. Louis Girls' School by her father, which also means to fuel the flames.

In fact, whether it is the eldest princess or the lord of the county—they are here not so much to study, but to give their father and uncle, King Louis XIV of France a seat, so that those nobles can let go Some scruples also make the whole society more tolerant towards the educators and educated among women.

After all, in this era, there are still men who think that women are just like children, and their brains are not born with sound development. Their opinions are all kinds of severe punishments when they treat children. When they treat women, they will think that they should be protected by men. Live a life peacefully and comfortably, with no need to expend any effort on anything but looking after her own family. Even a lady as wise as Madame Lafayette, the gentlemen of the court still consider her wisdom to be attractive Add-ons, to put it simply, exist to gain men's favor rather than respect.

Louis can't say anything about this, lest some people think he's crazy, he can only plan more for his children, and open a less narrow door for women in the future, can this door be opened so much in the future? The extent to which they go out with their heads held high depends on their own determination and courage.

Therefore, the great county masters who have been taught by important ministers such as Colbell can almost see through these peers at a glance, even if it is more than conspiracy, how can these children be able to communicate with the queen mother and the lady beside the queen compared to them? ! So the grand princess complained a few words to the Duke of Orleans. If she wanted to reach an unfeeling marriage contract in the calculation, why didn't she marry a grand duke or a king? At least the latter can bring her a crown.

"That's what I'm going to complain about." The Duke of Orléans murmured, "How can the king let Colbert or the Marquis of Lois teach you, hell, you are not princes, look at them turning you into What's it like?"

"I think this is very good," the princess thought of some of her classmates. Some fruits ripened prematurely, and some fruits were still very green. What they expected was as described by the poets, as long as they had beauty and chastity, A noble love could be welcomed, and she leaned on the Duke of Orleans' knee, with the confidence of any daughter who loves her father: "Honor, position, and power are rarer than love, and I may Looking forward to love, but it will be a long time later. And," she raised her head to look at her father: "the princess' marriage is more beautiful than people think, father, as the princess and I said, the more precious The more you have to strive for something, even if it is very difficult, standing still and feeling sorry for yourself will only attract scorn and contempt from others.”

The Duke of Orleans reached out and touched his daughter's long, thick hair. His hair was curly when he was a child, but it became straight when he grew up. Brother Wang's hair has always been curly, and the hair of the grand princess has not been inherited. Since he and Henrietta were exactly the same as the king, it was no wonder that some people questioned the identity of the grand county master - but the Duke of Orleans knew that the prince and Henrietta would never do such a thing.

Henrietta knew for a long time that the king would not allow anyone to destroy the relationship between him and his younger brother. As for the king, he has things more worthy of concern than women's **** to deal with every day. The Duke of Orléans, the chief, could not have been more clear.

"I have seen that boy," said the Duke of Orleans suddenly, and the chief of the Grand County paused before he could guess that the boy his father was talking about was the eldest son of Prince Conti and one of her husband-in-law candidates: "Only from the appearance Say, he's not too bad, after all he's a Bourbon, and her mother is a Mancini, but he," he said with his eyes wandering, "is hardly a personal moral compliment."

   "That one is only thirteen years old...or fourteen years old?" The Grand Princess heard what the Duke of Orleans meant and couldn't help but be a little surprised.

   "In his own words," replied the Duke of Orléans, "he is very gifted."

   "Uh." The Grand Princess said, "So let's forget it."

   "But I really don't want you to leave France," said the Duke of Orléans dejected.

   "Then I have to go to the monastery. Father, my status is special, and you will give me a large dowry. No matter who I marry, it will be a problem." The Grand County Lord said coldly.

   "You are cruel," said the Duke of Orleans. "The king will keep the eldest princess until she is twenty..."

"Don't," the princess continued relentlessly: "The princess mentioned this to me, and she asked me to tell you. Please persuade Your Majesty not to do such a stupid thing." She took a deep breath. She stood up in a breath and held her father's face: "The king has done a good job before, and I hope you can do the same. Instead of thinking about the problems in eight years, you might as well try to solve my current problems." She said seriously : "Find me a husband, a good husband, a husband who is good for France and for me, and calm down those turbulent hearts."

   She looked at the face of the Duke of Orleans: "What do you want to say?"

   "There is one," said the Duke of Orleans slowly.

"One?"

   "Your husband," said the Duke of Orleans, "but the problem is that the portrait brought by their messenger is not a prince, but a princess."

  ———

The first thing to note is that the kings of this era have not been arrogant enough to ignore ethics. Their messengers brought the portrait of the princess, not to discuss marriage with the princess, their prey is still a year away The adult Prince of France, Louis the Younger.

Speaking of which, the marriage of the crown prince, Louis, has long been mentioned in the memorandum of the kings of various countries, especially after France's consecutive victories in Flanders and the Netherlands. Of course, Louis, a country like Denmark that is likely to become an enemy I won't consider it, after all, his eldest princess will be the queen of Sweden in the future, and Sweden and Denmark will definitely go to war for Norway or even more in the future. Louis is not indifferent to the point of ignoring his daughter's position, and if he is married to Denmark, then Charles XI and the Swedish nobles will doubt the sincerity of France's alliance with him, and France will lose such an important ally.

   Besides, what can Denmark give France? If the Netherlands were still there, Louis would have to consider relying on Denmark to contain the development of the Netherlands, but now the Netherlands is only a large province of France, and France has nothing to do with Denmark.

   Not to mention, the marriage of Prince Louis the Prince may be the most important bargaining chip for the French on the issue of marriage.

Also because of this reason, the noble daughters below the duke are not in the optional ranks, and the number of wives for little Louis has shrunk greatly. There are not many princesses of his age. Some kings have not even given birth to daughters, even if they have in the future. After having a daughter, the age difference between husband and wife is not more than ten years old. Does he want little Louis to get married when he is 30 years old? At that time, there will definitely be people who suspect that little Louis has a problem with masculinity, and there may be a lot of unnecessary troubles. For example, the son of the Duke of Orleans, he will be of marriage age more than ten years later. Louis will not doubt Philip, but he is afraid. People with a heart make things out of it.

   In this way, there are only two candidates who can be chosen, one is the young daughter of Frederick, Grand Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia, and the other is the eldest daughter of King Pedro II of Portugal.

Both have shortcomings. Frederick, the Archduke of Brandenburg, stood on the Habsburg side in the war between France and the Netherlands. At the same time, he was also the former Prince of Orange and now William III. William III, the uncle of the illusory Grand Duke of Utrecht, was released from the Tower of London after the dust had settled and returned to the Netherlands. You can imagine how embarrassed he was at that time. Most Dutch people believed that he betrayed the Dutch. To the British, in exchange for Utrecht, the honor of his ancestors was covered with shameful dust, but William III was worthy of being the descendant of Orange, he tenaciously persevered, and Utrecht While the management of the branch was in good order, he did not forget to collect those who were willing to believe and help him. Frederick, the Archduke of Brandenburg, gave him a lot of help in this regard.

Such behavior inevitably brought some trouble to the Dutch governor of France, Viscount Turenne, but he was also the nephew of Maurice Orange, and he also had the blood of the Orange family. people's support.

  Louis never thought about getting rid of William III. He also needed William III to be a buffer between Britain and France in the Netherlands, but this does not mean that he did not care about the behavior of the Grand Duke of Brandenburg at all.

Moreover, Hohenzollern was once a vassal of Habsburg, Prussia was a vassal of Poland, on an equal footing with Emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, and Ludwig I of Poland even once served as a vassal under the rank Louis XIV was reluctant to choose such a queen for the future king of France.

   As for King Pedro II of Portugal, there is also a problem.

The Portuguese royal family began in Burgundy. The son of Henry of Burgundy married the illegitimate daughter of the king of Castile (a part of Spain before it was incorporated), and obtained Portugal as a county, which became independent in 1139. But then Habsburg got Portugal by marriage in 1580, but was recaptured by Joao IV in 1640. Who is this Joao IV? He was the illegitimate son of the last Burgundian king of Portugal.

Even regardless of this, the current Pedro II is similar to the former King Henry VIII, even more fearful than Henry VIII, because Henry VIII's brother did encounter misfortune, but Pedro II Shi's brother is indeed under house arrest by him - he is only a regent now, although he can't wait to marry his former sister-in-law, the Princess Isabella who was born in 1969 is really...an embarrassing identity.

Even though the daughter of the current Portuguese Queen, the Duke of Savoy, has been incompetently annulled by her ex-husband, Alfonso VI, the princess is still deliberately ignored. It is said that she was born in a remote monastery rather than a royal palace. She was very indifferent, and the regent ignored her. Louis really wondered if this was a conspiracy of the Portuguese? But as far as the portrait sent by the envoys was concerned, the regent was very sincere - Louis meant that the portrait was so beautiful that it didn't even look like a four-year-old girl - at least the child in the portrait should Similar to the age of the Grand Princess.

In addition to this, the Duke of Savoy even came to Paris in person to speak for his granddaughter. Savoy's territories occupy part of France, the Holy Roman Empire and the Apennine Peninsula, although small but very important, although this Savoy The title of Duke of Voys comes from the Holy Roman Empire, but in gestures and words, the duke is almost willing to promise to sign a secret contract with France.

   In this way, the balance of the king had to be tilted towards the Princess Isabella.

   (end of this chapter)