I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 339 St. Louis

As Louis XIV had expected, when he was still seven days away from Rome, news of Clement X was about to die; on the fifth day, the venerable old man went to I saw God; on the third day, the doors of the Sistine Chapel were closed (the pope elections began); on the last day, when Louis XIV entered Rome, he heard cheers and laughter and cheers, They also carried a small note with the name Benedetto Otescalci.

Louis XIV couldn't help but smile when he saw it. It seemed that the head of the cardinals finally succeeded in taking the Apostolic crown into his pocket. He did not wait to congratulate and flatter the new Pope, but immediately stationed in the Colonna family's territory. -The Colonna family was once a powerful family in Rome between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. There used to be a pope and many cardinals, but such power has disappeared with the decline of the church. Now they can only guarantee the peace and prosperity of their ancestral land, the town of Colonna.

That is to say, this town can afford the entry of Louis XIV, the Prince of the Dauphin, and the 5,000 elite soldiers who accompanied him. The guards, musketeers and dragoons, because only from the battlefield with the Ottomans. Coming down - although this battle that everyone thought would be difficult and long ended a bit anticlimactic, it didn't stop people from respecting and fearing them at all.

  The Colonna family offered everything they could, food, wine and even travel girls, but the latter two were rejected.

   But another gift really made Louis XIV overjoyed, because it was his most beloved eldest son, the little Luciano, the Duke of Colonna. Accompanying the duke was his young fiancee, Ana Medici, and his fiancee's uncle, Francesco, and the future Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand, the eldest son of Cosimo III, who was also Ana's elder brother. . Cosimo III asked Ferdinand, who was still a minor, to come to Rome, on the one hand to seek the blessing of the Pope, and on the other hand to meet the Sun King Louis XIV. Whether the Medici family can be preserved in the future, or go further, depends on See if France is willing to lend a hand.

The head of the Colonna family had just bid farewell from Louis’s room, and the connection between them was brought up by the deceased Bishop of Mazarin. Now that things have gone wrong, Louis XIV also bet part of his affection for Bishop of Mazarin on the other side. Not to mention that his eldest son still occupies a title of the other's family's children. Of course, the parents of Colonna can feel the kindness of Louis XIV. After obtaining a verbally promised Duke title, he was so excited that he trembled all over - don't be surprised, A duke in France is heavier than a duke from the Italian wars.

   The Duke of Colonna is so respected because everyone knows his father is Louis XIV, not because of the Colonna family.

  After the head of the Colonna family left, Bontang put away the teacup, and Louis looked out the window: "When will little Lucy arrive?"

"The Duke of Colonna is about to arrive in the afternoon," Bontang said. "He was in Naples." To gather the power of the world: "I have a lot of custards, fries and cherry jam cakes." These are What the Duke of Colonna likes: "Of course, I'll also remind him to brush his teeth."

Louis' smile is much more real now, the Duke of Colonna was also taken care of by Bontang for a period of time, Louis XIV is the king, and it is impossible to be with his son anytime and anywhere: "So what do you think of Mr. Colonna's proposal? Sample?"

   "There are pros and cons." Bontang walked out of the door holding the plates, handed them over to the attendant outside the door, and walked back: "It depends on what you are going to do."

Louis pondered for a while, and the head of the Colonna family proposed that the Pope preside over the wedding of the Duke of Colonna and the daughter of Cosimo III. The advantage of this is that no one can question the wedding blessed by the Pope. The legitimacy of his status as the Duke of Colonna can also give him an advantage in legitimacy in the battle for the throne of Naples; the downside is... what Louis promised the Duke of Colonna was not one Naples, but an entire Italy.

Yes, Louis never thought to stop at Naples, unification or division, there is always only one choice, and division is never-ending, hundreds of years later, there will still be a huge country across Europe and Asia because of division. Complete destruction, not to mention Italy, which has long been accustomed to disputes and divisions. Louis XIV did his best for a united France without watching his children and their descendants be dragged into a muddy mess.

   But Cosimo III not only has one daughter, but also two sons, the eldest son is Ferdinand, and the youngest son Ji'an, no matter what kind of inheritance law, their inheritance rights are before Princess Anna...

But leave that behind, the Duke of Colonna and his wife are unmarried, and they have no heir, Louis put aside the cruel thoughts of kings and rulers—it is the end of summer, the bright red sun It is no longer so hot, and it will feel comfortable under the shade of the blue at dusk. Artificial streams flow in the courtyards built by the ancient Romans. In the peripheral light, it reflects the light like a diamond.

When Anna was a child, she stayed in Paris and Versailles for a long time on the grounds of escorting her mother back to her home country. Her studies in Paris and her close relationship with the Duke of Colonna made her feel confident about her future marriage. Not only did she not feel nervous and fearful, but she was looking forward to it—to say that Rome was once prosperous, and Florence was also the center of the Renaissance, but since returning to Florence, Anna felt that although it still retains some colors of the past, it has become dim and outdated. It is only worth remembering, not worth enjoying and pursuing.

This palace has been completely arranged according to the preferences of the French king, without too many colors, without excessive decoration, without cumbersome drapery, everything is elegant and comfortable, countless flowers from water bottles, corner drawers Hanging down from the end of the armrest, it brings a sweet vibe to the air here.

   More urgent than her is the Duke of Colonna. Since he left Versailles, he has not seen his father for three or four years. Has he been injured in previous battles, or is he tired? Has temperament changed? Are you satisfied with what he has done since he came to Italy? While he was uneasy, he involuntarily quickened his pace.

  Louis didn't even wait in the room for his son. When the head of the Colonna family was talking, he had been looking at the courtyard outside the window. This mansion originally belonged to a prominent Roman general. This living room was also the original dining room. , the owner here still retains the part facing the courtyard - this part has only columns and no walls, just replaced the hanging curtains with louvered wooden doors.

Louis walked out of these wooden doors and went all the way to several large laurel trees. The ancient Romans used laurel branches and leaves to weave laurel crowns and wore them on the heads of triumphant generals. Now it has passed the laurel period, but the laurel leaves The fresh smell is also refreshing enough—Louis just lay down under the tree for a nap at first, and when he heard the Duke of Colonna coming, he immediately jumped up from the tree to meet his son.

At first glance, both Louis XIV and the Duke of Colonna were slightly taken aback. Although the reasons were completely different, Louis was because the Duke of Colonna had grown a lot taller in just a few short years, perhaps because of Naples. thing, he's thinner and paler, he used to resemble his father, but now he's not so much - he's more like his mother now, Marie Mancini, especially with his light hair growing in After getting older, it gradually became darker, deeper than Louis' golden brown, and almost all of them could be said to be dark brown.

As for Louis, the people in Paris and Versailles thought that Louis XIV was not very human, and that his enemies were even more fabricated (and not entirely fabricated) rumors that he might be a wizard were not groundless, mainly compared to Queen Teresa , Louie's appearance does not seem to have changed much in the past ten years, his body has not become bloated, his face has no wrinkles, and his hair is still shiny and thick. For a moment, the Duke of Colonna felt as if a few years did not exist at all, he was still at Versailles, with his father and the king.

However, when the Duke of Colonna was still in a daze, Louis had already followed his own instinct, stepped forward, and hugged the Duke of Colonna tightly. The Duke of Colonna is now only slightly lower than Louis, but Louis still did not Lifting him up with great effort, Duke Colonna blushed and shouted, and Anna behind him was completely stunned.

Louis' reckless behavior shattered the estrangement caused by years of time and long distances. He put down the Duke of Colonna, took his hand, and went under the laurel tree to sit on a fine silk rug. The silk carpets have a distinct Ottoman style. Because of religious beliefs, most of the silk carpets in Ottoman Turkey do not weave figures and animals like Europa's tapestries. Most of them are geometric patterns and flowers: "How?" Louis asked with a smile: "It was originally spread in the tent of the Grand Vizier."

Although the Ottoman Turks said that they were negotiating with the coalition forces, they were in fact surrendering. They had to bring the rest back to Istanbul, so that Mohammed IV could focus his anger on Ahmed alone - if Louis was not French The king was the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, or the Archduke of Austria, and he would have to take at least a big bite to allow these Ottomans to leave, but since he was not any of the above, and, Leopold I passed by In this war, not only will there be no gratitude to him and France, but there will only be greater fear and anger - of course, he will not be too harsh.

In this peace negotiation, the coalition forces gained a lot of wealth - although most of them were looted by the Ottomans, Louis's gains were undoubtedly the greatest, in addition to war reparations, arms trade income, and Leopold I's Debt - those cement, kerosene, white phosphorous and flour, and artillery, guns and ammunition, Louis XIV is willing to pay people to say generously, how can Leopold I shamelessly pay this debt? ?

Even Leopold I's own generals said that Vienna was safe and sound, and that the war did not even break out in Austria. It was a great luck, and grumbling over some small debt was too much of a loss for a king. the demeanor...

  Leopold I against a bill of 1.5 million livres...Louis XIV also graciously allowed him to pay in installments.

   pulled his thoughts from the stack of heavy bills: "You prepare," Louis said to the Duke of Colonna: "You will accompany me to the next Mass."

The Duke of Colonna bit the cream roll and raised his head, unable to understand what Louis meant for a while. "There is also a small pilgrimage." Louis added, but Anna Medici on the side clapped her hands with joy, "Very good, Your Majesty, that's great!"

   "It's very good," Louis took the duke's cream roll and threw it on the plate: "Why, won't you, my little Lucy?"

"I do!" The Duke of Colonna finally understood what the king meant, and his cheeks were blushing like a healthy young man: "I do, father, of course I do." He clenched his fists tightly, if he said The Duke of Colonna has something unsatisfactory in his life, probably because of his background. He knows his father's helplessness and his mother's sorrow, but he understands their difficulties, but it is impossible not to be brooding about it.

Being able to follow his father and the king to attend the big mass has always been his greatest desire, not to mention serving the king to complete a small pilgrimage (that is, a pilgrimage limited to Rome), after a moment of ecstasy, he suddenly calmed down: "What about little Louis? ?"

   "When I was in Italy, it belonged to you, little Lucy," said Louis.

  ———

The Dauphin already knew, and he also knew that it was difficult to shake the decision of Louis XIV, and to ensure that the blood of Bourbon was passed down in Italy, the Duke of Colonna Luciano had to be firmly tied to Louis X. Four hands—Sometimes, chains are not only made of steel, but also of emotion. At the same time, this is also to build momentum for the Duke of Colonna, at least to compete for the support of those descendants of Anjou.

It's just understanding that I understand. When the Duke of Colonna accompanied his father to go to St. Peter's Basilica for mass, but he was staying in the room, the crown prince still couldn't help sighing. He put his head on the desk and pillowed him. A book that chronicles the deeds of Saint-Louis—people around Louis XIV, the Marquis of Lois, M. Bontang, and the Viscount Turenne, etc., seem to have made it a second Saint-Louis.

It wouldn't be a bad thing if they were successful, now that little Louie knew that if those rumours were allowed to spread, it would indeed cause some trouble - the bad thing about being a wizard is that it's innate and There's no way out, it's doomed that sorcerers will always be in one place and separate from mortals - once a ruler or powerful person is also a sorcerer, things get tricky because he's bound to subconsciously I prefer wizards rather than mortals, but the base of mortals is destined to be larger than that of wizards, so let alone kings, even if they are people around the king, like Merlin who used to be next to King Arthur, even if he has such merits, in the end it is not Ended up being imprisoned forever by the students, and his people and his kind were expelled from the capital?

  Louis XIV was not only reluctant to become a wizard, but even went further to control the world in his hands, which was also for this reason.

At this time, an attendant knocked on the door and asked if His Royal Highness the Dauphin would like to meet the person who wanted to visit him. The Dauphin shook his head, "No." He said that Louis XIV's meaning was obvious, that France belonged to him, and Italy belonged to him. His older brother, Luciano Jr., of the Duke of Colonna, and his father, though a benevolent king, had little room for a clever fool.

There are quite a few idiots who make themselves smart. Everyone knows that the King of France today is not the Saint Louis of the past, he is more like the beautiful man Philip IV (the King of France, the creator of the shame of Avignon), who brought When the army came to Rome, the princes in red were terrified. They were afraid that the king would anger the church because of what Clement X had done, and move them to a house—the "palace" of Avignon, France, is now available. It still stands in their hearts, which is why the head of the cardinals, Benedetto Ortescalci, managed to overwhelm the other candidates and set foot on the papal throne in only two days and one night.

Everyone knows that when Clement X was still lingering, he not only sent his illegitimate daughter as a hostage, but also gave up the friar leader Barras of the island of Gilead as a bribe. After the Avignon incident, the French It has been three hundred years since the Cardinal of the Pope was excluded from the candidacy of the Pope, and the person supported by this His Majesty will definitely not be the hopeless Cardinal Lariviere, so apart from him, the most likely Only the chief cardinals.

After the coronation of Benedetto Ortescalci, he chose Innocent as his holy name, that is, Innocent XI. There were ten people before the pope whose holy name was Innocent, but the most famous There is nothing more than Innocent III and Innocent X. When Innocent III was on the throne, the power of the church reached its peak. He forced the king to call him a minister, declaring that theocracy was higher than the king, and called himself "the king of kings". , and taxed the whole of Europa; the Church had fallen from the peak of power during the reign of Innocent X, but this did not hinder the expansion of the pope's ambitions, and he was also a supporter of Habsburg in Europa. .

Because the cardinal leader chose such a holy name, some people think that he is a supporter of the Habsburgs and an opponent of the French king - not to mention how he became the pope, anyway, crossing the river and demolishing the bridge, turning his face ruthlessly is also a Roman priest. One of the traditional skills, perhaps they thought that since Louis XIV did not go back to Paris or Versailles first, but made a pilgrimage after such a glorious victory, it was because the king was also controlled by the so-called faith, because Fearing that his deep sins would take him to hell, he rushed to repent.

   (end of this chapter)