I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 419 Sorrowful Friney

   Jewels worth 5,000 livres, just in exchange for Mr. Molière to present a beautiful new play for the king - "Frigny".

Who is Phryni? She is a famous ancient Greek, and is called "toad" because of her yellowish skin, but this does not affect the perfection of her facial features and body. Thousands of people, rich enough to even support the maintenance of the walls of Thebes, she undressed at the festival of Poseidon, and walked into the sea with long curly hair, everyone exclaimed that this is Aphrodite Te (Venus) reappears in the world. (Note 1)

  Some sculptors used her as a model to create "Aphrodite of Knidos". After that, when anyone created a statue of the goddess of beauty, they couldn't get rid of her stereotype.

   But this is not what happened to her, the most famous thing.

Most famously, the Ming Shu was once brought to court by her jealous lover on charges of blasphemy, a charge that could have killed her at the time, but luckily she was rich enough to hire a clever defender, the The defender did not search for evidence of exculpation, bribed witnesses or forged documents.

In front of five hundred and one citizen jurors, the defender unhesitatingly pulled off the only silk robe on Phryny's body, exposing the almost suffocating beautiful carcass in broad daylight. The defense is only one sentence: "Can such a beautiful r-ufan disappear?"

   This sentence and Phryny's body completely conquered the five hundred and one jurors. They all agreed that such a beautiful body was not an incarnation of the gods but also a gift from the gods, and Phryny was immediately declared innocent.

It's not that Molière's Brilliant Troupe has not accepted custom plays, but this kind of story with almost no twist and meaning is generally a kind of humiliation for anyone who regards theatre as a career - no other , Because of its particularity, it is often played by some little-known people, who have no interest in making a name for themselves, and just want to get a quick money for the so-called "troupe" to play, and the focus is only on the robes of "Fliny". At the moment when it was pulled down - there are even some wandering girls and famous Shu to attract customers.

   But for Molière, this commission, which is equivalent to five times the king's reward, is really impressive.

It's just that after careful consideration, he still shook his head, and even took out the previous gift-that is, a box of gold Louis that seduced him to the door, and put it in front of the customer, "Sorry, sir, I can't. Grant your request."

The gentleman knocked on the walking stick—now the walking stick is almost standard equipment for the nobles of Europa, and they have many functions beyond their original use. The play is sleazy, Monsieur Molière, you can make the actress wear creamy white tights."

Molière raised his head, looked at the other party earnestly, and suddenly smiled slightly: "I don't think the most important issue is here." He said, firmly pushing the heavy box forward, "Please forgive me for not being able to. I agree to your request." He stood up and turned to the door without permission. The attendant at the door glanced at the nobleman, who looked ugly, but nodded anyway, Molière himself Open the door and go out.

The noble in the room also stood up a few minutes later, walked to the window, and lifted the curtain. Molière was walking into the street, and his small and exquisite carriage was coming from the corner of the street, and only stopped. Steady, Molière slid open the door—without even waiting for the servant to jump out of the carriage, he got into the carriage, and after a breath or two, the horse raised its hooves again.

   The whole process was as eager as a wolf chasing him.

  The complexion of the nobleman was even more livid, and at the same time there was a little panic. At this time, the door leading to the next door slammed, and another more noble person walked in.

The person who came was the Prince of Monaco, who had the same name as Louis XIV and was four years younger than Louis XIV, but looked fourteen years or more older than the Sun King, except for some "special reasons" of Louis XIV. In addition, this gentleman's mental fatigue day after day in recent years is the real culprit.

  The Prince of Monaco looked at his minister, who shook his head with a wry smile.

   "Is the situation so bad?" the Prince of Monaco asked: "Even an actor knows Louis XIV's heart - am I doomed to lose my country and people?"

"We may have other ways." His ministers said dryly, but they all knew in their hearts that the people around Louis XIV were best at observing the king's heart and never rebelling, in order to avoid possible misunderstandings and Wrong, they'll stay away from the bottom line that no one sees but everyone knows - like Brittany, Holland and Flanders, how could those people beg to Molière?

   He is just an actor after all, isn't it because the really hot characters like the Duke of Orléans, Madame de Montespan, the Prince of Conti, the Count of D'Artagnan, the General Vauban, etc. don't see them at all?

   Is there anything scarier than being blackmailed? Even if no one is willing to accept your bribe, everyone will see your end, and no one will dare to take this risk (whatever it is) to seek a chance for you to survive.

The prince walked to the desk, picked up the script, flipped through the script, opened his mouth and gave a wry smile. Monaco is just a pocket country, surrounded by France on three sides and facing the Mediterranean Sea on the other side. Once controlled by Genoa, Spain, and now by France, but now King Louis XIV of France has shown his intention to remove this flaw...

The repertoire of    "Friney" is the last effort that the Prince and his ministers can make.

It was a clever plea and appeal—on the one hand, they referred to Monaco by Phrigny, just as beautiful, vulnerable, and humble; on the other, if Louis XIV heard anything against Monaco or Grimal The news of the Di family (that is, the Monaco royal family) is also framed by others. The only thing they can do is to give up the struggle, take off their armor, completely reveal themselves, and ask France for mercy...

   But not to mention Louis XIV, even a lowly actor saw the mystery at a glance, and even fled directly regardless of the disparity in status and the temptation of money. Does this mean that the French king not only has not concealed his plans, but also has no possibility of turning around - so Molière is not even interested in trying it.

  The prince's minister whimpered in pain, "Should we just do nothing?"

"It's not that you don't do it," said the Prince of Monaco calmly and indifferently. "It can't be done." He put down the script, sat down at the desk, and stared at the moonlight pouring in from the window for a while: "Louis XIV's enemies have done All the things we can do, my dear friend, if it were France twenty years ago, I would have the courage to give it a go, but now..." He sighed deeply, "now it is a wounded head. If we can't impress him with emotion, we can't be the target of venting anger like Brittany."

"But it doesn't mean," he said suddenly again, "we really have no hope at all. Even if Louis XIV takes Monaco, can't we take it back?" The family emblem on the chest - on both sides of the red and white diamond shield is a monk wielding a long sword.

This has to do with the roots of Monaco, which at the end of the thirteenth century belonged to the Phoenicians, but François Grimaldi, a Genoese, disguised himself as a friar of St. Francis with his servants and infiltrated Monaco Castle, when everyone in the castle fell asleep, they secretly opened the city gate, introduced the army, and captured the Monaco Castle in one fell swoop, and then plundered the surrounding villages and towns with the castle as the center. The current territory is calculated in a modern way, There are also about 20 square kilometers.

Of course, this piece of territory facing the Mediterranean Sea with beautiful scenery and important location will always attract countless pairs of greedy eyes. Genoese, Spanish, French, and the Kingdom of Sardinia have all controlled Monaco explicitly or secretly. It can be said that , If Monaco was founded on the basis of bravery and strategy, then let it stand to this day, but it all depends on the political wisdom of the descendants of Grimaldi.

But this kind of swing seems to have come to an end, like a skilled tightrope walker finally seeing the platform at the end, the Prince of Monaco also has a bit of relief and sadness and relief in his unwillingness, and there is also a fluke - today's France Although it is unparalleled, a country will not be strong forever. As long as the Grimaldi family in Monaco is not as extinct as the Brittany family, the final result is difficult to say.

  After all, the envoy of the Holy Roman Empire also visited Monaco…

  Prince of Monaco also knew that the reason why Louis XIV refused to accept any petitions was because there might be a war in France soon. How could he allow a duchy like Monaco to occupy the hinterland of France?

In this battle, France will face an enemy as many as half the Europa, and perhaps the United Kingdom and its allies - if France continues to win as big as before, then he is willing to accept the bet, but if France loses, or Is a disastrous victory, then the ownership of Monaco can be put back on the negotiating table.

Thinking of this, the Prince of Monaco couldn't help but burst into tears because of the humiliation. This kind of feeling that he can only rely on others, or the weakness of the enemy himself, to maintain his rule instead of relying on himself, is like swallowing coals of fire. Burned down, but had to endure a smile.

   Now he can only hope that the war between France and the Holy Roman Empire begins soon - he can be spared more torture, just wait for the dust to settle.

  ———

   "Is there an heir for Carlos II?"

  Louis was surprised.

   Carlos II was the same age as the French dauphin-Louis. Although it is a bit early to have descendants, it is not surprising.

   This child is real, he has been baptized in the Cathedral of Toledo, that is to say, whether he came from Queen Antonia's belly or not, he is already the first heir to the Kingdom of Spain.

The Duke of Orleans and the Count of D'Artagnan looked at each other, and everyone knew that this child was definitely not of orthodox origin, but it must be said that Carlos II has recovered - at least in good health. Or can't wait eight years, you know, once this kind of fraud is exposed, all the heirs of the Spanish Habsburgs will be questioned!

  Now most of the Europa countries have the bad habit of queens giving birth under the watchful eyes of nobles, because there were queens who exchanged healthy foreign sons for their stillbirths. If this kind of thing is handled improperly, leaving doubts will directly shake the orthodoxy of the entire Habsburg.

"There must be a reason for this." Louis thought for a while and said, "You can focus on Spain first. Even if Leopold I wanted to go to war early (to forgive the debt), he would not allow anyone who was not him. Daughter's blood ascends to the Spanish throne."

   "Call the dark wizard who claims to know a lot of inside information."

  ———

   Toledo Old Royal Palace.

The birth of the heir of Carlos II should be celebrated in the sky. At least the whole of Spain should be immersed in joy, but the joy is only outside the old palace, but inside the old palace is a dangerous death-the current real power in Spain , Queen Maria, Duke Don Juan, and Archbishop of Toledo, and Jose Patinho, sitting in a room with a cradle between them, the son of Carlos II.

He was indeed in the blood of Carlos II, which was a pleasant surprise, the problem was that his mother was not Queen Antonia of course, and his mother was lowly and dead - but the decision was made at the risk of everyone present. Great risk.

   "We have to do this, we can only do it," Queen Maria muttered, as if to convince herself.

   "We did nothing, this is the child of Queen Antonia and the king, the orthodox heir." Duke Don Juan said through gritted teeth.

   "His Majesty the King does not admit it," said the Archbishop.

   "It doesn't matter," Patinho said: "The point is to keep him from touching the kid."

   He glanced around, "Your Majesty went to the underground palace again today."

  Note 1: (Venus is the goddess of love and beauty born from the foam in the sea)

   (end of this chapter)