I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 446 Before the War - Rome

The death of Princess Henrietta, the Duchess of Orleans is like a sharp knife, completely severing the short-lived tenderness between France and England - the friendship born from the Duke of Cornwall and Louis XIV has finally ended, and Charles II After his younger brother, the Duke of York, returned to London from Vienna, he quickly came to Versailles as the king's envoy and presented a letter to King Louis XIV of France.

This letter is not as sentimental as the previous correspondence. On the contrary, it is full of disturbing bad language. On the face of it, Charles II revisited the Orange family in the letter. He said that now The Prince of Utrecht, also known as William III, is the orthodox of the Netherlands. At this time, he never mentioned the matter of betraying and imprisoning this relative and dividing up his territory. People demanded that Louis XIV hand over the Dutch, Groningen, and Friesland which should have belonged to William III.

Of course, such a request could not possibly be granted. In fact, the Duke of York read the letter aloud in Jupiter Hall, and the last syllable had just fallen, and the French all around him were shouting loudly, and the general and the The marshals even raised their scepters and waved them like clubs - in this era of Europa, it is not customary to treat envoys, especially before the two countries are about to go to war, the envoys are likely to be tortured and then beheaded. , the better thing is to be expelled after being strongly humiliated.

The Duke of York turned a little pale, although he thought he was braver than his brother Charles II... But he remembered that the French liked to pour tar on the enemy's messengers, glue them with feathers, and push them to the streets to parade. It may not be fatal, but if you are not careful enough when removing the tar, peeling off the tar along with the skin can easily cause high heat and festering.

   He wasn't sure if his king and brother would be willing to let wizards and doctors treat him.

Louis XIV was not surprised, Charles II had almost no feelings for Henrietta - how could you ask for a brother and sister who were nearly twenty years apart in age, spent no more than three years together, and were even more intriguing. It feels real, but for the British, Henrietta's death represents the natural break of the British-France covenant, because Henrietta is young enough, and the conspiracy theories in it are even more rampant.

   Even most Britons don't even know what Henrietta is like.

And when the agreement was signed, Charles II tried his best to fight for his nephew, William III, for Utrecht, the heart of the Netherlands. The opportunity was missed, thanks to Charles II - but then the king must have been thinking about how to swallow Holland... Mind you, the whole of Holland.

He is said to be pushing for the legal recognition of several of his illegitimate daughters, since William III of Utrecht was just standing, Charles II had two daughters in bloom... The king managed to get a job for his illegitimate sons and daughters Prestigious and good marriages are nothing new, but if—if the so far unmarried William III had to marry Charles II, then as a father-in-law, annexing a son-in-law's territory is also not uncommon... See the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian for details. The operation of I, he managed to make his eldest son Philip the husband of the Spanish Queen Juana, in order to seize the kingship of Spain.

   This letter is not so much a voice for William III as it is for Charles II.

The Duke of York waited in horror, but fortunately Louis XIV was as lenient as ever, and he "requested" the Duke to return immediately to his residence in Paris (and not to his room in Versailles), which he and his entourage would accept from this moment on. Watch, and do not leave the mansion at will until they leave, of course, it is better to leave immediately, because the king can not guarantee what his people will do to them.

The Duke of York and his entourage dared not even light candles in their mansion, but before dawn came, a large group of angry Parisians ran into the streets, staring at their carriages, killing dogs, cats and mice. There are also rotten eggs, fish entrails and excrement, and a few nobles are laughing and driving their carriages behind, paying fines for the commoners - they used to be treated like this, how embarrassed and angry they were then, and now they are How happy.

In normal times, this kind of celebration will inevitably have a share of the big baby, the Duke of Orleans, but he is now busy dealing with Henrietta's death and the marriage of the grand county master. He can't get away at all. I drank several large glasses of wine happily.

   "Drink less." Louie said, "We'll only get busier next time."

  The Duke of Orleans glanced at his brother with a reproachful look: "Don't mention such a disappointment at this time, Your Majesty." He said with emotion: "The Duke of York didn't even offer to see Henrietta for the last time."

   "Being related by blood doesn't mean you have to be deeply affectionate," said the king.

   "The North Holland-Groningen-Friesland line that you have built by Viscount Turenne will surely surprise Charles II." The Duke of Orleans murmured, "If Henrietta knew, he would be delighted."

"No," Louis shook his head. "Although she said she was French, in fact, a part of her still stubbornly belonged to England, but she couldn't choose, so she simply deceived herself." He took the cup in front of the Duke of Orleans, Holding it in his hand: "You said, if the big county owner really married Spain and gave birth to a child, that child should still belong to Habsburg, not Bourbon."

   "Of course."

   "In this way, Spain will become a battlefield between Habsburgs and Bourbons, just as William III was once fought over by the British and the Dutch for the right to teach. If so, who do you think will be the biggest beneficiary?"

   "British." The Duke of Orleans sighed. "Ever since the British lost their last piece of land in Europa, they have worked hard to bring the whole continent into chaos."

"Otherwise, how will they fight their enemies," Louis looked out the window: "Whether it's Habsburg, Bourbon, or whoever, whoever wants to become the hegemon of Europa, Britain will stop at nothing. to stop it, because … once Europa comes back together, the UK will be nothing more than a resource-poor island.”

   "Do you want to," whispered the Duke of Orleans: "Do you want to be Caesar, want to be emperor of Rome?"

"Caesar took twenty-three knives," Louis said. "When people kneel at your feet, they want to do more than plead or thank you." He smiled slightly. "I can't answer you for now, brother." He stood up and stretched.

   "There are always so many things, and time goes by so fast... Philip, no one can predict what will happen tomorrow, but we can at least be prepared."

  ————

   "It's over, Your Highness." Elalius said, "You can come out now."

  The eldest daughter of Leopold I, Princess Antonia of the Habsburgs, came out of the prayer room.

Her appeal will be approved by the Pope before the Savior's birth date. After a series of complicated and cumbersome procedures, they will be able to hold a mass for this cursed marriage contract during the following Easter fast to redeem the parties. The sin - because this matter has passed through the hands of Leopold I and Louis XIV, and the Church of Rome has no right to refuse.

But this is absolutely unacceptable to the Spanish royalists. They can't stand their country and people being competed by France and Austria like meat on a chopping block, whether it is Philip of Austria or Charles of France, They don't want to accept it. The seemingly healthy son of Carlos II became their savior, and Antonia, who went to Rome to expose the deception, and was partly responsible for the deaths of the Queen Mother of Spain and King Carlos II, became their anger. Goal with procrastination.

   But Louis XIV handed Antonia to Eralio, not on a whim or on a whim.

There is no doubt about Elarius' loyalty to Louis XIV. Although they did not get along well at the beginning - because of past experience, Elalius did not trust people with high positions very much - but Louis XIV, Elari can only say that he has given too much... so much that if he still maintains his original attitude, even he himself cannot forgive himself.

It was only after he came to Rome that he realized that it was not impossible for him to understand Ballas. For a priest, the Vatican was indeed a heaven on earth. The king of France had twenty million people, but the Pope had ten times as many followers. Money is like a branch of a river, surging into St. Peter's territory every day, and with it comes great power and prestige - this is the Church after the Reformation.

   Even he couldn't help but think, if the church could go back to its most prosperous time, how much authority would a bishop hold as a minister of the Pope, a prince in red?

With the king's backing, a priest, especially as he was originally an Italian, it wasn't hard to get a foothold in Rome, and with an astonishing speed, Elarius donned the burgundy archbishop's robe, maybe in a few more years , he could be dressed in red - he could vaguely sense that the king's expectations of him were more than that - as long as Louis XIV, his supporters could continue to win, or, if not completely, as long as the At the current position, Elaru wants to go further, and even a few steps will not be a delusion.

  With such an idea, of course Elali would not be as willing to be a chess piece as Barras, what he wants to do is to play the chess.

In business for a few years, he has had a lot of power in Rome. The wonderful thing is that the priests feel that he is on their side, and so does the Inquisition. He walks the tightrope between the two skillfully, constantly. Take the people he thinks are available under his command - but for key people like Antonia, he will still do it himself.

  Antonia hesitated. Elatrix had a beautiful face, and when she was young, she seemed a little feminine, and when she got older, she became more gentle and amiable. In Rome, who does not say that Bishop Elarius is a merciful and tolerant good person? But Antonia is not an ordinary woman. She has seen dead people and abused people. She can distinguish the smell of fresh blood from fermented dead blood, and see the special color and texture left after the blood has coagulated or penetrated into the fabric...

Erael was dressed in the bishop's casual clothes, that is to say, he wore a purple-red belt over his black robe, the small round hat and shoes were also of the same color, as well as the fringe of the shawl... This color is used again. In the night lit by candles, it is logically difficult to tell whether he is contaminated with dangerous colors and smells - but Antonia smells it, the kind she often has in Carlos II and his executioner... No, it should be said , this feeling is more similar to those priests of the Inquisition, no matter what terrible things they have done before, their expressions and postures are so relaxed...

   "Don't be afraid," Ela said softly: "It's just some moths fighting the fire."

He remembered that it was exactly what happened to his Highness that he fled to Rome and asked for the protection of Louis XIV. Although the priests of the Inquisition of Toledo did not come from the same world as him, their training was different from that of him. The teaching is still from the same root - from the early Roman Church, and it is not surprising that they have similarities.

"You should know," Elatrix took a slight step back, "knives are not terrible, depending on whose hands they are held, my master is Louis XIV - if you are willing to ask him, you should know him What kind of person." He gently rubbed his gloved hand: "He is not a saint, but he does have a lot of superfluous feelings and bottom lines - you are not someone he will hurt, so please believe He also believes in the me he sent."

   "I guarantee that what you see is clean. Your Highness, open your eyes and go forward boldly."

  Antonia felt a slight shame, took a deep breath, and strode out, as Elarius said.

  The outside was as Eralo said, clean and nothing was left.

  ———

  Almost at the same time, in the Convent of St. Charles on the outskirts of Rome, the door of a nun was lightly opened, and a figure slipped in.

   "Sister Teresa," the man said hoarsely, looking down at the nun who was lying on the cot, "or should I call you—Ms. Christina, or—Her Majesty?"

   (end of this chapter)