I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 451 The First Horn

  The people present may not have been surprised as long as Tekei and Louis XIV who brought this news.

   "Ah," said Louis, "I wonder what kind of ally Leopold I would choose."

After Louis conquered Lorraine, Alsace, Flanders, and Holland, the Habsburg siege had been completely cut off by him. As a result, Austria's allies are only a few - the princes of the Holy Roman Empire.

Among them, there are three church electors. Although the Roman church still maintains an ambiguous relationship with Louis XIV, because Louis XIV refused to give an inch to the kingship or even the religious power, the current Innocent XI even had a relationship with him. The secret agreement also had to stand on the side of the church and repeatedly reprimanded the words and deeds of the French king—maybe part of it came from his heart. After all, the annexation of France or the co-government of Spain is something that the Roman church does not want to see. Think about it, Although France still belongs to God, its money and priests belong to the king, not the church. If Spain, a traditionally powerful country, also falls into the hands of Louis XIV, the already crumbling temple of the Roman church will not be saved. .

At the same time, these three church electors are also very clear that once France gets Spain, it is difficult to say whether Louis XIV's ambition will expand rapidly. After all, some people are calling him "Caesar" at this time. When Caesar ruled in Rome Everyone knows how big a place it is. It is a whole Europa, England and half of America, and this majesty has proved that he can fight to get richer and richer, and his people, ministers and generals are also him. A fanatical advocate, unless Louis XIV suffers several consecutive defeats like Richard the Lionheart—Richard was even imprisoned in the first place, or wherever his authority points, his soldiers will surge forward like a tidal wave, drown their enemies.

   Therefore, although these three electors of the church were in harmony with the king at the time of dividing Holland, they now stand firmly on Leopold's side.

As for the other four secular electors, the Elector of Bohemia is Leopold I. The former Elector of Brandenburg is now the King of Prussia. He changed between Louis XIV and Leopold I. Ziroom has gained a lot of benefits for himself - it can be said to be semi-neutral, although nominally still loyal to the emperor Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, no one can predict how many soldiers will actually be sent and who will be sent to... Of course some people will be outraged, given that the big county lord will take away the huge dowry that is so rich that it can cover a year of Prussian taxes, but some discerning people, or people who are not so greedy and fanciful, know that the big county lord will never Marry a Frenchman.

  The choice of the big county lord is actually quite narrow.

Being able to keep the Prussian king in this "weather vane" attitude is actually enough to make up for this loss, Louis and the people around him think so, because although Prussia is entrenched at the top of the Holy Roman Empire, it is separated from France three times. The territory of a church elector, but it is close to Saxony and Hanover, shares an inland sea with Sweden, and has a long border with Poland. It can be said that no matter where he falls, it will directly form a powerful "ally". constraints.

The Palatinate was deprived of the electoral qualifications, and then returned by Leopold I, so they would only stand on Leopold I's side, and the other was the elector of Saxony and the elector of Bavaria, Both of them accepted bribes and promises from Leopold I, and of course, there were also reasons for growing jealous of France.

   But these are not enough, these princes, like Austria, were cut off from Spain by France.

Britain, a country that has a century-old grudge with France, let alone old grudges, after the Netherlands no longer exists, Britain and France are like two ferocious beasts, facing each other again, especially after Britain lost Dunkirk, their relationship The new routes and new ports needed by the merchants were all in the hands of Spain and France. They did not want to be strangled by Louis XIV, so they had to unite with Leopold I to defeat the Sun King and his country.

   At least let France go back to the time of Bishop Richelieu, how wonderful it was, when France's warships were less than the number of fingers and toes of a man.

   But the combined army of these kings and princes still cannot compare with the standing army of Louis XIV's 150,000.

Several previous battles have proved that the French land army is unmatched, and the sea battle with Britain has also proved the best verification of Louis XIV's persistence - Leopold I even smashed himself furiously room, shouting that it is not allowed to continue exporting steel to France - he did the same, but unfortunately it was too late, how about steam ironclad ships, just look at every country that has an idea of ​​maritime hegemony is desperately making this Class ships know that.

  The king of France already had a whole fleet of these.

   "But it's just too… unbelievable."

   Bontang couldn't help but say that in the king's room he had always been as silent and quiet as a teapot and a candlestick, and now he couldn't help but interject, one can imagine how much shock this news brought him.

You must know that Austria has always been committed to replacing France and becoming the "eldest daughter" of the Roman Church - or, a secret controller and beneficiary, just like what the beautiful man Philip IV (King of France) did to the Church. In that way, in addition to his support and protection of the church, Leopold I also behaved more devoutly than Louis XIV—everyone knows that the king of France worships, and attending Mass is like a student doing homework, which is purely compelled to do, Mindless.

   "François I could have done it, and of course Leopold I could have done it," Louis said.

At that time, in order to fight against Charles V of the Habsburgs, François I had to make a covenant with Suleiman I of Ottoman Turkey. "Alliance", but in the end everyone saw that Charles V was restrained by Suleiman I and finally stopped moving forward - France also got a chance to breathe and grow.

   It can be said that without the madness of François I, there would be no France today.

  Leopold I had also come to the juncture of choice, and by doing so, he could be regarded as a competent king.

After saying this, Tekei immediately raised his head and looked at the face of Louis XIV. When he heard a shocking news, people's first expressions often represented his true thoughts. Although Keyi does not look like a nobleman, he is still a nobleman after all, and he has long been subservient to the unpredictable Sultan and the Grand Vizier. In the Ottoman Turkish court, all but the Sultan are slaves. Li answered right, the eunuchs would be hanged by the eunuchs with bowstrings if they were not careful - so guessing other people's moods or thoughts from any subtle place was already very familiar to Tekei.

   As soon as he looked up, he saw the indifferent face of Louis XIV.

   is not pretending to be calm, but understanding, anticipation and commonplace.

Seeing him looking up, Louis XIV smiled slightly. This smile did not contain much contempt, but it hit the dark part of Tekei's heart at once - he suddenly remembered that many poets would liken sunshine to a The golden, scorching arrows, anyone who has been exposed to the sun will know how appropriate such a description is, but now Tekei can also feel it, even more than that.

  Sunshine doesn’t always bring warmth and comfort to people. Along with the splendor of Versailles, people often mention the corpses swaying on the gas lamps in Paris.

People said that this was the evil deed of Madame Montespan, the king's favorite concubine, but Tekei didn't believe it. Without the king's permission, not even a dead mouse would appear on the streets of Paris, let alone the corpse. After this information about the king, he was kicked out of Paris when he was a teenager, and the people who should be loyal to him became thugs chasing and hurting him. It is strange that he would maintain any goodwill in Paris!

   It’s just that he can’t give up Paris so quickly, but it’s still okay to sound the alarm bell in the hearts of Parisians all the time.

  The king's smile made him look like a tolerant elder, and Tekei's frightening words melted away like ice and snow in the sun in front of him, and it didn't make a difference.

"Then this secret agreement was negotiated by Muhammad IV himself and Leopold I," Louis said as if to himself: "It seems that he is not a mediocre sultan like the legend. Woolen cloth."

Muhammad IV was born in 42 years and took the throne in 48 years. Like Louis XIV, Leopold I, Carlos II and other kings, he became the master of a huge empire when he was a child. His mother, like the biological mother of the previous sultan, was a female slave in the harem, but she did not have the means like Xu Leimu. Even if she became the queen mother, the court was still in chaos, with malfeasance, bribery, corruption and even rebellion everywhere. This situation did not end until she finally negotiated peace with Koprulu, the regent appointed by Ibrahim I.

Koprulu is indeed an outstanding talent, but unfortunately, except for the bishop of Mazarin, who met Louis XIV and died at the right time, almost any minister who was entrusted to orphans would not end well. When Koprulu was still alive , Muhammad IV no longer regards him as his teacher and minister, but an enemy. After Kopurulu's son Ahmed succeeded him as the grand vizier, he took the slick and smooth manner. Gestures and finesse were tossed between the sultan and other ministers, but political finesse, no matter how fine, needed to be backed up by a strong force—especially in Ottoman Turkey.

Louis XIV wasn't sure if Ahmed's war against Austria was motivated by Muhammad IV's intention, or if he too felt the need for a great victory to cement his position - perhaps even without him, Ahmed Medd still suffers a crushing defeat - so that Muhammad IV can justifiably hang the unpleasant man.

Because Istanbul is not friendly to wizards, the church is also difficult to move there, and it is constantly under surveillance. There is not much information about Muhammad IV, but since he has the courage to form an alliance with his long-time enemy, Austria, then he should also be a The guy who can't be underestimated-Louis rubbed his fingers lightly, "What kind of reward will Leopold I give...well, God," he said with a frown, "could it be..."

Italy.

   He lip-mouthed the term silently, and Tekei nodded slowly.

   Italy torn apart.

In the seventeenth century, Italy was only a geographical term, or a unified and powerful country imagined by poets and idealists. In the era of Louis XIV, it was still cut into countless small pieces by many duchies and princes. The little princes who cannot affect the situation may have an impact on the subsequent wars. Probably only the Papal State—this one, undoubtedly, also has the Duchy of Savoy—because the heirs of the Duke of Savoy are still fighting for the king of France, and the duke will naturally not. On the Austrian side.

   The Republic of Genoa is a vassal of Spain.

  The Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sicily, and Sardinia belong to the Habsburgs of Spain.

   The Duchy of Tuscany and France are half related by marriage, but in terms of military power, everyone knows that the Florentines cannot be counted on.

The Republic of Venice, it's still rocking, but if they knew that Austria had joined forces with the Ottoman Turks, they'd be on the side of France - they had been fighting the Ottomans for decades, just to take back Venice. Overseas Territory - Crete.

  Without Crete, even if the Venetian trade routes were cut in half, they had to take it back into their arms if they didn’t want to slowly weaken and die.

   What's more, in order to curb French hegemony, Leopold I is likely to lead the wolf to drive away the tiger and sell Italy to Mohammed IV.

Ordinary people can't believe it at all, but for Leopold I and his country, this is not a big loss. If France is defeated in this battle, forcing Louis XIV to abandon Spain, the previous, Even more territory was ceded to them, and the Habsburgs can be said to have laid a solid foundation for the next hundred years, and no one can shake the crown on their heads.

As for the victory, those allies, such as the British, the Ottoman Turks, will not gain an inch - Louis thought, Leopold I will definitely try to make them and himself lose both, he betrays Italy - don't forget that Italy also has a Papal State , Innocent XI may be so angry that he will be excommunicated! Also make a deal with the enemy of Christ, the devil monarch on the earth, didn't you fancy that the Ottoman Turkey's sea tactics could be used against the French standing army of 150,000?

   Wait until the protracted war is over, no, he may not wait until the end of the war, as long as the Sun King loses his original brilliance, he can fight back - if it is other countries, but the Ottomans? All Catholics will be on his side! The Papal States also have to support him unless they have a second Vatican.

  Muhammad IV may not have been unaware of Leopold I's conspiracy, but like every fish that takes the bait, sometimes it is not because of stupidity, but because of greed.

"But Leopold I didn't write easily on any covenant," said Louis, who was very young in Leopold I (and he was young at the time, too young to be reckless), "probably just a messenger to bring Send a message to show that if Mohammed IV intends to go further in the Italian peninsula, he will not hinder it."

  Louis sighed. It stands to reason that most of Italy belongs to Spain, but it seems that his actions in Naples finally caught the attention of Leopold I.

  If the Ottoman army landed on the peninsula, the biggest loss was not the Habsburgs, but the Bourbons.

   The addition is complete!

   (end of this chapter)