I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 452 The First Horn (2)

Tekei's expectation is naturally to form an ally with France. With such an enemy who can be called Austria's confidant as an ally, Louis XIV is of course happy to accept it, but everyone other than him seems a little sad-Louis XIV is in At the time of the Great War, it could not be said that the Ottoman Turkish army was defeated, but the Grand Vizier and the Grand Master died unexpectedly at that time, and the army lost its generals—especially for the Ottoman Turkish army with a severe middle-level fracture, in addition , Muhammad IV may not be so sincere in wanting to continue the war, the evacuated Ottoman Turks far outnumbered the casualties, and Louis XIV's musket failed to inflict fatal wounds on this behemoth .

But if Leopold I intends to indulge the Ottomans to drive straight into the Italian peninsula, then the southeast side of France will be uneasy, and Louis XIV's arrangement in Naples will also become a mirror - after all, a monarch who cannot protect the people cannot be supported. Yes, the people and nobles of Naples and Sicily have always maintained a cautious attitude towards Luciano. If it was in peacetime, Louis XIV could afford to wait for months or even years, but the current situation is forcing him Make your choice now.

But to face the Ottoman Turks' army of hundreds of thousands, France's 150,000 standing army was suddenly stretched. It is conceivable that Mohammed IV would never be stupid enough to leave Louis XIV with time to turn around. The army will maintain a subtle tacit understanding with the anti-French alliance, just like a pack of wolves and a tiger biting a lion together.

  "On the bright side," Louis didn't seem to feel the unease of the crowd, "if we still play a good deck this time, then Italy will not be a problem."

   "I really hope the future will be as optimistic as your guess," Bontang said.

With bad news, Tekei left as quietly as he had come, with secret loans from the Royal Bank of Paris, armaments and personnel, and he was content, swearing that he would surely bring it to Leopold I. The unforgettable lesson of his life - given that Leopold I and Mohammed IV had only an undisclosed "secret contract", he would choose to send troops at a critical moment when Louis XIV agreed, and quickly occupy Leopold All of Germany I's Upper Hungary - this is a must, otherwise it will be difficult for him to perfunctory when the sultan's envoy comes with a bowstring.

Of course, in addition to these, Tekei also left another sincerity - he left his many years of arrangement in Istanbul to Louis XIV, including the white eunuchs in the Topcapa Palace, as we all know, white eunuchs can be Those who came out of the palace also had the identity of half envoys. They should have been loyal to the sultan, but there were always cases. At least it took Tekei several years and tens of thousands of livres of money to finally buy one. Open mouth and one ear.

   The problem is that this ear and this mouth are very discreet. It is not a big mistake to say that it is a one-time use, and it can only be used when it is most critical.

   To say that it is used to detect the time of the war, it is stupid enough to be ridiculous. It is impossible to hide the traces of such a huge war. A few months later, even the humblest Provencal peasant, or a slave in Istanbul, or a church clerk in Rome, a craftsman in Spain, or a fisherman in England, can look up and see the clouds of war rising. above their heads.

The servants and messengers of the ministers ran on the road day and night, the generals said goodbye to their wives and children, and entered the military camp. Although the banquets and dances in the palace were not interrupted, the atmosphere became increasingly tense day by day, and the king rarely appeared at the gaming table or at the table. In the hunting forest, documents piled up on tables and carpets like wheat and meat meal pouring into the armament depot.

The most important informant of Tekei still needs to be kept for the time being, but the other people he bought have finally come to some use - with the cooperation of these spies, Mrs. Milady will be her most proud of the two " The little bird" was sent out and entered the mansion of a Vizier Harbi (military minister).

   This is a very dangerous thing, because these two "birds" are witches.

If it weren't for the accidental death of the Grand Master during the Great War, they might not have been able to get close to Vizier. After all, the current Grand Master is not as vigilant and experienced as the previous one, and he almost paid all his attention. Betting on Mohammed IV and the new Grand Vizier, so that every Vizier could not be included in their protective circle.

These two little birds didn't do too much extra work. In the heavily guarded mansion, they were just slaves and absolutely could not arouse the vigilance of others, but witches were witches. They used potions and spells to Some materials were stolen from the desk drawer of this Vizier Habib - these materials did not mention anything related to Leopold I, but just one look, it is known that Muhammad IV is about to start a long war. The sword was definitely not referring to the Holy Roman Empire, which Ottoman Turkey had always chosen, but the Italian peninsula.

This information was quickly sent to Versailles, and then to Naples, because Louis XIV used it to convince the nobles of Anjou in Naples to submit to his eldest son, even if the duke's identity was open to question - but, taking a step back, he The inheritance right that his wife got here can be traced. Besides, the king's illegitimate son has noble blood flowing, and many people just need an excuse.

Moreover, the division of Italy is also doomed that he does not have a real ruler, and the origins of the Aragonese royal family in Naples can also be criticized. He handed it over to his illegitimate son Ferdinand - from the perspective of canon law, this is illegal and unreasonable, but at that time the king of Aragon was powerful, and the church would naturally pretend to be deaf.

As for Luciano's inheritance - of course, he was first of all a legitimate son in name, and then his inheritance came from his wife, and his wife in turn from her father, and as for the Duke of Gaston, the Bourbon one the veins, again from François I of Angoulême (the brave man who made a secret alliance with the Ottomans), and from Louis XII of Orleans (the king Also Duke of Anjou, he also briefly ruled Naples for a while).

In the past few years, Louis XIV and Luciano used the Duchy of Tuscany as their base to test and expand to Naples. It stands to reason that under the rule of the Habsburgs in Spain, these Anjou aristocrats had a hard time. Charles The defeat of King VIII and Louis XII made them wary again, until Louis XIV conquered the Netherlands, the situation changed slightly, but it will take a long time to gain their trust if they are to proceed in an orderly manner. .

For Louis XIV, the true Sun King, the Neapolitan aristocracy was both admiring and wary, but Louis XIV was kind of good, at least on the surface, a man who was willing to keep his word and never lie... (Leo Pod I: Bah!) He said this, and he brought evidence, and the Anjou aristocrats themselves arranged to corroborate each other, and they had to believe that Italy was about to usher in another terrible catastrophe.

The grievances between Ottoman Turkey and Italy were even earlier than Britain and France. After all, Ottoman Turkey was lying between Europa and the fertile America. It was originally only on land. Later, Ottoman Turkey expanded and plundered and occupied Cyprus, Rhodes and other countries. The islands of Crete, and even the sea routes, are in control. Of course, the Italians who developed by sea trade did not want to - the problem is that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, whether it was an army or a weapon, the Europas could not. Compared with the Ottoman Turks, let alone retaking the island, the Ottoman navy also often rushed into the port, plundered wealth and young girls, burned churches, and slaughtered merchants and soldiers...

No one would naively think that once their territory was taken over by the sultan, they would still be the masters here - all the slaves under the sultan, whether you are dressed in yala or burlap - even if you are a merchant and a craftsman, whoever sees you. However, no one who has heard of Istanbul will feel that life will be better under the rule of the Sultan than it is now.

The Ottomans allow you to continue to believe in God, but this means that no matter what occupation you are in, or what your background is, you can only be a slave of slaves - those who worship the true God must be higher than them, which is not much. Taxes and servitude are enough to endure the past, just look at how many Catholics escaped or converted under the sultan.

  People in other places can still have illusions, Italians who often deal with Ottoman Turks are not so naive.

As for the Pope of Rome, his attitude is also very clear. In the past, he has not been severely extorted, and it is possible to delay it for a few months, a few years, and a few decades. Regarding the succession of Luciano and the Duke of Colonna, a It passed at an almost bizarre speed—Luciano could now be crowned Duke of Anjou, although there was something about Naples that had to be determined by the outcome of the war.

Although Luciano has also gone out to sea to destroy pirates in the Principality of Tuscany in the past few years, and won victory, but if he really faces such a big enemy as Ottoman Turkey, he will still feel fear, after all, he is still a The young man, fortunately Louis XIV knew of this, had already sent his navy and generals to Naples.

It's just that this general disappointed some people who didn't know it, because he didn't seem to be much older than the Duke of Colonna, and his father was not a famous general such as Viscount Turenne or Grand Condé, but a well-known general. businessman-turned-finance Chancellor Colbert.

Before the establishment of the Military Academy, almost all military strategists were inherited from the family, such as Viscount Turenne, who served in the army of his uncle, Prince Maurice, who himself was quite a gifted and talented military strategist. , as well as Jean Barr, whose father, grandfather and uncle are all privateer shipowners. Do you think there are people with extraordinary talents? Yes, but too few.

The Marquis of Senere was neither humble nor arrogant, nor rushed. Anyway, all doubts would disappear after seeing the fifty-five ships behind him, including twelve ironclad ships, and some people reminded that it was because of Senere. The Marquis is Colbert's son, and the Minister of Finance, who is planning the overall situation for His Majesty the King in this war, will never make any deductions or hesitations in armaments and supplies.

The arrival of Colbert reassured the Duke of Colonna. He had infinite trust in his father and the king. He held the hand of the Marquis de Senere and welcomed him into his palace. After this coronation, the nobles of Anjou felt that this place was very suitable for the future king of Naples and even Italy, so they entrusted the Duke of Colonna here.

   "Looks like they respect you enough." The Marquis de Senere looked around, the place was resplendent, no less than the Palace of Versailles.

"I can only say that most of them are people with ulterior motives." Without others, the Duke of Colonna, who had spent some time with Marquis Senerai in Versailles, collapsed on his chair wearily: "They asked me to lead them to the Victory - I now know how my father felt about Flanders and Holland, the ministers, generals, soldiers and merchants, all staring at him, and if he let them down, they would kill his enemies One hit and the first to tear a piece of flesh out of him."

   "My father is only a businessman, but he also said that people's desires are driven by profit." Marquis Senere said: "You can't compensate them for their losses, and they naturally have to find them elsewhere."

   Duke Colonna smiled bitterly, "I don't know what to say, I long for His Majesty to lend a hand, and I am deeply afraid of this."

"Are you worried that His Majesty the King will dilute his power and be taken advantage of?" said Marquis Senere, "Don't worry, His Majesty has been preparing for this war for 20 years, what kind of situation he has not imagined. been."

   "If only I could... be faster."

"The haste is not enough," said the Marquis de Senere, "and it's easy to follow in the footsteps of Charles VIII and Louis XII. His Majesty had planned to spend another twenty years doing this, but now..." He took a deep breath: "Maybe it's an opportunity, Your Highness."

   "You are right," said the Duke of Colonna, rising from his chair: "I think it is time for me to leave, sir, you have come a long way."

   "It's no harder than training, but you really should have a good rest." The Marquis de Senere said: "You look haggard."

The Duke of Colonna nodded, he knew what he looked like, his eyes were loose, his hair was disheveled, his face was pale, he hadn't slept well for several nights, but with his father's response and support, he was truly relieved .

   He went back to his room and fell on the bed before he could wash up, but it backfired, and he was woken up by a loud knock on the door when he fell asleep!

   "They're coming! They're coming!" a voice shouted.

   "Ottomans? Are they Ottomans! Where have they been!" Duke Colonna asked equally loudly.

   "No no no! No, Your Highness! The Russians! They attacked Poland!"

   (end of this chapter)