I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 455 The First Horn (4)

Anyone who has been ill, especially those that cause headaches, knows that when a patient is uncomfortable, not to mention loud noises, even ordinary voices, the sound of desks and chairs colliding, and the sound of music. Everything changed from being tolerated, ignored, and appreciated to a terrible torture, and Alexei I was no exception, and because he was the tsar, he didn't need to hide his temper, he grabbed the brass chamber pot beside the bed, and immediately Hit the door!

   Forgot to mention, Alexei I was in poor health, so this meeting was held in his bedroom, but this kind of behavior was common at the time.

  The sound outside the door stopped immediately, and then there were a few more cries of children, sharp, slender and fearless, Alexei I pressed his forehead, "Bring them in!"

Soon, a group of frightened maids walked in with the two children. It was not so accurate to say that they were children, because among the two, Sophia, the eldest daughter of Alexei, was thirteen years old. Speaking of adulthood, the other child is an out-and-out child. He is the second son of the Tsar, Ivan who is only four years old.

Alexei I let go, his swollen forehead was deeply imprinted by his ring, and everyone looked at him worriedly, lest the tsar, in a fit of rage, throw anything at his fingertips at the princess and the princess. Princes, but unlike tsars one might imagine, Romanov emperors were always patient with their children—perhaps because the lessons of Rurik’s Ivan IV (the Thor) are so haunting -The latter accidentally killed his most capable and most important eldest son (the original second son, the previous eldest son died) in a rage, and also caused the eldest son's wife to have a miscarriage because of this incident, although Ivan four He still has two sons in the world, but like the current Alexei I, they are all weak and stupid, and they can't bear the power and responsibility of the tsar. The present Romanov dynasty was born.

   The Tsar watched his eldest daughter.

As if it was a curse, or a blessing, his two sons kept letting him down, and the first daughter was as strong as a female bear, and sometimes Alexei I wished to exchange her health and vitality for two. Some sons, of course, this is impossible, even wizards, shamans or priests say it's impossible - it's not impossible, evil spells can make a sick person healthy, but there must be desperate sequelae, Maybe there are kings or emperors who want to try it, but after seeing Carlos II of Spain, there are not many people who have the guts.

Of course, Alexei I would not let his two sons be the wizard's guinea pigs, but he did let the wizards and shamans divination - to see which noble girl might give birth to him A perfect heir, and as everyone knows, Natalia of the Naryshkin family came out on top.

Only before Natalia gave birth to his son, he was still very concerned about his only two sons, Ivan was worse than Ferdo, he was not only sick, but also a little demented, and a boy of his age He can run and jump, and he can speak fluently, but he still only screams like a pig.

   "What happened?" Alexei I said: "Come and tell me, Sophia."

  Sophia, the eldest princess of Romanov, quickly organized words in her mind - she may have more faults than Ivan - she was eavesdropping on the conversation between her father and the ministers in the corridor before.

Russia has always implemented the primogeniture system, and women are not in the eyes of nobles and ministers. As the eldest princess, the only place Sophia may be involved in politics is probably her future marriage, but as the only healthy child of Alexei I, she After all, I still got some privileges, from education to the court. Occasionally, Alexei I would tell her about the outside world, but this kind of treatment is like a kind-hearted owner caring for his own puppy. Dogs can’t. Hence the power to interfere with the master's actions.

But seeing her two younger brothers - where Alexei I and the queen can't see - how they were ridiculed and scorned, Sophia certainly couldn't raise the respect of the future Tsar, Ferdo needed He can only walk with the help of others, and he can only stay in bed for half a day. Ivan has been confirmed as an idiot. The wizards said that he did not grow well in his mother's belly and his brain was defective, which the wizards could not solve. matter.

   In comparison, Sophia is better than these two boys in everything except being a girl.

Her intelligence also allows her to see her future at a glance. Unfortunately, compared to the princess of Europa, the gold content of the Russian princess is really meager. Although the Russian emperor considers himself to be Byzantium, that is, the heir of the Eastern Roman Empire, but so far It has not been recognized by the kings. For real kings such as Leopold I and Louis XIV, the status of the Russian tsar can only be equal to or even lower than the grand duke, let alone their children? Therefore, as a Russian princess, she is most likely to be married to the great nobles in the Russian court as a bargaining chip and hostage in exchange for their loyalty to her brother.

   Sophia was not reconciled.

  If it really wants to be a gift, why doesn't she fight for her own interests?

The problem is that her father is not Louis XIV. Although Alexei I treats his only grown daughter almost indulgently, he will not allow her to interfere in the affairs of the government, especially when she is an adult, she loses a sitting father. His knees pretended to inadvertently flip through important documents. But sometimes, she can still pretend to be naughty and hide behind the curtains or doors to hear what her father and courtiers are saying.

   Alexei I certainly did not know, but out of tolerance or indifference, he did not punish or warn Sophia for this.

   What bad things can a cute little girl do?

Sophia's mind was spinning fast, but within a few seconds, she decided that she couldn't lie to her father and the tsar: "I was eavesdropping on your conversation outside the door," she said bluntly: "Ivan suddenly rushed over and pulled My hair." Alexei I glanced at her turban - the Russian ladies have not been influenced by France for the time being, at least in public, they are still wearing very strict dress - that is, the last century Women's favorite clothing, a black hair scarf wraps the face without revealing the hair, a long robe with wide sleeves covers the curves of the body, no lace and ribbons, only a small amount of embroidery.

It can be seen that Princess Sophia's hair scarf is re-draped, a little crooked, and there are still a few thin scratches on her face. At a glance at the distance and size, you can tell that it is from the handwriting of a young child, Alexei. I sighed, he could imagine the scene at that time - the princess was kneeling on the carpet outside the door and eavesdropped on his conversation with the minister, the four-year-old prince staggered over and grabbed her by the hair - unexpectedly Everyone's surprise.

No, wait, maybe... Alexei I was silent for a while, and his sharp eyes swept over Ivan's maids, Ivan is an idiot, this is something everyone knows, which means he is easy to take advantage of , For example, this time, some people who hated Princess Sophia used his hand to push the eldest daughter in front of him, forcing him to punish him.

   "Your behavior is inappropriate and beyond your duty," Alexei I said to Sophia: "Go to the monastery, Sophia."

   Sophia's eyes suddenly widened.

Alexei I smiled, and it was time to teach this daring girl a lesson: "You must repent to God sincerely, and pray for your father and country." He took a deep breath: "But not Forever, Sophia, we can go back to Moscow together."

  Sophia knelt down immediately, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty."

"I hope you can remember this lesson." His eyes stayed on Ivan for a while. He remembered that he heard Ivan scream. He was saying that at the beginning, Sophia was just unprepared for a while. , but he must have hit back her brother fiercely, knowing that his eldest daughter did not have much brotherly affection for her brother: "And Ferdo and Ivan, you have to pray for them too," he said. Say softly: "You should love them before you can be loved by them.",

   Sophia wanted to retort - she didn't need the love of a brother who could die at any time, or who couldn't even speak, but she was at fault and didn't dare to say anything.

When all the people left, Alexei I stretched out his hand to summon his personal attendant-his identity and power were similar to that of Bontang beside Louis XIV. The tsar murmured something that no one could hear, but the people present Everyone understands that after today, Princess Sophia and all the people around Prince Ivan will have to change it all over again.

   After dealing with these "little things", Alexei I was already feeling a little tired, but he still managed to hold on and dispatched about 1,500 people from another city to Karsava.

  ———

No one thinks that the small town of Karsava can stop the attack of nearly 30,000 Russians. There is no natural barrier outside, swamps, wilderness and low-slope hills are simply the battlefield that every siege party longs for - after all, now they don't need to rely on cloud carts and battering rams to decide the outcome of the battle.

   "It's the age of artillery," said the Russian general proudly.

In fact, when it comes to artillery, the Russian side cannot compare with that of Prince Henry of Poland in terms of caliber, range or accuracy. Prince Henry's artillery is all made by French craftsmen, while Russian artillery is uneven. Some from Austria, some from Ottoman Turkey, and some even from the heritage of the Golden Horde…

But in terms of numbers, they seem to be quite considerable. In addition, because the number is far less than the enemy, the Poles cannot go out of the city to meet the enemy, and the Russians can include Karsava in their arms, but their commander still decides, to Try to find out where the city is weakest.

The city wall of Karlsava is of course the strongest and thickest facing Russia, but it may not be facing other places. Although all available methods have been used, Prince Henry still cannot guarantee that he will not lose Karl. Sava, he glanced at Amon, the head of the Zmish clan, who was leaning against the table.

Except for Louis XIV, staying in a room with this sometimes mad and sometimes cruel non-human is a kind of torture. Amon does not hide his contempt and desire for "food", even in the face of wizards, The same goes for the priest or the dauphin, whose scarlet eyes always project their fragile necks, or their heaving chests, and his fingers swipe tirelessly over wood, metal, ceramic, leaving behind One after another, it looks like it has been slashed by a sword.

   "Don't worry," he said politely: "Even if you lose Karsava, I won't make you a ham."

   "Because in your heart, Karsava belongs to my uncle, not me, or my father," said Prince Henry.

   Amon glanced at him with a little interest: "That's right. So I will take you away. After you fail, after all, Louis can't ignore you."

   "You think I will lose."

   "Yeah, that sucks."

   "But I have an idea." Henry said, "Maybe it will work."

   (end of this chapter)