I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 487 The stubbornness of the French crown prince (1)

  There is another reason why the Marquis doesn't talk about him, because there are too few men who can understand him, even women.

Among the ladies in the court, there are many people who admire and yearn for Madame Lafayette, and there are people who hate her, but most of them feel incomprehensible, or understandable but disapprove, and even agree but cannot muster the courage Women who step forward - they use various reasons to convince themselves, as the men say, "women are more irrational than men", "men have advantages in physical strength and social status", "The world is not friendly to women, women should be more cautious", "Men are stronger and should take more responsibility", "It is also an important job to serve your husband, children and family" ... in short, and so on. Wait, wait, they found various reasons for themselves, indulging in the past honey and unable to extricate themselves.

  Yes, because there is Madame Lafayette, her mother, and her friends. Before entering the army, the Marquis saw with his own eyes and felt how hard they worked. Not only do they have to prove that they can at least keep pace with men of their class, but they also have to set an example for women and lead the way. If they get married and have children, they also have a responsibility as wives and mothers—unless they can be cruel enough to ignore husbands and children, which will be blamed. Although if this was done by a man, people would only praise him for being selfless.

In fact, there are hardly any wives who ignore their husband's concern and the education of their children - ironically, these wives are regarded as outrageous people, but they are more willing to spend time dancing, gambling, cheating than those who Women, they love their families more, those eyes that surround them, absolutely can't accuse them of personal virtue.

  The Marquis grew up under the guidance of Madame Lafayette, the daughter of Madame Sevigny—in the eyes of outsiders, she is a wise, intelligent and good girl. At first, the Marquis didn't understand why Madame Sevigny, a woman who dared to open a publishing house and a newspaper with the king's support, had such a well-behaved daughter, but he quickly thought - Madame Sevigny loves her too much My daughter, I can't bear to let her suffer.

  As a noble girl, as long as she can read, write letters, be good at dancing and singing, know how to appreciate music and poetry, and have a unique and admirable talent in aesthetics, why go down that thorny road? Marrying a right husband, having children, not thinking about livelihood, not pursuing the meaning of one's existence, and living a peaceful and leisurely life is the path that most women will choose.

  Like those women's college students, many of them got married while they were still studying, and this study just added chips to their marriage balance.

  The Marquis was even resentful because of this, when his mother was sad for one of her students, a girl who had an outstanding talent in poetry, but gave up her studies and talents because of an early marriage, but died in childbirth after three years. But Mrs. Lafayette said that even a king cannot shoulder everyone's fate. When a person makes her own choice, it means that she will bear the fate brought by this choice.

  If this choice was wrong, the Marquis remembers asking himself, should we condone her too?

   How do you know this choice is wrong for her? Mrs. Lafayette said, don't blame people who are on a different path than you, and don't think that the path you choose is noble and bright, you should look at the thorns as you look at the roses, because for some people the thorns Also like roses, roses are like thorns to others - so you are defending true equality and freedom.

"Selfish liberty is not freedom, and unjust equality is not equality," the marquis muttered, so he didn't try to correct the housekeeper's idea, it was her idea, not his, if he rudely interfered with her cognition With the idea, it is equivalent to insulting both of them.

   "Do you want to eat pork shank stewed with onions?" The housekeeper didn't hear what the Marquis said, but she ordered the fresh dishes that were delivered today and asked loudly.

"Eat!" The Marquis replied happily. This dish is a country dish from Provence. After Madame Sevigny's daughter went to Provence with her husband, she described this seemingly unremarkable dish to her mother in a letter. Tang but the extremely delicious dishes, copied this recipe-for her, this kind of life is also a happy life.

   With such a mood, he ate a large pot of food beautifully.

  ———

  Unfortunately, the good mood of the Marquis was shattered as soon as he returned to Versailles.

The number of rooms in the Palace of Versailles is astonishing, but the number of people who came to pay homage to the king and the king’s love is even more abundant. Because Madame Lafayette was once a victim of someone with the Duke of Orleans, the king specially granted her one. The room, but later Madame Lafayette saw that the rooms in the palace were becoming more and more scarce, and she was tired of being arrogant with some people, so she declined the favor of the king and moved out.

Anyway, countless mansions like other palaces have been built around the Palace of Versailles, with the same convenient water and water facilities, gardens and stables, and roads lead in all directions, without any inconvenience, and it is more suitable for Mrs. Lafayette at any time. Leaving to visit friends in Paris - some friends can stay in Versailles too.

But because of the latest job she received, the Duchess of Montpensier generously offered her a room in the suite. Mrs. Te came over from the outside in the carriage, and she was really tired.

The Marquis sent her mother back to the suite, and the Duchess of Montpensier kindly gave Madame Lafayette the room farthest away from her. The Duchess's suite was always lined with people who wanted to see her, and even if they didn't dare to make a fuss, it was annoying to have to deal with them one by one.

As soon as she came back, the maid of the duchess rushed over and asked Mrs. Lafayette politely if she would like to accompany the duchess for a while. Madame Fayette's first book was written for the Duchess) and the employed, she looked at the maid's expression, guessing that the Duchess must have encountered something embarrassing, and she needed her so desperately. help.

She asked her son a few words and left. The marquis originally wanted to leave immediately. Unlike those who did not want to leave after entering Versailles, he would rather change his clothes and be in the taverns on the streets and alleys with strangers who don't know each other. Drink hard, and don't want to be flattered and flattered endlessly.

   As a result, he was caught by the crown prince at once.

The face of little Louis was extremely serious, which surprised the Marquis. Even the merchants in Istanbul knew that the Prince of France was different from his father. He was a gentle and introverted good man. It's the first time I see it.

   "I had a fight with my grandmother," said little Louie, then paused and corrected: "I had a fight with everyone except my father."

   Mainly because no one dared to disturb the majestic Louis XIV.

"What are you arguing about?" the marquis asked curiously. If the crown prince had a dispute with a minister or a general, no, this possibility is very small. After all, Louis XIV is still on the throne, and no one will Going too close to the dauphin - let alone the important things that need to be disputed - they will certainly cater to the dauphin without limit unless Louis XIV has an objection.

  Little Louis sighed: "I want to cancel...the dressing ceremony."

Dressing ceremony, in fact, this is just a term coined for convenience, because this ceremony is neither clearly written on the marriage contract, nor is it made public (for most people), and the people in the court are also Never mention it - an act that can almost be seen as disgrace and humiliation.

The current queen mother, the queen has all experienced it, and even Louis XIV's daughter Elizabeth was not spared (although this ceremony is almost a symbolic process when it comes to Elizabeth) - the grand princess who went to Prussia to get married also because of Prussia. There is no border between France and France, and the ceremony is completed by being surrounded by maids in one's own room and changing into Prussian clothes - but this ceremony does exist.

Among the procedures for welcoming the bride presented to the Dauphin Louis the Younger, there is such an item - according to tradition and negotiated treaty, after the Portuguese Princess Isabella arrives in Nantes by boat across the Atlantic, the French port will be There was moored a ship that belonged neither to the Portuguese nor the French. Princess Isabella was on this ship. Clothes and accessories, not even a single fiber can be left, and then put on clothes and shoes belonging to the French, only then can you truly become a French princess.

In this regard, although the Marquis is a man, because his mother, Madame Lafayette, is a noble lady in the court, she is always by the side of the queen and the duchess, so she still understands the content of this ceremony very well, and avoids the need for the prince to be detailed. Describing the embarrassment of the problem - and then he listens to the crown prince that he's intentionally dropping this part of the process.

   The Marquis was in trouble.

People in this era were astonishingly careful about this kind of details, and they were very concerned. At first, Louis XIV suppressed all the Swedes who came to greet the bride in the identity of the Sun King, so that Princess Elizabeth could be spared from this ordeal. The main reason is that the King of Prussia needs to show enough sincerity to the King of France to get the qualification to sway from side to side. It stands to reason that it is the Portuguese princess who will face this difficult problem, and no one will care - but the crown prince proposed to ban it. An embarrassing ceremony.

   There are many opponents, not entirely out of selfishness. In any case, because Princess Elizabeth did not completely complete the ceremony at the beginning, some people still questioned whether she had enough sense of belonging to Sweden, which was not over until the Queen of Sweden gave birth to the heir of Carl XI.

  The identity of the Portuguese princess is a bit difficult. If Princess Isabella did not fulfill this obligation, would someone attack her for this reason?

   "She has me." Little Louis said simply.

  Little Louis had a role model, that is his father Louis XIV. At the beginning, because Queen Teresa's dowry had not arrived in France, there were many vicious rumors both inside and outside the court, including the Queen Mother, who was the princess of the Habsburgs of Spain, who also treated the queen coldly for a long time. But Louis XIV never wavered. He treated his wife gently and courteously, respected her, and shared power with her. His attitude allowed Queen Teresa to gain a foothold in the Louvre and Versailles - compared to Louis X. San's wife, the Queen Mother, she was so happy - the latter's husband had not shared her bed with her for twenty years, and people were blindly scolding this woman for not giving birth to a son to the king...

Louis XIV also taught his son that he could not protect his wife, and instead followed the people who blamed and hurt her, not to mention the moral level, at least the sense of responsibility is lacking - this point and others say It is completely different, and Louis XIV also explained this - because the king's power is too great, and there are too few people who can be trusted by him, so once the king's trust can be obtained, the benefits are almost innumerable, but as a wife, The queen was born to be the king's ally. If she could gain the king's love, it would be equivalent to taking away the best and biggest fruit, and it would be easy.

Therefore, in general, the ministers and nobles of the country will try their best to destroy the relationship between the king and the queen. They would rather flatter a "royal lady" who violates morals than bow to the queen, although their reasons are always high-sounding — of course, they would say to the dauphin that they were worried that a foreign woman would influence him so much that it would shake the very roots of France.

"But," Louis XIV said to little Louis with a smile, "I respect your mother and have loved ones, but when have they ever changed my decision, unless I wanted to do it in the first place. In the future you will too. So, if you make a poor plan, or act stupidly, don't blame anyone, because if you are influenced, and you are willing to be influenced by him or her, it is still your fault."

   Little Louis took these words into his heart. This is what his father, a great king, said. Wasn't it more credible than the whispers of scholars and politicians? When he was reading the procedure, he kept thinking, as the future king of France, should he use this...boring means to humiliate his future wife? Could humiliating a person make her admire and adore him? ? Not even a beggar, or a ruthless thug would think so.

He had read every letter Isabella wrote to him, and kept the manuscripts of every letter he had written to Isabella, and he had comforted the lady who had been tortured by guilt for years (she and her Her father and mother are different and still have a pure heart), he promises freedom, love and dignity as long as she comes to France.

   And then, before her feet touch the dirt of France, first in front of a group of strangers...until she's naked?

  This is the first gift he gave her?

  The Crown Prince was reluctant, but this behavior undoubtedly caused an uproar.

   (end of this chapter)