I Am Louis XIV

Jewels worth five thousand livres in exchange for Monsieur Molière presenting to the king a charming new play, Phryne.

Who is Phryne? She is a famous goddess in ancient Greece. She is called "toad" because of her yellowish skin, but this does not affect the perfection of her facial features and body at all. The number of ministers under her skirt Thousands of money, full of money and even enough to support the maintenance of the city wall of Thebes, she undressed during the Poseidon Festival, and walked into the sea with her curly long hair. Everyone exclaimed that this was Aphrodite Intuit (Venus) came to the world again. (note 1)

Some sculptors used her as a model to create "Aphrodite of Cnidos". After that, when anyone created a statue of Goddess, they couldn't get rid of her stereotype.

But that's not the most famous thing that happened to her.

Most famously, this famous lady was once sued by her jealous lover for blasphemy, a crime that could have killed her at the time, but luckily she was rich enough to hire a clever defender, who The defender did not search for evidence of exculpation, bribe witnesses or forge documents. He directly brought Phryni into the court after giving secret instructions.

In front of five hundred and one citizen jurors, the defender did not hesitate to pull off the only silk robe on Phryni's body, exposing that almost suffocating beautiful carcass in broad daylight. There is only one line of defense: "Can such a beautiful r-ufan disappear?"

These words and Phryni's body completely conquered the five hundred and one jurors. They agreed that such a beautiful body was not the incarnation of the gods but also a gift from the gods. Phryni was immediately acquitted.

Molière’s Guangyao Theater Company has also received custom-made repertoires, but this kind of story with almost no turning point and moral, generally speaking, is a kind of humiliation to anyone who regards theater as a career—no Because of its particularity, he is often played by some so-called "theatre troupes" who are not well-known and have no interest in fame. They just want to get a quick money. The moment of being pulled down—some girls and famous girls used it to attract customers.

But for Molière, this commission, which is equivalent to five times the king's reward, is really considerable.

It's just that after careful consideration, he still shook his head, and even took out the previous gift—that is, a box of gold louis that lured him to the door, and put it in front of the customer, "Sorry, sir, I I cannot grant your request."

The nobleman knocked on the cane—now the cane is almost the standard equipment of the nobles in Europa, and they have many functions beyond the original use. Fearing that the play is bawdy, Monsieur Molière, you can have the actresses wear cream leotards."

Molière raised his head, took a serious look at the other party, and suddenly smiled slightly: "I think the most important question is not here." He said, pushing the heavy box forward firmly, "Please forgive me for not being able to I agree to your request." He stood up and turned to the door without permission, the attendant at the door glanced at the nobleman, who looked ugly, but nodded, Molière himself Opened the door and walked out.

The nobleman in the room stood up after a few minutes, walked to the window, and raised the curtain. Molière was walking on the street, and his small and exquisite carriage was coming from the corner of the street, and it stopped for a while. Molière flung the door open--the servant didn't even jump out of the carriage, he got into the carriage, and after a breath or two, the horse raised its hooves again.

The whole thing was eagerly chasing him like a wolf.

The nobleman's complexion was even more ashen, and at the same time, he was a little panicked. At this time, the door to the next room slammed, and another more noble person walked in.

The person who came was the Prince of Monaco. He had the same name as Louis XIV and was four years younger than Louis XIV, but he seemed to be fourteen or more years older than the Sun King, except for some "special reasons" of Louis XIV. In addition, the real culprit is this gentleman's mental and physical exhaustion day after day in recent years.

The Prince of Monaco looked at his minister, who shook his head with a wry smile.

"Has the situation gotten so bad?" asked the Prince of Monaco, "Even an actor knows what Louis XIV wants—am I doomed to lose my country and people?"

"We may have other ways." His ministers said dryly, but they all knew in their hearts that the people around Louis XIV were best at understanding the king's will and never disobeying it. In order to avoid possible misunderstandings and Wrong, they will stay away from the bottom line that no one can see but everyone knows-like Brittany, Holland and Flanders, how can those people beg to go to Molière?

He is only an actor after all, and isn't it because the really hot people, the Duke of Orleans, Madame de Montespin, the Prince of Conti, the Comte d'Artagnan, General Vauban, etc., never see them?

What's scarier than being blackmailed? Even if no one is willing to accept your bribe, everyone can see your end, and no one will dare to take this risk (no matter what kind) to seek a chance for you to survive.

The prince went to the desk, picked up the script, flipped through it, and gave a wry smile. Monaco was just a pocket country, surrounded by France on three sides and facing the Mediterranean Sea on one side. It was once controlled by Genoa, Spain, and now France, but now King Louis XIV of France has shown his intention to remove this blemish...

The repertoire of Phryne was the last effort the Prince and his ministers could make.

This is a clever plea and appeal - on the one hand, they use Phryne to refer to Monaco, which is equally beautiful, fragile and humble; on the other hand, if Louis XIV hears something that is not good for Monaco or Gerry The news of the Mardi family (that is, the Monaco royal family) is also framed by others. The only thing they can do is to give up fighting, take off their armor, completely expose themselves, and beg for mercy from France... …

But not to mention Louis XIV, even a lowly actor saw the mystery at a glance, and even ignored the disparity in status and the temptation of money, he ran away directly. Doesn't this mean that the King of France not only did not conceal his plan at all, but also had no possibility of turning it around-so Molière was not even interested in trying it.

The prince's minister whimpered in pain, "Should we just do nothing?"

"It's not that I won't do it," said the Prince of Monaco calmly and indifferently: "It's impossible." He put down the script, sat down at the desk, and stared at the moonlight cast from the window for a while: "Louis XIV's enemies have already done it." Everything we can do, my dear friend, if it was France twenty years ago, I would have the courage to fight, but now..." He sighed deeply, "Now it is a pain in the ass. The wounded lion will only become more ferocious and vicious, and if we cannot impress him with emotion, we must not become the object of venting our anger like Brittany."

"But that doesn't mean," he said suddenly, "we really have no hope at all. Even if Louis XIV takes Monaco, can't we take it back?" The family crest on the chest—on either side of the red and white rhombus shield are monks wielding long swords.

This has something to do with the roots of the founding of Monaco, which belonged to the Phoenicians at the end of the thirteenth century, but François Grimaldi, a Genoese, disguised himself as a monk of St. The Castle of Monaco, when everyone in the castle fell asleep, they secretly opened the city gate, brought in the army, captured the Castle of Monaco in one fell swoop, and then centered on the castle, plundered the surrounding villages and towns, the current territory is calculated in a modern way, There are also about twenty square kilometers.

Of course, this piece of land facing the Mediterranean Sea, with beautiful scenery and an important location will always attract countless pairs of greedy eyes. The Genoese, the Spaniards, the French, and the Kingdom of Sardinia have all controlled Monaco either explicitly or secretly. It can be said that However, if Monaco was founded by virtue of bravery and strategy, then it stands today thanks to the political wisdom of Grimaldi's descendants.

But this kind of swing seems to have come to an end, just like a skilled tightrope walker finally saw the end platform, the Prince of Monaco also had a trace of relief and sadness in his unwillingness, and there is still a fluke - today's France is undoubtedly powerful, but a country will not be strong forever. As long as the Grimaldi family in Monaco is not extinct like the Breton family, the final result is hard to say.

After all, envoys from the Holy Roman Empire also visited Monaco...

The Prince of Monaco also knew that the reason why Louis XIV did not accept any entreaties was because France might soon face a major war. How could he allow a principality with an unknown position like Monaco to occupy the hinterland of France?

The enemies that France will face in this war may be as many as half of Europa, and perhaps Britain and its allies will be added. If France continues to win as before, then he is willing to gamble and admit defeat. Or a disastrous victory, then the ownership of Monaco can be put on the negotiating table again.

Thinking of this, the Prince of Monaco couldn't help but burst into tears because of the humiliation. This feeling of not relying on himself, but relying on others or the enemy's own weakness to maintain his rule is like swallowing burning coals, and his internal organs are like being swallowed. Burned, but had to endure a smile.

Now he can only hope that the war between France and the Holy Roman Empire will start sooner rather than later - and he will be spared more torture when the dust settles.

—————

"Does Carlos II have an heir?"

Louis was in a rare surprise.

Carlos II is the same age as Dauphin Louis Jr. of France. Although it is a bit early to have descendants, it is not surprising.

This child is genuine, and he has been baptized in the Cathedral of Toledo, that is to say, whether he comes from Queen Antonia's belly or not, he is already the first heir to the Kingdom of Spain.

The Duke of Orléans and the Count d'Artagnan exchanged glances. Everyone knew that this child was definitely not of orthodox origin, but it should be said that Carlos II had recovered—at least he was in good health. , or eight years can’t wait, you know, once this kind of fraud is exposed, all the heirs of the Habsburgs in Spain will be questioned!

Most European countries now have the bad habit of queens giving birth under the watchful eyes of nobles, because some queens once exchanged healthy foreign sons for stillborn babies they gave birth to. If this kind of matter is not handled properly and leaves doubts, it will directly shake the legitimacy of the entire Habsburg.

"There must be a reason for this." Louis said after thinking for a while: "You can focus on Spain first. Even if Leopold I wanted to start the war early (in order to forgive the debt), he would not allow others Daughter's blood on the throne of Spain."

"Call that dark wizard who claims to know a lot of inside information."

—————

Old Royal Palace of Toledo.

The birth of the heir of Carlos II, it stands to reason that the sky should be celebrated together, at least the whole of Spain should be immersed in joy, but the joy is only outside the old palace, and the old palace is dangerously lifeless—the real power of Spain now Pai, Queen Maria, Duke Don Juan, the Archbishop of Toledo, and José Patinho sat in a room with a cradle between them, and in the cradle was the son of Carlos II.

He is indeed the blood of Carlos II, which is gratifying. The problem is that his mother is of course not Queen Antonia. took a great risk.

"We have to do this, we can only do this." Queen Maria murmured, as if to convince herself.

"We didn't do anything. This is the child of Queen Antonia and the king, the legitimate heir." Duke Don Juan said through gritted teeth.

"His Majesty does not admit it," said the archbishop.

"It doesn't matter," Patinho said. "The point is that he doesn't touch the kid."

He glanced around, "Your Majesty went to the underground palace again today."

Note 1: (Venus is the goddess of love and beauty born from the foam in the sea)