I Am Louis XIV

Princess Isabella would find that she felt little hostility at Versailles.

No, no, no, it wasn't because of the Crown Prince's respect for her that made these dignitaries jealous. Before Louis XIV passed away or lost his authority, no one cared too much about the Crown Prince. This was an eternal fact. Changed traditions and laws - mainly because at the moment in the Palace of Versailles, both men and women are very busy. The men are busy with Louis XIV's third personal expedition, while the women are busy saying goodbye and checking the account books.

In Paris and Versailles, women's education rate may be the highest. After the men left Paris and Versailles, they would also take over the responsibility of managing the family estate, and this continued for thousands of years. Because of this, women's power often changes with the frequency of wars. Generally speaking, after the male master leaves the territory, it is his wife or sisters who give orders. The side branches and common people have no say and can only interact with the territory. Officials and stewards obey orders like this, unless the man of the house is confirmed to have died on the battlefield.

In that case, the noble hostess is immediately reduced to a valuable "thing" tied to the territory. It just depends on whether the future heir will be willing to take over her for her name and dowry, otherwise she will have no choice but to enter a monastery.

The situation for men who are qualified to enter or live in the Palace of Versailles is even more complicated. Even the Duke of Vendôme, who needs help from others to move around, wants to go to Spain with the king, let alone others. Everyone knows This may have been Louis XIV's last battle - simply put, the last chance they had to show their courage and decisiveness in front of the king and have his name recorded. Whether young, old, wise, slow, strong, weak... they rushed to bribe those who could influence the king, hoping that they could be one of the five thousand people accompanying the army.

Madame de Montespan was the first to bear the brunt of it. The constant attention and attentiveness made the royal lady feel much better because one of the king's sons was about to become the king of Spain. At the banquet to welcome the crown princess, she was as good as ever. The ground is the focus of the scene - she is wearing a dark red satin dress, the color is like coagulated blood, with several rings of pearl necklaces wrapped around her neck. In the middle of the necklace is a ruby ​​set on a gold base. It hangs down to the center of the chest.

She is a witch and has been able to maintain her youth for a long time. There have been discussions and questions in the court, but as long as the king doesn't say anything, no one will meddle in other people's business...

It must be said that Madame Montespan really wanted to embarrass the bride. In the court, the status of a French royal wife is lower than the Crown Princess in etiquette, but in reality it is higher than that of a foreign woman. All the nobles were happy to watch her play tricks on each other, but the communication speed of wizards was far beyond that of ordinary people. She already knew that there were three gold mines and two iron mines in the future territory of her son Auguste, Duke of Montreal. There may be more in the future. For the sake of her son, she couldn't play any tricks at this time, although she was still very jealous.

Mrs. Montespan pressed her chest. It seemed to be empty there, and it had been like this since she was very young, like a dandelion that had left its branch.

At this time, the future crown princess had already walked up to the king and curtsied. Under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes, the girl was a little timid and a little dazed, but she still insisted on finishing the salute. Then the crown prince stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. Looking side by side at Louis XIV.

Princess Isabella had only seen two kings before, Alfonso VI and Pedro II, her uncle and father. The former was sick and bloated, and the latter was thin and gloomy. She had seen the portrait of the Crown Prince of France, and she also I have heard that King Louis XIV of France is as arrogant as the sun, but none of this is as shocking as seeing it with my own eyes - perhaps because Louis XIV has been thinking and discussing things about war recently, and the atmosphere around him is much stronger than before. Originally much colder, he glanced at the unmarried couple and nodded - "Your wedding will be held in the Royal Chapel." Because little Louis was still the crown prince, his wedding could not be held in the cathedral.

Princess Isabella keenly felt that Louis XIV might not be in a good mood at the moment.

Do you still remember the bet between Louis XIV and the Duke of Vendôme? The Assumption of Mary falls on August 15th in the Gregorian calendar. Although it is not an officially recognized religious festival by the church, people will still parade and celebrate mass on this day. For the sake of convenience, According to records, the Crown Prince's wedding is also scheduled for this day - so the Duke of Orleans will definitely rush back to Versailles before this day. He is indeed preparing to leave, but as the anti-French forces in Spain gain the upper hand, his return date has always been It was delayed, but a few days ago he sent a letter back saying that he would return to France by sea.

Although Spain borders France, there have been assassins and thugs wandering around near the Pyrenees Mountains during this time, which may involve the underworld of Spain - it is also in chaos there now. To be on the safe side, the Duke's parents, Vandro, It was suggested that he take a boat instead, starting from Barcelona to Bequières in France, and then follow the canal all the way to Versailles.

With the French ironclad fleet roaming around in the Mediterranean, this proposal seemed extremely reasonable. Louis also believed that there would be nothing wrong with this. The biggest crisis facing the Duke of Orleans had passed. After the dishonorable deaths of the priest and the parliamentarian, he He is half the leader of the Catalan people (this is also because he is a French Duke and is unwilling to inherit the position of Count of Barcelona). He and the Catalan parliamentarians reached an agreement-they are willing to accept the French rule, and although it was a pity that the Duke had to leave them, it was not long before King Louis XIV of France would cast his glory south of the Pyrenees, and the Catalans saw and heard it What kind of life do the people of the same race north of the Pyrenees live? If Louis XIV can guarantee that they will be treated equally, and his son can continue his father's policies, the Catalans are not unkind. idiot.

The Duke of Luxembourg would be at the vanguard of this army, and Louis XIV summoned him after meeting Princess Isabella.

"Do you want me to leave early?" The Duke of Luxembourg asked in surprise: "Go to Catalonia to meet the Duke of Orleans?" He hesitated for a while: "It's not that I don't want to, Your Majesty, but the Duke will come back by sea. Wouldn’t it be smoother and safer?”

"I just have a feeling..." Louis said: "I hope to see my brother as soon as possible, but in this case, Duke, you probably won't be able to attend the crown prince's wedding." He said with some apology.

"I am a soldier. War attracts me more than weddings." The Duke of Luxembourg said, but he immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing... that is, a king like Louis XIV would not care. Louis waved his hand: "Then so be it .”

The Duke bowed and went out.

—————

Barcelona port.

"Aren't you going to wait any longer?" Francisco asked. He is also a Tamalit, but unlike the previous Tamalit members, although he is a noble, he is also a young man with blood still flowing in his veins. Like many Catalans, he longed for a wise new monarch - he also agreed when the Tamalite MP planned to keep the Duke of Orleans and become the Count of Barcelona.

But MPs and priests were killed one after another, and because of that dishonorable reason, which made the young people around the Duke of Orleans feel extremely disappointed and ashamed. They were also willing to pay for Catalonia. What happened to all the warriors, Gemma's father and brother, and even her fiancé may also happen to them.

Torture and death are nothing to these noble warriors, but when they think of being humiliated after death, the daughters and wives they swore to protect not only did not receive the preferential treatment they deserved, but were reduced to wandering girls and slaves. Even they couldn't help but tremble.

Because of such a thing, those who originally supported the Duke of Orleans to become the Count of Barcelona became silent. They could not shamelessly ask the Duke to stay - he is French, but he has done a lot for the Catalans. , but they couldn't give the Duke anything, let alone the title of Count of Barcelona and Catalonia. The Duke was a noble and holy man, and his relationship with his brother was far better than those sought after by the likes of the Tamalit MPs. power and money.

It was just that they were sad to see such a good man with noble character, bravery and skill like the legendary knight leaving. While sad, they were also a little confused about the future. The future Lord of Spain was just a child, Catalonia. The whole of Spain will be managed by a governor appointed by the king until Carlos III can take charge.

In the past ten or even twenty years, will that governor be like the previous Spanish governor or the great Condé, who allowed the soldiers to steal, rape, humiliate, and even kill? Will they once again be burdened with heavy taxes, have their property confiscated, and be forced to serve?

After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that this succession war may last for several years...

The glory of Louis XIV can certainly shine on the French, but they are not French.

"But my brother, His Majesty the King has been planning to push France's policy further and wider." The Duke of Orleans pulled up his cloak. On the seaside, the morning fog still brought a cool feeling: "You should have seen it Newspapers, books, or you can go to Flanders or even the Netherlands to see with your own eyes and see those ordinary people," the Duke said: "Look at their lives, and then look at yours, or ask them In the past, I can’t say that everything is perfect, but everything is definitely moving towards a better place.”

"Better?" asked another Catalan who came to see him off - he was the one who gave Gemma the dagger for self-defense. "Has the King of France ever said what kind of future that would be? ?" He wanted to hold back being mean to those kings but failed: "There are always people who give us such and such promises, maybe, when we get to heaven, everything will be fine."

The Duke smiled and didn't mind the child's rudeness. He looked at the gray sky with deep thought, "If I must say something, my brother told me something. Everyone, he said that if possible, he I hope that there will be no war for at least a hundred years in the future, and that all capable people can get a job, and the income from the job can be enough to support a family of three or four children.

Every family should have a nice and clean house, with a chicken simmering in the pot in the kitchen... During festivals everyone can wear bright new clothes, parade in the streets, sing and dance, if they so choose. You can also take a carriage or boat to travel to other places... Underage children must go to school, no matter he is a noble or a commoner, no matter whether his father is rich or poor, no matter he is a boy or a girl..."

"everyone?"

"Everyone, except those who have committed crimes," said the Duke.

"This is the kingdom of heaven," said the man who had given Gemma a kindness. Maybe it was because Gemma was eventually executed. He was full of anger, but had no place to show his anger. But when the Duke said this, even if he The tip of his tongue was full of venom, and he couldn't say anything sharp: "How could such a world exist?"

In this era when kings still regard war as a place of merit, glory and power, the common people are like wheat in the fields. The lords and kings mercilessly harvest them again and again, squeeze them, and feed their soldiers and horses. , few superior people care about them. No, it should be said that they cannot see the people who are forced to crawl under their feet.

"Yes. So," the Duke whispered, as if he was afraid of disturbing something: "We can only move forward step by step. Even if we may never be able to see it, our descendants will definitely be able to see it. .”

"Then there must be a good king," young Francisco said, "and his descendants must also be good kings." This kind of thing cannot be accomplished overnight.

"Who knows," the Duke said with a bright smile, "Maybe there will be no king in the future."

"This is absolutely impossible!" Another person said firmly, more decisively than before.

This is also an era in which even if there is no king or heir, nobles and ministers, as well as millions and millions of people, still have to invite a noble royal member from other countries to be the king.

"Destiny is always so unpredictable, and none of us can guess what will happen in the future." The Duke raised his hat and put it on his head: "But everyone, I can say this, if His Majesty the King allows it, I will ask him, Came back to Catalonia.”

Several Catalans suddenly showed joy.

"But I must go now. I want to go back to Versailles to attend my nephew's wedding."