I Am Louis XIV

"At that time you were still soft." Louis said with emotion, "It's like a piece of dough with butter."

"I heard that you are planning to use your childhood textbooks as textbooks for general education," Philip reminded worriedly, "but you should think more about grammar."

"That's because you forgot what you were like at that time, but I remember it very clearly, Philip." Louis said, "You know, if I send you to Lorraine and you die in this will, Then I'll spend the rest of my life in pain and regret."

"I swear I won't, I will protect myself as I protect you."

"Then remember your oath."

"Never forget."

Ahead is the King and Queen's suite, so that's all for the conversation and company.

The ministers still don't know what kind of decision the king has made yet, but for the king, Philip, the Duke of Orleans, is his favorite candidate. First of all, he doesn't have to doubt Philip's loyalty to him - before Alsace and Lorraine For hundreds of years, it has been only nominally French but infinitely inclined to the Holy Roman Empire. If it is an ambitious or stupid person to go there, Alsace and Lorraine may be like those who fell into the trap but Like a bird jumping out of the open gap, out of the king's control; secondly, the Duke of Orleans was already a man rich enough to lend money to the king before inheriting the domain of the Duke of Gaston. The desire for money will not be too eager, the king can rest assured that he will manage the upcoming new industries in Lorraine and Alsace, without worrying about the appearance of a second Fouquet or Mazarin; finally, as Philip said, Lorraine is dangerous, but compared to the real battlefield, one or two small rebellions can be used as a trial for the prince, like Philip, who has status, title, and talent, only put him in Paris or Versailles is a pity, but there are too many young people who died on the battlefield, and even the commander-in-chief cannot be spared——Lorraine and Alsace can be used as sharpening stones before the war. There are more dangerous jobs, and the king can safely entrust Philip to do them.

The king and his party said good night, and everyone went to rest. After all, there is another big event tomorrow.

Even if Louis came to Fontainebleau, it was impossible to really immerse himself in the flowers and clear water. Apart from government affairs, the British mission arrived in Paris a few days ago. Today is the day when they are allowed to meet the king in Fontainebleau—so Although the king and the Duke of Orleans have made a deal, the Duke of Orleans cannot go yet, and the young Le Brun artist, a young man who was recently introduced to the king, wants to make a beautiful portrait of him, so that the messengers Take it back to England and show it to Charles II, the Queen Mother, and Princess Henrietta. Although the latter two have only left Paris for a few months-Philippe laughed at Princess Henrietta's new hairstyle at a ball, and the matter of her crying behind others seems to be still in people's ears, But since this was a tradition and an unwritten rule, Philip could only obediently obey the king's orders, and take an hour or two out of his precious time to act as a model for the painter.

The artist Le Brun was less than thirty years old, and his teacher was Poussin, who had been studying in Italy for many years before. As soon as he returned to Paris, he was fortunate enough to be recommended to the king by the justice Serguier, who was the first to obey One of the fourteen judges relocated to Pontoise by the king's order, so after the king returned to Paris, he was undoubtedly reused, and even served as a messenger and best man at the wedding of the king and queen, This person, who can also be said to be a favorite, continued to recommend various talents to the king as was popular at the time.

The reason why Le Brun was favored by the king was that he was a Frenchman and his family had been loyal to the king for generations. His realistic and gentle brushwork was also more popular with the king than other painters. He personally brought his younger brother Philip to the king. In front of the painter, he told him that he hoped that the painter could portray the most noble and tender side of the prince as much as possible. Sufficient, and because most of the furniture has been removed, it looks extraordinarily spacious.

The younger brother was quite disapproving of this. He didn't think that Princess Henrietta's memory would be that bad. As soon as the king left, he would make faces at the painter.

Le Brun heard that His Majesty was not only not enthusiastic about this marriage, but he didn't even care about it. It seemed true, but even if he was just a painter, he knew that this marriage must be done. The king already had a Spanish princess. As a wife, the covenant with Spain has been reached, and the marriage of Philip, Duke of Orleans, will not be easily wasted. Similarly, they will not allow another daughter of Habsburg to enter the Louvre, so the choice of the Duke of Orleans will be It became very narrow. Although the Netherlands, Hungary and other countries were also testing, after a long period of hesitation, the king and queen mother agreed that Princess Henrietta, who had grown up by their side, would be a suitable candidate.

But just like any kind of agreement, there will never be so-called trivial matters between countries. Emotions are put in the back and interests are put in the front. Ambassador--this venerable gentleman, who was first Minister to Charles I, then bowed his knee to Lord Protector Cromwell, and when Cromwell lost the confidence of the people, he went to Charles II, Maybe some people will laugh at him for turning around at will like a rooster weather vane, but if you know, when Oliver Cromwell was dead, and Charles II was still in exile, he was urged to go to the The king's throne, but he firmly refused it?

Louis is the king now, so he knows very well how attractive this position is. He can twist the mind of any strong-willed person, making a kind person evil, a tolerant person vicious, and an innocent person To be cunning - this is his personal experience, so Louis has admiration and vigilance for this Mr. Monk, the current Duke of Albemar.

Sure enough, the entire negotiation process was long and arduous. Britain saw that France did not want to make itself enemies on all sides, and France also saw that the situation in Britain was not as stable as the Duke of Alnimar described. Charles II Although he was immersed in banquets, dances and hunting all day long, he never gave up on regaining the royal power lost by his father. The Duke of Alnimar wanted to support him, but he was worried that the king's power was too heavy. The second generation inherited his father's arrogance and radicalism, making the people miserable...

But the French king's request, the British really can't agree, whether it's buying warships, merchant ships, shipbuilding workers, designers, or borrowing naval officers, soldiers, etc., don't forget, they only sold them before. It is said that the French king is building a dock in Dunkirk that can accommodate thirty warships, and there are two dry docks for repairing and building ships. Think about the heavy British merchant ships that were once tortured by the Spaniards. Could it be that they will welcome the French after the Spaniards are gone?

"Warships are absolutely impossible." The British envoys whispered to each other, "We are at war with the Netherlands, and there will be more warships thrown into the war after that." In addition to some of the ships that were abandoned during the Lord Protector's time, they themselves It's a bit stretched, let alone for the French.

"But Princess Henrietta's dowry..." This sentence made the envoys a little shocked. Unlike the French treasury, even the king's private treasury, Charles II could only ask for some so-called royal expenses from the parliament pitifully. , These must also ensure the operation of the palace, castle, territory and army, not to mention the preparation of a dowry for Princess Henrietta, it is considered very good that Charles II does not borrow money from the princess.

"Even if he wants to borrow it, the princess doesn't have the money." It's so pitiful, a messenger said with a sigh. Compared with the French noble ladies they saw, the Duchess of Montpensier, headed by them, were all dressed up with colorful flowers and jewels. The Duchess would change into several sets of clothes every day, and each set of clothes would only be worn once, and other nobles followed suit. It is said that many of the merchants driving outside Fontainebleau were buying and selling second-hand clothes. When the clothes are in their hands, they change them, and even send them to other provinces without any changes. Every piece can be sold for a lot of money.

As for Princess Henrietta, it's hard to say whether her jewelry can fill a jewelry box. Although she left Paris not long ago, it is obvious that Paris' clothing styles have reached a new level in just a few months. More exposed, bigger skirts, and under the leadership of the king's royal wife, Miss La Vallière, the furry accessories on the ladies' bodies have also begun to increase.

The British people recorded all this with their eyes. Even if the parliament is unwilling to allocate more money to ensure that Princess Henrietta’s dowry will not be too ugly, they must ensure that although the princess’s dowry is small, it will not be ridiculed. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere.

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"How is it?" Seeing his elder brother stretching out from the second hall in a rare way, Philip knew that today's negotiation would be a waste of precious hours. Louis nodded to him while still closing his eyes. Yawning with eyes closed, "Give me coffee," he called to Bontang, "I have it here," said Philip, "I asked the servants to prepare it for me... Would you like it?"

"Give it to me," said Louie, "I'm thirsty and tired... God, Philip, how much sugar did you put?"

Since Louis was able to speak, he has made many changes to the dishes in the palace, but there are some things he can't change, and whether it is Bishop Mazarin, Queen Mother, or Prince Philip tried his best to persuade him not to The change is the abuse of sweeteners. Before the extraction method of sucrose appeared, the nobles were obsessed with honey, and they could have some honey for almost everything-such as honey pigeon meat, peaches, and honey cream. Soup and the like, when the Crusaders got sugar from the Arabs, sugar became a regular item on the table. When a nobleman entertained guests, he would be laughed at if he didn’t have enough sugar. , then something more astonishing needs to appear - like the Palace of Fontainebleau carved out of solidified sugar that Louis saw not long ago...

"I'll get you some coffee," said Philip.

Louis shook his head in order to push the terrible energy aside. As compensation and comfort after the long meeting, he used the method of admiring the portrait of Wang Di to kill the time before dinner, which was also a wonderful way to rest .

This portrait is in a half-finished state, that is to say, the face of Philip the Duke of Orleans has almost been completed, but the clothes, hands and feet, and the background behind him are still blurred, and the details need to be added urgently, but the beauty of the Duke is indeed cut. It really revealed that because of his tall stature, Le Brun did not use the usual methods of painters to confuse his height by making him sit on a chair or ride a horse, but let him stand on a Next to the tall pillars, behind the pillars is a lush canopy of white and pink roses, dark blue curtains hang from behind him, embroidered with gold lilies, and he is wearing a milky silver embroidered coat with bright red shoulder straps , with a golden belt embellished with precious stones around his waist, with muskets and rapiers hanging on it, he looks really unusually imposing, handsome and masculine as well.

"There will be many beautiful ladies who will fall in love with you at first sight." Louis said with a smile.

"I'd rather go after someone I like," Philip said.

Louis glanced at him: "Henrietta is a good boy."

"I know," Philip said. Although he always bullied Henrietta, he would never even take a look at someone who really disliked the Duke. But what made Philip feel uncomfortable was that Princess Henrietta would rather be His brother's wife, but if it is out of love, she has been silently enduring Philip's bullying, just wanting to get the king's mercy, but she doesn't love the king, she just wants to be the queen of France, When Louis was unfortunately assassinated in Dunkirk, she even vaguely mentioned...Charles II might support Philip as the regent king or the real king. bored.

But the problem is they have to get married now.

It was a matter of France and England, not of Philip and Henrietta, and only hoped that when she married France, Philip thought, she would be wiser and more sensible.

"If you want to talk about love at first sight," said Philip, "you might as well talk about yourself. More people love you than I do, even if you're not a king."

"Not necessarily," Louie said. "I'm a very boring person."

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Louis knew that he was not ugly, but for his attractiveness, he felt that it was because he was wearing a crown and a crown robe. Philip could dance better than him, and he also knew how to appreciate music and dance. He did these things Purely out of courtesy, not genuine liking.

Not good at it either.