I Am Louis XIV - Chapter 526

   Chapter 526 Palermo (Part 1)

At this point, everyone, we can get rid of Gian Medici’s diary for the time being and look at the detailed historical materials, because in what is called “the last battle before the unification of Italy” by the people of later generations, various aspects There are detailed records.

In fact, it is not so certain to say that it is the last battle, because the “Battle of Turin” in the subsequent battle of the Spanish throne was launched and ended in the Principality of Milan at the northern tip of Italy. The war of the same Catholics is obviously different.

   Well, let’s put aside the battle of Turin that has not yet come, and focus on Sicily.

  ————

Sicily is the largest island in the Federal Kingdom of Italy, and at the bottom right is the island of Malta, which was haunted by the sultans of Ottoman Turkey. This island is still occupied by the glorious Knights of St. John’s Hospital of Jerusalem, perhaps because of the previous attack on Malta. Experience – repeated setbacks, this time Mohammed IV did not stubbornly choose Rhodes Island as a breakthrough, but directly captured the neighboring Sicily.

  Sicily is as beautiful as the Mediterranean islands, and more vast and richer than any island – it once belonged to the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans, the Swabians, and then the Spaniards.

  To say that it is also one of the legacy of Carlos II, so why is it owned by the Duke of Savoy? This is thanks to Leopold I of the Habsburgs, who generously gifted the Spanish island of Sicily to Savoy in order to win the position of Savoy, a key ally (Savoy was between Italy and France) Duke of Iraq, and canonized the Duke of Savoy as King of Sicily.

This kind of move is undoubtedly quite disgusting. As the owner of the Duchy of Savoy, the Duke of Savoy certainly accepted this gift – the Duchy of Savoy is small, has no sea entrance, coast, and is sandwiched between the countries. It’s like an adult in a wooden box, looking forward to the day when he can stretch his limbs. Leopold I allowed him to be king again – just look at how much the former Grand Duke of Brandenburg sacrificed to make the duchy a kingdom, and you can see how difficult it was to get Leopold I to nod.

The Duke of Savoy had benefited from Leopold I, and should have stood with him – but at the persuasion of his cousin, the Count of Soissons, he preferred King Louis XIV of France, and of course he It’s not that Louis XIV is more amiable, but to the Habsburgs, Sicily is an enclave beyond the reach of the whip. On the contrary, France and the soon-to-be-unified Italy are holding the island like pliers.

So far, Leopold I and his allies have not been able to fight Louis XIV head-on. It seems that the two kings have no problem with each other, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that Louis XIV is constantly consolidating foundation, and Leopold I was… hesitant, at a time like this, a king’s avoidance can be seen as cowardice and fear – not to mention Leopold I’s scheming against Louis XIV. It doesn’t seem to have been successful either.

Now it seems that Louis XIV has a considerable chance of winning. The Duke of Savoy has obtained the recognition of the King of Sicily from the Sun King, which means that even if the Italian federal kingdom is unified in the future, Sicily will also belong to the Duke of Savoy. things are not within the sphere of being ruled.

When Louis XIV assisted his eldest son to implement his plans for Sicily, the ambassador of Savoy had little chance to intervene, and after a few times he gave up himself – after all, Savoy did not own the island for a long time. , What’s more, despite being ruled by so many outsiders, the true masters of this island, the Sicilian, still retain a temperament as hot and stubborn as the sun here.

   To put it simply, they hardly welcome any outsiders, because both Arabs and Spaniards have left them with enough scars.

Under the repeated and powerful external oppression, the Sicilian people have become a close-knit group from small to large, with families, clans and villages, or cities, and even islands. They are full of ardent love and deep attachment to Sicily. They value family and stubbornly maintain religious rituals that only belong to Sicily. They only believe in “family members” and exclude outsiders – they may also fight with each other, but when it comes to outsiders, Sicilian people are absolutely united.

Long ago, the “birds” of Louis XIV had set foot on this land. When the other kings and dukes were indifferent to the commoners, the “birds” flew out of the shadows caused by the sun. “They already have a deep understanding of this exclusive land, they may not be able to become Sicilian family members, but the Sicilian are not stupid beasts – they will have friends and allies.

French merchants bought important materials such as wheat, olive oil, citrus, lemon and sulfur from Sicily, and brought linen, cotton and wool, as well as glassware, gold and silverware, etc. Several credible lines were reached with the Sicilians, and when it was thought that Louis XIV would have to worry about the unruly Sicilians, his envoys had reached an agreement with the Sicilians – in Mohammed IV’s While the fleet was still sailing in the Mediterranean.

  —

  Sicily has two famous cities in the north and the south, the capital Palermo, and Syracuse facing the Mediterranean Sea.

There is no need to say how important Palermo is. In this city, because the Norman Palace is here – this fusion of three styles of Arabs, Normans and Byzantines, with nine main buildings, Sturdy and grand, it is of great significance and was chosen as a palace by Muhammad IV.

Mohammed IV and the Ottomans rightly regarded this act as an honor next to God’s blessing, but for the Sicilian it was like spitting on their mother’s tomb So hateful and hateful, because the Ottomans are obsessed with faith and demanding of ‘purity’, the first thing they do when they enter the city is to tear down all the crosses, paint the frescoes of the church, remove and destroy it Statues, even the chapel in the Norman palace are no exception. No, it should be said that as the place where the sultan resides, this place has been “cleaned” most thoroughly.

  When Alberto Palermo was walking in the palace, he hardly recognized that this was a familiar place.

As the name suggests, it has a special meaning in this era—for example, Palermo, the name of this city is also the family name of Palermo, the former ruler of the city. As a member of Palermo, he loves his own. He loved this palace like a family, and now seeing it being tortured like this, his heart was naturally very painful, but he still hid his boiling emotions well. The warning, before the Ottomans came here, they hid some precious relics.

The palace is now filled with the sultan’s personal guards, known as the soldiers of the Yenicheri regiment, who wear high hats, colorful open-chested coats, and broad gold sashes. , with machetes in their belts, muskets and daggers hanging from their belts, they smiled when they saw Alberto, and this smile did not have much good intentions – it is well known that the soldiers of the Yeniceri Legion are “blood taxes” , that is, they were selected from the juveniles forcibly recruited from the vassal countries and regions of Ottoman Turkey – the pain of being far away from home and relatives, as well as the strict military regulations and heavy training are nothing, what they fear most is that, Some of them are “lucky” chosen by the **** leaders because of their beautiful appearance and fair skin. They will be deprived of their rights as men – in the Sudanese harem, they are divided into black eunuchs and white eunuchs. According to outside rumors, neither is To be tortured so horribly…Unfortunately, this is just a rumor.

  White eunuchs do not enter the harem, they serve the sultan, but sometimes, yange is not to ensure the purity of the royal bloodline, but also to maintain the youthful beauty of the youth favored by the sultan for a long time.

Alberto is only eleven years old this year, and there are still three years before he will become an adult. It is the most lovely time for young Italians. Mohammed IV took a fancy to him who came to visit with his father and brother at a glance, and ordered him to stay. He was a squire by his side, and it was also because of the relationship on the battlefield that he would not fall into **** immediately, but Muhammad IV said that he should take him to Istanbul, where there are—“good craftsmen” “People”… This sentence makes Alberto and his family horrified and will not say anything. Anyway, the Sudan and the people around him think that this is a good thing that will make Palermo grateful.

Ignoring the Yeniceri soldiers, Alberto ran up the stairs with a silver platter big enough to fit him, full of fresh grapes, olives, and sweet pastries, all of them. The **** leader asked him to send it to the sultan. When the sultan was fighting, there was no concubine by his side, and there were many less rules and taboos. After several searches, Alberto finally saw the familiar dark purple drapery.

The largest and most spacious room in this palace was originally a small chapel for the Norman kings. After the Ottomans came, this small chapel was converted into the sultan’s bedroom. The translucent spun yarn was blown into the air. The mural on the top was originally a geometric pattern, so luckily it was not altered. The large semi-circular ceiling covered the entire room, making the whole room look very empty.

The Sultan’s bed is reminiscent of a flat high platform, against the wall, facing the window, with gold and silver woven curtains hanging down to the sides, and the bed and corners are full of soft velvet pillows, bronze A fragrant aroma rose from the stove – broken hookah rods, smashed glass bottles, torn coats and curled books, indicating that there had just been an angry hurricane here, and Muhammad IV has now calmed down , the eunuchs and attendants beside him were busy restoring the room to its original cleanliness and beauty.

But perhaps because the Grand Master was by his side, the original Grand Master unfortunately returned to their masters during the great battle. The current Grand Master is still a solemn, indifferent old man. He respectfully greeted the Sultan. Retired, and then left the room, without looking at Alberto during the whole process. To him, everyone except the Sultan is probably like a piece of furniture that can talk and move.

By the time Alberto placed the silver plate on the silky silk carpet, Mohammed IV’s anger had almost subsided. He looked out the window and still didn’t think he would fail. He got it so easily. Sicily, this further expanded the sultan who was on his first expedition in person – although the news from Istanbul made him angry, but there was not much fear, Ottoman Turkey has not been defeated so far – although in the Great War , they lost quite a few soldiers, but throughout history, even the former Suleiman I had suffered more than one defeat.

“I want to go back to Istanbul,” said Mohammed IV. The rebels would fall apart as soon as they saw his flag, screaming in fear and fleeing, probably taking far longer to execute the former generals and ministers than So it was a hassle to have someone new and credible to guard Istanbul for him—but nothing, he said to himself, “Go back and talk to your family,” he said kindly to Alberto: “My son. , tell them that you are going back to Istanbul with me.”

   “You can take all my rewards, and you can leave them to anyone or yourself.” He raised his hand and said generously: “It doesn’t matter if you keep them all, I will give you more.”

  Alberto thanked him sincerely as Mohammed IV expected, and he valued the meeting back home more than the gold and silver jewels that the Sultan gave him.

  ———

As soon as Alberto’s mother heard the news, she jumped up immediately, and she held Alberto tightly in her arms with fear on her face. Alberto was her youngest son, although there were three other sons on it. But what she loved most was Alberto. “O Virgin, Virgin,” she cried, “I will never allow you to go back to that devil!”

Alberto’s father could not help frowning. Palermo is an ancient and noble family. Even after dynasties and monarchs, the city of Palermo has never changed its name, but the dignity and tradition of the Sicilian people are in Ottoman Turkey. It is not worth mentioning in front of the army of people. The Sultan asked Alberto to come back and tell him that it was a kindness to Alberto – to Alberto, not Palermo. From this, it can be seen that Palermo Family is worthless to the sultan.

   “Let’s go and kill that man!” said Alberto’s eldest brother. “Let’s gather the soldiers and show the pagans the blood of the Sicilian.”

   “How many people can you gather?” Alberto broke free from his mother’s arms and said calmly: “There are three hundred people outside the door now.”

Half out of surveillance, half out of favor, the Sultan had thirty Janiceri guards, three hundred Azap infantry **** Alberto home, and then… Palermo had hundreds of times as many soldiers, And artillery, musketeers and elephants.

   “Alas! We would rather die than suffer such humiliation,” said Alberto’s second brother.

   “We should not have listened to the French rhetoric and lived timidly instead of dying bravely.” Alberto’s youngest brother roared in the same way.

   Long live the founding of the party!

   (end of this chapter)