I Am Louis XIV - Chapter 541

  Chapter 541 The Duke of York of the Bastille (Part 2)

   “You don’t necessarily want the throne of England,” said the Duke of York, then spread his hands roguely: “If that’s the case, I’d better stay in Bastille.”

   Here we will briefly talk about the entanglement between Britain and France for thousands of years.

In the middle of the eleventh century, the Duke of Normandy, with the support of the Pope, launched an attack on Harold, the then King of England, and won the victory. After winning, he undoubtedly became the new king of the continent, but At the same time, he did not give up his territory in France, so at that time—the king of England was a prince of France, and this incredible conclusion existed.

After three generations, the throne inherited from the Duke of Normandy was passed on to the Earl of Anjou, the grandson of the last King of England, who liked to put gorse on the brim of his cap, the Count of Anjou. Thus began the Flower Dynasty—Henry II ruled the Counties of Anjou, Normandy, Aquitaine, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland in France.

In 1328 was the death of King Charles IV of France. He had no direct heir, just like in Spain today, as Charles IV’s sister, Queen Isabella of England, hoped to make her son Edward III the heir of Charles IV. . But although Charles IV did not have a son, he had a nephew, Philip VI. As Louis XIV said, for the kings, the battle of words was meaningless, and the only one who could decide the ownership of the throne was war.

   This is the famous “Hundred Years War”.

We won’t say much about the repetitions during the    period. The only thing that can be determined is that when Louis XIII and Charles I were still in their days, they would still undefeatedly claim to be the kings of England and France at the same time…

   Isn’t what the Duke of York strives for the British throne? If he ends up making a wedding dress for someone else, he might as well live in the Bastille.

Louis shook his head. He didn’t have such extravagant hopes. Although the Hundred Years’ War had passed not long ago, in the end, both the King of England and the King of France knew very well that this was the only thing they could achieve with the war—Britain and France Both have achieved absolute advantages, but they are like two equally strong beasts, even if the blood is dripping and the flesh is rolled, they can’t swallow each other into their stomachs.

And for Louis XIV, being able to take back Dunkirk was already his limit – England is not Flanders or Holland, it has been established for a long time, it has strong roots, and people have independent traditions, customs and languages. , also has its own culture and ideas, especially after Henry VIII reformed the church, the British beliefs have been completely separated from the Catholic Church.

   Unless Louis XIV suddenly went mad, he would not have attempted to get his hands on such a tricky prey.

   “I don’t want England, Scotland, or Ireland,” said Louie.

   The Duke of York blinked.

   “I made you king, and in return I want that part of the British colony in America,” said Louie.

   “Alas!” said the Duke of York at once: “It is impossible.”

“Really?” Louie’s eyes widened curiously, and his question made the Duke of York suddenly get stuck, “Do you know how to negotiate? Your Majesty,” he complained, “you always have to give me a show of courage. At this point, he simply showed the true character of a statesman: “I don’t want people to see my story in books in the future, thinking that I promised to kiss your shoes – give me Just a moment, dear brother, and let me suffer, bewildered, sleepless, and toss and turn, and reluctantly agree, for the sake of England, and for the sake of my suffering people.”

   “If you really want to do it.” Louis stood up: “Okay, whatever, I’ve been in Paris for a while anyway.”

“Huh? Aren’t you going to go back to the battlefield?” The Duke of York bowed his body diligently like a servant, opened the door for Louis, and held up the lamp for him first, “As far as I know, Lee Opold I has been looking forward to fighting you with dignity.”

“That’s probably your news,” said Louis; “just a week ago, his messenger not only conveyed to me his condolences for his aunt (Anne of Austria), but also offered to me, for the sake of her soul A smooth ascension to heaven, and he and I should be at peace until Easter.”

   Duke of York’s surprise this time was not disguised. “You mean,” he took a breath: “Is he going to negotiate with you?”

“Probably, not only him, I think Charles II also has this will.” Louis said kindly: “So you see, if I can’t get a suitable answer from you, I can also follow the example of Henry VI. As, see how much your real brother is willing to pay for you.”

The Duke of York shuddered suddenly. After Richard the Lionheart returned from the Holy Land without success, he was unfortunately betrayed to the then Henry VI. He was a rare commodity for the emperor, and there were many people who wanted to buy him— King Philip II of France, Archduke Leopold of Austria (yes, Leopold too), even Henry VI didn’t have any good feelings for this king, and there was a lost land that had already claimed to be the king of England John Wang, although this younger brother is incompetent, cowardly and despicable, he is very good at conspiracy and tactics.

If it wasn’t for the Lionheart and many loyal ministers who raised enough ransom to buy Richard the Lionheart, Richard would have become a colleague or brother who did not die at the hands of the pagans, but died at the same time as Catholics. King in hand.

When Louis said this, he meant that if the Duke of York was unwilling to give up his colony in America, he would make a deal with Charles II—of course, if the Duke of York died in the Bastille, Charles II not only got rid of a heart. In serious trouble, there is no need to be questioned by members and ministers, which saves a lot of troubles.

   “But then…”

   “Do you mean that I will be hated by the English?” Louis interrupted the Duke of York somewhat impolitely: “But my good sir, am I now very popular with the English?”

   This is of course impossible.

  The Duke of York was speechless.

  Louis XIV was not trying to intimidate. Not long after he returned to the Louvre, he had a secret conversation with the envoy from London and put forward almost the same conditions.

   “I don’t think Charles II would agree easily,” Bontang said.

   “Probably,” said Louis. With the return of Dunkirk, the King of England has few good cards to play in Europa. If the Duke of York’s sneak attack in the North Sea can be successful, then the three provinces of South Holland and the power of the sea echo each other, and they may still be able to win. In the lowlands, but since it failed and lost the last few ships, Charles II’s prestige may have fallen to the lowest level.

If he is giving up the colony established by the British in America in 1606… this matter may be more serious than Dunkirk – very serious in fact, how the British cursed this couple hundreds of years later Let’s not mention the brother kings of the Tuat Dynasty, but at that time the kings were still paying attention to Europa, and the British may be more for the conflict of spirit or some kind of unspeakable worry.

With this gift, the French can connect their original New France colony to it, and because the original Spain has also become the property of the Bourbon family, the Netherlands and other countries are not worth mentioning – the entire New World is all. It’s Louis XIV.

Thinking that Louis XIV even made his youngest son, even though he was an illegitimate son, canonized as the Duke of Montreal, one knows that the Sun King’s ambitions for this land may exceed that of every previous monarch. How could the British be willing to look at their greatest enemy Satisfied? Even if it’s not for their own sake, they’re going to ruin the good thing of Louis XIV.

  So Charles II really had to think twice, sleepless all night, the complete opposite of his brother in Bastille.

   “So what kind of answer do you hope to get?”

   “On my side,” said Louis, “I am of course more inclined to the Duke of York.”

“The Duke of York is probably more radical than Charles II,” said the Duke of Orleans. “He was the Lord of the Admiralty and the Admiral of England, and he served in the Spanish army when he was very young – at that time. Charles II was still the Duke of Cornwall, chasing women and gambling.”

“But if Charles II is sitting on the throne, he must be my enemy,” said Louis. “Although this is the duty of every English king, Charles II overdrafts his subjects and people too much. He was able to drag this heavy debt to this day because they had to face a common enemy.”

   “But he is absolutely unable to defeat you.” The Duke of Orleans said softly: “So he has to ask the Duke of York.” His fingers tapped on the table, “But he really dare not agree to your conditions.”

  Bontang suddenly showed a strange expression, “Excuse me, Your Majesty.”

   “Tell me,” said Louie.

   “If you have signed a secret contract with them, how can you guarantee that they will be willing to fulfill their promise?”

There are quite a few secret contracts that are not known, and even disappear without even a dusty opportunity, perhaps because of regret, perhaps because of other reasons, or because the party who signed the contract suddenly lost the original equal status, and the contract was rejected. The possibility of elimination and destruction is quite high. Even Charles II, or the Duke of York who returned to London refused to recognize the contract, Louis XIV was considered useless.

“If it’s Charles II, then I have the Duke of York. If it’s the Duke of York, then… I think he should be temporarily unable to take care of America, which is thousands of miles away. Of course, I prefer the Duke of York,” he told the Duke of Orleans. Blinking his eyes: “I know you don’t like him, but compared to Charles II, if he becomes the Lord of London, the problems he has to face are definitely more and more important than a few colonies in the area.”

The Duke of Orleans pouted, he understood Louis XIV’s intentions – if Charles II had negotiated a contract with them, Louis XIV would have promised to execute the Duke of York until their army in the New World had replaced the British army, but If this is the case, without the constraints on the issue of inheritance, the power of Charles II can be stabilized again, or even supercharged, which is quite unfavorable for the future.

But if he returned to London and the Duke of York entered Hampton Court Palace, then he would have to identify and clean up those who were once opponents, reward those who followed him, and balance the court and the court, just like the original Charles II. , to appease the people, to build his own army – these are not easy to do in ten years, and in ten years, Louis XIV can not only escape from the war of Spanish succession, but also completely subdue the New World.

“But, brother,” said the Duke of Orleans suddenly, in a casual tone that would make the Duke of York go mad with jealousy, “how have I never heard that Leopold I and Charles II intended to truce?” After four unhesitatingly and ruthlessly rejected their request to divide Italy, a king and an emperor have completely regarded Louis XIV and France as undead enemies, and they are now riding a tiger, not from Italy or France. It was Spain, or France, who ripped off a piece of fat and fresh meat, and they had to use themselves to fill the insatiable stomach of their allies.

   “Ah,” Louis XIV nodded as if suddenly realized: “You said that,” he said solemnly: “Brother, that is what I said to deceive the Duke of York…”

  …

  The room was silent at first, and then the Duke of Orleans’ laughter filled the room, and Bontang turned his head while laughing.

The Duke of York would never have thought that Louis XIV, the Sun King, the unparalleled king in the world, would deceive him with such a lie that could be easily exposed, but no one could deny that this lie brought great results. , The Duke of York was reluctant to think that once the war was truce, he would be redeemed by Charles II to buy back London, and then be executed in public like their father to quell the anger of the people and make his brother’s throne more secure.

He agreed to form an alliance with Louis XIV. As for how to give up England’s colonies in the New World, Louis XIV has also considered it carefully for him. It has to be said that Charles II’s actions are about to drive this poor man crazy, and he has no idea. He hesitated to write several letters in Bastille to the colonial governors, asking them to support his claim to the throne, of course, without a generous promise.

To say that the colonies of the New World can indeed bring wealth to the nobles, the people who will be sent there are like the French who are far away from Versailles. Others seem to be power and status, but they always think that they are in exile—everyone who is Six or seven of the people invited by the Duke of York agreed to bring their own troops and ships to remonstrate with Hampton Court.

Let Charles II worry about what happens next, the British leave, and the French army, almost half of them French immigrants and baptized Indians, takes up arms, horses, and tents quickly and quietly. their settlements and villages.

   (end of this chapter)