I Am Louis XIV - Chapter 566

   Chapter 566 The King of England bids us farewell (below)

  The Duke had a fever for a few days and died. “

Madame Aubigne did not finish speaking. The people in the room, from His Majesty the King to the Duke of Orleans, from the Duke of Orleans to the Duke of Vendôme, from the Duke of Vendome to the Prince of Conti, and finally to Bontang, all showed strange expressions. Look, as the master of a country, countless people are the object of flattery and hatred. There are not many monarchs who can die, and there are various ways of dying. Some are killed in battle, and some are killed by the imperial doctor because of illness. Murdered by wives and wife’s lovers, and died from having a stomach ache after eating too much delicious food at once, or being stabbed by an assassin while going to the toilet… beep – but that’s what happened to James II Dead, it’s so unbelievable.

   But on the other hand, the root can be seen from the fruit. If this ambitious gentleman has always been too ruthless, his wife and daughter would not hesitate to let him die.

“You said a few days,” asked the Duke of Vendôme, “isn’t there any response from Buckingham Palace?” How could Charles II miss this great opportunity, it stands to reason that James II should not be able to relax in bed To be comfortably anointed and to die surrounded by wives and daughters.

   Madame Aubigne took a deep breath: “I don’t know what to say, everyone…” She hesitated and said, “Perhaps you have heard…” Does the king have a “bird”…

   “You are at the right time, madame,” said the Duke of Orleans, “so go ahead, we are prepared.”

“Charles II may have died earlier than the Duke.” Mrs. Aubigne said that although the Duke of York has become king and people have changed to James II to call him, out of caution, she still does so Calling him the Duke: “I heard that he learned that night that the Duke was struck by lightning, and his life was worrying – he was having dinner at the time, and he had just thrown a honey almond into his mouth, but he choked in because of laughter. The trachea, the servants managed to get that deadly thing out of the way, and the suffocation caused by the choking caused a stroke…”

   “Oops!” Everyone shouted in unison. Stroke is a stubborn and peculiar disease, not to mention the current doctors, not even wizards can figure out the cause and treatment of this disease.

The queen of Charles II immediately rushed from Hampton Palace to Buckingham Palace. She and Charles II’s son had just died, and now she is about to send her husband away – although she tried her best to save it, she only kept Charles II. Two or three days… Charles II died earlier than his hated brother, and is said to have left with a lot of holes in his body to draw out the “bad fluid”, but to no avail – except to make him more miserable and debilitating .

Louis XIV estimated that Charles II was born in 30 years, and is now in his fifties. In this era, the superiors often drink alcohol without any restrictions, and consume a lot of fat, protein and sugar. London is not far from the sea. Far away, there will be many more delicious shellfish, shrimp and sea fish on the table of Charles II. He had symptoms of gout a few years ago, and other diseases must have spared him – he lost the only one before. The heir, at this age, he will not be able to give birth to children. I didn’t expect to hear the news that the Duke of York was struck by lightning soon after.

  Thinking of this, he asked again: “Oh, you said this in detail because someone told you?”

   “Yes, Your Majesty, it is my protector, the Duchess of York.”

When the Duke of York was dying and the news of Charles II’s death had not yet reached their ears, everyone in St James’s Palace was in danger, the men had no bright future, and they were constantly worried that they would be sent to the execution as traitors – even if In an enlightened and tolerant France, treason is still a crime that will be subject to three to five kinds of torture, and then amputated limbs, shengzhi organs and then executed. England is no exception. Edward I once rebelled against Ireland. The leader of the people had imposed this punishment, and it is said that his wailing resounded through the sky.

As for the women, they were either confused or panicked but didn’t know what to do. When a maid ran out, they were humiliated and killed by thugs and left naked on the street. After the incident, the Duchess made a decisive decision. With the help of Madame Aubigne, the Palace of St. James was reorganized – since Louis XIV married the eldest princess with a team of guards, other kings have followed suit, some accompanied their daughters when they were married, and some daughters were married. , but also sent a group of people.

In order to avoid the dissatisfaction and jealousy of her husband, the Duchess hid the team of musketeers in Richmond, with no more than 30 people. They listened to the master’s call, and of course they came day and night. To be clear—don’t look at the fact that there are only thirty people, the Duchess and Madame Aubigne can now understand why the King of France did this at that time. It’s really reassuring to have the power to stand completely on your side. Make people braver and calmer.

At this time, the envoy from the wife of Charles II, the Queen of England, and the Princess of Portugal also came to St. James’s Palace. In this era when the king is also going to the battlefield, it is lucky to be able to delay these days. The Duchess is calm. She accepted the Queen’s will, and went to Buckingham Palace with the messenger. When she got there, she saw the Queen, and she realized that the King was dead.

The two widowers looked at each other, and they were really similar, foreigners—the queen of Charles II was a Portuguese princess, the duchess was the daughter of the Duke of Modena; Catholics—yes, they were both, only the previous attacks were mostly On the Duchess; no children—they’ve all been pregnant, but stillborn or aborted.

No one knows exactly what they talked about in the secret room, but when the Parliament and the nobles get involved, they have less room to play: “How did Charles II die, it was the queen who told the duchess, and the duchess told the duchess. Mine.” Madame Aubigne said: “We managed to keep it a secret for a few more days, until the corpses of Charles II and his brother stinked, and the queen and the duchess had to make it public—but before that, they Managed to hide Anne, the second daughter of the Duke, and summoned Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon and his sons into the palace. Before most people knew the news, Earl of Clarendon contacted a group of willing supporters Their people, they confronted the latter, I mean, the opponents.”

   “The battle in London was over at that time, and England did not enforce the Salic Law,” said Louis, “and Princess Anne was the rightful heir.”

“But Congress doesn’t admit it, at least it doesn’t want to admit it.” Madame Aubigne said: “They originally wrote the ‘Bill of Powers’ to limit the king, and now they are even more aggressive. In the letter, Your Majesty, but you can see it by reading it, it is clear that after the British have turned their backs on the Church, they have turned their backs on the King.”

   “I’ve seen it.” Louis said: “It’s not surprising that power is a good thing, otherwise why would everyone fight for it.”

   “Charles II’s madness frightened their courage and strengthened their anger. Your Majesty, if you were the king of England, they would certainly not dare and would not do it.”

“You are wrong about that,” said Louis XIV. “How many crimes are committed in the name of justice, liberty, and honor, to benefit people and to appease their consciences? No one knows. , but in any case, what these British MPs did must be the first of them, even if King Arthur stood before them, they would not willingly hand over the power in their hands, let alone their enemies, me?”

He paused and looked at Madame Aubigne: “You used to be the envoy of Innocent XI, and it seems that you are going to be the envoy of the Queen and Duchess of England this time. It seems that they handed over You have a heavy and urgent task.”

   “Exactly,” said Madame Aubignet, standing up, curtseying respectfully to Louis XIV, “I am not an official messenger, but I do bring a message from the queen.”

The Duke of Vendôme and the Duke of Orleans exchanged glances. It seems that they have guessed something, and Madame Aubigne relaxed a little: “Your Majesty,” she returned to her seat under the king’s signal, “The queen intends to invite The son of the Duke of Orleans went to London, married Princess Anne, and ruled England, Scotland and Ireland, and all the Stuart colonies in the New World.”

The people present unanimously showed a clear look. This may have been known as early as they learned that the British Parliament intended to invite William III of Orange to become the King of England. William III’s mother was the sister of Charles II and the son of the Duke of Orleans. Little Philip’s mother is also the sister of Charles II. There is no reason why William III can, but little Philip can’t. If there is a difference, it is probably that little Philip is a Catholic, but after watching Louis XIV’s eldest princess married to Sweden Judging from the fact that he converted to Protestantism without hesitation, Louis XIV should not care what his younger brother’s son believed.

   “This is an important matter, ma’am,” said Louis XIV kindly; “you can rest for a while in Fontainebleau, and let us think about what kind of answer we should give.”

Of course, Madame Aubignet had no reason to refuse. She also knew that staying at the Palace of Versailles at this time would attract too much attention, and Fontainebleau would be clean. “This is exactly what I desire, Your Majesty.” She said, and then turned to His Majesty the King bowed and retired.

When he was alone in the room, the Duke of Orleans stretched out his hand without any hesitation, and took out the letter from the king’s hand. Judging from the fact that the queen could not have written the letter by herself, there was not much leaked in it, but there was no need for it. Otherwise, just look at these:

  1. The King of England cannot be a Catholic and must convert to the Anglican Church – it doesn’t matter, even the great Prussian lord may convert to Protestantism. And their grandfather, Henry IV, was also converted from Protestant (Huguenot) to Catholic to inherit the French throne. For kings, faith is sometimes nothing but ass-wiping paper. something like that.

  2. Those who are directly dependent on the king cannot serve as members of the House of Commons.

  3. All decisions made by the king, orders of the government, must be signed by members of the Privy Council to take effect.

  4. The power to appoint and remove judges belongs to the parliament, and the king has no right to pardon those convicted by the parliament.

  5. The power to appoint and remove the priesthood belongs to the Archbishop of Canterbury, but the candidate of the Archbishop is appointed by the Parliament, and the King decides whether or not this person shall serve as the Archbishop…

Seeing this, the Duke of Orleans sneered, “Do they need a king, or do they need an icon for decoration?” He forwarded the letter to the Duke of Vendôme and said, “The Portuguese princess obviously wants to Introduce an enemy to Congress so she can profit from it.”

“That’s where I can’t decide,” Louis said. “Maybe it’s what I’ve been doing that makes them think wrong, I’m not that ambitious,” hears Prince Conte behind the king With a grimace: “They thought I was going to bite the bait like a long-starved fish.”

“You are not such a person, you are super soft-hearted,” the Duke of Vendôme said confidently, making Prince Conti stunned: “If you are the kind of person who only looks at interests, the wife of the crown prince will not be a Portuguese princess. The husband of the eldest princess will not be the king of Sweden, and even if it is the lord of the county, you did not promise to marry her to Carlos II, but chose the crown prince of Prussia for her.”

   “But this marriage is different.” Louis looked at his brother: “This is a crown.”

“It’s not so much a crown as a rope on the gallows.” The Duke of Orleans got up and walked around the room, saying with great disgust: “In England, the law will prevail over the king, and the parliament over the parliament. Above the king, this marriage will not bring any benefit to France or little Philip, but will further arouse people’s fear…” The son of the French Duke of Orleans arrived in London, and under various restrictions, he also married a princess who had married a foreign country. It’s no different. If you are mediocre, you will be accused of being a vegetarian. If you work hard, you will be considered ambitious. If there is a natural disaster or man-made disaster, you will be a scapegoat to soothe people’s anger.

“But this matter is not only for little Philip, but also for us,” Louis patted the chair beside him and let the Duke of Orleans sit down: “You are making me dizzy, brother.” Marriages are very similar, and even more so. There is a saying: “There is no king of France who does not want to be the king of England, and there is no king of England who does not want to be the king of France.” Henry VI, who ruled two powerful countries at the same time, The world made every king after him mad with jealousy, although this king ended up being beheaded by a traitor in the Tower of London.

But think about it, the people of Versailles were willing to marry such a devil just because Carlos II was the king of Spain (at that time, Carlos II seemed to be a good person on the surface, but in private, anyone could Yes), if they knew they could get a country by marrying the Duke of York’s daughter if they converted, wouldn’t they come running over with joy to make it happen?

But if you think about it carefully, this matter is tasteless to France, and it is a pity to abandon it. First of all, as Louis said, once the son of the Duke of Orleans becomes the King of England, they will no longer have any rights and obligations to him. It can be said; secondly, the three islands of England, Scotland and Ireland are isolated overseas, which means that this country can completely form a unique economic and political system, and the power of the king is limited everywhere, from the Queen (Anne) down to the commoners to everything in France Full of vigilance, it is almost impossible to gradually synchronize and assimilate it by sending troops and officials like Spain.

In the end, it may not be necessary to wait until Louis XV is in power, England and France will end their short-term alliance and return to the current state of hostility or worse, if the little Louis and the Duke of Orleans are hindered or made a wrong decision because of family affection , Everyone who supports this marriage today will regret it.

   Tomorrow is Tanabata… Let me write a sweet sideshow…

   (end of this chapter)