Chapter 142: Some Things About Fontainebleau (2)

"You were soft then. Louis said with emotion: "It's like a piece of dough with cream." ”

"I hear that you are preparing to use your childhood textbooks as a teaching material for general education," Philip reminded worriedly, "but you should think more about grammar." ”

"That's because you've forgotten what you were like at that time, but I remember it very well, Philip. Louis said, "You know, if I send you to Lorraine, and you die in this will, then I will spend the rest of my life in agony and remorse." ”

"I swear I won't, I'll protect myself as I would protect you. ”

"Then remember your oath. ”

"Never forget. ”

In front of it is the King and Queen's suite, and that is the end of the conversation and companionship.

The ministers did not yet know what the king's decision was, but for the king, Philip, Duke of Orleans, was his favorite choice, first of all, he did not have to doubt Philippe's loyalty to him, Alsace and Lorraine had been nominally part of France for hundreds of years, but infinitely inclined to the Holy Roman Empire, if they had gone there with ambition or foolishness, Alsace and Lorraine might have escaped from the king's grasp like birds that had fallen into the net but jumped out of the cracks, and secondly, the Duke of Orleans had not inherited the domain of the Duke of GastonIn this case, he would not be too eager to luster for money, and the king could rest assured that he would manage the new industries that were about to unfold in Lorraine and Alsace, without worrying about a second Fouquet or Mazarin, and finally, as Philip said, Lorraine was dangerous, but compared to the real battlefield, one or two small rebellions could serve as a test for the king's brother, such as Philip, a man of status, title, and talent, it would be a pity to put him only in Paris or Versailles, but there were too many young men who died on the battlefield, and even the commander was not sparedBoth Lorraine and Alsace could be used as whetstones before the Great War, so that if there was more dangerous work in the future, the king could safely leave it to Philip.

The king and his party said goodnight, and everyone went to rest, after all, there was a big event tomorrow.

Even if Louis came to Fontainebleau, he could not really immerse himself in the green veil and clear water, except for the government, the British mission arrived in Paris a few days ago, and today is the day when they are allowed to meet the king in Fontainebleau, so although the king and the Duke of Orleans have agreed, but the Duke of Orleans cannot leave yet, and the young Lebrun painter has recently been introduced to a young man before the king to make a beautiful portrait of him, so that the envoys can take it back to England and show it to Charles II and the Queen Mother, and Princess Henrietta, although the latter two have only been away from Paris for a few months, Philippe laughs at Princess Henrietta's new hairstyle at a ballThe fact that she couldn't help but cry behind the people seemed to be still in people's ears, but since this was a traditional and unwritten rule, Philip could only obediently obey the king's orders and spare an hour or two from his precious time to be a model for the painter.

Lebrun was not yet thirty years old, his teacher was Poussin, who had studied in Italy for many years, and as soon as he returned to Paris, he was fortunate to be ** The official Sergier was one of the first fourteen judges to be relocated to Pontoise at the king's behest, so that after the king's return to Paris, he was undoubtedly highly used, and was even able to act as a messenger and courtesy at the wedding of the king and the queen.

In addition to the fact that he was a Frenchman and had been loyal to the king for generations, Lebrun was more liked by the king for his realistic and gentle brushstrokes than other painters, and he personally brought his brother Philippe to the painter and told him that he wanted the painter to depict the noblest and most warm side of the royal brother, and that the place for the portrait was arranged in the room of the Duchess of Epton, the royal lady of François I, which was well lit and looked particularly open because most of the furniture had been removed.

The royal brother was quite unimpressed, he did not think that Princess Henrietta's memory would be so bad, and he grimaced at the painter as soon as the king left.

Lebrun heard that His Royal Highness was not only not enthusiastic about this marriage, but even did not care, it seemed to be true, but even if he was just a painter, he also knew that this marriage had to be successful, the king already had a Spanish princess as his wife, and reached an alliance with Spain, the marriage of Philippe, Duke of Orleans, would not be easily wasted, and in the same way, they would not allow a Habsburg daughter to enter the Louvre, so that the Duke of Orleans's choice became very narrow, although there were also Dutch, Hungary and other countries were tempting, but after a long period of hesitation, the king and queen mother agreed that Princess Henrietta, who had grown up beside them, would be a suitable candidate.

But as with any kind of agreement, there can never be a so-called triflage between nations, where emotions are put at the back and interests at the forefront, and the British mission consisted of George Munch, the long-known Louis Munch, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, a venerable gentleman, who was first a minister of Charles I, and then a man of all kinds, who bowed his allegiance to Cromwell, and when Cromwell lost the trust of the people, he turned to Charles II, and perhaps one would laugh at him for going around as he pleased, as a rooster weather vane, then if you know, when Oliver Cromwell was dead, and Charles II was still in exileWhat about those who encouraged him to ascend to the throne of king, but he resolutely refused?

Louis is now the king, so he knows very well how attractive this position is, he can twist the mind of any strong-willed person, make the good person evil, make the tolerant person vicious, and make the naïve person become treacherous This is his personal experience, so for this Monsieur Munch, now the Duke of Albimar, Louis is full of admiration and vigilance.

Sure enough, the whole negotiation process was long and arduous, Britain saw that the current France did not want to make itself an enemy on all sides, and France also saw that the situation in England was not as smooth as the Duke of Al Nimar described, although Charles II was immersed in feasts, balls and hunting all day long, he never gave up on regaining the royal power lost by his father, and the Duke of Al Nimar wanted to support him, but he was worried that the king's power was too heavy, so that Charles II inherited his father's arrogance and radicalism, which made the people miserable......

But the French king's request, the British really could not agree, whether it was to buy warships, merchant ships or shipbuilding workers, designers, or borrow naval officers, soldiers, etc., do not forget, they only sold a Dunkirk to the French, it is said that the French king is building a dock in Dunkirk enough to accommodate thirty warships, and two dry docks for repairing and building ships, they can't help but be afraid, think about the British merchant ships that were tortured by the Spaniards, do they leave the Spaniards, they still have to welcome the French？

"There is no way to warship. The British envoys exchanged words, "We are at war with the Netherlands, and there will be more warships to be thrown into the war." "Together with some of the ships that were abandoned during the Protectorate period, they themselves were a little stretched, let alone for the French.

"But Princess Henrietta's dowry ......" made the envoys a little surprised, unlike the French treasury even the king's private treasury, Charles II could only pitifully ask for some so-called royal money from the Parliament, which also had to ensure the operation of palaces, castles, territories and armies, not to mention preparing a dowry for Princess Henrietta, Charles II did not borrow money from the princess It was already very good.

"Even if he wanted to borrow it, the princess didn't have the money. "It's pitiful, a messenger sighed, and said that compared with the French nobles they had seen, headed by the Duchess of Montpensier, all dressed in flowers and jewels, it is said that the Duchess would change several sets of clothes every day, and each set of clothes was worn only once, and the other nobles followed suit, and it is said that many of the accompanying merchants outside Fontainebleau were buying and selling second-hand clothes, and the clothes of these nobles came into their hands, and they were changed and changed, and even sent to the provinces without moving, and each one could be sold for a great price.

As for Princess Henrietta, it is difficult to say whether her jewels will fill a jewelry box, although she has not been away from Paris for a long time, but it is clear that the style of clothes in Paris has reached a new level in just a few months, the ladies have more exposed chests, larger skirts, and under the leadership of the king's royal wife, Mademoiselle Lavalier, the ladies have begun to have more furry accessories.

The English kept a record of all this, and even if Parliament was reluctant to allocate more money to ensure that Princess Henrietta's dowry was not too ugly, they had to ensure that the princess's dowry, though small, would not be ridiculed for coming from some poor country.

"How's it going?" Philip saw his brother walk out of the second hall with a rare stretch, and knew that today's negotiations would only waste a few precious hours, Louis bowed to him, and yawned with his eyes closed, "Give me coffee." He shouted to Bonton, "I have it here," said Philip, "and I have the servants prepare it for me...... Do you want it?"

"Give it to me. "I was thirsty and tired...... God, Philip, how much sugar did you put in it?"

Louis has made a lot of changes to the dishes in the court since he was able to speak, but there is a point that he can't change anything, and whether it is the Bishop of Mazarin, or the Queen Mother, or the royal brother Philippe tried to persuade him not to change is the abuse of sweeteners, when the method of extracting sucrose has not yet appeared, the nobles are so fond of honey that they can have almost anything like honey pigeon meat, peaches, honey cream soup, etc., and when the Crusaders get sugar from the Arabs, sugar has become a regular item on the table, and when a nobleman entertains guests, he will be ridiculed for not having enough sugar, and the king's feast, something even more striking would need to appear, like the Fontainebleau Palace carved out of coagulated sugar, which Louis saw not so long ago......

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

Louis shook his head in order to push aside the terrible energy, as a compensatory and consolation after a long meeting, and he used the method of admiring the portrait of the royal brother to pass the time before dinner, which was a wonderful way to rest.

The portrait is in a state of half-completion, that is to say, the face of Philippe, Duke of Orleans, has been almost completely 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 revealed because of his long stature, and Lebrun did not use the usual methods of painters to make him sit on a chair or ride on a horse to confuse his height, but made him stand next to a tall pillar with a lush white and pink rose, a dark blue curtain hanging from behind him, embroidered with gold lilies, and he was dressed in a cream-white silver-embroidered coat with bright red shoulder straps, around the waist is a belt of gold and precious stones, hanging muskets and swords, it looks really unusually magnificent, handsome and not lacking in manhood.

"There will be many beautiful ladies who fall in love with you at first sight. Louie 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," said Philip, although he always bullied Henrietta, but the one who really did not please the duke, he would not look at it at all, but to Philip's displeasure, Princess Henrietta preferred to be his brother's wife, but if it was out of love, it was not, she had been silently enduring Philip's bullying, just to seek the king's mercy, but she did not love the king, she just wanted to be the queen of France, and she even vaguely mentioned it when Louis was unfortunately assassinated in Dunkirk...... Charles II may support Philip as regent or as a real king, and this akin to falling into the trap made Philip thoroughly tired of it.

But the problem is that they have to get married now.

This is a matter of France and England, not of Philip and Henrietta, and I only hope that when she marries into France, Philip thinks that she will be able to become wiser and more sensible.

"It was love at first sight," said Philip, "but about yourself, for there must be more people who love you than I am, even if you are not a king." ”

"Not necessarily," said Louis, "I am a very boring person. ”

Louis knew that he was not ugly, but he felt that it was because he wore a crown and a tiara, and that Philippe could dance better than he did, and he knew how to appreciate music and dance, and he did it purely out of etiquette, not out of heartfelt affection.

I'm not good at it either.