After the lord of the county recovered, this turmoil can also be said to have passed, and Mr. Juan Patiño left in disgrace, and the Spanish prince not only could not blame the king of France, but also tried his best to suppress the anti-French sentiment in the country- After all, the king of France promised not to divulge the fact that their king was already a eunuch, and he was very tolerant, in addition to this, there is also the fact that Carlos II is already the last descendant of the Spanish Habsburgs, and he is infertile, which means that after his death, his throne must be given to a foreigner, the most likely in two enemies of each other, one is a descendant of King Louis XIV of France, and the other is a descendant of the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, because the mother and wife of these two rulers are the daughters of King Philip III of Spain, because Spain does not implement Salic law, so their children and grandchildren have the right to inherit。

It stands to reason that Louis XIV's mother and wife were older than Leopold I's mother and wife, but the problem is that both the Queen Mother and the Queen of France signed an agreement to renounce the right to inherit the throne, but anyone with a discerning eye can see that Louis XIV did not ask for Queen Teresa's dowry as set in the marriage contract, even though he needed to borrow money from many parties during the war against the Netherlands...... The ambitious king had clearly not given up his desire for a larger land.

After most people have this understanding, a strange scene appeared in Spain, in the Alcázar Castle in Toledo, the Duke of Don Juan, who had been anxious these days, actually appeared in the court again, and the person on his arm turned out to be the mother of Carlos II, Queen Mother Maria, as we all know, the Queen Mother Maria was expelled from Toledo by the Duke of Don Juan in order to fight for regency, but now they are making a way to say that the two factions are on the verge of reconciliation, think about it, in the face of a powerful foreign enemy, Spain is still strife, is it not self-defeating。

The news also quickly spread to Versailles, and the lord of the county, who had only improved, couldn't help but begin to be depressed again, and the Duke of Don Juan did this, that is, he had also taken refuge in the Habsburgs, which was undoubtedly quite unfavorable to France- Carlos II was destined to be heirless, and his health was not very good, and the battle for the Spanish throne in a few years or more than a decade would inevitably give France a disadvantage, and the thought that her uncle might have to face another difficult war in a few years for her own happiness made the girl feel breathless.

Her anomaly was soon noticed by the Duke and Lady of Orleans, who had been following her closely since the proposal, and Louis heard about it from his brother and realized that he had made a mistake - as we said before, the perception of children in this day and age is still between "animals" and "small adults" But this was limited to the lower middle class, and in the royal palace, princes and princesses would have a long time to play to their heart's content, but Louis grew up in his study, and he thought that it was irrational to indulge the nature of children too much, because it would only create a group of obedient and willful little monsters, if these children only had to live in their Garden of Eden for the rest of their lives, but whether it was Luciano, or Louis the Younger, Elizabeth and the Grand Princess, the hardships and dangers they would face were by no means comparable to ordinary people。

He arranged for his ministers and princes to teach the crown prince and the princess, the princess, so that they could see their way clearly, but he forgot that these children did not have the tenacity of adults, and that the lord was able to make himself so worried that he would fall ill, and he would still feel guilty, but it was also contrary to Louis's original intention - the king's original intention was to make them happy, not to taste the pain of life too soon.

After discovering this, Louis hurriedly saved, fortunately it was still too late, the eldest princess and the princess were only girls in their early tens, and the crown prince Louis would not reach adulthood until two years, although the Duke of Cologna was about to become an adult, but he had only encountered such a thing before, and his mother was also imprisoned in the Bastille, although the Duke of Cologna had to return to Calais and Gayola, but Louis felt that it was too cruel to let little Lucy spend this tormented life alone.

So, on a sunny afternoon, the Duke of Colonna, Louis the Dauphin, Elizabeth the Celestia, and Mary, the Grand Princess, were summoned to the Venus Hall by the King, and after they saluted each other, they asked each other with their eyes, and after a few minutes they found that no one knew why the King had summoned them here.

Immediately afterwards the Duke of Orleans and the Prince of Conte, and Monsieur Colbert, arrived, and if the appearance of these men was not surprising, it was all the more curious to be intrigued, for they were Leblanc, Lully, Molière, and Beauchamp, four artists who had worked diligently for him since the king's administration or for some time after, and who were so famous at the court, after all, that there was no one who did not admire their paintings, their music, their plays, and their dances.

These four gentlemen were also nervous today, unfortunately, Louis XIV was a man who loved to conquer dance and music, except for LeBron, the others had the privilege of witnessing the face of heaven almost only on occasions where the king had to be present, and there was hardly much contact between the king and them, even LeBron, who felt like a soldier in front of the king, except that he fought for the king in the grand gallery rather than on the battlefield, wielding a paintbrush instead of a musket.

Needless to say, Lully was very much loved by the Duchess of Montpensier, who had promised to recommend him to the king, but to no avail, although the king was very kind to the Duchess, but things like appreciating music, the king did it as a job, and if you expected him to reward you with land, titles and positions because he was impressed by your music, it would be pure fantasy. 、

As for Molière, he cursed the Count d'Artagnan in anger more than once, and although everyone said that the Count d'Artagnan did not break his promise, and that he did perform for the king, and was richly rewarded, he should at least tell Molière that His Majesty was such a bewildered man, that "he had no interest in theatre, and only cared whether they could be used by him." So did the gifted dramatist complain to his subordinate and friend Racine.

Then the last one, Charles Louis Beauchamp, is even more pathetic, as the discerning reader will notice that he makes his first appearance in this book, yes, the poor director of dance had been the instructor of Louis's dance classes as early as his youth, but after the course the young king left him behind, although he had been working for the king for the next twenty years, not only directing an excellent ballet company for the king, but also accumulating a great deal of experience in dance techniques, and he had been sorting out several basic movements of ballet in the hope that they would be recognized by the king and the public as a rule, like a court minuet - and suddenly called to the Venus Hall.

Seeing that there were still a few important ministers here, the small members of the royal family led by the crown prince, they were even more nervous.

With a loud shout, Louis XIV walked in from outside, and everyone, men and women, bowed, and the king raised his hand, and they slowly rose.

As soon as Louis sat down, he raised his hand: "I think you all know me and my brother's children. ”

Led by Prince Conte, the crowd said that this was indeed the case, and they had to wonder in their minds whether the king intended to make the Duke of Cologne public, or even legally recognized as the Duke of Hallepur, but they were more worried, because Louis had no intention of doing so, "I have you here today," he nodded to the restless artists, "because I intend to establish four art academies," he raised his cane and pointed to LeBron: "The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture of France," Pointing to Lully: "Royal Conservatoire de France," moving to Molière: "Royal Académie d'Autément de France," and finally Beauchamp: "Royal Académie de France." ”

It is often said that even a thunderbolt from heaven would not surprise them any more, and to these four gentlemen, they are like Danae meeting Jupiter in the form of a golden rain (note 1), and they are so ecstatic that they do not know what to do—they did not expect that the king would have such an idea, and that he would give it to them, which is more precious than any reward!

Even LeBron, who was closest to the king, couldn't help but stiffen his hands and feet, his tongue was paralyzed, and he couldn't say a word of thanks, but fortunately the king knew the artists well, and he pushed his cane to the ground a little in disbelief, "But I have a request, everyone," he looked at the children on one side, and his tone became more gentle: "Come here, Luciano, Louis, Elizabeth, and Mary." ”

The children immediately came over, and the lord was still a little confused, but the princess had already made a gesture of stroking her chest, indicating that she had guessed what her father was about to do.

Sure enough, immediately afterwards His Majesty said, "Gentlemen, I entrust you with this important project...... And my kids. He stretched out his hand and stood beside the Dauphin: "My Dauphin will be in charge of the preparations for the School of Painting and Sculpture with Mr. LeBlan," he stretched out his other hand and brought the Duke of Cologna to his side: "The Duke of Cologna will be in charge of the preparations for the School of Dance together with Monsieur Beauchamp," he withdrew his hand and patted it: "Come here, Elizabeth," he said, "The Grand Duke is mainly responsible for the preparation of the Conservatory," and finally he smiled and looked at the Grand Lord, who was already so excited that his face was flushed:" My dearest lord," said the king affectionately, "you have to take up the task of preparing the Academy of Drama. ”

The Grand Princess's curtsy at once, for she was almost speechless.

"No, no, child," corrected the Duke of Orleans with a smile on his face, "look at me, baby, this is the most correct way to thank you." He stepped forward with grace, stepped onto the stage, stood by the throne, and kissed the prince on the cheek—with a loud bang!

Louis put one hand on his brother's shoulder, "Next time," he said disgustedly, "then, do you see that?" said the king to the Grand Lord.

The Grand Princess, first raised his palm to press his face, and then, under the encouraging gaze of the Celestial Princess, jumped on his uncle's knee and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek.

Compared to the harmony of the royal family, the four artists were dumbfounded, it was not that they could not accept someone to supervise, after all, it would be a large expense, but even the Duke of Cologna was only thirteen years old, and the youngest lord was only ten years old.

"So what," said the Duke of Orleans, "I was only an adult when I rebuilt the slums, the canals, and the sewerage system of the whole of Paris. ”

Luli immediately pulled Molière, who wanted to say something, the disadvantage of not being born enough is here, if it is a king, as long as there is evidence, then he will listen to your opinion, even if he does not adopt it, he will not be angry, but everyone knows that the king is almost unconditionally indulgent to the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Orleans is not more broad-minded than a lady, people say, even if you anger the king, don't anger the Duke of Orleans, here's the reason.

But it was too hard to accept, and the four gentlemen withdrew, and when they reached the Grand Gallery, they couldn't react, "I said is it really okay? I mean," Molière couldn't help but say, "What are we going to do......?" But they're still kids...... after all."

"It's the Crown Prince, the Duke of Cologna, the Grand Princess, and the Grand Lord. Luli corrected.

Beauchamp on the side also nodded, and LeBlanc pointed directly to the paintings in the Grand Gallery - all of them are paintings about the war between Flanders and the Netherlands, that is, the martial exploits of Louis XIV.

Molière was like someone poured a basin of ice water on his head, and suddenly came to his senses, his foundation was the weakest of the four - although his family also served the royal family, but he was a merchant who provided furniture and furnishings for the royal family, he left home very early because of his love for theater, and he had nothing to do with the family's business, compared to Beauchamp, who was originally born into a family, Lully, who served the Duchess of Montpensier for a long time although he was from a humble background, and LeBron, who was most trusted by the king, he was a little too dull or bold.

"I owe a good thank you," said Molière, "that I almost made a great mistake." "He is not Colbert, nor Prince Condé, nor Duke of Orleans, who gave him the courage to say no to the king?

"Nothing. Lully said that because music and dance were closely related to theater, they had worked with Molière a few times, and they had prepared their own academies without conflict, but they were also a scattered group, and they did not want the king to suspect that they had the same ideas as Molière.

"But you really should treat us to a meal. LeBron said.

"Go to the best tavern in Limoges. Beauchamp said.

Note 1:

Danae was the daughter of King Argos. The king had no sons, and there was a prophecy in the state that Danae would give birth to a boy and would usurp the throne. Fearing that this prophecy would come true, Argos imprisoned his daughter in a bronze tower and sent sentries to guard it day and night. One day, Jupiter turned into a golden rain through the walls of the bronze tower and entered the cell, where Jupiter shared the bed with Danae and gave birth to a boy, Piercius. Later, Beatseus did indeed seize the throne of Argos.