It's just that no one will remind the king, such as Prince Condé and others, who have made almost unforgivable mistakes before, and some of the old ministers of Louis XIII felt that a young king made such a mistake, not only understandable, but also quite pleasant, no, not that they were gloating, but that Louis was a toddler from the beginning, showing the self-control and willpower of an adult, and even in some places quite independent, knowing how to think, and not having the usual handicaps of children (at that time people thought that children were crippled adults) This certainly pleased Louis XIII, who had waited twenty-three years to finally have an heir, but it also made his courtiers slightly disappointed that it was difficult for his courtiers to stand out even if they were able to do almost everything well.

So the king's occasional whims were tolerated and indulged in this ambiguous mood, except for Colbert, who was so numb that he could barely put on a sad face, and by the way, his wife had bore him another daughter the year before, that is, he had to find a third duke's husband for his daughter, and the king's meaningful smile frightened him, and he had recently even deliberately avoided being alone with the king, lest the king say to him: " Dear Monsieur Kirbert, I have taken a fancy to your little daughter for a fitting and illustrious marriage. ”

When the time comes, will he still have to shirk it? This is absolutely impossible! As the son of a woolen merchant, he has fought tirelessly until now, isn't it just to change the court and put on the robes of the nobility? It's just that he feels that the direction in which he can go seems to be gone...... Only the south.

At this time, Kirbel did not know that there was a proverb: do your best, and then die. But if he could, he would have carved it on a plate and hung it on his chest so that the king could see it at all times......

Fortunately, the king also knew the truth of not fishing in the dry water, and as soon as Kirbel entered the council chamber and saw that it was full of people, he was immediately relieved.

It turned out that today was the day when the Duke of Luxembourg, who had been on his way to Spain as an envoy, returned to Paris and asked to see the king, and in order to prevent the duke, who was not good at words, from repeating it twice, the king summoned all the courtiers and generals who he thought should be relevant to the future Spanish policy.

The size of the chamber is considerable, even if there are more than 20 people seated here, it is not crowded, the problem is that some people are always distracted by the conspicuous reliefs on the walls, or feel embarrassed, because this chamber originally belonged to Louis XIII's royal lady, although this royal lady was more akin to a necessary ornament, but it was still disgusted by the Queen Mother Anne, after the death of Louis XIII, this lady was expelled from Paris, and the room was left vacant- It stands to reason that if the king needed a council chamber, he should choose something more solemn or completely renovate the suite.

Well, then again, yes, the king has no money, and even if he had, he didn't want to use it in this place - although the Louvre had to be renovated after two riots, it was mainly on the façade, as well as the residence and main activity of the queen mother and the king, the royal brother and others, like this room...... The king simply ordered that the frivolous vermilion silk draperies be replaced by the modest royal blue velvet draperies, and that the portrait in the frame (that is, the portrait of the royal lady as a model) be replaced, and some of the furniture he liked was moved here to be considered complete.

I don't know if Bang Tang deliberately pushed the narrow, although the seat of the Prince of Condé was very close to the king, but behind him was a statue of the goddess of spring, she turned her back to everyone, looked back, stretched out her arms, and sprinkled flowers- The reverie-stricken buttocks were facing the back of the head of the Prince of Condé, so that those who saw it either turned their faces to smile secretly or looked away in embarrassment, but it was really just a small joke, neither the king nor the Prince of Condé noticed, but the Duke of Luxembourg was a little uncomfortable, he lowered his head and coughed lightly twice.

"I wish you good health. The king said.

The Duke of Luxembourg stood up, bowed to the King, and sat down at the King's motion.

"All right," said Louis kindly, "tell us now about what you saw in Toledo." ”

——————

At the time of 1561. King Philip II of Spain transferred the capital of Spain from Toledo to Madrid, and Toledo's status has since declined, but as a strategic fortress and a religious shrine, it certainly cannot be completely abandoned, so although Philip IV died in Madrid and was buried in the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo in the small town of El Escorial near Madrid, the Queen Mother still insisted on holding a large mass in the Cathedral of Granada in Toledo, and the enthronement ceremony of the new king Carlos II was also held hereIt is not for the poor widow and her son to know.

As we said before, the Duke of Luxembourg was originally the most loyal friend and brother of the Prince of Condé, they were raised by the same mother, and they had a deep relationship before, when Condé was in Spain, he was also in Spain, and when Condé returned to France, of course, he would not hesitate at all, but the king chose him as an envoy because this duke and Prince Condé were in Spain together, and they made many friends in Spain in advance, and because Prince Condé tried his best to obtain the title of Duke of Luxembourg for him, which caused some people to be dissatisfied, and there was no battle for him to help for the time beingThe king simply sent him abroad as an envoy.

The Duke of Luxembourg maintained a cautious and sober attitude under the reminder of Prince Condé, and he did not forget that the current Queen of France was the daughter of Philip IV, that is, the sister of the current King Carlos I of Spain, and Spain did not practice the familiar "Salic inheritance law", that is, the daughter and her children had the same inheritance rights - although Queen Teresa had signed a document renunciating the right to inherit before marrying into France, but ......

When the Duke of Luxembourg arrived in Toledo, it was raining and rainy, and Toledo should not have been rainy in this season, and the thought of the enthronement ceremony three days later could not help but give people a sense of foreboding, as if it were a portent...... The Duke of Luxembourg went to see some of his friends, and as Spaniards, they were worried about the future of Spain, and Carlos II inherited from Philip IV not a powerful and prosperous state, on the contrary, Spain was inexorably declining, first losing the Netherlands, then Portugal, then Roussillon, Fois, Artois and Lorraine, it no longer had the Americas to itself, it was contained in Indonesia by the Netherlands, and in Europa it was threatened by France.

And now its king is only four years old.

Philip IV's first wife was not Maria Anna of Austria, but Elisabeth of Bourbon, daughter of Henry IV, eldest daughter of Louis XIII, aunt of Louis XIV, between whom they had two sons and six daughters, but unfortunately all the children died in infancy, except for Princess Teresa who married Louis XIV. When Elizabeth died, he married Anna of Austria, and they had four more children, the eldest of whom was Margaret who had been married to Louis, but eventually married Leopold I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and the other two children also died young, leaving only the youngest son, now Carlos II.

When he saw Carlos II, he looked so much that even the Duke of Luxembourg could not help but be stunned and sad at the same time, it was an ignorant, ugly beast cub, he had a deformed face, and his low intelligence was exposed from his small, distorted eyes, he was the same age as Louis the Dauphin of France, but when Louis the little Louis could start riding a pony, he could not even walk on his own, and even when he sat crookedly, he did not look - When the Duke of Luxembourg met him, the Spanish king had to suck milk from the nurse every few minutes, and the scene was simply jaw-dropping, and all the answers were handled by the crown princess, Carlos II was either lethargic or incoherent, but everyone in the room tried to pretend that he didn't exist.

The Duke of Luxembourg had to leave in a hurry, and that night he received a personal letter from Don Juan José, the Duke of Spain, the illegitimate son of Philip IV, who wanted to meet him.

The Duke of Luxembourg even fought with Viscount Tyrene in the dunes outside Dunkirk under his command, which not only destroyed Spain's last chance to regain Europa supremacy, but also made Prince Condé and Duke Don Juan prisoners of the king, where Don Juan was given preferential treatment in accordance with his status, and then ransomed by his father and the king after the negotiations, the defeat did not affect him much, or not so much that he continued to control a part of the army that threatened the new king。

His intentions were clear, although the illegitimate child was destined not to become king, but he could become the de facto ruler, just a false name, he did not care, he now needed the support of the king of France, for which he did not mind ceding a part of Spain's interests.

This kind of thing is not something that the Duke of Luxembourg can decide, he can only be silent, but the Duke of Don Juan does not think that this is a matter that the minister can decide, all he needs is for the Duke of Luxembourg to convey this meaning to the King of France.

"But this kind of thing doesn't do much good to France. After listening to the words of the Duke of Luxembourg, the Prince of Condé was the first to say that regardless of whether the king would support an illegitimate son and a traitor, the conditions agreed to by Don Juan were almost impossible to meet before he took control of Spain, and ......, "What do you think of Carlos II's health?" Louis asked as he turned to the Duke of Luxembourg.

"Not ideal. "The Duke of Luxembourg said cautiously, in fact, a visible weakness, that His Majesty was almost two-thirds the height of Louis, Dauphin of France, thin, and always leaning his body, as if someone was pressing an incomparably heavy thing on his shoulder— He could barely stand on his own strength during the enthronement ceremony, kneeling on a cushion and sitting on a throne, and it is said that he was putting on a crown (which was wrapped in a thick layer of velvet to cater to this little head), complaining that it was giving him a headache, and although he was immediately stopped by startled attendants, this bad omen— For the Europas, who believed in the divine right of kings, it was a frightening thing for the king to complain that the crown was too heavy, that the crown had small thorns, or that something else made him uncomfortable, and that a king or queen like this would not be long removed from his responsibilities for various reasons...... Return to Heaven.

"His parents are too close. Louis said that although he and Teresa were close enough to the two cousins, but fortunately they already had a healthy child, which made Louis feel a lot more at ease, although he never approved of this kind of too close blood marriage, but as Mr. Bishop said, the marriage of the king is also the marriage of the state, and they must first think about the state, even more than the importance of ethics and morality- Not only did Philip IV marry his niece, but his own mother was also a member of the Habsburgs, and after many layers, Carlos II's unsatisfactory was completely expected.

Some of the ministers could not understand the king's intentions, because Queen Teresa had renounced her inheritance to the Kingdom of Spain before she was married, and only Colbert felt a little chilled.

In the past few years, he and the king have been carefully supporting commerce, developing industry, expanding and cultivating new agriculture, and in places that people can't see, the king can be said to be making money every day, and if he uses all this money for himself, then not a Louvre, even ten Louves have been built. But people's livelihood, war, and armament are three abysses, which are constantly devouring countless gold and silver, and turning them into power in the hands of the king - as the king's treasurer, of course, Colbert will not forget that Queen Theresa still has a dowry that has not been paid, and the Spaniards seem to have "forgotten" about it, and the king never pursues it, some people believe that this is because the king has been deceived by the "Spanish woman", and is very angry, and vows to reveal the matter to the king......

But did the king really forget, or did he deliberately not mention it for the sake of the queen's dignity?

Or......