It was not difficult for these princes and princesses to encounter anything, but none of them expected that the small means played in order to complete the work assigned by the king as soon as possible would actually obtain an income of nearly 10,000 livres in a week, although this income could not be compared with the taxes or the benefits obtained by the banks and the fleet, but it was also very amazing, but there was nothing strange to think about, first of all, the people who could come to Paris would not be poor people, and one could even be said to have a small fortune, although they did not know the so-called "appreciation fee" It was the idea of the crown prince, but he was willing to boast of his wealth with the money of a meal or a bottle of wine, and most people may think that it is a foolish thing to throw money away, but in their hearts, the people who performed or showed the paintings for them had served the king and the great nobles, and when they cast their "rewards", it seemed that they were also connected with those great people for a few seconds, so they were not so heartbroken and hesitant.

There is also a kind of people, that is, the real eminent people, who can lose hundreds of livres at the gambling table, and since they already know that these four academies of art were all commissioned by the king, and the prince and princess oversaw them, of course they do not care about this expenditure, but there are also people who impulsively cast boxes of gold louis because they are particularly pleased with a character in the play, or because they are at odds with their opponents about a certain sculpture or painting.

After getting the approval of the king and the duke, the crown prince Louis Jr. was a little relieved, he walked around in front of the box containing the money, clenching his fists excitedly, although as the crown prince, he had already had a title and a fief, but this was different, he realized for the first time why his father would use Colbert so much, and why Colbert was so interested in commerce, the income from the land was stable, but to quickly accumulate a large amount of wealth, it was far from enough to rely on the territory. ，

"By the way," said the crown prince suddenly, "Father, there is one more thing. He said.

"What?"

"I have a gift for you. Then he asked his attendants to bring a painting, and when the curtain was lifted, a group portrait was revealed.

"The painting was sent to Paris by a Dutch painter. The crown prince said: "The painting has caused a lot of discussion, some people think it is terrible, others think it is excellent." ”

"You're the latter?"

"Yes, father, I'm the latter, and I thought you'd like it too, so I bought it from the painter. ”

"This dress," the king asked, turning his head, "Duke, a soldier from Amsterdam." ”

"Probably," said the Duke of Orleans, "it must be the shooters, look, they have muskets in their hands." ”

The king smiled, and only the crown prince would do this, and no other minister or nobleman would have the courage to send this portrait to him, but he could understand the thoughts of little Louis, the crown prince's appreciation of works of art and his ability to capture beauty were much better than his father, and he sent this painting to him out of love for his father and trust in the king.

In addition to the subject matter, the reason why this painting has caused such a big controversy is that the painter boldly uses too strong contrasts - light and dark, large and small, front and back, such a picture is presented in front of people, like a suspended stage scene, this novel expression will of course make people who are accustomed to the brightness of the picture even and soft, everyone almost the same size feel uncomfortable, but there are also people with outstanding taste who think that it is a rare masterpiece.

"You say it's a Dutch painter?" said the king, "and I will summon him when the time comes." He waved his hand for the attendants to put the paintings away, "Now that you're here, let's have dinner together, and so will Colbert, I have something to tell you." ”

What the king is about to say is related to the lord of the county. The lord of the great county was tossed and turned a few months ago, precisely because he was afraid that the king would marry her to King Carlos II of Spain for the sake of France, what kind of person Carlos II was, we have described it before, and I will not repeat it here, but compared to Louis XIV, there are monarchs who do not care about children, such as Leopold I, who finally married his eldest daughter Antonia to Carlos II after several considerations, even though he knew that Carlos II could not let women have children.

The Duke of Orleans and the King had consulted with the Lord of Orleans about this matter, but in the end they decided that it would be better for them to tell about this matter than to let the Lord hear a distorted or erroneous version from others.

As soon as this matter was spoken, the lord suddenly lost all his appetite, but fortunately the dinner had come to an end, and it was not pretentious, but the thought of a girl who had suffered such a terrible thing made the lord feel chills, especially since it was her father who betrayed her.

"It seems that Leopold I has made up his mind to stand in opposition to us. Kolber said.

"Unless Suleiman I of Ottoman Turkey is reborn and leads his army of 800,000 to the west, don't think of seeing me sitting with him. The king said, "But there is another reason besides looking for allies." ”

"The throne of Spain. The Duke of Orleans said gloomily.

"He already had two sons, the eldest Ferdinand, though he died young, but the youngest son John was still alive," the king said, "and they were both born to the daughter of Philip IV, and the princess did not renounce the right to inherit the throne of Spain." ”

"But the elder brother shall come first," said the eldest princess, "and the mother is the eldest daughter of Philip IV." ”

"Then it seems that the attitude of Carlos II will be very important," said the Duke of Orleans, "no wonder Leopold I was willing to pay such a large price." ”

The Grand Princesses were a little uneasy, but the Celestial Princess immediately patted the back of her hand: "Trust our fathers," she said, "trust their love for us." ”

"That's why I'm telling you first. The king said, "I am most afraid of you, my niece, and trust me and your father." "Although the princes and princesses will inevitably face a political marriage, Louis XIV and the Duke of Orleans will do their best to prevent this marriage from becoming an irreparable tragedy, both for the eldest princess and for the Grand Lord.

The Grand Princesse smiled at the Celestial Princess, not so reluctantly: "Just thinking of that Princess Antonia...... She should have been born in '69. "Little Duke Angian is a year younger than her, and he is still a doll who can only scream...... And the physical condition of Carlos II...... Now there are very few people who do not know that this king is a yan, and there are very few people in the courts of various countries.

She was almost destined to be ridiculed and scorned endlessly.

"The best thing for that princess is that Carlos II dies within ten years, so that she can at least avoid marrying a madman. The Duke of Orleans said harshly.

"Eight years. The king said, "It is written in the marriage contract that the eldest princess of Leopold I will marry to Spain when she reaches the age of twelve." ”

"Oh my God......"

Princess Celestia shouted softly, drawing a cross on her chest.

"Speaking of which," said the king, after a moment of silence, he also found himself saying something that was not pleasant, and coughed lightly to dispel the strange atmosphere at the table, "you may have a new friend." ”

"Who?"

"Anna Maria Luisa de Medici, future wife of the Duke of Colonna. The king said, "She was born in 67." ”

He looked at his daughter and niece, "You must help me take good care of the Duke of Colonna until she returns." ”

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