Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

The sky continues.

【Louis XIV not only established cultural hegemony. 】

【It is also a representative of fashion. 】

[Louis XIV changed five sets of clothes for different occasions every day. The cost of gold thread embroidery on each coat was equivalent to a worker's three-year salary.]

【He invented the red high-heeled shoe.】

[Originally, it was used to help people step on the stirrup more firmly when riding a horse, but it soon became a fashion symbol that the nobility imitated.]

[Even more cunning is his use of wigs.]

After he began to lose his hair at a young age, Louis commissioned over 1000 wigs from artisans.

[The most famous "heyday wig" was shoulder-length.]

【Curly like the sun's rays.】

[Soon, a wig craze swept the courts of European countries.]

[The UK across the sea even set up a special "wig tax" for this purpose. ]

Seeing this, the barrage also said:
《Yes, this is Louis XIV’s method.》

"A French version of the Sankin-kotsu?"

"Emperor Wu of Han praised the migration of nobles outside the city. The mausoleum town system is very sophisticated."

"Suspicious, hardworking, ambitious, shrewd, and arbitrary, these are the characteristics that a God has."

"From this perspective, he is a bit like the French version of Kangxi, who is hands-on, knowledgeable, and multi-talented. "

"It seems that Louis XIV and Kangxi are really somewhat related?"

"Louis XIV wrote a letter to Kangxi, but the letter was looted in Russia."

"White silk leather shoes, in that era, were worn by men."

"Good man, he has really figured out the consumerism game."

"The Spokesperson of Consumerism."

"It is said that he also likes live broadcasting, letting others pay to watch his daily life."

"The nobles are so exhausted by the king that they have no time to plot. It's miserable."

"The nobles are busy with these etiquettes every day, making them more and more fancy. "

"But it was Louis XIV who made French culture sweep across the entire Western world."

[Of course, don’t just look at the splendor of the Palace of Versailles. ]

[Since there was no sewer system, the nobles urinated and defecated in the corners of the corridor.]

[Servants sprinkled lavender water on the marble floor every day to cover up the odor.]

[A large number of satin seats were scrapped because they were soaked with urine.]

【What is even more terrible is the disease.】

[In 1694, a measles outbreak in the crowded palace killed 37 nobles.]

[The body was taken out through a side door at night.]

[After all, the sanitary conditions in Europe at that time were really worrying. ]

[In this maze of luxury and filth, Louis XIV also established the most efficient spy network in Europe at that time. ]

[His chief of secret police invented the "black study" to open and read the letters of the nobility.]

[A count complained in a letter to his mistress: The king's new wig looks like a mop.]

[He was exiled the next day.]

[There are countless other spies. ]

[No one expected that among the vast number of servants and nobles, how many were Louis XIV's spies.]

【But anyway. 】

【The success of the Palace of Versailles was unprecedented.】

【Louis XIV strongly controlled the nobility, making France, known as the "Little Holy Roman Empire", a powerful centralized country.】

[While controlling the nobility, Louis XIV was equally cruel in suppressing heresy in the country. ]

[In 1685, he abolished the Edict of Nantes issued by his grandfather Henry IV, no longer advocating religious tolerance, but declaring Protestantism illegal.]

[Over the next five years, 20 Huguenots fled to England, the Netherlands, and Prussia.]

[Although this move caused a lot of talent loss, it also united the majority of people at the time. ]

【It is conducive to the centralization of power of Louis XIV. 】

[After successfully incorporating the nobility into his own orbit of power, Louis XIV began to turn his attention to the wider European continent. ]

【Only through military expansion can France become a true hegemon. 】

[Thus, in the following decades, France was almost plunged into continuous war.]

【The first war after Louis XIV took power began with a ridiculous excuse.】

[In 1667, he claimed that his wife Maria Theresa (a Spanish princess) had an unpaid dowry and therefore had the right to inherit the Spanish Netherlands.]

[When Spain refuses, the young king launches the War of Inheritance and leads the army himself! ]

[He wore specially made silver armor and had his portrait painted by the painter Van der Meulen on the battlefield.]

【This is actually a show.】

【But it also explains the main direction of Louis XIV's next attack. 】

[In the Franco-Dutch War of 1672, Louis mobilized an unprecedented army of 12 and joined forces with Britain to invade the Netherlands.]

[He also ordered the historian to record his heroic act of crossing the Rhine River as easily as crossing a living room.]

[The French army, with its powerful combat capability, quickly occupied a large area of ​​Dutch territory. ]

[The Netherlands is a small country with a population of less than 200 million, and it looks like it will collapse.]

[But when he was proud, the Dutch dug up the dike and flooded the country, and exaggeratedly used the power of a small country, with 80,000 soldiers, to stop the French army. ]

[At the same time, the British navy was defeated by the Netherlands and retreated to its homeland.]

【France was forced to face the Netherlands, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Prussia and other Holy Roman states.】

【Faced with the multinational coalition, Louis XIV did not back down. 】

[The French army, led by the Prince of Condé, was very strong on the battlefield and defeated the coalition forces in succession.]

【But Britain also joined the anti-French alliance at this time. 】

【Seeing that the enemies were getting more and more numerous, Louis XIV could only stop while he was ahead. 】

[Eventually forced Spain to sign the Treaty of Aachen. ]

[Although France did not fully realize its initial territorial ambitions, it did acquire some cities in the Spanish Netherlands, further expanding its influence in Europe.]

[This war gave rise to two historical results: the Dutch ruler William III later became the King of England, laying the groundwork for the "War of the Grand Alliance". ]

[After this war, the French Army was recognized as the strongest in Europe. ]

【But the notoriety brought about by the invasion of the lowlands exploded. 】

[It also keeps France in the dilemma of being surrounded. ]

[Especially the Habsburg dynasty in Austria, which caused great headaches for the French.]

[At this time, the Ottomans were on an expedition to Austria, but were defeated in Vienna, the capital of Austria. Austria then launched a strong counterattack, forcing the Ottomans to retreat step by step.]

[Louis XIV, a devout Catholic, became anxious when he saw the Austrian Catholics beating up the Muslims of the Ottoman Empire.]

【So France and the Ottoman Empire formed an alliance to restrict the Habsburg dynasty. 】

[Fighting Austria, Britain, Spain, Portugal, and Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria and other Holy Roman states. ] [But Louis XIV was not at all inferior. The French army was invincible in land battles, and the French fleet was larger than that of Britain and the Netherlands combined. ]

【We have achieved dominance in both naval and land warfare. 】

[But the other side was also very resilient, and eventually fought a war of attrition with France...]

When the barrage masters saw this, they also started to complain.

【Louis XIV's years of war completely turned the Netherlands from a first-class power into a second- or third-tier small country.】

[But Louis' most crucial war was the War of the Spanish Succession.]

【France was the most powerful country in Europe at the time, and its King Louis XIV's grandson, Philip V, was designated to inherit the throne of the colonial empire of Spain.】

[If France also allows Philip V to succeed to the throne, then one person will rule France and Spain! ]

[If this kind of joint rule continues, France and Spain will be ruled by one person for generations.]

【Maybe a merger is even possible! 】

[February 1701, Philip V was crowned in Madrid.]

[Britain, the Netherlands, and Austria immediately formed an anti-French alliance, and even Louis' nephew, the Duke of Savoy, turned against the French.]

[This War of the Spanish Succession was not only a military confrontation, but also the first true world war.]

[The flames of war spread from the Netherlands plains to the Caribbean Sea, and even merchant ships in the Indian Ocean flew the skull and crossbones flag and fired at each other.]

【In this famous war, France still performed strongly. 】

[In the early stages of the war, the French army relied on the elite troops that Louis XIV had built over the years to win successive victories in Italy and the Netherlands.]

[But Prince Eugen of Austria is also a top general. ]

【After years of war, both sides could no longer hold on. 】

[Years of conscription left nine out of ten houses in rural France. In the severe winter of 1709, the price of bread in Paris soared 30 times, and the hungry people ate moss and even corpses.]

[After the final Treaty of Utrecht was signed. ]

[The Bourbon dynasty obtained the Spanish throne, and the king of Spain is still a member of the Bourbon dynasty. ]

【But France suffered heavy losses. 】

[France ceded Newfoundland, Acadia and other North American colonies, and Britain obtained the Strait of Gibraltar, thus controlling the throat of the Mediterranean and further consolidating its maritime hegemony.

【The French national debt is as high as 20 billion livres, and the population has decreased by 200 million. 】

[And the treaty stipulates that France and Spain will never merge. ]

[It can be said that in this battle, Louis XIV won the glory of the Bourbon family, but lost the future of France. ]

【In the later years of Louis XIV, France's national strength began to decline. 】

[It is said that before his death, Louis said to his great-grandson Louis XV: I love war too much, don't learn from me. ]

[In any case, the country left by Louis XIV was still the undisputed most powerful country in continental Europe at that time.]

[But this Sun King was like Phaethon in Greek mythology, driving the sun chariot forged by war and running wildly, and eventually dragged himself and his empire into the scorching abyss...]

The sky screen video ends here.

And outside the sky.

During the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the many extravagant designs of the Palace of Versailles on the skylight.

This is quite attractive to Ying Zheng.

"Li Si, have you recorded the contents of the Palace of Versailles?"

"Although this palace is not as magnificent as the Afang Palace of the Great Qin."

“But there are many ingenious designs that are worth referring to.”

"Perhaps we can build a side hall in the Afang Palace to imitate a Western-style Palace of Versailles?"

"Sometimes, I can go for a stroll."

Li Si naturally said: "Your Majesty, I have already recorded it."

As for the War of the Spanish Succession that Tianmu focused on, Ying Zheng was unable to make a judgment for a while.

“It’s hard to say whether this war should be fought.”

"From the settlement screen given by the sky, it can be seen that after this war, France suffered a loss. It lost a large number of colonies and its national strength was greatly depleted."

“But there is no real benefit.”

“But it did allow his French Bourbon bloodline to become kings in other countries as well.”

"From the perspective of family continuity."

"It's worth a try..."

For a moment, Ying Zheng was in a dilemma.

And in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned almost the entire time when he was watching the video.

As an emperor who rose from the poorest people at the grassroots level, Zhu Yuanzhang was impressed by Louis XIV's luxurious Palace of Versailles.

And those so-called aristocratic court etiquette that he created by squeezing the people's money.

Is dismissive.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang also believed that courtesy was necessary.

But there is absolutely no need to make it so fancy or complicated.

At least, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't stand this.

"If we go to France to be the king and want to deal with these nobles, there is no need to build something like the Palace of Versailles."

"Just suppress it with thunder!"

"You mean you can take away the power of the nobles and centralize power without shedding blood?"

"In essence, it was caused by the French king being too weak."

"If we went there, it wouldn't be so difficult."

But beside Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao said:

"But considering that Europe is full of feudal lords, each of them has its own independent kingdom."

“Perhaps Louis XIV’s method is a safer option?”

After hearing Zhu Biao's words, Zhu Yuanzhang did not feel dissatisfied with being refuted by his son.

After all, this is just a different way of thinking.

Zhu Yuanzhang's main attention was focused on the final War of the Spanish Succession.

Should this battle be fought?

Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself:

"For example, if the Ming Dynasty had a chance to regain control of Vietnam, or arrange for a descendant of the Zhu family to be the king of Vietnam?"

"If there really is such an opportunity, will we seize it?"

"Considering the miasma-ridden environment in Vietnam, if we send a large army to conquer it, it will definitely cause great loss to the national strength."

"But are we really going to let the descendants of the Zhu family become king?"

"But it's worth a try!"

As he thought about it, Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if he could understand why Louis XIV, who was already quite old on the screen, was willing to engage in a large-scale war of succession to the throne.

For the emperor of the family empire, it is indeed very attractive. (End of this chapter)