Chapter 1561: Good Man Henry

Rome, the Palazzo Mancini.

This was a luxurious residence in the center of Rome, only recently completed, near the Capitoline Hill and very close to the Palazzo Venezia, the embassy of the Republic of Venice.

The owner of this mansion was Zhu Henry Marie Mancini, who had given it as a wedding gift to his sister Hortense Mancini and her husband, Charles I, King of New England — that is, the historical Charles II, King of England. But Charles I and Hortense had never spent a single day in this mansion; when the two of them left Europe, the Palazzo Mancini had not even begun construction!

Marie Mancini's other sister, Olympia Mancini, was the first mistress of this luxurious residence. She and her large brood of children now lived in the Palazzo Mancini.

And now this palace, named for the Mancini surname, had welcomed two distinguished guests: Zhu Henry and Zhu Lundun.

"My dear Henry, this is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! Good Lord! You will become the founder of the Mancini dynasty — the Mancini dynasty! Do you know how rare such an opportunity is? It is simply too thrilling!"

The speaker was a foreign woman past her prime but still retaining her charms. She wore a white court gown that exposed half her bosom, sat on a carved sofa, held a cup of hot Mancini milk tea in her hands, and was talking on and on, trying to persuade Zhu Henry to accept the Sun King's terms: to abandon the surname Zhu and, under the name Henri de Mancini, become the new Archduke of Austria.

This woman, needless to say, was the mistress of the house, Olympia Mancini!

How could she not be excited?

She was a Mancini too! And moreover Henry's aunt. If Henry became Archduke of Austria and founded the Mancini dynasty, then she would possess noble royal blood — a high-class mistress with royal blood!

How noble would that be? Would there be a chance to be promoted to the main wife? Everyone knew that the Queen of France's health was very poor. If the Queen died, who could become the new Queen? Naturally, Olympia Mancini, who possessed noble royal blood!

But Zhu Lundun thought very little of Olympia's words. What Mancini dynasty? It sounded like a dynasty that sold milk tea. How could it compare with our old Zhu family? Our old Zhu family was an established imperial dynasty of more than three hundred years, and moreover the acknowledged number-one dynasty in the world!

Besides the Great Ming Emperor, there were also the King of Joseon, the King of the United States of New Continent, the Overlord of Western Chu, the King of Qing, the United King of the Southern Continent, the King of Luzon, and a whole host of other rulers of nations! Even the Bourbon dynasty here in Europe could not compare. A milk-tea-selling dynasty wanted to compare with the Zhu Ming imperial dynasty? Drunk on milk tea, were they?

Zhu Henry also held a cup of milk tea and sat smiling on the sofa. He listened until his aunt had finished speaking, then turned to look at Zhu Lundun. "Tianru — Zhu Lundun's courtesy name — what do you think?"

"Your Highness," Zhu Lundun said, "you are already a prince of the Great Ming, and you also have Henry Island as your fief. Why wade into the muddy waters of Europe? Besides, to become this broken archduke you would have to change your surname. If you change your surname, Henry Island will be gone."

Zhu Henry laughed. "My mother has more than one son. If I don't become King of Henry Island, my younger brother can go there and be king!"

Marie Mancini was a woman cherished by Zhu Cilang. She had been with Zhu Cilang for more than twenty years, and of course she had more than one son by him — she had two sons and three daughters. The eldest son was Henry; the second son was named Zhu Xiang, only ten years old this year, and now he was about to be tricked by his elder brother Henry into going to a lonely island in the Southern Ocean to be king. So this habit of tricking one's younger brother turned out to be hereditary!

"But—" Zhu Lundun frowned. "But the surname passed down by our ancestors cannot be changed just like that."

"Am I not born out of wedlock?" Zhu Henry laughed. "Otherwise I would have been called He-something. Look at what my name is. I'm not even entered in the jade register, so changing it is no big deal!

And this can also be considered spreading branches and leaves for our ancestors. It's no disgrace!"

Founding a dynasty was no disgrace no matter what! Even if it was a milk-tea dynasty of a "double son-archduke"!

Besides, Henry's "son-archduke" had not been obtained by betraying his country or people, but earned through merit. Had he not labored tirelessly to procure for the Ottoman Empire the military funds of the Indians and the Great Ming's wooden-plug bullets, the Ottoman Empire would long since have been defeated by Leopold I!

So Henry was the hero behind the scenes of Mehmed IV's victory over the Holy Roman Empire, and the archdukedom of half of Austria was what he deserved.

"And this Archduke of Austria has wonderful uses!" Zhu Henry said with a smile. "With me in Vienna, it will become the banking capital of Europe in the future!"

Who knew whether the Swiss would shed tears when they heard this? But this financial capital of Europe would definitely be Vienna in the future, not some place in Switzerland!

Zhu Henry calculated. "As long as I take power in Vienna, the head office of the Holy-European United Bank will certainly move to Vienna! And I also have ways to open up money dealings between the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Timurid Empire of India, and to lend money at high interest to all sides. Heh heh, in the future Vienna will be a fine place to sit and collect money!"

Vienna, having become the financial capital of Europe, would naturally also become a place that all parties had to look after and protect.

"Olympia," Henry now said to Olympia Mancini in French, "after careful consideration, I am prepared to accept the Sun King's terms and become Henri de Mancini!"

In fact, he had decided long ago, but he had to put on airs at the Palazzo Colonna, so he had not immediately agreed to King Louis.

Olympia Mancini giggled. "That is wonderful! But you should also put forward one more condition!"

"What condition?" Henry asked.

"You are not yet married, are you?" Olympia asked.

"Not yet," Zhu Henry said.

Zhu Cilang and Marie Mancini had of course wanted to arrange a good marriage for Henry, but a good match was not easy to find! Zhu Cilang had Zhu Cixuan arrange several candidates, but Marie Mancini looked down on all of them, and so Henry had remained single.

Of course, a bachelor like him was not without women around him.

Olympia smiled. "That is excellent! You can propose to Mademoiselle de Blois, Marie Anne, the daughter of the Duchess de La Vallière!"

"The Duchess de La Vallière? She is—"

"She is the Sun King's eldest illegitimate child, born in 1666, already almost ten years old!" Olympia laughed. "She is a rare beauty!"

"Only ten years old—" Zhu Lundun interjected. "So young, how can she marry?"

"Raise her for a few years and she'll be grown, won't she?" Zhu Henry laughed. "Olympia, can King Louis agree to marry his daughter to me?"

"Of course," Olympia laughed. "You are the son of the Great Ming Emperor, and also the Archduke of Austria. An illegitimate daughter, even Mademoiselle de Blois, who has been legitimized, would find it very hard to marry a European monarch. What is more, your bloodline is nobler than that of most European monarchs — and you are also extremely wealthy!"

Mademoiselle de Blois's "Blois" came from the Château de Blois, a castle belonging to the French royal family and once a palace of the Kings of France.

To receive the title of Mademoiselle de Blois meant that Marie Anne was a young lady of the French royal family and could use the Bourbon surname.

But no matter what, she was a child born out of wedlock. Although her looks and intelligence far surpassed the great majority of European princesses — most of whom were products of close-kin marriages — in the marriage circles of European royalty, she was still a cut below.

And although Zhu Henry's archdukedom had been "bought" from the Ottoman Empire, he was the son of the most powerful monarch in the entire world — and he was also extremely rich!

Zhu Henry smiled and nodded. "Fine, ten years old is ten years old. I can wait. But there is another matter I need to discuss with King Louis."

Olympia, delighted at her success as matchmaker, asked with a smile, "Henry, what else do you want to say to Louis?"

"The King of Portugal!" Zhu Henry said. "Afonso VI's army has already reached Tunisia. Will King Louis allow King Afonso to return to Portugal?"