Chapter 1562: Henri May Have Gotten More Than One Dynasty!

Hearing Zhu Hengli's question, the smile on Olimpia Mancini's face gradually faded as well.

"My dear Henri, you have set the Sun King an enormous dilemma!" Olimpia sighed. "Louis never once considered overthrowing Afonso VI's rule... In fact, when he learned that Afonso VI had been overthrown because of... because of a physical problem, with Maria Francisca colluding with Prince Pedro, he was utterly astonished—and furious!

Even if Afonso VI truly had a problem, other solutions could have been found. That was no reason for Maria Francisca to betray him! She could have found other men, but she had no right to rebel!"

Olimpia was not lying—Louis XIV had indeed been furious at the time... In his view, if Maria Francisca was dissatisfied with Afonso VI's "abilities," finding a few lovers and piling a stack of green hats on Afonso VI's head would have been perfectly understandable.

And if Maria Francisca had needed Louis's help to produce a son... Louis XIV would have been more than willing.

But Maria Francisca should never have overthrown her own husband!

That was rebellion! And a queen rebelling against her king... the greatest crime a queen could possibly commit! Absolutely unforgivable!

The last person to do such a thing was Mary, Queen of Scots—she colluded with her lover, the Earl of Bothwell, to murder her second husband, Henry Stuart, and was reviled by the Scottish nobility, ending up utterly isolated and abandoned.

But Maria Francisca's conduct was a hundred times worse than Queen Mary's, because Queen Mary was the sovereign of Scotland, whereas Maria Francisca was not the sovereign—her husband Afonso VI was.

If this had happened now, Louis XIV would certainly have sent troops to arrest Maria Francisca and Prince Pedro!

Both of them would have been taken to Rome for trial, and then had their heads chopped off!

But at the time, Louis XIV was not yet the Roman Emperor and lacked such power, so he could only acquiesce to a rebellion that outraged every monarch in Europe... and he even had to hold his nose and endorse Maria Francisca.

Yet this Maria Francisca had the nerve to rebel but not the ruthlessness to kill—she did not kill Afonso VI... and she did not even force Afonso VI to surrender the throne—which meant the Portuguese nobility still owed their allegiance to Afonso VI!

And Prince Pedro and Maria Francisca even let Afonso VI escape! Now Afonso was returning to Portugal with troops to reclaim his throne!

This matter gave Louis XIV a splitting headache... Afonso VI was still the King of Portugal!

If Louis were not now the emperor-designate of Rome, he could simply send troops to back Pedro and Maria Francisca.

But as Roman Emperor, he could not do that! His seat as Roman Emperor was not yet secure! Was he to strip a vassal or allied monarch of his throne? If he did that, would the German princes still follow him? If you can depose Afonso VI today, you can depose the Elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Bavaria tomorrow...

But Louis XIV could not easily abandon Prince Pedro and Maria Francisca either, because that also touched on the Roman Emperor's credibility—an emperor cannot abandon his own followers!

"Olimpia, I believe the Sun King needs a solution that satisfies both sides." Henri smiled. "Of course, allowing King Afonso to return to Portugal and resume his rule is essential... because it benefits everyone! Well, everyone except Prince Pedro and Maria Francisca!"

Olimpia Mancini was somewhat puzzled, so she asked: "Henri, do you mean everyone? Why?"

Zhu Hengli smiled and said: "Because the current world order has already entered a phase of great-power rivalry in which no side can easily prevail. Broadly speaking, the world today contains four hegemonic great powers—the Great Ming Empire, the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Timurid Empire of India... Centered on these four great powers, three great blocs have formed: the Confucian Chinese sphere, Christendom, and the Islamic world. And among the four great powers—especially among the three blocs—there will be long-term competition, and wars will break out again and again! Long, fierce wars!

But trade among the four great powers and the three blocs cannot be completely severed by competition and war... that would harm everyone!

It would be especially harmful to the Roman Empire and His Majesty the Sun King... because the unity of the Roman Empire rests on the foundation of His Majesty the Sun King's mighty French army, and the foundation of the French army rests on the Sun King's finances. And the Sun King is plainly not as wealthy as my father or Aurangzeb!

Moreover, the Frenchmen who can pay taxes to His Majesty the Sun King are not as numerous as the Chinese and the Indians, so he depends on overseas trade even more than my father or Aurangzeb.

Therefore, there must be several neutral and harmless small states to maintain overseas trade... and the Kingdom of Portugal plainly ought to be one of them!"

Zhu Hengli had indeed found an excellent opening for King Afonso—Louis XIV's spending was far too lavish, far beyond what the Kingdom of France could bear!

And now he was about to be promoted from King of France to Roman Emperor... which of course meant he would have to spend even more money!

To become Roman Emperor, he must build magnificent, resplendent palaces in Rome, but at the same time Louis's foundation was, after all, in France, so the work on Versailles could not stop!

To become Roman Emperor, he must build an even larger army and navy... without a huge army, how could the Roman Emperor defend New Rome in the Americas, how could he overawe disloyal vassals, how could he defeat the Ottoman Empire and recover the lost Eastern Empire?

And the navy... previously Louis XIV only needed to build a fleet to contend for mastery on the oceans, without having to invest in the Mediterranean, that "little pond."

But now he had become the Roman Emperor!

How could a Roman Emperor be without the Mediterranean? So he absolutely had to build a powerful Mediterranean fleet!

There were so many places to spend money, and Louis XIV had few sources of tax revenue—he now had only six provinces: the Province of France, the Province of the Netherlands, the Province of the Rhineland, the Province of Italy, the Province of Austria, and the Province of New France—and the taxes he could extract were very limited.

As for the Roman Emperor's vassals and allies, most could not be counted on... even the wealthy Republic of the United Netherlands had now suffered heavy losses from its war with the Great Ming and was unable to provide Rome with further financial support.

So as soon as Louis heard that Portugal, under Afonso's leadership, might become the new generation of maritime wagoners to replace the Republic of the United Netherlands, and might fill his empty treasury with more wealth, he immediately summoned Zhu Hengli a second time at the Palazzo Colonna—this summons coming only a single day after the last.

"Henri, do you believe Afonso has the ability to make a weakened Portugal rise once more into a maritime trading power?"

Faced with Louis's question, Zhu Hengli smiled and said: "But of course!"

"But how could Portugal possibly defeat England and the Netherlands? They are both naval powers!"

Zhu Hengli smiled and shook his head. "Your Majesty, the world order has already undergone a drastic transformation... Neither the Great Ming nor Rome will permit naval powers like England and Holland to monopolize maritime trade! The great powers that rule the world need harmless small states like the Republic of Batavia and Portugal to serve as the wagoners of maritime trade! Because only then will the enormous profits of maritime trade flow into the treasuries of the Great Ming and Rome!"

The Sun King Louis looked at Zhu Hengli and asked: "But... what does that have to do with Afonso's return to Portugal?"

Zhu Hengli smiled: "It has everything to do with it... Afonso's return and Pedro's departure can turn Portugal into a truly harmless small state, rather than a powerful Portuguese empire!"