The throne of the Holy Roman Empire turned out to be a hot potato. Especially when the news of the Ottoman Empire's invasion of Vienna reached Cologne, the whole city fell into panic. The German princes gathered here seemed to have seen the end of the world. The Roman Catholic Church

Zonggen spent the whole day in the cathedral praying for the residents of Vienna... Actually no one died in the Battle of Vienna because the city was abandoned before the Ottoman army arrived.

All the residents fled in panic, leaving only an empty city with still strong walls, allowing Mohammed IV's army to show off its power.

But... Vienna is Vienna after all!

After the fall of Constantinople, Vienna became a holy place for European Christians to resist the invasion of Tianfang Sect.

It was this fortified city located in central Europe that blocked the attack of 100,000 Ottoman troops led by Suleiman I in 1529, thus curbing the expansion of the Ottoman Empire on the European continent.

But now, the unexpected fall of this fortress city that once withstood the Ottoman Empire's army and served as the shield of Christ has made the whole of Germany and even the entire European Christian world feel despair.

But people in despair still have a last glimmer of hope!

This glimmer of hope is France, Louis XIV...

In the city of Cologne, outside a palace formerly owned by the Archbishop of Cologne where Louis XIV lived, these days, day and night, it was crowded with Cologne citizens who were full of expectations for the French King. Most of them had not long ago

, and also very disgusted with the French king who had monopolized power and was eyeing the Rhineland.

But now, they are very afraid that Louis will abandon them...

Louis' 100,000-strong army is in Lorraine and Alsace! Moreover, Louis XIV also has a group of particularly capable fighters, such as the Prince of Condé, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Grand Marshal Durenne, the Marquis of Marina...

...One can fight better than the other!

If there is anyone who can save the Holy Roman Empire, save the Rhineland, save Bavaria, and save Austria and Upper Hungary that have fallen into the hands of the enemy, it seems that only Louis XIV is the one.

However, Louis XIV showed no interest in the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. After attending the funeral and canonization ceremony of Leopold I, he prepared to leave Cologne and return to France.

As soon as the news came out, the whole of Cologne stopped working... At this time, you, Louis XIV, still want to run away? The people of Cologne will never agree!

As this emperor, you can act appropriately or not!

So the people of Cologne poured into the streets and surrounded the residence of Louis XIV... It looked a bit like a revolution!

Others want to revolutionize the emperor, but they want to find an emperor for themselves!

But Louis XIV was adamant that he should not be the emperor! You can make as much trouble as you like, but in short, you cannot be the emperor.

Now it would be difficult to deal with six electors and an old pope. Louis XIV would not be the emperor, and the Cologne people outside insisted on Louis being the emperor. What should we do?

If things were reversed, the people of Cologne could still revolt, rush in, drag Louis out and behead him... But what to do now? Drag him out to become emperor? Prepare a purple robe and put it on him.

Then everyone shouts long live the mountain?

How can anyone in the world be an emperor like this? I’ve never heard of it!

"Your Majesty, why don't you go one step further and become the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire? This is not only the request of all the nobles and civilians of the Holy Roman Empire, but also the will of God! Aren't you a devout Catholic? You

Don’t you feel God’s call in your heart?”

The one who was begging Louis XIV was Pope Clement X, who once again came with the six electors of the Holy Roman Empire to persuade him to come.

In order to persuade Louis XIV to become emperor, the old man even moved God out.

But the problem was that Louis XIV would not nod or let go, which made the old man and the six electoral princes cry.

Louis looked at the seven people in front of him and said calmly: "I will not be the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans. You can go back and choose someone else!"

“Why?” asked the pope, “do you even want to reject God’s call?”

Louis XIV shook his head and said: "First, I am not German; second, I don't think there is anything sacred about the Holy Roman Empire. Therefore, I cannot be the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans!"

What this means is...

The old Pope was old and slow to react, so he didn't understand it for a while. But the Elector of Brandenburg, Friedrich William, somewhat understood, and immediately said: "Then take away Germany and Holy...

..”

The Pope was stunned, "Take away Germany and the Holy...then the Roman Empire will be left?"

It turns out that Louis XIV wanted to be the emperor of the Roman Empire!

Hugo Leonard, Louis XIV's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, also attended today's meeting. He opened his mouth at this time and made the topic completely clear.

"His Majesty the King of France owns Gaul, and is also the heir to the Habsburg family... Carlos of Spain has no way to leave descendants, so the King of France is still Spain, Austria, Bohemia, Naples, and Milan

Waiting for the heirs of the territory. These areas together are almost the original Western Roman Empire!

Therefore, His Majesty the King of France must be called the Roman Emperor, not the Holy Roman Emperor of the Germans!

Moreover, His Majesty the King of France is an absolute monarch with absolute power...not subject to the constraints of the Senate or the Imperial Assembly!”

It turned out that Louis XIV only wanted the title of Roman Emperor, and did not want a Senate or an Imperial Parliament that could restrict him.

This is also the reason why he did not accept the election of the six electors to become the Holy Roman Emperor... He was unwilling to hand over power to the Parliament, but wanted to keep it firmly in his hands.

Now it was the turn of the Pope and the six electors to be speechless!

What they want is not a Roman emperor with monopoly power, but a Holy Roman emperor who has the ability to drive away the Ottomans from the territory of the Holy Roman Empire...

Do they still have a choice now? The Ottoman Empire has won a great victory! The entire Rhineland is in panic, and sees Louis as the only hope. If the Pope and the six electors cannot convince Louis, I am afraid that the Rhineland will

In order to protect themselves, they may break away from the Holy Roman Empire and join France. At that time, the six electors will have no choice.

So accepting a Roman emperor who can truly lead Europe seems to be the only option!

But this Roman Empire... seems like it should implement a provincial system!

Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, asked in a low voice: "Your Majesty, do you want to rebuild an empire where the glory and power belong to Rome?"

Louis XIV looked at the Elector and said with a smile: "The Roman Empire in my mind should be based on the Ming Empire..."

"Take Ming as your teacher? What should you learn?" The Pope of Rome is very vigilant!

This Louis XIV wouldn't want to abandon God and study heaven, right?

Louis XIV said: "Of course it is the diversified political system of the Ming Empire.

Under the Ming Empire, there were provinces under the direct jurisdiction of the emperor, military regions governed by governors, and vassal states with basic autonomy. Moreover, the political systems of vassal states were also very diverse, including kingdoms, principalities, United States, republics, and even

A United Kingdom.

Isn’t the approach of the Ming Empire worth learning and imitating? After all, their empire was extremely huge, and the people they governed exceeded 200 million! Compared with the Ming Empire, Rome was not huge and vast!”

It turns out that Louis XIV did not want to turn all the feudal lords below into provincial governors of the empire at once...but he wanted to learn from the Ming Dynasty and build a country with diversified governance methods.
Chapter completed!