After a long silence, Zhu Jinsong suddenly sighed inexplicably, "Go and look through the files between France and England, and fetch the files of Louis VII and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Henry II of England."
The atmosphere in the hall fell silent again.
After a while, Zeng Cheng tentatively asked, "Your Majesty, Louis VII and his wife, and Louis XVI...?"
Zhu Jinsong rubbed his forehead and sighed, "Louis VII can be considered Louis XVI's ancestor. This fellow married the eldest daughter of Duke William X of Aquitaine, from the Duchy of Aquitaine."
"Of course, that's not the crux of the matter."
"The crux of the matter is that William X of Aquitaine's son, Aigremont, died of illness, leaving only Eleanor as his sole heir."
"That is to say, Eleanor became the legal heir to the Duchy of Aquitaine – if William X believed that seeking other male heirs would damage the family's interests and that the bloodline was impure, then Eleanor would have to inherit the title exceptionally."
"Eleanor was thus groomed as an heir, and William X poured all his heart into her."
"Unfortunately, before Eleanor could grow up, William X couldn't hold on."
"Because he was worried about Eleanor facing the struggles between the various states of France alone, William X entrusted Eleanor and the country entirely to the then King Louis VI of France, the father of Louis VII."
"William X hoped that Louis VI would raise Eleanor and find a suitable husband for her in the future, so they could jointly manage the Duchy of Aquitaine."
"This important trust was not without its reward – William X promised that Louis VI could have control of the Kingdom of Aquitaine before Eleanor's marriage."
"And Louis VI, in order to permanently obtain the Kingdom of Aquitaine, simply had his son Prince Louis, who was later Louis VII, marry Eleanor."
At this point, Zhu Jinsong's expression couldn't help but turn strange.
Louis VII was a devout believer.
In other words, Louis VII always believed that the affairs between men and women were dirty and sinful. Moreover, his marriage to Eleanor was essentially a political alliance, so Louis VII was somewhat going through the motions.
Of course, for a King of France, no matter what Louis VII thought or how he handled things, as long as his wife Eleanor could bear a son to inherit the French throne and the Duchy of Aquitaine, then Louis VII would be a qualified King of France.
Unfortunately, whether it was Louis VII's improper technique or Duchess Eleanor's bad luck, in their sixteen years of marriage, Duchess Eleanor only gave birth to two daughters and no sons.
Then, Louis VII, who already strongly disliked the marriage, decided to divorce Eleanor and find a queen who could bear sons.
The problem was that according to the agreement between William X and Louis VI, Louis VII's divorce from Eleanor would mean losing control of the Kingdom of Aquitaine, and the Duchy of Aquitaine, along with Eleanor's substantial dowry, would have to be returned.
After racking his brains for a long time, Louis VII suddenly realized that divorcing Eleanor wouldn't be a big deal.
Because Eleanor couldn't have sons!
So, even if he divorced Eleanor, the Duchy of Aquitaine would eventually fall into the hands of their daughter, and he would find ways to get it later.
Then, Louis VII, citing infidelity and failure to produce a son, completely deposed Eleanor as queen and divorced her.
So the question is:
Eleanor, who was deposed as queen, was not a pitiful castoff. She not only successfully inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine but also possessed a large inheritance from her father, becoming a rare noble duchess who was wealthy, powerful, and owned extensive lands.
Therefore, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine had countless suitors waiting to marry her.
And Eleanor's second husband, chosen from among these suitors, was the King of England, Henry II, France's archrival.
Although Eleanor had already been divorced once, in European royalty, marital affairs were often chaotic and not taken seriously.
Besides, who could refuse a wealthy woman whose fortune was as vast as a kingdom?
At any rate, Henry II, who was still a young pup at the time, couldn't refuse.
Therefore, Eleanor married Henry II just six weeks after divorcing Louis VII, becoming the Queen of England.
The story that followed would surely be a hit on women's fiction platforms:
Louis VII quickly remarried, this time to Constance of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso VII of Castile and León – and again gave birth to two daughters.
In contrast, Eleanor, married to Henry II, not only lived a comfortable and happy life after remarriage, enjoying marital bliss, but also bore Henry II five sons, successfully silencing Louis VII who had discarded her for not producing a son.
Even more pointedly, Louis VII and Constance's eldest daughter, Margaret, later married Henry, Duke of Normandy.
Henry, Duke of Normandy, was the second son of Eleanor and King Henry II of England.
This was unacceptable to Louis VII –
The territory of the Duchy of Aquitaine, which Louis VI had meticulously planned to acquire, fell into England's hands after Louis VII divorced Eleanor and Eleanor remarried King Henry II of England;
Louis VII indirectly proved his inability to produce sons, and the irony of Eleanor's lack of sons at the time made Louis VII even more disgraced.
Louis VII even became a laughingstock among the royal families and nobles of Europe.
Therefore, whether for the sake of national interest, royal dignity, or male pride, Louis VII had ample reason to be furious.
And then, Louis VII chose to go to war with England.
However, God did not bless Louis VII.
Perhaps Louis VII's “kidney deficiency” affected France's national fortune; in any case, France was soundly beaten by England. Not only did they fail to reclaim the Duchy of Aquitaine, which they had already acquired, but they also lost nearly a third of their territory.
Although Louis VII was extremely angry, the fact that he couldn't produce sons was a fact, and France being beaten by England was also a fact.
So, Louis VII buried his head in the sand like an ostrich, hiding in his harem and desperately trying to procreate.
In 1160, after many years of effort, Louis VII saw that Constance of Castile still couldn't produce a son, so he divorced Constance and married his mistress at the time, Adela of Champagne.
In 1165, after five years of effort, Louis VII finally had a son with Adela.
And shortly after the birth of his son, after more than a decade of frantic procreation, Louis VII fell ill.
In 1179, Louis VII abdicated the throne to his only son, Philip II, who was only 14 years old.
From any perspective, France was facing a catastrophe – on one side, the old king was physically and mentally exhausted and had thrown in the towel; the new king, Philip II, was still a 14-year-old child. On the other hand, Henry II and Eleanor of England were thriving, with five sons who could all take over.
However, history is full of twists and turns.
Whether it was the French, English, or other European monarchs at the time, they all underestimated the 14-year-old Philip II.
He was indeed only 14 years old, but his ambition, thoughts, and spirit were stronger than many 40-year-old men. Under his rule, France's national strength began to soar.
In 1187, Philip II was 22 years old, still a very young monarch. His counterpart in England was the famous Richard I, the Lionheart – the son of Henry II and Eleanor.
The Lionheart was praised by European history books as: one of the most outstanding military commanders of the Middle Ages.
However, facing his half-brother Philip II, the Lionheart's pride was shattered like glass shards – the wars between Philip II and the Lionheart lasted for more than ten years, and Philip II not only recovered everything his father Louis VII had lost but even gained a lot more.
The historically famous Lionheart of England, after repeatedly losing battles against France, suffered a mental breakdown and went to find trouble with another rival, Limoges, but was mortally wounded by an arrow in battle.
Thus, Philip II successfully managed to deal with the Lionheart.
Afterwards, he began to deal with his other half-brother – John I, who succeeded King Richard.
Unlike his capable and warlike brothers, John I was not good at fighting. He was one of the most unpopular and despised kings in English history, earning the nickname "Lackland." The reason he received this nickname was largely due to Philip II – the lands he lost were basically given to Philip II.
The war between Philip II and John I also lasted for more than ten years, and the result was a crushing defeat for England. John was forced to abandon all the territories north of the Loire that originally belonged to the English Plantagenet dynasty, including Normandy, Aquitaine, Anjou, and Touraine.
England lost almost all of its territories on the European continent, becoming solely the British Isles, while the territory of France expanded threefold.
So the question is: could the beaten England be content?
The answer is no.
If you beat me today, I must find a way to beat you tomorrow, and beating each other gradually evolved into a protracted Hundred Years' War between England and France.
After reading the files on Louis VII and Eleanor, Henry II, Philip II, Charles I, and the Hundred Years' War, Zeng Cheng and the other elder officials' faces became numb.
The King of France, Louis VII, divorced Eleanor, and Eleanor remarried the King of England, Henry II, thus triggering the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
Now, Louis XVI is divorcing the "Deficit Lady" of the Habsburg family, and the Deficit Lady is remarrying George III of England – are they planning to start another Hundred Years' War?
After a long silence, Zeng Cheng finally sighed, "I think our Great Ming doesn't need to send anyone to trip them up anymore. Just based on their tendency to stir up trouble between England and France, they can completely ruin France."
Zhu Jinsong didn't know what to say for a while.
In the original history, Louis XVI and the Deficit Lady were deeply in love, and eventually went to the guillotine together.
Now...
Zhu Jinsong could only say helplessly, "It's obvious that the Habsburg family's backing right now is England – what is that idiot George III thinking? Has he not seen a woman in eight hundred years? Or does George III really want to be Louis XVI's brother-in-law by default? Didn't you say earlier that George III was going to find Louis XVI to discuss cooperation?"
Ke Zhiming cupped his hands and said, "Yes, George III had previously visited France once to discuss cooperation with Louis XVI, and Louis XVI proposed to vigorously develop real estate in France and England to achieve the goal of strengthening the country through industry."
"God bless real estate to strengthen the country!"
Zhu Jinsong muttered to himself, then turned his gaze back to Zeng Cheng, "Send someone to Pierre to say that I invite Louis XVI to visit Great Ming for a few days."
After Zeng Cheng bowed and agreed, Zhu Jinsong then instructed Liu Heming and the other elders of the Five Military Commissions, "Keep it in mind and prepare yourselves."
Liu Heming was taken aback and asked, "Your Majesty means, there might be a war?"
Zhu Jinsong shook his head, rubbing his forehead, and said, "It's not 'might be a war,' it's 'definitely will be' – England and France already have a century-old feud, and now Louis XVI has lost face, and England is colluding with the Habsburgs; it's a situation where war is inevitable."
Liu Heming said, "But what does this have to do with our Great Ming? England and France are both far away in Europe. Even if they fight, it won't affect our Great Ming, right?"
Zhu Jinsong chuckled and said, "If it were just England and France fighting, it wouldn't affect our Great Ming. But England is allied with the Habsburg family, and the Habsburg family has now gathered a bunch of cronies to fight against the 'Sandy Goose.'
"Three of the 'Five Virtuous Families' of Little Pot have personally entered the fray, and there are still countless small countries that have been dragged along by these three families."
"If it gets out of control, it could very well lead to a full-scale conflict across the Small Sphere – how many true friends do you think our Great Ming has on the Small Sphere, and how many people hate our Great Ming?"
Speaking of this, Zhu Jinsong couldn't help but shake his head again, "Moreover, war is never something that can be started with just words. It's better to be prepared in advance than to face a hasty battle."
"By the way, quickly deliver the firearms produced for the Habsburg family. At the same time, be prepared to provide support for French firearms."
However, as Zhu Jinsong finished speaking, a small eunuch hurried in from outside the door and cautiously handed Zhang Dequan a slip of paper.