Rebellion on the Horizon

In the Saint-Denis Basilica in Paris, France, the kingdom's most prominent nobles and bishops gathered once again after several years.

The last time they were here was for the funeral of the late King Charles VII.

This time, they also came to mourn, but the object of their mourning was Queen Mother Marie of Anjou.

She was an excellent stateswoman who provided significant assistance to Charles VII and his son in governing France.

She was also a loving mother who worried endlessly for her two sons.

However, from the results, her education seemed to have failed.

She taught her son Louis all the court politics, intrigues, and power schemes she had learned throughout her life, almost turning him into a hidden danger to the kingdom.

She gave all her doting love to her younger son Charles, who consequently became arrogant, jealous, and resentful of his older brother, Louis XI.

The relationship between Queen Mother Marie and her sons also transformed from mother-son to a more complex political alliance, which often filled Marie with regret.

Even at the end of her life, she was still working tirelessly for her son Louis XI's great cause.

After Charles VII's death, Marie received Amboise Castle, where Charles VII had last resided.

She should have spent her twilight years there, but in the end, she decided to help her son one last time.

A year ago, Queen Mother Marie embarked on a pilgrimage to Santiago.

In reality, she was visiting the Iberian countries as a special envoy of the King of France, striving to arrange marriages between France and countries like Aragon and Castile.

She successively lobbied King Juan II of Aragon and King Enrique IV of Castile, hoping the two kings would marry into the French royal family.

To protect her younger son Charles from the increasingly suspicious Louis XI, Marie truly pulled out all the stops.

Originally, the Princess of Aragon, the elected Queen Blanca II of Navarre, was a good candidate, and her father, Juan II, had also agreed to the marriage.

However, Princess Blanca would rather die than comply and was eventually poisoned by her own father due to a power struggle.

Disappointed, Marie turned to Castile, lobbying Enrique IV to marry his sister Isabella to Charles, hoping to forge a strong alliance between France and Castile.

This marriage ultimately fell through due to interference from the Castilian nobility.

Marie, having returned empty-handed, fell ill and died in southern France on her way back to Paris; her body was transported back to Paris for burial.

Inside the church, as Queen Mother Marie's body was interred next to the late King Charles VII, the funeral drew to a close.

Louis XI, as well as Prince Charles standing beside him, Charles, Duke of Orléans, Duke René of Anjou (Good King René), and Charles, Count of Maine, were all dressed in black, their expressions filled with profound grief.

Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy and Duke François II of Brittany, standing on the other side, were similarly dressed, but their feelings were entirely different.

The departure of contemporaries, one after another, made Philip feel a little melancholic.

Queen Mother Marie was a respectable opponent to him.

As an elder of the Anjou family and one of the leaders of Anjou, she significantly influenced French politics.

She was also the stabilizing force in French politics; with her presence, there was still room for reconciliation between Louis XI and Prince Charles.

But now, with the Queen Mother's passing, the day when the two brothers turn against each other is probably not far off.

Meanwhile, the young François II was brimming with ambition.

He inherited the title of Duke of Brittany a few years ago and was committed to ensuring Brittany's independence.

In recent years, Louis XI's actions had caused great concern among the great vassals of the Kingdom of France.

Louis XI continuously sought to strengthen the King's authority through various means and harbored hostility towards Brittany and Burgundy, which were nominally part of the Kingdom of France but largely independent.

To counter the potential threat, François had already reached a secret alliance agreement with Philip, pledging to jointly resist the French King's centralization and invasion.

With Queen Mother Marie's death, their previously formulated plan to rescue Prince Charles could now be put into action.

This made François both nervous and excited.

After the funeral, people gradually left, and François accepted Philip's invitation to gather at the Duke of Burgundy's residence in Paris, the famous Hôtel d'Artois.

The two powerful dukes slowly walked through the streets on the right bank of the Seine, accompanied by their retinues.

They passed through bustling markets, and the citizens of Paris, seeing the Duke of Burgundy's banner, showed expressions of awe or disgust.

François, riding on horseback, simply looked up and saw the 21-meter-high tower.

He could even see crossbowmen patrolling on it.

That was the landmark of Hôtel d'Artois, a tall tower built by John the Fearless to defend Hôtel d'Artois and display the power of the Burgundy family.

Soon, they arrived at the magnificent Hôtel d'Artois.

"Your palace is even more luxurious and grand than the royal palace; it's truly admirable," François exclaimed, hoping that one day he too could own such a magnificent residence in Paris.

Philip merely smiled contentedly and said, "I had planned to expand Hôtel d'Artois further, but Louis XI's jealousy made him reject my request."

"Our King is such a petty fellow, isn't that precisely why we are gathered here?"

"Of course," Philip nodded slightly, "but it's best not to say such things in public; this market might be full of Louis XI's spies."

"Hmm? Your banners are everywhere here; who doesn't know this market belongs to the Duke of Burgundy?"

"I haven't visited Paris in a long time; it has now become His Majesty the King's spider's nest. In any case, caution is always wise."

This was Philip's nature, and what he said was also true.

Ever since the girl named Joan was rehabilitated by the Pope, he was even less willing to come to Paris.

His grandfather, Philip II the Bold, visited Paris 570 times in his life; his father, John the Fearless, visited Paris 42 times; he himself had only come a total of 16 times.

It is estimated that by the time of his son, Charles the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy would no longer set foot in Paris.

At that point, this magnificent palace and the territory nominally belonging to the Burgundy family would lose their value.

"Let's go, we can talk inside."

The two dukes quickly entered Hôtel d'Artois.

As soon as Philip returned, servants brought him mountains of visiting cards, but he casually tossed them aside.

He was currently entertaining his most important guest and had no mind for other visitors.

In these past few days, he had already met enough people and hosted several banquets, all to flaunt his art and power to Paris as much as possible.

Later, after Philip left Paris, his highly paid court historian, Chastellain, wrote in The Burgundian Chronicles: "People had never seen such a grand and luxurious princely residence, with magnificent rooms and splendid, precious tapestries; people from all walks of life in Paris came to admire it, from morning to night, in an endless stream."

As for now, he dismissed everyone from the room, preparing for a secret conversation with François II.

François sat at the table, admiring and toying with a pure gold goblet engraved with the Burgundy family crest, which also contained fine wine produced in Burgundy.

Among the three "Lily Princes," namely the Duke of Orléans, the Duke of Anjou, and the Duke of Burgundy, all descended from the House of Valois, only the powerful Duke of Burgundy could overshadow the arrogant King of France in terms of pomp and grandeur.

What luxury, what wealth! During the days the Duke of Burgundy stayed in Paris, even the King of France's radiance seemed somewhat dim.

François secretly sighed to himself that he had found a good ally; only such a wealthy and powerful ally could help him resist the King of France.

Moreover, he was well aware of the behemoth that stood behind Philip.

"Not long ago, the Duke of Armagnac secretly visited Brittany; he came on behalf of the Emperor."

François looked curiously at Philip, wanting to know how much he understood about this matter.

Philip smiled and said, "The ship that took him to Brittany departed from Burgundy."

François immediately understood Philip's meaning; it was not far from what he had expected. Behind this, it was indeed the Emperor and the Duke of Burgundy working together to create trouble for the King of France.

This point was quite consistent with François's stereotype of Philip.

When he was young, he often heard his uncle say that the Duke of Burgundy was a villain who liked to betray national interests, constantly colluding with the English to attack the royal family, and persecuting other nobles.

His uncle and guardian, Arthur III, Duke of Brittany, was once a member of the Armagnac faction and had suffered persecution from the Burgundy faction during the civil war.

Therefore, he harbored deep resentment towards the Burgundy family and tried to pass on such notions to the next generation, François II.

However, François was a person with his own opinions.

He understood that at present, the only one who could help him resist the King of France's centralization was the Duke of Burgundy, so he set aside his prejudices and allied with Burgundy.

It just seemed that his uncle's view wasn't wrong either.

After the English were driven out, the Duke of Burgundy was now cozying up to the even more powerful Emperor, and he had also reaped countless benefits from the Emperor.

Such as the Duchy of Macedonia for Anthony of Burgundy (the Great Bastard), half of Savoy, and recently Liège and Utrecht, which Philip had swallowed.

To be honest, he somewhat envied the Duke of Burgundy.

Although this astute old Duke always had the phrase "dancing on three eggs" on his lips, he had gained countless benefits from England, France, and the Holy Roman Empire.

However, he also saw the Duke of Burgundy's predicament.

Neither the King of France nor the Emperor could allow the Duke of Burgundy to expand indefinitely; perhaps one misstep, and the Duchy of Burgundy, built over a century, would vanish into thin air.

This was why the Duke of Burgundy was eager to defeat the King of France; he had to eliminate either the King of France or the Emperor for the Duchy to have the possibility of continued expansion.

However, François would never have imagined that the ultimate goal of Philip and Charles, this audacious father and son, was to establish a new kingdom independent of France and the Empire.

He was currently still troubled by the resistance to the King of France's centralization.

"According to the Duke of Armagnac, he has already persuaded the Duke of Bourbon and is now going to persuade the Count of Foix.

Even if the Count of Foix does not agree to join the alliance, with our two houses plus the Duke of Bourbon, as long as we force the King of France to hand over Prince Charles, Louis XI will have no choice but to comply."

Philip said with some hesitation, "Louis XI has continuously expanded his power in recent years and has greatly expanded the Order of the Gendarmerie; his strength should not be underestimated.

Moreover, he has the strong support of the Duke of Orléans and the Duke of Anjou by his side; we must make thorough preparations."

"This is necessary," François agreed wholeheartedly, "How about we wait for the Duke of Armagnac's efforts to yield a final result before we take action?"

"That's what I'm thinking too."

Philip hoped to maximize their chances of victory.

Although Burgundy could withstand a defeat, his allies clearly did not have such reserves.

If they couldn't force the King of France to comply immediately, it would be much harder to defeat him later.

As for this war, he planned to leave it to his son Charles to fight.

He was already too old, too old to care about more matters.

He had originally intended to send Charles to attend the Queen Mother's funeral.

However, considering that the struggle with the King of France was about to reach its climax, he decided to personally intervene to maintain the existing alliance.

After seeing François off, Philip still had to meet with the Duke of Bourbon and the Duke of Orléans.

He had an old feud with Charles, Duke of Orléans, but also a friendship, so Philip intended to try to persuade the old Duke to remain neutral in this conflict, thereby further weakening Louis XI's power.

Meanwhile, in the Louvre, Louis XI was discussing the news he had just received today with his uncle, Duke René of Anjou.

This news interrupted Louis XI's mourning for his mother, which made him very displeased, and now the King's usually gloomy face was terrifyingly dark.

"Damn it, what is Juan II trying to do?"

Louis XI casually threw the King of Aragon's letter onto the table, his mood extremely irritable.

René curiously picked up the letter, and when he read the part about the "Crown of Naples," his face also darkened.

"Damn it, Juan II also wants the throne of Naples? Does he even deserve it?"

As if a sore spot had been poked from afar, René angrily crumpled the letter, almost throwing it into the fire.

"He won't get that chance. Now Emperor Laszlo, who likes to meddle in everything, has already declared that he will guarantee the independence of Naples.

He wants to mediate the war between Aragon and Naples, but Juan II refuses to comply."

"But he actually came here to ask for help!"

At this moment, although René's son, the Duke of Lorraine, had already renounced the Anjou family's claim to the Neapolitan throne, René could never swallow it.

He still considered himself the King of Naples.

Moreover, he had assisted Louis XI so diligently in centralizing power in France precisely so that one day, with the strength of a stronger Kingdom of France, he could overthrow that meddlesome Emperor and lead the Anjou family back to Naples.

Yet, this King of Aragon shamelessly came to the King of France for help, hoping France would support the Kingdom of Aragon in this power struggle.

"What do you think?"

Louis XI looked at his agitated uncle, asking for the opinion of his chief minister as usual.

"Our primary task is to consolidate the kingdom, crush the opposition, and let Aragon and Naples simply cease hostilities as they are.

Moreover, Juan II has not yet truly gained control of Catalonia; he has no right to covet the Crown of Naples."

"Indeed, I will write back to refuse him immediately."

Louis XI did not want to directly confront that arrogant, powerful, and reckless Emperor at this sensitive time; he still needed time to complete the integration of France.

As for Juan II, Louis XI had not yet settled accounts with him regarding Roussillon, let alone confront the Emperor for him.

It was only three years after taking Roussillon that Louis XI realized it was a huge pit.

In just three years, Roussillon had rebelled three times, causing considerable grumbling among the nobles in France, who believed Louis XI's expansionist policies were wrong.

The most recent rebellion had given Louis XI a severe headache, and he currently had no plans to send troops to suppress it.

With his mother Marie's death, he would find it difficult to control his adult brother Charles, and the long-brewing storm would soon sweep across all of France.

He needed to prepare for this; it might be an opportunity to help him achieve the complete unification of the kingdom.