I Am Louis XIV

The new spinning wheel was placed before the king.

Louis XIV walked round it with interest, then returned to his position, and the inventor and maker of the new spinning wheel stepped forward and began to operate it with trembling hands--a four-poster bed, as described before It is so big, and the towering axle is as high as the bedposts of a four-poster bed. To make it move, one or two people need to work together. The cotton thread slowly swells on the spindle.

No one can deny that this kind of spinning wheel is not only more efficient than the original small one that can only be held in the hand and placed on the knee, but also can spin better threads. There is also a little timidity caused by awe, and as the spindle gradually becomes "fat", his expression becomes relaxed and proud, but this pride is fully worthy of the king's approval, Louis nodded: "This is indeed what I saw Best spinning wheel ever."

Joseph opened his hands and looked stupidly. It was Bontang who stepped forward and signaled that he should kneel down and accept the king's reward and praise.

He was on his knees, and Louis leaned over, and could easily see the thinning top of his head—not because of the spinning wheel, no, it should be said, before that terrible murder, his hair was still in good condition, but When the fire broke out, despite Guy's dissuasion, he tried his best to move the spinning wheel to a place where the flames couldn't reach, but how could this be possible, the whole warehouse was surrounded by fiery red.

The visitors had planned it long ago, and the location Guy chose was more convenient for them to set fire. Barrels of kerosene were transported to the vicinity of the warehouse. The door was bolted from the outside, kerosene was poured into the gap between the door and the wall panel, and a fire was lit.

If the king's "birds" hadn't been watching every place in the city of Orleans, even if Joseph and Guy had thrown away the spinning wheel, they would never have escaped from the flaming warehouse. The soldiers hired by the leader are waiting outside. They will always die.

What neither Guy nor Joseph could have guessed and imagined was that if they really took out the new spinning wheel in front of Du Bo, the leader of the guild, Du Bo would not take the new spinning wheel to claim credit for the king, they would only destroy it. The spinning wheel, and its inventor.

Seeing this, some people must be confused. Isn't it a good thing to dedicate a new spinning wheel to the king and get a reward from the king?

It's a good thing, and even for most people, it's a good thing. But in this world, there are always some ignorant idiots, they can only see three inches in front of them, they can only understand the things between their birth and twenty years old, or they understand everything, but they are afraid of change, and with Louis XIV was eager to change this country and even the whole of Europe. The world is different. They hope that everything in the world will not change, never change.

Of course, the latter kind of people, generally speaking, live the life they want, and people like Joseph or worse, they don't care.

Since Louis XIV intends to create a job for women enough to allow them to go out of the house-hospital nurses are still not considered "serious things"; whether it is France, Spain, or Ottoman Turkey, men are still The main labor between the fields and workshops; such as mining, smelting, engineering, etc., are not heavy jobs that women can afford-even if there are one or two women, most of them follow their husbands and sons, Lay hands or do odd jobs.

From this point of view, only the textile industry is also the most suitable. After France annexed the Netherlands and Flanders, France's commerce and textile industry are developing rapidly-needless to say about commerce, Flanders has always been full of British merchants, why, because of Flanders It is the largest wool producing area in Europa. They buy tens of millions of livres of wool from the British every year, and process it into more valuable beautiful wool, which is sold in all directions.

But beware, gentlemen, whether in France or Flanders, weavers are still men, and all the steps are done by hand, and it takes several Years of apprenticeship-handyman-craftsman process, the thread spun and the cloth woven by women at home are not regarded as valuable products.

In the annex to the decree, the king proposed that the spinning wheel must be able to be operated by a woman (that's why Joseph asked his wife to try to operate it), and some guys with a keen sense of smell smelled some Ominous smell.

Unlike the commercial guilds, the handicraft guilds didn't like the king very much-although Louis XIV returned to Paris after the end of the Second Fronde Movement, he created many profitable new industries and new trades , but in the eyes of those who stick to the rules, this is purely the aristocrats doing whatever they want. It was a matter of course to open all the large workshops of the Wang family, steel, mirrors, glass, ceramics...

Needless to say, in the workshops opened by the king, from tools, technology to workers, there is no guild involved. This makes the leaders of the guilds embarrassed and jealous. Like the flowing water of the Seine, the louis d'or they exchanged can cover the squares of Paris and Versailles like sunshine, but they just can't get a penny.

The most hateful thing is that because working in the king's workshop does not strictly require you to be a craftsman or a member of the guild, even if you were just a farmer or a soldier, as long as you want, the officials will arrange for a skilled person to teach you. You work, in this way, not only will the guild not get the fees and bribes that must be paid in the promotion process of apprentice-helper-craftsman, but also a large part of the new blood of the guild will be lost

This is not surprising, if there is another way out, who is willing to be an apprentice for three years, a helper for two years, and sometimes an extension of one year each—and whether you can become a craftsman must be decided by the leader of the guild— — This is another considerable expense, and with the guild's restrictions on the number of craftsmen, to become a craftsman now requires a workshop, supporting tools and equipment, and a deposit. Recently, some people also proposed that after a helper becomes a craftsman, his craftsman should be given free service for three or five years.

For artisans whose average life expectancy is only about forty years old, the time they can work for themselves and their families may be only ten years or less...

But if it is in the king's workshop, no matter whether you are young or old, you don't have to worry about your future. Young workers, as long as they are not lazy or stupid to the point of hopelessness, the king will continue to open The raised workshops always have a place for them; and the veterans who have lost their journeymen and apprentices receive a bounty for every person they teach, and in the king's workshops they pay nothing but poll-taxes. Pay any excess fees.

Of course, the leaders of the guild will be full of resentment about this. Their existence was originally a good stake to support the growth and stability of the seedlings, but now they are vines that strangle the trees. Without the new "trees", they will not be able to enjoy the sunshine at the highest place It was raining, and it was impossible to stand on my own.

But their opponents were not humble artisans, dazed elders, or whimsical councilors. They were facing a cloaking Leviathan (the biblical sea monster), and they dared not even face it directly. Look down on him, let alone play any conspiracy - but to say that they just obeyed and didn't make any resistance is nonsense.

Before the king's decree came down, they had strengthened their control over the craftsmen, helpers and apprentices, especially the sons of the masters and helpers. If their sons or nephews did not become apprentices and inherited their craft, the guild They will deprive them of their qualifications as craftsmen or helpers, drive out guilds and even cities, notify guilds in other places, not allowing them to continue this business, forcefully buy their workshops and houses at a low price, and so on. etc.

Like worse insults, destroying the hands and eyes of the workers, or killing people, it is not without exception.

In addition, there are restrictions on new tools, new technologies, and new ideas and ideas - because some of the technologies and products (such as dyes) used in the king's workshop come from scholars (wizards), guilds There is no way to intervene, but they can refuse them to infiltrate their guilds-don't forget that the raw materials of guild members are also purchased by the guild leader.

They also tried to collude with merchants, but the relationship between the merchant guild and the handicraft guild was originally an enemy, and the relationship between Louis XIV and the merchant has always been quite close. The merchants are only willing to be neutral or on the sidelines—anyway Their share of the profits is indispensable, although they are definitely optimistic about the king, but who knows...

But even the members of the guild, as long as they are smarter, know that this is just delaying time, and they can survive only because of the Sun King's inattention, even the princes of Brittany. What are the enemies worthy of Louis XIV's attention? But even such a meager hope was shattered in the king's decree.

It has been clearly stated in the imperial decree that there will be no threshold for the textile industry in the future. It is possible that a person can start working after a few days of study, whether it is a man or a woman, or even children and old women. Break the monopoly of the guild - who doesn't want to make more income for the family? Even if the members of the guild are controlled, the family members of farmers, servants, or soldiers are fine. There will be countless people working in the king's big workshop.

On the contrary, when such a large workshop is built, the guilds and their members who rely on hand-woven weaving will not have a way out. To be precise, it is the guild leaders and those who suck blood on the guild system. There is no way out, after all, members of the guild can lower their figures and go to work in large workshops.

Joseph is just a helper who is not valued by the craftsman, and he is a little shy. Of course, it is impossible for him to know things that Barrow doesn't know, but their craftsman, as Du Bo's confidant, has long been mentioned— — Entrusted by the leader of the textile guild, the leader of the woodworking guild has already decided that not only will not allow the craftsmen under his command to research any new spinning wheels, but if any helpers or apprentices make them, they will destroy them along with the spinning wheel Lose.

It can be said that if Elder Guy hadn't covered it up, perhaps Joseph would have been exposed earlier, but unfortunately they still couldn't hide this secret in the end, and were almost burned to death in the warehouse.

In order to keep the spinning wheel, Joseph's hair was burned off, as were his eyelashes and eyebrows. His head looked like a burnt egg, which made people laugh, but he said from the bottom of his heart. His new spinning wheel is indeed the best—since the king has issued edicts to France and even beyond France, the spinning wheel sent to him—even if there is obstruction by the guild, there are a full dozen of them, of which there are more than ten. There are British and Spaniards.

Joseph's spinning wheel can drive the most spindles, and the spun thread is the strongest and smoothest. Louis chose him without hesitation. Next, he will work with other colleagues. He is the champion of the spinning wheel and the loom. Then another Flanders came out on top.

When he heard that he could work in the king's workshop, Joseph was so surprised and happy that he almost fainted. If he was a little scared before, he still wanted to work in the guild after all—the craftsman was just a guild One of the members, he has completely offended Du Bo, not to mention Orleans, he probably can't stay in other cities, maybe he has to take the king's bounty and go to other countries, but since he is already the king Now that he is a master craftsman, what else does he need to worry about.

Excited, he knelt down on his knees, lowered his head, and was about to kiss the king's feet, but Bontang quickly stopped him—Louis could tolerate this kind of etiquette before taking office, and after taking office, he never accepted anything unless he had to. A person's foot kiss ceremony.

Although he failed to kiss the king's feet, Joseph kept kissing the road he walked after the king left. Of course, the floor of the palace is all marble as clean as a mirror, but it is difficult for others to see such a scene. Count d'Artagnan just came to report to the king. Get out, run to the Place de la Martyrdom in Orléans, and he won't see what's coming.

Joseph didn't know what was going on there, but he was still just a craftsman after all, and a nobleman in gorgeous clothes came to talk to him nicely, and he wanted to hear it anyway, and he also noticed that he seemed to be losing his composure , hastily saluted Count D'Artagnan and thanked him, and left in a hurry under the guidance of his attendants.

As the name suggests, the Martyrdom Square was set up by the people of Orleans to commemorate Joan of Arc (renamed), but today the real sinners are tried here. As soon as Joseph passed by, most of the people he knew were members of the guild. Immediately, he gave way, and saw that the gallows had been erected in the square, and there was a high platform, on which were placed long tables and high-backed chairs covered with white linen, in the middle of which sat a nobleman shining like a star. .

This nobleman is the master of Orleans, the Duke of Orleans, his brother Philip. He curls his long hair lazily and absent-mindedly, and squints at the sinners kneeling on the ground. "They are lucky, aren't they," he said. He condescended and said to those who served behind him: "Your Majesty abolished many punishments a few years ago."

Elder Guy serving behind him, or the new leader of the carpenter's guild, followed the Duke's line of sight and saw the cage hanging on the old city wall—there were still dead bones in the cage..." Yes, Your Highness, they are really lucky." Everyone knows that it is better to offend the Duke of Orleans than to offend the king. The king may forgive you, but the Duke of Orleans will never, if it is not for treason. The villain is flattering them, but the Duke is willing to let them suffer a lot.

But even without the cage, or the wheel, or the blossoming pear, the sinner's despair is no less.

Several masterminds, Dubo, the leader of the guild, and two elders, the craftsman of Joseph the informer, and Baro, the former were sentenced to be whipped and then hanged, and the latter were sentenced to have their tongues pulled out and then hanged.

The soldiers they hired were sentenced to be hanged directly.

The people who were directly hanged were tortured in front of the former. When they were swaying, the wailing of Du Bo and the elders also resounded throughout the square. The pulled out tongue was thrown bloody on the ground, and some bold people rushed up Take it away immediately - this is also a rare medicinal material.

Joseph looked at it in a trance, and he felt that he might still be asleep. This was a good dream, but also a nightmare...until he made eye contact with Guy.

After just touching each other, the two immediately turned their faces away.

How cheap their lives are to Du Bo, Du Bo's life is worth to the real noble... No, there is no value at all...