I Am Louis XIV

"Parisians, and countless provincials are coming here," said a minister.

"Then expand the Limoges group as soon as possible." Le Vau said without raising his head. He has the same name as the king. He is the designer and person in charge of the Versailles construction project. More than 10,000 people are working hard for the king's new palace. Even so, he, like any courtier, fought hard at the age of fifty-seven to compete with another architect, Mansard, for the right to speak in the Versailles project—by the way, this Mr. Mansart is also seventy-one years old. Taking advantage of his age, the king still entrusted this important job to Le Vau.

It has been sixteen years since the king dug the canal for the Versailles Project. Those who followed the king back to Paris from other provinces already had strong sons and beautiful daughters. The project carried out has become a perfect and long picture-the clear water from the Seine River is first introduced into a reservoir like a large lake, and then brought into a wide artificial canal by a huge water pump-because the main body of Versailles It was built on a hill with a height of about three hundred feet, so it was necessary. At first, the engineers prepared to use the horsepower that people usually use at this time to pull the water pump, but the king brought some strange craftsmen. A steel machine was assembled in the workshop. It needs to be driven by coal. Once it starts, it will make a rumbling sound, like some kind of monster, but the strength of each monster can reach several horses, and they Never tired, they not only lead the water into the canals, but also generate an abundance of heat, which is not wasted, they are led into the copper pipes that run through the complex of Limoges that Le Vau said, and provide energy for the houses. People bring warmth, so public bathrooms always have uninterrupted hot water.

The Limoges complex is not part of the Palace of Versailles. How should I put it, it is an annex built naturally during the long construction work. At that time, in order to save the time of travel, sheds were built beside the construction site. In Versailles, because the king ordered the bachelors to research cement, these buildings also changed from crude wood to square cement bricks. The cost of these cement bricks It is taller than wood, but the trees around Versailles have been ordered by the king, and they will be transplanted directly to the garden of the new palace in the future, so they cannot be cut down at will. In this way, if the wood is shipped from other provinces, the price of the wood plus the transportation The cost is higher than that of cement bricks.

The reason why it is called the Limoges Group is because most of the craftsmen here come from Limoges, but now, these buildings are no longer inhabited by Limoges, Versailles, Parisians and some provincials are also living here. They live here, but people still call it that.

"So, how many rooms shall we prepare?" asked the minister.

Levo pondered for a while, then stood up from behind the desk, "Let's go and have a look."

Le Vau is just an architect, but he can even treat a minister or noble as a subordinate, just because he is deeply trusted by the king, so he will never allow even the slightest mistake in his work, so even though Moges does not belong to Versailles, but he also needs to be cautious-he went to the Limoges group with the minister.

Limoges is not far from Versailles. Of course, the craftsmen are not happy to spend all their time on the commute. Now they have to start working at night with torches-the buildings in Limoges were originally gray Although the cement brick houses are strong, they are prone to damp and cold. Some qualified and wealthy craftsmen paved wooden floors in the houses and painted chalk on the inner and outer walls. "New hotels also need Do this." Le Vau ordered: "The appearance must be unified." He glanced at the flat roof helplessly, "The terrace can be kept, but there must be an attic with a sloping roof." Otherwise, it would be too ugly.

"Yes, sir," said his assistant hastily.

At this moment, Le Vau heard a loud commotion, and he walked over with his brows furrowed, and found that it was a group of Limoges and Versailles. Although the Versailles were not as arrogant and rude as the Parisians, they always From the point of view of the peasants who claim to be "kings", they are not completely humble, and the craftsmen of Limoges also form their own system here. , of course they will help each other and help each other, but today's matter is easy to handle, and it is the fault of the Limoges people.

They sold a white clay from Limoges as chalk to the Versailles.

This kind of behavior is of course unforgivable. Le Vau was about to throw these Limoges people into prison and choose a day for trial and punishment, but they called Qu. They said that when they were doing business with Versailles before, they could They didn’t say that it must be chalk. In the verbal agreement, they only said that the outside of the house would be painted white (this transaction was the Versailles commissioned craftsmen from Limoges to build the house for them). As for whether they used white clay or chalk, they didn’t specify— —Versailles was terribly angry, but there was nothing to say, because at that time, they were really greedy for cheap.

Le Vau asked these Limoges people to bring what they called the white clay, which is everywhere in Limoges, and the local women often use it to wash clothes and degrease wool. Of course, it is not as good as soap and lye. , but urine is always better—it’s not that it can’t be used on whitewashed walls...it’s just that it can’t be compared with chalk at all, it’s just ordinary white clay. The quantity is really quite a lot, "You have to use chalk to replace these...soil, the project must go on and be perfect, and the reward you get is my forgiveness." Levo said sternly: "But if you let me know, If you still keep pestering me, or neglect your duty, make rough work, no matter who it is, I will send them to prison and punish them severely, understand?"

Now both the people of Limoges and the people of Versailles had to bow their heads to show their obedience. After this episode, Le Vau, the minister, and his assistant finally walked through the entire Limoges area, which is about 100 meters away from Versailles. For a third of a league, the wide man-made canal was flanked by a road hard enough for two carriages abreast, that is, asphalt from Lorraine-a strange green-black smelly thing mixed with The gravel road, because of the low output, is only used in the bathrooms and roads of Versailles - when they pass by, there are constant patrols, because there is always someone who wants to knock off a piece of asphalt and take it back as a medicine.

This is hell, thought Le Vau, but there is nothing to blame, pitch is indeed a medicinal material in medical books, and the Arabs got a lot of money from the Europeans because of this-they think the ancient Egyptians The mummies were wrapped in asphalt and sold to the Europeans, which resulted in the fact that there are still people who grind the mummies into powder to drink with wine-Le Vau, and all sensible people are of course not I will believe it, but there are too many ignorant poor people here.

Le Vau was considering whether to erect a few gallows, and at the same time watched the scene in front of him contentedly. On the other side of the embankment road, there was a row of black willows, with dark brown trunks, dark green leaves and red leaves on the back Fluffy, the Versailles gardener Noter's original vision was to have sycamores lined up neatly, but the king insisted on seeing black willows here—Le Vaux actually favored sycamores, because black willows, or rather, all willows All have bad connotations—mainly sterility and sadness. In a Renaissance picture, there is a bony woman holding a willow branch to indicate the occurrence of famine. No fruit. (People at the time thought so)

Fortunately, the king now has a son and a daughter. These black willows have also grown extremely vigorously in the past few years. The fluffy blue canopy covers the entire embankment road, which makes people feel comfortable.

In the gurgling artificial canal, there are also boatmen and boats from Venice. They are responsible for cleaning the canal. They are dressed in gorgeous clothes. When the boatman with a wide-brimmed hat sees Le Vau, he greets him loudly. There is also a small bucket on the boat, which should contain fish - the water in the canal comes from the Seine River and the surrounding small lakes, of course there will be fish species flowing in, there are no fishermen here, these fish are carefree Growing up with care, artisans often use fishing to pass the time and add a meat dish.

Further on, one can see two other massive buildings, which some might think to be one of the palaces, but no, this is the same as the buildings along the Seine, which also contain hidden steam-driven water pumps, which are constantly changing. The water in the canal is continuously sent to the vast palaces and gardens. In addition to leading to more than a thousand water springs that are about to be completed, there is also a small underground reservoir, where the water in the canal will be precipitated, purified and filtered. To supply the people in the court for bathing and drinking—before Versailles, when the people of Europa were building forts and palaces, their water requirements were only for drinking water, in addition to those pleasing water spring equipment, but in In the new palace, almost every suite has its own bathroom, and there must be a place for people to deal with personal problems beside the halls used for meetings, dances and banquets, so the demand for water suddenly increases.

It can be said that for at least five years before, the workers kept digging, digging, digging, and the ravines criss-crossed like spider webs. The thick pipes went from the hills all the way to the swamp, and the dense pipes extending from it were like spider webs. The ceramic pipes, which Le Vau witnessed with his own eyes, are now hidden by gorgeous marble, and the water supply pipes are also hidden under the stone slabs and wall panels. In order to ensure that the joints between the faucets do not leak, rubber gaskets and precision like jewel inlays are required.

These fittings were all from Lorraine, and it was said that each piece was worth the same weight of gold, so that after the installation was completed, the bathroom was not only sealed off, but also guarded by guards.

But is it worth it? Le Vau, after having tried out this facility (with the king's permission, of course), was sure that every Parisian, no, every Frenchman, and even a foreigner, would strive to have a place in his mansion if the king allowed it. Install such a set of luxury equipment that may only be enjoyed by the sultans of Ottoman Turkey in the past.

Everything is so clean and convenient, even though it is on the side of the dormitory, it doesn't smell any strange smell.

Compared with how many sculptures should there be in the garden, how many portraits should there be in the hall, and how many layers of curtains should there be, the king obviously values ​​these more. Therefore, compared with the garden, the main palace of the building should be completed faster. Walking around, there are more and more people behind him. To complete this major project, it is of course impossible for a single Le Vau. There are at least one architect, engineer, and garden designer working for the king here. Hundreds—just as Le Vau led them to the vestibule, another group of people came oncoming.

Lewo suddenly showed a hypocritical smile, the person who came was not his enemy, but also his enemy. He said he was not an enemy, because it was Mr. LeBlanc who was in charge of the interior, and he said he was an enemy, because they were also fighting for the king's favor. Pet.

After the building was completed, of course the interior came into play, but Le Vau was not so willing to give up his stage.

After the reserved mutual salute, Le Vau saw that the people behind LeBron were moving heavy and huge wooden frames, which must be the works that LeBron completed for the king's Versailles Grand Gallery.

Thinking of this, Le Vau felt even more uncomfortable, because the original design of Le Vau was to regard the original hunting palace of Louis XIII as the main body, and then symmetrically add palaces on both sides and front, which is the three sections respected by classical art. However, the king preferred to see a Latin cross-shaped building complex. All buildings must be connected by covered corridors. After extending the arms of the cross on both sides of the hunting lodge, the cross extends downward. The part becomes a wide corridor like the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, but the length and width are much larger than the Grand Gallery.

This is also the only passage for people to enter Versailles. When people think that people's eyes will first fall on LeBron's paintings, Le Vau can't help but feel a little sour, but he suddenly discovered a strange thing, that is, in those descriptions of the king. Apart from the portraits of the first imperial conquest, there is still a lot of space. "Are these reserved for His Majesty?" he asked.

"No, these are reserved for His Majesty's ministers and marshals." LeBlanc said that he had already completed the portraits of the Duke of Orleans, Prince Condé, Viscount Turenne and Duke of Luxembourg, and only when the king returned to Paris Before, these portraits could not be hung up.

"Hey!" Levo almost blurted out, but fortunately his reason pulled him back in time...

LeBron shook his head, he saw what Le Vau meant, but unless they were able to gallop on the battlefield for the king and expand the territory for France, they would definitely not be qualified to stand in this gallery, Your Majesty is perfectly clear on this point.