I Am Louis XIV

The sun is dazzling, the water is blue, and seabirds with red beaks and white feathers fly past the tall masts of the ships.

This is Nantes. The name is memorable because it was here that Henry III, the grandfather of Louis XIV, signed the famous Edict of Nantes in the Cathedral of Nantes, but it was called the Edict of Peace at that time.

There were still many Huguenots in the city at that time, but now they have moved more to Nîmes, Montauban and La Rochelle. Later they will be gathered in Orleans, which of course makes France more The Huguenots were fearful and miserable, firstly because they would be forced to abandon their homeland, and secondly because they were worried about a repeat of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, but they could be allowed to continue to survive in France. Going down is the greatest manifestation of the king's benevolence. Although the Huguenots have endured hundreds of years of suffering, the crimes they committed against the Bourbon royal family cannot be forgiven by any ruler. If they can If you do what Louis XIV asks, you may still have a chance to breathe. If not... The Catholics who gather around the Huguenots are like firewood beside the fireplace. If they are teased a little, they will violently explode. Burn up.

Louis XIV did not insist on these black sheep with horns on their heads. The main reason was that he did not want to ignite the flames of religious wars in his country unless necessary. Victory in religious wars was of no use to him, but it was quite beneficial to Rome. The power of the church has expanded, and now the relationship between France and the Roman church is... really not that good.

There are very few Huguenots in Nantes now, but they are not none. First of all, there is one, only one, in the king's shipyard. After all, such a sensitive place does not allow any rebellious people. Here, it must be because he is indispensable.

"When Denis Papin comes to see you," Louis said while adjusting his sleeves for the eldest princess, "you must remember not to use the name Huguenot."

"Why?" asked the eldest princess, because there would be no Huguenots in the French court, and she certainly didn't understand. "Because the name Huguenot means contempt," Louis explained patiently. He first read the word in French and then in Swiss German: "It means swearing an oath of alliance. Then it gradually evolved into the meaning of outsiders and rebels. During the period of Francois II, there was a dangerous rebel named Zangson Huguenot. Catholics intentionally linked this name with the name Huguenot. , intentionally making this title dirty.”

"Let's put it this way," said the Duke of Orleans bluntly: "When you call a Huguenot Huguenot, you are saying, Hey! There is a gang of thieves here, a foreign spy. A homeless man wandering the streets, a scumbag... wait, that's about it."

The king glared at him. He just didn't want to say these foul words to the children - forget it, he turned to the eldest princess: "In short, when you face a Huguenot, if you want to mention his beliefs, just call him Just for the Protestants.”

The child said hello neatly, and the little Duke of Enghien banged the plate with a spoon. In Versailles, there would be a ceremonial officer to remind him, but here, there are only the king, the king's brother and their children. From Bontang down, the maids The king and his attendants turned a blind eye. The king was only wearing a loose shirt and tight trousers. The Duke of Orleans put his arms on the back of the chair. A relaxed and comfortable atmosphere that was extremely rare for the royal family lingered in this Roman-style restaurant. Inside, people can’t bear to break it.

Some people may still remember that with the help of wizards, the ambitious Louis XIV began to put the improvement and use of steam engines on the agenda - in fact, the original steam engine can be traced back to the first century AD, by the ancient Greek scholar Hero Hero connected a sealed pot and a metal ball with two hollow tubes. When the water in the pot boiled after being heated, steam overflowed from both sides of the metal ball, pushing the ball to rotate. This kind of thing Regarded as a toy at that time and a thousand years later, it was copied again during the Renaissance and dedicated to the amusement of dignitaries - Louis had this in his toy room, but it was Leonardo da Vinci's that caught the king's attention. A manuscript in which this forward-thinking artist and scientist designed a steam cannon...

Steam cannons were impossible, but steam-driven machinery was possible. Louis' spies were probing around, looking for scientists who might have talent and interest in this field. What Louis didn't expect was that this scholar turned out to be from right in front of him. Blois found it, and he was not a scientist or mathematician, but a doctor. What's more, when the spies found him with the manuscript, he was packing his bags and preparing to run from France to England or the Netherlands. ——Because unfortunately he was a Huguenot and had a keen sense of smell. He said this in his diary: "Since this king (referring to Louis XIV) only allows one voice in the court and the army, then he probably also Two voices will not be allowed in the church.”

Fortunately, the spy was brave and careful. He knocked the Huguenot unconscious, emptied his large suitcase of clothes, put him in, and then rented a carriage as a traveler and sent him there overnight. In Paris (when the king was still in the Louvre), after confirming that this gentleman indeed had outstanding ideas about steam engines and had already made a crude model, the king sent him, together with wizards and craftsmen, to Puteaux island.

Pitot Island is located on the Seine River, behind the Bois de Boulogne, and is a long and narrow island in Hanoi. The strange noise and smoke of the steam engine can be shielded by the Bois de Boulogne. Because of the special nature of the Bois de Boulogne, carriages often come and go. What a strange thing - but of course the steam engine can be studied on this small island, and the real test must be in a huge lake or even a bay.

There were not many choices before Louis. Originally, the closest thing to Paris was the Bay of Seine, which is the mouth of the Seine River. However, it is only separated from the UK by the English Channel. It is difficult to hide the movements inside from the eyes of the British. , so the only option was to change the location, which was the southern side of Brittany, the Bay of Biscay on the Atlantic Ocean. The bad part of the Bay of Biscay was that it was also occupied by Spain, so Louis moved the location upwards, and finally settled down. In Nantes.

Nantes is an ancient and huge city. The best thing about it is that it has three rivers. The Loire, the Sèvre and the Eder meet here. It is about twelve miles from the mouth of the sea. The widest part of the river is About one hundred and fifty feet, and with many strips of lakes, building a ship here was no mere whim of Louis.

After nearly ten years of construction, the Saint-Nazaire port and shipyard in this small town at the mouth of the Loire River has reached a certain scale. However, because this port is for military use and does not allow commercial ships to dock, It is not as bustling as other ports. On the contrary, there are far more animals visiting here than humans, because here, whether it is workers in the shipyard, soldiers on the ship, or residents of the small town, they all live a prosperous life thanks to the generosity of the king. In those days, they did not need to hunt and fish to survive, but many of the scraps discarded at regular times became delicacies for seabirds and fish.

However, this was destined to be a special audience. First of all, the king was not indoors, but met Mr. Papin in the Roman-style open restaurant, and Mr. Papin neither presented any jewelry to the king. , did not offer weapons to the king, he...brought a pot...

Although the king, his brother, and the children were indeed having a meal, the pot was indeed beyond everyone's expectation. It was so big that it could hold half of the little Duke of Enghien in it. The little Duke of Enghien opened his mouth wide and was stunned. They looked at the richly dressed Mr. Papin, who covered the pot tightly like he was holding a plate of precious and fragile glassware. The pot with no trace of what was inside was about ten feet away from them. place.

After putting the pot away, Mr. Papin took out his handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He took a pair of pliers from the servant and slowly unscrewed a knob on the pot lid. As the knob gradually loosened, a white stream came out. The steam suddenly rushed into the air. It was small and slender at first. After a few seconds, it expanded with a sharp whistling sound, filling the faces of the people around. "It smells so good." Little Louis, the crown prince, murmured murmured. It was indeed very fragrant, and it was the smell of sea fish and shells. They were not mistaken, because after the steam gradually dissipated,

Mr. Papin opened the lid of the pot, and a richer aroma came out. He brought a plate larger than the pot and began to scoop fish, meat and shells into it.

Because they were all cut into pieces, they couldn't tell what kind of fish they were for a while, but they could tell that there were flounder, cod, sole, and large conger eels, as well as mutton and beef, and shells. The oysters that people are familiar with may also be eaten in Versailles, but no matter how they are kept fresh with ice cubes, they cannot be compared with the fresh ones that were alive and kicking a few hours ago, and these have been stewed for who knows how long, whether they are fish or meat. The mutton melts in your mouth.

Looking at the children eating happily, Louis couldn't help but smile: "Sir," he said, "I didn't know you became a chef after becoming a doctor, inventor and craftsman."

"It's just a small gift," Mr. Papin wiped his face again, "but nothing can make people more clearly understand the concept and function of steam than this."

"This requires you to explain in detail," Louis realized that it was because he had brought the children, so Mr. Papin used this preemptive way to arouse the interest of these little nobles - this little trick is still used by the king. Within the tolerance range, Mr. Papin is indeed a talented person. After the Crown Prince, Princess and the others enjoyed the delicious food, he opened the lid of the pot and let them see the rubber sealing ring, exhaust valve and the most important safety valve inside. .

"Why do you say this is the most important?" the crown prince asked.

"Because the power of steam is no less than gunpowder." Mr. Papin said, and then he deliberately created a small accident. It was the sealed pot. After estimating that the pressure inside should have reached a reading, Mr. Papin The gentleman threw it directly off the cliff. When it hit the ground, there was an explosion. The attendants picked up the twisted metal pots and smashed stones.

The eldest princess let out an exclamation, and Papan looked at these young visitors unobtrusively. He was disappointed to find that whether it was the crown prince, the eldest princess, or the Duke of Colonna who was accompanying him as a courtier, The eldest son of the Earl of Soissons did not show any signs of shrinking, but instead showed a look of eagerness to try. He heard that the king gathered his children around him to educate them, instead of simply leaving them to the queen or their children. Mother, it seems this is true.

As a Huguenot, Papin certainly did not want to see a king with a tough and decisive temperament, but he was destined to regret that even if something happened to Louis XIV, his children would still carry out his will. Finally - Papin hid his thoughts and introduced these distinguished guests into the shipyard. According to the king's wishes, he intended to use the kinetic energy generated by steam directly on the warship. However, after the steam machinery was manufactured, It was first used in the armor, rams and other metal fixings required for warships.

Amidst the deafening crashing sounds, the rising smell of soot and gray-white steam, one piece after another, slightly convex armor plates were quickly formed between the heavy and huge upper and lower molds - stamping and forging. The method of beating has been around for a long time, but at that time, craftsmen used livestock and water power to make armor for the gentlemen. The thickness and width of the armor could not be compared with the armor plates of warships, and there were bulges around the upper mold. The rivet is the riveting hole left for the armor plate.

The Marquis of Seignore held up an armor plate to the king. He was similar in height to the king, so he bent his knees slightly so that the king did not have to look up - the person in charge of Saint-Nazaire was indeed as good as his Father Colbert was so cautious, meticulous and considerate.

The king reached out and touched the armor plate, which was shaped like fish scales. Later, it would also cover the sides of the warship like scales to resist the increasingly powerful and dangerous artillery. Then he also let the children touch it. Personal experience is always deeper than hearsay. The children's eyes were shining, especially little Eugen.

In addition to steam stamping machines, there are also steam boring machines, grinders and punch machines, drilling machines, etc. The rest may not be understandable to ordinary people, but even the princess can understand the gun barrel drilled out of the boring machine, and little Eugen even more He couldn't help but stretched out his hand, but the next moment he was burned and shrunk... "That's great," he looked around, as if he had come to a paradise that only belonged to him, or as if he was drunk and dizzy. 's: "How many cannons will there be here, Your Majesty."

"Cannons are not made here," Louis said kindly. "At least it's more than that."

They walked forward along the dark corridor, with thick guide rails and machines on both sides. The carts loaded with parts and ingredients were parked in place - if it were normal, they would be running around happily driven by the workers. , now they all stay in place quietly, as if they are curtsying to the king.

After passing through the corridor, they were hit by the strong sea breeze, and the glaring light and deep black shadows stood side by side. It took a while for the children to realize that a huge ship was standing in front of them. .

It was so huge that it even took away half of the day.