I Am Louis XIV

Champagne walked slowly down Queen's Road.

Since his father passed away, Mr. Champagne can finally remove the word "little" and be directly called Mr. Champagne.

The surname Champagne is not very noble in Paris, but it is very important, because even today, he and his family still firmly control the Champagne hair and beauty salon - Radiation, located on the Rue Sant'Avanto. There are a series of beauty-related businesses such as wigs, perfumes, rouges, powders, etc.

Only a few people know that the Sun King's first box of gold Louis was obtained from these colorful and fragrant little things. As the de facto first assistant of His Majesty the King, it is really difficult for Champagne to stand in the court. It's a bit of a pity. As compensation, after the Battle of Flanders, the king gave him a considerable share of the stock, and granted him a license to run the king's rose and jasmine industry, and he could also obtain it in the king's glass and ceramics workshop. With good goods close to cost price, his property grew rapidly. His father originally wanted to use the money to find him a position in the government, but Champagne refused.

He originally made his fortune by serving His Majesty the King, serving his ladies and gentlemen. If he becomes a clerk or a tax collector, will people not remember that they were once just the King's barber? He already had this skill, so he should not bury his talent. So instead of using the money to seek an official position for himself, he went in the opposite direction and ran to His Majesty the King to beg His Majesty to allow him to continue to run the business for him. , and just as Champagne had guessed, His Majesty readily agreed, and also specially gave him a small asset of the Duke of Orleans—a house located on the Municipal Street of San Avanto—as a compliment.

This house is a five-story apartment, a newly built product in Paris. It is based on the filthy slums, so at the beginning, almost no one was willing to buy property there. In the end, it was bought by his brother who was unwilling to let his The Duke of Orleans, whose face was damaged and unwilling to see his efforts wasted in vain, took a large part. Of course, those people regretted it later. As the king's authority grew, Paris changed from a political center to a financial and financial center. Art Center, crowds come from all directions, and all the buildings on this street have become treasures that they can't reach.

The ground floor of these buildings are shops facing the street, with huge glass windows. As long as people look up, they can clearly see the goods inside. At night, even if there are no lights in the store, the dense gas lamps outside can still see them. The road and shop windows were illuminated like daylight.

The second to fifth floors are all suites or single rooms that can be cut into any number. The owner of the mansion can live in it himself or rent it out - the room rent on this street can be said to be the highest in Paris. Not talking about water, sewage and sanitation facilities, which are found in any new or renovated building in Paris - those nobles, artists or actors are willing to pay a lot of money to live here, just because Champagne it's here.

Some people jokingly say that the salon in Champagne is the second Versailles. The most noble like the Sun King, the most romantic like the Duke of Orleans, and the most beautiful like Madame de Montespan often appear here, and other noble ladies and ministers even more. Needless to say, although Champagne can also come to serve at your door, under the advice of His Majesty the King and the hard work of Madame Champagne, the daughter of a declining aristocrat, the salon has become like an illusion. Wonderful place.

In an era when men could go to relaxing places like the Bois de Boulogne, women had few places to go except theaters, churches, their own homes and gardens, or other people's homes and gardens, but the above few In this place, it is almost impossible for them to enjoy and indulge like their husbands. Some chaste ladies, such as Mrs. Lafayette and Mrs. Sevigny, cannot do anything to have fun with their lovers, so they can only Finding comfort in writing and children is a lifestyle worthy of respect, but it also makes people always feel that something is missing.

The salon in Champagne filled this gap.

Although it is said that women want to please their own appearance, both men and women are born to be happy to see themselves more beautiful, younger and more fashionable. No one wants to see themselves getting old, decayed and ugly in the mirror. Just looking at it makes me feel disgusted.

In Champagne's salon, there are always a variety of ointments, perfumes, delicate powders and gorgeous rouges, as well as comfortable and quiet couches, gauze curtains hanging from the ceiling, and the warm and soft fingers of maids. , I don’t know where it comes from, the faint sound of music... There are also flowers that never fade all year round, exquisite cakes and sweet spring water...

If noble ladies like someone, then they can stay alone. Even the maids can stay away. If they want to come with friends, they can also have a private small room where they can express their feelings, except that they cannot be with male companions. Outside of one place (to avoid trouble), this is a much better place to spend your time than anywhere else.

It's a pity that Champagne cleverly designed all his apartments to have such rooms, so that he would not be in trouble if that powerful person came to rent them.

The reason why Champagne walked back to his apartment from the Queen's Avenue was because the king's birthday was approaching. The queen arrived at the Louvre a few days in advance and summoned Champagne to curl her hair. Now the pharmacist and Champagne had already studied There is a potion that can keep curly hair for a long time without using tongs. It is very popular among ladies. The only drawback is that when it is just curled, it will look a little stiff.

How to accurately grasp the time, even Champagne's most dexterous student and favorite son cannot compare with him. He only needs to pinch his hair to know how much potion should be used, and several days in advance to ensure that he will be on the official stage. At that time, the curly hair had an obvious curvature and moved freely, "like a little bird with wings spread." He said this, and he was the only one who could satisfy the queen.

Thinking of this, Champagne couldn't help but raise his head high - no one knew that the queen liked him so much. In addition to his ability to curl the most beautiful hair for her, the most important thing was the hair dye he brought secretly. Wigs for grafting.

Everyone knows that His Majesty the King has enviable thick hair, but not everyone is lucky. The Queen's hair is much sparser. When there were few gray hairs, she could barely cover them up, but now , her hair is slowly fading, and those embarrassing stains are exposed, and she is unwilling to use a wig, lest people see that she is an old woman at a glance.

Champagne understood the Queen's thoughts. In terms of appearance, the Queen was not as good as His Majesty the King. To be honest, if His Majesty the King's childhood portrait was presented to unsuspecting people, some would imagine that "she" would grow up. How moving it would be. As for the queen, she unfortunately comes from a Habsburg family. She is lucky enough not to inherit that big chin. It is impossible for her to be beautiful no matter how beautiful you ask her to be.

As she grew older, the distance in appearance between her and the king not only did not narrow, but became further and further away... Women after giving birth are bound to age faster than their husbands, and Louis XIV was more likely to age at the same age as her. They saw it coming out, and they had to stand together from time to time to compare.

The queen believed that her husband and the king would not do anything to embarrass her, but if they could, she would still hope that she could be more beautiful.

Champagne thought hard for a long time before he came up with the method of hair dye and hair grafting. This is not a new idea - in ancient Rome, women would use lion urine to bleach their hair and henna. They would use the juice to dye them red, or cut off the hair of Germanic slave girls and attach it to their own hair.

The dye the queen is using now is black, has ingredients similar to ink, and lasts only a short time.

Champagne's deft hand could make the queen look five or six years younger, saving her from the nonsense of some loquacious fool—well, Madame de Montespan, who is said to have unabashedly compared the queen to her in her salon. The Queen Mother was confused because "they look the same age." Fortunately, almost all of the people present were her admirers, or well-meaning people who were unwilling to push the matter to the King, so the Queen would not be more sad.

"Monsieur Champagne!"

When Champagne heard someone calling him, he turned around and looked over. He saw an energetic young officer. Although he was young, his face was weathered. He was wearing a smooth sable fur cloak. , hanging from his shoulders to his heels, wearing a beaver-skin hat with a narrow brim and rolled up, a wide belt, with a musket inserted on each side, and a cartridge belt hung around his neck Wearing thick gold totem jewelry, and wearing thick and heavy cowhide boots on her feet.

Upon seeing such a dress, Champagne could guess that this was an officer who had just returned to Paris from the New World.

Since the French teamed up with the Indians to drive the British out of the New World, the French have been able to calmly explore this strange and wonderful new territory - originally there were merchants and Indians trading furs and timber, and now there is also gold , coal and steel, as well as countless bison and fish.

One thing to mention here is that at the beginning, the only thing that can attract the French people who don't care much about places outside Europa is superficiality.

There is a strange animal that lives in the rivers of the New World. They look like foxes, but they can live in water, so they are called beavers. The fur is thick and does not absorb water, so it is the best material for making hats. The finished hats can be rainproof and have a smooth and light texture. Both the French and the British are very keen on this.

The Indians had been hunting beavers since early times, eating their meat, wearing their skins, and using their bones to make tools. So when the French tried to trade with them, the easiest thing for the Indians to come up with was beaver skins.

How much profit can beaver skin bring? To put it simply, it can be up to two hundred times the cost.

Because originally in Europe, before wool and cotton were popular, the nobles had a monopoly on fur, and fur became a symbol of identity and status. Today, although kings no longer have too many strict regulations on furs, the rarity and expense of fine furs have still become a restriction. Businessmen, military officers and government officials want to get a satisfactory fur. , is never an easy thing.

Not to mention the king and his family members, if a king or queen does not have enough beautiful and thick fur to decorate their figure, the officials in charge of their clothing will be held accountable, and the ministers will also Feeling ashamed, the envoys will question his strength.

Moreover, things like fur are easily damaged and become old.

In the past five years, furs have been flowing into France from the New World. Champagne has some knowledge of the quantity. There are 100,000 beaver pelts alone, 30,000 mink pelts, and 50,000 raccoon pelts. Ten thousand bear skins, and tens of thousands of bison and squirrel skins.

With these, even businessmen can wear furs, but like this officer, he made sable fur into a large cloak with luxury and casualness, and beaver fur hats are a popular style in the New World-because of how windy and windy they are there. It was a dense forest, so a wide-brimmed hat was not suitable, and he was also wearing heavy leather boots - in Paris, romantic young people like to wear satin high-heeled shoes. This almost means that this gentleman must have just returned from the New World and has become accustomed to and fallen in love with that place, so he did not modify his clothes at all.

"Sorry, sir..."

"Ha," the officer took off his hat and saluted Champagne: "I am Lafayette, sir. You probably haven't seen me much, but my mother likes your wife's salon very much. "

"Ah...!" Champagne suddenly realized that he was the son of Madame Lafayette. When the Madame was introduced to the salon by the Duchess of Montpensier, she was depressed because her son had gone to the New World. At that time, she My complexion and energy were very poor, and it took a long time for me to recover a little with the help of massage, perfume, makeup, and the comfort of my friends.

"Your mother will jump with joy when she sees you!" Champagne said sincerely. He also invested in commercial companies in the New World. It was precisely because of soldiers like Lafayette that he could You can safely get a large bonus every year.

"I hope she won't beat me." Lafayette said: "Is your carriage broken down, or can I give you a ride?"

"No, thank you, kind sir. My carriage is fine. I just want to walk quietly for a while."

"Indeed," said the Marquis de Lafayette, "how beautiful it is here."

After renovation, Queen's Avenue can run directly from the Louvre to the Place de la Bastille to the Porte de Charenton. On one side of it is the Seine River, with lush greenery and colorful sycamores planted on both sides. In late autumn, their The leaves will turn yellow and fall, laying a golden carpet on the avenue.

The water of the Seine River has long become crystal clear, and there are many fish swimming in it. Students skipping classes and dating men and women can often be seen on the river embankment. There is a flower bed surrounded by seats a hundred feet apart. The camellias in the flower bed are on the eleventh day. It's still in full bloom during the month.

I saw some readers were commenting, is it about to end?

Yes.

The Sun King's journey has reached the end, and his throne can no longer be shaken. Next, he may have to do something for his people and ideals.

Then, in this grand show, all the important performers will come out one by one to take their bows.

This ending has been delayed for several months. Although there is an outline and an ending, my original outline has indeed been greatly revised. Maybe the Sun King also hopes to have such a peaceful ending.

The new article may no longer be the original "Nero". I have already finished the outline and a part of the beginning, but after continuing to write in the past few months, I feel that there is something missing...that is indescribable but necessary, so …

Not "Nero", but another new article after "Nero".

At the end of this article, I will return to "The Saint" because I promised a reader who has helped me a lot to write a side story for the original Alex. This is the story of Alex's adventure with the new "Ilda" in the world of lich, and it will end in about a month.

New articles may be updated together. They are stories about the Holy City, the Leper King, and Saladin. They are also fantasy history and stories about the early Middle Ages, so stay tuned.