I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 204 The Triumph of Louis XIV (4)

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

"Then expand the Limoges group as soon as possible." Levaux said without looking up. He has the same name as the king. He is the designer and director of the Versailles construction project. There are more than 10,000 people working for the king's new palace. He was under incomparable pressure, even so, like any courtier, he was still struggling to fight with another architect, Mansart, for the right to speak in the Versailles project at the age of fifty-seven. Old Mr. Sal is also seventy-one years old. With his age advantage, the king still handed over this important job to Levaux.

The construction of Versailles, if you count it from the digging of the canal by the king, has already been sixteen years. Those who followed the king from the provinces back to Paris have already had strong sons and beautiful daughters. The work carried out has become a perfect and long picture - the clear water drawn from the Seine is first introduced into a reservoir like a large lake, and then by a huge pump into an artificial canal that is wide and boatable - because the main building of Versailles is in On a hill, the height of the hill is about 300 feet, so this is necessary. At first, the engineers prepared to use the horsepower traction water pump that people usually use at this time, but the king brought some strange craftsmen who were in the workshop. Assembled a steel machine, which needs to be powered by coal, and when it starts it makes a rumbling sound, like some kind of monster, but each monster is as powerful as several horses, and they never Tired, they are not only able to introduce water into the canal, but also generate abundant heat, which is not wasted, and is introduced into copper pipes, which travel through the Limoges complex as Levaux calls it, to bring people in the house. To keep warm, there is always uninterrupted hot water in the public bathroom.

The Limoges complex is not part of the Palace of Versailles. How should I put it, it is a natural annex formed during a long construction project. In the seventeenth century, craftsmen were not finished in a magnificent building. At the time, in order to save time, they built shacks next to the construction site. In Versailles, because the king ordered the bachelors to study cement, these buildings also changed from rough wood to square cement bricks. The cost of these cement bricks It is taller than wood, but the trees around Versailles have been decided by the king, and they will be directly transplanted into the gardens 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 will be added to 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 are from Limoges, but now, these buildings are no longer inhabited by Limoges, Versailles, Parisians and some other provinces. They all live here, but people still call it that.

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

  Lever pondered for a while, then stood up from behind the desk, "Let's go take a look."

Levaux is just an architect, but he can even treat a minister or nobleman like a subordinate, just because he is deeply trusted by the king, so he will never allow his work to make even the slightest mistake, so although the inside Moges does not belong to Versailles, but he also needs to be careful - 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 journey. They are now starting work at night with torches. The buildings of Limoges were originally gray. Although cement brick houses are strong, they are prone to become damp and cold. Some craftsmen with qualifications and money are laying wooden floors in the houses and painting chalk on the inner and outer walls. "The same is true for new hotels. Do it." Levaux ordered: "The appearance must be unified," he glanced helplessly at the flat roof, "You can keep the terrace, but you must have an attic with a sloping roof." Otherwise, it would be too ugly.

   "Yes, sir," said his assistant hastily.

At this moment, Levaux heard a loud noise, and he walked over, frowning, and found that it was a group of Limoges and Versailles. Although the Versailles were not as arrogant and rude as the Parisians, they had always It is not a completely humble person who claims to be "the king's peasant", and the artisans of Limoges are also self-contained here. They are all members of the Limoges Mud and Water Guild, and when they are together , of course, they will help each other and help each other, but today's things are handled well, and it is the fault of the Limoges people.

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

Such behavior is of course unforgivable. Levaux was about to throw these Limoges into prison and choose a day for trial and execution, but they complained. They said that when they did business with the 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 whitewashed (this sale is exactly what the Versailles people entrusted to the craftsmen of Limoges to build the house for them), as for whether to use white clay or chalk, it is not specified— Versailles was terribly popular, but there was nothing to say, because at that time, they were indeed greedy for cheap.

Levaux asked these Limoges people to bring what they called white clay, which is everywhere in Limoges, and local women often use it to wash clothes and degrease wool. Of course, there is no soap or alkali. , but always urine is good - not that it can't be used on whitewashed walls...just not comparable to chalk at all, just ordinary white clay, "Well," Levaux squeezed the soil - the amount of them is real Quite a lot, "You have to replace these... soil with chalk, the project must go on, perfect, and the reward you get is my forgiveness." Levaux said sternly: "But if you let me know, you still have to entangle. No matter who it is, I will send them to prison and punish them heavily, understand?"

This time, both Limoges and Versailles had to bow their heads to show their obedience. After this episode passed, Levaux, the minister, and his assistant finally walked through the entire Limoges area, which is about 100 miles from Versailles. For a third of a mile, the wide artificial canal was flanked by hard enough roads for two wagons to go head-to-head, that is, asphalt from Lorraine—a stinky, cyan-black oddball mixed with crumbs. The stone paved roads were only used in the bathrooms and roads of Versailles because of the low production rate - they were constantly patrolled as they passed, because there was always someone who wanted to knock down the next bit of asphalt and take it back as medicine.

That's a **** of a lot, thought Levaux, but there's nothing to blame, pitch is really a medicine in the medical books, and the Arabs used to make a fortune with the Europas because of that—they thought the ancient Egyptians had The mummy was wrapped in asphalt and sold to the Europa people, which caused the fact that there are still people who grind the mummy into powder and drink it with wine - Levaux, and of course all wise people will not believe it Yes, but there are many ignorant poor people here.

While considering whether to erect a few gallows, Levaux looked at the sight in front of him with satisfaction. On the other side of the embankment road was a row of black willows, with dark brown trunks, dark green leaves, and red on the opposite side. Fluff, the garden designer of Versailles, Notre, had originally envisioned a neat arrangement of plane trees, but the king insisted that black willows be seen here—and Levaux actually favored plane trees, because black willows, or rather, all willows, were Has bad connotations - mainly infertility and sadness, in a Renaissance image there is a scrawny woman holding a willow branch to signify a famine situation, and a willow tree that does not bloom or bear fruit Reality. (People thought so at the time)

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

There are also boatmen and boats from Venice in the gurgling artificial canal. They are responsible for cleaning the canal. The boatmen with colorful dresses and wide-brimmed hats see Levaux and greet him loudly. Levaux sees that. There is also a small bucket in the boat, which is supposed to hold the fish - the water in the canal comes from the Seine and the small lakes around it, and of course there are fingerlings flowing in. There are no fishermen here, and these fish are carefree. Growing up, artisans often use fishing to pass the time and add a meat dish.

Further on, one can see two other huge buildings, some people may think this is one of the palaces, but no, this is the same as the building by the Seine, and there are also steam-driven pumps hidden inside, which are not always there. The stop sends the water in the canal to the vast palaces and gardens. In addition to the more than 1,000 springs that are about to be completed, there is also a small underground reservoir, where the water in the canal will be sedimented, purified and filtered, and then Provided to the people in the court for bathing and drinking - before Versailles, when the people of Europa were building fortresses and palaces, the requirements for water, in addition to those pleasing water springs, were only the demand for drinking water, but in the new In the palace, almost every suite has its own bathroom, and there must be a place for people to deal with personal problems next to the halls used for meetings, dances and banquets, and the demand for water has suddenly increased.

It can be said that for at least five years before, the workers kept digging, digging, digging, the ravines crisscrossed like cobwebs, and the thick pipes went from the hills to the swamps, extending from it was dense like cobwebs. The ceramic pipes, which Levaux saw with his own eyes, are now hidden by the gorgeous marble, and the water supply pipes are also hidden under the slate and the wainscoting. The water pipes are all brass, with The interface between the faucets requires rubber gaskets and jewel-like precision to ensure watertightness.

  These fittings are all from Lorraine, and it is said that each piece has the same weight in gold, so that after the installation is completed, the bathroom is not only blocked, but also guarded by guards.

   But is it worth it? Levaux, having tried the facility (with the King's permission, of course), was sure that every Parisian, no, every French, even a foreigner, would fight for a place in his mansion, if only the King would allow it It is equipped with a set of luxury equipment that may only be enjoyed by the sultans of Ottoman Turkey in the past.

  Everything is so clean, so convenient, even if it's on the side of the bedroom, it doesn't smell any weird smells.

Compared with how many sculptures should be in the garden, how many paintings should be in the palace, and how many layers of curtains should be there, the king obviously valued these more, so compared to the garden, the main palace of the building should be completed faster. Levaux is in the room Walking around, there are more and more people behind them. To complete this major project, it is of course impossible for a single Levaux. The architects, engineers and garden designers who work for the king here have at least one. Hundreds - just as Lever led them to the vestibule, another group came on.

LeVert immediately showed a fake smile. The person who came was not his enemy, but also his enemy. He said it was not an enemy because it was Mr. LeBron, who was in charge of the interior. He said it was an enemy, because they also won the king's favor. pet.

  After the construction was completed, of course, the interior appeared, but Levau was not so willing to give up his stage.

After    saluted each other, Levaux saw that the people behind LeBron were moving heavy and huge wooden frames, which must be LeBron's works for the King's Versailles Grand Gallery.

Thinking of this, Le Vau is even more uncomfortable, because Le Vau's original design plan was to regard Louis XIII's original hunting palace as the main body, and then symmetrically add palaces on both sides and in front, which is the third stage that classical art respects. style design, but the king prefers to see a Latin cross-shaped building complex, all buildings must be connected by covered corridors, after the cross arms of the cross extend from both sides of the hunting palace, the cross extends down The part of it becomes a wide corridor like the Grand Gallery of the Louvre, but the length and width are much larger than that of the Grand Gallery.

This is also the only way for people to enter Versailles. When people think that people's eyes will first fall on LeBron's paintings, Levaux can't help but feel a little sour, but he suddenly discovered a strange thing, that is, in those descriptions of the king In addition to the portrait of the first imperial expedition, there is still a lot of free space, "Are these reserved for His Majesty?" he asked.

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

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

LeBron shook his head, he could see what Levaux had left unfinished about, but unless they could also gallop on the battlefield for the king and expand the territory for France, they would never be eligible to stand in this gallery, Your Majesty could not have been more clear in this regard.

   (end of this chapter)