I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 547 Five Years Later (Part 1)

  Champagne walked slowly on the Queen's Boulevard.

  Since his father passed away, this Mr. Champagne can finally get rid of the word "little" and be called Mr. Champagne directly.

The surname Champagne is not very prestigious in Paris, but it is very important, because even today, he and his family still firmly control the Champagne hair and beauty salon on the Rue de Sant'Antoine - radiating out wigs, perfumes, rouge, powder and a series of beauty-related careers.

Only a few people know that the Sun King's first chest of gold Louis came from these brightly colored and fragrant smelling little things. As the de facto first assistant of His Majesty, Champagne couldn't stand in the court. It's a pity, as compensation, after the battle of Flanders, the king gave him a considerable amount of shares, and he licensed him to operate the king's rose and jasmine industry, and he could get it in the king's glass and ceramics workshop A good deal close to cost, his fortune grew rapidly, and his father wanted to use the money to get him a government position, but Champagne refused.

   He developed his life by serving His Majesty the King, and serving ladies and gentlemen. Could he be a clerk or a tax collector, and people will not remember that they were once the king's barbers? He already had this skill, so he shouldn't bury his talent, so instead of taking the money to seek an official position for himself, he went the opposite way and went to the king's majesty, begging his majesty to allow him to continue to run the property for him Sure enough, as Champagne had guessed, His Majesty readily agreed, and specially gave him a small property of the Duke of Orléans—that is, a house on the Municipal Street of San Avento as a reward.

This house is a five-story apartment, the product of a new construction in Paris, and its foundation is a dirty slum, so at the beginning, almost no one was willing to buy property there, and in the end, it was rejected by his brother who was neither willing to let him. The duke of Orléans, who lost face and was unwilling to see his efforts wasted in vain, won a large part. Of course, those people later regretted it. With the increasing authority of the king, Paris changed from a political center to a financial and financial center. The art center, crowds come from all directions, and all the buildings on this street have become treasures that they cannot reach.

The bottom floors of these buildings are shops facing the street, with huge glass windows. People can see the goods inside clearly by looking up. At night, even if the lights are not lit in the shop, the dense gas lamps outside can also illuminate the goods. The pavement and shop windows are as bright as day.

  The second floor to the fifth floor are all suites or single rooms that can be cut at will. The owner of the mansion can live in or rent it out - the rent of rooms on this street can be said to be the highest in Paris. It's not about plumbing and sanitation, it's in any new or renovated building in Paris - the aristocrats or artists or actors willingly paid a fortune to live here just because Champagne is in here.

Some people joked that the salon of Champagne was 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. Needless to say, although Champagne can also come to serve, but at the suggestion of His Majesty the King, the salon managed by Madame Champagne, the daughter of a fallen nobleman, has become a wonderful fantasy. place.

In a time when men could go to places like the Bois de Boulogne and relax, women had little to go to except theatres, churches, their own homes and courtyards, or someone else's, but the above In a place where it is almost impossible for them to enjoy and indulge like their husbands, some virtuous ladies, such as Madame Lafayette and Madame Sevigny, cannot do anything to have fun with their lovers, but only from Finding solace in writing and in children is a respectable way of living, but it always feels like something is missing.

  The salon of Champagne fills this void.

Although it is said that women are pleasing to oneself, no matter men or women, they are born happy to see themselves more beautiful, younger and more fashionable. Disgusted to see.

In the salons of Champagne, there are always all kinds of ointments, perfumes, fine powders and gorgeous rouge, as well as comfortable and quiet long couches, veils hanging from the ceiling, and the warm and soft fingers of the maids. , I don't know where it came from, the sound of music if you don't know it... and the flowers that never wither throughout the year, the exquisite cakes and the sweet spring water...

If ladies like someone, they can stay alone, even maids can stay away. If they want to come with friends, they can also have a small secret room for them to talk about their hearts, except that they cannot be with their male companions. Outside of one place (to avoid trouble), it's really much better to spend time in this place than anywhere else.

  It is a pity that Champagne wisely set all his apartments into such rooms, so that he would not be embarrassed if the powerful person wanted to rent it.

The reason why Champagne walked back to his apartment from the Queen's Avenue was because the king's birthday was imminent. The queen arrived at the Louvre a few days earlier and summoned Champagne to curl her hair. Now the pharmacist and Champagne have studied it. There is a potion that can keep curly hair for a long time, and it does not need to be heated with tongs. It is very popular with ladies. The only drawback is that it will look a little stiff when it is just curled.

How to accurately grasp the time, even Champagne's most dexterous student and most beloved son can't compare with him. He only needs to pinch his hair to know how much potion to use, and a few days in advance can guarantee the official appearance. At that time, the curly hair was obviously curved and jumped freely, "like a bird with wings outstretched." He said so, and he was the only one who could satisfy the queen.

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

Everyone knows that His Majesty the King has an enviable thick hair, but this is not everyone's luck, the Queen's hair is much thinner, and when the white hair was still small, it was barely able to hide it, but now , her hair is slowly fading, and those embarrassing stains are exposed, and she is reluctant to use a wig, lest people see that she is an old woman at a glance.

Champagne understands the Queen's mind. In terms of appearance, the Queen is not as good as His Majesty the King. To be honest, His Majesty's rare childhood portrait is seen in front of people who don't know, and some people will imagine "she" when she grows up How moving. As for the queen, she unfortunately came from a Habsburg family, and she was lucky enough not to inherit that big chin. It is impossible to ask her how beautiful she is.

When she got older, the distance between her and the king in terms of appearance not only did not narrow, but it became farther and farther... After giving birth, women must age faster than their husbands, and Louis XIV was the same age as her, so it was easier to see. It came out, and they had to stand together from time to time for comparison.

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

Champagne pondered for a long time before he came up with the idea of ​​hair dye and grafting hair, which is not a novel idea - in ancient Rome, women would bleach their hair with lion's urine, and use henna to bleach their hair. sap to dye it red, or cut the hair of a German slave girl and put it on top of her own.

The dye that    Queen now uses is black, the composition is similar to ink, and the maintenance time is very short.

Champagne's dexterity could make the queen look five or six years younger, lest some rapping idiots babble—well, Madame de Montespan, who is said to have unabashedly paired the queen with the king in her salon. The queen mother was confused because "they looked the same age." Fortunately, almost all of her admirers were present, or well-meaning people who were unwilling to push the matter before the king, so as not to make the queen more sad.

   "Monsieur Champagne!"

When Champagne heard someone call him, he turned his body to look, and he saw a young officer in good spirits - although young, but also weathered, he was wearing a glossy sable cloak, From his shoulders to his heels, he wears a narrow, rolled-up beaver-skin hat, a wide belt, a musket on each side, and a belt of ammunition hanging from his neck. Thick gold totem jewelry, with thick and heavy leather boots on the feet.

   As soon as he saw such a dress, Champagne could guess that this was an officer who had just returned to Paris from the New World.

Since the French and the Indians drove the British out of the New World, the French have been able to explore this strange and wonderful new territory with ease - where merchants and Indians used to trade fur and wood, and now there are gold, Coal and steel, and countless schools of bison and fish.

  It is worth mentioning here that in the beginning, it was the fur that attracted the French, who didn’t care much about places other than Europa.

  A strange animal 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 get into the water. It is the best material for making hats. The hats made can be rainproof and have a smooth and light texture. Both the French and the British are very keen on this.

  Indians have been hunting beavers from a very early age, eating meat, skinning, and making tools from bones, so when the French tried to trade with them, the easiest thing for the Indians to come out was **** skins.

How much profit can    **** hides bring, to put it simply, up to two hundred times the cost.

  Because originally in Europe, when wool and cotton were not yet popular, nobles monopolized fur, and fur became a symbol of status and status. Today, although the kings no longer have too many strict regulations on fur, the rarity and expensiveness of good fur has become a limitation. Businessmen, military officers and government officials want to get a satisfactory fur. , has never been an easy task.

Not to mention the king and his family members, if a king or queen does not have enough beautiful and thick fur to adorn their figure, the officials responsible for their clothes will be held accountable, and so will the ministers. Ashamed, the envoys would question his strength.

   And fur is easily damaged and old.

During these five years, the furs that flowed into France from the New World, and Champagne knew a little bit about the number. There were 100,000 **** skins alone, 30,000 mink skins, and 50,000 raccoon skins. Ten thousand bearskins, and tens of thousands of bison and squirrel hides.

With these, even merchants can wear fur, but as this officer is so extravagantly and casually fashioned into sable cloaks, **** hats are popular in the New World - because of the wind and dense forests there , so the wide-brimmed hat is not suitable, and he is also stepping on heavy cowhide boots - in Paris, young people like to wear satin high heels. This almost means that this gentleman must have just returned from the New World, and he has become accustomed to and fell in love with that place, so he does not make any modifications to his clothes.

   "Sorry, sir..."

"Ah," the officer took off his hat and saluted Champagne: "I'm Lafayette, sir, you probably haven't seen me much, but my mother likes your lady's salon. "

"Ah...!" Champagne suddenly realized that it was Madame Lafayette's son. When this Madame was introduced to the salon by the Duchess of Montpensier, she was unhappy because her son went to the New World. The complexion and spirit were very poor, and it took a long time to recover a little under the massage, fragrance and dressing, and the comfort of friends.

"Your mother will jump for joy when she sees you!" Champagne said sincerely. He also invested in commercial companies in the New World. It was because of soldiers like Lafayette that he could Anxin earns a large dividend every year.

   "I hope she doesn't beat me." Lafayette said, "Is your carriage broken, or shall I take you for 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 the renovation, the Queen's Avenue can directly run through the Bastille from the Louvre to the Porte de Charente. It is on one side of the Seine River, and on both sides are planted with green and colorful plane trees. 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 already become crystal clear, with fish swimming in clusters. Students who skip classes and men and women on dates can be seen from time to time on the riverbank. There is a flower bed surrounded by chairs a hundred feet apart. In the month of the month, it is still very active.

   Seeing that some readers are commenting, is it going to end?

Yes.

   The Sun King's journey has come to an end, and his throne is no longer shaken. Next, he may have to do something for his people and ideals.

   Then, in this grand repertoire, all the important performers will also come out one by one to make a curtain call.

   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 written the outline and part of the beginning, but after continuing to write it for a few months, I feel that something is missing... indescribable but necessary, so...

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

   After this article, I will return to The Sage, because I promised a reader who helped me a lot to write a side story for the original Alex. It's Alex's adventure in the world of the Lich and the new "Ilda", about a month to the end.

   The new articles may be updated together. There are stories about the Holy City, the King of Leprosy and Saladin. It is also a fantasy history, stories from the early Middle Ages, so stay tuned.

   (end of this chapter)