I Am Louis XIV

  Chapter 92 Miramar of Versailles

In fact, in addition to the gold that M. Champagne grate between the ladies' hair, the king's mirabilis and rose rouge also sold for a good price - because the production of these powders was not very high, So with the help of the ladies such as the Duchess of Montpensier, they sold for a very high price, which in turn allowed the king to get twenty artillery pieces, but if he had any guilt - of course not Compared with lead powder, mirabili powder and pink rose, which can moisturise and whiten skin, are much safer than lead powder and cochineal insects that are commonly used by ladies. Even for health, ladies should pay for this. That's what taxes are. ,

The king also admits that he does prefer young people, like Colbert, Sebastian Vauban and Little Champagne. Although their occupations and identities are very different, their courage and Loyalty is consistent, and what Louis lacks now is such a courtier—and Marie.

The court of Paris can now be said to revolve around the king, just as the stars revolve around the sun, but Louis did not forget how he was neglected and coldly treated a few years ago, when the ladies were more willing to embrace him. Surrounded by the queen mother and the bishop, he does not resent them, but it is impossible for them to win the king's favor by flattering them. Before Louis invited Marie to dance the Gavot dance, he and the king Her Majesty the Queen Mother talked about it. The Queen Mother's dislike of Mancini to the King is completely understandable, but Mary is different. She sees the King earlier than anyone else, and she only sees the King. In this case, Why can't the king give her a special treat.

The Queen Mother loves Philip, but what she values ​​is Louis. The eldest son rarely asks for anything from her, and rarely shows her love for anything. Since he said so, the Queen Mother will not veto his proposal. With the fact that at the ball, the Queen Mother spoke to Mary first.

  Louis went to Versailles this time without even taking his brother Philip with him. As he had promised, it was only him and Mary in the carriage.

Marie had hardly been to Versailles since she had returned to Paris, she had only heard that the king had bought more land to house the numerous refugees and to work for them so that they could support their families - specific She had vaguely heard about the work around the king—but when Versailles was still two leagues away, the king pulled the curtain and pointed to the flower field outside the window and told her that this was one of the jobs he arranged for the refugees. .

Mirabilis is a plant that can be sown from seeds, and its seeds are small and can withstand long-distance transportation, so Colbert uses wooden barrels for light wine to load these seeds , some of the refugees were sent to grow potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc., and some of them were used to tend these jasmine flowers - this strange plant needs fertile soil, drained at the behest of the king and delicate machinery The swamp comes in handy. In addition, the requirements for manpower are very low. It can almost be said that even without any extra care, they can grow very vigorously. Therefore, in addition to the flower fields, even the front of the houses of the homeless. There are also shadows of this kind of flower behind the house. After all, the seeds of this kind of flower can be sold for money.

Purple jasmine is actually not beautiful. It looks like a small trumpet. The reason why it has such a name is because it has the aroma of jasmine. However, some refugees call them the trumpet of an angel. To them, the flower that would feed them well was more venerable than a real angelic trumpet—they often picked up fallen flowers, Louis knew, and placed them on church altars—of course not if they were still on the branches.

In addition to deep purple, the purple jasmine flowers are also gold, red, and white. Even if the individual flowers are mediocre, they will be very beautiful when they are gathered together, and the purple jasmine flowers are still not good-looking even if they are planted in large areas— And by this time, they were all about to bear black seeds, and the king took Marie to the other side of Versailles, where pink roses, the native roses of France, were planted.

   "This is the rose used for rouge?" Mary asked.

"No, that's not enough," said the king. "I planted this especially for you, my little rose," he said, picking one and slipping it gently between Mary's curls—since he let the little rose Champagne made Marie's hair curls, and Marie never used a hair scarf again.

After they walked around the roses for a while, admiring these lovely but vibrant flowers, the king took Mary up a hill, from where they could see a group of people busy, they Digging earth - the king told Mary that he was going to dig a canal here.

   "For these refugees?" Mary asked in surprise.

Louis smiled: "No," he said, he has not been so selfless, he has this idea, because he wants to build a new and grand palace here, but it will inevitably be exhausted and even hopeless money, so this matter is only on his pamphlet - but some preparations can be done from now on, he can't abandon the refugees who follow him to Versailles, but unlimited offerings will only provide a group of insatiable parasites Insect, and even though people say that he is kind, he doesn't want people to mistake his kindness as cowardice, so he must provide these refugees with work, not the so-called kindness.

They got on their horses and walked slowly towards the construction site. Mary looked curiously at the peculiarly shaped construction equipment. At this time, there were primitive pulleys and booms, but they were not only useful, but also dangerous. Safety awareness is also very indifferent. Just when the officials in charge of the construction site were constantly bowing to the king, they heard a scream, and then there was a commotion, and the king saw a woman moving quickly towards the place where the smoke was rising. Running, and when the dust cleared, they saw a young man lying on the ground with a stone on his feet. "Go and help," said the king, and his musketeers divided a few and ran towards the wounded. workers, but they were not so much to help as to supervise, because before they arrived, the workers' colleagues had pulled the stone away, but the worker's leg was bloody, and it seemed Remedy by law.

   The woman was weeping, but not terribly alarmed.

In the past, people who were injured on the construction site could only rely on luck to save their lives. If they were injured, most of them would fall into hell, but Louis could not improve their current working conditions and change their cognition, so prepare a plan for them. The money for treatment and placement was still enough, and with Mirabilis, even if his leg was injured, the young man could still support himself—so his mother, the woman, could only instinctively worry for a while, and then Go with the stretcher.

Mary wanted to give them some reward, but was held down by Louis; "Don't," he said softly, "if you gave money, then more people would get hurt on purpose." It's not that this happened, In this era, not to mention the precarious commoners, even the nobles are very contemptuous of their own lives. So much so that the outlaws are particularly numerous.

   (end of this chapter)