I Am Louis XIV

Thinking of this, Barrow was so excited that he was about to explode. His uncle once told him dissatisfied that he did intend to use his recommendation qualifications on Barrow, but he was not without enemies. If it was revealed during the meeting, both he and Barrow would be punished—if Barrow’s workmanship was decent, then there was still room for intercession. The apprentices he guides are also better than him!

But what if there is only one helper?

Barrow was imaginative, but he did not forget the vigilance he should have—he was quite gifted in this regard. The regular clinking sound in the room suddenly stopped, and then there was a shadow covering the light, and he immediately jumped from the ground Jump up and hide behind an abandoned cabinet.

Joseph's eldest son came out with money in his hand, and he was going to buy cotton balls for his mother. Lida has been very careful to follow Joseph's instructions and never leave the room, but things like fetching water and buying cotton balls are left to her son. At this time, a six-year-old child is also a half-adult in people's minds. , and if Joseph hadn't been busy making and experimenting with a new spinning wheel, he'd be off to school too, which he's perfectly capable of doing.

Baro turned his head and immediately followed.

He knew his opportunity had come when he saw Joseph's eldest son drooling over a dry-dried chicken hanging in the window.

When Joseph's eldest son saw Barrow, he jumped back vigilantly. Even if his parents hadn't warned him, he knew that Barrow was not a good person—Barrow kicked him a lot when he was drunk Ass, and children always have an innate ability to know what kind of people they can't get close to.

"Hey, boy!" Barrow called.

If Barrow talked to Joseph's eldest son with a smile, the child would feel scared, but now he showed a common bad look, Joseph's eldest son just wrinkled his face in disgust, and wanted to run past him, but Barrow's horizontally growing body blocked the alleyway tightly—"Are you going to the market?" He asked, "You're going to buy cotton balls, aren't you?"

"If you dare to steal my money, I will tell Dad!"

"I don't want your money, do you have an ecu in your hand, and a small ecu, too?" Barro said sarcastically, "A few riads are not enough for me to buy a bottle of wine. "He was right, Joseph's eldest son clenched several liards, the smallest copper coins in his hand.

"I've got nothing to stop you. Since you're going to the market, bring me a bottle of wine and a chicken. It's the Cotton Tavern by the square, you know."

"I won't bring you anything."

"You are as lazy as your father, boy, if you don't bring it to me, not only will I knock your head off, but you won't even try to enter my uncle or my workshop." Others say you're a slacker so no one will take you on as an apprentice."

Joseph's eldest son took a step back. He really felt a burst of fear. Generally speaking, sons will always inherit their father's career, and Joseph was no exception. Although he didn't know that few people would believe Baro's words, the six-year-old The child is in a very sensitive period, and Joseph's concession to Barrow also gave him a deep-rooted idea that he should not provoke Barrow: "...Okay, I will bring it to you, sir."

Barro gave him a crown.

Joseph's eldest son came back soon, perhaps because he was worried about his mother, or perhaps because he was afraid of Barrow. He ran out of breath, his face was flushed, and the sweat on his back flowed into his belt. Although the chickens in the basket were yellow and black, The fat on the chicken's body was almost solidified, but it still exuded a tempting aroma. He almost wanted to insert his finger into the chicken's buttocks to scrape it, and then put it in his mouth to suck, but he still held back.

"My boy," said Barrow, taking the basket and looking at it. "And where's the bread and butter?"

Joseph's eldest son was stunned, "The owner of the tavern gave me these..."

"Then there should be change. Where's the change?"

Joseph's eldest son turned pale. He vaguely felt that he had made a big mistake. He tried hard to find...a suitable answer, but after all, he was still a six-year-old child. Like all children, he was bullied. When a reasonable adult threatens, his mind goes blank, he can't think of a word, and he just keeps shaking.

"It seems that you are not only lazy, but also a liar! A thief!" Baro shouted in a low voice, "I knew it! Joseph is a thief. He stole the wood in the workshop and the master's guest. You He is his son, so you are a thief too, Madonna, you deserve to be cast out of your workshop, expelled, and hung in cages!"

When it comes to standing cages, even a six-year-old child will have weak feet. Who doesn't know that this kind of iron cage made according to the human shape is hung in front of squares and churches. Sinners are locked in it. They can’t pose other than standing on the ground, and they can’t move their hands, feet and heads. They are exposed to wind, sun and rain, and crows come to snatch away their eyes, noses and ears. The ground fell, but they and their relatives and friends could only watch helplessly.

Such sinners are generally placed until only the bones are left, and sometimes the bones are left in the cage until the next sinner enters.

Although Louis XIV had spared this terrible torture, how could Joseph's eldest son, a child, know? Hearing Barrow's threats and seeing that ferocious face, he finally couldn't bear it and cried : "I don't, I don't, I don't! I'm not a thief!"

"You are, and so is your father!"

"Nor is he!"

"Then tell me, what is he doing!? He must be making a reliquary!"

"no!"

"Then making a beautiful four-poster bed!"

"No!"

"Ah, I see. It must be a big desk. This is a list that a count gave to the craftsman! It's terrible, it's terrible. I'm going to tell the craftsman right away that he is a thief. He stole the craftsman's business!!"

"No, no, no, no!" When he heard that there was such a big man as the count, Joseph's eldest son became even more flustered. He even dropped the basket and grabbed Barrow's sleeve: "My father is just making a spinning wheel. , the spinning wheel, the one with which the cotton is spun! Not a desk, nor a four-poster bed, nor a reliquary!"

Barrow was taken aback, this answer also exceeded his guessing range... Joseph is making a spinning wheel?

—————

When Joseph returned home, everything was as usual. The man who got rid of the heavy work that lasted the whole day didn't pay much attention to the children. He walked to the spinning wheel and touched it lovingly. "Get ready, Lida, we will send it to the river on Thursday." Go to the nearby warehouse."

Lida, who was busy collecting cotton thread, paused when she heard this: "Have you made an agreement with Elder Guy?"

"It's settled," Joseph said, "he will take me..." He didn't continue, "He's not Du Bo, he really wants to help us."

"God bless him," said Lida, "and us."

Joseph stepped forward and hugged Lida, "We will be happy." He sighed deeply, took out bread and butter from the backpack behind him, "Let's have a good meal today." The older daughter, who smelled of bread, ran over immediately, and Joseph shared the bread with her, and then his wife, before noticing that the son hadn't come, which was rare: "Are you in trouble again?" he asked.

"He fell down and soiled all the cotton balls he bought." Lida said in a calm voice.

"It's nothing, we can have as many cotton balls as we want in the future," Joseph said. "Come and eat, boy."

Joseph's eldest son came over hesitantly. He lied to his mother, because his father and mother had repeatedly warned him never to tell others what his father was doing. In a panic, I told Barrow...but it's not an important matter, right, anyway, my father said it just now, and moved the spinning wheel to the warehouse by the river on Thursday.

Today is Tuesday, and Thursday is the day after tomorrow. The spinning wheel will be at home for another day at most. No, according to my father, he will first dismantle the spinning wheel.

He still remembered the few slaps his father gave him last night, and the broken spindle. If his father knew that he had revealed the secret, he would definitely beat him severely. The fear that spread from the bottom of his heart made him close his mouth, and he only bit the bread in small bites. His eyes were still red, and Lida thought it was just because he fell down on the road and dirty the cotton thread, but she didn't know what was going on. What a terrifying place they didn't know had developed.

———————

When Joseph and the craftsmen of Baro were about to rest, their nephew called out to them.

"There is something I want to tell you." Barrow thought for a whole afternoon - he didn't quite understand why Joseph built a spinning wheel in secret. There are many carpenters who can make spinning wheels, even apprentices. He didn't know if he had caught Joseph's handle—he hoped that Joseph would build a large desk and a four-poster bed. Buckets, shovels and other things can turn a blind eye, like furniture, which violates the guild regulations.

"Speak, I'll listen." The master craftsman yawned. He has no son, only a daughter, so the workshop can only be handed over to his nephew in the end, so he has always been tolerant of this idiot. It's a pity that Joseph, he What a talented kid, but who made him not have a good surname.

So Barrow talked about what happened in the afternoon.

The craftsman first gave Barrow a look, what a jerk, and then thought again, spinning wheel? His first thought was why did Joseph build a spinning wheel out of the eyes of other people, there was no need for that, spinning wheel... hey! He shook his head, there must be a reason for this.

A few seconds later, Barrow watched dumbfounded as his uncle literally jumped out of bed!

"The spinning wheel!" he cried, gnashing his teeth. "Ah, the spinning wheel! I should have thought, the tormenting devil! The wicked thief! The damned scoundrel!"

Barrow took a step back, frightened by such a sudden change: "Holy Mother," he cried, "what is the matter with you, my dear uncle, you look terrible! Is it cursed? Or is it sick!!"

"You are just sick! Stupid disease, my dear nephew! The king's edict is pasted next to the city gate, haven't you even looked at it?" The whole body was naked, and he ran back and dressed neatly, not the usual attire for going to the workshop, but the attire for going to church. The suitcase was turned into a mess, and Barrow was stunned for a while, and he yelled beside him: "What's the matter with you, are you sick, do you want a doctor, do you want a priest to exorcise evil spirits..."

After the craftsman finished dressing, he had time to pooh, "Stop talking silly, hurry up and see Du Bo with me."

The leader of the guild is just a humble craftsman in front of real nobles, but he is an unshakable and unapproachable big man in front of people like Baro. When Baro heard this, he trembled like Joseph's eldest son. Pull him onto the mule, ask his wife to close the door, and tell her not to open it when anyone comes.

When they went out, the vicinity of the workshop had been plunged into darkness like ink, and the two of them rode a mule to a place with light, which was the upper town of Orleans, where the dignitaries lived.

Dubo's house is at the junction of the upper and lower urban areas.

—————

On Thursday, Joseph reported his illness to the master craftsman, but unexpectedly, the master craftsman was not sarcastic or eccentric this time. He waved his hand as if bored, and let Joseph go. Joseph felt a little uneasy in his heart, but he couldn't say anything. He returned home with a restless heart, put the disassembled spinning wheel into a cabinet, and asked two friends to help him move quietly to Guy. In the elder's warehouse.

In the warehouse, he reassembled the spinning wheel in front of Elder Guy, and then took out the cotton and wool balls, took out the end of the thread and fixed it on the spindle, slowly pulled it through the spinning wheel, and then twisted it on the wheels beside the spinning wheel.

Joseph was not a weaver, but if he wanted to make a spinning wheel, he couldn't understand the steps of spinning. Although he was a bit clumsy, he successfully demonstrated how to make the twelve spindles creak and spin. Guy watched from the side, Overjoyed, he touched the frame of the spinning wheel and the cotton threads spun to check their quality. Joseph worked non-stop on his hands and feet, because according to the requirements of the king's decree, there were also requirements for the output of the spinning wheel.

"Is your spinning wheel still lubricated with kerosene?" Just as Joseph was sweating profusely, Guy suddenly asked, "Is there a way to solve it? If the spun thread smells of kerosene, it will be troublesome. "As far as he can see it is good, but if the cotton thread is contaminated by the smell of oil, it is flawed, and he certainly hopes to present the perfect finished product to the king. "

Joseph straightened up in confusion: "No, sir, in the spinning wheel..." He hadn't answered halfway before Guy's expression suddenly changed, and he rushed to the door of the warehouse.

The door was bolted tightly from the outside.

Then Guy saw the flames, someone igniting the kerosene that had flowed through the crack under the door.