I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 414 Joseph the Carpenter (Part 2)

Thinking of this, Barrow was so excited that he was about to explode. His uncle told him dissatisfiedly that he did intend to use his recommendation qualifications on Barrow, but he was not without enemies. If they knew that they were favoritism, they would be in the guild. It was revealed during the meeting that both he and Barrow would be punished - if Barrow's craftsmanship is decent, there is still room for intercession. The problem is that Barrow's craftsmanship is not Joseph's, even if Joseph is the guide. The apprentice is also stronger than him!

   But what if there was only one helper?

Barrow was thinking about it, but he didn't forget the vigilance he should have. He is very talented at this point. The regular bumping sound in the room suddenly stopped, and then there was a shadow covering the light, and he immediately jumped from the ground. Get 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 **** for his mother. Lida has always followed Joseph's instructions very carefully, never leaving the room, but things like fetching water and buying cotton **** are left to her son. A six-year-old child is now half an adult in people's hearts. , and if it weren't for the fact that Joseph was busy making and experimenting with his new spinning wheel, he would have gone to school, which he could do well.

  Barrow turned his head and immediately followed.

  When he saw Joseph's eldest son drooling over a dried chicken hanging in the window, he knew his chance was coming.

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

   "Hey, brat!" Barrow yelled.

If Barrow talked to Joseph's eldest son with a smile on his face, the child would have been frightened. Now he showed a common bad look, and Joseph's eldest son just frowned in disgust and wanted to run past him, but Barrow's laterally growing body blocked the alleys tightly - "Are you going to the market?" he asked: "Going to buy cotton balls, right?"

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

"I don't want your money, do you have an Ecu in your hand, or a little Ecu, do you?" Barrow said sarcastically, "Just a few words from Liard are not enough for me to buy a bottle of wine. "He was right, Joseph's eldest son clenched a few liards in his hand, the smallest copper coins.

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

   "I won't bring you anything."

"You're as lazy as your father, boy, if you don't bring it to me, I'll not only knock you on the head, but you won't even want to enter my uncle or my workshop." Barrow said, "I also want to Others say you're a slacker and no one will take you as an apprentice."

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

  Barrow gave him an Ecu.

Joseph's eldest son came back soon, maybe worried about his mother, maybe afraid of Barrow, he ran out of breath, his face was red, the sweat on his back was dripping into his belt, the chickens in the basket were yellow and black, The fat on the chicken was about to solidify, but it still had an attractive aroma. He almost wanted to stick his finger in the chicken's **** to scrape it, and then put it in his mouth to suck, but he held back.

   "Good boy," said Barrow, taking the basket and looking at it. "And what about the bread and butter?"

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

   "Then there should be money. How about money?"

Joseph's eldest son turned pale, and he vaguely felt that he had made a big mistake. He tried hard to find... a suitable answer, but he was still a six-year-old child after all. Like all children, he was treated unreasonably. As soon as the adult intimidated, his mind went blank, he couldn't remember a word, he just kept shaking.

"It seems that you are not only lazy, but also a liar! A thief!" Barrow shouted in a low voice, "I knew it! Joseph was a thief. He stole the wood from the workshop and the guests of the craftsman. You It's his son, so you're a thief too, Virgin Mary, you all deserve to be kicked out of the workshop, kicked out, hanged in a standing cage!"

When it comes to standing cages, even a six-year-old child has weak feet. Who doesn’t know, there are iron cages built according to the shape of people hanging in the square and in front of the church. Standing on the ground, they can't pose any other way, they can't move their hands, feet, and heads. The wind is blowing, the sun and the rain are drenched, and crows come and take their eyes, nose, and ears. The ground fell, and they and their relatives and friends could only watch.

   Such sinners are usually placed until only the bones are left before they are taken away, and sometimes the bones are left in the cage until the next sinner enters.

Although Louis XIV had been exempted from this terrible torture, how could a child, Joseph's eldest son, know that when he heard Barrow's intimidation and saw that hideous face, he finally couldn't bear it any longer and began to cry : "I didn't, I didn't, I didn't! I'm not a thief!"

   "You are, and so is your father!"

   "Neither is he!"

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

"no!"

   "Then you're making a beautiful four-poster bed!"

"No!"

"Ah, I see, it must be making a big desk, this is a list given to the craftsman by a Mr. Earl! 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, it's not!" Joseph's eldest son became even more flustered when he heard that there was such a big man as an earl. He even dropped the basket and grabbed Barrow's sleeve: "My father was just making a spinning wheel. , the spinning wheel, the one used to spin cotton! Not a desk, nor a four-poster bed, nor a shrine!"

  Barrow was startled, this answer was beyond his guess... Joseph was making a spinning wheel?

  ———

  When Joseph got home, it was business as usual. The man who got away from the heavy work that lasted the whole day did not pay much attention to the children. He went to the spinning wheel and touched it lovingly, "Get ready, Lida, we will send it to the river on Thursday. Go to the warehouse next door."

   Lida, who was busy collecting cotton threads, paused when she heard the words: "Have you spoken to Elder Guy?"

   "Okay," Joseph said, "he'll take me..." He didn't go on, "He's not Dubo, he really wants to help us."

   "May the Lord bless him," Lida said, "and us."

Joseph stepped forward and hugged Lida, "We will be happy." He sighed deeply, took out bread and butter from the rucksack behind him, "Let's have a good meal today." Smelling The bread-scented eldest daughter ran over immediately, and Joseph distributed the bread to her, then his wife, before noticing that his son didn't come, which is rare: "Did you get into trouble again?" he asked.

   "He fell and soiled all the cotton **** he bought." Lida said humbly.

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

Joseph's eldest son approached hesitantly. He lied to his mother, because both father and mother had warned him over and over again that he must never tell anyone what his father was doing. In a panic, I told Barrow... but it's not a big deal, right, anyway, my father said it just now, and the spinning wheel will be moved to the warehouse by the river on Thursday.

  Today is Tuesday, and Thursday is the day after tomorrow. At most, the spinning wheel will be left at home for another day. No, listen to my father's tone.

   He still remembered the slaps his father gave him last night, and the broken spindle. If his father knew he had leaked a secret, he would have beaten him hard. The fear that spread from the bottom of his heart made him shut his mouth and only bite the bread in small bites. His eyes were still red, and Lida thought it was just because the cotton thread was soiled by falling on the road, but she didn't know what was going on. What a terrible place the place they didn't know had developed.

  ————

   Joseph and Barlow's craftsmen were about to rest when their nephew called out.

   "There's something I want to tell you." Barrow thought about it all afternoon—he didn't quite understand why Joseph would sneakily build a spinning wheel, which many carpenters can do, even an apprentice. He didn't know if he had grabbed Joseph's handle - he hoped that Joseph had built a large desk and a four-poster bed. The specifications and quantities of goods in each workshop were assigned by the guild, and the smaller ones were like wooden barrels. , shovels and the like can turn one eye and close one eye, such as furniture, it violates the guild regulations.

"Tell me, I'll listen." The craftsman yawned, he had no son, only a daughter, so this workshop could only be handed over to his nephew, so he was always tolerant to this idiot, but it's a pity Joseph, he What a talented kid, but who made him not have a good surname.

   So Barrow told what happened in the afternoon.

  The craftsman first glared at Barrow, what a bastard, and then thought, spinning wheel? His first thought was why Joseph was building a spinning wheel out of the eyes of the others, there was absolutely no need for that, spinning wheel… hey! He shook his head, there must be a reason for that.

   After a few seconds, Barrow was stunned to see his uncle literally jumping out of bed!

   "Spinning wheel!" he shouted, gnashing his teeth: "Ah, spinning wheel! What I should have thought of, the tormenting devil! The rude thief! The hellish rascal!"

Barlow was taken a step back by the sudden change: "Mother," he cried, "what is the matter with you, my dear uncle, you look terrible! Are you cursed? sick!"

"You are sick! Stupid disease, my dear nephew! The king's decree is posted next to the city gate. Haven't you even looked at it?" the craftsman shouted and ran out, only halfway through remembering that he was equal Naked all over, he ran back and got dressed neatly, not what he usually wears for going to the workshop, but what he wears for church worship. He turned his suitcase in a mess, and Barrow was stunned for a while, and he shouted blindly next to him: "What's the matter with you? Are you sick? Do you want a doctor or a priest to exorcise evil spirits..."

  The craftsman didn't have time to snort until he finished wearing it, "Don't be silly, hurry up and go to see Du Bo with me."

The leader of the guild is only a humble craftsman in front of the real nobles, but in front of people like Barrow, he is an unshakable and high-ranking person. When Barrow heard this, he trembled like Joseph's eldest son. Pulled him onto the mule, told his wife to close the door, and told her not to open it if anyone came.

When    went out, the vicinity of the workshop was already plunged into darkness like ink. The two of them rode a mule and went to a bright place, which is the upper city of Orleans, where the dignitaries lived.

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

  ———

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

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

Joseph was not a weaver, but to make a spinning wheel, it was impossible to understand the steps of spinning a thread. Although it was a bit clumsy, he successfully demonstrated how to make the twelve spindles squeak and spin. Guy watched on. Overjoyed, he touched the frame of the spinning wheel and the cotton threads spun to check their quality. Joseph worked non-stop with his hands and feet, because according to the king's edict, there was also a requirement for the output of the spinning wheel.

"Is your spinning wheel still lubricated with kerosene?" Just when Joseph was sweating profusely, Guy suddenly asked: "Is there a way to solve it, if the spun yarn smells of kerosene, it will be troublesome. "It was fine as far as he could see it, but if the cotton thread was polluted by the smell of grease, it was flawed, and of course he hoped that it would be as perfect as the king. "

  Joseph straightened up in confusion: "No, sir, in the spinning wheel..." He was only halfway through his answer when Guy suddenly changed his expression and rushed to the door of the warehouse.

  The door was bolted tightly from the outside.

   Then Guy saw the fire, and someone ignited the kerosene flowing in from the gap under the door.

   (end of this chapter)