I Am Louis XIV

   Chapter 415 The Guild's Biggest Enemy

   A new spinning wheel was placed before the king.

Louis XIV walked around it a few times with interest, then returned to his position, and the inventor and maker of the new spinning wheel stepped forward, and with trembling hands began to operate the spinning wheel - which, as previously described, had a four-poster bed The large, towering axles are as high as the bedposts of a four-poster bed, and it takes one or two people to make it move, accompanied by the familiar creaking and bumping, one silver after another. The cotton thread slowly expands on the spindle.

No one can deny that this spinning wheel is not only more efficient and produces better thread than the original small spinning wheel that can only be held in the hand and on the knee, the makers of the spinning wheel began There was also a little bit of shyness caused by awe, and as the spindle gradually became "fat", his expression also became relaxed and proud, but this pride was completely worthy of the king's praise, Louis nodded: "This is indeed what I see The best spinning wheel ever."

  Joseph opened his hands and looked stupidly, but Bontang stepped forward and signaled that he should kneel and accept the king's reward and praise.

He was on his knees, and Louis leaned over, and could easily see the top of his sparsely-haired head—not because of the spinning wheel, no, it should be said that before the horrific murder, his hair was still in good shape, only in the When the fire started, he ignored Guy's dissuasion and tried his best to move the spinning wheel to a place where the flames could not reach, but how could this be possible, the fiery red enveloped the entire warehouse.

The people who came here had a plan, and Guy’s choice of location made it easier for them to set fire to it. The barrels of kerosene were transported to the vicinity of the warehouse. Once Guy, Joseph, and their spinning wheel entered the warehouse, they set the warehouse’s The door was bolted from the outside, kerosene was poured into the gap between the door and the wall, and the fire was lit.

If it weren't for the king's "birds" watching every part of Orleans, Joseph and Guy would never have escaped from the flaming warehouse even if they threw away the spinning wheel. The soldiers hired by the leader of the society were waiting outside, and they would inevitably die.

What neither Guy nor Joseph could have guessed and thought was that if they really brought out a new spinning wheel in front of Du Bo, the leader of the guild, Du Bo would not take the new spinning wheel to claim credit to the king, they would only destroy it. The spinning wheel, and its inventor.

   Seeing this, some people must be confused. Isn't it a good thing to present a new spinning wheel to the king and get the king's reward?

   is a good thing, even for most people, a good thing. But in this world, there are always some ignorant idiots who can only see three inches in front of them, can only understand what happened between their birth and 20 years old, or understand everything, but are afraid of change, Louis XIV is eager to change this country and even the whole of Europa. The world is different. They hope that everything in the world will not change, never change.

  Certainly, the latter kind of people, generally speaking, are living well, like Joseph or worse, they don't care.

Louis XIV had the heart to create a job for women that would allow them to go out of the house—hospital nurses were still not considered "serious"; whether in France, or Spain, or Ottoman Turkey, men or fields such as mining, smelting, engineering, etc., are not the heavy work that women can afford—even if there are one or two women, they are mostly working with their husbands and sons. Is doing odd jobs.

   In this way, only the textile industry is the most suitable. After France annexed Holland and Flanders, French commerce and textile industries developed rapidly - business needless to say, Flanders has always been full of British merchants, why, precisely because Flanders is It is the region with the largest wool production in Europa. They buy tens of millions of livres of wool from the British every year, and process it into more valuable and beautiful wool, which is sold in all directions.

But please note, gentlemen, whether in France or Flanders, the textile workers are still men, and all the steps are done by hand, and it takes several Years of apprentice-help-craftsman process, the thread that women spun and the cloth woven at home, were not regarded as valuable products.

In the annex to the edict, the king put forward the requirement that the spinning wheel must be able to be operated skillfully by a woman (so Joseph would let his wife try to operate it), so that some guys with a keen sense of smell could smell some Ominous smell.

Unlike the commerce guilds, the artisans' guilds did not like the king very much—though Louis XIV had created many lucrative new industries and trades since his return to Paris after the Second Frond Movement, But to those who stick to the rules, it is purely the nobles who are acting out of their own minds; if only these are the things, after buying back Lorraine, because Lorraine has iron mines, mountains, and clay, the king will It is logical to open all the large workshops of the Wang family, steel, mirrors, glass, ceramics...

Needless to say, the workshops opened by the king, from tools, techniques to workers, have no role for the guilds to intervene, which makes the leaders of the guilds both embarrassed and jealous. The good things that the king's big workshops produce every day are Like the rivers flowing in the Seine, the gold and Louis they exchanged can cover the squares of Paris and Versailles like sunshine, but they can't get a single penny.

The most hateful thing is, because working in the king's workshop does not strictly require you to be a craftsman or a guild member, even if you were just a peasant or a soldier, as long as you want, an official will arrange a skilled person to teach you. You work. In this way, the guild will not only be unable to get the fees and bribes that must be paid in the promotion process of apprentices, helpers and craftsmen, but also lose a large part of the new blood of the guild.

This is not surprising. If there is another way out, who is willing to be an apprentice for three years, a helper for two years, and sometimes an extension of one year each - and whether or not to become a craftsman must be decided by the guild leader - this It is another considerable expenditure, and as the guild restricts the number of craftsmen, to become a craftsman now requires a workshop, supporting tools and equipment, and a mortgage. Recently, it has been suggested that after a helper becomes a craftsman, he should give his craftsman free service for three or five years.

   For artisans with an average lifespan of around forty years, they may only be able to work for themselves and their families for ten years or less…

But if it is in the king's workshop, whether young or old, there is no need to worry about their future. Young workers, as long as they are not lazy or stupid to the point of hopelessness, the king keeps opening There is always a place for the rising workshops; and for the veterans who have lost their helpers and apprentices, they can receive a bounty for each person they teach, and in the king's workshop, they have nothing but the poll tax. Pay any excess fees.

The leaders of the guild will of course be angry about this. Their existence was originally a good stake to support the growth of the seedlings, but now they are the vines that strangle the trees. Without the new "trees", they don't even talk about enjoying the sunshine at the top. It was raining and it was impossible to stand on your own.

But their opponents are not lowly craftsmen, dazed elders, or whimsical councilors. They are facing a veiled Leviathan (the biblical sea beast) who dare not even stand upright. Look at him, let alone play some tricks - but to say that they just obeyed without any resistance would be nonsense.

Before the king's decree was passed, they had tightened their control over craftsmen, helpers and apprentices, especially the sons of craftsmen and helpers, if their sons or nephews did not become apprentices, to inherit their craftsmanship, the guild They will deprive them of their craftsmanship or helper qualifications, drive out guilds and even cities, notify guilds in other places that they are not allowed to continue in this trade, and forcibly buy their workshops and houses at low prices, and so on, etc. and many more.

  Like worse insults, broken hands and eyes, or murder or something, not without.

In addition, there are restrictions on new tools, new technologies, and new ideas and ideas - because some of the technologies and products (such as dyes) used in the king's great workshop come from scholars (wizards), and the guild has no way to intervene, but they can refuse their infiltration into their guild - don't forget that the raw materials for guild members are also purchased by the guild leader.

They also tried to collude with the merchants, but the commercial guild and the handicrafts guild were originally enemies, and the relationship between Louis XIV and the merchants was always very close, and the merchants were only willing to be neutral or on the sidelines - anyway Profits are indispensable to them, although they are absolutely optimistic about the king, but who knows...

But even the members of the guild, as long as they are smarter, know that this is just delaying time. They can still survive, only relying on the carelessness of the Sun King, not even the princes of Brittany. Enemies worthy of Louis XIV's face, what are they? But even such a meager hope was dashed by the king's edict.

The edict has clearly stated that there will be no threshold for the textile industry in the future. It is possible for a person to study for a few days and then be able to start working, whether it is a man or a woman, or even a child and an old woman. This will undoubtedly completely break the situation. Guild Monopoly - Who doesn't want to have multiple incomes at home? Even if the members of the guild were controlled, the families of farmers, servants or soldiers would do, and there would be countless people working in the king's great workshop.

On the other hand, when such a large workshop is built, the guilds and members who live by hand-woven textiles will not have a way out. To be precise, it is the guild leaders and those who **** blood on the guild system. There is no way out, after all, the members of the guild can lower their body and go to work in the big workshop.

Joseph was just a helper who was not valued by the craftsman, and he was a little jealous. Of course, it was impossible for him to know what Barrow didn't know, but their craftsman, as Du Bo's confidant, had already been mentioned— Entrusted by the head of the textile guild, the head of the woodworking guild had already decided that not only would he not allow the craftsmen under his command to study a new spinning wheel, but if a helper or apprentice made it, it would also be destroyed together with the spinning wheel. .

   It can be said that if Elder Guy hadn’t covered it up, perhaps Joseph would have been exposed earlier. It’s a pity that they couldn’t hide the secret in the end, and they were almost burned to death in the warehouse.

In order to save the spinning wheel, Joseph's hair was burned, as were his eyelashes and eyebrows, a head that looked like a scorched egg, made people laugh at it, but said from the heart, he The new spinning wheel was indeed the best—since the king had issued edicts to France and beyond, and sent the spinning wheel before him—even if the guilds interfered, there were a dozen of them, including English ones. People and Spaniards.

Joseph's spinning wheel can drive the most spindles, and the thread it spins is the strongest and smoothest. Louis chose him without hesitation. Next, he will work with other colleagues. He is the champion of the spinning wheel and the loom. Another Flemish man came out on top.

When he heard that he could work in the king's workshop, Joseph was surprised and delighted, and almost fainted. It must be said that he was a little nervous before, but he still had to work in the guild after all - the craftsman is only a member of the guild One, he has completely offended Dubo, not to mention Orleans, he probably can't stay in other cities, maybe he has to go to another country with the king's bounty, but since he is now the king's The craftsman, what else does he need to worry about.

Excited, he knelt down on his knees and bowed his head to kiss the king's feet, but Bontang stopped him quickly - Louis could endure this kind of etiquette before he was in power, and after he was in power, he would never accept anyone unless he had to. foot kiss.

  Although he couldn't kiss the king's feet, Joseph kept kissing the road he walked on after the king left. Of course, the floor of the palace was made of marble that was as clean as a mirror, but it was difficult for others to see such a scene. Count D'Artagnan just came to return to the king, and when he saw it, he walked over and persuaded with a smile that if Joseph did not hurry up. Go out and run to the Martyrdom Square in Orleans, and he won't see the good show after that.

Joseph didn't know what was going on there, but he was still just a craftsman after all. A richly dressed nobleman came to talk to him in a good voice. No matter how he had to hear it, he also realized that he seemed to have lost his way. , hurriedly bowed to Count D'Artagnan and thanked him, and left in a hurry under the guidance of his attendants.

Martyrdom Square, as the name suggests, was set up by the people of Orleans to mourn Joan of Arc (renamed), but today it is true sinners who are being tried here. As soon as Joseph passed by, most of the people he knew were members of the guild. Immediately out of the way, he saw that the gallows had been erected in the square, and there was also a high platform. On the high platform was a long table and high-backed chairs covered with white linen, and in the middle sat a nobleman shining like a star. .

This gentleman was the master of Orleans, the Duke of Orleans, his younger brother Philip, and he curled his long hair languidly and absently, squinting at the kneeling sinner. "They are lucky, aren't they," he said. Respectfully, he said to the people who served behind him, "Your Majesty abolished many punishments a few years ago."

Elder Guy, who was serving behind him, or, in other words, the leader of the new carpenter's guild, followed the Duke's line of sight and saw the standing cage hanging on the old city wall—there were still remnants of dead bones in the standing cage... "Yes. , Your Highness, they are so lucky." Everyone knows that it is better to anger the Duke of Orleans than the King, the King may forgive you, but the Duke of Orleans will never, if it is not in the name of treason to deal with this group of villains It's a compliment to them, and the Duke is willing to let them suffer a lot.

   But even if there are no cages, or wheels, or flowering pears, the despair of sinners is not much less.

   Several masterminds, the guild leader Du Bo and two elders, the craftsman of the informer Joseph and Barrow, the former was sentenced to whipping and then hanged, and the latter was sentenced to plucking his tongue and hanging.

  The soldiers they hired were sentenced to direct hanging.

The people who were directly hanged were tortured in front of the former. When they were swaying, the wailing of Du Bo and the elders also resounded throughout the square. Grab it immediately—this is also a rare medicinal herb.

   Joseph watched in a trance, he felt that he might still be sleeping, it was a good dream, and a nightmare...until he made eye contact with Guy.

   After a short touch, the two immediately turned their faces away,

   How cheap their lives are to Du Bo, Du Bo's lives are for real nobles... No, there is no value at all...

   (end of this chapter)