Paris, the center of Europe.

Although Paris in this era is prosperous and is known as the center of European politics and culture, in fact, in the eyes of the Ming people, Paris is an absolute "sewage ditch".

Unlike the Ming Dynasty, there is no sewer in European countries nowadays. In fact, if you want to talk about sewers, sewers were already available during the Roman Empire more than two thousand years ago. The Romans not only established a well-connected drainage system in the city, but also had public baths for Roman citizens to keep their bodies clean and hygienic.

With the changes in history, the Roman Empire had become dust, but Europe seemed even more backward in this regard. Although it had dark medieval influences, it also had the current Europeans' lack of attention to this aspect.

The personal hygiene situation of Europeans is extremely worrying, even Louis XIV, the sun king who once illuminated the entire Europe.

It is said that Louis XIV did not take a bath for decades, and it was smelly all over the top and bottom. In order to conceal his strong body odor, the French invented the perfume.

In the Palace of Versailles, there was no toilet in the entire palace, which was simply unimaginable in Daming. The kings, queens, and those nobles of France, just find a corner when they need to solve personal problems in the Palace of Versailles. From this point of view, the residue of urine and defecation can be seen everywhere in the Palace of Versailles, and the air is filled with an indelible "scent".

Zhu Qingyan came to Paris more than a year ago. After arriving in Paris, she moved into the Ming Embassy on the banks of the Seine River in Paris as a member of the Ming Embassy in France.

Zhu Qingyan's official identity is a military officer and Dong Hua's wife of the Ming Dynasty Embassy. Dong Hua is now the Ming Dynasty's government counselor in France. This official position is second only to the Ming Dynasty's minister. It is not that Dong Hua does not have the qualification to serve as an ambassador, but mainly because Dong Hua's identity is sensitive. In addition, Zhu Qingyan's reason, he does not have the convenience of serving as an ambassador.

As for Zhu Qingyan's true identity, the entire embassy was not aware of except for the minister and Dong Hua. Zhu Qingyan did not use his original name in Paris, but continued to use the pseudonym serving in the navy.

The Ming Dynasty Embassy can be said to be the first building in Paris that uses sewer drainage systems and toilets. After the Ming Dynasty Embassy was built, the Ming Dynasty Embassy also made some jokes when invited political leaders from various countries in Paris and the French royal family to attend the banquet.

Those nobles, noble ladies and ladies originally thought that they would urinate and defecate everywhere in the Ming Dynasty Embassy as in the Palace of Versailles, but before they could go to the corner to take off their pants (skirts), the servants of the embassy politely reminded them, and then took them (they) to a dedicated bathroom.

In the bathroom of the embassy, ​​these noble princes used sanitary utensils from the East for the first time. They were surprised to find that the Ming people actually fired them with expensive porcelain into unique utensils, and these exquisite utensils were actually used to solve personal problems.

You should know that although with the prosperity of the Eastern Trade Road in recent years, various goods, including porcelain and other traditional items in the Ming Dynasty, were much more than before in Europe, porcelain still belongs to the scope of luxury goods. If an ordinary family has a piece of porcelain from the Ming Dynasty, it must be collected as a treasure. It will only be taken out when the distinguished guests arrive, use it carefully, and take it with pride.

Now, the various facilities in the bathroom of the Ming Embassy made them stunned and they didn't come back to their senses for a long time. When the servants in the bathroom guided them (they) how to use these utensils with polite smiles, these noble princes and princes were extremely nervous and excited, and then they sat down with great care of their noble buttocks.

After this banquet, the entire Paris discussed the extremely luxurious bathroom of the Ming Embassy. Those who participated in the banquet would squeeze their heads to the bathroom to experience this unprecedented feeling regardless of whether they needed it. And as time went on, this incident quickly spread throughout Europe, making almost all Europeans feel deeply moved.

Especially later, half a year before Zhu Qingyan arrived in Paris, King Louis XV of France suddenly visited the Ming Dynasty Embassy in person, and went to visit the bathroom in the embassy and experienced it personally.

After leaving, Louis XV made a request to the Ming Dynasty Minister. The young king liked the bathroom facilities in the Ming Dynasty Embassy very much, hoping that the Ming Dynasty craftsmen could help him build several bathrooms in the Palace of Versailles for his needs.

The Ming Dynasty minister naturally would not refuse Louis XV's request. Although the vessels were shipped from the local area, there were several sets of spare sets when building the embassy. It was a slight effort to take out some of these spare ones for Louis XV to get a toilet.

In fact, it is not difficult to build a toilet, but the difficult thing is the drainage (fouling discharge) system. After inspecting the Palace of Versailles, the Ming Dynasty craftsmen said that because the structure of the palace could not be built on the second floor, they could only renovate some areas on the first floor and build a bathroom.

Louis XV did not refuse to do so. After more than two months of transformation, the Ming craftsmen successfully built a bathroom that was exactly the same as the Ming Embassy in two floors of the Palace of Versailles. When Louis XV stepped into these two bathrooms and stroked the white porcelain vessels like a lover, a smile finally appeared on his face.

Since then, Louis XV has specially moved his bedroom from upstairs to downstairs, and directly circled one of the bathrooms for his own use.

As for the other bathroom, it can only be used when the important officials of France, or people who Louis XV think are worthy of being close to him. As for others, no one can enter it casually. If you want to solve the problem, you should still find a place to squat by yourself as before.

It’s strange to say that the word “squat” is. Later Europeans and Americans can’t “squat in Asia”, but Europeans in this era can squat. If they don’t squat, how can they solve personal problems? Couldn’t they just sit on the ground?

This is a long way to go. Anyway, after the incident of the Ming Dynasty Embassy in Paris, the Chinese wind that was already very hot in Europe was blowing even more rapidly. Countless European nobles and civilians were envious of the Ming culture and admired the details in the Ming culture. For a time, all parts of Europe actually quietly imitated this matter and started making these things. Although they were far inferior to the authenticity of the Ming Dynasty, most of the nobles used pottery or metal, and ordinary people made some wood to process it, no matter what, this was an absolutely significant boost to the progress of European civilization.
Chapter completed!