chapter 13 - napoleon's plan

　Actually, in terms of latitude alone, Paris was a little farther north than Harbin. But because of the Atlantic warm current, the winters here were quite mild, and even at the end of November, the sun was still warm in Paris.

　　Joseph walked forward along the streets that were lined with drifting dead leaves, a short figure following him.

　　"Ah, Napoleon, you have good ideas. But I don't think your move will do much good, or even, most likely, this approach will only lead to others turning on you." Joseph shook his head gently as he walked away, "Napoleon, you know what I admire most about you? I admire you most for your courage; you see something and you are brave enough to do it. You have faith that you can overcome all odds and nothing can stop you. You never let 'I dare not' follow 'I want to'. This is a very good quality, and many heroes in history have overcome all difficulties, accomplished great deeds and become immortal legends because of this quality.

　　However, you have to remember one thing, there is only a thin line between confidence and pride. Very often, you should think more when you do things. First of all, think about where your goals are and what is really good for you; then think about where the boundaries of your power are, and what are the things that your power can't reach for the time being, and you can't force yourself to do.

　　I never worry that you will lose your courage if you think too much, but I always worry that you will suffer because you overestimate yourself and underestimate others. Take this time, for instance, and tell me, what is your purpose in taking such an action?"

　　Napoleon smiled triumphantly as he listened:

　　"O my foolish brother, do you really think that I would be worried that the French military academy has taught all those French nobles to become four-bodied swine? If every one of them were as clever and brave as I am, it would be our cause that had no future at all."

　　"And what are you doing this for?" Joseph asked offhandedly, forgetting even to condemn Napoleon for actually daring to violate his patent.

　　"O my foolish brother, is your poor intellect really inadequate? Can't you even think of such a simple thing?" Napoleon hurriedly seized this rare opportunity to return what he had previously received from Joseph to his heart's content.

　　Joseph stood still and turned his face to stare at Napoleon. Napoleon raised his face in triumph and locked eyes with Joseph.

　　"Hahahahaha ...," Joseph suddenly burst out laughing, "O my foolish brother, you're not trying to graduate early with this, are you?"

　　"What?" The smug smile on Napoleon's face suddenly froze, "What makes you think that?"

　　In his previous life, Joseph had seen a movie about Napoleon, which briefly mentioned that the maverick Napoleon had graduated early due to his outstanding grades after only one year of study at the Paris Officer's School. At the time when he watched it Joseph didn't think much of it, but now that he thinks about it more carefully, in terms of Napoleon's temper nowadays, as well as his so obvious as to be almost undisguised hostility towards the French aristocracy, this early graduation is not a reward in any way, it's only ...

　　"Your accusations against them are hard to hear, but wherever you put them, they are perfectly correct, at least in reason. Correct as in saying 'you should be pious and chaste' to a Catholic priest, so while your accusations against them will offend them, they can't use them as a reason to punish you.

　　Then again, your grades in all subjects will basically be nothing for them to find fault with - well, you guys must think so - then again, these guys will hate you extraordinarily and want to get rid of you in a hurry, but they can't use the punishment as a way to The best way to get rid of you, then, is to say that you have outstanding grades and can graduate early. After all, as far as I know, there is a precedent for this at the Paris Officers' School. Well, O my foolish brother, you think so, don't you?"

　　"Living hell!" Napoleon said, "As much as I would like to deny it, you ... fellow are not too stupid."

　　Joseph knew that Napoleon, despite his stiff upper lip, must have been very shocked in his heart, so he also couldn't help but feel smug, and almost ventured out, "Just you monkey head, you also want to jump out of the Buddha's palm?" However, thinking about the fact that there is still no widely known translated version of Journey to the West today, an allusion that Napoleon was not aware of, he swallowed the words in his stomach, and then sighed with a rather lustful sigh.

　　"How's this my way? What do you think the chances of success are?" Although being recognized by his brother had made Napoleon a bit disappointed, he had long been used to this, so his mood hadn't really been hit too hard. It was then that he asked this.

　　"That's up to you Napoleon, you're going to have to make it academically impossible for those guys who hate you to find anything wrong with you if you want to realize your plans." Joseph said, "As far as I know, most of the students at the Paris Officer's School are sons of nobility ..."

　　"Not most, but almost all." Napoleon corrected.

　　"Most of those fellows do live lavishly, indulging in hedonistic pleasures as you say, spending their precious time drinking, bragging, enjoying fine food, and showing off their carriages, servants, and mistresses. Though your intellect is not particularly impressive, it would be easy for you to defeat such a fellow academically.

　　Because alcohol and beauty have long since destroyed their already modest intellect, today, their level of intelligence is not much better than that of the red-haired gorillas. Overcoming these red-haired gorillas was really a matter of course. But, the nobles were not all such red-haired gorillas. After all, the Paris Officers' School is this big, and it's still possible for one or two very outstanding guys to appear in here. So don't take it too lightly."

　　"That I'm surely aware of. And I'm studying to improve myself as much as possible, not to overwhelm anyone. So I'm not going to relax myself, no matter where I am." Napoleon replied.

　　That was something that Joseph was very much convinced of. In terms of "love of learning", Napoleon could indeed be considered a role model, throughout his life, whether it was when he was leading his army over the snow-capped Alps, or when he was imprisoned on the island of St. Helena, as long as he had the time, he was always studying with his hands free.

　　"Then I think you have a good chance of graduating early. But after graduation, your assigned destination might not be too good." Joseph said.

　　"Corsicans like us, even if I work as a little follower and fiddler for them every day, where can I have a good destination? Besides, our future lies in Corsica, not in France." Napoleon replied without a care in the world.

　　Hearing this reply, Joseph almost laughed out loud. Because he knew that later on, during the French Revolution, Napoleon had fallen out with the idol of his heart at the moment, Pauli, precisely because of his opposition to the independence of Corsica, and in the end, it even progressed to the point of a military confrontation.

　　"It's just that Corsica is just too small." Joseph sighed.

　　"You're right." Napoleon said, "It is indeed a serious problem. Even if we could all fight one for one, it would be difficult to defeat France on our own. But France has serious internal problems today, and we may, in the future, be able to get support from other countries."

　　"Like Mr. Pauli is in England today?" Joseph said.

　　"Yes. But I don't think England may be reliable either." Napoleon said, "The English have betrayed others more than once, it's fine to have them give France old trouble, to have them bleed for Corsica? I'm afraid they'd rather have Corsica bleed for them. The most they'll pay is a little bit of money. That's how Britain helped Prussia in the Seven Years' War. But Corsica is so small. How much blood can it shed? But it is because of the difficulties that I am rather filled with fighting spirit."

　　"My brother, you sound like a Virgil or a Homer character when you say that." Joseph said.

　　"Ah, my brother, that is one of the most moving words I have ever heard from you." Napoleon said happily, "You are right, I am not one of those weak mediocre men of this age, I am a hero of Homer's time."

　　"Ah, O my foolish brother. You must remember that a man's skill is like the numerator of a fraction, and his evaluation of himself is the denominator of the fraction; the larger the denominator, the smaller the value of the fraction." Joseph couldn't help but laugh again.

　　"Hmph!" Napoleon didn't care about Joseph's habitual sarcasm, he had gotten used to it a long time ago.

　　"Well, by the way, Joseph, you're due to graduate soon, what are your future plans?" Napoleon asked.

　　"Me? I'll probably go back to Corsica first and become a priest." Joseph replied.

　　"You lie." Napoleon said, "Your eyes tell me that your mind has been wild for a long time, that you have long felt that Corsica is too small for you. And I don't really think you look favorably on the future of the Church."

　　"Well then." Joseph sighed, his brother being too smart could be a problem, "I'm going to leave Paris for a while, hide out in Corsica, and keep my eyes open for a change."

　　"A change of heart?" Napoleon said, "What do you mean?"

　　"A repeat in France of the story of England's day, of course." Joseph said.

　　"The story of England?" Napoleon said, "What story are you referring to?"

　　"The story of Lord Protector Cromwell, of course." Joseph said, "Have you seen what has been disclosed in recent times about the income and expenditure of the Crown?"

　　"No." Napoleon said, "I don't associate with my classmates much, and I don't usually go out much."

　　"If the information is reliable, the royal family can't make ends meet and is on the verge of bankruptcy." Joseph said, "Now that the royal family owes a whole lot of debt, the nobles and the rich people are no longer willing to lend money to the royal family nowadays. I reckon the crown will just have to raise taxes, and once a massive tax is imposed, with the current attitude of France up and down the country, a revolution is just around the corner."