Chapter 32: Modification

　Hearing Joseph's words, Ah Mang became complacent instead, "What's there to be afraid of? Isn't it just a ban? Gao Nai Yi's 'Xide' was also banned. To be banned as well as 'Xide', that's simply ... Why should it be changed? No! Even if it's banned, even if I'm thrown under the bus for it, it's worth it! Mind you, it's the immortal laurels of the god Apollo!"

　　"Then the play will only get one or two performances before the top reacts." Joseph said.

　　"No, it won't." Napoleon suddenly interjected, "Just like Cid, it will be banned for a while, but it will be staged again someday. And once it's re-staged, it will be played often."

　　"I love that." Armand laughed, "Napoleon, I drink to you!"

　　With those words, Amand raised his arm and poured a large glass of brandy into his mouth. Seeing this, Napoleon wanted to follow his example and take a sip. But the arm was only just raised when Joseph stopped it.

　　"Armand is a heavy drinker and drinks like water. You don't want to drink like him, or you'll be down before you can say two words, and that's no fun. When we used to drink with him, he drank at will and we accompanied him with a lick."

　　Napoleon glanced at Joseph and then at the skinny looking Armand and seemed a little less convinced, but he listened to Joseph and took just a tiny sip.

　　"Right, that's it." Armand said, "I was hoping you'd be sober enough to give me more advice. Well, how does your drinking compare to Joseph's?"

　　"Not as well as me." Joseph said.

　　"Not too far off." Napoleon replied almost simultaneously.

　　"Ah, then you've had a little more than one sip here. This Joseph fellow, two brandies at the most would make him count one plus one as three. Since you're about the same, you drink slower." Amand laughed.

　　"Mr. Lavoisier, I have an idea." Napoleon said.

　　"Ah, just call me Armand like Joseph, 'Mr. Lavoisier' or whatever is too formal and makes people uncomfortable. Well, what does our Alexander have in mind?"

　　"I think that since the play is already so intense, so intense that it's mostly, well, it should be a sure thing that it will be banned, why don't we just be a little more acerbic?" Napoleon said.

　　"Napoleon, you're really looking at the big picture. In that case, the fate of the play wouldn't be to be banned first, then unbanned. Rather, it would become a cycle of banning the play, then unbanning it, then banning it, then unbanning it. And Armand would be in real danger of being thrown under the bus and fed to the rats." Joseph said as he gently sipped the brandy in his hand.

　　"That's even better!" Armand said, "That would be more than enough for Gonaye! As for being thrown into the Bastille, what's a guillotine, let alone the Bastille, compared to such an achievement? Well, Napoleon, tell me how it could be a little more drastic."

　　Napoleon thought for a moment and said, "You know, Armand, after the Battle of Apulia, when Spartacus died in battle, Pompey crucified all six thousand of the captured insurrectionary warriors. We'll end up putting the image of a crucified insurrectionist warrior on stage, and make it look like the one of Jesus ... What do you think?"

　　"Ah, that's a great idea! It'll piss off those godfathers!" Armand laughed.

　　"It could also be arranged for the three crucified insurrectionist warriors to have a conversation, like the one Jesus had in the Bible when he was crucified, with the two robbers who were also crucified." Napoleon came to his feet and went on.

　　"Ah, good idea, good idea!" Armand said, "My previous ending was too sad and downbeat, and this change will just add a bit of brightness to the ending. Well, I'll have Spartacus' lieutenant, on the cross, inspire the other warriors who were crucified together by saying, 'We are indeed going to die, but we are dying as warriors of freedom, not as slaves and dolls to be driven and played with.' The fame and cause of Spartacus shall live forever!' Hmm, maybe I should make a big adjustment and resurrect the ancient Greek song team. At the end, have Spartacus' adjutant call out to the other crucified warriors, 'Then let us sing our battle song for the most part!' Then first a few of the warriors sing, then the whole band joins in, forming a chorus, and the whole drama ends in that chorus - it's wonderful! Napoleon, you're a genius! Much better than Joseph, really!"

　　Joseph listened, bristled slightly, but didn't say anything. As for Napoleon, he couldn't help but look up at Joseph in triumph.

　　"The lyrics to the song aren't a problem, you can write them yourself. But can you find a composer good enough to help you finish the song? Even if you find a composer good enough, he won't always be able to write the right tune. And there's the worry of whether he'd be willing to risk going to the Bastille to write this." Joseph said, "If this is altered, the song becomes the soul of the whole play. The whole play is crippled if you can't find the right song. But it's not easy to find such a song. Originally, this play of yours could have been staged almost immediately, but with this change, I'm afraid I don't know how long it will be delayed again."

　　There were actually quite a few good composers in this era, like Papa Haydn, like Mozart. But they are not in France, and they may not be willing to write such a "blasphemous" song full of the spirit of revolt for such a drama that glorifies the revolt of the slaves. Perhaps only Beethoven would have dared to write such a thing in his time, but at this time, Beethoven was still a teenage boy who had not had time to become famous. His maturity wouldn't come until 1803 or so. Of course, there were some musicians in France, even revolutionary-leaning ones, like François-Joseph Gosek. But compared to other countries, and especially compared to Austria, France's musical achievements were much more bleak. So much so that in 1878, during a trip to Paris, Mozart wrote to his friend: "As far as music is concerned, I am among barbarians. ... Ask anyone who is not French, and if he knows a little about it, he will say the same thing! ... If I get out of this in one piece, I'll thank God Almighty for it ..." So it wasn't going to be easy for Amand to find a composer to create songs that met his requirements.

　　"It's okay." Amang said, "It's worth it to wait more for the perfect drama. Come on, let's drink to the perfect flawless tragedy ... Ah, I'll drink, you guys feel free ... hahaha ..."

　　"A flawless tragedy" was originally Aristotle's praise of Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus the King, and now Armand's words can be said to expose his own ambitions in no uncertain terms.

　　But the "flawless tragedy" did seem to be a tragedy, and in the days that followed, Armand often came to Josephus with his hair tousled, discussing with Josephus some of the changes that needed to be made to the tragedy. And this time to come when the ambition is different, Amang began to this tragedy all kinds of dissatisfaction, always feel that here is also not right, many places need to be adjusted, or even need to be adjusted greatly. And after adjusting things, after a short time, Ah Mang feels that it seems to be not as good as the previous one, still need to adjust ...

　　Of course, the most troublesome thing was still the battle song. Nowadays the war song became much more important in the script, and in this play it had to appear at least three times: once when Spartacus and the others started the uprising and broke out of the prison; once when they rode the night down the cliffs of Vesuvius, let down by grapevines, and routed the Roman official army that was besieging them; and once during the final crucifixion. Armand even thought of the first and second times when only the first verse appeared, and it was not until the last time that the song was sung in its entirety. This song, however, doesn't even have lyrics yet, not to mention the score. Armand had written at least a dozen versions of the lyrics, but they were all shot down without hesitation.

　　On the other hand, Joseph's "research" was going quite well, and in the meantime he had published several valuable papers. And the cooperation with Lavoisier also went well, although nitroglycerin is still dangerous, but the technology of on-site preparation of larger quantities has basically matured, and has even been used in the mines of the Orleans family. Relying on this stuff, the productivity of the Orleans family's mines had greatly increased, which also allowed Duke Phillips to make some small profits. If the industrial development of France could be like that of England, the money earned by His Highness the Duke would only be more.

　　Since His Highness the Duke had made money, it was only natural that Lavoisier followed suit and gained even more fame. Of course, Joseph, who made a key contribution to this creation, also shared a little bit of money, and also received Lavoisier's gratitude and support. Today, Lavoisier is already proposing that Joseph be given a place as an alternate member in the French Academy of Sciences.

　　And this proposal, because not only has Lavoisier support, but also got the approval of His Royal Highness the Duke, so although there are also some people heartily do not quite agree, but they also know that, as far as the present performance is concerned, Joseph will sooner or later get a position in the French Academy of Sciences, even if the fierce opposition, at most, but will only delay this matter for a year or two. Such a delay could not play a decisive role, but would only offend people in vain, so even those who opposed it were not too fierce in their opposition. So if nothing else, then in a few months, at most by next spring, Joseph should have an alternate member position in the French Academy of Sciences.