Fox of France

Joseph and his younger brother Napoleon took a two-masted ship called Colchiquis for a day on the calm Mediterranean Sea, and arrived at Toulon, a port in southern France, early the next morning.

Toulon is the largest naval port in France, where the most important shipyards and more than half of France's warships are deployed. The commercial pier where the ships dock is very close to the military port. Standing on the deck of the Huayue, one can clearly see those tall battleships like castles floating on the sea. They are lined up in the military port one by one.

Napoleon stood on the deck, staring at these giant ships intently.

"It's really mighty, isn't it?" Joseph put his hand on his younger brother's shoulder, and said in Corsican dialect, "The white sails are like white clouds in the sky, the majestic hull is like a floating castle, and the cannons are all in full swing." Thunder like Zeus... look at these warships, feel the pressure, my brother?"

"Indeed, compared to France, we are too weak." Napoleon nodded, "That's why we need a hero, a hero who can defeat the many with the few, and defeat the strong with the weak."

"Hehe." Joseph laughed.

"What do you mean?" Napoleon said dissatisfied.

"My stupid brother, hehe is hehe."

By this time the ship was already at the pier. Passengers began to disembark one after another. M. Foix did not intend to stop at Toulon. According to his plan, he should immediately get in the carriage and head to Marseille, which is more than 60 kilometers away. However, on the way to Toulon, he was very seasick, so he had to rest for a day in Toulon, and then go to Marseilles when his health was better.

For Joseph and Napoleon, it meant a day to see Toulon.

After temporarily staying in the hotel, Napoleon encouraged Joseph to go out for a walk. Joseph knew that Napoleon wanted to take this opportunity to take a closer look at the largest military port in France and learn about his future enemies.

So Joseph went to Foix and expressed that he hoped to take his younger brother Napoleon out for a walk, so as to try to use the novice French.

Foix is ​​very satisfied with the requirements of this studious child, but he is not at ease about the security in Toulon. Over the years, France has been at a disadvantage in competing with Britain for overseas interests. This also makes its economic situation not very good. In order to obtain more funds to compete with Britain, the French king has raised taxes more than once. To be honest, the tax increase by Louis XVI is not too much. However, human society has always had several unchanging laws: the first is that bureaucrats will always seize every opportunity to benefit themselves; Those who can afford these burdens.

The decision to increase taxes gave many people the opportunity to seize the opportunity to fill their pockets. Similarly, these tax burdens did not fall on the heads of the great nobles and bishops, and they all fell heavily on the third class. This made more and more farmers and craftsmen go bankrupt. Generally speaking, in a society, the more bankrupts and unemployed people, the more disordered the social order will be. The economic situation in France is not very good now, so of course social security is not much better.

Mr. Foix thought for a while, and remembered that one of his servants was a native of Toulon, so he called the servant named Swann and told him to take the two brothers out for a walk, and pay attention to protecting their safety.

Swann responded, and took the brothers out the door.

"Where are you going to see?" Swann asked.

"We want to see the warship." Joseph said without hesitation.

Napoleon glanced at Joseph, but did not speak.

"Ah, every boy who comes to Toulon for the first time likes to see warships the most." Swann said with a smile.

"Then is there a way for us to have a good look at the warship?" Napoleon asked.

"Yes." Swan replied, "You can rent a fishing boat for a few sous, and then you can go fishing near the naval port. You can see many warships there. Of course, we can't get too close .”

"Then everything will be your trouble," Joseph said to Swann.

Swann is a local, so he quickly got in touch with a fishing boat. Several people boarded the boat, and the boatman swung the oars and rowed the boat towards the military port.

At this time, it was about ten o'clock in the morning, and the rare sunshine in winter shone and jumped on the top of the fine waves in the bay. The boatman stopped the boat, threw the bait into the sea, pointed to the military port not far away, and introduced the warships docked there to the guests one by one.

"Look, that's the 'Busantol', the biggest of the bunch, a three-decked battleship with a hundred guns. The one to the left is the cruiser 'Awe', and it's Much smaller, only one gun deck..."

"This is the 'Busantor', the flagship of the joint fleet of France and Spain in the Battle of Trafalgar." Listening to the boatman's introduction, Joseph couldn't help thinking.

"What's that over there?" Napoleon asked, pointing to a small hill on the right half protruding into the bay. Joseph looked over there, and saw an iris flag erected on the hill. Under the flag, some fortresses could be faintly seen.

"That's Mulgrave Fort. There's a battery that guards the port. Need to go and see? There's sometimes good cod in that sea," replied the boatman.

Napoleon said, "Then go and have a look."

The boatman listened, and was about to pack up his baits and turn to Mulgrave Fort, when a bell on the line rang loudly. The boatman quickly reached out and grabbed the fishing line. The line did not shake very much and the boatman showed disappointment on his face. He pulled up the line a few times, but there was only a small mackerel hanging on the hook.

The boatman threw all the mackerel into the fishing basket, then reeled in the fishing line, and rowed towards the Mulgrave Fort.

It took the boat an hour to get down to Mulgrave Fort. But at this time, the scale of the Mulgrave Fortress was actually very limited, so there was nothing to see. In addition, it was already past noon, and everyone was hungry. So the boat didn't stay there for long before going back.

After getting off the boat, looking for a place to eat something casually, Joseph took the opportunity to talk to some passers-by in his broken French-it was all boring, everyday things, nothing more than being together Sigh the hardships of life. Then several people went back to the hotel. Napoleon didn't say a word all the way. After entering the room, Joseph smiled at Napoleon and said, "What's the matter, are you scared by the French warship?"

"No." Napoleon replied briefly.

"What did you want to go to the Mulgrave Fort to see later? There is nothing good-looking there." Joseph asked again.

"If an army occupies there, it can use a few cannons to sink all the warships in the naval port." Napoleon said.

"A few guns are not enough, because warships can move, they will leave the berth and retreat to the sea. In addition, they will also fight back." Joseph laughed, "And to use the cannon well requires a lot of knowledge , such as mathematics, such as physics. If you can’t master Sir Newton well, even if you have a hundred cannons, it may not be useful.”

"Then let's learn these things well," Napoleon replied.

Joseph nodded, and then asked: "Napoleon, do you know what I saw in Toulon?"

"What do you see?"

"I see poverty and anger. Poverty and anger like we saw in Corsica." Joseph replied, "My stupid brother, don't you notice that in Toulon is full of dust The same dusty, almost ashes-like poor people staggering along the streets of the

"Watch what they do?" asked Napoleon.

"Even the humblest slave needs hope. Have you seen hope in the eyes of those poor people on the streets of Toulon? From their words, you can see that they still have any good imagination for the future Did you know? Do you know what happened when the humblest slaves lost all hope?" Joseph continued to ask.

"I know..." Napoleon replied, "the rebellion of Spartacus happened. But...but they are not really hopeless, he has no hope, the only hope, and that is heaven. They and Spartacus was different, they were men of faith."

"A person of faith?" Napoleon's words completely exceeded Joseph's expectations. Although he is now regarded as a manifestation of divine grace by Bishop Minière, Joseph himself is very clear that the so-called exorcism ritual is useless at all. The so-called effect is just that Joseph, as a traverser, gradually adapted to the environment. But even now, when Joseph considers issues, he always habitually ignores the influence of religion.

"Religion is really the opium of the people." Joseph thought silently in his heart, and then said: "My stupid brother, you must remember that the bread of the future cannot replace the bread of the present, and the bread of the future cannot fill the present. Otherwise, why did we Corsicans oppose the rule of Genoa in the first place? Besides, rebellion and going to heaven are two different things, aren’t they? Although it is said that the power of the king is granted by God. But if someone wants to rebel, is this Is not the will of God? God is all-knowing and omnipotent, and if He does not want anyone to oppose the king, how can anyone rebel. My brother, do you know what I see? I see France, which seems to be strong, like a city A warehouse full of firewood and brimstone, and its keepers are still lighting a fire in this warehouse to roast meat."