Fox of France

Since Bishop Talleyrand had sold the ecclesiastical lands, the financial crisis of the new government seemed to have been temporarily relieved. But it is not easy to sell land worth more than three billion livres at once. If it is expensive, no one can afford it; if it is cheap, it will be too bad. So someone proposed a new method, which is to rely on these lands to issue a paper currency.

According to the original plan, the circulation of this banknote should correspond to the value of the church land. These notes could also theoretically be recycled by the government by gradually selling church land. So in theory, the value of these banknotes is still guaranteed.

This banknote is called a finger coupon. Today, Joseph's salary is mainly paid with this kind of banknotes.

Kano believes that Joseph must have spent the time after returning home from get off work every day studying mathematical problems, otherwise it would be impossible to explain why he still made discoveries from time to time after such a heavy workload.

But in fact, the most important thing for Joseph after returning home every day is not academic research, but how to turn the coupons in his hands into silver coins or other things as soon as possible, which are more reliable in Joseph's view, such as land and food.

If this kind of thing was put in a few years later, when Robespierre was in power, it would be like sticking his head under the guillotine. But at the moment, this kind of thing is what everyone is doing. It is said that Robespierre proposed in Parliament to limit the maximum price of grain. But this proposal was rejected without any surprise, and it didn't even enter the stage of formal discussion-because at this time in the parliament, except for Robespierre, almost everyone was using this to make money.

Joseph did not do it alone, in fact, he also recruited several partners. One is his old partner Lavoisier, and the other is Danton who he met through Amon.

These two partners were later guillotined when Robespierre was in power. But that will be a few years later. Joseph feels that as long as he pays attention to proportion, does not make it too big, stops early enough, and he is "useful", it should not be a big problem.

Relying on the news on it, several people made a lot of money from their business.

In such a fulfilling life, Joseph suddenly received a letter from Napoleon from Corsica, which mentioned that Paulie had returned to Corsica.

Pauli was the hero of the Corsican independence movement. Joseph's father had been Pauli's adjutant back then, following Pauli and fighting the French. After the resistance failed, Paulie went into exile in England, while Joseph's father surrendered to France. Joseph knew that Paulie had been Napoleon's idol for a long time. Napoleon had been eager to join him in leading Corsica to independence and freedom.

But from the letter sent by Napoleon, Joseph could indeed feel that Napoleon was in a bad mood. Although Napoleon didn't say much in the letter, the sense of disillusionment between the lines can be easily felt.

"What's wrong with this guy?" Joseph thought. "Maybe I should go see him."

However, with the current busy schedule, Joseph really couldn't find time, so he could only write another letter to Napoleon, comforting him and inviting Napoleon to Paris. Because in Joseph's view, Corsica is too small, and there is no future for development on that small island.

A week after the letter was sent, Joseph came home from get off work. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a short man sitting in front of the table playing chess with Lucien, while Louis stood aside and said: "Napoleon, Napoleon, hurry up and send the bishop!" Move over, the knight chasing him..."

Hearing the sound of the door opening, Napoleon put down the chess piece in his hand and looked up.

"Joseph, you came back today later than Lucien said." Napoleon said. His face was full of smiles, and he didn't see the frustration in the last letter at all.

"Why did you come so soon? I gave it to you... You didn't get my reply to you, did you?" Joseph wrinkled slightly as he took off his coat and handed it to Aunt Sophie who came up to him. eyebrow asked.

"How could it be possible?" Napoleon stretched his waist and put the chess pieces back on the chessboard. "I heard that you wrote a letter a week ago. At that time, I had already left for Paris. If I still leave In Corsica, perhaps the letter will be received just now."

"Napoleon, you still can't get down. You said you would avenge me!" Louis interjected.

"Joseph is back, what else is there to do? Besides, Lucien has already lost this round, so why should he eat so much?" Napoleon said indifferently.

"You have a slight advantage in the situation, and you don't have more resources than me, how can I lose?" Lucien was not convinced.

"Hehe..." Napoleon just smiled, but did not answer.

"Napoleon, have you figured it out? I'm talking about Pauli." Joseph walked to the edge of the table, reached for a chair, sat down, and glanced at the chess game on the table. Just like what Lucien said, he didn't suffer a loss in terms of piece strength, and even had an extra pawn, but the situation was also like what Napoleon said, his pieces were in a more reasonable position, and the central position of the chessboard was an important channel. Almost all of them are controlled by his chess pieces, and his pawn chain is more complete. Joseph felt that Napoleon's victory was almost a foregone conclusion.

"I figured it out, in fact, I figured it out the day after I sent you that letter," said Napoleon. "Paulie is too old, he's still stuck in decades ago. And I can't You can't be like him, a zombie from decades ago."

"Go on," Joseph said.

"Joseph, remember that investigation you asked me to do?" said Napoleon.

"of course I remember."

"Do you know what the result of the investigation is?" Napoleon shook his head.

Joseph didn't ask, he knew that Napoleon would say it himself.

"Most Corsican nobles, like Pauli, are zombies who lived decades ago. Of course, this is normal. For them, decades ago, the Italians left, and the French have not yet come For a while, it was indeed a good time for them. Speaking of it, their desire for independence is higher now, but that is not because of anything else, but because they are frightened by what is happening in France now, and they are afraid of such things. Changes will come to them, and if Corsica can be rowed away like a boat, they will hope that the island can be rowed away and hidden away in a secluded place, so that it can escape the tide of time.

As for the Corsican peasants, they are all fools. The Corsican nobles at least knew what their interests were, and they didn't even know that. They are like ignorant animals, confused. The whole of Corsica is still sleeping in the mist of the Middle Ages. It may take a big storm to wake them up.

Anyway, if I were with Paulie, there might be a war, given the state of France. It is indeed not impossible to take this opportunity to get rid of France, but such an independent Corsica is not the Corsica I hope, it will only become a zombie like Pauli. I don't want such a Corsica!

And if you want Corsica to keep up with the times, the only way is to let the storm of the French revolution blow into Corsica. Therefore, I think that independence is not a good thing for Corsica now. "

"So you and Paulie had a falling out?" Joseph asked.

"No," said Napoleon. "How could I have trouble with a zombie? Let alone in Corsica? Our mother and sister are still in Corsica. Corsica is a dead place, but, compared to Paris, it's quieter there too, and more suitable for women. As for me, I just don't follow a phantom any more. In that matter, I should thank you, Joseph, without you. I may not be able to see the truth and make up my mind so easily."

"Okay, let's not talk about these things for now." Joseph said, "Napoleon, do you have any plans now?"

"I still have a period of leave. I plan to stay with you for a while to see Paris. Then I will go back to the army." Napoleon said.

"You mean you want to stay with me, eat me and mine, and be a parasite?" Joseph sneered.

"Are you still going to enslave me? Just like when Aunt Sophie was away, you pushed the housework to Lucien, and Lucien pushed the housework to Louis?" Napoleon laughed.

"Isn't this a matter of course?" Joseph also laughed, "I am working with Captain Cano as a consultant to Lafayette to study the reform of France's military structure. Judging from your performance in Corsica Look, I think you have made great progress, and you are no longer particularly stupid. So there are some things, I think, you can barely be qualified to help me deal with them. "

Joseph made it clear that he was shamelessly exploiting his younger brother as cheap labor, and Napoleon naturally wanted to say without hesitation: "Even if I, Napoleon, starved to death, I jumped from here, I wouldn't let you squeeze me! "But, but... It's really interesting to be involved in such a thing. Think about it, as a second lieutenant, but to interfere with the entire military structure of one of the most powerful countries in Europe, this is really... It smells so good!

"How could someone let an idiot like you participate in such an important matter?" Napoleon shook his head, "It will definitely go wrong. And once something goes wrong, hold accountable, and an idiot like you will definitely be dragged Go out and shoot. Joseph, though you are a fool, you are also a Bonaparte fool. I must watch you, lest you go out of your way and lose your head."