Fox of France

After listening to Joseph's words, Napoleon was silent. He felt that he seemed to have understood what Joseph meant. At that time, if he had to become emperor, Joseph would probably not object too much, but he didn't seem to support it too much. Perhaps, to use the most Josephian expression: "This is an approximate solution to this problem, but it is only an approximate solution. Although it cannot be completely wrong, it is still far from the optimal solution. "

"Of course, this guy Joseph will definitely add a sentence after this: 'But Napoleon, with your intelligence level, being able to come up with such an approximate solution that only deviates from the correct solution by only a few hundred kilometers already makes me very satisfied, even very satisfied. Surprised' and other seemingly compliments are actually sarcastic nonsense." Napoleon thought so.

Now, Napoleon's mind, or the small goal in front of him, has quietly changed, that is, from how to persuade the eldest brother to accept the monarchy, what is the optimal solution for the eldest brother?

Napoleon racked his brains for a while, and then had to admit that he had no idea what Joseph's optimal solution was.

"It's both happiness and pain to have such a big brother." Napoleon's head did not know why such a sentence popped up.

As the eldest brother, Joseph almost played the role of everyone's father, including Napoleon, who received education and care from him. Although Napoleon often satirizes Joseph whenever he has the opportunity, he will definitely seize this opportunity, but even he must admit that without Joseph's help, at least for now, it is impossible for him to have such an opportunity. status and achievements. In a big family, it is of course a happy thing to have such a big brother.

However, having such a big brother really hurts one's self-esteem. Napoleon has always thought that he is a very smart person, at least smarter than Lucien, smarter than Louis, and better than Jerome... Bah, bah, bah, probably smarter than everyone except Joseph—even Rapp Laplace—Napoleon admitted that he was inferior to Laplace in mathematics, but he felt that this was just a matter of specialization.

However, as soon as he met Joseph, there was no such thing as "specialization in art". Except for how to attack on the battlefield and how to get the Pope to give generously, Napoleon felt that he seemed to be still Really can't compare to big brother. Even in many cases, it is difficult to even keep up with his train of thought. This feeling of IQ being crushed on the ground is really... "It's really painful." Therefore, many times, Napoleon felt that some brains were not particularly easy to use, and he could make himself despise him if he had nothing to do, such as Talking about Murat is actually quite cute.

However, there were many such things, and Napoleon gradually got used to it, and couldn't come up with a correct answer to Joseph's question. Isn't this a normal thing? What's the big deal? If it really doesn't work, find a time and go out to hunt foxes together on horseback, and make sure that you can crush Joseph in every round to vent your anger.

"After today's incident is over, the family will go hunting in Versailles and let Joseph make a fool of himself." Napoleon secretly made up his mind.

"Okay, Joseph, stop playing charades, let's talk about your 'new rule'." Napoleon finally decided to admit defeat tactically for the time being.

"Before determining this new rule, let's go back to the most fundamental question," Joseph said, "What are we making rules for? Well, Lucien, don't just sit there, this question is relatively simple , you answer."

Lucien was a little unhappy: "What do you mean this question is relatively simple, and you can answer it? Am I an idiot?"

But he could only turn this sentence around in his head, but he didn't have the courage to say it. Because if he said it out, Joseph would definitely throw a slightly difficult one immediately, but Napoleon would definitely be able to get the correct answer in seconds, and he would embarrass himself with a problem that he couldn't solve, and then laugh at himself with Napoleon, that heartless guy.

"Let's compete who can lure a little girl to bed the fastest?" Of course, he only dared to say this in his heart.

So Lucien obeyed his heart and replied: "Of course it is to protect the interests of our family."

"Very good, very well said." Joseph said, "Napoleon, you also have to remember this, this is our real constitution, in terms of priority, put your code, I don't know where it is prioritized .No matter what we do, we must not violate this point."

Napoleon didn't mean to contradict this statement. He nodded and said, "It's up to you to say. It's such a simple truth."

"Now, the next big question is what are our interests?" Joseph continued, "and what can we gain from our strength. Here, I especially want to emphasize that we should not overestimate our strength, especially you, Napoleon. "

Joseph looked at Napoleon and said: "You are the most heroic in our family. You have a lot of the heroic temperament in ancient Greek mythology. This is very good. Our family needs such a hero. But Like many Greek heroes, you tend to overestimate yourself and underestimate your enemies."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, with you here, you can always see difficulties, even if they are just as big as a bean." Napoleon retorted a little unconvinced.

"It's not because of you that I'm like this? Do you really think of me as a coward?" Joseph said.

Napoleon fell silent. Napoleon did believe that Joseph was not a coward. In the hail of bullets, Joseph caught up with him and marched side by side with him, which proved this point. Napoleon believed that Joseph was also a brave hero. Napoleon also believed that the reason why Joseph was so conservative, prudent, and unwilling to take risks was indeed because there were really more brats and daredevils in this family. As the eldest brother, shouldering the heavy responsibility of the family, what if you are not stable? But aren't you responsible, Joseph, with so many daredevils in our family?

Of course, the last sentence was just a thought, and Napoleon didn't dare to say it.

Since Napoleon said nothing more, Joseph went on:

"Also, we have to take into account the ebb of family power. Sir Newton is one of the wisest men in the world, but what about Sir Newton's son? Who of you has ever heard of it? The son of a hero is a hero before he knows it. I don't think at all that my son will be better than me in mathematics and science in the future. Well, Napoleon, I also don't think that your son in the future will catch up with one of your toes in military ability."

"However, I believe that no matter how you deceive the little girl, Lucien's son still has a chance to catch up with him." Napoleon hurriedly interjected, lest Lucien's stay here would be too arcane.

Lucien curled his lips, but he didn't try to fight back. Anyway, he couldn't reason with Napoleon, a bad guy.

"Napoleon, don't digress." Joseph said, "Our family is very lucky. In our generation, there have been so many talented people. Even Lucien, his ability alone is enough to support a good family. But we can't expect God to treat us like this all the time. We have to be prepared that our next generation is not particularly outstanding.

Of course, strict and appropriate education can improve their abilities, but the role of talent is undeniable, even irreplaceable. Therefore, when we consider what we can obtain with our capabilities, we must also consider what our descendants can hold, and prepare for them to retreat and hold on. Napoleon, you know that the most dangerous and difficult thing in military affairs is to retreat. When the inevitable ebb of power occurs—this time can even be expected, that is, after you and I have died of old age, and Lucien has become old and confused—we must try our best to let the descendants of the family Man can keep as much as possible. "

Napoleon didn't say a word, and after a while he said: "Joseph, I understand what you mean. If the rule written by us is that the emperor's fist is determined by whoever has the biggest fist, then after our power ebbs and our fists are not enough In order to convince everyone, as long as someone like you, or me, or even Xiang Lucien suddenly appears in someone's family, our family will be very dangerous, and we may lose a lot of things. So, you Wish we could make a rule that forbids the use of violence to obtain profit, although we have obtained it all by violence in essence?

Well, your idea is very good, but isn't such a requirement inherently contradictory? What the new rules will look like depends not on what we say, but on how we do it. We ourselves have taken it by violence, so the rules must be taken by violence. Others, especially those who can rob us, are heroes. Even if we cover up and deceive us in certain ways, they cannot fail to see it. "

"You're right. But it doesn't matter whether they can see it or not. What's important is that most people can't see it. Think about it, the future hero, the one who will end our family's rule Heroes, what common interests do we have?"

"Common interests?" Napoleon was puzzled at first, but soon he showed a smile of enlightenment, "Joseph, you are right, we have common interests, they are us now, they must first ensure that Yes, it is also for the benefit of their own family—unless the hero is not only a hero but even a real saint, but this probability is really too low. So even if they see what is under our cover, they themselves This pretense must also be maintained for the benefit of the family. And if this pretense is to be maintained, then they cannot deal with our descendants in too violent a way. Well, the Republic is that pretense. Is that what you mean? However, To use this pretense and hold all the power in your hands, this requires a very delicate design. Joseph, don't be tricky, what do you think, just say it!"

When Napoleon said "unless the hero is not only a hero but even a real saint, the probability is too low", Joseph suddenly thought of someone in another time and space. Such people who are both heroes and saints do exist, and this person is such a person. It's just that, as Napoleon said, the chances of such a person appearing are too low. Not every age and every nation has such good luck.

"Well," said Joseph, "in the far East there was a philosopher named Laudin who said this: 'The best ruler in the world is this: he who is ruled by him, Didn't even realize he was there.'”