Fox of France

For the second fair, France built a railway from the Champ de Mars in the center of Paris to the Liberty Palace. This is the world's first passenger railway, which is also an important step for Napoleon to inspire people and cultivate a cult of personality.

During the last Pakistan Trade Fair, the spectacle of the Liberty Palace certainly shocked the foreigners, and the national pride of the little roosters almost burst. But compared to the railway, the shock level of the Liberty Palace is actually much worse. In a sense, trains, especially steam trains spewing smoke and steam, are the most typical symbols of the industrial age. Even until the era of high-speed rail, the indomitable sense of power brought by old-fashioned steam locomotives is still unmatched. substitute. So even in later generations, there are countless fans of steam locomotives, and some travel routes even choose to use old-fashioned steam locomotives.

Now the railway has basically been laid, and the Pakistan Fair will be officially held a month later. The brothers of the Bonaparte family gathered together to discuss how to put on a show efficiently.

Napoleon originally planned to open the train when the second Pakistan Fair officially opened, but his idea was severely laughed at by Lucien.

"Napoleon, you idiot!" Lucien was very proud of having the opportunity to taunt the second brother, "It's like giving a criminal a flogging sentence, with a rule of twenty lashes. You said you should stop for every two lashes. Let the criminal take a breather and finish the fight, or ignore those and just finish it in one breath?"

Napoleon froze for a moment, then immediately understood what Lucien meant. If you whip twenty whips in one breath, generally speaking, the guy who was beaten will pass out after receiving three or four whips, and then he will not feel the whips after that. When Lucien said this now, he obviously meant that putting together such things as the opening of the train and the opening of the second Pakistan Fair would give the common people a little too much stimulation, and it would easily make them numb with excitement. A good subject was wasted in vain.

Napoleon knew in his heart that what Lucien said was indeed correct on this matter, but seeing Lucien's complacent look, Napoleon felt annoyed, and wanted to use Lucien to test it out. See if there will be a problem of overstimulation if you hit twenty whips in a row.

Seeing that Napoleon's expression was wrong, Lucien immediately habitually distanced himself from Napoleon automatically, and immediately said: "So, Napoleon, I think we should put a certain distance between these things, so as not to get confused. There was a problem that numbed everyone."

Lucien's words had an effect, and Napoleon's attention was indeed diverted. Of course, the actual situation may also be that Napoleon actually didn't want to really jump up, and then let Joseph laugh at him for "incompetent rage".

"Lucien, of course your consideration is justified." Napoleon said, "but you have overlooked an important principle, that is, the most exciting program must not appear at the front. Because if the most exciting program At the front, no one will watch the shows that appear later.”

"You're right!" Lucien first agreed, "It's like in 'Moulin Rouge', the hottest girl is always the last to appear. There is no doubt that the train is the most beautiful and most beautiful at our fair." The red girl, if you let her play at the beginning, it is indeed easy to cause the problems you are worried about. However, we "Moulin Rouge" sometimes have another way to deal with it, for example, um, you have seen our singing and dancing Is it Cinderella?"

"No." Napoleon replied, "I'm not like you, I live and work in the Moulin Rouge."

So Lucien told Napoleon the general plot of their "Cinderella".

"Ah, I seem to have seen this story before. It seems to be Charles Perrault's story. You have slightly changed it." Napoleon said, "Well, let's talk about the main point."

"Ah, it's Nicole from Moulin Rouge who plays 'Cinderella' in our play, and that's a beauty. But she's the first one in the first act of the play, but because of the makeup and clothing, We made her not really stand out at the beginning. Until the pumpkin carriage came out, through clothing and makeup changes, we suddenly made Nicole so radiant that people could hardly keep their eyes open.

We can do the same with trains. First of all, we will not perform any ceremony, just run on this line with freight trains. Freight trains are of course beautiful, but you can't get on the train, you can only look at it from a distance. However, just like this, it is enough to set off a wave of enthusiasm.

Then, then we can slowly release the news that we actually still have passenger trains capable of carrying people, and speculate about them in various newspapers, discuss them, and stir up the heat. Well, we can also continue to push up people's expectations for trains through the sales of train tickets, that is, the sales of tickets for the first passenger train. Then wait until..."

"Of course it's good, but Lucien, how do you plan to sell tickets?" Joseph, who had been silent all this time and just looked down at the students' research reports, suddenly raised his head and asked.

"Of course it's an auction." Lucien said. "The first passenger car is full of the most luxurious carriages, and everything inside is the most luxurious. Each carriage is a small villa. Then, each carriage will be sold for one piece." Tickets, these tickets will be sold by auction, and we will arrange a babysitter to raise the price to a high price, so as to ensure that it will attract everyone's attention."

Joseph shook his head and said to Lucien: "Recently, our newspapers have reported some British workers' strikes, and the reports are very detailed. Well, Lucien, tell me, what is the purpose of such reports?"

"Of course it is to let the people in the country know how happy they are. Joseph, as you said, everyone is an insatiable Faust (the story of Faust betting with the devil appeared very early, not Goethe's original), our people are no exception. So no matter how capable we are, we can't really satisfy them. And if they are not satisfied, they will seek change, which is obviously not good for us.

Joseph, you said again that happiness and unhappiness can be compared. By the way, you said, why are the most respected plays handed down in the world basically tragedies? That's because people are able to derive a sense of fulfillment and happiness through tragedy, through seeing the fall and ruin of those who are clearly stronger than themselves. This sense of satisfaction and happiness has nothing to do with jealousy or hatred, but just the satisfaction of feeling that one's situation is actually not bad, at least stronger than those heroes.

We reported the painful life of those British workers in dire straits. With this comparison, our workers can easily be satisfied with their living conditions after reading it. This is conducive to domestic stability. ’ replied Lucien.

Indeed, happiness, satisfaction and so on are often compared. Just like a certain plague in later generations, the little rabbits in the Chitu Kingdom were not very satisfied with many of the country's responses at the beginning, but as the plague spread to Europe and to the White Eagle's family, seeing Yidali, Ah Sister, the various mind-stopping operations you saw, the little rabbits' satisfaction with the country almost exploded at once.

The same is true of France today. In fact, France at this time was not without class oppression, and the lives of the French people were not really that good. However, as long as they are compared with the British people who are in dire straits, French workers will naturally cherish the situation in France and are extremely grateful to the first ruling Napoleon.

"Now that you conduct such an auction and conduct such reports, isn't this intentionally highlighting the gap between the rich and the poor in France? Pain is based on comparison. The rich spend a lot of money just for fun, and the money they spend for fun is just Enough to make the poor work hard for a few lifetimes. This will make people realize that the gap between the rich and the poor has reached a desperate point. Desperation will generate resentment and reduce smiling faces. So, what you do is completely on your own Make trouble for yourself." Joseph said unceremoniously.

If it was Napoleon who criticized him in this way, Lucien would probably have to find a way to refute him, even if it was irrational, he would still have to resist. But being told by Joseph, Lucien didn't dare to say anything. It's strange to say that, obviously now, Joseph will no longer embarrass him by picking up an exam paper when he has nothing to do. However, for some reason, Lucien was still a little afraid of his elder brother.

"Then what do you think Joseph should do?" Lucien asked sincerely. That sincere attitude made Napoleon very depressed—why has this kid never been so obedient when facing me?

"Of course it's—an auction," said Joseph.

"What?..." Lucien said.

"We first publicized that the proceeds of this auction will be used to build a charity hospital in the Saint-Antoine district to help the poor in Paris. We appeal to those rich people to donate generously. Then, think again?"

Lucien thought for a while, then gave a thumbs up, and said with admiration: "As expected of Joseph, there is a way! Well, on the one hand, the heat brought by the bidding is gone. On the other hand, the workers will not feel that others just enjoy it casually. For a moment, the money we spend is something we won’t be able to earn in a few lifetimes. They even think that we rich people in France are better than those in Britain, and we don’t forget to give back to the society when we make money. Well, in this way, The heat has also increased, the stability has also increased, and there are more smiling faces. This is really killing two birds with one stone, high! Really high!"