Fox of France

　　Joseph and his younger brother Napoleon took a brig called Colchicum for a day on the calm Mediterranean Sea. Early the next morning, they arrived at the port of Toulon in southern France.

　　 Toulon is the largest military port in France. France’s most important shipyard and more than half of its warships are deployed in this port. The commercial dock where ships dock is very close to the military port. Standing on the deck of Huayue, you can clearly see those tall battleships that are like castles floating on the sea. They lined up in the military port one after another.

　　 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. Thunder shooting like Zeus...Look at these warships, are you feeling stressed, my brother?"

　　 "Indeed, we are too weak compared to France." Napoleon nodded and said, "That's why we need a hero, a hero who can win more with less and win the strong with the weak."

　　 "Hehe." Joseph laughed.

　　 "What does he mean?" Napoleon said dissatisfiedly.

　　 "My stupid brother, hehe is hehe."

　　 By this time, the ship has docked firmly. The passengers began to disembark one after another. Mr. Foix did not intend to stay in Toulon. According to his plan, he should immediately get on the carriage and head to Marseille, more than sixty kilometers away. However, on the way to Toulon, he was very seasick, so he had to rest for a day in Toulon and waited for his health to get better before going to Marseille.

　　 For Joseph and Napoleon, this also means that they have one day to take a good look at Toulon.

　　 After staying in the hotel temporarily, Napoleon urged Joseph to go out. 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 said that he hoped to take his brother Napoleon out for a walk, so he might try to use his beginner 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 King of France has raised taxes more than once. To be honest, Louis XVI's tax increase was 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; the second is that any burdens will always fall short of those that should be borne, and they will be borne. People who can afford these burdens.

　　 The decision to increase taxes gave many people the opportunity to scavenge their private pockets. Similarly, these taxes did not fall on the heads of the nobles and bishops, and they all fell heavily on the third class. This makes more and more farmers and handicrafts go bankrupt. Generally speaking, in a society, the more bankrupts and the more insecurities there are, the more chaotic social security will be. Nowadays, the economic situation in France is not very good, 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, he called the servant named Swan, and told him to take the brothers out and take care to protect their safety.

　　Siwan responded and took the brothers out.

　　 "Where are you going to see?" Swan 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 watching warships the most." Swan said with a smile.

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

"Yes." Swan replied, "As long as a few sou, you can rent a fishing boat, and then you can go fishing near the naval port. There, you can see a lot of warships, of course, we can't get too close. ."

　　 "Then everything will trouble you." Joseph said to Swann.

　　 Swan is a local, so he quickly contacted a fishing boat. Several people got on the boat, and the boatman waved 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 winter sun was shining and jumping on the tip of the fine waves in the bay. The boatman stopped the boat, threw the bait into the sea, and then pointed to the military port not far away, introducing the guests one by one to the warships docked there.

"Look, that is the'Busantor', which is the largest in it. It is a three-deck battleship with a hundred cannons. The one on the left is the cruiser Awe. Much smaller, with only one gun deck..."

　　 "This is the flagship "Busantor" of the combined French and Spanish fleet in the later Battle of Trafalgar." Listening to the introduction of the boatman, Joseph couldn't help thinking like this.

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

　　 "That is Mulgrave fortress. There is a fort guarding the port. Do you need to go and see? In the sea over there, sometimes you can catch very good cod." The boatman replied.

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

　　 The boatman listened, he planned to put away the bait and go to Mulgrave fortress. At this moment, a bell tied to the fishing line rang suddenly. The boatman quickly reached out and caught the fishing line. The fishing line was not shaking too much, and the boatman's face also showed disappointment. He pulled the fishing line up several times, and there was only a small mackerel hanging on the hook.

　　 The boatman threw the mackerel out of the fish basket easily, then collected the fishing line and rowed towards Mulgrave fortress.

　　 It took a full hour for the boat to reach under Mulgrave fortress. But at this time, the scale of Mulgrave fortress was actually very limited, so there was nothing to see. In addition, it is already past noon, and everyone is hungry. So the boat did not stay there long before returning.

After getting off the boat and looking for a place to eat something casually, Joseph took the opportunity to talk to some passers-by in his bad French-talking about boring things, everyday things, nothing more than being together Lamenting the difficulties of life. Then a few people went back to the hotel. Napoleon didn't say a word along the way. Until he entered the room, Joseph smiled at Napoleon and said, "What, are you scared by the French warship?"

　　 "No." Napoleon replied briefly.

　　 "Later you went to Mulgrave fortress to see what did you want to see? There is nothing good to see there." Joseph asked again.

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

"A few cannons 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, "Moreover, to use a good cannon requires a lot of knowledge. , Such as mathematics, such as physics. If you can't master Sir Newton's set, even if you have a hundred cannons, it may not work."

　　 "Then we will learn these well." Napoleon replied.

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

"What do you see?"

"I saw poverty and anger. The same poverty and anger as we saw in Corsica." Joseph replied, "My stupid brother, don't you notice that there is dust in Toulon? Are the staggering streets of China also dusty, almost like poor people with ashes?"

　　 "Watch what they do?" Napoleon asked.

"Even the most humble slave, UU reading www.uukanshu.com needs hope. Do you see hope in the eyes of the poor people on the streets of Toulon? You see from their words that they still Any good ideas about the future? Do you know what happened when the most humble slaves lost all hope?" Joseph continued to ask.

"I know..." Napoleon replied, "The Spartacus rebellion happened. But... But they are not really hopeless. He has no hope. The only hope is heaven. They and Spartacus is different, they are people 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 Minie, Joseph himself knows very well that the so-called exorcism ceremony is useless at all. The so-called effect is just that Joseph, as a traverser, gradually adapts to the environment. But even now, when Joseph considers issues, he always habitually ignores religious influence.

"Religion is really the people's opium." Joseph thought silently in his heart, and then said: "My stupid brother, you have to remember that the bread of the future cannot replace the bread of the present, and the bread of the future cannot fill the present. Stomach. Otherwise, why did we Corsican oppose Genoa's rule in the first place? What's more, rebellion and going to heaven are two different things, right? Although it is said that the power of the king is granted by God. But if someone wants to rebel, is this just Isn’t God’s will? God is all-knowing and omnipotent. If he doesn’t want anyone to oppose the king, how can there be rebels. My brother, do you know what I see? I see the seemingly powerful France, like a tower The warehouse is full of firewood and sulfur, and its guards are still raising a fire in this warehouse to barbecue and eat."