Joseph and his brother Napoleon traveled together on a two-masted ship called the Autumn Narcissus for a day on the calm Mediterranean Sea and arrived early the next morning at Toulon, a port in southern France.
Toulon was the largest military port in France, where the most important shipyards and more than half of the French warships were deployed. The commercial dock where the ships were docked was very close to the military port. Standing on the deck of the Flower Moon, you could clearly see the tall battleships, like castles floating on the sea. They were arranged one by one in the harbor.
Napoleon was standing on the deck, staring at these gigantic ships.
"It's really magnificent, isn't it? Joseph put his hand on his brother's shoulder and said in Corsican dialect, "The white sails are like white clouds in the sky, the lofty hulls are like floating castles, the cannons are firing like the thunder of Zeus ．．．．．． Look at these warships, do you feel the pressure, my brother?
"Indeed, we are too weak compared to France. Napoleon nodded, "That's why we need a hero, a hero who can do more with less, who can do more with less.
"Oh." Joseph laughed.
What do you mean by "huh?" Napoleon said unsatisfactorily.
"My foolish brother, huh is huh.
By this time the ship had steadied at the pier. The passengers began to disembark one by one. Monsieur de Foix did not intend to stay in Toulon. According to his plan, he should immediately get on a carriage and go to Masai, which is more than 60 kilometers away. However, on the way to Toulon, he was so seasick that he had to rest for a day in Toulon and wait until he was in better condition before going to Marseille.
For Joseph and Napoleon, this meant that they had a day to see Toulon.
After staying temporarily in the hotel, 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 to learn more about his future enemies.
So Joseph went to Fuad and told him that he wanted to take his brother Napoleon for a walk and try to use his newfound French.
Fouad was satisfied with the request of the learned boy, but he was not so sure about the security in the area of Toulon. Over the years, France had been at a disadvantage in the struggle for overseas interests with Britain. This made its economic situation not so good. In order to get more money to compete with England, the king of France had raised taxes more than once. To be honest, Louis XVI's tax increase was not too much. But there are several constant rules in human society: the first is that bureaucrats always seize every opportunity to gain advantages for themselves; the second is that no burden falls on those who really deserve it and can afford it.
The decision to increase taxes gave many people the opportunity to scavenge and enrich themselves, and likewise, the burden of these taxes did not fall on the heads of the great nobles and bishops but was heavily placed on the third class. This made more and more farmers and handicraft workers go bankrupt. Generally speaking, the more bankrupts and people without means in a society, the more chaotic the social security would be. Nowadays, the economic situation in France is not good, so the social security is not much better.
Mr. Fuwa thought about it and remembered that one of his servants was a native of Toulon, so he called the servant called Swan and told him to take the two brothers out and keep them safe.
Swan answered, and led the brothers out the door.
"Where are you going to see?" Swan asked.
"We want to see the warship," Joseph said without hesitation. Joseph said without hesitation.
Napoleon looked at Joseph but did not say anything.
"Ah, every boy who comes to Toulon for the first time loves to see a warship. Swan chuckled.
"So is there a way we can get a good look at the warship?" Napoleon asked. Napoleon asked.
"Yes," replied Swan. Swan replied, "For a few sous, you can rent a fishing boat, and then you can go fishing near the warship. There, you can see many warships, but of course, we can't get too close.
"Then everything is in your hands," Joseph said to Swan.
Swan was a local, so he quickly contacted a fishing boat. A few people got into the boat and the boatman swung the oar and rowed the boat towards the military port.
It was about ten o'clock in the morning, and the rare winter sun was shimmering and bouncing on the tips of the fine waves in the bay. The boatman stopped the boat and threw the bait into the sea, then pointed to the military port not far away and introduced the warships docked there one by one to the guests.
"Look, that's the Bussantoir, the biggest one inside, a three-decked battleship with 100 cannons. The one on the left is the cruiser 'Awe', it's much smaller, only one gun deck ．．．．．．"
"This was the flagship of the French-Spanish coalition in the Battle of Trafalgar, the "Bussantoir". Listen to the boatman's introduction, Joseph could not help but think so.
"What is that?" Napoleon asked, pointing to a small hill to his right that jutted halfway into the bay. Joseph looked over to that side, only to see that small hill above the erection of a kite flag, in that flag, one can faintly see some fortress and so on.
"That was the fortress of Mulgrave. There is a fortress that guards the port. Do you want to go there? You can catch some good cod in the sea over there. The boatman replied.
Napoleon said, "Then let's go and see.
When the boatman heard this, he intended to put away the bait and turn to the fortress of Mulgrave, when a bell tied to the fishing line rang violently. The boatman reached out and grabbed the line. The line did not shake very much, and the boatman's face showed disappointment as he pulled it up a few times.
The boatman threw the mackerel into the fish, then put away the line and rowed towards the fortress of Mulgrave.
It took an hour for the boat to reach the base of the fortress. But at this time, the size of the fortress was still very limited, so there was nothing to see. In addition, the time was already past noon and everyone was hungry. So the boat didn't stay there long before going back.
Joseph took the opportunity to talk to some passers-by in his broken French - talking about boring, everyday things, just lamenting the hardships of life together. Then they went back to the hotel. All the way to Napoleon did not say a word. When they got into the room, Joseph smiled at Napoleon and said, "Why, are you frightened by the French ships?
"No," Napoleon replied briefly.
"What did you want to see in the fortress of Mulgrave? There was nothing to see there." Joseph asked again.
"If an army were to occupy it, it could sink all the ships in the harbor with a few cannons. Napoleon spoke up.
"A few guns are not enough, because the ships will move, they will leave their berths and go back to the sea. Besides, they will return fire. Joseph laughed, "And it takes a lot of knowledge, like mathematics, like physics, to use cannons well. If you can't master Sir Isaac Newton's set, even if you have a hundred cannons, it may not work.
"Then let us go and learn them well," replied Napoleon. Napoleon replied.
Joseph nodded, and then asked, "Napoleon, do you know what I saw in Toulon?
"What did you see?
"I saw poverty and anger. The same poverty and anger that we saw in Corsica. Joseph answered, "My foolish brother, have you not noticed the dusty streets of Toulon, where the same dusty, almost ash-filled poor people are staggering about?
"What for?" Napoleon asked.
"Even the humblest slave needs hope. Do you see hope in the eyes of those poor people in the streets of Toulon? Do you see in their words any hope for a better future? Do you know what happened when the humblest of slaves lost all hope? Joseph continued.
"I know ．．．．．．" Napoleon replied, "There was the rebellion of Spartacus. But ．．．．．． But they were not really without hope, he did not have a hope, the only hope, and that was heaven. They are not like Spartacus, they are men of faith.
"Men of faith?" Napoleon's words were completely unexpected to Joseph. Although he was now regarded by Bishop Minerva as a manifestation of divine grace, Joseph himself knew very well that the so-called exorcism rituals were useless. The so-called effect is only as a crossover Joseph gradually adapts to the environment. But even now, Joseph always habitually ignores religious influences when considering problems.
"Religion is really the opium of the people. Joseph thought silently in his heart and then said, "Remember, my foolish brother, the bread of the future cannot replace the bread of the present, and the bread of the future cannot fill the stomach of the present. Otherwise, why would we Corsicans have opposed the Genoese rule in the first place? Besides, zàofǎn and heaven are two different things, aren't they? Although it is said that the power of kings is granted by God. But if someone wants to go to Zàofǎn, is that not God's will? God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and if He does not want someone to oppose the king, how can there be a zàofǎn? My brother, do you know what I see? I see that the seemingly mighty France is like a treasury full of firewood and brimstone, and its keepers are still raising fires in this treasury to roast meat to eat."