Some days after that, it was basically a pattern: Buy two stagecoach tickets, then draw up a day to arrive in another city or town closer to Paris, then find a convent (or, if that's not available, an inn) to rest for the night, then buy another stagecoach ticket...
And so it was that on the evening of the tenth day, Alfonso and Joseph finally arrived in Paris, the capital of France.
The stagecoach traveled through a street full of dust and dirt, finally stopping at a spot aptly timely snow. It was a street on the edge of Paris, and on one side of the street was the gloomy, tomb-like convent of the women of the Nuns of Perpetual Adoration. On the other side are all sorts of disorganized, broken-down houses inhabited by the lower class.
The stagecoach then only goes so far. As for moving on, it would be up to the passengers to continue to pay to change to public carriages, or maybe the passengers didn't have much money, so that it would be up to their own two legs.
Because the destination is still far away and the area is not very safe. So Alfonso then took Joseph to another public carriage, and it took about another half hour to get to the magnificent Cathedral of St. Geneviève.
This cathedral was later confiscated by the revolutionary government after the outbreak of the Revolution and converted into a cemetery dedicated to the burial of great heroes. This is the famous "Pantheon". At this time, however, the Cathedral of St. Genevieve was still an important church belonging to the Catholic Church. This was not Joseph's destination, but it was the destination of Father Alfonso. He led Joseph into the church and then told him to wait in the vestry for a while while he went to deliver the letter to the bishop.
Joseph waited a little while in the vestry before he saw Father Alfonso turn back again.
"Well, I have sent out the letters. Now I'll take you to Father Jean-Jacques."
The chapel where Father Jean-Jacques is located is still a bit far away. And by this time, there were no more public carriages. The two then hiked that way along the path lit with whale oil street lamps. The two walked for almost an hour until the moon had risen high enough to reach a small church. By this time, the moonlight was shining obliquely, illuminating the steps in front of the chapel.
Alfonso led Joseph up the steps and knocked gently on the door, and in a few moments, he saw the light leaking through a crack in the door panel that he could fit a little finger into, and then he heard the sound of very loud footsteps descending the floorboards and thumping all the way to the front door. By the sound of that voice, it seemed as if what was approaching was not a person but something like a grizzly bear.
"Just a moment, I'll open the door... Damn it, take away mate, why is this bolt stuck... Ah, you wait a little longer, it'll be ready in a minute... " From inside the door came a gruff voice.
The door didn't open right away like he said it would, though only a rattling noise came from inside the door, sometimes with a hard yank from the person inside, yet it didn't open with it, but rather another grumbling noise came from inside: "Damn, what's going on here? Why just can't you open... ah, you wait a little more..."
After about ten more minutes, a click was heard from inside, and then the next thing you know, the door was pulled open all at once, and a gust of wind blew out of it.
Joseph looked toward the inside and saw a fat man who was about his height but with a waistline at least two or three times his size. In Joseph's opinion, this one wouldn't even need to wear makeup if he were to go to the afterlife and play King of the Mountain. Besides the fat man, another person was dressed as a servant, holding a candlestick in one hand. The other hand was covering the flame so that the wind from opening the door wouldn't blow out the candle.
"Alfonso! Haha, you're finally here. Uh, how's the old man?" The King of the Mountain laughed out loud, the sound scaring the birds that were already sleeping in the trees next to him into flight.
"Father Jean-Jacques, the bishop is very good." Alfonso said, "Also, the Bishop asked me to bring a message to you this time in addition to bringing Joseph."
"What did the old man say?" The King of the Mountain asked next.
"The bishop asked me to tell you that gluttony is also one of the sins." Alfonso replied calmly.
"The old man... " The King of the Mountain's voice lowered, muttering something behind it that seemed to be a complaint, but Joseph couldn't hear it at all.
"Okay. Don't complain. Well, let me introduce you, this is Joseph, the old man... bishop's godson. The one that's getting ready to go to Louis-le-Grand...," Alfonso said.
"Ah. Well, you guys come on in. This damn door... Nahum, you go move that cabinet over there and rely on that to block the door for now tonight..."
"Father, I know. But that cabinet, it would be best if you would join me..."
"Really... I told you to eat more, you need to eat more, how can you have strength if you don't eat? Even a cabinet..."
This is where Joseph will live for the next few years.
...
Passing the entrance exam to Louis-le-Grand was not difficult for Joseph, so he was quickly invited to enroll and study. Joseph intended, first, to study at the Louis-le-Grand for a few years and, in the meantime, to meet a few more people, to prepare some contacts for the future, and then to get out of Paris first before the outbreak of the Revolution (At that time, Paris was just too chaotic. Whether he lives or dies is, in many cases, more a matter of luck than anything else.), to the provinces, and then take advantage of the time Girondists on the stage, by being able to 'foretell' some things to do some speculation, hoarding things, get the first barrel of gold for themselves, as well as the family. Then, he can hide behind his 'stupid brother' and push his family to be the leading family in Europe. Of course, Joseph had to find a way to stop this 'stupid brother' from making a fool of himself later in Spain, and especially in Russia. To stop him, he had to carry enough weight to be more than just the original historical loser Napoleon saw as totally dependent on him to become King of Spain.
"That stupid brother of mine is a self-important, very proud, out-of-sight guy, and it's not that easy to slam on his brakes."
The days passed slowly according to Joseph's ideas, and Joseph did well in school, getting a full scholarship without any problems and making a good name for himself in a small circle of literature and natural science experts. Plus, Joseph sometimes took on translations and a few other jobs to earn a few francs as well. So, nowadays, he was even able to put some money aside from securing his own expenses. Everything seemed to be going very well, but a letter was delivered to Joseph just then.
This letter brought Joseph bad news: his father was severely sick. So, the family's financial situation is pretty tight these days. Joseph doesn't spend his family's money on his studies and his life nowadays, but nowadays, it's no longer enough that he doesn't reach out to his family. Napoleon's living expenses and those of several other younger siblings and their education became a problem. The letter from his family means that they want him to find a job as soon as possible to take this burden off several younger siblings.
Dropping out of school immediately was clearly inappropriate and would have had a detrimental effect on Joseph's entire program. So, it's best to make more money while still being able to maintain the studies.
"Ugh, how did I forget about the Bonaparte family's hereditary stomach cancer?" Joseph thought.
The Bonaparte family has long been threatened by a hereditary form of stomach cancer, especially among the men in the family. As far as Joseph was concerned, among the brothers, he was almost the only one who hadn't gotten into this problem himself. Of course, Joseph knew that the cancer was a roll of the dice, and just because Joseph didn't get stomach cancer in his original history doesn't mean he won't get this in the future in his present-day self. So he really needs to be more careful in the future. For example, in the original history, his father was supposed to have been found to have stomach cancer a year later. But in this time and place, the matter was unexpectedly advanced.
All that remains is that it's time to think about things like how to carry the weight of the family. But what can he do to increase his income effectively? A part-time job was out of the question, not in this lifetime, and nowadays, Joseph could barely make ends meet by getting a scholarship. And then there is going to various salon parties. Going to the salon party is like home. The feeling of the inside is better than at home. The participants are all talented, well-spoken, and good. So Joseph would have to look around at these salon parties to see if any money could be made.
"Joseph, what are looking at? You don't seem to look well to me." A voice rang out.
Joseph whipped his head around only to see a young man with some freckles on his face ask with a face full of concern.
This was Armand René de Lavoisier, a schoolmate of Joseph's, who was a somewhat literary young man and had an uncle who had left his name on the whole history of mankind. Unlike his famous uncle, Armand had almost no talent at all in the natural sciences. But when it came to literature, he was a good one and was even one of the pillars of the student theater troupe at the Louis-le-Grand.
"Oh, it's Armand. Nothing much happened to me, except I got a letter saying my father was sick. Well, that might be affecting my financial situation these days." Joseph said as he put away the letter in his hand.
"Joseph, your father must be seriously ill?" Armand walked over to the bench where Joseph was sitting and sat down side by side with him, the midday wind rustling through the tops of the sycamore trees above their heads.
"I know you have a full scholarship and it shouldn't cost you much to live in a church. You don't even need the family's money. Therefore, it shouldn't be financial problems that make you look like that." Armand said while taking out a small bottle. He unscrewed the bottle cap and carefully poured some liquid into it. Then to Joseph, "Would you like some?"