Since Bishop Talleyrand sold the church lands, the new government's financial crisis seems to have been lifted for the time being. But selling land worth more than three billion livres in one go is not easy. If they sell expensively, no one can afford to buy them; if they sell cheaply, they are too much of a loss. A new approach was proposed: relying on these lands and issuing a paper currency.
In accordance with the original plan, this paper money was to be issued in quantities corresponding to the value of the church lands. The government could also theoretically recover these bills through the gradual sale of church land. So, in theory, the value of these bills is still guaranteed.
This type of paper money is called assignat. It is also with this paper money that Joseph's salary is largely paid today.
Carnot believes Joseph's time after he got home each day must have been devoted to working on mathematical problems. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain how he could make discoveries from time to time in spite of such a heavy workload.
But in fact, Joseph's main thing after going home every day was not actually studying academics, but how to turn those assignats in his hands into silver coins as soon as possible or something else, which was a bit more reliable in Joseph's opinion, such as land and food.
This kind of thing would have been like sticking his head under the guillotine himself if it had been done a few years later when Robespierre was in power. At this moment in time, however, this sort of thing is what everyone is doing. Robespierre is said to have proposed in Parliament to limit the maximum price of grain. But the proposal was unsurprisingly rejected and didn't even make it to the stage of formal discussion - because almost everyone in the council at this point in time, with the exception of Robespierre, was making money off of it.
Joseph didn't go it alone; he pulled in a few partners. One was his old partner, Lavoisier, and the other, Danton, whom he knew through Armand.
Both partners, later on, were put to the guillotine when Robespierre was in power. But that was a few years away, and Joseph felt that as long as he was careful not to go too far, quit early enough, and was "useful," he shouldn't have too many problems.
A few people have made a lot of money on their trades by having information up there. In the midst of this fulfilling life, Joseph suddenly received a letter from Napoleon from Corsica, which mentioned that Paoli had returned to Corsica.
Paoli was the hero of the original Corsican independence movement. Joseph's father had been Paoli's subordinate and had followed him into battle against the French. Later, after the resistance failed, Paoli went into exile in England, while Joseph's father submitted to France. Joseph knew that Paoli had been an idol in Napoleon's mind for a long time. Napoleon had longed to join him in leading Corsica to independence and freedom.
But from this letter sent by Napoleon, Joseph did sense that Napoleon was in a bad mood. Although Napoleon said little in his letter, the disillusionment between the lines was easily felt.
'What's wrong with this guy?' Joseph thought, 'Maybe I really should go see him.'
But nowadays, affairs were so busy that Joseph could not find the time to do anything but send another letter to Napoleon, consoling him on the one hand and simply inviting him to Paris on the other. Because, in Joseph's opinion, Corsica was too small to have much of a future on that little island.
A week passed after the letter was mailed, and Joseph came home from work. On entering, he saw a short man sitting in front of a table playing chess with Lucien while Louis stood at one side and supported him: "Napoleon, Napoleon, move the bishop quickly and chase his knights ..."
Hearing the door open, Napoleon put down the chess pieces in his hand and looked up.
"Joseph, you're back a little later today than Lucien said you would be." Napoleon said. His face was full of smiles, and he didn't see any of the frustration that had characterized his last letter.
"How did you get here so fast, you didn't get my reply to your ... letter, did you?" Joseph asked with a slight frown as he removed his jacket and handed it to the welcoming Aunt Sophie.
"How is it possible to receive it?" Napoleon stretched and placed the piece in his hand back on the board, "I heard about the letter you wrote a week ago, and by that time I had already moved to come over to Paris. If I had remained in Corsica, I might have received that letter just now."
"Napoleon, you're not getting off yet. You said you'd help me get revenge!" Louis interjected.
"Joseph is back, what else is under. Besides, Lucien has already lost this game, so why bother eating one of his pieces?" Napoleon said in disbelief.
"You only have a slight advantage in the position, you don't have more pieces than me, so where do I lose?" Lucien, however, was not convinced.
"Heh ..." Napoleon just laughed but didn't answer.
"Napoleon, you figured it out? I mean about Paoli." Joseph walked over to the table, reached over, pulled a chair over, and sat down, glancing at the game on the table in the process. As Lucien had said, he wasn't at a disadvantage in terms of pawn strength and even had an extra pawn, but the position was also, as Napoleon had said, much more reasonably placed, with the important lanes in the center of the board almost entirely controlled by his pieces, and with a much more complete chain of pawns. Joseph felt that Napoleon's victory was almost a foregone conclusion.
"Figured it out, as a matter of fact, the day after I mailed that letter to you." Napoleon said, "Paoli's too old, he's stuck in decades. And I can't be a decades-old zombie like him."
"Go on." Joseph said.
"Joseph, remember that survey you asked me to do?" Napoleon said.
"Of course I remember."
"Do you know what the results of the investigation looked like?" Napoleon shook his head.
However, Joseph did not ask, knowing that Napoleon would speak.
"Most Corsican nobles, like Paoli, are zombies who lived decades ago. Of course, it's normal for them. The time a few decades ago, when the Italians got the hell out of the way, and the French weren't here yet, was indeed a good time for them. Their aspirations for independence are a little higher today, but that's not because of anything else. It's because they're frightened by the things that are going on in France right now, and they're afraid that changes like this will ripple through them. If Corsica could be rowed away like a boat, they would have wished they could row the island to an isolated place to hide it so that it could escape the torrents of time.
As for the peasants of Corsica, they were even more stupid. The Corsican nobles at least knew what their interests were, and they didn't even know that. They are like obscurantist animals, muddled. All of Corsica, still sleeping in a medieval haze, might need a big storm to wake them up.
If Paoli and I had done it together, considering the situation in France today, there might have been a war. Taking the opportunity to get rid of France is indeed not impossible, but that kind of independent Corsica is not the Corsica I would like to see. It would just become a zombie-like Paoli. I don't want a Corsica like that!
And if Corsica was to be brought up to date, it was only by letting the storm of France's revolution blow into Corsica. So, I don't think getting independence is a good thing for Corsica today."
"So you and Paoli had a falling out?" Joseph asked.
"No." Napoleon said, "How could I possibly go and mess with a zombie? Let alone in Corsica? Our mother and sister are still in Corsica. Corsica is a deadly place, but it's also a bit quieter and more suitable for women than Paris. As for me, I merely won't follow a mere illusion any longer. I have to say that I really owe you a debt of gratitude in this matter, Joseph, and without that method of yours I might not have been so apt to see the truth and make up my mind."
"Well, let's leave these things alone for now." Joseph said, "Napoleon, do you have any plans now?"
"I've got some time left on my leave of absence, and I'm going to stay with you for a while to see Paris first. Then back to the army." Napoleon said.
"You mean you want to rely on me, eat from me and mine, and be a parasite?" Joseph sneered.
"Are you going to enslave me a little? Like when Aunt Sophie is away and you pass the chores on to Lucien, who passes them on to Louis?" Napoleon laughed.
"Doesn't that stand to reason?" Joseph smiled back, "I am now working with Captain Carnot as an advisor to Lafayette on reforms to the French military structure. Judging by your performance in Corsica, I'd say that it's no longer particularly stupid to think that you've greatly improved. So there are some things, I think, that you could barely be good enough to handle for me."
Joseph was making it clear that he was shamelessly trying to squeeze his brother as cheap labor, and Napoleon was naturally tempted to show it without hesitation: 'I, Napoleon, would starve, die outside, jump from here, and not let you squeeze me!' But, but ... it's really interesting to be involved in something like this, think about it, as a second lieutenant, but to intervene in the entire military structure of one of the most powerful countries in Europe. This is really ... really fragrant!
"How could anyone let an idiot like you in on something as big as this?" Napoleon shook his head, "It's bound to go awry. And when things go wrong and there is accountability, idiots like you will surely be dragged out and shot. Joseph, though you are a fool, you are at least a Bonaparte fool. I must keep an eye on you, lest you fool around and lose your head."