Fox of France

Just as Joseph thought, he found Napoleon in that cave smoothly. When he found Napoleon, the troublemaker was sitting on a rock, looking out at the sea covered in rain and fog.

"My stupid brother, what are you doing there?" cried Joseph.

"Nothing." Napoleon stood up lazily, "I was thinking, maybe I should put a book in this hole, so that I can have something to do when I come here later. Well, Joseph, I think, I should Is it all right? I should be able to go home now."

Napoleon's last sentence was not in a questioning tone, but in a declarative tone.

"Basically." Joseph said, "But why are you so sure?"

"If the matter is not over yet, and I can't go back, you should have come here with food instead of empty hands like this." Napoleon replied, and then he asked: "Joseph, how did the matter end?"

"Paul woke up just after you ran for a few minutes." Joseph said, "Of course Carlo was still very angry. He told Giovanni that when he caught you, he would beat you severely with a whip." But after Giovanni left, Polina said to him, you beat Paul because you saw him pulling her braids. After Paulina said this, I think our father didn’t understand He didn't seem to be very angry with you. He even said to me: 'Joseph', you are my eldest son, why didn't you rush to the front when something happened? Alas, you It would be nice to make peace with Napoleon."

As Joseph said, he also imitated his father's appearance, which made Napoleon couldn't help laughing. He said, "So I should be fine?"

"Basically it's all right." Joseph said, "I'll be scolded at most. If it wasn't for Paulina this time, you'd have to suffer. My stupid brother, your way of doing things works. , but there has always been a problem, that is, it is not easy to control the scale, and it is easy to overdo it."

"It's better to overdo it than to be beaten up because of timidity." Napoleon said indifferently.

"Okay, come back with me. Everyone is hungry, but Mom and Paulina both insist on eating after you come back." Joseph said, "Father will scold you when you go back, admit your mistake, Then we can all eat. Come on, I'm hungry!"

The two returned home, just as Joseph said, Carlo just scolded Napoleon with a stern face, and did not take out the whip. And Napoleon, who had been angry with Joseph for a long time, reflected on his mistakes to his father very docilely, and promised that if such a thing happened in the future, he would definitely control his emotions and never strike so hard.

"As a man in the family, you must take the initiative to protect women. But you must also be measured." After Napoleon finished speaking, Carlo said with satisfaction, "But you must act quickly. Joseph, you are not as good as Napoleon. I know You have been influenced by Bishop Minière in many ways, Bishop Minière is a good man and a holy man, but neither your mother nor I want to see you become a priest."

"Okay, Carlo." Letizia frowned slightly, "Your speech should be over, the children are hungry."

"Okay." Kano smiled. Put your hands together. Everyone folded their hands together and began to pray before dinner: "God, please bless us, the food we enjoy and all the blessings. Because of our Lord Christ. Amen."

After eating like this, Carlo led everyone to finish the after-dinner prayer together. This is the common rule of almost all families in this era. But Joseph always thought: "If I were God, I would feel like I was going crazy if I was harassed by so many people's messages every day."

There wasn't much entertainment in this day and age, it's winter and it gets dark early, usually after dinner Carlo reads a passage from the Bible or something, and then it gets dark and everyone can Say goodnight to each other.

But this time, Carlo did not take out the Bible, but said to everyone: "Everyone sit here first, I have something to tell you."

Everyone continued to sit in their chairs and listen.

"Joseph, Napoleon, you two are old enough to learn something. I have a friend, Mr. Armand de Foix, who came to our house last time. He is now Going back to France, he can take you to France, go to school in France, learn French, and then decide what you want to do next based on your performance in middle school."

Mr. Armand de Foix, as soon as he heard the name, such an image popped up in Joseph's head: it was a big man with a red face full of freckles, about his height, but But it was almost twice as wide as itself. Especially the beer belly, Joseph suspected that he would probably not be able to see his toes when he lowered his head.

He is a relative of the Governor of Corsica, works in the legal department of Corsica, and is Carlo's superior. Like all guys with a "de" in their name, this guy's job is really to get paid for doing nothing. And what he does every day is almost wandering around with a fishing rod. Carlo was originally an adjutant to Pauli, the leader of the Corsican Resistance Army. Logically, it should be difficult for such a person to gain the trust of the French authorities. But because he established a good relationship with Mr. Foix, not only his identity as an "Italian nobleman" was recognized (of course, this recognition is only on the paperwork, if he really wants to go to France, especially to Paris, he The count of this, but few people take it seriously.) And became a member of the French government in Corsica.

Now that Mr. Foix was leaving Corsica, Carlo entrusted him to introduce a French noble school to his two sons. Carlo knew that in Corsica, the Corsicans didn't have many prospects, and France was the place that could really provide opportunities.

"What are you doing learning French? The French..." Napoleon said halfway, looked into Carlo's eyes, and then closed his mouth.

"Remember, the future of the family depends on you." Carlo finally said, "Napoleon, don't talk nonsense when you arrive in France."

Napoleon didn't speak, but there was a reluctance on his face that even a fool could see.

"Joseph, talk to Napoleon later, don't cause trouble when you arrive in France." Carlo said again.

No one knew what Joseph had said to Napoleon that night, but after dawn, Napoleon showed a completely different interest in going to France to learn French.

"I want to go into the heart of the enemy, observe them at the closest distance, and understand them. This will help Corsica to be free." Privately, Napoleon said to his sister Polina.

Mr. Foix had to wait more than a month before returning to France. Taking advantage of this time, Carlo invited a young man named Valentin to be a tutor for his two sons, so that they could go to France before going to France. , can master some French more or less.

Valentin is a young man who is not yet twenty years old. It is said that he has studied at the University of Paris, but he failed to graduate there smoothly. Later, in order to make a living, he came to Corsica. He is a typical southerner with fair skin, black hair and blue eyes. He always smiles when he talks, and is generally a very sweet guy.

It's just that he has his own job, and teaching the Bonaparte brothers two French can only be done after get off work. In order to allow the two brothers to master some French as much as possible, Carlo, who has always been frugal, allowed the two brothers to light an oil lamp at night to learn.

Italian and French are actually very similar, and the Corsican dialect is a language in between. Of course, the Corsican dialect is still closer to Italian. Therefore, for Joseph and Napoleon who have mastered the Corsican dialect, it took more than a month to basically master general French, which is really not particularly difficult.

More than a month passed quickly, and it was time to leave Corsica in a blink of an eye.

Early this morning, after breakfast, Carlo took his family to the outside of Mr. Foix's residence and met with Mr. Foix. People in that era went to bed early, so they generally woke up early. Mr. Foix's house is also in a hurry. A butler is directing a group of servants to throw all kinds of things into the carriage.

As for Mr. Foix, he stood alone, with no nostalgia on his face about leaving the place where he lived for several years, nor the slightest joy at returning to his hometown. As if it had nothing to do with him at all. It was only after he saw Carlo's family that he smiled and walked over to say hello: "Hi, Carlo, and Joseph and Napoleon, good morning."

"Good morning, Monsieur Foix." Joseph quickly replied in French. But Napoleon was silent.

"Ah, Joseph, your French pronunciation is still a bit Italian, but it doesn't matter. There are many people with this accent in Toulon. Oh, Napoleon is still very shy. Be generous, be generous. OK. Hahahaha..."

Apparently, Foix mistook Napoleon's hostility towards the French for his shyness. He didn't know that the reason why this little man was willing to study in France was to understand France, so that one day he could defeat France and win independence for Corsica. At this time at least, Napoleon was a staunch Corsican DL.