Fox of France

Not long after this conversation, Amon handed over two plays - Shakespeare's "Timon of Athens" and Milton's "Samson of Hercules" - plus many other poems to Joseph .

"This is something that I have accumulated here for the past two years. It has been accumulated for almost half a year... You know, where do I have so much time to do this? It has been delayed anyway, so you don't have to rush, take your time Come on, there is no hurry there anyway." After handing these things over to Joseph who had just taken a leave of absence and was about to return to Corsica, Amon said to him.

"Joseph, I hope your father is fine, and you can come back soon." Another classmate named Rafa also said, "In our discussions, you can always give us a lot of inspiration. You are gone, our club gatherings It's getting dark."

"Rafa is right, we can't live without you in our club." Another little man named Honoré said, he, like Joseph, completely depended on the scholarship for his life, so emotionally, he and Joseph were closer.

The club Rafa is talking about is a small group called "Friends of Youth". It consists of a group of young people with completely different lifestyles and attitudes, but they are all dissatisfied with reality and full of naive imaginations about the future. In fact, there are many young people of this type in various schools in France today.

Joseph knew that many of these young people who looked naive and ridiculously naive today became influential figures in the Great Revolution; Hi Clique, also turned into later political parties. For example, the famous Jacobins were just a club at the beginning.

"Friends of Youth" is actually the embryonic form of such a political party, although its members are diverse, including aristocrats like Xiang Amon who are living a good life, nobles like Joseph who are living a hard life, and some like Rafa Such a well-off businessman's son, and a poor family's son like Aurreno. Although the personalities of its members are also different: Amon is extroverted and exaggerated; But on one thing, they all have the same view, that is, the current system in France is very unfair and must be changed. It's just that on the question of how to change, everyone's views have not yet been fully unified.

The influence of Voltaire can be clearly seen in Armand. Like Voltaire, he likes to satirize the church with harsh language, but in terms of political system, he prefers the British-style, constitutional monarchy system. When discussing political issues, he always likes to use "Glorious Revolution" and "Bill of Rights" " on the lips.

On the other hand, Aureno opposed any monarchy. One of his uncles followed General Lafayette and fought the British in North America. From him, Aureno heard countless things about the United States. So he became a staunch supporter of the republic. He opposed any monarch and firmly believed that France should be a republic.

As for Rafa, he felt that, theoretically, a republic is of course the best, and it is most in line with the principle of equality for all. This fact is also consistent with the teaching of Christ. "The prophet Moses opposed the monarchy at the beginning." Lucien said so. But on the other hand, he believes: "The monarchy is the tradition of France, and the people are used to being ruled by the king, so we cannot completely ignore the French tradition and the habits of the people. Therefore, constitutional monarchy is not an unacceptable compromise."

As for Joseph, he does not appear to be particularly concerned with the regime, but with the rights of the individual:

"I don't care who is ruling the country, whether he is a king or a president, what I care most about is that his power must be restrained and he cannot interfere with my freedom and rights at will. There is a point of view in the North American Declaration of Independence that I very much agree with , that is, the people have the right to overthrow tyranny. Only the power recognized by all the people is legal power. From this point of view, I respect any choice of the French people.”

This statement is actually very tactful, especially the last sentence. However, the young people of this era have not been influenced by the slang words of a foreign ministry of a certain country in the future, but they think that what Joseph said is also very reasonable. However, the most critical part of this sentence is ignored, that is, who is the people and who represents the people.

After all, Joseph came from time travel, and he has seen a lot of the practice of various political systems in later generations, and he has the experience of being a keyboard warrior in the post bar forum, so he can say a thing or two about the advantages and disadvantages of various political systems , and it can make other people feel very reasonable.

In fact, the young men in the "Friends of Youth" club were much simpler and easier to deceive than the well-informed fellows of later generations. So although these people still have some political differences, Joseph has successfully turned his views into the common program of the entire club. And he himself became the spiritual leader of the club. Now he was leaving Paris temporarily. Several classmates asked for leave and came to the station to see him off.

"Joseph, don't worry too much about financial problems." Rafa said again, "In Paris, it is much easier to find a chance to make money than in other provinces. Come back to Paris as soon as possible after the family affairs are over. We are all together There is always a way. Well, Joseph, if you are short of money now, I can get you some money from my father, not too much, but two or three hundred francs is not a problem. And it is interest-free .”

"Rafa, didn't you say that your father was stingy?" Aureno asked.

"That's right. But when my father really needs to spend money, he is willing to give up." Rafa shook his head and said, "You don't know, he will strictly control every copper I have. , I can’t even drink another glass of beer, because according to the old man, drinking beer is not as effective as black bread in filling the stomach.

But on the other hand, when the old man sent me to the school, he said to me: 'Rafa, you know that the Louis the Great School is one of the best schools, and there are only two types of people who can study here. One is people with a lot of money or status in the family, and the other is very talented people. You know I'm frugal, Rafa, and I think frugality is a virtue. But do you really think I get rich because I'm thriftier than other people? No, no, because I know where the money is most efficiently spent. I spent money to go out and send you to Louis the Great School for two purposes.

First, you can learn a lot of skills here, many skills that I can't teach you; second, you can meet many capable people there and become friends with them, which will be more convenient for you when you do something in the future . So in this kind of thing, I'm never stingy. '"

"Rafa," cried Amon, "your father is a wonderful fellow! Maybe I should introduce my uncle to your father. They must be friends."

"Ah, Armand, if you can arrange for my father to meet Monsieur Lavoisier, he will be willing to pay for champagne for all of us. But you'd better think about it, because my father will probably use this to earn money More money." Lucien replied, "Besides, my father will certainly not be friends with your uncle, his only friend is Louis d'Or."

"Rafa, are you sure your father thinks I'm a talented person worth investing in?" Joseph asked again.

"Of course, because I think so, and my father thinks: first, my loyalty to him is unquestionable. Second, among the people he knows, he is loyal and has the ability to recognize whether a person is gifted or not, There are only a few promising ones, and I'm sure I'm one of them. Besides, my father said: 'There is no guarantee that you will make money in business, you will definitely lose money. Taking risks is part of doing business.' Rafa replied, "I think, although I'm not sure, but Joseph, you may be a famous person in history in the future."

"Ah, Rafa, I will also be famous in history. You can invest in me too." Amon shouted with a smile.

Lucien looked at Amon and laughed loudly: "Student Amon, I believe you may be famous in history one day. But my father said: 'A poet, even a poet who is famous in history, is not a good one. Investment object. At least, not while he was alive.'”

"Damn, this is so similar to what my uncle said." Amon pretended to be annoyed.

"Joseph, you must come back." Aureno said, holding his hand.

"I'll be back as soon as possible," Joseph replied.

After saying this, he raised his hat to several people, then turned and boarded the stagecoach.

...

Carlo's condition progressed rapidly. When Joseph returned to Corsica, he was already in a state of death. For most of the day, he was in a coma, and the time he was able to wake up did not exceed two hours a day. The doctor was completely helpless at this time.

In this era, European doctors basically had only bloodletting for more serious diseases. As for stomach cancer, even in later generations, if it is not discovered in time, it will be fatal. In this era, there is neither the technical ability to detect in advance nor the technical ability to treat after discovery. So at this time, the doctor simply told everyone: "What Mr. Carlo needs now is not a doctor, but a priest."

Napoleon was back too, arriving a day earlier than Joseph. When Joseph came back, the whole family was present. In the evening of that day, Carlo regained consciousness temporarily again, the priest began to pray for him at his side, his wife held his hand, and the children surrounded him. His eyes shifted from his wife, to his children, and finally to Joseph.

"Joseph..." Carlo said in a weak voice.

"Father, I'm here." Joseph said.

"Take care of the family..." These were Carlo's last words to Joseph.