Napoleon, I ask you, in the revolution, the most important question is what to figure out? Joseph suddenly asked again.

"Of course who is our friend and who is our enemy? It's also one of the rare, less stupid questions you have. "What is the most important thing in deciding who is our friend and who is our enemy, isn't it to see where their economic interests are?" When I was in Italy, which Italians supported me and which Italians were against me? To put it simply, those who have gained land and benefits in the war will support us. And those who have suffered will oppose us. To put it more clearly, those who align with our interests are our friends. ”

"But the question now is, where are our interests?" Joseph said.

Without waiting for Napoleon and Lucien to react further, Joseph handed them a statement: "This is the income statistics of the various estates under our family's control. You can take a look. ”

The two of them quickly took the report and read it.

"Did you notice? The proportion of our revenues from agriculture is already quite small. Although our family has a lot of land now, there is not much for agriculture. Why is this happening? Joseph asked.

"Because farming doesn't make money." Lucien replied, "How much money can even the most profitable high-end vineyard make in a year?" And our factory, as long as it is running, the efficiency of making money does not know how much higher than that of wine. And wine, in today's agriculture, is already profitable.

Before the revolution, if a person owned a large tract of arable land, he was probably the richest and most powerful person in a large area. Now, of course, there are no such people in France, but there are quite a few such guys in many countries. What do we call such guys? Dirt old hats. Still counting on farming to make money? Hehe. These old hats will definitely hate us very much. ”

"Lucien, the peasants are doing better than before." Napoleon said.

"That's right, but what the farmer earns, that can also be counted as money? That's just a little more? Lucien shook his head disdainfully.

It is true that the French peasants are living a good life today, but this is good on the basis of comparing it with the pre-revolutionary period. But in reality, it's just a way to barely make ends meet. Of course, the happiness is comparative, and the French peasants are of course very happy compared to the peasants of some of the surrounding countries who also have to pay taxes to the aristocracy.

"So, there is no doubt that our main interests now are in industry and commerce. By understanding where our interests lie, we can understand what our enemies are. Joseph continued.

"And what do you think are our enemies today?" Napoleon asked.

"First of all, the landed aristocracy." Lucien said, "All the landed aristocracy of the whole of Europe must be against us." ”

After saying this, Lucien looked at the two elder brothers, and when he saw that they were silent, he said a little worriedly: "What, am I wrong?" ”

"A few years ago, you were right." Napoleon said.

Lucien turned his gaze to Joseph.

"Napoleon was right." Joseph said.

"Stop playing pantomimes? What's wrong now? Lucien said.

"There was a fool who was sailing on the Seine in a boat, and the revolver he was carrying with him accidentally fell off the side of the boat. This revolver is a high-end item with an ivory handle, and it is worth a lot of money, so someone shouted at him: 'Go down and fish, the water is not deep here!' But the fool did not hurry and took a knife out of his pocket, carved a mark on the side of the ship, and said: 'What's the hurry, my gun fell from this position, and when the ship arrives, it will be too late to pick it up.' 'Well, Lucien, you are such a fool. ”

Lucien was stunned for a moment, and before he could recover his senses, he heard Napoleon slap his face and laugh: "Joseph, this story is too apt, too funny, no, I want to write it down in my diary." Later, I will tell it to the son of Lucien. Hahahaha. ”

Lucien gradually understood at this time, and immediately sneered at him: "Don't forget, Napoleon, you also have a story, and I will tell it to your son in the future!" ”

"There's a lot more to your story." Napoleon shouted without showing weakness, as if "come, come and hurt each other".

"But your reputation is more valuable than my gold, and there is no one in the whole family who needs to pay more attention to his reputation than me, except for Polina! We don't have conshins, but we're never afraid to wear them! Lucien also put on a look of "I'm a hooligan, who am I afraid of".

"Okay, don't detract from the main problem." Joseph said.

So the two brothers fell silent, but they kept teasing each other with their eyes.

"Lucien, I have taught you before to look at problems from the perspective of development. The world is not static, it is constantly changing. 'One cannot cross the same river twice'. In the past, those landed aristocrats were indeed our number one enemy, but the world will change, not only the world will change, but we will also change! Joseph seems to have returned to his time as a teacher for the brothers.

"Hmm......" Lucien listened honestly.

"Do you see, whether it is Austria, or Prussia, or even Italy, what is the main source of wealth for the richest landed aristocracy today, or do they rely on that little rent?" Joseph asked again.

"Ah, Joseph, I see! They have changed, they have become us! "Indeed, if you still rely on the little wheat in the field, you will die of poverty." Their main source of income now has become something else, such as mining, trade, and so on. They became like us, became us. However, this does not affect the conclusion, because 'peers are the ones who hate peers the most'. ”

"Wrong." Joseph shook his head, "They are not our peers. What is the core of our industry? It's manufacturing. It's our steel mill, our shipyard, our cement yard, our electrical and all sorts of other things. They are just part of our production chain. For example, the copper and coal mines of Austria and Prussia were basically sold to us, and these mining nobles sold us ore and then sold industrial goods back from us, and they were already a link in our chain. If they are content with that, then they are our allies, or more clearly, they are our servants. Only those who are also trying to produce steel, electricity, boats, cement, and so on are our peers. Do you know who I'm talking about? ”

"Understood, Britain is our enemy." Lucien Road.

"It's not enough to understand this, to be precise, it's British industrial capital that is our enemy." Joseph added.

"You're right, Joseph." Lucien nodded.

"But that's not the most dangerous enemy." Joseph shook his head again, "Napoleon, you are more politically sensitive than Lucien, come and tell me, who do you think is the most dangerous enemy?" ”

Napoleon looked at Joseph, clasped his hands to his chest, leaned back in his chair, and smiled: "You're talking about the workers in our factory, right?" ”

"What?" Lucien was taken aback, "Our workers are very supportive, they love us. They're all cheering at you. ”

"On more than one occasion, the French people cheered at the king, and even I saw it with my own eyes, shouting at Louis XVI: 'Long live the king!' In the blink of an eye, however, their shouts became 'cut off the head of the tyrant'. Napoleon said disdainfully, "They are now cheering at us because they see what life is going for the workers of England, but also for Austria and Prussia, and for the peasants of the Rhine Union." The main thing is that someone sets it off well. And they still have a North America to go to. They still have a way back, unlike the sans-culottes before the revolution, so they will not rebel yet, they will still cheer at us. But if you look at England, the workers have already begun to rebel. There were even Prussia and Austria, where the rebellion of the mine workers was even more commonplace. The workers in France have not yet done this, but if we don't handle it well, one day, they will wave their fists at us. ”

"Well, by the way, Lucien, do you know why I say that these workers are the most dangerous enemies?" Napoleon asked again.

"I don't know." Lucien shook his head.

"Because we can easily wipe out the landed aristocracy, and we can guarantee that there will never be any more of them. We can try to eliminate our British counterparts, but we can never really eliminate the workers. Because without them, our interests would not exist. It was almost exactly the same as before the Revolution, when the king and the landed aristocracy faced the Third Estate. No matter how the king suppresses them, the Third Estate itself will not die out from this. And if the third estate succeeds once, the king and the landed nobles are completely finished. Now there are lovely Britons to help us block our guns, but we can't afford to waste the time the British have bought us to be well prepared before it rains. Do you understand? ”

"So, what can we do to prepare?"

"Lucien, since ancient times, has always relied on two things most for successful reactionary rulers: the suppression of force and the deception of public opinion. We're no exception. Do you understand? Joseph concluded.