Napoleon tried hard, but as long as things were within Joseph's management, well, that guy was a tyrant and never listened to the reasonable opinions of others. In short, Napoleon tried his best to convince his eldest brother, and then he left Joseph's office with a sullen look.

But as soon as he went out, the unhappiness on Napoleon's face disappeared, and he got into the carriage with a smile on his face, and returned to his Tuileries Palace, which was now the ruling government.

Napoleon returned to the ruling government and sat down in his office, where his secretary Nino said to him: "Your Excellency First Consul, Monsieur Laplace has been waiting for you for some time. ”

"Ah, let him in." Napoleon said.

Nino turned and went out, and after a while, Laplace, the principal of the École Supérieure de Paris and the vice-president of the French Academy of Sciences, followed Nino in.

"Ah, Mr. Laplace, please be seated." Seeing Laplace come in, Napoleon stood up and said.

"Thank you, thank you." Laplace sat down in the chair next to him and looked at Napoleon as if he wanted to say something.

Napoleon, of course, knew what Laplace meant, so he took a sip and said, "Monsieur Laplace, I just came from my eldest brother Joseph, that stubborn fellow. Yes, it's for the Prometheus Prize. That guy is a stubborn guy, and he's very protective, well, you've been dealing with him a lot, and you know that. ”

Laplace craned his neck to listen, but he didn't make a sound, he knew that Napoleon and his eldest brother actually had a good relationship, don't look at Napoleon buttoning Joseph all kinds of hats here, but this kind of thing, Napoleon can do it, and it is better for others not to mix it up.

"I argued with him all day, and he insisted that the first math prize must be given to his assistant Gauss. Well, you know, this guy can be stubborn and short-term. So I slapped the table and scolded him for using his power for personal gain, and then he also slapped the table and scolded me...... In the end, he agreed to make certain concessions. He promised that next year and the year after, a place would be set aside for the École Supérieure de Paris. ”

"Set aside a place for next year and the year after that for the École Supérieure de Paris? Will the École Supérieure de Paris also get a place next year? Laplace was taken aback.

To be honest, Laplace didn't have much hope when he encouraged Napoleon to compete with Joseph for a place. Indeed, Joseph's usual appearance as a moral model is very much in line with the general public's mind as a great scientist who is dedicated to science and does not value fame and fortune. But Laplace knew that great scientists and so on are not necessarily really moral models, not to mention anything else, take the example of Mr. Lavoisier, honorary president of the French Academy of Sciences and honorary rector of the University of Paris, when he was an assistant to Mr. Lavoisier, he was not less than lavoisier's salary under the pretense of being deducted.

If it comes to fame or something, it's even more so for great scientists...... For example, the famous Sir Newton, in order to monopolize the discovery of gravity, fought with Hooke, and even after Hooke's death, Newton became the president of the British Academy of Sciences, and refused to let Hooke go, not only destroyed Hooke's laboratory, but even destroyed Hooke's only portrait, so that the surviving portraits of Hooke are all imaginary pictures.

And Joseph, this guy, made a look of not admiring fame and fortune, because he was not short of fame or fortune. Not to mention, Joseph is so rich that he doesn't even think much of the million-franc prize; As for the name, according to Laplace's observations, Joseph's reputation today is no longer that of a mathematician and a scientist, but of the title of "educator". If you praise Joseph in public for his scientific achievements, Joseph will most likely be expressionless and unconcerned that he is only making a small contribution. But if you compliment Joseph on his ability to train students, he will immediately smile so that his eyes narrowed into a slit, and the corners of his mouth bent up to the base of his ears. Although he still pretends to say: "The main thing is that I am lucky, and the students I meet are all very smart, hahahaha......"

Sometimes Laplace even thinks that Joseph and Napoleon are indeed brothers, and both of them like to make a "it's nothing" look like they are best at what they are best at, but they both like to give themselves some reputation that deviates a little bit from their main direction, for example, Napoleon was bent on blending in with the ranks of scientists, and Joseph now wants to be an educator.

Because of this, Joseph is also famous for his short protection. At first, Laplace was worried that Joseph would use his power for personal gain and simply make all four awards his students and assistants. Of course, considering Mr. Lavoisier's status and his relative to Joseph, and considering Mr. Lavoisier's obsession with the prize, Joseph estimated that he would leave a chemistry prize for Lavoisier, and as for the rest, if they didn't get it right, they would become "my students, my students, all my students." If it weren't for Joseph, he would certainly not have agreed, and Laplace was eager to ask: "Dean Bonaparte, do you still need students?" ”

So when Napoleon told him that Joseph had agreed to give a place to the Masters of Paris next year and the year after, Laplace was almost overjoyed.

"Yes, next year, there will be prizes for physics and chemistry, well, I don't think Mr. Lavoisier will let go of the chemistry prize. Unless anyone is willing to pay him two million francs to bribe. Napoleon was in a good mood and made a joke, "But the prize in physics, you can choose between you and Monsieur Grananger." Joseph felt that Mr. Glaranger, who was already older, should give him this award in recognition of his contribution to celestial mechanics......"

"But I'm also very helpful in celestial mechanics." Laplace shouted in his heart, but he didn't dare to do it directly, because he was afraid that His Excellency the First Consul would feel that he did not know what to do.

"As for you, Joseph thinks that the mathematics prize for the following year should be given to you." Napoleon said, "Rector Laplace, I know that I can get a million francs a year earlier, and in a year's time, even if I put it in the bank, I will get a lot of interest." So putting you in the next year does require you to make a certain sacrifice. But your sacrifice, I will remember. I won't let you pay for nothing. ”

Laplace, of course, hopes to get the prize as soon as possible, it's not just a matter of interest for one year, but more importantly, there are many dreams at night, and it will drag on for two years, in case ...... Wouldn't it be an immediate tragedy if one of Joseph's students suddenly made a big discovery? However, Laplace also knew that the person he could rely on the most in this matter was Napoleon, and Napoleon had now obtained results that exceeded his original imagination. So, he can't be too greedy. Laplace was not a man of strong character, so he replied:

"Dean Bonaparte's considerations are also reasonable."

After saying this, Laplace suddenly had this thought: "Alas, I knew earlier, maybe this headmaster should have let Glaranger be the one." ”

"Principal Laplace, you're a man who can take care of the big picture." Napoleon said happily.

After solving the problem of the grand prize, Napoleon began to work on his most important thing now: the Olympic Games.

While Napoleon was busy with the Olympics, in Rome, His Majesty the Pope was discussing with a group of cardinal archbishops about sending investigators to Austria.

"Directly accusing His Majesty Franz of committing the crime of **, even if we finally rehabilitate him, it will greatly damage our relations with Austria. Although, we cannot fail to comply with the will of the French, after all, none of us wants to leave Rome......" continued after a pause in the Pope's crown, "but it is still very much to lose us to completely fall out with Austria for this." Not long ago, one of our priests made a new proposal, well, Father Conte, tell you what you think. ”

A young priest came up to them, saluted, and said: "Your Majesty, bishops, we and His Majesty Franz of Austria know who is behind this investigation, and we know what they hope to achieve, and we know that it is difficult for us, neither the Holy See nor Vienna, to resist them. It's just that this crime is really not good, so why don't we change it? ”

"How to be flexible?" A bishop asked.

"We can send an emissary to Vienna to investigate the matter. Then His Majesty Franz was very angry about this, and then there was a misunderstanding and conflict with our messenger. His Majesty Franz, in his anger, did something slightly excesses and humiliated our emissary, and then we used this as a reason to revoke His Majesty Fritz's title of 'Emperor of the Romans'......"