In the summer of that year, Napoleon successfully passed his graduation exams and graduated from the military academy as he wished. He was transferred to the Raphael Regiment and received the rank of second lieutenant in artillery. On the day Napoleon left Paris, Joseph went to see him off at the stagecoach station. Napoleon wore a new gray-blue military uniform, with a sword hanging from his waist, and looked particularly energetic, if not a little shorter, but really a bit imposing.

"It's a bit of an officer." Joseph reached out and patted Napoleon on the shoulder, "Do a good job and become a general early." ”

"What is there to be a general in France?" Napoleon whispered.

"Don't say that in front of anyone else." Joseph said, "Go to the army and work hard, practice real skills, and use whatever you do in the future." ”

After sending off Napoleon and returning to school, Joseph had just sat down at his desk, and before he could make himself a cup of coffee, he saw Will, the principal's secretary, walk in.

"Monsieur Bonaparte, the headmaster has something to do with you." Will Road.

Joseph quickly stood up and followed Will towards the small two-story building occupied by the headmaster.

"Will, what's the headmaster looking for me?" Joseph asked as he walked along the path by the flower bed towards the small building.

"It's like there's an engineering thing up there, and I don't know the specifics, but you'll know when you see the principal in a while." Will replied.

As they spoke, they walked into the small building of Count Dupont, and a waiter in a wig opened the door for them, and took the hat handed over by Joseph and said, "Monsieur Bonaparte, the count is waiting for you in the office upstairs." Please come with me. ”

Joseph followed the attendant up to the second floor and into the office of the Count of Dupont. And the waiter withdrew.

"Ah, Monsieur Bonaparte, here you are." Earl Dupont Road.

"Headmaster, you have something to do with me?" Joseph asked.

"yes, some engineering stuff. Well...... Have you ever been to Calais, the one that specializes in lace? Count Dupont asked suddenly.

"Nope." Joseph replied.

"Oh, among the cities of the provinces, Calais is not bad. It's a good idea to take one or a few little lovers on vacation. But this time I mention Calais not for this, but because of a military mission. Would you like to go? Count Dupont smiled.

"I am willing to serve the country." Joseph hurriedly said, "I don't know what is going on?" ”

"It's nothing, the fort in Port Calais is too old to be used. Therefore, a new fort was needed to defend the port. The new fort will require a math advisor. This matter was supposed to be arranged for Mr. Monge. It's just that Mr. Monge has other important matters, so he recommended you. Joseph - Is it okay for me to call you that? ”

"Absolutely." Joseph hurriedly said.

"Yes, Joseph." Count Dupont said, "The salary of the school is actually very limited, and no one can starve to death, but it is not easy to live a good life on it alone." And performing this kind of task, although it is very tiring, but the income is very good. A few such tasks can save a small amount of money. You see, Monge, his salary is actually very much higher than yours, but with more of this kind of thing, his income is at least six or seven times that of yours. ”

Joseph knew that Monge recommended this matter to him, although he was too busy to do so, but the meaning of taking care of himself was also obvious. Then he said gratefully, "Thank you, Principal." ”

"Thank me for what? You should thank Mr. Monge even more. Count Dupont laughed, "Of course, Monge, this man is a bit old-fashioned, if you want to give him a gift, he may think that you are insulting his personality......" At this point, Count Dupont shook his head again, "You have to thank him, and it is best to send him an article with creation." Well, you're going to work as a math advisor this time, and both I and Monge hope that you can take this opportunity to go further academically. Well, it's not too urgent, but if you don't have anything else to do, arrange the work at hand and report to Calais as soon as possible. ”

Joseph knew that this sentence was basically equivalent to the Chinese tea send-off, so he thanked the Count of Dupont again and withdrew. Now that the semester is almost over, he has little to do. So he dealt with it a little, and three days later he took a letter of introduction signed by the Count of Dupont, got on a stagecoach, and headed for Calais.

In later generations, there was a Eurostar high-speed train between Paris and Calais, and it didn't take even an hour to get from Paris to Calais. But in this day and age, there was no such good thing, and it took Joseph two full days to arrive in Calais near dusk.

Because it was late, Joseph did not go directly to the naval camp in the port of Calais. At this time, most of the people on the navy side will not receive him. So he found a very ordinary hotel near the harbor, and after a night of fighting the bugs, he left the hotel at dawn the next day, and resolved that he would never live in such a cheap hotel again.

Following the stone-paved streets, Joseph walked in the direction of the port.

The port of Calais is divided into two parts, on one side is the noisy civil wharf, where a number of flutes and other ships are docked along several trestle bridges. It's still early, but you can already see sailors scrubbing the deck. On the other side, there is the military dock of the French Navy. The military wharf in Calais is much smaller than the civilian wharf, with only one trestle, and on the side of the trestle, there is only a single-deck frigate and a two-mast patrol boat. The main force of the French navy has always been in the direction of the Mediterranean, and the port of Calais is too close to the UK - standing high on the shore and looking to the west, if the weather is good, you can even see the white cliffs stretching directly on either side of the port of Dover on the opposite side. Calais is only more than 30 kilometers away from the British military port of Dover, and the French navy may feel that if the main force is placed here, it will always make people worry that one day, the British navy will be directly blocked in the port. So they never put their main forces here. Perhaps based on the same considerations, the British also never deployed the main fleet in Dover.

Joseph walked in the direction of the military dock. He walked to the gate where the horse was rejected.

"Stop, military restricted area, don't approach!" A red-nosed sentry shouted at him, and then walked towards Joseph with a flintlock pistol with a bayonet.

"I am Joseph Bonaparte, a mathematics teacher at the Paris Military Academy. Ordered to come and report to the commander of Villefort. Joseph said as he pulled out the letter of introduction and handed it over.

The sentry handed the gun to his left hand, took the letter of introduction in his right hand, glanced at the cover, then looked up at Joseph again, and said, "Sir, please wait here for a moment." ”

With that, he turned around and walked through the door with the letter of introduction. After a few words of instruction to the other sentry, he took the letter and walked towards a small building on the other side.

Joseph stood outside the gate and waited. After a while, he saw the sentry approaching with a captain.

The captain said to Joseph: "Monsieur Bonaparte, I am Captain Cissé. Commander Villefort is not in the harbor right now. It's in a fortress on the hill over there. I can send someone to send you there. ”

"Then I'm sorry for you." Joseph replied.

"Do you know how to ride a horse?" Captain Cissé asked again.

"A little." Joseph replied.

"That's good." Cisse Road. He turned to the sentry again and said, "Pierre, go and bring us two horses." ”

The sentry said yes and left, and Cisse began to talk to Joseph.

"There is such a young math teacher at the Paris Military Academy now?" Cisse Road.

"Mongeon was also young when he came to prominence." Joseph replied.

"Ah, yes, geniuses are like that." Cisse said, "Well, I look at your name, your ancestors are Italian? ”

"I'm Corsican." Joseph replied, "Half Italian, too." ”

"My grandfather's generation was still Italian. However, our family has been in France for three generations. Well, I don't even speak Italian very well. "I've heard that the Corsican dialect is very close to Italian?" ”

"Very close, indeed, and in a sense more of an Italian dialect should be counted as a Corsican dialect......"

While the two men were talking, Sentinel Pierre had already come over with two horses.

These are two ordinary military horses, and the navy only needs horses for commuting and pulling, and does not need war horses for charging into battle.

Cisse handed Joseph the reins of one of the gray-and-white mares, and said, "Follow me, Monsieur Bonaparte, and I will slow down." ”

Joseph thanked him, took the reins, and turned over on his horse. Cisse stood aside, as if ready to help Joseph if necessary. When he saw that Joseph had simply mounted his horse, he nodded, turned over on the other horse, and then urged the horse to go ahead.

The fortress is actually not far from the military port, in fact, the fortress is on a small high ground tens of meters high next to the port. The two men drove their horses at a trott of only a few minutes before approaching the fortress.

Dismounted before the rejection of the fortress, Cisse said a few words to the sentry in front of the fortress, handed the two horses to the sentry, and led Joseph into the fortress.

"The sentinel recognized Cisse for sure. But just because he knew him, he didn't even ask, and let him bring another man into the fortress, and this discipline of the French navy was enforced...... No wonder it was beaten by the British. Joseph couldn't help but think.

Cisse led Joseph along a stone path, around the gun emplacements in front of them, and then around a maple grove, and a small white two-story building appeared in front of them.

"This is the headquarters of the fortress, and Commander Villefort is here." Cisse said to Joseph. Then he walked over with Joseph.