"How can we tell who is our friend and who is our enemy?" Joseph laughed, "My brother, you finally asked a less stupid question. Well, Napoleon, think about it, what kind of person wants a change in life? What kind of people want to maintain the status quo? ”

Had it not been for the conversation just now, perhaps Napoleon would have said at once: "Those who are brave, adventurous and heroic want change; And those mediocre memorials, without ideals and aspirations, want to maintain the status quo. ”

But now, Napoleon, who had largely followed Joseph's train of thought, certainly would not make such a stupid answer, so he thought for a moment and replied: "Those who are dissatisfied with reality and think that they should be able to get a greater share want revolution; And those who are happy with the way it is distributed want to maintain the status quo. Well, Joseph, that's what you mean, right? ”

"Ah, Napoleon." Joseph smiled, "Although I often say you're stupid, in fact, you're smart compared to most people. You're right. Well, now you should think about who your friends will depend on for your revolution and who will be your enemies. I don't think it's a bad idea for you to write a History of Corsica. ”

"What do you mean?" Napoleon asked thoughtfully.

"Writing a History of Corsican gives you the opportunity to reach out to the whole Corsican society – from the top to the bottom. Take this opportunity to do a comprehensive survey of Corsica, so that you can get a comprehensive understanding of Corsica. Well, my brother, you know, without adequate investigation, there is no accurate judgment, there is no right to speak. ”

Napoleon thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Joseph, what you say makes sense. I'll do it first. ”

"Well, I'll tell you, you're ......," Joseph was about to tell Napoleon about some of the methods of the future on how to conduct a social survey, when he heard a knock at the door outside.

"Who?" Joseph asked, as he walked towards the door.

"It's me, Aman." Armand's voice could be heard outside.

When Joseph opened the door, he saw Armand standing outside with two dark circles under his eyes, looking like he had not gotten enough sleep or had drunk some kind of "Herb's wine", and he was carrying a bag in his hand.

"Armand? Come in and sit down. Joseph brought Armand in and dragged a chair for him.

"I'm a mess here, I hope you don't mind." Joseph said as he put away the scratch paper on the table.

"Ah, it's fine. I'm more messy there. Armand laughed, "Well, do you have any wine here?" I've been all the way here, and I'm so thirsty that I'm going to smoke. ”

"Not really." Joseph smiled and shook his head, "My friend, you know I don't drink much. Well, I only have white water here. Okay? ”

"Hell! Forget it, as long as it's liquid! I knew I couldn't count on that. Armandau.

"Ah, Napoleon, go and get me that kettle." Joseph turned to Napoleon and said.

Napoleon went over to get the kettle.

"Is this your brother?" Armand asked.

"yes, that's my stupid brother." Joseph asked casually.

"I think if he wears ancient clothes, he will be a living Majesty Pepin, or even Alexander the Great." "You may be too hard on your brother. ”

Hearing this evaluation, Joseph couldn't help but stare at Armand, scanning it from top to bottom many times, until he looked at Armand and couldn't help asking, "Is there anything dirty on my face?" ”

"Nope." Joseph replied, "I'm just looking to see if you haven't woken up from 'Herb's elixir.'" ”

"Ah, you think I'm talking gibberish?" Armand immediately replied in an aria-like tone, "O vulgar man, know which of the greatest prophets of the world, the darlings of the god Apollo, did not speak the truth of the world in that mysterious intoxication?" You think I'm talking nonsense because I've never met your brother before? Foolish mortal, you don't know, it's divine intuition at work, and it is in this God-given madness that I see at a glance the light in your brother's eyes, the fire in his heart. At that moment, I even remembered the statue of Alexander the Great! Believe me, my friend, your brother will be great in the future. It's true! ”

Napoleon was carrying a kettle at this time, and was quite proud to hear what Armand said about him. As he came up to pour water, he couldn't help but look at Joseph, and his face was about to bloom with a smile.

"Well, Her Royal Highness Princess Cassandra, you have a point." Joseph also replied in aria, "But your highness, did you not come to the Humble House with foreknowledge of my brother's place, so that you should tell him this prophecy, just as a witch said that prophecy to Macbeth?" ”

Cassandra was the legendary princess of Troy and priest of Apollo, the god of prophecy. Because she rejected Apollo's courtship, Apollo cursed her to see the future clearly, but the prophecies she said were never believed.

"Ah, you still don't believe it." "But just wait and see." As for the purpose of my visit, well, I certainly didn't foresee running into your brother here. Well, Joseph, remember that script we mentioned last time? Spartacus's? ”

"Remember, you're done?" Joseph looked at Armand in surprise, "It's not like you, Armand. It's not your style, you know, your style should be no more than twenty words a day. ”

"Ah, you're right. But that's just the general situation. Armand doesn't deny that he usually writes no more than twenty words a day, "but this time it's different, there's a mysterious force that drives me to write without sleep." The ancient Greeks believed that the tragic writers were not actually working themselves, but that the gods were doing it with their hands. When I was writing Spartacus, I had this feeling that the gods held my hand and told me to write without stopping. Joseph, it's not me who creates it, but the Muses who create it through me, I'm just a driven recorder. So, this play was faster than anything I'd done before, but the quality was better than anything that had come before. The old things were like Greier (the three grey witches in Greek mythology, who shared one eye and were extremely ugly. Same with Helenby. Would you like to take a look? ”

"Okay, don't bother praising yourself." Joseph said, "You live like a wand who buys a sin charm. Hurry up and bring me the script. ”

"Here you go!" Armand handed the bag to Joseph.

Joseph took the bag and opened it, revealing a stack of bound papers.

"You play by yourself first, I'll take a look first." Joseph said to Armand as he flipped through the manuscript.

"You feel free." Armand said.

Napoleon also came over and watched with Joseph.

Armand leaned back in his chair and looked around boredly, and soon he noticed Louis standing on the side and did not speak much, and he began to tease Louis with great interest.

Sunlight shone in through the window and on Joseph's desk. As time passed, this piece of sunlight also crawled slowly on the table like a snail. By the time Joseph had finished the entire script, the sunlight had crawled from one end of the desk to the other.

"How?" Seeing Joseph put down the manuscript, Armand hurriedly asked. During this time, although he had been teasing Louis without saying a word, trying to pour those things that were harmful to the physical and mental health of teenagers into Louis's head, in fact, he had been paying attention to the actions of Joseph and Napoleon.

Joseph did not speak, and after a long time he sighed, turned to Napoleon, and said, "Napoleon, I told you before that even if a person has talent, he must keep working hard in order to achieve something. Look at this example in front of you. This bastard, called Armand, is an out-and-out bastard, a playboy, a typical waste of life. You see that his script is very good, isn't it" That's because you haven't seen the stuff he wrote before, and compared to this, it's completely tattered! If this bastard were serious and worked hard, he would probably be able to catch up with Gao Nayi, and even touch the heels of Aeschylus, Euripides, and Sophocles. But this bastard actually spends most of his time drinking and fooling around! …… But speaking of drinking, well, Armand, after reading this script of yours, it makes people want to have a drink. Well, it's time for dinner too, why don't you have a treat and let's go out for a drink? ”

The turn was a bit abrupt, and even Armand didn't react a little. However, Armand quickly figured out that Joseph had a very high opinion of his play.

"Alright, I'm in for a treat." Armand was refreshed, "We talked while we were drinking. I know of a place where Poitou brandy is very nice......"

A few men went out, called a cabana, and in a short time arrived at the tavern called "Lilac May". Armand, who was obviously a regular visitor to the place, expertly greeted the boss and the proprietress who had almost twice her husband's waist as soon as he entered, and said, "Give us a quiet place and a dozen brandies!" ”

"Okay, Armand, it's still the same place you use to see the Seine." The proprietress greeted loudly. The boss took them over himself.

A few people sat down at the table, and Armand said to the boss, "Philip, you can get something to drink, I'm not interested in looking at your thousand-year-old menu." ”

The boss answered and left. In a short time all kinds of dishes were served, as well as brandy.

"Napoleon, you can drink a little, but not more than a glass. Louie, you can't drink. Joseph poured himself a full glass of wine as he turned to his brothers.

"It's unfortunate to have an older brother." Armandau.

"Armand, there's still a problem with your script, and it's a big problem." Joseph said again.

"What's the problem?" Armand hurriedly asked.

"It's too sharp, if you don't modify it, you'll be banned. But if you make changes, you won't have such a shocking power. Joseph replied.