Together with his brother Napoleon, Joseph traveled for a day in a brig called the Colchidian in the calm Mediterranean, and the next morning, they arrived at Toulon, a port in the south of France.

Toulon is the largest military port in France, where France's most important shipyards and more than half of its warships are located. The commercial dock where the ships dock is very close to the military port. Standing on the deck of the Kagetsuki, you can clearly see the tall battleships that look like castles floating on the sea. One by one, they lined up in the military port.

Napoleon stood on the deck, staring intently at the giant ships.

"It's mighty, isn't it?" Joseph put his hand on his brother's shoulder and said in the Corsican dialect, "The white sails of a ship are like the white clouds of the sky, the majestic hull is like a floating castle, and the salvo of cannons is like the thunder of Zeus...... Look at these warships, feel the pressure, my brother? ”

"It's true that we are too weak compared to France." Napoleon nodded, "That's why we need a hero, a hero who can win more with less, and stronger with the weak." ”

"Huh." Joseph laughed.

"What do you mean?" Napoleon was not satisfied with the authentic.

"My stupid brother, hehehe."

By this time, the ship had already docked. The passengers began to disembark one after another. Mr. Foix did not intend to stay in Toulon. According to his plan, he should immediately get into a carriage and go to Marseille, more than sixty kilometers away. However, on the way to Toulon, he was very seasick and dizzy, so he had to rest in Toulon for a day and wait until he was in better health before going to Marseille.

For Joseph and Napoleon, it meant that they had one day to take a good look at Toulon.

After staying in the hotel for a while, Napoleon encouraged Joseph to go out for a walk. Joseph knew that Napoleon was going to take this opportunity to take a closer look at the largest military port in France and to learn about his future enemies.

So Joseph went to Foix and told him that he wanted to take his brother Napoleon out for a walk and try to use the French he had learned.

Fuwa was satisfied with the schooly child's request, but he was not very worried about the security in the Toulon area. Over the years, France has been at a disadvantage in the competition with Britain for overseas interests. This also makes its economic situation not very good. In order to obtain more money to compete with the British, the King of France has raised taxes more than once. To be honest, Louis XVI's tax increase was not too much. But there have always been several immutable laws in human society: the first is that bureaucrats will always seize every opportunity to benefit themselves; The second is that any burden always falls on those who really deserve it, and can afford it.

The decision to raise taxes gave many people the opportunity to enrich their own pockets, and similarly, these taxes did not fall on the heads of the great nobles and bishops, who all weighed heavily on the third estate. As a result, more and more peasants and craftsmen went bankrupt. Generally speaking, in a society, the more bankrupt and unsettled people are, the more chaotic social order will be. The economy in France is not doing very well these days, so of course social security is not much better.

Mr. Foix thought for a moment, and remembered that one of his servants was a native of Toulon, so he called the servant named Swan, and told him to go out with the brothers and take care of their safety.

Swann answered, and led the brothers out the door.

"Where are you going?" Swan asked.

"We want to see warships." Joseph said without hesitation.

Napoleon glanced at Joseph, but did not speak.

"Ah, every boy who comes to Toulon for the first time loves to see warships." Swan said with a smile.

"Is there a way to get us to get a good look at the warship?" Napoleon asked.

"Yes." Swann replied, "With a few Su, you can rent a fishing boat and go fishing near the military port." There, you can see a lot of warships, and of course, we can't get too close. ”

"Then everything will be in trouble for you." Joseph said this to Swan.

Swann was a local, so he quickly connected with a fishing boat. Several men got into the boat, and the boatman waved his oars and rowed the boat in the direction of the military port.

At this time, it was about ten o'clock in the morning, and the sun, which was rarely seen in winter, shimmered and jumped on the tips of the small waves in the bay. The boatman stopped the boat, threw the bait into the sea, and then pointed to the military port not far away, and introduced the guests to the warships docked there one by one.

"You see, that's the 'Bosantor,' the biggest one in it, it's a three-deck battleship with a hundred cannons. The one on the left is the cruiser 'Awe', which is much smaller, with only one gun deck......"

"This is the flagship of the combined French and Spanish fleets in the later Battle of Trafalgar." Listening to the boatman's introduction, Joseph couldn't help but think so.

"What's over there?" Napoleon asked, pointing to a small hill on the right that jutted into the bay. Joseph looked over there, and saw an iris flag on top of the hill, and under that flag, some fortress or something could be faintly seen.

"That's Fort Mulgrave. There were batteries guarding the harbor on it. Need to go over and check it out? In the sea over there, sometimes you can catch good cod. The boatman replied.

Napoleon said, "Then go and see." ”

The boatman had heard this, and was about to put away the bait and go to Fort Mulgrave, when a bell tethered to the line rang violently. The boatman quickly reached out and grabbed the line. The line didn't shake much, and the boatman's face showed disappointment, and he pulled the line up with a few handfuls, and there was only a small mackerel hanging from the hook.

The boatman tossed the mackerel into the basket, then gathered up the line and rowed towards Fort Mulgrave.

It took an hour for the boat to walk under Fort Mulgrave. But at this time, the scale of Mulgrave Fort was actually quite limited, so there was not much to see. In addition, it was past noon, and everyone's stomachs were hungry. So the boat didn't stay there for long before going back.

After getting off the boat and looking for a place to eat casually, Joseph took the opportunity to talk to some passers-by in his broken French—all about boring, everyday things, nothing more than lamenting the hardships of life together. Then several people went back to the hotel. Along the way, Napoleon did not say a word. Until he entered the room, Joseph smiled at Napoleon and said, "What, frightened by the warships of the French?" ”

"Nope." Napoleon replied briefly.

"What are you going to see at Fort Mulgrave? There's nothing nice over there. Joseph asked again.

"If an army occupies there, it can sink all the warships in the harbor with a few cannons." Napoleon spoke.

"A few cannons are not enough, because warships will move, they will leave the berth and retreat to the sea. Plus, they'll fight back. Joseph laughed, "And to use a good cannon, you need a lot of knowledge, such as mathematics, such as physics." If you don't have a good grasp of Sir Newton's set, even if you have a hundred cannons, it may not work. ”

"Then we'll go learn this." Napoleon replied.

Joseph nodded, then asked, "Napoleon, do you know what I saw in Toulon?" ”

"What do you see?"

"I saw poverty and anger. The same poverty and anger we see in Corsica. Josephus replied, "My foolish brother, have you not noticed that the poor people who are staggering through the dusty streets of Toulon are also dusty, almost dusty?" ”

"Notice what they're doing?" Napoleon asked.

"Even the humblest of slaves need hope. Do you see hope in the eyes of those poor people on the streets of Toulon? Do you see from their words that they still have any beautiful visions for the future? Do you know what happens when the humblest of slaves lose all hope? Joseph continued.

"I know......" replied Napoleon, "there is a rebellion in Spartacus." But...... But they don't really have no hope, he doesn't have one hope, the only hope, and that is heaven. They were not like Spartacus, they were people of faith. ”

"People of faith?" Napoleon's words were completely unexpected by Joseph. Although he is now regarded by Bishop Minière as the embodiment of divine grace, Joseph himself knows very well that the so-called exorcism ritual is useless. The so-called effect is just that Joseph, as a traverser, gradually adapts to the environment. But even now, Joseph habitually ignores religious influences when considering problems.

"Religion is the opium of the people." Joseph thought silently in his heart, and then said, "Remember, my foolish brother, that the bread of the future will not replace the bread of the present, and the bread of the future will not fill the stomach of the present. Otherwise, why would we Corsicans oppose Genoese rule in the first place? What's more, rebellion and going to heaven are two different things, aren't they? Although it is said that the power of the king is granted by God. But if someone wants to rebel, isn't that God's will? God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and if he does not want anyone to oppose the king, how can there be rebels? My brother, do you know what I see? I saw that the mighty France was like a storehouse full of firewood and brimstone, and its keepers were still raising a fire in this storehouse to roast meat to eat. ”