Napoleon was surrounded by many obsequious flatterers.
After Madame Montesquieu entered the "court," she once heard someone flatter Bonaparte like this: Severe ailments required strong medicine; a dictator was a deity sent down from heaven to relieve hardship.
Montesquieu had indeed written that, but it took quite a talent to twist it so thoroughly out of context.
Before a dictator, laws fell silent and monarchs bowed their heads. Fortunately, he was only chosen for a period of time, and his authority was limited to the task for which he had been chosen. Otherwise, he would become a tyrant.
This manner of ruler-and-subject relations reminded her of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Clearly, this was not how a "winner" should be. In the past, Georgiana would have advised Napoleon to stay away from flatterers and draw close to truly worthy ministers. Later, she realized that her earlier ideas had been entirely idealistic.
Chaptal was a decent man. He could not do speculative things like buying grain.
Napoleon needed worshippers. No one would worship a mere commoner. When everyone told you the truth, they did not fear offending you; they would lack reverence for you.
When everyone was saying pleasant things, if Leconcourt and Mr. Martin's allies told him the truth, not only would they become disliked, but Napoleon would also think they lacked reverence. So Georgiana told them to shut up, talk less, and do more.
Proud young people certainly could not accept that, but Mr. Martin and Leconcourt were both middle-aged or elderly people who had endured great hardships. Their tempers were not so fiery, so they swallowed it.
She had also made Mr. Martin change course midway over the horse purchase. In theory, they should have bought fine horses, warhorses. But later, when she saw cavalrymen feeding oats to