Josephine might have been a Squib, but her senses were sometimes frighteningly sharp. Even wizards using Disillusionment Charms and deliberately diminishing their presence could be noticed by her. Later, they simply appeared around her under the identities of old nobles.
Josephine had many of the habits of the old aristocracy: a taste for luxury, and a certain naivety. Julian Ouvrard had heard that America wanted to purchase Louisiana. Georgiana remembered that famous acquisition had been concluded for eighty million francs. If Napoleon sold Louisiana, not only could the seventy-five million in debts she held be repaid, there would even be money left over. But if she did that, she would be no different from those French nobles who sold the lands left by their ancestors and then lived extravagantly in Paris.
Napoleon valued Lan Zhi not merely because he was an official from Lyon. His views and theories were perfectly suited to what Napoleon intended to do next—buy British grain in vast quantities. Lan Zhi had built so many granaries that they needed to be filled. Unable to resist the temptation of the current high grain prices, British farmers, deprived of export bounties, would sell off their grain in great quantities. The high prices would place immense pressure on the treasury, but an opportunity for war vanished in an instant. Napoleon would not let this chance slip away.
Britain found conscription far more difficult than France did. Professional soldiers considered militia completely useless, yet Britain's overseas colonies required large numbers of troops. Many organizations similar to the French National Guard emerged within Britain, but they served only at home, draining the regular army of recruits. It was not until 1799, when Britain followed France's example and enacted conscription by law rather than relying on volunteers, that recruitment became somewhat easier.