Georgiana had never imagined that one day she might stand before an international tribunal. Of course, there were no international tribunals at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
But using ships to create gas chambers, then sinking those ships to destroy the evidence—no matter how one looked at it, it did not seem just. Even if people at home remained ignorant because of the press blockade, word would spread abroad. Napoleon could not control the British newspapers.
After the Treaty of Amiens was signed, many Frenchmen would go to Britain. When they returned, they would be as shocked as those Englishmen who had traveled to Ireland during the Great Famine.
His seemingly unshakable rule was actually on the verge of collapse. She had no desire to accompany him before an international tribunal, especially as a defendant.
Building an iron truss bridge required a great deal of time and money. It had to be built slowly in peacetime, and that was precisely what Napoleon lacked now.
Compared with that, roads were far more urgent.
Commoners always blamed the Girondins for failing to regulate grain prices. Lan Zhi's solution was to establish a fixed standard price: all grain sold above that price would be confiscated and auctioned off. This suited Napoleon's wishes rather well, because the auction proceeds would go to the state. Public opinion still supported him. In the eyes of the common people, anyone who drove up grain prices deserved to die.
But such a price could only be enforced if there was enough grain on the market. Everyone knew that scarcity drove prices up. A price could be set, but if there was not enough grain on the market, the price would still rise. Lan Zhi had explained a very simple and obvious principle: transport grain from departments where