In 1649, Russia promulgated the Code of Laws, stipulating: "A feudal lord bears full responsibility for his own peasants in court. Within his estate, he has the right to judge, whip, torture, and put peasants in shackles and chains. Except in cases of treason against the Tsar, peasants may not accuse their masters. If a landlord goes bankrupt, his debts must be repaid by the peasants. Landlords have the right to interfere in peasants' property, marriages, and other family affairs."
In other words, feudal lords could not only dispense justice to peasants, but also exercise the right of the first night. In french, the term was "Droit du seigneur," meaning the right of the thigh.
Peasants were firm supporters of the revolution and the main source of manpower for Napoleon's army. Winning their support and goodwill was immensely important to him. In more democratic terms, peasants were Napoleon's voting base. Most of France's population was agricultural, and under France's head-count voting system, as long as this majority supported Napoleon's re-election, he could serve another ten years.
This was probably the freshest "news" Haji had heard yet. Bonaparte had actually not made himself Consul for Life through the constitution.
But on second thought, Napoleon would probably abdicate for the first time a little over ten years later. At that time, no organized resistance had formed within the country—or rather, the resistance was weak. High-ranking officials in every province surrendered quickly. It was nothing like the desperate resistance during the French Revolution.
Too many people had died in the Russian campaign, but his personal obsession with war was also a major reason. Men loved no more than three things: power, money, and women. If they loved neither money nor women, then they loved power. When that roaring lion lay obediently in a