Debate

Stafford's pupils contracted, and he grabbed Ollie by the collar. "You fucking trying to blackmail me?"

"Sir, you've misunderstood. How could I possibly dare?" Olkai hurriedly said, "I... I just wanted to invite you to a meal..."

Stafford loosened O'Kelly's collar, looked at him, and after a moment said, "Who are you trying to scare with me?"

"Sir, you are brilliant!" Olkai immediately gave a fawning smile and a thumbs-up.

"Sir, you don't know, there's a beer hall on Okan Street. It used to be my territory, but then Jarvis from the detective squad—Sir, you don't know, that guy's the worst kind of scoundrel. He took advantage of his superior numbers and just took over the street. Sir, if you'd like to help, I can invite you to that beer hall for a bit. Even if Jarvis has the guts of a dog, he wouldn't dare to take it from me, would he?"

"Hmm," Stafford thought for a moment, then said, "Captain O'Kelly, you're really capable!"

"Thank you for the compliment, sir!" O'Kelly quickly replied.

"What beer hall are you at?"

"Amethyst Tavern."

"You can collect money every month on that Okan Street? I want half," Stafford said.

"Look at what you're saying, sir. The money I collect on this street is for you, so how could I possibly take half of it? It's all yours, of course. You have many expenses, sir. To be honest, as long as Jarvis and his gang know that I'm your man... ah, no, your dog, they won't be able to refuse me in other places, will they? If they refuse me, they're refusing to give you face, and if they refuse you, they're refusing to give the United Kingdom face. With that face, I can hold my head high in front of them."

Stafford laughed and said, "O'Kelly, you're quite something. Very conscientious. But how did you get this spoils? Do you really have dealings with them?"

"Oh, sir, you can't say such things lightly. Even if I had ten times the courage, I wouldn't dare. But sir, think about it, where did those rebels get their guns? There are only two ways: one is from the France, where they got good guns. Generally speaking, only regular elite rebels have these guns. The other way is from the Britain guns they captured."

At this point, O'Kelly paused slightly, then said, "Sir, as you know, Britain guns also come in old and new types. The new ones are the rifled guns that your troops are equipped with. If these guns fall into the hands of rebels, they will definitely be given priority to the regular elite rebels. Even if the local rebels have them, they won't have many. The other type is the old-fashioned smoothbore guns that our Security Army use."

"Sir, as you know, our 'Security Army' are only good at managing the common people. When it comes to fighting, we're really not up to par. At most, we can fight those local bandits. If we encounter regular, elite bandits, we're no match for them. But those bandits are the worst kind of scoundrels. They usually don't dare to fight you, sir, and they just bully us. Speaking of which, when does our entire security force not lose guns? So, what kind of guns do the bandits have the most of? Of course, it's the guns used by our Security Army. Especially those local bandits, most of the guns they have are probably exactly the same as ours, or rather, they were originally our guns. So, as for the captured guns, why don't you just have your men hand them over? There are definitely more than enough."

"That's good, but there's no need to collect all the guns. Generally speaking, even if you win a battle, unless you annihilate the entire enemy force, they will take some weapons with them when they flee. Therefore, the number of weapons you can capture in a battle is far less than the number of enemy casualties. How many rebels did we kill?" Battalion Commander Stafford asked.

"More than a hundred!" Olkai said. "More than a hundred rebels, men and women, old and young. It's just a pity they're in the swamp, so we can't bring all their bodies out. We can't even just cut off their heads."

"O'Kelly, we're not head-counting barbarians." Stafford frowned. "If we count them this way, a dozen or so guns should be about right. Hmm, are these guns okay?"

"Of course, no problem. Didn't we lose more than forty people? We salvaged quite a few of their guns. They can be considered spoils of war."

"Very good." Stafford nodded. "Besides guns, there should be other things as well. You need to prepare all these little things for me."

"Sir, you can rest assured that I'll handle things perfectly. There won't be any problems," Captain Olkai said, patting his chest.

"Alright, go back and get some rest. You're going to be destroying their potatoes again tomorrow." Stafford's mood improved considerably.

Equipped with new "swamp shoes," many British Army, like Stafford and his men, ventured into the swamps that day to pursue the rebels. However, most returned empty-handed, with few British Army any real success. In contrast, Stanford, despite suffering heavy losses, was one of the few who actually captured rebels and also seized considerable spoils. Later, he was praised as a "swamp warfare expert" and received an award. But that's another story.

Meanwhile, in France, Joseph, Napoleon, and the Lucien brothers had an unprecedented and serious argument during a discussion.

This dispute was sparked by Napoleon's plan to reform the France legal system.

In the original history, Napoleon, a Rome enthusiast, created a Civil Code modeled after Rome, with the help of four legal experts: Tronchet Justice of the Court of Jurisprudence; Maleville, the Rome jurist; Préameneu, the Chief Justice of the Government; and Portalis, the Magistrate of the Naval Court. This is the most famous Napoleonic Code in history.

This code holds a very high position in history; it is the earliest Civil Code in bourgeois countries. It affirmed the legitimacy of the bourgeoisie and peasants' appropriation of land and property from the nobility and the church, guaranteeing them against infringement by feudal forces; it negated feudal privileges, established the principles of bourgeois freedom and equality, and stipulated that every citizen has equal civil rights and capacity for action; the code also made clear provisions for aspects of social life such as family, marriage, and inheritance. As the earliest civil code in capitalist countries, it broke down feudal legislative principles, became the legislative norm for the bourgeoisie in Europe and America, and promoted the development of capitalism.

In later generations, two main legal systems prevailed worldwide. One was the "Anglo-American legal system," represented by Britain and the United States, also known as the "common law system" or "customary law system." The other was the "continental law system," represented by Rome and the Napoleonic Code, also known as the "written law system" or simply the "civil law system." The "civil law" in the term "civil law system" refers to the Napoleon Civil Code.

It is said that in the original history, after Waterloo defeat at Waterloo and being exiled again, Napoleon once lamented in a rather childish way. "All my military achievements have been lost with the defeat at Waterloo. But my legal code will shine through the ages."

Whether this statement is true or not is unverifiable, but the Napoleonic Code absolutely deserves such praise. It is a great achievement that combines "groundbreaking, important, thought-provoking, practical, and widely applicable" qualities.

If you were to ask whether Joseph supported Joseph creation of the Napoleonic Code, the Joseph would undoubtedly be yes. This is because the code first and foremost affirmed the principle of the people's right to property. In the original timeline, almost a third of the code's articles protected the inviolability of private property from various perspectives. For Joseph, who had amassed wealth during the French Revolution, this was naturally the best possible outcome.

"Since we have already amassed wealth through violent means, we should set rules to prevent others from doing so in the future. We must not allow others to follow our path and end up with nothing to do." Joseph firmly believed in this. In this respect, Napoleon's legal code elevated family interests to national interests; how could Joseph not support it?

However, after discussing the basic principles of the Civil Code, Joseph began to discuss political arrangements with Napoleon. It was on this issue that their differences became apparent.

Initially, Napoleon only mentioned his intention to ease tensions with the Holy See. During the French Revolution, the Holy See firmly sided with the counter-revolutionaries, and the revolutionary government upheld the France tradition of "if money is not enough, rob the church," leading to a complete breakdown in relations France and the Holy See. During Robespierre's reign, France simply banned Catholicism and replaced it with the so-called "Cult of Reason."

After Robespierre's downfall, the crackdown on the Church lessened (because by this time, the Church in France had been looted), but the government and the Holy See did not reach a reconciliation. So, although the government did not interfere much (the Directory also lacked the capacity and time to do so), and Catholicism faith among the populace recovered somewhat, the Catholic Church was still legally an "illegal organization," at least for now.

However, this "illegal organization" still had a very deep-rooted influence in France. At least in the countryside, there were devout Catholicism believers everywhere. Therefore, Napoleon felt that if he wanted to further strengthen his position, he needed to reach a reconciliation with the Holy See.

Joseph also strongly supported this point. Religion, as a form of opium for the people, was far too effective. Without religion, how could the people endure future suffering?

However, during this discussion, a remark by Napoleon made Joseph frown.

"Even Rome emperors knew to use Christianity to endorse their positions. Therefore, the crowns of ancient Rome were placed on their heads by the popes. Although the popes were merely servants of the emperors, this method was more likely to gain the people's trust than deifying themselves."

"Napoleon," Joseph frowned, "There is something very important that I have always hoped to have an opportunity to talk to you about, and that is the question of the future political system of France."