The Old Schemer's Way of Rule

"Those under his rule are not even aware of his existence? How is that possible?" Napoleon was taken aback. "Then how can he issue orders? How can he govern and rule a country?"

Joseph asked with a smile, "Let's make a hypothetical scenario: suppose we replace Lucien with Fouché and you with Barras, would our family still be able to exert influence over France politics?"

"Of course, the army is still in my hands, and the money and factories are still in yours. Although it's not as convenient as if we were to manage them directly, we still have the ability to influence the overall political situation in France," Napoleon replied after thinking for a moment.

"You see, in this hypothetical situation, we are completely hidden from the eyes of ordinary people. Many people at the bottom of society can't even see our existence. Isn't that what it means to be unknown to the people?" Joseph replied with a smile.

"But doing so would reduce our control over the regime, making it easy for things to go beyond our control," Napoleon said, frowning.

Joseph smiled slightly. He knew that his younger brother loved to be in the limelight and to be cheered on by the people, so he would never want to be an old silver coin hiding in the background. Therefore, he instinctively felt aversion to this kind of behind-the-scenes approach.

"Indeed, this approach has its drawbacks, but it also has one advantage: the people's resentment won't be directed at us. The people... are always greedy and insatiable. When they work themselves to the bone and don't even have a piece of black bread to eat, if you let them work themselves to the bone and then give them black bread, they'll be very satisfied at first. But it won't be long before they feel dissatisfied, and they'll demand: 'We want enough black bread to fill us up.' Then they'll demand white bread to fill them up, then milk to eat with the bread, then butter on the bread, and foie gras inside, and so on... And once we can't satisfy them, they'll harbor resentment."

Of course, this is only human nature. In fact, we are indeed like this ourselves, even more so. So when they become dissatisfied, we simply replace them with someone else in the spotlight, or rather, their representative. Then the people are satisfied. They feel that their votes have worked, and they are less angry about the fact that their wishes have not been fulfilled. At this point, the government in power acts like the pressure relief valve on our steam engine.

Of course, our foundations are not yet secure, and all three of us are still here, especially since the people still idolize you, Napoleon. Therefore, we don't need to hide behind the scenes right now, as you said, that would reduce efficiency. Now is precisely the time for us to expand efficiently, and we cannot tolerate anything that reduces efficiency. Moreover, this rapid expansion itself will solve many problems, so widespread resentment towards us is unlikely to arise. Therefore, we don't need to hide behind the scenes right now.

However, success is only possible with proper preparation. If there is no preparation and one reacts hastily at the last minute, failure is inevitable. Therefore, even during periods of rapid expansion and triumphant advancement, we must prepare for retreat in advance."

"That's certainly your style, Joseph," Napoleon couldn't help but interject.

"It's not a matter of style, it's just how things are supposed to be done," Joseph shook his head and said. "Hmm, where was I?"

"You said we should prepare in advance," Lucien said.

"Very good. Then I'll continue," Joseph said. "We need to prepare now for how to control the situation behind the scenes. For example, government officials and members of parliament in the Republic should all be elected. We need to use appropriate methods to increase the cost of elections, making them a game for the rich, or even the super-rich."

We enact laws stipulating that political power cannot be inherited—this is to defend democracy; we enact laws stipulating that private property is sacred and inviolable—this is to defend freedom. This implies that wealth can be inherited. Then we try to make wealth usable for controlling political power. Elections are the best way to achieve this.

Napoleon, do you know what's most important in an election? It's not the final vote, but the initial election rules. For example, we stipulate that in the election of the first consul, if the number of voters nationwide is less than 70 percent of the citizens, it is invalid, and a caretaker government will maintain order until the next round of elections, until the total number of voters reaches the target.

In this way, the France peasants' votes became extremely important. And Napoleon, do you know what that means?

"Does this mean that candidates must pander to the peasants?" Napoleon replied somewhat hesitantly.

"Fool!" Lucien shouted immediately. "Napoleon, you're a fool! This clearly means that the poor have no chance of getting votes. Even if they wanted to please the peasants, they couldn't possibly let them know! Think about it, France is so big, and the peasants live so scattered. How much manpower and resources would it take to go from village to village to promote their cause, even if it's just promoting a name? How could those poor folks possibly do that?"

Clearly, Lucien was extremely pleased to have found a legitimate opportunity to satirize Napoleon.

Napoleon glared at Lucien, but in the end, he decided not to stoop to the level of this petty man for the time being. It seemed that what the fellow said was indeed something he hadn't considered, and it made a lot of sense.

"Lucien, you've honed your skills well in Parliament and the Ministry of Truth, places that demand the highest level of lying; you've made great progress!" Napoleon concluded with this rather sincere praise.

"Napoleon, your veterans' organization is an excellent one. Using it, we can extend our reach into rural areas. If we increase the levels of elections in rural areas, using single-member constituencies at the lowest level—with each village as a constituency—then political views will have less influence on the election results, and those with influence in the village will almost certainly win the votes of the entire village. Your veterans' organization can almost perfectly control the votes at the grassroots level in rural areas; it can completely make them vote for whomever we want."

"That's right, even if we wanted a donkey to run for First Consul, we could make it win." Lucien seized the opportunity to make another sarcastic remark to Napoleon.

"Heh..." Napoleon chuckled. At the same time, Napoleon was already thinking about how he must find an opportunity to get Joseph out of the way and then teach Lucien a lesson.

"Lucien, watch your words and actions," Joseph finally spoke up.

So Lucien fell silent.

"We don't need such tactics right now. But Napoleon, you must pay attention to the development of such an institution," Joseph continued.

"I know," Napoleon replied succinctly.

"Furthermore, you're now drawing funds for veterans' organizations directly from the national military budget, aren't you?" Joseph continued. "That's not good, Napoleon. It's best if this money isn't from the state, but from our 'Military-Industrial Complex.' Let it become a completely 'civilian organization.' In the long run, whoever controls the organization's finances controls it. That way, our descendants won't be commanders of the army anymore, they won't have your kind of influence in the military, and the soldiers won't even know his name, but he can still use this system to control the rural votes."

"But if we pay for it ourselves, it's a lot of money," Napoleon said, while secretly considering whether he should use his expertise to find someone to generously contribute.

"It's simple. You pass a law to encourage charitable acts, and then provide tax incentives for corporate donations. Wouldn't that solve the problem?" Joseph replied dismissively.

"Huh, there's such a thing? How shameful! I never thought of that again!" Napoleon began to doubt his own condition today.

"Lucien, we've invested so much in propaganda, so much in controlling so many newspapers." Joseph turned to Lucien again. "This is also crucial to ensuring that when our generation grows old, the new generation can still firmly control the government from behind the scenes. You need to find a way to squeeze out the other newspapers. Do you know how?"

"I know," Lucien said. "Just find some reasons to shut them down, isn't that easy!"

"Foolish! How could you be so simplistic and brutal?" Joseph shook his head. "First of all, our newspaper has an inherent advantage in journalism. Use the resources at your disposal to make our competitors constantly make genuine errors in their news reporting, and then... don't talk about shutting them down, don't be so simplistic and brutal. Then their credibility will decline. On the other hand, our own newspaper can help our own businesses advertise, and it can also accept advertisements from other businesses. This is the real source of income for newspapers. With this, our newspaper can be sold at a price far below cost, and we can still guarantee a profit. Our newspaper has a larger layout, more reliable content, more in-depth reporting, more insightful news, and a lower price. If you still use those simplistic and brutal methods that will give others cause for criticism, then you are incredibly foolish!"

"I understand." Lucien nodded as well.

"That's certainly a good strategy. Alas..." Napoleon sighed. "I must say, Joseph, your approach is more beneficial to the family than mine. It's a pity..."

"What a pity?" Joseph said. "I didn't say you couldn't be emperor."