Toulon

Joseph and his younger brother Napoleon spent a day on the calm Mediterranean Sea aboard a brigantine named Colchicum, arriving early the next morning at the southern French port of Toulon.

Toulon was France's largest naval port, where the country's most important shipyards and over half of its warships were deployed. The commercial pier where the ship docked was very close to the naval port. Standing on the deck of the Colchicum, one could clearly see those towering battleships, which looked like castles floating upon the sea, lined up one after another within the harbor.

Napoleon stood on the deck, gazing intently at these giant vessels.

"Truly magnificent, aren't they?" Joseph rested his hand on his brother's shoulder and said in the Corsican dialect, "The white sails are like clouds in the sky, the towering hulls like floating castles, and the broadside of the cannons like the thunder of Zeus... Look at these warships, do you feel the pressure, my brother?"

"Indeed, compared to France, we are far too weak," Napoleon nodded and said. "That is why we need a hero—a hero capable of defeating the many with the few, and the strong with the weak."

"Heh." Joseph chuckled.

"What is the meaning of that 'heh'?" Napoleon asked, dissatisfied.

"My foolish brother, 'heh' is just 'heh'."

By this time, the ship had been secured to the pier. Passengers began to disembark one after another. Mr. Foy had not originally intended to stay in Toulon. According to his plan, he should have immediately boarded a carriage to Marseille, over sixty kilometers away. However, he had suffered from severe seasickness on the way to Toulon, so he had to rest there for a day until his condition improved before heading to Marseille.

For Joseph and Napoleon, this meant they had an entire day to properly explore Toulon.

After settling into an inn, Napoleon urged Joseph to go out for a walk. Joseph knew that Napoleon wanted to use this opportunity to observe France's largest naval port in detail and learn about his future enemies.

Consequently, Joseph went to tell Mr. Foy that he hoped to take his brother Napoleon out for a stroll, as well as to try practicing his newly learned French.

Mr. Foy was pleased with the request from such a studious child, though he was somewhat uneasy about the public security in the Toulon area. Over the years, France had been at a disadvantage in its competition with Britain for overseas interests, which had left its economic situation in poor shape. To obtain more funds to compete with the British, the King of France had raised taxes more than once. Honestly, the tax increases imposed by Louis XVI were not particularly high. However, human society has always had a few immutable laws: the first is that bureaucrats will always seize every opportunity to line their own pockets; the second is that any burden never falls on those who truly should bear it and can afford it.

The decision to increase taxes gave many people the chance to extort and enrich themselves, and likewise, these tax burdens did not fall upon the high nobility or the bishops; they all weighed heavily upon the Third Estate. This caused more and more farmers and artisans to go bankrupt. Generally speaking, the more bankrupt and destitute people there are in a society, the more chaotic its public security will be. Since France's current economic situation was not good, public security was naturally no better.

Mr. Foy thought for a moment, remembered that one of his servants was a local from Toulon, and summoned the servant named Swan, instructing him to take the brothers out and be mindful of their safety.

Swan acknowledged the order and led the brothers out the door.

"Where do you intend to go look?" Swan asked.

"We want to see the warships," Joseph said without hesitation.

Napoleon glanced at Joseph but remained silent.

"Ah, every boy who comes to Toulon for the first time loves to see the warships most," Swan said with a smile.

"Then is there a way for us to get a good look at the warships?" Napoleon asked.

"There is," Swan replied. "For just a few sous, you can rent a small fishing boat and go fishing near the naval port. From there, you can see many warships, though, of course, we cannot get too close."

"Then we shall trouble you with everything," Joseph said to Swan.

As a local, Swan quickly arranged for a small fishing boat. The group boarded, and the boatman wielded his oars, rowing the small craft toward the naval port.

It was around ten o'clock in the morning, and the rare winter sunlight shimmered and danced on the fine ripples of the bay. The boatman stopped the boat, cast the bait into the sea, and then pointed toward the nearby naval port, introducing the warships docked there one by one to his guests.

"Look, that is the Bucentaure, the largest one inside; it is a three-deck ship of the line with one hundred cannons. The one a bit to the left is the cruiser Redoutable; it is much smaller, with only one gun deck..."

This is the Bucentaure, the flagship of the combined French and Spanish fleet at the later Battle of Trafalgar, Joseph couldn't help but think as he listened to the boatman's introduction.

"What is that over there?" Napoleon asked, pointing to a small hill that extended into the bay on the right. Joseph looked in that direction and saw a fleur-de-lis flag flying atop the hill, and beneath it, one could faintly discern some structures resembling a fortress.

"That is Fort Mulgrave. There are batteries up there guarding the port. Do you want to go over and take a look? Sometimes you can catch some very good cod in the sea over there," the boatman replied.

Napoleon said, "Then let's go take a look."

Hearing this, the boatman prepared to pull in the bait and head toward Fort Mulgrave, but just then, a bell attached to the fishing line rang sharply. The boatman hurriedly reached out and grabbed the line. The line didn't vibrate much, and a look of disappointment appeared on the boatman's face; he pulled the line up in a few tugs, and the hook held only a small mackerel.

The boatman tossed the mackerel into the fish basket, stowed the line, and rowed toward Fort Mulgrave.

It took a full hour for the small boat to reach the foot of Fort Mulgrave. However, the scale of Fort Mulgrave at this time was actually quite limited, so there wasn't much to see. Furthermore, it was past noon, and everyone was hungry, so the boat didn't stay there long before heading back.

After disembarking and finding a place to grab a bite to eat, Joseph took the opportunity to converse with some passersby in his broken French—all of it about boring, daily life, amounting to little more than sighing together over the hardships of life. Then, the group returned to the inn. Napoleon remained silent the entire way. Not until they were inside their room did Joseph smile at Napoleon and say, "Well, were you frightened by the French warships?"

"No," Napoleon replied curtly.

"What were you looking for when you specifically wanted to go over to Fort Mulgrave earlier? There was nothing worth seeing over there," Joseph asked again.

"If an army occupied that position, they could use a few cannons to sink all the warships in the harbor," Napoleon stated.

"A few cannons wouldn't be enough, because warships move; they would leave their berths and retreat to the open sea. Besides, they would also fire back," Joseph laughed. "And to use cannons well, you need a lot of knowledge, such as mathematics and physics. If you cannot properly master Sir Newton's work, even if you had a hundred cannons, it might not be of any use."

"Then we shall go and master those things," Napoleon replied.

Joseph nodded, then asked, "Napoleon, do you know what I saw in Toulon?"

"What did you see?"

"I saw poverty and anger. The same poverty and anger we saw in Corsica," Joseph replied. "My foolish brother, did you not notice the poor people stumbling along the dusty streets of Toulon, their faces covered in dust, as if they were made of ash?"

"Why pay attention to them?" Napoleon asked.

"Even the lowliest slave needs hope. Did you see hope in the eyes of those poor people on the streets of Toulon? Did you see in their words any beautiful visions for the future? Do you know what happens when the lowliest slaves lose all hope?" Joseph continued to ask.

"I know..." Napoleon replied. "The rebellion of Spartacus happened. But... but they are not truly without hope; they still have one hope, the only hope, and that is Heaven. They are not like Spartacus; they are people of faith."

"People of faith?" Napoleon's words were completely unexpected to Joseph. Although he was now regarded by Bishop Minier as a manifestation of divine grace, Joseph himself knew very well that the so-called exorcism ritual was utterly useless. The supposed effect was merely Joseph, as a transmigrator, gradually adapting to the environment. Yet even now, when considering problems, Joseph habitually ignored religious influence.

Religion is truly the opium of the people, Joseph thought silently to himself, then said: "My foolish brother, you must remember that future bread cannot replace present bread; future bread cannot fill a hungry stomach today. Otherwise, why did we Corsicans oppose Genoese rule in the first place? Moreover, rebelling and going to Heaven are two different things, aren't they? Although it is said that the power of kings is granted by God, if someone wants to rebel, is that not also the will of God? God is omniscient and omnipotent; if He did not wish for anyone to oppose the king, how could there be rebels? My brother, do you know what I see? I see a seemingly powerful France, like a warehouse piled high with firewood and sulfur, while its guards are lighting a fire inside to roast meat."