Economic Base and Superstructure (1)

"Unplanned funding?" Talleyrand asked.

"Yes, it was originally a tithe that should have been offered to the Holy See. We've temporarily withheld that money. At least until the problem is fully resolved, we have control of it," Metternich replied. "I remember you saying last time that money left untouched in a treasury ceases to be money. I think there are quite a few investment opportunities in maintaining free trade at sea. Do you think we could have a chance to cooperate...?"

"Well, this is a question, you know, my friend, I can't answer you right away. But I'll try to find out for you... After all, our two countries are friendly nations with the same faith."

Talleyrand did indeed keep his promise and informed Napoleon of the news.

"Mr. Talleyrand, what do you think these actions by the Austria mean?" Napoleon asked after hearing the news.

"Your Excellency, I believe the Austria are moving closer to us," Talleyrand replied. "At the same time, they want to test what they can gain by aligning themselves with us."

"Continue," Napoleon said.

"Your Excellency, I believe that the peaceful development of the past few years has made Austria realize that the gap between them and us is widening, and challenging our dominance in Europe has become impossible. Moreover, Austria is a country with obvious weaknesses. Your Excellency, I have heard you mention that the combat effectiveness of the military today consists of two aspects: weapons and training, and ideology."

Napoleon listened and nodded.

"Weapons and training aside, France is unmatched in that regard now," Talleyrand continued. "As for ideology, in 1993, the French Army, clearly lacking in equipment and training, was able to decisively defeat the interventionist forces thanks to the support of democratic and patriotic ideals and their overwhelming courage. But now, while any Europe country can cultivate patriotism, Austria cannot, much less democratic ideals. Therefore, they have become unprecedentedly vulnerable."

Voltaire said that the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Rome, nor an empire. Because the country was a feudal hodgepodge, its ethnic composition was far too complex; when discussing patriotism, people would immediately talk about loving Hungary, loving the Czechia, and so on... Democracy was even more taboo. Yet, these very things had become mainstream ideologies. In this situation, Austria was unprecedentedly weak. It could no longer afford to worry about Europe hegemony; all its strength was focused on preventing its collapse. And even achieving this would be difficult without our support. Therefore, one of their current goals might be to tie their interests to ours as much as possible."

Upon hearing this, Napoleon said, "Minister Talleyrand, you can prepare a memorandum on this topic, and then I will discuss it with the others. After all, this involves too many important matters..."

The so-called "more people" were actually not many more; it was basically just a family meeting in Bonaparte's household.

"Talleyrand is very talented and insightful," Joseph commented after seeing the documents Napoleon showed him. "He almost saw the most basic truth. But some Austria are even more astute; they are already formulating their policies based on the most basic truths of the world."

"What is the deepest truth about the world?" Lucien asked.

"Lucien, let me ask you, what do you think is the most fundamental difference between people?" Joseph suddenly asked.

"Joseph, your question is too broad and vague. I don't know where to begin," Lucien protested. Even today, being suddenly asked this question by Joseph still made Lucien feel very nervous.

"Okay, let me be more specific. Which do you think is the most fundamental difference: cultural differences or income differences?" Joseph then asked.

The question has become much more specific now, but that doesn't mean it's easy to answer. Lucien thought for a moment, then said, "Well, both of these differences are very important. For example, the reason Europe has so many countries is because Europe has so many cultural differences. So many different ethnic groups, so many different languages, and all sorts of religions— Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy —each major denomination can be divided into a whole host of smaller denominations, and those smaller denominations can be divided into even more smaller denominations. All of this makes Europe a huge fragment..."

However, income disparity is also a very important one. For example, when we were in revolution, why did the people in other places, whether in Italy or Austria, follow us wherever we went? The key reason was that we stood on the side of the low-income people. So income disparity is also very important..."

Lucien rambled on for quite a while, until Joseph frowned as he listened.

"Alright, Lucien, enough with the nonsense, let's get to the conclusion!" Joseph said.

"Oh," Lucien said, "No, that's not right. Giving me the answer without going through the process? Don't you always deny things?"

"Is this how you present the process?" Napoleon said. "You call this a process? This is like trying to prove the Four Color Theorem using exhaustive methods! You call this a proof process? You're just wasting time. Get to the result!"

"Just give me the result?" Lucien said.

"That's right!" the two older brothers said in unison.

"Oh, alright then... well, I don't know," Lucien said. "I haven't thought of anything yet. Well, how can such a profound question be answered immediately? Hmm, Joseph, you should just be straightforward and tell me directly!"

Joseph burst into laughter. "True wisdom lies in knowing one's own ignorance. Lucien, you've made great progress. As for this matter, here's my opinion."

I believe that people must first have food, drink, shelter, and clothing before they can engage in politics, science, art, religion, and so on. Therefore, the production of direct material means of subsistence, and thus a certain stage of economic development for a nation or an era, constitutes the foundation. People's state institutions, legal views, art, and even religious concepts develop from this foundation, and therefore must be explained by this foundation, not the other way around as in the past. I call this line of thinking, "The economic base determines the superstructure."