Economic Base and Superstructure (2)

"Napoleon, I ask you, what is the most important question to figure out in the revolution?" Joseph suddenly asked again.

"Of course, who are our friends and who are our enemies? This is one of the few times you haven't asked such a foolish question," Napoleon said. "What is the most important factor in deciding who our friends and enemies are? Isn't it simply where their economic interests lie? When I was in Italy, which Italy supported me and Italy opposed me? To put it simply, those who gained land and benefits in the war supported us, while those who suffered losses opposed us. To be even more precise, those whose interests align with ours are our friends."

"But the question now is, where do our interests lie?" Joseph asked.

Before Napoleon and Lucien could react further, Joseph handed them a report, "This is a statistical summary of the revenue of the various industries under our family's control. You can take a look."

The two quickly took the report and began to read it.

"Have you noticed? The proportion of our income derived from agriculture is now quite small. Although we own a considerable amount of land, very little of it is used for agriculture. Why is that?" Joseph asked.

"Because farming doesn't make money," Lucien replied. "Even the most profitable high-end vineyards can't earn much more in a year. Our factory, on the other hand, is far more profitable than winemaking once it's up and running. And winemaking is already considered a profitable sector in agriculture today."

Before the revolution, if someone owned a large tract of farmland, he was likely the richest and most powerful person in that area. Of course, there are no such people in France now, but in many countries, there are still quite a few. What do we call these people? Country bumpkins. Still hoping to make money by farming? Ha! These country bumpkins must hate us terribly."

"Lucien, the peasants are doing better than before," Napoleon said.

"That's true, but what farmers earn, can that even be considered money? It's only a little bit more." Lucien shook his head dismissively.

Indeed, France farmers are doing well these days, but this "well" is relative to the pre-revolutionary period. In reality, they are barely making ends meet. Of course, happiness is relative, and compared to farmers in some neighboring countries who still have to pay taxes to the nobility, France farmers are certainly very fortunate.

"Therefore, without a doubt, our primary interests now lie in industry and commerce. Once we understand where our interests lie, we will understand who our enemies are," Joseph continued.

"Then who do you think our enemies are now?" Napoleon asked.

"First and foremost, it's those landed nobles," Lucien said. "All the landed nobles throughout Europe are certainly against us."

After saying this, Lucien looked at his two older brothers, and seeing that they remained silent, he said somewhat nervously, "What, did I say something wrong?"

"A few years ago, you would have been right," Napoleon said.

Lucien turned his gaze to Joseph.

"Napoleon is right," Joseph said.

"Stop speaking in riddles! What's wrong now?" Lucien said.

"There was a fool sailing on the Seine River when his revolver accidentally fell overboard. It was a high-end model with an ivory handle, worth quite a bit, so someone shouted to him, 'Hurry up and get it! The water's not deep here!' But the fool calmly pulled a small knife from his pocket, carved a mark on the gunwale, and said, 'What's the rush? My gun fell overboard from here. I can retrieve it when the boat reaches the bow.' Hmm, Lucien, you're just that kind of fool."

Lucien was taken aback, not quite understanding what was happening, when he heard Napoleon clapping his hands and laughing loudly, "Joseph, this story is so apt, so funny! No, I'm going to write it in my diary. I'll tell it to Lucien's son later. Hahahaha!"

Lucien gradually realized what was going on and immediately retorted, "Napoleon, don't forget, you have a story too, and I'll tell it to your son someday!"

"You have a much longer story," Napoleon retorted defiantly, as if to say, "Come on, let's hurt each other!"

"But your reputation is more valuable than mine. Apart from Pauline, no one in my family needs to care about their reputation more than me! We sans-de-lis are never afraid of those who wear sans-de-lis!" Lucien also adopted a "I'm a rogue, who am I afraid of?" attitude.

"Alright, let's not stray from the main point," Joseph said.

So the two brothers quieted down, though they continued to flirt with each other with their eyes.

"Lucien, I taught you before that you should look at things from a developmental perspective. The world is not static, but constantly changing. 'You can't step into the same river twice.' In the past, those landed nobles were indeed our number one enemy, but the world will change, and not only the world will change, but we will change too!" Joseph seemed to have returned to the time when he was teaching the two brothers.

"Hmm..." Lucien listened attentively to the lesson.

"Look at Austria, Prussia, and even Italy, what is the main source of wealth for their richest landed nobles these days? Is it still from collecting rent?" Joseph asked again.

"Ah, Joseph, I see! They've changed, they've become like us!" Lucien exclaimed in sudden realization. "Indeed, if they still relied on that little bit of wheat in the fields, they'd starve. Their main source of income has now shifted to other things, like mining and trade. They've become like us, just like us. However, this doesn't change the conclusion, because 'competitors are the ones who hate each other the most.'"

"Wrong," Joseph shook his head. "They are not our peers. What is the core of our industry? It is manufacturing. It is our steel mills, our shipyards, our cement plants, our electrical equipment, and factories that produce all sorts of other things. They are merely a part of our production chain. For example, the copper and coal mines of Austria and Prussia are basically sold to us, and these mining nobles sell us the ore and then resell the manufactured goods back to us. They are already a link in our chain. If they are content with this, then they are our allies, or to put it more bluntly, they are our servants. Only those who also try to produce steel, electricity, ships, cement, and so on themselves are our peers. Do you know who I'm talking about?"

"I understand, Britain is our enemy," Lucien said.

"It is not enough to simply understand this; to be precise, it is Britain industrial capital that is our enemy," Joseph added.

"You're right, Joseph." Lucien nodded.

"But that's not the most dangerous enemy." Joseph shook his head again. "Napoleon, you're more politically astute Lucien. Tell me, who do you think is the most dangerous enemy?"

Napoleon glanced at Joseph, crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and smiled, saying, "You mean the workers in our factory, right?"

"What?" Lucien exclaimed in surprise. "Our workers are very supportive of us; they love us. They're all cheering for you."

"The France people have cheered for the King with genuine sincerity more than once; I've even seen them shout 'Long live the King!' at Louis XVI. Yet, in the blink of an eye, their shouts have turned into 'Cut off the tyrant's head!'" Napoleon said disdainfully. "They cheer for us now because they see the lives of the Britain workers, the Austria and Prussia, and the peasants of the Confederation of the Rhine. It's mainly because they've been given a good contrast. And they have North America to go. They have a backup plan, unlike the Sans-culottes before the revolution, so they won't rebel yet, and they'll still cheer for us. But look at Britain; those workers have already started to revolt. And in Prussia and Austria, miners revolting is commonplace. The France workers haven't done that yet, but if we don't handle this well, one day they'll be raising their fists against us."

"Well, by the way, Lucien, do you know why I said these workers are the most dangerous enemy?" Napoleon asked again.

"I don't know." Lucien shook his head.

"Because we can easily eliminate the landed aristocracy, and we can guarantee that they will never exist again. We can also eliminate our Britain counterparts through effort, but we can never truly eliminate the workers. Because without them, our interests cease to exist. It's almost exactly the same as before the revolution, when the king and the landed aristocracy faced the Third Estate. No matter how the king and his forces suppressed them, the Third Estate itself would not disappear. But if the Third Estate succeeded just once, the king and the landed aristocracy would be completely finished. Now we have the lovely Britain helping us take the fall, but we cannot waste the time the Britain have bought us. We must make full preparations before the rain comes. Understand?"

"So, how can we prepare?"

"Lucien, throughout history, successful reactionary rulers have always relied on two things: military suppression and the deception of public opinion. We are no exception. Do you understand?" Joseph concluded.

I'm busy today, so this is the only update.