Chapter 2: To France

Just like Joseph thought, he found Napoleon in the cave smoothly. When he found Napoleon, the culprit was sitting on a rock, staring at the rainy and misty sea.

"My stupid brother, why are you in a daze here?" Joseph shouted.

"Nothing." Napoleon stood up lazily. "I was thinking, maybe I should put a book in this cave. So after I run here, I read something. Okay, Joseph, I think nothing serious has happened, right? I should be able to go home now."

Napoleon's last sentence is not in a questioning tone but in a declarative tone.

"Basically," Joseph said, "but why are you so sure?"

"If the matter is not over, and I can't go back, you should have come here with food instead of coming here empty-handed." Napoleon replied, and then he asked, "Joseph, how did the matter end?"

"If the matter is not over, then I can't go back; you should have come here with food instead of coming here empty-handed." Napoleon replied, and then he asked, "Joseph, how did the matter end?"

"You just ran for a few minutes before Paul woke up," Joseph said. "Of course Carlo is still very angry. He said to Giovanni that he will give you a whip when he catches you. But after Giovanni was gone, Polina said to him that you hit Paul because you saw Paul pulling her braids. After Polina said this, I don't think our father knew it. At the same time, he doesn't seem to be very angry with you anymore. He even said to me, 'Joseph', you are my eldest son; why didn't you rush to the front when something happened? Alas, if only Napoleon could be like you."

Joseph said, and he imitated his father's appearance, causing Napoleon to laugh. He said, "So, I should be fine?"

"Basically, it's okay," Joseph said, "you will be scolded at most. If it wasn't for Polina this time, you would have been able to bear it. My stupid brother, your practice has some effects. But you always have a problem with your kind of practice, that is, it is not easy to control the scale and it is easy to overdo it."

"Basically, it's okay," Joseph said, "you will be scolded at most. If it wasn't for Polina this time, you would have been able to bear it. My stupid brother, your practice has some effects. But there has always been a problem, that is, it is not easy to control the scale and it is easy to overdo it."

"Rather than being beaten up because of shrinking hands and feet, it's better to overdo it," Napoleon said indifferently.

"Okay, go back with me. Everyone is hungry, but Mom and Polina insisted on waiting for you to come back to eat." Joseph said, "Going back, our father will scold you, and you must apologize. Then we can all have dinner. Hurry up, I'm already very hungry!"

The two returned home. As Joseph said, Carlo just cursed Napoleon with a straight face but did not take out his riding whip. And Napoleon, who had shared his anger with Joseph a long time ago, docilely reflected on his mistakes with their father and promised that he would control his emotions in the future and that he would never do it again.

"As a man in the family, we must take the initiative to protect women. But we must also be measured." After Napoleon finished speaking, Carlo said with satisfaction, "But you must move fast. Joseph, you are not as good as Napoleon. I know. You have been influenced by Bishop Menier in many places. Bishop Menier is a good man and a holy person, but neither your mother nor I want to see you become a priest."

"Alright, Carlo." Letizia frowned slightly. "Your speech should be over; the children are hungry."

"Okay." Carlo smiled. Bring both hands together. Everyone put their hands together and started the prayer before dinner: "God, please bless us and the food and all the blessings we enjoy. Because of our Lord Christ. Amen."

After the meal, Carlo led everyone to pray. This is the common rule for almost everyone in this era. But Joseph always thinks, "If I were God and I was harassed by so many people every day, I would definitely feel that I would be going crazy."

There is no entertainment in this era. When the sun goes down, and it gets dark very early. Generally speaking, after dinner, Carlo will read to everyone a section of the Bible or something else, and everyone will say goodnight to each other.

But this time, Carlo did not bring out the "Bible" but said to everyone, "Sit down here first; I have one thing to tell you."

Everyone continued to sit in their chairs and listen.

"Joseph, Napoleon, you two are not young anymore; you should learn something. I know a friend, Mr. Armand de Foix, who visited our house last time. He is now going back to France. He can take you to France, go to France, and then go to school, learn French, and then, based on your performance in middle school, decide what you want to do next."

Mr. Armand de Foix, when he heard the name, had an image in his head: he was a big man with a red face full of freckles, about the same height as himself, but it was almost twice as wide as himself. Especially the beer belly, Joseph suspected that he lowered his head, probably because he couldn't see his toes. He is a relative of the Governor of Corsica, works in the legal department of Corsica, and is Carlo's superior. Like all the guys with "french" in their name, this guy's job is actually to take money without doing anything. And his everyday thing is almost wandering around with a fishing rod.

Carlo originally served as an adjutant to Pauli, the leader of the Corsican Resistance Army. It should be difficult for such a person to gain the trust of the French authorities. But because he had a good relationship with this Mr. Foix, not only his identity as an "Italian nobleman" was recognized (of course, this recognition was only on the document, and he was really going to France, especially Paris. Few people take it seriously.)

He also became a member of the French government in Corsica. Now that Mr. Foix was leaving Corsica, Carlo entrusted him to introduce a French aristocratic school to his two sons. Carlo knows that in Corsica, Corsicans do not have much future, and France is the place that really offers opportunities.

"Why should I learn French in the first place?" Napoleon said halfway, looked into Carlo's eyes, and shut his mouth.

"Remember, the future of the family depends on you two." Carlo finally said, "Napoleon, when you come to France, don't talk nonsense."

Napoleon didn't speak, but the reluctant look on his face was even foolproof.

Napoleon didn't speak, but a fool can even see that Napoleon looks reluctant.

"Joseph, you will talk to Napoleon later; don't make trouble when you two arrive in France," Carlo said again.

That night, what Joseph said to Napoleon, nobody knew, but after daybreak, Napoleon showed a completely different interest in going to France to learn French.

"I want to go to the heart of the enemy, observe them at the closest distance, and understand them. This will help Corsica gain freedom," Napoleon said in private to his sister Polina.

Mr. Foix had to wait more than a month before returning to France. Carlo took advantage of this time and invited a young man named Valentin to be a tutor for his two sons so that they could go to France. so that the two brothers can master some French, more or less.

 Valentin is a young man who is less than twenty years old. It is said that he has studied at the University of Paris, but he has not successfully graduated there. Later, to make a living, he came to Corsica. He is a typical southerner, with white skin, black hair, and blue eyes. He always smiles when he talks. Generally speaking, he is a very handsome guy.

It's just that he has his own job, and teaching the Bonaparte brothers two French can only be done after he gets off work. In order to let the brothers master some French as much as possible, Carlo, who has always been frugal, allowed the brothers to light up an oil lamp to learn at night.

Italian and French are actually very similar, and the Corsican dialect is a language between the two. Of course, the Corsican dialect is closer to Italian. Therefore, for Joseph and Napoleon, who have mastered the Corsican dialect, it is really not particularly difficult to master basic French in more than a month.

More than a month passed quickly, and it was time to leave Corsica in a blink of an eye.

Early this morning, after having breakfast, Carlo took the family and went to Mr. Foix's residence to meet with Mr. Foix. People in that era went to bed early, so they generally woke up early. Mr. Foix's house is also busy, and a housekeeper is directing a group of servants to pack all kinds of things on the carriage. As for Mr. Foix, he stood alone, with no nostalgia for leaving this place where he had lived for several years nor the joy of returning to his hometown. It seems that this matter is completely irrelevant to him. It was only after he saw the Carlos family that he smiled and strode over to say hello: "Hello, Carlos, and Joseph and Napoleon, you two are early."

"Mr. Foix, good morning." Joseph quickly replied in French. But Napoleon didn't say a word.

"Ah, Joseph, your French pronunciation is still a bit Italian, but it doesn't matter. There are many people with this accent in Toulon. Ah, Napoleon is still very shy. Don't be shy in the future. Okay, hahahaha."

Obviously, Foix regarded Napoleon's hostility toward the French as his shyness. He didn't know why this little boy was willing to go to France to study was to learn and understand so that one day he could defeat France and win independence for Corsica. At least at this time, Napoleon was still a determined Corsican.