Fox of France

Although Napoleon worked very hard, as long as it was within the scope of Joseph's management, well, that guy was a tyrant and never listened to other people's reasonable opinions. In short, Napoleon tried his best to talk, but failed to convince his elder brother, and then he left Joseph's office with a sullen look.

But as soon as he went out, the unhappiness on Napoleon's face disappeared. He got into the carriage with a smile on his face, and returned to his Tuileries Palace, which has now become the Consulate.

Napoleon returned to the Consulate and sat down in his office. His secretary Nino said to him, "Your Excellency the First Consul, Mr. Laplace has been waiting for you for a while."

"Oh, let him in," said Napoleon.

Nino turned around and went out. After a while, Laplace, the principal of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the vice-president of the French Academy of Sciences, followed Nino in.

"Ah, Mr. Laplace, please sit down." Seeing Laplace come in, Napoleon stood up and said.

"Thank you, thank you." Laplace sat down on the chair next to him, looked at Napoleon, hesitant to speak.

Napoleon naturally knew what Laplace meant, so he took a sip of water and said, "Mr. Laplace, I just came from my elder brother Joseph—that stubborn guy. Yes, it's for the Prometheus Award Things. That guy is really a stubborn guy, and he is very defensive, well, you have dealt with him a lot, and you must know that."

Laplace stretched his neck to listen, but he didn't make a sound. He knew that Napoleon and his elder brother had a very good relationship. Don't look at Napoleon putting various hats on Joseph here, but Napoleon can do this kind of thing. , it is better for others not to meddle indiscriminately.

"I argued with him all day long, and he insisted that the first math prize must go to his assistant, Gauss. Well, you know, this guy is stubborn, but he can protect his shortcomings. So I slapped the table in pain He scolded him for using his power for personal gain, and then he also slapped the table and scolded me... Finally, he agreed to make certain concessions. He promised that next year and the year after that, he would set aside a place for the Paris Ecole Normale Supérieure."

"Reserve a place for the École Normale Supérieure next year and the year after next? Can the École Normale Supérieure also get a place next year?" Laplace was taken aback.

To be honest, when Laplace encouraged Napoleon to compete with Joseph for the spot, he didn't have much hope. Indeed, Joseph usually looks like a moral model, which is very in line with the appearance of a great scientist who focuses on science and does not value fame and fortune in the hearts of ordinary people. But Laplace knows that a great scientist or something is not necessarily a moral role model. Among other things, take Mr. Lavoisier, the honorary president of the French Academy of Sciences and the honorary president of the University of Paris—— When he was an assistant to Mr. Lavoisier, Lavoisier often deducted his wages under clever pretexts.

If it involves reputation or something, great scientists are even more... For example, the famous Sir Newton, in order to monopolize the discovery of gravitation, fought with Hooke in a mess, and even after Hooke died, Newton became the president of the British Academy , and refused to let Hook go, not only destroyed Hook's laboratory, but even destroyed Hook's only portrait, so that the surviving portraits of Hook were all imaginary drawings.

As for Joseph, he acted like he didn't care for fame and fortune, because he didn't lack both fame and fortune. Let’s not talk about Lee, Joseph is so rich that he doesn’t care much about the one million franc bonus; as for the name, according to Laplace’s observation, the most important thing for Joseph today is reputation. He is no longer a mathematician and scientist, and what he values ​​most now is the title of "educator". If you praised Joseph's achievements in science in public, Joseph would most likely remain expressionless and say indifferently that he had only made a trivial contribution. But if you praise Joseph for being good at cultivating students, he will immediately smile so that his eyes are narrowed, and the corners of his mouth are bent up to the roots of his ears. Although he still pretended to say: "The main reason is that I was lucky, and the students I met were very smart, hahahaha..."

Sometimes Laplace even thinks that Joseph and Napoleon are indeed brothers, both of them like to make a "it's okay" look about what they are best at, but they both like to make some for themselves. A reputation that deviated from his main direction. For example, Napoleon wanted to get into the ranks of scientists, and Joseph, now he wanted to be an educator.

Because of this, Joseph is famous for his protection. From the very beginning, Laplace was very worried about whether Joseph would use his power for personal gain, so he simply made these four awards belong to his students and assistants. Of course, considering Mr. Lavoisier's status and his relatives to Joseph, and Mr. Lavoisier's obsession with bonuses, Joseph probably will leave a chemistry award to Lavoisier. As for the others, it is not good. It is about to become "my student's, my student's, everything belongs to my student". If it wasn't for Joseph, he would definitely not agree, and Laplace couldn't wait to ask, "Dean Bonaparte, do you still need students?"

So when Napoleon told him that Joseph agreed to give a place to the Paris Normal University next year and the year after, Laplace was almost overjoyed.

"Yes, next year, physics and chemistry prizes will be awarded. Well, I think Mr. Lavoisier will definitely not let go of the chemistry prize. Unless someone is willing to bribe him with two million francs." Napoleon was in a good mood, He made a joke by the way, "But for the physics award, you can choose one between you and Mr. Lagrange. Joseph thinks that Mr. Lagrange is already relatively old, so he can give this award to him first, and then In recognition of his contributions to celestial mechanics..."

"But I have also made great contributions in celestial mechanics." Laplace shouted in his heart, but he didn't dare to shout out directly, because he was worried that the First Consul would feel that he didn't know how to advance or retreat.

"As for you, Joseph thinks that the next year's mathematics prize should be awarded to you." Napoleon said, "Principal Laplace, I know that I can get one million francs a year earlier. Even if you put it in the bank, you can get a lot of interest. So putting you in the next year does require you to make a certain sacrifice. But your sacrifice, I will remember it. I will not let you pay in vain of."

Of course, Laplace hopes to get the award as soon as possible. This is not just a matter of interest for one year. More importantly, there are long nights and dreams, and it will take two years. In case...in case a student of Joseph suddenly has What a big discovery, isn't that an immediate tragedy? But Laplace also knew that the person he could rely on most in this matter was Napoleon, and Napoleon's results now exceeded his original imagination. Therefore, he can't be too greedy. Laplace was not a man of strong character, so he replied:

"Dean Bonaparte's consideration is also reasonable."

After saying this, Laplace suddenly had this thought: "Oh, if I knew it earlier, maybe the principal should be appointed by Lagrange."

"Principal Laplace, you really are a person who can take care of the overall situation." Napoleon said happily.

After solving the problem of awarding the prize, Napoleon continued to work on the most important thing in his heart--the Olympic Games.

While Napoleon was busy with the Olympic Games, in Rome, His Majesty the Pope was discussing with a group of cardinals and archbishops about sending investigators to Austria.

"Directly accuse His Majesty Franz of committing the crime of rape, even if we finally rehabilitate him, it will greatly damage our relationship with Austria. Although, we must obey the French, after all, none of us are willing Leaving Rome..." His Majesty took a breath, and then continued, "But for this, we will lose a lot if we completely upset Austria. Not long ago, one of our priests made a new suggestion , um, Father Conti, come and tell us what you think."

A young priest came over, saluted everyone, and said: "Your Majesty, all bishops, we and His Majesty Franz of Austria both know who is behind this investigation and what they hope to achieve. The purpose, and we also know that it is difficult for us—whether it is the Holy See or Vienna to resist them. However, this crime is really not very pleasant, so why don't we make it easier?"

"How to work around?" asked a bishop.

"We can send an envoy to Vienna to investigate this matter. Then His Majesty Franz was very angry about this, and then there was a misunderstanding and conflict with our envoy. So His Majesty Franz, under his anger, made some slightly A little excessive behavior, humiliating our envoy, and then we use this as a reason to announce the cancellation of His Majesty Fritz's title of 'Emperor of the Romans'..."