Napoleon couldn’t help but feel some emotion.
He had always thought that his brother should not have given up the study of law to go into business—a decision that had proven to be ill-advised, considering that his brother’s business abilities were indeed lacking. After so many years, he had barely managed to break even.
Now, not long after his brother took up a position at the negotiating delegation, he was able to go abroad for negotiations with the Minister of Commerce. It seemed he had found a path that allowed him to utilize his strengths.
The latter half of Joseph Buonaparte’s letter relayed a verbal message from their mother, Maria Letizia.
She said that last month the government had finally disbursed the compensation for the vineyard, reducing the family’s debt by half and greatly alleviating the pressure from interest payments.
In addition, the French Brewing Technology Association had decided to invest in building a large winery in the City of Ajaccio, where construction was currently underway. To ensure a sufficient supply of raw materials, the winery had signed supply contracts with vineyards around Ajaccio. As long as there were no natural disasters, the Buonaparte family could expect a stable income of nearly 2,000 livres each year.
In a word, the family’s financial situation had improved a lot, and they could even afford to hire people to work in the vineyard now.
In her final reminder, mother urged Napoleon not to worry about coming home to help anymore. He should perform well in the army and strive for a promotion as soon as possible.
In reality, what Napoleon referred to as “coming home to help” was just an excuse to participate in the activities of the Corsican Revival Organization. However, when he read the letter, he felt unexpectedly relieved and shook his head, muttering to himself, “It seems that before I find a new excuse to take leave that can deceive mother, it won’t be easy to return to Corsica.”
That is to say, he could now visit Verdun to see the new type of cavalry cannon without any worries!
What he didn’t know was that the affairs of his family’s vineyard had all been arranged by the Crown Prince himself, with the intention of keeping him at ease in the army.
Of course, Joseph’s construction of a winery in Corsica was also aimed at improving the living standards of the people there. When everyone saw a way to make money, they were all busy growing grapes—who would bother with something like ‘overthrowing French rule’?
If even the winery was built by the French people, who would they sell their grapes to after driving the French out?
At the same time that Napoleon was reading the family letter, in a nearby Cavalry Camp, a soldier of a similar age with curly hair, a slightly chubby face, and a somewhat melancholic gaze, was swiftly writing a letter atop a hay cart, trying to get it to the post before the mail carriers left.
He bit his pencil and continued writing, his head bowed: Dear Father, I have made my final decision. I will not return to Fortinier Fortress to learn about selling fashion, for today I have found my true calling in life—to join the Guard Corps and become an outstanding cavalry officer!
Yes, in the Guard Corps, anyone of any background can become an officer, as long as you are brave enough and train hard enough to achieve it.
Do you know how incredible this army is? Each of their soldiers is exceptionally strong, capable of carrying a gun and a blanket, and running 5 kilometers in 20 minutes—oh, that’s 1.25 leagues. Their speed in changing formations is so fast that it’s as if a giant is pulling them along with strings… and their astonishing marksmanship… oh, and those handsome uniforms…
Continue your journey with empire
In short, I am absolutely certain that it is the place where I can realize my dreams! Please forgive me, I really can’t go back, or the fortress of Fortinier will be missing a great general…
After finishing the letter, he reviewed it and then signed off with: Joachim Murat, sealing the letter in an envelope.
He then took out the “Guard Corps Application Form,” which he had kept on him, and began to fill it out with focus.
The Cavalry Company Commander walked past him, glanced at the nearly completed application form, but walked away with his head held high as if he had not seen anything—he had filled out the same application form himself and already handed it to the postman.
In fact, at that time, nearly everyone in the entire Champagne Legion was busy filling out this thing.
…
Bavaria.
Northwest of Munich.
A black carriage bumped along the rutted road. Inside the carriage, Joseph Buonaparte was carefully checking the documents in his hands, occasionally confirming figures with his assistant, looking extremely focused.
That stack of documents was the result of his recent business survey in Wurttemberg, including a large number of questionnaires and data collected on site.
And these were the vital materials that would be used in trade negotiations the day after tomorrow.
After arriving in Munich, he first reported his work to the assistant to the Minister of Commerce, who was also his immediate superior, and then shut himself in his hotel room to memorize that data, until the negotiations officially began at the beginning of June.
Outside the Munich Palace, bands and honor guards filled both sides of the road. Ceremonial Officers shuffled back and forth to the music, greeting the representatives of various countries who were coming for the negotiations.
Duke Karl Otto Dor of Bavaria presided over a brief ceremony to open the negotiations in the square in front of the palace, then left everything to State Minister Pomentar and departed sullenly himself.
It’s no wonder he was in a bad mood, not long before he had been planning how to bestow the territory of the Southern Netherlands, which he had obtained in exchange, upon his illegitimate children, but then the news of Austria’s defeat arrived, causing all his beautiful dreams to fall through.
Pomentar greeted the negotiating representatives into the conference hall and made a speech, after which he turned his gaze to Baron Tugut, the Austrian Foreign Minister.
The latter smiled and nodded, rose to the front of the conference room, cleared his throat, and spoke loudly, “I believe everyone is well aware of just how chaotic the trade situation in Germany is at the moment.
“The constantly changing tariffs, the sudden appearance of various fees, all sorts of access restrictions have greatly hindered the progress of our trade…”
“Therefore, under the joint initiative of His Imperial Majesty of the Holy Roman Empire,” he said, indicating towards Talleyrand and Bailly, “and His Majesty the King of France, we will discuss and sign an unprecedented and great agreement!”
However, unlike his impassioned speech, representatives from small states like Bavaria, Salzburg, Wurttemberg, and Baden seemed less enthusiastic.
These smaller states found it difficult to compete with large countries like France and Austria in industrial and trade sectors, thus harboring reservations about the so-called “free trade.”
But since they didn’t wish to offend Joseph II, they could only go through the motions and attend; they had little expectation of reaching any substantive trade agreement.
After finishing his formalities, Baron Tugut ordered his assistants to distribute the trade planning documents which had been prepared beforehand to everyone: “This is the preliminary draft agreement proposed by Austria, please take a look. Of course, this is just a draft, and the specific terms still need detailed discussion before we can determine them.”