The Bonaparte family is a very traditional Corsican family. This also means that women are not very responsible in their family. Letizia is a very good wife and a very good mother. She can always bear it silently even when it is difficult. But she is also a very traditional Corsican woman, and she will not speak out when she needs to make an idea.

So after Carlo's death, almost all decisions in the family were made by Joseph. When the younger brothers and sisters had something to ask their mother, she always said, "Go and ask your brother and see what he said." Just like when Carlo was still there, she said to the children, "Go and ask your father."

So Joseph suddenly became busy, first arranging his father's funeral, then dealing with inheritance and debts. Fortunately, his uncle helped these things, and the existence of Bishop Minier also caused more concerns for those who wanted to take advantage of the fact that there were no adult men in this family. So these things went very smoothly.

On the third day after the funeral, all the remaining things were basically handled. That night, Joseph called his mother, uncle and several younger brothers and sisters together.

"Mom, uncle, and brothers and sisters. My father's funeral and related matters have basically come to an end today." Joseph said, "After losing my father, the situation in our family has changed a lot. Our original lifestyle will definitely change a lot. We must adapt to such changes and make preparations in advance. Now, I will talk to you about the possible changes in our family."

Everyone listened to Joseph's speech quietly.

"After my father passed away, his salary naturally disappeared. You also know that our family's land has very little and its production is very limited. If we don't have the salary of my father in the Governor's Office, relying solely on the output of our family's remaining land, our family's income will be reduced to one-third of the previous one. This means that our income can only make a living. Brothers and sisters, your pocket money and even education funds will have problems.

Napoleon, you are studying in a military academy. If you graduate in the future, you will naturally go to the army to serve. There is no need to spend much money to study in a military academy. But the pocket money you give you may be cancelled."

"It's no problem," said Napoleon.

"I have learned about your grades over the past few years," Joseph continued. "Your mathematics, geography, and history are all very good. But your language grades disappoint me."

"Mathematics, geography, and history are useful in wars. Language..." Napoleon was a little dissatisfied with it.

"My stupid brother, language is also a tool for combat!" Joseph glanced at Napoleon and said, "Don't you know what Octavian relied on to defeat Brucetu back then? The ability to use language has been indispensable for a good general since ancient times."

When Napoleon heard Joseph use Emperor Octavian as an example, he no longer refuted.

But Joseph was unwilling to let Napoleon go. He continued to stare at Napoleon and said, "For example, our family is temporarily facing difficulties. In order to earn more money to support the other brothers' studies, we must have someone to stand up and take over our father.

You know, I have one more year to graduate. But now, we are facing difficulties. If I drop out of school now, I can find some things to do. Of course, my income will be much lower than my father. If we can continue to persevere for a year and wait until I graduate to find another job, so that my income will probably double. Of course, this is still not as good as when my father was still there. But this number can barely support the family's life.

Obviously, in the long run, dropping out of school is not the best choice for me or for the family. But we cannot ignore the life in front of us. So I have a plan to adapt. I have a classmate named Armand, who is the nephew of Mr. Lavoisier. Napoleon, I mentioned this guy in my letter to you. He has a lot of translation scripts and poetry things that can be transferred to me. In this way, while I continue to study, I can also get some income. In addition, my classmate Lucien can also lend me some money. If the family is more frugal, it will not be a big problem to support for a year.

Of course, if Napoleon's language scores are better, maybe you can join in and do something within your ability, which can be considered as helping the family, and I can also be a little more relaxed. However, with your current results, I dare not leave such a thing to you."

"I understand, I will work hard on this in the future." Napoleon lowered his head.

Then Joseph turned to his other younger brothers.

"Lucian, although you are still young, you should also know that you are also a man in the family and should study hard. Although our family has the title of aristocrat, they are not the French nobles who can eat without doing anything. Our men must have the ability. Lucien, do you know where the abilities of those outstanding people come from? They all come from learning and overcoming difficulties. You are now at the age to receive some education. I will try my best to ensure that your education will not be affected by economic difficulties, but you must work hard.

Louis, the same is true for you. By the time I graduate next year, I find a good job. If possible, I will take you and Lucien to Paris for education. In terms of educational environment, Paris is much better than Corsica after all."

"Joseph, I'm going to graduate at the end of the year. But now I have a chance to be sent to the Paris Military Academy, where after graduation, I can get higher positions and better development. I don't know..." Napoleon said.

"My stupid brother. What can I hesitate about this kind of thing? Are you doubting your brother's ability to support the family with your insignificant wisdom? You just go to the Paris Military Academy, and leave the current affairs to me." Joseph replied.

"Joseph, where am I stupid? I just..." Napoleon rarely protested against the "stupid" at the attribution Joseph gave himself.

"Oh?" Joseph immediately said, "Napoleon, your geometry is the most prominent of all subjects. Do you need me to give you a question to let you know yourself correctly?"

Napoleon was stunned and after a while he said in disappointment: "Joseph, you are not a good person."

...

After spending a few days, after basically organizing the family affairs, he set out to return to Paris again. During these days and along the way, as long as he had free time, even if it was only about ten minutes of free time, Joseph seized the time to translate the things in his hand. Early the next morning in Paris, Joseph first went to school to sell the leave, and then found Armand and handed him a volume of manuscripts.

"This is the translation of "Temen of Athens". See if there are any changes that need to be made, and I will change it." Joseph said to Amman.

"Joseph, did you get this thing out so quickly?" Aman was surprised, "This is impossible for me without more than half a year."

"Your speed is slow because you do it fine. I do it fast, but I am much more crude." Joseph said.

"Joseph, I love to hear what you said. However, I know that the reason why I am slow is not because of the meticulousness, but because I am too lazy and unwilling to do things, just like the lazy king in history (the series of kings who ignored state affairs in the seventh century). And you are a diligent person. And the translation of literary works is actually best to complete in one breath. In this way, emotions and momentum can be kept coherent. Well, I will see it when I have time. As for the cost, I will give it to you in a few days."

Armand's work has been delayed. He said that the fee would be given in a few days, and Joseph was ready to wait for half a month. However, unexpectedly, in just three days, Armand handed over a total of fifty francs for translating this work to Joseph.

"Joseph, the quality of the manuscript is good. If you can continue to maintain this quality and speed, you can earn 600 francs every year. With your scholarship, by the way, how many younger brothers do you have?"

"Four, three of them are at the age of education. But the oldest is in military academy and like me, there is no need to spend money." Joseph replied.

"Ah, then there are only two younger brothers who need you to spend money..." Aman thought about it in his mind, "Oh, this little money is not enough. Just this little money, Joseph, you can't drink beer anymore in the future. As for foie gras, you have to see them again. Even the bread you eat cannot be creamed, you can only eat one lamb chop a month, you have to eat this lamb chop for three days, the first day you eat the meat on the lamb chop, the second day you eat the fat of the lamb chop, and the third day you chew the bones. When you are working, you can't smoke to refresh yourself, nor can you use black tea to refresh yourself, you can only use the lowest-grade coffee, and the portion must be limited... Oh my God, can't you lose one younger brother?"

Joseph replied, "In our Corsica, there is a saying, "It is said: "When we have to deal with foxes, we know that there are too few hunting dogs; when we have to deal with enemies, we know that there are too few brothers." Therefore, we Corsica people never complain about too many brothers and never complain about too many friends."

"This sentence is very interesting," said Armand, "but it's too long-winded, and you can actually be more refined. Oh, maybe it's because you translated it from Corsica dialect to French, and the taste changed. I think your translation is like this. Although it's very accurate, it's a bit verbose in many places. If it were me, I would translate this sentence like this. There is a saying in Corsica, which is called: 'Dogs only need to be used for less.'"
Chapter completed!