Descending On France 1780
Chapter 325: Napoleon smacked his forehead

Chapter 325: Napoleon smacked his forehead

After Talleyrand left, Christina came in through the small door on the side of the study and said to Anning, "You really can handle him."

Anning laughed: "Handling Talleyrand is actually quite simple. In fact, it’s rather pleasant to listen to his sugar-coated nonsense."

"You couldn’t possibly fall for such superficial flattery, could you?"

"How could I? What I like are girls."

Anning made a coy remark, which seemed to work pretty well on Christina. His fiancée revealed a sweet smile and lightly patted Anning: "It seems to me that you like wars more than you like girls."

Anning: "I don’t like war. I wish it would end soon so that everyone could live in peace and tranquility. It’s Napoleon who loves war; he might wish it would go on forever."

In his past life, when Anning read Napoleon’s biography, he felt that Napoleon might have treated war as if it were a real-time strategy game.

If Napoleon were born in the modern era, he would probably be addicted to video games, considering the variety of wars from different eras featured in games.

Napoleon of the modern times might become a game live streamer, broadcasting games like Starcraft, Age of Empires, or Company of Heroes every day.

While thinking this, Anning reiterated: "I don’t like war, I truly don’t. I hope for the war to end as soon as possible."

"You don’t have to stress it twice," Christina said tenderly as she looked at Anning.

Anning: "Important things need to be said three times, so I’ll say it again, I don’t like war. Even though war has brought me glory and power, no, I don’t like it."

Just at that moment, the door opened—there were only two in Anning’s camp who dared to enter like this without knocking, one was Napoleon and the other Lasalle.

Anning looked up and saw that Napoleon and Lasalle had come in together.

"I seem to have heard from outside that someone said they don’t like war." Napoleon looked at Anning, "It couldn’t have been you, could it, Andy?"

Anning: "It was me."

"Why?"

"Listen, Napoleon, I fight not for glory, but for the day when kitchen smoke can return to the villages, and the faint fragrance of late-ripening rice fills the air. I hope that one day, angels can sleep peacefully, gently swaying in their mothers’ embrace.

"I wish for my country to be no longer sorrowful, for peace to prevail everywhere."

Anning casually turned the lyrics into a poem as he spoke.

And, as expected, his translation plugin perfectly translated the lyrics into a poem.

Lasalle: "I’m a blunt man and don’t understand poetry, but I know damn well that’s not something a leatherworker could write."

Anning: "I’m just a leatherworker, and you should stop judging a person’s abilities based on their background."

Lasalle: "If it weren’t for knowing you, I’d slap anyone who said that to me, calling it daytime dreaming. But I know you... Honestly, now when I go out for a shoe repair, I treat the cobblers with courtesy, because you never know, they might suddenly throw a Latin verse at me."

Napoleon laughed heartily: "You’re right. From now on, I should also be more courteous to leatherworkers."

Anning: "You should be more courteous to every commoner; after all, this is an era where everyone is equal."

Suddenly, Lasalle became serious, staring at Anning’s face and saying: "Do you really believe this is an era of equality? From my point of view, some people are obviously more equal than others."

Anning: "Are you talking about me?"

"No, no. Although you’re also more equal than others, that’s in exchange for military service and talent. But I’ve seen some people who don’t have such service or talent, yet they secure a more equal status by ingratiating themselves."

"Looking at these people, can you still say this world is equal?"

After pondering for a moment, Anning replied: "Lasalle, all we can pursue is as much equality as possible. If you understand Euclidean geometry, you should know it’s like..."

Lasalle: "I don’t understand Euclidean geometry."

"Well, you don’t understand, let me think of another analogy, ah, it’s like decay, damn, why am I talking about decay? Anyway, we can never achieve true equality, but that doesn’t prevent us from getting as close to it as possible.

"Human beings pursue equality, and that’s what it’s all about."

Lasalle: "Alright, you convinced me, thanks for the brilliant explanation in language that even a brute like me can understand."

Anning: "You’re welcome."

Napoleon: "Let’s change the subject to something more pleasant, when can we go out and fight against the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia? It’s really boring fighting against the peasant army."

Anning turned her head and glanced at Christina: "See, what did I just say?"

Christina just shook her head.

Napoleon looked curious: "What did you just say?"

"I just said that you, Napoleon, must really love war."

Napoleon: "I love war indeed, perhaps you fight as a necessity, but for me, it’s different. I feel like I realize my own value in war."

Anning: "Are you sure it’s not because you have a lot of fun in wars?"

Napoleon: "That’s part of it too. Anyway, I think you have a great time too, although you fight for... uh, the return of domestic peace, which is a different story."

Anning: "I admit, I do find rare amusement and diversion in war."

After all, Anning herself is an overpowered character, who can’t die, so naturally, she can treat war as a game.

Upon getting Anning’s response, Napoleon immediately said joyfully: "See, I told you so! I knew we’d have common ground!"

Lasalle: "Speaking of common ground, aren’t you going to mention what you were telling me outside the door just now?"

Anning looked at Napoleon puzzled: "What? Is there something?"

"It’s nothing major, just that, seeing you married, I thought I’m also of age, so I should get married too."

Anning silently prayed: Damn it, not Josephine, please not Josephine!

If Napoleon here decided to marry Josephine just like in history, it would mean the course of history had bizarrely moved a step back towards its original trajectory.

Napoleon: "So I’ve decided to get engaged to Miss Salaphine!"

Anning was stunned: "Who?"

Is that a version inception?

Napoleon: "Although I had a fondness for Josephine Boarne for a while, the moment I saw Miss Salaphine, my heart belonged to her."

Anning could only cast a look of appeal to his fiancée.

Christina: "The daughter of a steam engine factory owner from Marseilles, her father made a fortune under your support policies, and immediately came to Paris to prepare to set up a new steam textile factory."

Anning raised an eyebrow: Napoleon’s going to marry someone who didn’t even have a name in the original history?

This is a good sign indeed!

Before Anning could even rejoice, Napoleon said something that broke Anning’s immersion: "Salaphine, she could be a woman fit to be my mother!"

Anning was shocked, thinking do you also want to get painted in red and dash at three times the speed of normal people?

He glanced at Napoleon, then realized that in France, blue is the main color. Napoleon was not about to turn red with horns and move at triple speed.

At this moment, Christina said: "Since that’s the case, why don’t you two good brothers simply hold your weddings together? That way, when you push forward to the Rhein, I can look after Miss Salaphine."

Napoleon clapped his hands: "Good, that’s a great idea!"