He Became Napoleon’S Genius Son [EN]: Chapter 39

(38) Let’s Go to Vendée to Save Marceau’s Lover

There’s always a hidden agenda.

-Step, step, step!

Soldiers in dark blue uniforms were marching around the training grounds on the outskirts of Marseille.

The French Revolutionary Army’s symbol, the blue uniform.

From a later historical perspective, this uniform presented a problem: it offered no concealment.

However, in the late 18th century, battles were fought in organized lines.

Therefore, conspicuous uniforms that boosted soldier morale were popular.

This particular uniform was produced by Eugene’s newly established munitions factory.

For now, it only supplied the Marseille headquarters.

Suddenly, Eugene, watching the marching soldiers, asked the commander.

“How is Marceau doing?”

He was referring to the Postal Special Regiment directly under the Marseille headquarters.

It had been four months since the unit’s formation was approved in Paris.

Now, they had reached the point where they could march and shoot with some proficiency.

Especially in this era of material shortages, they were even training with ‘live ammunition,’ a rarity due to the gunpowder shortage.

The person leading this training was Major Marceau, who was serving as the acting regimental commander.

Marceau glanced at Eugene and chuckled.

“Of course. The officers are filled with friends who fought under General Bonaparte in Toulon.”

Eugene nodded, looking at the non-commissioned officers commanding each platoon.

He recognized quite a few faces.

These were men who would readily follow Napoleon’s orders in an emergency.

“Train them all as mounted infantry at least. Still, their primary mission is postal delivery. They need to know how to ride a horse.”

“Right. They are not just conscripts.”

“Yes?”

Suddenly, Marceau winked.

“Former royalists who were forcibly enlisted in Toulon are serving as privates. Haha!”

Eugene widened his eyes and smiled subtly.

In fact, Eugene had hardly intervened in the regiment’s formation.

He was focused on expanding his business, which had started in Marseille.

Four months wasn’t enough time to fully establish the business.

However, Marceau had filled the ranks with ‘loyal’ soldiers on his own.

“They must have very high loyalty.”

Royalists are inherently conservative with a strong sense of loyalty.

But now there was no king, and no one for them to be loyal to in the traditional sense.

Instead, there were the two men who had saved them from being massacred: Napoleon and Eugene.

So, these soldiers were bound to have a high degree of loyalty to Napoleon and Eugene.

Suddenly, another loyalist who spotted Eugene saluted.

“Have you arrived, Major?”

It was Captain Duroc.

“You don’t have to be so formal, Captain Duroc. I am young, but we are all aides to General Napoleon.”

“That’s not true. I know very well that the person truly in charge of this postal unit is not Major Marceau, but Major Bonaparte. Hierarchy must be clear.”

“Well, if you obey me, wouldn’t it be the same thing? Anyway, let’s work together well.”

In any case, Marceau was the nominal person in charge.

But if they thought they were following Eugene’s orders, the chain of command would become blurred.

However, Duroc’s thoughts seemed to be different.

Duroc said in a low voice, so that other officers or non-commissioned officers couldn’t hear.

“I will ensure that the Major and General Bonaparte’s intentions are thoroughly implemented.”

In short, it was the creation of a private army.

Marseille, in the south, was far from the watchful eyes of Paris.

The governor of this place, Fréron, happened to be favorable to the Bonaparte family for some reason.

Moreover, the funds were provided by the Boarneh Cartel, created by Eugene, through smuggling.

Then, how was this different from what Captain Marmont had pointed out?

There was a crucial difference.

This postal unit was not just a military unit, but an intelligence-gathering organization.

It was, in effect, a [special forces] unit.

Of course, they needed more training and experience, but they were all participants in the Battle of Toulon.

Whether they were winners or losers.

Eugene chuckled as he watched Duroc busily moving again to oversee the military command.

“He’s quick-witted.”

“He doesn’t talk much. Ah, working with that guy is like working with a block of wood.”

“Instead, he is the most reliable of General Napoleon’s people when it comes to handling work, Marceau. If any problems arise, he will take care of everything.”

At that moment, Eugene tilted his head at Marceau’s strange gaze.

“What’s wrong?”

“No, isn’t Major Eugene the best at his job among General Napoleon’s people?”

“Hey, not me. There are still limits to what I can do.”

Eugene chuckled and replied.

“It will take at least three years, right? I wish I could grow taller quickly. So I can at least hold a musket.”

In fact, most of the abilities Eugene demonstrated were possible because he knew history.

However, as he gradually changed history, there would inevitably be things he didn’t know.

Besides, there were too many things he couldn’t do because he was still a child.

If he were an adult, Eugene would have directly commanded and supervised this postal unit, which would soon be created on a regimental scale.

However, it was impossible with his height, as he couldn’t even hold a musket properly.

Marceau laughed heartily as he saw Eugene frowning.

“Hahaha! You look like a child at times like this.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? I am still a child.”

“Puhahat! You’re building a factory, a bank, and now even a military unit, and you call yourself a child? That’s ridiculous.”

Marceau was genuinely impressed.

Of course, Marceau and Duroc did the actual work of creating the unit.

However, the idea itself was Eugene’s.

The importance of force, the necessity of information, the appropriateness of justification.

He solved all of this with just one postal unit.

It was like seeing a way to navigate through the chaos of the revolution.

Suddenly, Marceau, who had been immersed in admiration, said something he remembered.

“Oh, by the way, Collo wants you to stop by this evening. He says there’s an important deal that needs approval.”

“That’s probably not important. I heard about it in advance. He doesn’t want to invest new funds in Polly’s munitions factory. Besides, I have plans for the evening.”

“Oh? What plans? Don’t tell me you have a new girlfriend?”

Eugene shrugged at Marceau, who was teasing him lightly.

“It is a woman’s invitation. Unfortunately, it’s a widow’s invitation. Mrs. Letizia insisted on having dinner with me.”

He was referring to Napoleon’s mother.

This was also something Marceau found amazing.

He had become close to the Bonaparte family and even brought Joseph into the business.

What good was it to be close to a ruined lower-class noble family?

But rather, thanks to that, Eugene became even closer to Napoleon.

Based on this friendship, he easily obtained permission to create a postal unit on a regimental scale.

Furthermore, he was running a military supply business by supplying uniforms, guns, and gunpowder to the postal regiment.

Of course, the payment was still on credit.

Swallowing the admiration that surged up once again, Marceau asked.

“Why is that? You’re already boarding at their house anyway.”

“I’ve been invited to other houses so often lately that I haven’t been able to eat dinner there. And General Bonaparte is coming home for the first time in a while. Do you want to eat with us?”

“Oh, no, thank you. I have to catch up on some work rather than eating bread with my superior.”

Eugene smiled and saluted playfully.

“Then see you tomorrow.”

Just as Marceau was watching Eugene disappear, Duroc came and stood next to him.

“I wonder how far that Major will go.”

“You startled me! Captain Duroc. I didn’t know you could talk?”

“What are you talking about? You just heard me talking a moment ago.”

Marceau chuckled and looked at the pile of mail on his desk.

Anyway, the reality was the creation of an intelligence special forces unit, but the official name was still a military post office.

The first to use the postal system were, of course, the soldiers stationed in Marseille.

It was also the job of the postal regimental commander to filter out any particularly strange letters.

“Well, I’ve been thinking that since I first saw him. Huh?”

At that moment, Marceau widened his eyes.

“This is!”

Recipient: Marceau.

But what was even more surprising was the sender’s name.

A letter that he didn’t expect to receive in Marseille had arrived for Marceau.

***

In any era, in any family, everyone’s mother likes to feed people.

“Come on, tonight is a special chicken dinner. Young people! You have to eat a lot!”

Letizia, the mother of the large Bonaparte family, was no different.

Especially after being freed from poverty thanks to Eugene’s boarding fees, she was trying to feed them even better.

However, there were also members of the Bonaparte family who did not place much value on food.

Napoleon, who had become accustomed to eating quickly while studying abroad from a very young age, was one of them.

Looking at the excessive amount of food with a dumbfounded expression, Napoleon asked.

“There’s too much. Mother, aren’t you overdoing it?”

“It’s okay. As long as your stomach can handle it. Eugene is paying a lot for boarding, so we don’t have to worry about the family finances.”

“Yes? Boarding fees?”

Just as Napoleon was about to raise his eyebrows, Letizia clapped her hands and added.

“Yes. Joseph is also working at the bank that Eugene’s father founded these days? Haven’t you heard?”

In fact, Napoleon primarily used the Marseille headquarters residence.

Because of this, he didn’t know much about the family’s current situation.

Of course, he remembered what he had said when Eugene decided to come to Marseille from the beginning.

It was a proposal to take care of the Bonaparte family’s living expenses.

But Napoleon had thought it was just a joke.

Moreover, he didn’t know that even his older brother was indebted.

While trying to understand the slightly distorted information about the bank, Napoleon asked Eugene, who was sitting next to him, in a low voice.

“Did you say that, Ensign? What bank?”

“It’s a bit difficult for me to tell my mother that I’m building a bank.”

“Even if you told the truth, she wouldn’t believe it anyway. Hmm. But, it’s too much for my family to be indebted to you.”

Just as Napoleon was about to say something, someone suddenly intervened.

“Really? Eugene, did you build a bank yourself?”

Napoleon’s younger sister, Pauline, was smiling brightly.

Eugene rolled his eyes and smiled back.

Pauline was not the type to delve deeply into complicated stories.

“Haha. That’s just what I mean. My family is just a bit rich.”

“Really? How rich? Well, you seem to pay a lot for boarding. Does the military unit give you a lot of salary, brother?”

“Of course not. How much are you paying?”

Before Eugene could stop her, Pauline blurted it out.

“I don’t know exactly, but it seems like you’re paying 10,000 *livres* [French currency] a month?”

“Cough? What? 10,000 *livres*?”

“Right? You can’t handle it with your salary, can you? It’s amazing.”

That was 120,000 *livres* a year.

Even with severe inflation, it was far beyond the typical boarding fees for a single boarder.

Napoleon finally frowned and pressed Eugene.

“It’s good to help our family, but I never told you to overdo it, Ensign.”

“I thought you were someone who doesn’t refuse help, General?”

“No, what should I say? The day may come when your money becomes my money and my money becomes your money? Well, even if that’s not the case, the Clary family inheritance that Joseph is supposed to receive is only 80,000 *livres*.”

Somehow, he was quite petty in his worries.

In fact, Napoleon was good at math and surprisingly astute when it came to calculating money.

Later in history, he would even meticulously calculate the remaining assets in his will and specify the inheritance in detail.

In the current period, he was genuinely troubled by the lack of salary.

However, conversely, he seemed to be worried in his own way because Eugene seemed to be spending too much money.

Of course, from Eugene’s point of view, it was an extremely unnecessary worry.

Eugene stared at Napoleon and replied seriously.

“Later, you will bestow 100 times this amount upon me, General.”

“What, bestow?”

“I’m sure of it. Always.”

Just as Napoleon’s eyes flickered with emotion for a moment, Pauline exclaimed in amazement.

“Wow, our brother really has a flatterer as a subordinate?”

“A flatterer! He’s a subordinate with accurate eyes.”

“Hehe, right. A rich boy soldier? Where is he, boy soldier? By any chance, is there a gift for me for tonight’s dinner?”

Looking at Pauline, who was winking, as if she was just joking, Eugene clapped his hands.

“Hippolyte.”

Then, Hippolyte smiled and received something from a postal unit soldier outside.

Just as everyone’s attention was focused, Hippolyte unfolded what he had brought.

It was clothes.

-Swish!

Eugene lifted a women’s dress and winked at Pauline.

“A gift for Madame Bonaparte and Mademoiselle Bonaparte. It is the work of Rose Bertin, who was the best dressmaker in France. The postal unit brought it from Paris.”

Rose Bertin, the exclusive clothing designer of Marie Antoinette.

Originally, she was supposed to be exiled during the revolution and wander the streets.

However, when saving the royal family, Eugene used his influence to hire her at Banque Boarneh.

At that time, he thought it would be useless, but when he needed to win the hearts of women, he used it right away.

As expected, Caroline, Pauline, and Eliza all ran to the clothes in surprise.

“Wow, it’s pretty.”

“Oh my gosh, how much is this?”

“Madame Bertin? I’ve heard of her. Oh my gosh, the queen’s clothing consultant!”

Letizia, who had been smiling brightly until just now, began to sob as she received the clothes.

“Sniff! Such luxury.”

“Oh, mother. Don’t cry.”

“Really, thanks to having good sons, no, thanks to meeting Eugene, I’m experiencing this.”

Just 10 months ago, the Bonaparte family risked their lives to escape Corsica.

At that time, someone could have died.

They barely survived as a family, but they lost everything they had built on the island.

They endured in poverty, Napoleon returned, and hope arose a little.

But now, they were enjoying such luxury that they did not even expect.

Clothes designed directly by the former royal clothing designer.

It wasn’t just because they were pretty, but because the sincerity touched the heart.

Watching the scene quietly, Napoleon held Eugene’s hand tightly.

“Thank you so much, Eugene.”

Of course, Eugene didn’t know it would have this much of an impact.

In fact, wasn’t buying luxury goods the best way to win the hearts of women even in modern times?

He just did it with that thought, but the hearts of the Bonaparte women, who had suffered in the meantime, seemed to be particularly receptive.

Hippolyte poked Eugene in the side and said.

“Hey, this is a perfect effect?”

“I didn’t know it would be this much either.”

“Why don’t we just open a clothing store? I’m actually the son of a fabric wholesaler. Let’s just tell Madame Bertin to come down to Marseille too.”

It was when the Bonaparte family’s mansion was filled with emotion.

-Thump!

Suddenly, the door opened violently as if it had been kicked open.

When everyone turned their heads, an unexpected person was standing there, panting.

Marceau, the major who was the acting commander of the postal special regiment under Napoleon.

Eugene tilted his head as he looked at Marceau.

“Oh, Marceau. What’s wrong? There’s still plenty of time for dinner. There was no need to rush so much.”

“Where is the General? There’s something I need to ask him for.”

“He’s right here?”

At that moment, Marceau ran to Napoleon and shouted.

“General Bonaparte! Please grant me a long vacation!”

Napoleon frowned at the sudden request.

“Why is that, Major Marceau? A sudden long vacation? You have duties to fulfill.”

Of course, Napoleon himself had taken a long vacation for nearly two years immediately after the revolution.

However, Napoleon, who was generous to himself but strict to his subordinates, asked for the reason first.

On the other hand, Marceau was a man who did not move without a valid reason.

“My childhood friend is in mortal danger. In Vendée!”

The reason to run away from the military.

An urgent message had arrived that his first love was in danger of death.

***

The problem was that Vendée was now embroiled in the famous [Vendée Rebellion], a royalist uprising against the French Revolution.

“Angelique de Meslay, one of the many noble ladies living in Vendée. Of all people, she’s Marceau’s friend.”

Eugene pursed his lips as he listened to the letter that had come to Marceau in the Bonaparte boarding room.

Angelique de Meslay.

Some people live in history and are recorded, but more people are recorded in death.

Meslay was the same.

Just an ordinary noble lady from the Vendée region.

However, during the Vendée Rebellion, she falls in love with Marceau, who went to war.

Marceau tried to save Meslay and even got engaged.

Then, when Marceau went to another battlefield, an incident occurred in which the Revolutionary Army executed Meslay.

Eugene only knew that much, but it turns out they had a deeper relationship.

Eugene’s consideration, which deliberately avoided sending Marceau to Vendée, was in vain.

“I thought it would be better to pass by without knowing, but well.”

Hippolyte shrugged as he watched Eugene grumble lightly.

“You call her a childhood friend, but isn’t she his first love? I think he has to go?”

French people live and die for love affairs.

Even since the Old Royal era, duels and murders have often occurred due to love scandals.

So, if Marceau runs away, it would be very difficult to stop him, given French cultural norms.

But Eugene shook his head.

“Vendée is dangerous. It’s not something Marceau can do alone.”

“But it’s not right to oppose him when he’s jumping around like that, right? I think the General will allow it too.”

“Well, I don’t know if he had gone to Vendée from the beginning.”

Eugene stared at the letter and suddenly said.

“If it’s according to my knowledge of history, he won’t be able to save her even if he goes to Vendée.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you remember? Even here, the councilmen were making a fuss to execute the royalists. It’s more serious there than in Toulon.”

In fact, this was partly Eugene’s fault.

Originally, in history, Marceau was dispatched to Vendée in 1793.

He gained some control over the military unit by making achievements there.

Because he had this much power, he was able to save Angelique Meslay from the execution crisis.

However, although he was a major now, he belonged to the Marseille headquarters.

It would be too difficult to exercise any power in Vendée.

Feeling somehow responsible, Eugene jumped up.

“I have no choice.”

“What, are you going to oppose it? Tsk, I can’t help it.”

“No.”

Suddenly, Eugene touched Louis XVI’s watch in his pocket and gritted his teeth.

“I have to go with him. To Marceau.”

Vendée, the site of the civil war during the revolution where at least 300,000 people would die.

It was the moment when Eugene decided to go there.