"Hey, Napoleon, aren't you good at math? How come you didn't get a single problem today?" On the way to the library, a classmate came up from behind and yelled at Napoleon with a smile.

Napoleon frowned but did not say a word. Another student next to him responded defiantly, "Benoit, those questions are too difficult. I dare say, although Joseph's teacher finally explained, the original problem out, you still can not do it. Because you can't even read the problems!

"So what? I never bragged that I was good at math. I've never bragged about being good at math," said Benoit, laughing, "There's another military geometry class in a couple of days, so we'll see if our math genius can't do a single problem again!

Benoit laughed, but turned a corner and went the other way - a gilded aristocrat like him wouldn't have gone to the library after class to study on his own.

"Napoleon, you don't have to pay attention to those guys, they are just incompetent, but also ．．．．．．" The student next to Napoleon looked at the distant figure of Benoit and said to Napoleon.

"Anderson, I don't care about them. It's you who's too excited," Napoleon said. Napoleon said, "What do you do with a dog barking at you? Either you ignore it, or you pick up a big stick and beat it up. Right? But what about you? You just competed with a dog to see whose voice was louder. That's ．．．．．．"

"You have a point." Anderson touched his head and said, "If I had a big stick in my hand, I would have said nothing and hit it on the nose. But the problem is, I don't have a big enough stick in my hand, you know, he's a dog with a title, although he's an evil dog, and I'm ．．．．．． The stick in his hand is bigger than mine. I'm not going to be able to beat that dog, but I'm not going to say a word, so I'm angry. So I had to fight it.

"My brother said." Napoleon said, frowning slightly, "Don't argue with a fool, because he will lead you into a contest to see who is more foolish, and then use his extensive experience in foolishness to crush you. Although the guy is an asshole, he said this is still very reasonable.

At this point, Napoleon could not help but grit his teeth again.

Indeed, Joseph was too much of a jerk. At the beginning of the lesson, he gave several questions under the pretext of understanding the current level of mathematics, and then "randomly named" the students to come to the blackboard to answer the questions. The first few questions were so simple that no fool could get them wrong - and the fools did get them right. But finally, Josephus came up with another question - damn it, that question is not difficult, just in the conditions of digging an inconspicuous trap, but also deliberately added some misleading things in the language. Then Napoleon was called up, and then Napoleon, who was wary of Josephus, complicated the question himself, and as a result, failed to make it in the allotted time. Then Josephus politely let Napoleon go back to his seat and quickly showed the correct answer to the question in a very simple way - an answer that even those fools could understand and had the illusion that I could do it too. ｛One of the common feelings of dummies, when faced with many math problems, is that they "understand it when they hear it, understand it when they see it and get it wrong when they do it". Of course, if they had used their brains while Napoleon was thinking on the board, they might have realized that the problem was not so simple, but the problem was that they were dregs because they did not use their brains as much as they could.}

Then at the end of the class, Joseph gave another question to "test your mastery of what you have learned today". Then he used "the only one who could not answer the last question" as an excuse to point Napoleon up again. This question was really difficult. And when the class was over, Napoleon still couldn't do it. ｛Damn, it was only two or three minutes before the end of class, how could he have done it?}

"This guy is a real jerk! You have to study hard, and you can't let this bastard get away with this anymore! Napoleon secretly gave himself a pep talk.

The two of them talked while walking into the library.

The two of them went to the library to borrow two books while it was still light and then went to the reading room to read together. To ensure the safety of the books, candles were strictly forbidden in the library, so as soon as it was dark, the library could not be used. ｛This was the case in libraries all over the world in the days before the invention of the electric light, but the reading room in the library of the École des Études Militaires in Paris provided free lighting - a student card allowed one to request a white candle on an iron candlestick, so the reading room could still be used at night.

Napoleon and Anderson received their candles and entered the reading room with their books, ready to find a brighter spot by a window and sit down to read before it got too dark. After all, a candle can only last for a very limited time.

At that moment, a man who was reading at a table next to a large floor-to-ceiling window suddenly looked up and shouted at them: "Napoleon, come here!

Napoleon looked over there and saw Joseph looking at him with a smile on his face.

"Shit!" Napoleon gritted his teeth but walked over.

"Mr. Joseph, how are you? Anderson bowed politely.

"Anderson, did you understand everything that was said today? Joseph asked with a smile.

"Teacher, at first I thought I understood it, but when I saw the last question, I felt I didn't understand it at all. I still don't have a clue about that question. Anderson replied.

"There is a big gap between mastering the basics and learning to use them in practice. Joseph nodded, and then he turned to Napoleon and said, "So, Napoleon, have you figured out how to solve that problem now?

"I now know how to answer it." If I had only had a little more time, I could have solved it.

"The speed of solving a problem is just as much a sign of mastery of knowledge." But Joseph said.

"So you are only two-thirds as fast as Monsieur Monge on the same problem?" Napoleon could not help but say so.

This answer was beyond Joseph's expectations. He frowned and said, "In terms of calculation, Mr. Monge is indeed much better than me. But in my opinion, the speed of my calculation is enough to support my research. But Napoleon, if you hope to pass your graduation exams early, your current problem-solving skills are not quite enough.

"Ah, Napoleon, you want to graduate early?" Anderson was taken aback.

"Yes, my family is in financial straits and I need to earn money early," Napoleon said. Napoleon said, "And I'd like to be in the army sooner rather than here watching those foolish Parisian aristocrats all day long.

"I agree with you, but I'm not going to put any water on my subjects. Napoleon, if you want to graduate early, then you should at least have the level that a real graduate should have. Joseph said again.

Napoleon understood that Josephus' "real graduates" did not include the great aristocrats who came to gild the lily, nor did it necessarily include the average graduate. The "real graduates" are mostly referred to as the "excellent graduates". But Napoleon did not resent this high demand, for it seemed to him that he deserved to meet it.

"Napoleon, if you want to graduate early, you have to be very good," Joseph continued. I've heard of your plans, so I've prepared a set of practice questions for you." Joseph continued, "I've heard of your plans, so I've prepared a set of practice questions for you.

I've heard about your plans, so I've prepared a set of practice problems for you." As he said this, Joseph took a small book out of a bag sitting next to him and handed it to Napoleon.

"Do it right!" Joseph said, and then lowered his head to continue reading.

The days that followed were very quiet, as Joseph spent his days either lecturing, preparing for class, or reading. Sometimes he even wrote letters about certain mathematical problems and discussed them with Monge and Laplace. He also published a few more papers one after another. Besides, Joseph, who had already solved the problem of food, brought his brother Lucien to Paris and arranged for him to study in the school of Louis the Great.

Napoleon, on the other hand, had already requested to take his graduation exams early. For this reason, he was studying like crazy.

The days passed slowly in this way, the skirt of the goddess of spring swayed, and even a decent spring rain did not sprinkle, it drifted away. After the dry spring, the dry summer came next.

The price of bread in Paris had risen again, by a quarter compared to the end of last year.

This price increase was within Joseph's reach, but for the common man, it was very hard to bear. Parisians in this era did not have the habit of protesting in the streets, and some people who could not survive in Paris in the normal way, left Paris one after another to go to the countryside, or simply go to America to find a way out. Other people who could not survive in a normal way took the road to survive in an abnormal way, such as theft or even robbery.

However, these things still do not threaten Joseph, he rarely left school, and those thieves and other guys can not reach his claws. Burglars and robbers alike can only cause real harm to those who also live at the bottom of society. As for the upper class, not to mention the upper aristocracy, the so-called "middle class" is not easily endangered by these people. This is one of the reasons why some white lefties in the latter days can ignore the various problems brought about by the decline in social security and continue to sing a high tune.