Listen to the story. A young man comes from the city of Kryzhopol without any connections, only with his own mind and efforts, at the age of thirty he becomes the president of Russia (and how old are you now?), And after only ten years, Russia, lying in ruins, becomes one of the strongest European powers …
Fantasy? Guess what: it was. Only it was in France — in a country that is fundamentally no different from Russia. And one young man, just like you, really did all this. He was originally from the province of Corsica, and his name was Napoleon. So, once again: he was no different from you. Well, maybe just your ability to work.
Meet!
“Rising at dawn, in a dressing gown, he looks through personal correspondence and newspapers, receiving a doctor, architects or his librarian during the morning toilet; while he lies in the bath, urgent dispatches are read to him. He dresses, leaves his apartment at 9 o’clock, receives officers, members of his family or dignitaries. He has breakfast at 9.30, but not always, as protracted audiences often allow him to come to the table only by 11 o’clock. It is a pity for him to waste time on food, and he gets rid of this unpleasant duty in 7-8 minutes. But he uses this short pause to receive artists or scientists and ask them a lot of questions.
After a short rest in the apartments of the Empress, he goes to his office and plunges into work, that is, into the management of an empire that occupies half of Europe and has 83 million inhabitants. Maps, plans, diagrams and statistical tables are spread out in the neighboring topographic office, they are always at hand in case of need. He throws his hat and sword on a chair and, pacing back and forth, dictates to the secretary. His texts bear the imprint of this nervous walk: the phrase is beautifully constructed, but simple, as only ideas occupy his attention. While the secretary cleanly rewrites this verbal stream to turn it into the text of dispatches, Napoleon opens the ministerial dossiers sent to him and reads them without missing a single detail, constantly demanding comments, dotting almost all documents with notes. What other monarch studied so many details with such care! Nothing escapes him. He is scrupulous in regard to the imperial budget… “44800 received, 39800 spent, 5000 remaining, plus 15000 receipts in March, which ends, in total 20000. March 30th. N.»
When he finally sits down to dinner for a short quarter of an hour, he has time to give instructions to the marshal, read urgent dispatches or listen to excerpts from the press. After coffee, he returns to the study, leaving Josephine to take care of the guests, and resumes his dictation or reading. Having settled down at 10 o’clock, he rises in the middle of the night, reads reports, and most importantly, studies army affairs in detail, putting aside in his memory the movement of regiments, the stages of a difficult march, the number of batteries, monitors the daily state of the treasury and finances. Often wakes up the secretary, and dictations resume … ”- Ben Vader“ Brilliant Bonaparte ”.
It was daily hard labor, but this was life, the meaning of the life of the Emperor of France. And how do you live?