Chapter 29 Doubts (Part 2)
As a result, first of all, there was a fierce debate among Caesar's camp around the topic of "should he return to Rome and participate in the campaign?"
As for Less Caesar himself, he was absolutely full of ambition. Changing his position as governor of Illyria to that of Roman consul, even if it was a second position, was a crucial step. For this reason, Caesar had already made a plan: when he returned to the city, he was going to marry Corinna, and then be elected as the second consul. Then, under this name, he would continue to come to the Greek war zone to command the title and authority after the beginning of the next consul month. The army, which has been strengthened with funds, defeated Brutus, avenged its disgrace and established achievements.
Maecenas fully agreed with Young Caesar's idea and actively requested that when Young Caesar cross the sea and return to Italy, he would supervise the winter camp.
However, Agrippa firmly disagreed, "I can't provide any reasonable and powerful evidence for this, but somewhere in the dark, or maybe some god is telling me, Turinus, your trip is full of danger!" "
"Are you saying that my guardian and Leo will harm me?"
"It's hard to say, because my intelligence officer said that when Lepidus was in Spain, he criticized you here, and when you asked Leo for money before, Leo flatly refused. This alone is not enough. He also appealed to your Excellency to the whole Provincial Council." Agrippa was very eloquent.
"I wonder if I can explain this." Maecenas, who was standing at the table in the camp, said in a very sincere tone, "First of all, the source of criticizing Young Caesar did not come from the high priest at all. In addition, when this kind of When the rhetoric has become louder, the high priest can only agree on the surface. Internally, he is thinking of ways to protect you. This invitation to you to come back for election is proof - as long as you can have a second consul and command a war zone, you can ask for it from the treasury or the Executive Yuan. It is more legitimate to ask for supplies, and you can also use the period of winter camp and campaign to dilute the previous doubts of the entire country about you." Then, Maecenas also took out a letter and handed it to Young Caesar's hands, the content of which was as follows. Written by Leo himself. Sure enough, what he said was exactly the same as what he just said. In short, "Immediately after the election is successful, we need soldiers and food."
Young Caesar put down the writing board, thinking under the candlelight, tapping on the table, and then he looked at the correspondence between Corinna and him neatly placed aside, "Yes, if you do nothing, then it is not. Young Caesar is no longer the heir to the Julius family."
"But you are not a lonely candidate at all now. Instead, you are a person who shoulders the responsibility of commanding seven legions and the fate of the entire family. Now you are no longer the dominant Julius family when your adoptive father was alive. Aemilius The family is enough to compete with you, but you are so careless and pin your hopes on the elections in the city." Agrippa was also anxious.
"Then what do you think I should do?" Young Caesar also got angry. "We still can't eat the four legions of Brutus in front of us, but Cassius has calmly conquered the Peloponnese and brought the fleet to I went to cooperate with Eulabella in the siege of Rhode Island. Don’t you still think I’m a failure? What I need now is not only a winter camp, but also the support of the guardian family to regain my strength in the coming year.”
"Well then, Turinus, you can follow what your adoptive father once did, register as a candidate in absentia, and continue to supervise the seven legions here. You must know that the army is your base now, and your status is really valuable. Fake." Agrippa's suggestion made Caesar hesitate again - obviously, if this is the case, it is obviously the best choice.
As a result, the next day, Agrippa's brother Lucius Vipsanius suddenly came to the camp. It seemed that he also came with the mission of high priest, and the core topic was only one-inviting Young Caesar Set off as soon as possible and return to the city to participate in the election of the second consul. "Now the high priest and Leo have just arrived in the city and immediately went to pay a visit to Panza who was staying behind."
"What is the purpose of the visit?" Young Caesar asked eagerly.
"The purpose is to persuade Lord Pansa to give up running for consulship in the coming year, because so far there are four other candidates, namely Pansa, Hersius, Paulus and Gobale, Caesar's former lieutenant. The last one There is no need to think about it at all. The first three are all under the control of the high priest, so it is just a show - the high priest has already paved your way." Lucius's answer made young Caesar feel happy and excited. , then he spread his hands and gestured to Agrippa, "How about it, your brother must believe it."
"In addition, the high priest also asked me to stay in the city of Apollonia. On the one hand, I will assist my brother in supervising the legion, and on the other hand, I will be responsible for arranging reinforcements and supplies from Italy."
"Oh, reinforcements and supplies have finally arrived?" Young Caesar was already very excited at this time, and then he directly gave instructions, "Agripa, you and the Lucius brothers will supervise the winter camp together, and Messena You will follow me back to the city of Rome to participate in the election for the second consulship. It is decided that you will no longer be suspicious and indecisive. "
In the next few days, Young Caesar moved quickly. He took the guards, mules and horses, and the funds necessary for the campaign, and took a boat with Maecenas. They first arrived at the port of Brindisi, and then went north along the streets, preparing to reach the city of Rome as soon as possible. .
This trip touched Caesar deeply: Now the towns in southern Italy have gotten rid of the vortex of the civil war in the past. The high priest's order abolished many checkpoints and outposts, claiming to revive the severely damaged economy, and now it has begun to show results. This is Caesar's second visit here. As expected, there have been huge changes. Business and farming have become active again, and there are endless tourist carriages and horses. Rich and poor people now continue to play in the tree-lined valleys and picturesque coasts without fear. Just like the peaceful era of the Republic, tomb robbers and horse bandits have gradually disappeared, and public security is recovering rapidly - even though there are still wars in Greece and Asia Minor, people firmly believe that this will not last long, and the eternal golden age will soon come.
In addition, craftsmen began to restore the dilapidated sections of the road, and post stations were built along the way. "This way, we can travel faster!" Caesar rode a mule and horse with Maecenas and traveled 30 Roman miles. Just at dusk, they came to a completed post station with food and fodder. This made Caesar extremely satisfied. "In this way, we will be able to reach Ostia in two or three days." (To be continued...)