Chapter 9 Landing (Part 1)

"They despise me as a nouveau riche, but I despise them as worthless; they humiliate me because of my social status, and I am even more ashamed of their various scandals." - Marius' sarcasm of the aristocratic senators

Little Cato walked up to his nephew, lowered his head and whispered a few words to him, and then politely said to Lepidus and Pharaoh, who were sitting next to each other on the couch: "Since the commander agreed to the second half, then I have nothing more to say. I authorize you to send troops to Cyprus, but I hope that Cassius and Brutus will follow you, especially Brutus. He must follow you to the island and besiege Salamis, the capital. "

"Don't worry, I still have this kind of defense. Since it is clear that the spoils will be divided in half, I will never bully our philosopher and my friend Brutus by virtue of having a legion." Lepidus said it justly. stern.

"But uncle, you..."

Brutus' words were interrupted by Cato the Younger, who raised his hand and said, "The administrative divisions of the province of Cyprus are too weird. It also includes Byzantium at the corner of the Dardanos Strait, which has just been granted the status of a Latin colonial city. It is said that Rome's There were also conflicts between the immigrants and the native Greeks during this time, plus the difficult chiefs and kings of Thrace. Asher will accompany me there soon to mediate, so Dirimer and Canadis followed. You, keep the account book and record any seizures." After saying that, his uncle placed his hand heavily on Brutus's shoulder, "Do it well, you can do it."

This pressing was no small matter. Brutus took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice that I must do my best. Of course Lepidus understood the profound meaning of Cato's move. He wanted to get plenty of money to return to Rome, but he was unwilling to damage his reputation. In addition, since his nephew was a good friend of himself, he would not make things too difficult for him.

But Lepidus's judgment only happened in an instant. His eyes quickly caught the new situation. After Cato mentioned that Canadis followed his nephew to the island, Munajius was holding a sponge stick in the corner. , his eyes were obviously complicated.

Huh, that's right. The Romans valued the patronage relationship between the host and the guest the most. On the one hand, this contract required the guest to serve the owner's interests unconditionally. On the other hand, the host was strictly prohibited from being sorry or deceiving the guest. Even in court, the guest can rely on this status relationship to refuse to testify against the host's crime, and vice versa. Even though Munajius is not a big official now, when little Cato was constipated, he still had to make laxatives for his master and wipe his butt with a sponge stick. However, Lebida believed in Munajius. Si believes that there is no psychological burden in doing all this. He trusts the deep relationship between himself and his master.

But when Cato asked Canadis to go to the island, Munajius couldn't stand it. Why? Why? What is my relationship with the master, and what is his relationship with Cannadis? Could it be that the master no longer trusts me? Emotions like "I'm so sad and heartbroken" came out and were vividly displayed between his eyebrows.

Humph, there is a flaw.

But now is not the time to provoke. Lepidus coughed twice and said that there is still something to discuss, that is, the 100 million sesterces that the Jewish business group will lend you immediately. Thirty million must be allocated for my ten million. The military expenses of the three armies.

Little Cato shrugged his shoulders and said no problem.

"Also, Ptolemy of Cyprus must die. There will be no more priests in the Temple of Love for him, so that the Republic can save long-term expenses."

At this time, the Pharaoh nodded to little Cato, meaning that Lepidus' request was indeed his plan. Brutus took the opportunity to add weight, "Then I also have the authority to accompany you to Egypt and supervise the inventory and auction of the loot. "

The two sides reached a package agreement "very readily".

On the ship returning to Ephesus, under the sails with a little sunshine on the ocean, Lepidus quietly squatted on the deck in front of the Ptolemys and his daughter, and asked quietly, "Dear Majesty Pharaoh, you must tell me The truth is - is there great wealth on the island of Cyprus?"

Pharaoh and Cleopatra looked at each other, and then Queen Elizabeth took the initiative to speak, "This is the reason why my uncle betrayed my father. My father suffered a national disaster when he was young (how many times is it now?) and went to his uncle's kingdom. He took refuge with him and brought a large amount of gold and silver treasures with him. Later, in order to restore his country, he left these properties on the island of Cyprus and went to the king of Pontus to ask for reinforcements. "

Of course, of course, I heard this story from my patron Tuna before, so I knew that the things involved in this island country's war would not be simple.

"But later, after my father was restored to power (how many times has it been restored now?), my uncle coveted this property, withheld it for personal use, and began to oppose my husband. This was because he and my sister were on the same side before. And the fundamental reason for being an enemy of Rome. "It was very difficult for Cleopatra to say these words. After all, she understood that now both Cato and Lepidus began to care about this treasure that should belong to my Egyptian royal family. , even if Cyprus is defeated... "My friend Lepidus, I will not lie about the amount of this property, it is seven thousand talents!"

At this point, Lepidus' eyes were wide open, and his Adam's apple rolled up and down. Seven thousand talents, seven thousand talents, this was probably the essence of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt for hundreds of years. It was precisely because of the loss of this wealth that Ptolemy planned an expedition to Cyprus in order to avenge his hatred, and began to levy heavy taxes from scratch, but was driven away again. As long as I can have this money, even if it is really divided equally according to the agreement with Cato, it will be 3,500 talents. God, I will stand shoulder to shoulder with Caesar, Pompey and Crassus! If Cato is willing to pay this money to the treasury, it's up to him to make political capital, but if I have this money, I will take my wife and Potti out, and I will not return to Gaul. I will go to the Kingdom of Adiana in Asia Minor to develop. In ten years, I will be able to compete with Rome. What treason is there? Funny?

But he looked at Pharaoh and then at Cleopatra, and he hesitated again, especially the pitiful look in Cleopatra's eyes. He changed his mind again. It stands to reason that Pharaoh would not tell him this shocking secret, but since Cleopatra said it, she must have no choice but to put all her hopes on him. Yes, it is better to play the long game and catch the big fish. Give up 3,500 talents and win the secret control of a powerful country. Choose, choose, and it is another multiple-choice question.

"Anxin, the only thing I am dissatisfied with is that I can probably only get back half of the gold and silver for His Majesty the Pharaoh, but it should be enough to rebuild the country and pay off Caesar's debts." Lepidus's final answer made Pharaoh's cheeks shed tears and his powder was stained. He held the commander's hands tightly and said tremblingly, "Lepidus, you will not only be my finance minister in the future, but also the guardian of my son and daughter."

This, a guardian again? (To be continued.)