Chapter 14: The Account Book of Jiatu (Part 1)

"From the border of Ningirsu to the sea, there are tax collectors everywhere." - "History of Sumer"

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"You should go to Cannaidis. I think he is more qualified for this job than me, because I have never seen this account book and am not familiar with the situation." Before leaving, Munagius publicly answered the governor.

Cato the Younger knew that his patron was making trouble, but he lacked communication and persuasion. He believed that as a patron, everything was given by my patron, so my request must be obeyed unconditionally. But after hearing the patron's bad words, Munagius became more stubborn and simply rented a house on Cyprus Island and refused to accompany the patron to escort the account book back to Rome.

As a result, Cato, who was furious, sent people to Munageus' apartment to move away all his furniture and furnishings, forcing him to submit. He had two reasons for doing so. One was his status as a patron saint, who had the full power to confiscate anything, property, and even life of the person he protected; the second was that as a provincial governor, in Rome, if an official refused to attend the Senate meeting or the Citizens' Assembly, he might be punished by having his furniture confiscated.

But Munageus was not moved at all. He spent some money and rented another apartment. It was said that the resident admired him very much and claimed that he would not charge him any rent (in addition, the resident was familiar with the commander of the restoration army, Lepidus in Salamis), and gave Munageus a full set of furniture, including couches, toilet utensils, potted plants, and cabinets. Now, because these things were not his property, Cato no longer had the power to confiscate them.

The angry Cato threatened to end his asylum with Munagius once he returned to Rome, but the other Cannaitis had to stay in the province to handle miscellaneous affairs, so he was only accompanied by Brutus, Cassius, and two servants, Dilimer and Asher.

After leaving Cyprus and boarding the ship, Cato copied the account book he had obtained from the Temple of Love in Paphos in two copies and gave them to Dilimer and Asher for safekeeping. For safety reasons, the two took different ships.

"Uncle, why don't you let me take care of this important thing myself? You know, these two were Claudius's minions before, and their credibility is questionable." After weighing anchor, Brutus insisted that his uncle hand over the account book to him, but Cato thought about it and replied-Dear nephew, you have not held any public office in Rome yet, so I don't want you to be involved in any relationship with account books, tax farmers or finances. This will give people in the city a handle to attack you. You have a bright future, don't destroy yourself because of these factors.

As a result, when the fleet crossed the Aegean Sea and anchored at the port of Shenkri in Corinth, Asher suddenly asked to meet his master Cato urgently.

"My master, the account book is in danger with Dillinger, because he has long been bribed and betrayed by Lepidus!"

"What..." Although he had a vague premonition before, little Cato was still unwilling to face the cruel reality that he was most proud of his family motto and failed to completely tame Dillinger, the tomb robber. Could it be that his previous pious and self-reformed appearance was all deceiving me?

After hearing Asher's denunciation, Brutus rushed to the room with several armed slaves with a gloomy face. He found that Dillinger had already escaped. There were several lines of identical letters carved crookedly on the wall, which seemed to be the name of a Greek, "Diotusos". Then Brutus found burnt ashes on the ground and could not help but scold. It seemed that this pile of ashes was the remnants of Dillinger's burning account books. He searched again, but found nothing.

"Tell me, how do you know that he was bribed by Lepidus!" Brutus grabbed Asher's scarf and shouted.

"He told me before that before he set off, the man named Lepidus came to Nicosia to see him off, which was a signal for him to take action. Dillinger also asked me to go with her, saying that he would soon be introduced by Lepidus to serve as the chief palace guard under the Pharaoh. After that, he stuffed me with a lot of silver coins and this." Asher's tone was very calm. Then she took out an exquisite and precious turquoise pendant in front of Brutus. Brutus took it and looked at it, and fell into contradiction and confusion.

But he then reacted a little and said to Asher, "I believe your words, but you have to understand that I can't trust you from now on. Hand over the account book."

Asher said nothing, slowly took out the account book, Brutus nodded slightly at her, then opened the account book and looked at it, and left after confirming that it was correct.

But at the moment Brutus left, Asher, who was leaning against the wall, smiled charmingly at Pelagius, the slave beside Brutus. Pelagius hummed twice, lowered his head and followed Brutus out of the door.

In the following days of sailing, the weather became worse and worse. After leaving the warm island of Cyprus, the whole area was surrounded by black waves, mixed with ice, snow and rain. In less than three days, under the complaints of the sailors, Cato the Younger could only order to temporarily suspend the journey, because it was not very safe for the entire ship and the money on the ship, so he anchored in Corfu to avoid the bad weather.

"Uncle, I still suggest not to stay. Cassius also said that this kind of weather does not have a big impact on safety. As for the sailors, we can find a way to appease them with some rewards. We should cross as soon as possible. When we reach Brindisi, we will win. You know, Dillinger was bribed by Lepidus to burn the account book, so I don't know what tricks this person will have. I don't believe that Asher, so I took the account book back and put it next to you, uncle, which is the safest." Brutus was a little worried about the decision to anchor in Corfu.

But Cato decided to stop. It seemed that Dillinger's betrayal had dealt a big blow to his self-confidence. So the whole fleet docked on the sickle-shaped Corfu Island. This shape just created a natural shelter. All the slaves and husbands unloaded all the wooden cabinets against the sea breeze and piled them on the coast. Brutus looked at the mountain-like property uneasily, and kept asking Cassius to arrange reliable oarsmen with swords and sticks to guard it day and night.

"Hey, my friend, with Lepidus's cunning, do you think he would do such a stupid thing as planting spies and burning gold and silver?" Cassius couldn't help laughing after hearing his friend's request, mocking Brutus for his lack of worldly experience.

"Why not? Dillinger was bribed by him, and I'm afraid he just wanted to steal money to make the account book and the actual amount inconsistent. Then Lepidus and Caesar's close confidants in Rome will definitely take the opportunity to attack my uncle." Brutus insisted on his opinion, and then a red flame stained his and Cassius' figures, scaring them to turn their heads and look - the camping tent where Cato the Younger was was burning fiercely! (To be continued.)