Chapter 24 City of God (Part 1)

"At this time, Rome was suffering from the terrible invasion and massacre by the Goths, but I was inspired by God and determined to write a book in the 'City of God'." - St. Augustine, "Change"

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The expression on Triali's face was very funny. He was surprised at first, and then panicked because he was afraid of being abandoned by Lepidus. He believed that Lepidus had been affected by "rumors" and that he was an incompetent mediocre person. He gave him a random sum of money and kicked him out. He went back to fend for himself, and this second-rate soldier with a knight's background began to get tongue-tied. "Your Excellency, I ask myself whether I have been loyal and diligent during this time since I followed you. Please don't do it."

"I have already said that you are talented. If you work hard, you will definitely achieve excellent results!" Lepidah stood up with a smile and took a long breath of fresh sea breeze. This semi-circular navy chief's room protrudes from the cliff of the promontory. On it, you can overlook the entire Alexandria bay and islands. It is surrounded by windows and filled with bookcases, paper and pens, clay pots and other sundries, ensuring that the leader can command his own fleet to fight from any direction.

Lepidus took two steps back and forth, "Don't worry at all. I will send troops to Cyrenaica and Libya immediately. You will always have 10% of the spoils. I asked you to return to Rome because you are of greater significance there." "

At this time, the stone in Triali's heart finally fell, "If anything happens, please give the order, my respected Commander-in-Chief."

"Nothing, you are my agent. Aren't you very eager to regain your glory in the city of Rome? I will take care of the money. Go back to run for tribune immediately. If you are missing anything, go find Cames. Also, when you go to Rome, you can once again offer your loyalty to the great Pompey through Maximus." Lepidus' expression didn't look like he was joking, "Re-entering Pompey's system, I should be clear about winning. His support and trust will help you control it.”

Terry Ali really didn't know what to say. According to his previous judgment of Lepidus, he was professionally opposed to Pompey, but now...

"Just do it, remember that you are my best agent, don't think so much about other things." Lepidah took an olive, chewed it and said, "If you don't understand, just think that I invested in Santou Monster of all that, it would spread my risk a lot." Terry Alli was also a good player in the financial world. He immediately understood what the commander was referring to and immediately slapped his horse repeatedly. Then he asked the other party if there was anything specific to do when he returned to Rome.

Of course, Lepidus smiled again and said it was really considerate, but then his expression darkened and he said, "Terry Ali, the first thing you have to do is to publicly sue me."

At this time, not to mention Trialli, even Saab, who was standing by the window and looking at the scenery, also turned his head with a look of disbelief.

"Prosecute me for waging war without authorization, violating the orders of the governor, and asking me to return my troops to Caesar. I will also be sentenced to two years of exile in Lusitania and a fine of three million sesterces. The lawsuit On the other hand, I will use my relationships and contacts to ensure that the prosecutor, Terry Ali, will definitely win. This will be the springboard for you to regroup in the political world."

"But..." Before Triali could say anything, Lepidah undoubtedly waved his hand and asked him to go out and prepare. But at this time, Sabo immediately understood the deeper meaning of the Commander-in-Chief, which really killed two birds with one stone.

"Saab, do you think what I just said to that knight is true?" Lepidus said, holding on to the window edge and looking at the ships going back and forth below.

"I think it's true. If Triali sued, and if the Centurion really sentenced us to exile, it would be really easy to play into someone's hands. We wouldn't have to accept anyone's control anymore, whether it's Caesar, Pompey, or even the Republic. , the expedition to Cyrenaica will be successful."

"You still only saw the scenery one block away." The sea breeze stirred up Lepidus' hair and cloak, "I'm not just diversifying my investments. Three years later, whether it's Caesar, Crassus, or Pompey, these three Monsters, I will use various means to control them behind the scenes, Sabo, have you ever seen the puppet show? Forget it, I don’t think you have seen it either." Lepida smiled and made a few dexterous gestures with his fingers, as if there was something real underneath. Like silk thread, "I remember when I first came to Rome, I met Julius Caesar for the first time. He said something to me, in this city, some people are dice throwers, and some people can only be dice players. Dice, I'm thinking of using the three-headed monster as a dice. Then the gambling game will be very exciting. By then, Rome will be like the bay you have a bird's eye view of, with swords fighting on land and water, flesh and blood flying everywhere, what a huge death show. , and we cheer on the actors, or give them death gestures." After saying that, Lepidus made a finger gesture towards Sabo, indicating that the defeated sword slave would die.

"Jian Guo, what are you talking about? You actually want to charge the expedition fee to the Thebes temple!" A few days later, the Pharaoh stood by the crocodile pool in the same surprise and said to Lepidah who came to report the plan. He knew that in It is undoubtedly crazy for Egypt to do this.

Over there, Cleopatra was leaning against the fence, looking cute and lazy, curious, and seemed to be very interested in what Lepidus said.

"During this time, I spent a lot of time in the great library and read a lot of ancient pharaohs' governing books. I was very curious as to why Serapis, the god of Lower Egypt, has not been able to join the ranks of the gods of Thebes. , that is, because the priests have too much power, the pharaohs of all ages have had to exempt the temple from military service and taxes, so if you want to break this situation, you must use extraordinary means." Lepidah then asked his followers to fetch a statue of Sera. The statue of God Serapis knelt down and said in a very affirmative tone, "Let those arrogant temples bear the cost of the expedition to Cyrenaica. This is the will of God Serapis."

Soon, in the royal city of Alexandria, Lepidus rode a white horse and held the banner of Amun's sheep's head. He placed a gem-studded statue of Serapis with bull ears on a sailboat, and placed it under the ship. "His Majesty the Pharaoh received a revelation from the gods when he visited the Temple of Serapis, saying that there was a strange cow in the Thebes Valley, which grew from his mother's belly. When it came out, it had two heads and four horns, bringing plague and death to the countryside. This means that the pharaoh ancestors who were sleeping here began to be invaded by evil spirits. "

Therefore, after consultation with many royal friends, Ptolemy decided to restore his ancestor's "River Guards" and "Thebes Tomb Guards". The former was stationed at the second waterfall of the Nile River to ensure communication with the Nubian Kingdom and the Punt Sea. To ensure the safety of trade, the latter entered the entrance of the Imperial Valley on the west bank of Thebes and built a fortress to suppress evil spirits and ensure the safety of the kingdom.

Therefore, Lepidus led the "Guards of the Tomb of the Gods" and nearly 3,000 Medejians (after reaching a friendly agreement with the Kingdom of Meroe, Lepidus further expanded the number of troops from Cousi and Lower Nubia) and headed towards Thebes. Si is here. (To be continued...)