Chapter 25 Half-Tax Collection Order (Part 1)

"I admit that when the vast plains of Troy unfolded before my eyes, the scenes that had once appeared in my childhood dreams became reality at this moment. I was so excited that I couldn't hold myself back." - German "archaeologist" Hai who excavated Troy Inrich Schliemann

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++

The remaining garrison in the city hurriedly threw torches and bricks at these things, but the things wrapped in animal skins obviously did not eat fire. The Medejie people holding the shields hey hey hey, threw these things. The gadgets were lined up in a row, and they were getting closer and closer to the city wall. What on earth was going on? It was neither like a long-range ballista, nor a hammer that hit the city defense. Finally, it was approaching the city wall, which was only twenty Roman feet away. In the distance, the Medjet people used torches to put a little bit into the large cedar wood cylinder, and the rosin, asphalt and sulfur inside burned violently. Then several people shouted and started to use the blower at the tail to spray the flames out. , four fire dragons burned all the linen cloth used to block stone bullets in the air, poured it directly on the battlements, and burned. Many people in the garrison had their backs and waists covered with flames, and rolled down screaming, not to mention the defenders. Even the repair craftsmen were frightened. They dropped their work and ran towards the inner city.

Lepidus kept his word. During this day, his army laid planks on the ruins, then pulled the "bellows artillery" in, sprayed fire everywhere, and burned a quarter of the temple streets, although this was very troublesome. , is far less efficient than sending an infantry brigade in to directly target houses, but using bellows artillery is obviously more deterrent. These monsters spit out tongues of fire. The walls of the temple, which were covered with murals and hieroglyphs, were blackened. The wooden houses were burned down, and many priests fell dead among the collapsed columns and floors.

At this time, the temple clerk was so frightened that he took out his pen from the papyrus splints and recorded the horrific deeds of the pagans using evil power to drive "huge black fire-breathing monsters" to burn down half of the city of Thebes. The world seems not to be punishing Pharaoh and his army, as the high priest said, but to punish Thebes. Perhaps the priests in this city have been too vain and greedy in the past years and have lost their service. Are you qualified to be a god? Abinus, the god of death, has reappeared in the world with the evil god Amit (a god with a crocodile head, hippopotamus legs and a lion body, who specializes in devouring the souls of the dead). On the basis of rebuilding the order of God Matt.”

As a result, these treacherous documents were spotted by the passing high priest...

at last. The disgraced envoy from the temple arrived at Lepidus' military camp below the city. Ask the other person for peace.

"I want to see the Pharaoh's holy ministers, not the priests," said the general.

The so-called holy servants are the officials directly under the Pharaoh who keep his body, tomb and statues. The envoys looked at each other, and then explained that there are no holy servants in the Thebes temple, only temple priests. Lepidus roared, " So, your words of praise for Pharaoh, the perfect God, the God of Gods, are completely false and pretentious?”

The messengers were all embarrassed: Isn't this just lying to others? Although we know it is true, please don't say it directly, because everyone will be embarrassed.

After Lepidus lost his temper, he hummed and issued conditions one after another, "The construction of the fortress group at the core of the Temple of Serapis will be started immediately on the west bank of Thebes, and you are not allowed to interfere in any way."

"His Majesty the Pharaoh's god will enter the Thebes' theogony and enjoy the same rights as Amun and other gods. He will participate in the Valley Festival together and be placed on the bow of the holy ship."

"This time, Thebes must pay two thousand talents of money to compensate our army, and the high priest must go to Alexandria to apologize to His Majesty the Perfect God Pharaoh for the attack on the Tomb Guards."

The last item shocked the envoy the most. Lepidus came up with this plan, "Thebes must accept a new decree, that is, the Pharaoh will then appoint Nomu (regional governor) to garrison in the fortress. Once Nomu receives the request from the summit, in case of In times of famine, disaster, and military service, the Theban temple must unconditionally hand over half of its annual income in sacrifices and grain to Nome.”

The envoys were horrified. They were all priests with some culture. Naturally they understood what Lepidah's condition meant. That is, the Pharaoh no longer allowed the city of Thebes to maintain the image of a country within a country with "extraterritoriality" and a huge temple empire. Is it going to collapse? Should we accept the management of Nome appointed by Pharaoh? But the general in front of him didn't seem to be joking at all. "I am now the vizier (prime minister of ancient Egypt) appointed by the Pharaoh, and I also enjoy the power of the chief of the Thebes Nomu. Our army will soon go to Cyrene." The tribes in the southern part of Nika are going to escort the return of Pharaoh’s descendants, so the ‘half-tax order’ takes effect immediately. Do you understand what I mean?”

The messenger's mind also started to spin. He remembered the instructions of the high priest Penmaat, "Try to turn the other party's normal requirements into temporary requirements." Then he humbly said, "If His Majesty the Pharaoh, son of Ramon, If you need to go on an expedition, Thebes will naturally help you pray before the gods and reward you generously. I hope the general can rest assured."

"No." Lepidus's face was as cold as ice, and he spoke word by word, "Didn't I make it clear before? The half-tax order is a law, not a temporary one. Half is half, no more or less! Now you go back and give Thebes one day, and then hand over all the lists, contracts, and account books in the treasurer's hands."

The list is the name and family situation of the tenants under the temple;

The contract is the farm and workshop under the temple;

The account book is the record of the temple's loans over the years.

If these are handed over, what value does the city of Thebes have? But now if you disobey the general's words, it seems that there will be no possibility of continuing to exist.

The temple butcher general then said, don't be cunning when you go back to sort these things. I have hundreds of low-level clerks belonging to the pharaoh, who will be sent to "help" you sort them out, plus ten centurions and three hundred Medger Guards.

Finally, the temple surrendered. When the fully armed soldiers escorted the messengers into the inner city of Thebes, the Lepidus troops stationed in the ruined outer city began to make a fire and cook. "So, what are you going to do after handing over these?" Standing at the entrance of the tent, watching the soldiers carrying things back and forth, Sabo turned back and asked carefully.

"Don't panic, Sabo, I know that Egypt is a country that worships gods much more than Rome. Rome emphasizes the contract with the gods. I sacrifice to you and you repay me, but the Egyptians don't seem to know the difference between reality and the gods. So my measures will not be particularly radical. After the temple hands over the manpower and financial resources, I will donate a quarter of the tenants and industries to the Pharaoh's treasury. From then on, these are all direct properties of the Ptolemy royal family and managed by the Pharaoh's trusted treasurer. And the rest, Sabo, guess how I will deal with it?" Lepidus said this, deliberately keeping Sabo's answer. (To be continued...)