Chapter 3 Mysterious Tripod (Part 1)
"One cannot control accidents, but is at the mercy of them." - Artabanus, the uncle of the Persian king, persuaded his nephew not to expedition to the Greek city-states
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"The 'family' of Ambrose has the exclusive rights to the salt and crystals of Garamantes."
"Ambrodes has a monopoly on the wool and precious wood of Cyrene."
"Ambrorodes has a monopoly on the lake salt and tulips produced in the Kingdom of Eubotia Minor."
"Ambrodes has the right to trade in Egyptian grains, papyrus and porphyry, has the right to trade in the olives and copper mines of Cyprus, has property rights to the gold mines in Nubia, and occupies Alexandria. All the transportation industry in Zhuocheng, as well as the property rights of Cyrene Seaport.”
"Ambrorodes now owns one-eighth of the entire Kingdom of Cyrenaea's land, and he has revitalized the city of Cyrenaica and built a huge temple of the goddess of the hunt in the city of Timgad, using it as its axis. Block apartments, large squares and various altar halls were reorganized. This will be the settlement of Latin immigrants and the center of the entire colony. "
"In the city of Barka, a huge fortress and towers are being restored. This will be the garrison of the colonial cohors. The so-called cohors originally meant the infantry team in the Romulus era, with branches on their heads as a symbol. Now they are dedicated to Refers to the auxiliary forces provided by Latin colonial cities or various allies. Of course, according to the agreement, Cyrene only needs to provide ships and rowers to Rome, but Ambrose still funded the colony to raise a medium-sized army. "Security armed forces."
"So. All the brigades drawn from the River Guards and the Tomb Guards were given military pay and stipends and sent back to Thebes. The chief brigades of the Twelve Legions officially evacuated Alexandria, and let Tagus lead them to the seaport of Cyrene to meet us. Rendezvous. I am not going to return the Serapis legion to Ptolemy, and Diotusos's letter does not recommend that I do so. It should be merged with the Cyrenaic legion and stationed as cohors in Balka. The four thousand Aesios, like the Medici Guards, are my, no, private slaves of Ambrose. No one in Rome will care about these people who live in a huge manor by Lake Toritonis. How much wealth does this 'rich man' possess?" In the remaining meeting hall of the city-state of Cyrene, Lepidus was intensely discussing with several of his confidants how to let this fictional big man control the future of Cyrene. destiny.
Subsequently. This man wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke to you ambitiously. Reviving Cyrene requires concrete step-by-step steps. We don’t need the unnecessary wrangling, campaigning and bribery like in Rome. There is even one consul per year. In this way, even the garbage problem on the streets cannot be solved. The consul every year His energy lies in using money indiscriminately to provide people with a revolving door of competitive entertainment. Cyrene needs a façade to confuse the republic, but inside, this kingdom will always belong to Ambrose, that is, us.
Even Marco Antony was moved by these words. Because of the death of his adoptive father, he was deeply disgusted with the "hypocrisy" of the Roman Republic and no longer believed in the guiding role of the Bronze Table Law. He is now leaning towards supporting the monarchy. , because he also believed in the Sibyl prophecy, and secretly believed that the third Cornelius also had a share in competition. As for Saab Kemus, he was not interested in the distinction between republic and monarchy. The moment his ancestors immigrated to Spain, his family automatically gave up their citizenship rights, so what happened in Rome had nothing to do with him, even if it did. , then he would have to wait until Lepidus, his superior, rose to prominence, and he would be able to climb up the ranks, because no one in Rome would think highly of a country bumpkin like him.
And Petnaeus, not to mention, with such a high salary a year and the right to distribute the spoils, he has already made a lot of money. He was not very enthusiastic about politics in the first place, but now he is even more enthusiastic. It's okay to decay, but I just want to continue to serve in Lepidus' army for another ten years and shine as brightly as possible.
But Lepidus was obviously more thoughtful. He spread a roll of papyrus on the floor. Everyone sitting on the couch looked up and looked at it. It looked like a totem, but it was not a god or a common beast among nomads. , but a rare Roman-style shield of that era, with green and white vines on it (this was modified by Lebid based on the emblem of the university he studied in China before traveling), "Each vine symbolizes each of our member." After showing the pattern, Lepidus held up the miniature gold badge, "From now on, we are Ambrose, and Ambrose is us, and we will use this badge as our mark." Several badges were gently placed on the table and spread out. Those few were silent for a while, and then pinned them on their sleeves.
"Ambrosius's plan to revive Cyrene starts with the monopoly. We will ban private trade in crystal, salt, gold and wool in Libya. Of course, this is also the reason why we continue to support the legion, in order to suppress private individuals. Our tax system after this time (the Roman Republic's control over colonies and allies is still relatively loose, and these places can have independent tax systems and even the right to mint coins) should focus on the profits of the monopoly in addition to taxes on fields and heads, and unified purchase and sale, minting a small amount of domestic reserves and dumping the rest in Rome and Greece in exchange for a large amount of coins to fill our treasury."
After saying this, the chief of the Ambrosius Society crossed his arms very comfortably. As for what this society will do after the "treasury is full", it is not known for the time being. But Sabo knew in his heart that the most urgent action for Lepidus now was to renovate Barca and Yazda Fortress, as well as the seaports and docks that he valued most.
Sure enough, two days later, Lepidus asked Sabo to go with him to inspect the Cyrene Harbor, which was under construction. He was not satisfied with the old dock and believed that it would be his real fleet base from now on. In addition to the trade function, it also needed to take into account the military and manufacturing functions, so they needed a special naval ship dock with a dock. Finally, after careful survey by the chief engineer Gaibo, the location was decided to be a steep island somewhere outside the old Cyrene dock. This island is called Zio Island. The center will be transformed into a naval commander's command post with a lighthouse. The waterway will be separated from the commercial dock. Dry docks will be distributed in horseshoe and trapezoidal shapes around the island. The surface will be lined with crew houses, warehouses and shipyards. It will be able to undertake the berthing, manufacturing and maintenance of ships, and will build breakwaters, water walls and iron pillars with exits on the left and right to protect and shield. The glorious picture of the Carthaginian naval fortress that was difficult to attack will reappear. (To be continued...)