Chapter 26: Lebida Trojan Horse (Part 2)

This wave of people coming in were the top painters from various cities collected by Adiana. They walked into the palace and began to use paints and various methods to smear the "legacy" of that era on it, with a Cretan style. The human-ox juggling competition included Asia Minor-style landscape paintings and Egyptian-style portraits. In short, everything had to be perfect. In a room near the outside of the palace acropolis, Lepidus specially asked the soldiers to dig a long In the secret passage, lights were placed inside, weapons, jewelry, etc. were also thrown away in this room, and the painter was asked to paint on the wall a scene from "The Flight of Aeneas" that was well-known to the Romans, "because this is The tunnel he ran out of."

Just after the painter and slave workers came in, Lepidus and Adiana heard the cheers outside the city, which were like waves of the ocean. Adiana said excitedly, "The final finishing work is here."

So the two of them, accompanied by the guards, walked through the neighborhoods of "Troy City" and walked to the Skan Gate. They saw Gable waving flags in front to guide, and Pope and his technicians were all crowded at the city gate and The commander on the tower saw a wooden horse of the same size as the legendary size, hung with various decorations and flowers, with many wheels placed underneath, and slowly pushed it to the city gate, "This is the final part of the entire project!" Lepida said excitedly Shouting, they walked to the front of the wooden horse. Then Gable stepped forward, saluted and bowed, and invited the capital's legal officer to test the reliability of the wooden horse. "Where's the secret door? Where's the secret door?" This was the first question Li Bida asked.

Gable then walked to the place where the "belly" and "hips" of the wooden horse intersected. This place was covered by a huge "ponytail" made of leather and cashmere strips, making it very difficult for others to notice. Then Gable pulled it with his hand. A piece of the wooden board there was missing, and then through the lever mechanism, a small overlapping ladder appeared. Adiana volunteered to climb up the ladder, and after a while she came down and said, "It can indeed accommodate half a dozen people." A centurion soldier."

"Very good. Transport it to the middle of the Scam Gate immediately!" Lepidus was very satisfied with Gable's design and work, and ordered the Egyptian engineering director to be rewarded with two thousand drachma silver coins. Then when the wooden horse rumbled to the Skan door, Pope immediately came down with the other soldiers and began to pour kerosene on it and burn the "rooms" in the block. And removed the bronze city gate and placed it aside. Because according to the epic description, the Trojans were forced to dismantle the city gate before transporting it in because the wooden horse presented by the Mycenaeans was too big. He fought his way out, captured and destroyed this ancient city. After nightfall, Lepidus ordered all the slaves in the camp to write quickly, saying: "The origin of ancient Rome. The great and sad Ilion (Roman called Troy Ilion) has been successfully excavated by Lepidus, the expatriate legal officer of the capital. Here I found the huge wooden horse used by the Mycenaeans to capture the city, the Scam Gate, the neighborhoods, the weapons workshop and the huge palace, as well as the rooms and rooms where Aeneas fled. Secretly. Thanks to Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, although Heavenly Mother Juno had many trials and tribulations for Aeneas during his escape, thanks to the white-armed god, everything is now restored to the sky. In addition, Virgil is here. Return to the old place and begin to lead the creation of a great epic about war, destiny and ancestors.”

Then the letter was sealed and sent to the distant city of Rome by the fastest messenger and horse. Lepidus hoped that Caesar could read his results before the Wolf Festival.

Over there, Adiana was still standing there in a daze. After seeing Lepidus ordering the affairs to be completed, she said to him in a calm voice, "What you just quietly told me, is it true? Caesar will die?"...

"Yes, so I came to Lepidus Castle this time not just to have fun with you. The storm will come soon, and Karabia and we will fight together again." Lepidus said, holding the opponent's shoulders. .

"That's natural. The only thing I should complain about is that you didn't discuss this matter with me too early." Adiana said cheerfully, "But, but, I need the Kingdom of Bosporus as a Euaget’s reward.”

"Of course it is there, my Minerva." Lepidus agreed readily. He knew that Adiana could actually ask for Macedonia, Peloponnese, or more dangerous and rich areas like Crete, but She did not, and did not even ask for Bithynia. She just hoped to restore her homeland to the greatest extent. Since Lepidus built the castle guarding the strait in the former Byzantine homeland, it was actually equivalent to giving up her strategy of expanding her territory westward. changed.

"The terms of the peace treaty have been reached. Now tell me, what should we do with Eubotia and the lovely amphora?"

"I need you to send Achilles's fleet, together with the two Pontic legions sent back by Caesar, to the city of Alexandria quietly, waiting for Cleopatra's dispatch." Lepidus said something shocking, making Adiana is at a loss. She must know that her entire kingdom's war capital now consists of this fleet and two newly formed legions. This requires a considerable amount of expenditure from the national treasury. Now the other party actually asks her to give these to the other side of the ocean. The Cleopatra she was most jealous of?

Of course Lepidus saw the other party's reaction, and he explained carefully, "I need a joint military or commercial expedition, but what I can mobilize now, except for the troops under my command, is Eubotia and Egypt. ”

"What is the goal of the expedition?" Adiana was puzzled.

"No, to be more precise, it is not about conquering any country militarily, but about deterrence and control." Lepidus' words made the queen even more confused, but he still told her the story, "Adiana, do you remember that Crassus' expedition to Parthia ended with almost the entire army being annihilated? Yes, that was because I deceived him and tricked him into taking over the Road to Seres, the country that produces silk." After saying that, Lepidus touched the corner of Adiana's silk robe, "Do you know how the silk of Seres is produced?"

Adiana thought about it, and then quoted the common saying of naturalists at the time, "I heard It is said that the silk of Seres grows on special trees. During the harvest season, women take the silk, soak it in water, comb it into strips, and then use a loom to weave it into the shape of my body. "

Li Bi Da laughed. He knew that in this era, the technology of raising silkworms and making silk was the biggest secret at the national level. Not to mention West Asia, India, Parthia and Rome, even the ancient country of Khotan, which was a must-pass on the Silk Road, did not know it now. But Li Bi Da knew it, but he would not say it clearly, because it would inevitably damage the interests of his hometown, the Seres Empire. He wanted to find another way.