Augustus Road

"The bravest and most reliable soldier is the soldier who has his feet on his own soil." - Cicero, "On the Republic"

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For these things, Le Bida can be said to have spent a lot of money.

The garrison legions, whether they are assembled in Lilibi or have arrived at the front line of Utica, every mouth wants to eat wheat. The Sicilian Legation Palace where Leo is located, and the Executive Council chaired by Ebro, A large amount of supplies are being raised every day and a large number of mules, horses and boats are being arranged. Shipping is cheap and cheap, but the overall cost is still huge. To support fifteen legions on an expedition, just relying on supplies from the rear is still far from enough. Rabinus relies on war to support war, and then there are Mauretania and Getu The two kingdoms of Leah provided food to people behind the scenes; compared to Lepidus, he mainly relied on the province of Africa, and Cleopatra and Adiana sent food from across the ocean. of supplies.

After Pompey's arrival, all the towns and villages in Africa had been exploited and supplied many legions. After Caesar's victory, those who provided supplies and garrison for Pompey's party were imposed huge fines - to let Caesar rewarded his veterans and replenished his coffers. So now it is extremely difficult to scrape money out of this province.

But no matter what, we must continue to scrape until the bottom is reached.

In the city of Utica, Lepidus summoned representatives of elders from many surrounding cities in advance and told everyone an exciting good news: "In my dual capacity as consul and high priest, I propose a new bill, which is the previous bill." The cities that were punished have all regained their status and treatment under the Julius Law and have once again become free cities whose rights and interests are protected by the Republic, and all the huge fines you still owe will be cleared."

However, in the city hall, after his voice fell heavily, the joyful scene that he had expected did not appear. Most of the representatives still had their eyebrows lowered and their faces were sad, with their sleeves hunched over their waists. It seemed that they had experienced so many ups and downs. They no longer have much hope in the true kindness and tolerance of the rulers of the Republic, in case Lepidus said the following. A dramatic reversal occurred.

This reaction made the high priest very embarrassed. He moved his buttocks twice in his seat, then took the mint tea sent by the servant Matthias, drank a few sips, and turned around, "Of course, the country is in dire straits now. In order to suppress the rebels in Spain, I arrived here with a dozen legions from Italy. It is no longer possible to rely solely on the local supply, so I must beg for the support of all local powerful and active immigrants and nobles."

Then he looked, or sat. Or the representatives standing on their seats bent their backs lower.

"Boom" shook everyone. Lepidus slammed the gold-plated baton in his hand on the floor at his feet. "You must have heard about what happened in Rome three months ago. Four hundred A senator and nearly 3,000 knights died, and all their properties were confiscated. This means that no matter how far back the genealogy of their proud lintels can be traced, it does not matter how many wax figures of their ancestors can be filled in the courtyard of these people's houses. , now the heads are on the ground, piled in the big square, paying with their lives for their stupidity and short-sightedness - what is money? If anyone reaches the situation I mentioned, just one ace will be given to the Styx Ferryman. Just Dijon! Africa has always been an important province for food supply in Italy. It is densely covered with plantation estates and has also spawned a large number of commercial port cities. Therefore, apart from Italy, this is the province with the largest number of knights. One thousand eight hundred knights, your resume, family and assets are all clearly listed on my list. I don’t want the drama in Rome to happen again in this place. If you don’t believe it, you can ask people who know about it. I was very kind and tolerant during the massacre in the City of Seven Hills, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the means to deal with stubborn elements on an ad hoc basis.”

After Lepidus finished speaking, he quickly threw the roster on the floor and struck it hard several times with his baton, indicating that everyone must look at him. When fearful eyes came from all directions, he used his baton to He pointed to the retinue standing around him and said, "Did you see that? I think you have also noticed that I have an ax attached to my staff at any time."

"Please allow me, an old man who has experienced so many years, to say a few words. You should not underestimate the wise speech of the old man." After Lebida finished singing the black face, the silver-haired Utica Chamber of Commerce Chief Garba next to him immediately sang. Blushed, "In fact, as long as the stability and order of the Republic are restored and the rebel parties are eliminated, there will be more long-term benefits for the merchants. The high priest has also fully considered the difficulties of our respective cities, so his plan is as follows . The Executive Yuan will bear half of the supplies for the fifteen legions, while Africa will bear half. Our half is divided into three parts - one part is provided by the treasury of each city; one part is provided by all the individual knights. Share it, but the high priest will give you the corresponding treasury bond holding rights; the last part is served by the emergency temporary tax of the entire province, which can add some new aspects in planting, winemaking, oil extraction, urban construction, luxury goods trade, maritime and other aspects tax, but remember that it is temporary and will not need to be levied again after the war ends next year.”

This seems to be within the city's tolerance after all. Lepidus is not Pompey and Scipio, who were the ones who exhausted the pond to catch fish. In the end, even stoves, door panels and window frames were taxed. Then all the city representatives finally stood up collectively and made a gesture of approval, indicating that they approved the approval of the high priest's taxation plan.

"Don't be discouraged! Just now, the chief honorary knight, old man Galba, also said that merchants should have a long-term vision. I will not forget your great help - I decided to grant you additional rights as soon as the war is over - now 60% of the tax farmers in Italy have been killed, and I will soon make a proper allocation of the quotas in Numidia and Mauritania. For others, the threshold will always exist. But for you, everywhere is like the terrain here, "a horse is flat and plain", "Lepidus said, and proudly made a gesture of galloping.

Then, the burden of building the "trapezoidal warehouse group" and "three-lane road" from Utica to the Tumur River soon fell on the heads of all the knights in Africa.

The three-lane road was a new way of road construction that Lepidus had previously used in Leptis - separating the packhorses, cavalry and infantry, greatly shortening the marching time and burden.

The trapezoidal warehouse group was a new thing he had come up with to solve the needs of battlefield logistics. (To be continued...)

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