Augustus Road

The person Lepidus rescued was very eye-catching. He was little Crassus, a very reckless and brave warrior under Caesar, and the biological son of Crassus. He led the cavalry some time ago and was responsible for liaison with the city of Iduka. , because Caesar, who did not wait for any mercenaries or elephants, could only rely on his own efforts and prepared to forcefully cross the Douro River and penetrate into the Lusitania region, so he needed the assistance of the Iduka people. Who would have thought that little Crassus would be surrounded here.

At this time, little Crassus believed that he was in danger, and it was a blessing in disguise. Lepidus' followers and soldiers entered the city, enthusiastically put osmanthus leaves symbolizing glory on his head, brought mellow wine, and praised him with joy. His prowess was as if the battle that defeated the Awasilis had been won under his leadership. But young people are always bloody and vain. Little Crassus soon became overwhelmed by Lepidus' "sugar bullet offensive". He met the humble Lepidus in his tent, and then the other party told him-soon, Dozens of tribes from Northern Lusitania will come to the city of Iduka to pay homage to him and express their surrender to Rome. As the patron of Crassus and Caesar, I hope to have the honor to hold this ceremony to show that you of great glory.

"No, my dear Lepidus, I think it would be more appropriate for Governor Caesar to accept this ceremony." Although little Crassus was in a state of elation, he had not yet reached the point of dementia. Of course, this was what Lepidus wanted, and he needed a middleman. To show off, he told the young Crassus that when my auxiliary legion fought on the flank of Lusitania, it killed many barbarians who fought against Rome and also captured some trophies. Since you are not willing to lead the ceremony, But I must represent Caesar and bring order to the local barbarians as soon as possible to welcome the arrival of His Excellency Caesar in a few days. After that, I am willing to sell all the trophies as expenses for the ceremony.

This compromise suggestion made Crassus very satisfied, and he asked Lepidus how to handle the sale of the trophies in a short time. Lepidus replied that it would be May Day, a big festival for the entire Celtic people, and we would In the name of peace, summon all the barbarian tribes in the area and set up a market to sell off the spoils of war (which is equivalent to selling the wealth of nearly Spain to Lusitania in disguise). Leave the details to me.

On May Day, Lepidus' military camp was all hung with olive branches symbolizing peace, and a huge camp was erected outside the camp, as well as two huge burning firewood piles to increase the joy of peace and trade. Soldiers and The centurions began to sell various valuables in the camp market, including exquisite utensils, swords inlaid with gold and pearls, burial objects from noble cemeteries, amber necklaces from noble women, etc. Some of them even carried The smell of corpses or dried blood stains of their former owners. The barbarians came in large carts, bringing barrels of fine wine. After getting drunk in front of the campfire, they gathered in front of the camp, and their women were noisy. , want this and that, and encourage different suitors to compete to buy more and more expensive things to please them. There is a noise of bargaining everywhere. Of course, in general, the entire festival and the opening day of the market are very harmonious. It's very entertaining, except for dozens of cases of fights and murders that took place in the mud. The triggers of these incidents were either conflicts over buying and selling prices, or jealousy to please women.

Lepidus, on the other hand, asked Crassus to sit in a gorgeous tent and negotiate with the elders of the barbarians on various issues, such as the division of new territories, the tax burden of the tribes, etc. In fact, Lepidus was mainly doing the actual work. The translator of Sabocaimus negotiated and argued fiercely with various elders, and the details even went as far as the abolition of the private debts of individual indigenous people. However, when it came time to sign the document, Lepidus would respectfully hand it over to Crassus the Younger for the decision to make the other party The fuss was so dizzy that they had no right to make a decision when it came to important matters, so they put it aside and said they would wait until Caesar came to make a decision.

This is actually Lepidus's specialty - delaying time and confusing little Crassus's mind.

Because on the other side, Habaruka was in another camp, together with several confidential slaves, carefully counting the proceeds from selling the trophies and making corresponding arrangements.

The final result was that the trophies were sold at a somewhat cheap price due to time constraints and urgent tasks. The proceeds were 380 talents, plus taxes levied in advance in various regions. Together, there was a total of almost six talents left. A hundred talents.

Soon, the next day Lepidus blew the trumpet in the camp to gather all the soldiers, and then he announced a shocking news, "In the previous war, I was honored to have meals with you, build camps together, and live and die together. , but I have to announce that for you - the war is over. The auxiliary army is like this, built in a hurry and then disbanded. The Thyme Army can only retain the backbone of a thousand-man brigade for the governor to decide. Stay, as for most of the comrades in this camp, I am sorry to say goodbye, but I will give you a generous gift. It contains three parts, severance pay, resettlement payment and pension, which is enough for you to return to your own glory. tribes and cities." After that, Lebida asked Habaruka and others to dispatch all four thousand soldiers, and each of them received a fee of five hundred dinars. The remaining skeleton soldiers were mostly. The slaves were freed in Sardinia. They did not consider money for the time being and only hoped to continue serving. However, Lepidus also gave them a salary of one hundred dinars each as a reward for their loyal service.

This cost him more than two hundred talents, and then he gave General Marco a bribe of fifty talents. The whole process was very efficient, and soon most of the soldiers in Lepidah's camp left. Then Lepidus called Habaruka over, gave him fifty talents worth of gold, and asked him to give it to Crassus the Younger. "Is this the cost of a bribe?" Habaruka asked.

"No, with his father's wealth, do you still need us to bribe him? Tell him that this is the cost of holding a surrender ceremony for Caesar." Lepidus grinned and said with a smile. Then he called in Sabocaimus and handed him a bag of five talents of gold coins. "Dear Sabo, this is your reward. I will leave Spain soon."

"But Mr. Treasurer, this is at least equivalent to my salary for fifteen years. You bought a Celtic bench for my mother. I am already doubly grateful." Sabokemus declined seriously.

"No, the value you played in this war is far more than this reward. It can be said that my victory was achieved under the guidance of your plan. Your financial and planning abilities are first-class, just like in Students who graduate from the Academy of Philosophy in Athens will always have a higher grade than those who graduate from Rhodes Island - I just regret that I don’t have a more precious souvenir to give you. Remember, in my heart you are the same as those paid soldiers. It will never be the same," Lepidah explained profoundly. (To be continued.)