Augustus Road

"I should say that all forms of coercion, whether by decree or otherwise, are the denial and trampling of the law." - Dialogue between Alcibiades and Guardian Pericles

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Crassus's statement immediately aroused the momentum of the senators present, and even Cato the Younger was delighted. Crassus would oppose Caesar at this moment, which was obviously expected by people. Because in the case law that Caesar had forced the Senate to pass, there were provisions for exempting knights' debts and lowering the tax deposit threshold. Who had the most knights under them in Rome? It was Crassus. There were about 5,000 knights affiliated with him. Once this precedent could be implemented, Crassus would naturally suffer the most financial losses.

"But I have a condition, that is, you must be responsible for the previous compromise with Caesar. That precedent was passed after all. Now I can only try my best to reduce the loss to the minimum." Crassus asked unhurriedly, "Let The new Ombudsman, please give me the list of knights who have applied for debt relief.”

You must know that Crassus does not hold any public office now. This kind of flagrant and illegal request really makes many senators feel a certain kind of insult and embarrassment. However, Byblos and Cato gritted their teeth and expressed their agreement to Crassus's request, and they have always been in harmony with other senators. Due to personal discord and the fact that Cicero, who had just shouted that he wanted Pompey to enter the city to suppress Caesar, could only shut his mouth and quietly retreat to an inconspicuous corner.

In the end, Crassus, who got the list of treasury flowers in his hand, was very proud and promised to use money and resources immediately to support Byblos and openly boycott Caesar.

After finishing, Crassus handed the list of flowers to the slaves beside him, then saluted the people around him easily, and left the house of Byblos happily. Just after Crassus left, Cicero wandered to the side of several central figures. Cato saw him and asked in a low voice: "Can you persuade Pompey on this matter? You You must know that Crassus was behind my constant resistance to Pompey's proposal. This guy who is full of copper odor is not worthy of trust. "

"The problem is naturally not big. We can ask Crassus to withdraw financial aid to Caesar first, and then use the plan to resettle veterans to privately persuade Pompey. Anyway, they can't get along, and we can use this to play with them. But don’t get too involved in Pompey’s matter, you have to know that he still hates you privately,” Cicero rubbed his nose with his finger and reminded.

After thorough discussion, the elders gradually stopped quarreling and discussing, and left one after another late at night.

On the other side, surrounded by the servants who lit torches, Crassus walked to the living room of his house. Lepidus appeared inside. Crassus smiled knowingly at him and took the flower list he had just taken from his arms. He handed it to him, "Remember, if you and Caesar plan such things in the future, you must make it clear to me in advance. You must know that after I learned that the new cases and regulations were introduced, I was indeed full of anger towards you."

"So calm judgment is an essential virtue for anyone. Jurisprudence is a precedent. As long as you get the roster list, which knight will be relieved of debt, and which knight will be lowered the tax deposit threshold, it's not up to you. Forget it? This will only help your knights to establish an advantage. The lions in the forest will naturally consider the interests of the elephants, and in the end they can only sacrifice characters like deer and rabbits." He also laughed, then rolled up the list of names and stuffed it into his bronze book tube. Crassus laughed heartily and said that you are very vivid in what you say. Then he twitched his fingers and said: "As long as you are loyal to me With the discounts and benefits of the knights, those senators who only have three or five knights to their names will be completely crushed by me financially, and I will leave the specific matters to you. "

"Of course, during the year that Caesar is in power, I will not only help you to increase the power of money, but also win you over to become a veteran of the establishment and make full preparations for your expedition."

After Crassus heard what Lepidus said, he smiled even more happily. He even said it was interesting, and then he led his servants into the house. Lepidus carefully closed the lid of the bronze pipe and put it on his shoulder, his sharp eyes in the dark night. After looking around for a while, he walked away on the street under the protection of a few close slaves.

In Caesar's mansion, candlelight was also brightly lit. Caesar and Ebro were sitting on chairs, with their heads together, holding Cicero's secret letter in their hands. This letter was naturally written to Pompey, but when As soon as Cicero's servant Tyro delivered the letter to Demetrius, the Jew followed the requirements of the Triumvirate and sent the letter directly to Caesar. As a result, after looking at the content, he Caesar was so happy that he couldn't stand up: "Sure enough, Cicero is a clown who only knows how to talk. He thought he could deceive Pompey to deal with me. Ebro, the first battle is about to start in the Senate. Time is running out. More, prepare it carefully." After saying that, Caesar put Cicero's letter on the candle and slowly lit it. After watching it turn into ashes, a sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Sure enough, when voting on the land law, as Caesar expected, the battle naturally broke out in the Senate's meeting hall. Before Caesar finished explaining the plan, Cato the Younger stood up again and said that the Senate should give priority to the proposals previously proposed by Pompey. Then he started to chatter and used the trick of "obstruction of proceedings". When Caesar sternly asked everyone to give priority to his plan, most of the senators, including Crassus, stood up collectively and shouted the slogan "veto" to Caesar, saying that they fully agreed with Cato the Younger's views and that the resettlement of the Eastern Kingdom must be resolved this month. As for Caesar's land law, it should be automatically postponed and shelved. But Caesar argued that half of his ruling month had passed and there was not much time to shelve it. Cato the Younger became more excited and said that he would wait until the ruling month of Byblos, which caused a malicious laugh in the Senate.

"Sir Cato, I remember I warned you last time that if you use the trick of obstructing the meeting again, I will definitely punish you more severely. This time, I will not just beat you with a stick like last time." After saying that, Caesar waved his fist, and the followers came in again, trying to pull Cato away. The senators were all angry, and they also grabbed Cato, like tug-of-war and wrestling. Several elderly senators were tripped and fell to the ground, bleeding from their mouths and noses. Some took out the stones and rotten apples they had packed in advance and threw them at Caesar's followers. The entire Temple of Concord immediately turned into a battlefield.

"Julius Caesar, I have to warn you too, this is not the place for you to beat your slaves. The people here are all fathers specially selected by the Republic, and they are not inferior to you in terms of honor and morality." Although he was pulled back and forth, Cato still stiffened his neck and shouted at Caesar. (To be continued.)