Augustus Road

In a newly built apartment in the Temple of Medicine in the city, Lepidah was sitting in the center of the courtyard wearing a robe. Next to him stood Paluma, a little pigeon carrying a flower basket. Opposite to the shared vici altar, Lepidah's wife was standing at a loss. , because his husband, Hybrida, who is currently a left-behind non-commissioned officer in a fortress on the outskirts of Rome, was still dizzy from the housewarming banquet last night, so that his wife kept supporting him as he staggered, or pinched him hard with her fingers. Next, let him stay sane.

The other tenants, regardless of age or sex, were lying on the railing of the inner corridor on the second floor in surprise, chattering. They couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe two things. One was a guy with a foreign appearance sitting in the courtyard. Now he is actually wearing layers of carefully tucked toga robes that can only be worn by nobles. Behind him are a large group of slaves carrying various belongings. What is also unbelievable is that this person actually comes here. , discussing a marriage with a rude veteran who came from a civilian background, yes, discussing a marriage.

"My dear, you shouldn't let him drink so much. From my point of view, drinking for this guy is like making a mistake and beating someone up." Lepida put his hands on his knees and sat on the chair to face Hebrida. The wife said, because he could clearly see the swelling at the corners of the woman's mouth, and then he continued, "Left behind sergeant Haibrida, I brought my adopted son here to conclude his marriage to your daughter Fan Lundina. , you should be okay with it!”

The always low-ranking centurion lowered his head, made a drunken roar like a wild boar, and said vaguely: "I don't have much opinion, but you have to read me a draft about the betrothal gift." Then his wife said She pinched his thigh hard, causing him to scream angrily.

"Five thousand drachmas of goods and drinks, as well as a thousand drachmas of banquet expenses, plus a betrothal gift of 10,000 drachmas. Be content. You must know that Terry Ali gave it to you after previously capturing the eagle flag of the Eighth Legion. There is no such amount as a thank-you gift. This money is enough for you to exchange for a larger apartment or even a small villa for reading, so that your wife can go to Baie once a month. As for Fan Lunjingna's marriage, it is not necessary. I'm worried." As soon as Li Bida's conditions were revealed, there was a huge cry of envy in the apartment.

"No, you have to know how much hardship I had to endure in the war in the East to raise this daughter. In this way, the betrothal gift will be increased to fifteen thousand, and the rest will remain unchanged." Hebrida burped for a long time and protested. .

Lepidus slapped his knees and stood up. He was so frightened that Haibrida's wife kept shaking because the marriage was going to be dirty. However, Lepidus did not turn around and leave. Instead, he patiently raised his finger and said, "The bride price will be increased by five thousand." It doesn’t matter, and Pompey’s veterans are about to allocate land. Although you were kicked out of the Seventh Legion by Demetrius and were not in his service sequence, I can operate it and give you and your wife 500 bonuses. The land in Campania is worth at least 5,000 sestes a year just for renting it out. I don’t want to talk to you about the rest.” After saying that, he patted the little pigeon on the back. , the knowing Paluma held up the statue of Venus tied with a ribbon, quickly bypassed Hebrida, and handed it to Hebrida's wife. What else could the wife say? It's so good. The opportunity must not be lost, so he quickly kissed the little dove to express that on behalf of the entire family, he approved of his marriage to his daughter.

Then Lepidus breathed a sigh of relief, made a goodbye gesture to the Hebrida couple, and then ordered his personal slaves to make the next banquet more lively. Residents of the entire vici can come to dine, sing and dance regardless of their status. Over there, the sea Brida jumped up comically and shouted that there would be drinks, singing and dancing again, everyone was enjoying themselves, and I would give everyone a gift of ten sestes.

Lepidus walked out of the Medicine Temple neighborhood and hurriedly walked towards Crassus' house. There had been a real explosion in the past few days - ever since Crassus had a list of people who could reduce or reduce the tax deposit, more than ten thousand knights in Rome had Crazy, everyone wants to curry favor with Crassus and ask for some benefits. So when Lepidus walked into the gate, the originally quiet Crassus house was crowded with people. All the knights or rich men who wanted to see the master up close were trying their best to crazily stuff the pockets of the slaves, cooks and even the gardeners. Money, Lepidus ignored these, but directly found Crassus in an inconspicuous side corner hut, the smiling Crassus.

Before Crassus could warmly greet him, Lepidus spoke: "Your Excellency, I hope you will remember that although the knights can reduce the fixed amount by one-third according to your roster, this does not mean that you do not need to charge That’s one third.”

"You mean, the knights have to pay the same amount of money as before to pay taxes? But two-thirds will go to the treasury, and one-third will go to me?" Crassus was quite surprised. He was so shocked. Will occupying this third in a private name make the knights "give up on difficulties"? After all, if Lepidus did this, the burden would not actually be relieved in the eyes of the knight. Who would do such a stupid thing?

Lepidar also saw his confusion and explained: "For example, if I were a knight, I would need to pay a deposit of nine denarii to the treasury in advance to collect taxes in a certain tax area in a province, plus bribes to officials and money to support minions. Then I would naturally have to collect at least eighteen denarii in the province to avoid spending more than I earned. This would only increase the burden on the residents of the province and make its economy barren and withered. So now the knight only needs to pay six denarii, and he may only need to collect twelve denarii in the province to make a profit, and then we draw a red line - Anyone who dares to collect more than twelve denarii will be expelled from the list of tax exemptions, so that the tax farmers will not dare to do anything wrong, and the people of the province can live and work in peace. But for the remaining three denarii, you can apply to the Senate to let you be responsible for a private foundation, and fill it with the three denarii of all the knights, and use it... Then you can return their three denarii and two denarii of dividends in three years, and everyone will be very happy and satisfied. "After saying that, Lepidus whispered a few words into Crassus's ear, and Crassus nodded repeatedly to show his agreement.

At dusk, when Lepidus walked out of Crassus's house, the streets outside were full of knights with excited expressions. Then he actually saw Anthony and Curio in the crowd, and they also came through the crowd. Lepidus was very alert and stuck to the recess of the wall to avoid them. When he saw them walk into the gate, he took a detour to another alley, sneering as he walked. (To be continued.)