Augustus Road

Please resume reading in normal order and apologize again. .

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"A person should encounter some setbacks when he is in good times, so as not to be jealous of the gods." - Plutarch

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After speaking, Lepidus immediately said that he could give three thousand talents to help Ptolemy XII. But in fact, you must know that for this money, Lepidus used his reputation as an intermediary to raise two thousand talents, and also used all the twelve hundred talents that the patron gave him. This time To put it bluntly, it is a last-ditch fight.

These words made Ptolemy XII extremely moved. He completely forgot about his arrogant delirium just now on the cruise ship, and hurriedly thanked the low-ranking attendants for their kindness. However, his daughter had some doubts about Lepidus. Cleopatra saw He opened his red lips and asked: "Dear Lepidus, you must be a naturalized nobleman. May I ask what your current rank is as an attendant in the Republic?"

"Ashamed, I'm just a junior official." Li Bida made no secret.

"Then if you invest such a huge amount of money to help my father, you must need an equal return. I really don't know what my father can use to repay your loan?"

Lepidus immediately felt that the topic had entered a critical stage, a showdown stage, but in front of this smart little girl, he needed to be extremely cautious with his words, "I have a friend, who is the current Queen of Eubotia. She is also the princess of Mithridates. She cared about the traditional friendship with the Ptolemaic dynasty and entrusted me to assist the noble divine pharaoh family. Therefore, I can only give everything I have, but the final consequences of the matter can only be done to the best of my ability. for."

Over there, the Pharaoh was so moved that he raised his scepter slightly and said to Lepidus: "There were many Roman citizens who served as military officers in my dynasty before, or were responsible for finance and taxation, and of course there were also high-level slaves. ——Lepidus, as long as we can succeed together, you will be the Minister of Finance in my palace in the future!”

After the Pharaoh stayed to rest, in the evening under the flower gallery, "Little Queen" and her maid quietly called Lepidah who was about to leave. She looked up with a very proud face and judged Lepidah's behavior, "Actually, do you want to Use this loan to control the lifeblood of the entire Egypt? First, become the Minister of Finance by virtue of his status as a creditor, and then use it to monopolize Egypt's high-quality wheat, ivory, sedge, and porphyry trade. "As the bell rang, Clay said. Opatra stood on tiptoes and looked into Lepidus' eyes, "Then we have to master customs, taxation and the palace, and finally conquer this country."

Li Bida smiled and said that he had no such extravagant expectations.

"I forgot to tell you that I am a great Egyptianist. Like many politicians in Rome, I cannot tolerate relying on outsiders. If I become a female pharaoh..." As a result, Cleopatra As soon as Lag said this, the two maids knelt at her feet in panic and pulled the corners of her clothes as a warning. This detail was caught by Lepidus. He looked towards the flower gallery and saw the figure of a man shaking behind the statue of the Goddess of Virtue, who seemed to be the subordinate of Motamenes.

Seeing this scene, Lepidus understood a lot of information: Ptolemy XII, the flute player, according to the habit of fleeing, would not take all his children with him to prevent unexpected events. His eldest daughter betrayed He, Cleopatra, was smart and proficient in many languages ​​and was taken with him, so the pharaoh should have an heir beside him, otherwise the two maids just now would not have been panicked by Cleopatra's arrogance. The eunuch would not stare at this ten-year-old girl.

But this kind of internal strife is what Lepidus is best at exploiting. Now I am no longer at the age when I was fighting with Adiana. I don’t believe that I can’t even deal with a little girl. So he smiled and assured the girl that he was actually only Queen Ubert’s. A guest entering the curtain must be loyal and devoted to the hostess he is in love with, and he must do the same to help his father-in-law, and say in a deep voice: "I think that helping your father-in-law is helping you..."

"You are not like a Roman bureaucrat, but more like a speculative businessman. Tell me. I am not opposed to listening casually." Cleopatra sat down with lazy politeness and said.

"I can only say that I will arrange agents and mercenary officers soon. Your father's restoration of the country is actually for your cause." Li Bida said.

"My career?" Queen Elizabeth laughed like a silver bell, her earrings and anklets jingling, "I have already said before, Lepidus must not have aged to the point of amnesia - I am a great Egyptianist, even though I am only ten years old, but even if I have the power in my hands in the future, I will do my best to protect the country and the dynasty, so that I will not be like so many mediocre male monarchs in Asia Minor and Syria. He gave the country to Rome."

"You are speaking louder. You must know that no country in the world can resist the military front of Rome. The only one who can destroy Rome in the future is Rome itself." Lepidus deliberately made his words unpredictable to convince this young lady.

Unexpectedly, Cleopatra smiled innocently and said, "Then I will use my wisdom to conquer the man who destroyed Rome." After saying that, she leaned forward and put her hands down pretending to be cute. He nodded and said to Li Bida, could that man be you?

This time it was Li Pida's turn to be speechless, and could only make a silly smile...

A market day later, Pompey, who had received 3,000 talents, had already begun to call for Ptolemy's restoration in the Temple of Concordia, but as expected, most of the elders had no interest in participating in Egypt's internal affairs. They would rather keep the Republic in limited glorious isolation in this troubled time. So the 3,000 talents were sent to Caesar again. No, according to Lepidus's plan, only half of it was given. Caesar quickly used the money to pay off the principal and interest that Crassus had borrowed from him before. The debt that had troubled Caesar for many years was finally resolved. The remaining hundreds of talents were all used for the election of his father-in-law, Piso, who was younger than him, as well as the wedding expenses of Caesar and his daughter.

As for the remaining 1,500 talents, Lepidus asked Ptolemy XII to keep them for now, because since Caesar and Pompey had both received your money, it meant that they would help you with this matter. However, the opposition from the elders was now in full swing, and Caesar, as the consul, had other more important matters to attend to. It seemed that we had to wait for a while to see the outcome. Don't worry, I will do my best to help you deal with it, and you can enjoy the music feast in the palace in Naples with peace of mind. So this half of the money can be used as your expenses in Rome, and also as the first working capital for recruiting mercenaries.

After arranging the trivial matters, on a clear and cloudless day, Lepidus, wearing a robe, led dozens of fully armed gladiators including Opric to the construction site of the Pompeii Theater in a menacing manner. The architects and craftsmen there saw that this group of evil gods seemed to be looking for trouble, so they immediately scattered. (To be continued.)