Augustus Road

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After that, neither of them said anything else.

On the day when the senators voted, the sun shone slantingly on the main square. Marcellus on the bronze bow podium, with the triumph of the victor, clenched his fists and said to everyone: "Destroy Caesar" "In order to prevent Caesar from becoming a dangerous dictator and butcher, I call in the name of the consul for a secret vote to be held immediately."

Then he ordered his attendants to erect a bronze plate with the first voting question engraved on it, "Should Caesar's term as governor be ended now?"

About a quarter of a day later, the statistical results came out, and most of the elders voted in favor.

Then, Marcellus began to announce the second voting issue, "Can it be allowed to grant Pompeo exclusive military command power again in times of national crisis?"

This time the voting was delayed a bit longer. Quite a few swaying senators originally only hoped to rely on Pompey's prestige to fight against Caesar, and had no intention of making him a potential enemy more dangerous than Caesar. However, Byblos and others , and continued to stir things up privately in the venue, but the final result was still overwhelmingly in favor.

"Then, it's over for Caesar! We still won the final victory." With this mood, Marcellus held his hands on the bronze bow podium, and was about to formally announce the handling of Caesar's behavior, when an accident happened .

From the corner, a voice suddenly came out, "I exercise my veto power!"

The sound was not loud, but Marcelas quickly recognized it. It was made by the thin and inconspicuous tribune Curio, who was standing under an open-air colonnade. His veto this time was louder than the previous one. Tusi's words were much more timely, and the branch officer Lepidus smiled and stood beside Curio.

Little Cato on the podium also saw this scene. His vision almost went dark, and he immediately understood: Curio turned out to be a masked traitor! He was furious. Pushing Marcelas away, he put his hand on the rostrum and shouted to Curio, "Even the tribune now has no right to veto the decree issued by the Senate during the martial law period!"

Everyone in the entire venue fell silent, suppressed by their shock. Only Cato's angry shouts were still echoing,

"I reiterate that I, Tribune Curio, exercise my veto power over the two bills just promulgated by the consul. In addition, I propose a new motion. That is, Caesar and Pompey dissolve their respective countries at the same time. With all the legions, I will now submit this motion to the Senate for a vote." Curio said in a reluctant tone, "If the Senate does not accept it, I will summon the remaining nine tribunes. If unanimous, then the Senate must force a vote on this motion. If the Senate continues not to accept it, the tribunes will represent all the citizens of the country and dissolve the Senate! This is the greatest power of the Ten Tribunes. Can I exercise it? ? Or is it just a piece of paper?"

"Execute the vote." Little Cato was frustrated. He did not have the guts to break the rules of the Republic with his own hands.

The results of the vote for Coolio's motion came quickly. There were 350 votes in favor and more than 20 votes against (most of them were close friends of Pompey and Cato). The remaining less than 200 senators abstained. Then Curio asked to announce the result of the motion in public, "By New Year's time, Pompeo and Cato will Pei and Caesar ended their terms as governors at the same time, and also disbanded the legions and handed over the power of organization to the Senate. "

As a result, as early as Lepidus' calculation, the reason why most of the senators were blackmailed was not so much that they supported Pompey. Wu Ning said that they were just afraid of Caesar, but now Curio's new initiative is to ask these two guys to collectively destroy their martial arts. This is actually the best result for most people. In addition, Curio's The motion was very fair. Cato and others wanted to refute it, but they couldn't find any flaws at all.

"I have received definite news that Caesar has led ten legions over the mountains and headed south to Italy!" The new second consul Dumitius shouted, dissatisfied with the voting results.

"This is complete nonsense. Maybe the second consul should learn mathematics. Maybe his mathematics was taught by a fitness instructor. Caesar now has three legions outside Rome. Where did the ten legions go south?" Lepidus retorted. .

Then, Curio emphasized that since his motion was passed with such a large vote margin, it had become a standard edict of the Senate, and everything must be implemented on January 1st of the new year, instead of waiting until March 1st.

That night, Pompey's slaves ran around the city of Rome, and invitations to the banquet at Villa Alba were delivered to almost all the dignitaries. Half of them were members of Caesar's party, including Picasso, Spinzel, Cotta, and others. There is Curio, the tribune of the new general, and of course Lepidus, Caesar's plenipotentiary.

Lepidus went with a group of tribunes. Antony, Paulus, and Basatus all entered the courtyard of the villa.

This was almost the moment of showdown, "I wonder if Caesar has a relatively compromise plan?" At the banquet, Pompeo began to ask Lepidus, who was immersed in dining and drinking.

"Yes, that is, Caesar can give up the consulship in the coming year, but he must seamlessly succeed the governors of Shannan Gaul and Illyria. In addition, the new governor of Gaul will be taken over by His Excellency Bishop, not Gebinus proposed by the Senate. , and Caesar requested that the two regular legions be retained and the establishment numbers of the two auxiliary legions remain unchanged. On this basis, we can still discuss the future of this country. "

Pompeo was silent, and the entire banquet fell into silence. No one had anything extra to say. They were either busy eating or waiting for Pompeo's decision. At this time, everything depended on the exchange between Caesar and him. .

But Pompey didn't think for too long - Marcellus and Cato mobilized a large number of senators to temporarily enter the banquet. Marcellus actually held a beautifully patterned sword in his hand. Demetrius hurriedly came up He took the sword before and handed it into the master's hands.

"Gnaeus Pompey, I am here to ask for your opinion. This kind of consultation can only be done once, that is, are you willing to take over this sword and become the shield of the Republic!" Marcelas asked loudly. "If you will agree, the Senate now grants you the power to raise troops throughout Italy as far north as the Rubicon and south as far as Brindisi, and I, together with Dumitius, will, on the first of January next year, , you are proclaimed Dictator of the Roman Republic, you will be a consul without colleagues!”

With a "hurrah", Lepidus stood up, took down the napkin, pushed away the dishes and wine glasses, and then turned around and left without saying a word, followed closely by Curio, Anthony and other ten tribunes.

Because Lepidus no longer needs to spend any more, the showdown is over. From the moment Marcellus sent the sword, he knew Pompey too well.

Negotiation, complete break.