Augustus Road

There are few natural warriors, most people become warriors through hard training. ——Ancient Roman proverb

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Luculus's trust company is not a lie. In the one that Carabis saw (there must be others, but Luculus thought it was unnecessary for him to know), there were more than 30 free people working in it: after verifying the amount of the seawater diversion project, these people immediately paid the full amount. The slaves really came to settle the account with pottery jars of real money.

This tuna, in addition to being gentle and elegant, and having both literary and military strategies, is definitely a master of making money. Of course, he never came in person. The free people of his trust company would arrange everything for him: buying lakes, forests, manors, factories, mines, hiring manpower to operate in between, and entrusting merchants to market goods. A true Roman noble would not bother to ask about these trivial matters, as that would damage their reputation and honor.

Milu, Pope, Tagus and other leaders were paid 800 drachmas each, while the veterans who participated in the labor, totaling more than 20 people, received 500 drachmas each. Even Hebrida's daughter Valentina was paid 200 silver coins for helping the craftsmen wash clothes (specially given to her by Carabis). As for Carabis's 20,000 drachmas, he did not dare to take them openly, but as agreed with Kelly and Claudia in advance, he distributed them to various purchasing points in the name of project funds, and then collected them one by one, and then Carabis distributed them: Kelly and Claudia both got the agreed portion.

Everyone was happy, but Karabis still found Milou and his family. At that time, these families were about to abandon the dilapidated veterans' home. Under the jealousy and insults of those rigid veterans who regretted not believing Karabis's advice, they bought brand new furniture and happily moved to the block behind the public villa because the apartments there were cleaner and more upscale.

"Thank you, foreigner, you made Fides shine!" Milou and others greeted Karabis warmly when they saw him.

"What are your plans for the future?" Carapis stretched out his hands and asked everyone with a smile, "The richest tuna in Rome has contracted Prima's library and his wife's banquet hall to me, no, to us. How about helping me, and for the sake of everyone, trust Fides again and do another deal!" Then, Carapis announced: "I still have 10,000 drachmas on hand. To be honest, they are the ones I saved from the aqueduct project. How about it? Each of you will share another 400 drachmas, which is enough for you to find the best carpenter in Rome to make the most stylish furniture with hinges for your family. The precious materials of maple, beech, cypress and holly are used. It's up to you to choose. "

Milou looked at everyone, then laughed and said, "Carabis, you are really a noble person. Maybe in front of our new apartment, we should erect a small bronze statue of you and an inscription of gratitude to you."

"No, I want to erect a collective statue for you. You are my noble people!"

The location of Lukulas' library was chosen by Carabis ingeniously. It is located on a hill and connected to the ground with steps and curved corridors. It is a transparent design with no doors. The extended terrace faces the green fish pond, allowing the owner to stroll on it while writing and reading, and see the most beloved and precious fish swimming in it. Against the wall are groups of open bookcases. According to Pope's suggestion, the cabinet wood boards are all made of strong and corrosion-resistant sycamore, and the veneer is made of citron wood from Mauritania, which is more valuable than gold. In order to prevent the walls from collapsing (which was common in the crudely built buildings at that time), the materials were all expensive cut stones shipped from Greece, stacked in a grid shape, and plastered with plaster that was brighter than glass. After the completion, Lucullus would follow the example of Cato the Younger and spend at least ten talents to hire some scribes to copy the texts on philosophy, military affairs, and divine scriptures on sheets of expensive vellum (paper made of calfskin, the most precious in the classical era), and store them permanently (or hopefully permanently) in the bookcases of the library. However, Lucullus and Cato the Younger were different. The former did it for culture and elegance, while the latter copied the treasury account books when he was a finance official to investigate corruption.

As for Claudia's banquet hall, it happened to be separated from Lucullus' library by natural woods and mountains. Of course, Carapis made great efforts for this, because he knew how bad the relationship between the couple had become. The banquet hall, built on an artificial lake, is like a magnificent marble island. There are dozens of rooms named after different gods. The most luxurious and magnificent one is the "Apollo Hall". Once Luculus decides to entertain guests here, the cost of a meal is at least 10,000 drachmas.

Because of the huge amount of money as a lubricant, all the projects progressed smoothly. When the craftsmen dragged the wood with sufficient moisture in the autumn to the site, Luculus found Carapis and asked him to put some effort to supervise the entire project. He wanted to entertain the most prominent figures in the whole city of Rome in the completed Apollo Hall during this Saturnalia.

At the construction site, the Spaniard Tagus was using his saw to cut the alder trees scattered on the ground. This plant is extremely fond of absorbing moisture. Generally, it is densely planted under the foundation of the building. Once it absorbs a small amount of moisture underground, the wood made of this plant will become extremely tough and firmly support the heavy earth, wood and stone above. Tagus's saw was dancing lightly and rhythmically. After two cuts, a piece of alder wood had two more ends. The ends always kept an equal distance and were smooth and flat. Then he cut twice more, and soon the wood with cut ends was neatly placed at his feet.

"I heard that you were the strongest swordsman under the one-eyed dragon." Karabis, who came to supervise because of the holiday of the Temple of the God of the Vesta, clapped and asked.

Tagus, with scars all over his face, scratched his head in a simple manner, indicating that Carapis's evaluation was correct. Then he lifted a piece of alder wood with many branches and placed it in front of Carapis. He drew out the sabre from his back, a dog-legged knife used by the Spanish barbarians, and gave it to Carapis, meaning that he should try it.

Strangely enough, when Carapis was just liberated in the Lycdanian camp, Arminius had given him a very short Roman legionary sword, which he felt was extremely heavy when he mentioned it in his hand. But now this Iberian (the ancient name of Spain) dog-legged knife, which is a circle larger than the sword, seems light in Carapis's hand. "This is probably the effect of learning Thracian boxing and wrestling from Tyranion, no problem." Carapis held the dog-legged knife, calmed his waist, adjusted his breathing towards the alder wood, and then imitated Bruce Lee's cry, "pigeon egg-pigeon egg-pigeon egg-" and chopped it down with a few knives.

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