Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Tia stared at Berenice's back for a few seconds, then came back to her senses and looked at Orville: "What do you want to talk to me about? Saying that you happened to see me is a very clumsy lie. You don't even have a penny in your pocket to come to the theater?"

I don't know if it's an illusion, Orville always feels that the other party's tone is somewhat unfriendly, maybe he feels that he has been disturbed.

"I need your help because I don't have money. It takes some money to set up an auxiliary army. We need to buy belts and woodworking tools, which are necessities."

Tia naturally won't get upset when talking about military affairs. She thought seriously for a while, and finally said: "I can provide you with some money first, because in principle you have to ask the financial officer next to my father for money, which is too time-consuming. This is not the military expenditure of the legion, but my personal wealth, so spend it sparingly."

Orville knew that the other party was taking care of him, and he was a little touched in his heart but did not agree: "No need to do this, as long as you agree to let me deal with part of the legion's spoils, I promise to make more money for you than usual."

For the disposal of spoils, gold and silver are definitely not a problem, but there will be many things that cannot be directly converted into money, such as handicrafts and various tools. Orville has set his sights on these things, and he wants to be a middleman.

Tiya didn't expect Orwell to make such a request, but she didn't refuse: "Okay, my spoils belong to you to sell. The things are worth about 50,000 dinars. A similar price is fine. I won't blame you if it's less. I have to visit my father in Caesarea these days. You can take advantage of this time to get things done."

The dinar is a silver coin circulated in Rome. One coin weighs about 3.5 grams. It is a currency that people can use daily. The face value is relatively large.

This is of course a huge sum of money. In this era, the annual salary of a soldier is about 225 silver coins. If you convert it and only count the salary without counting the bounty, retirement money, food, equipment, etc., you can hire 220 soldiers for a whole year, which is enough to support two centurions at your own expense.

If Tiya's military exploits this year are taken into account, this is actually a representative of "honesty and integrity". There are almost no villages in the places she captured. They are all towns and regular strongholds with a large amount of wealth.

On the one hand, she didn't like excessive looting, and on the other hand, she was very generous in rewarding her subordinates. In the end, the spoils that fell into Tiya's hands were not much, of course, it was also related to her not lacking money.

"No problem, I won't let you down."

After getting permission from Tiya, Orville turned around and ran straight to the palace.

——

In the empty palace, Orville was acting heartbreakingly.

"Your Majesty! I really don't want to see our country's treasures go overseas like this! I begged the commander of the 12th Legion for a long time before I reluctantly let her agree to give me the right to resell the spoils! If we don't intercept these treasures in the country, it's hard to say where these things will go!"

This posture makes people sad and cry, as if he is really a good young man who cares about the country and the people.

King Aquita II is the only legitimate ruler of Palfi. Although he is criticized by the locals for being weak and like a puppet, he is actually a ruler with some ideas. He can fight with the army, issue some acceptable decrees, and do some people-friendly activities with the people.

In fact, he can be regarded as a ruler who maintains the status quo, but his luck is really bad, and he encountered such a troubled time.

He looked at Orville with a strange expression on his face while wearing a crown. According to his sister, this is a good young man who cares about the country, so he agreed to meet him. In reality, it is indeed the case, but the other party's focus seems a bit strange.

"Your starting point is very good, which is very good, but is it necessary to mobilize so many troops for a mere 100,000 dinars of wealth, and ask you to come to see me in person and ask me, the king, to buy it?"

Although he lost his original capital and a large amount of wealth was left in the Holy City, Agrippa II is not poor now. On the one hand, his father Agrippa I was a rare talent in the history of Palfy and left him considerable property. On the other hand, Vespa gave him a lot of captured rebels. Agrippa chose to sell them as slaves according to convention. Now Agrippa's treasury is full.

In his opinion, if it is a valuable wealth of several million dinars, it is understandable to ask him to buy it on behalf of others, but for 100,000 dinars, there is no need to ask the king to come forward at all. His sister or any rich businessman in the city can afford it.

Orville's mouth curled up slightly, and he knew that it was basically stable.

"Regarding this issue, I think you should take a long-term view. What I have now is only the commander's spoils. If you decide to keep these treasures in the country, then most of her soldiers will choose to sell them locally and find you first. After all, some things are difficult to carry. At that time, the spoils of this legion will be left in the country.

The 12th Legion is the most outstanding legion. The spoils they got are the best and most precious ones. Except for those sent to the Roman emperor, we can't get them back, and at least one-third of the remaining essence is in their hands. This will benefit your reputation and preserve our country's precious cultural wealth. It is a rare and great thing."

After this analysis, King Aquita was moved. He urgently needed to increase his reputation. Otherwise, not only would the rebels not support him, but those who had not yet rebelled in the country would not support the royal family. Any improvement in reputation must be strived for.

This is not the end. Orville continued: "You also know that the commander of the 12th Legion, Tia, is the daughter of Commander Vespa, and it is the most outstanding legion in the war. Do you think the rebels in the Holy City will surrender directly?"

King Aquita is not stupid. He can understand it with a little reminder.

Obviously, there will be a fierce battle for the Holy City later. Vespa's daughter is very competitive and is as brave as any man in battle. Even if it is to accumulate political achievements and military merits for his daughter, he will give priority to the 12th Legion. This legion will still get more things later.

The situation in the Holy City is very chaotic now. It doesn't take a brain to know that a large amount of property and treasures have been seized by the rebels. These people will never be pardoned after the war, and their property will become spoils of war.

He never thought that Rome would lose this war. In his opinion, Rome's lifespan was far from over. Even if 50,000 people failed this time, the Roman emperor would send another 100,000 people next time. It was impossible to fight against this country with the strength of half a province. It only needed to mobilize the elite legions in the north to watch over the Parthians. The Parphi people had no resistance at all.

Perhaps Vespa would keep some of them for himself to appease his emotions, but more would become the spoils of the soldiers. If they were not restricted at this time, those things would eventually flow overseas.

This was not just any town, but their holy city for thousands of years. There were countless holy objects and treasures in it. If he could not keep an eye on these things, even if the rebels were defeated, he would not be the king for long, and the people who obeyed Rome would not obey him.

This nation regarded God and religion as higher than the royal family. The royal family that could not protect God well had no need to exist. If this taboo was violated and the Romans took things away at will, I am afraid that even the nobles would no longer support the Herod royal family.