Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

A few days later, at the gate of a manor outside Rome, two groups of people were talking.

Valerian Capianus looked at the young man in front of him with awe, and said: "Your Highness, the people you want are here. Do you need to inspect them? I can cooperate with you to check them at will. I swear on my family's reputation that there is no problem. I stayed up all night to select them one by one. I guarantee that they are the best ones I can find now. Everyone is healthy and strong. I will find more Gauls according to your requirements."

Orville frowned slightly and looked at the long row of people behind Capua. Each of them was imprisoned by ropes or shackles, and they were ragged. They didn't look very optimistic in their mental and health states. All the details showed their identities - a group of slaves, one of the lowest people in Roman society.

Orville met a lot of people during the Palphi War. Among them, the tribune Nicanor felt exhausted after the war and chose to retire directly. He is now working in the inn under Orville. There is also a person who is very useful to him. This is Valerian standing in front of him now.

Vespa admired this man and gave him several opportunities to show himself. Facts proved that he might not be suitable for being a soldier. After the Palphic War, he found a job in the local navy. For a family with considerable assets, this was not a difficult task.

Valerian's family had been slave traders for generations, and their business was quite large. Although Orville did not like the word "slave", this was the golden age of slavery after all, and it was impossible not to deal with these people, so occasionally he would still have business dealings with them.

This was one of the times. Most of these people were Gauls. Although the Gallic War ended with the efforts of Tia and Aurelian, there were still sporadic rebellions in various places for a period of time after the Gallic War. After clearing out these people, the local garrisons no longer acted as good people and directly sold them as slaves. The economic and trade center of the western Mediterranean was undoubtedly Rome, so these people came to Rome after a lot of twists and turns. Now Orville bought them back.

He didn't want to be a pushover. Although resistance for survival was respectable, Orville had seen too many such examples over the years and had become more or less numb. He redeemed these people more out of practical interests - he needed soldiers in Britain, and these Gauls who were about to become freed slaves would be a good choice. Jeanne Dacre's popular prestige and Orville's conciliatory policy could completely eat these people, and by the way, they could continue to stir up trouble in Britain.

After thinking about how to deal with these people and what weapons to equip them with, Orville still asked to check the condition of the slaves: "I don't distrust you, but the necessary business procedures must be followed."

Valerian didn't know what Orville was thinking, but nodded repeatedly: "No problem, please ask your men to check it yourself, my people will fully cooperate with you."

He had a good impression of Orville, and after Orville's power in the empire gradually increased, he also became Orville's supporter. Although he had not yet reached the level of becoming a "protected person", he would not refuse Orville if he had any reasonable requests.

When the two sides handed over their personnel, Valerian said to Orville enthusiastically: "I heard that your wedding will be in five days?"

"That's right, time is quite tight. I will prepare an invitation letter for you and send it to your house soon. After all, you are one of my few friends."

Valerian was also quite emotional: "I really didn't expect things to develop to this point. Now I regret not continuing to fight side by side with you."

Although he was timid and had poor adaptability, Valerian was still a relatively normal Roman in his bones. He was eager to make achievements and bring honor to his family.

Orville reached out and patted the other's shoulder: "Everyone has something suitable for him, but if you want to pursue honor, it's never too late."

It can be seen that Valerian did not want to delay Orville too much time. After a brief chat with Orville, he took the initiative to leave after the inspection was completed, leaving Orville's soldiers and these slaves looking at each other.

He subconsciously glanced at the sun. There was still some time before lunch. He gathered these people together and gave a simple speech. The gist of it was that they should not worry too much. He was not here to settle accounts with them. He would grant these people the status of free men, provided that they served in the Roman auxiliary army for ten to fifteen years. After the service, he would give these people the opportunity to obtain land. He also dragged Jeanne Dacre, who was far away in Britain, into the conversation, saying that he redeemed these people at Jeanne's request.

Although they were skeptical, these people had no chance of escaping. Orwell did not need to lie to these people who could not decide their own fate. Judging from their expressions, most people should have believed Orwell's words.

Ivar witnessed all this from a distance. He did not hide his doubts. Instead, after Orwell finished his speech, he walked over and asked, "As far as I know, you don't treat slaves like that. Why are you so tolerant of these people?"

Orville replied easily: "It's very simple. I'm almost like them. These people are not livestock, they just can't completely decide their own destiny for various reasons. I think we should respect those who dare to resist." At one point, they did something that a lot of people wanted to do but were afraid to do.”

——

While Orville was busy handling various government affairs, a piece of news spread like wildfire in Rome, causing an uproar.

Orville Flavius ​​Vespasianus, the adopted son of the current emperor Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, is going to marry Vespa's biological daughter Thea Flavia. Spasia's marriage, gossip news about dignitaries has always been a topic of concern to the common people in any era. As the apex of dignitaries, the emperor naturally received special attention, so as soon as the news of the marriage came out, it attracted quite a lot of attention. discussion.

The people currently don't have much resistance to this matter, because Tia has a high prestige in the city of Rome, and Orville is not without prestige. Many people even forget that he was originally a Parfian, thinking that he was born and raised in Rome. Roman because he did not display any of the religious and cultural traits of the Parfians.