Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

If Antonis's current position must be divided into a faction, he should be regarded as a Berdinos rather than a Ptolemaic, because it was Berdinos who had always benefited him and not the puppet monarch in name. Ptolemy.

But despite this, he still has interests related to Bodinos. Bodinos is not his master nor his biological father. He can understand Orville's dislike of Bodinos. After all, The tyrant was still a eunuch, so he really couldn't be liked by most people.

If Orville ignored him and did not openly talk about his dissatisfaction with Berdinos, then Antonis would probably be extra vigilant, because he probably knew that Orville was hiding something from him, and there might be a conspiracy behind it, but like Now that Orville has made things clear and frank, Antonis can feel a little more at ease.

His expression softened slightly and he said to Orville: "It is true that Berdinos is a very controversial person, but he is indeed beneficial to the rule of our empire. Only with him can we collect enough gold and silver in Egypt to subsidize our finances. We should be able to agree that this person is necessary to mobilize enough troops to serve us and obtain enough wheat to feed the citizens of Rome."

In fact, if Egypt ceased to exist, it might be conducive to the rule of the Roman Empire, because the governance capabilities of the vassal states were not as good as those of the provinces. However, Orwell was not here to argue with the other party's political policy, but just nodded slightly to express his approval of the other party. View.

"Indeed, before the emperor's additional orders come down, my purpose here is at most to purchase goods and recruit scholars, and I will not do meaningless and unnecessary things. You can rest assured that I am a person who is afraid of trouble."

After giving the other party such assurance, Antonis felt a little relieved. He raised his glass to toast Orville, and Orville responded with a toast in a relaxed and happy manner. The atmosphere of the first exchange between the two parties was considered to be harmonious. It seemed that They are colleagues who get along well with each other.

——

A few days later, in Orville's camp, Ivar and Orville sat opposite each other and had a simple lunch together.

He suddenly asked Ivar with some curiosity: "In your opinion, how does the city of Alexandria compare to Rome?"

"It's a bit more commercial than the city of Rome. You can see people selling goods and doing business everywhere, but I always feel that the people here are not very friendly, although the Romans are not very friendly. And I went there recently. I have looked at the towns further south, and the situation between the two places is very different.

Although the city of Rome is very different from the surrounding towns, the difference is only in the size of the towns. What I saw in Egypt is not only the size of the towns, but also differences in all aspects. It seems that even the races are different. .”

Ivar's keen observation made Orville nod repeatedly: "The actual situation should be like this. I agree with your idea. Do you know what the full name of Alexander should be officially called? Alexandria next to Egypt, in the eyes of people in the city of Alexandria, I don’t live in Egypt in the narrow sense, but in a city-state near Egypt. This is an Egyptian city dominated by Greeks. It’s a very subtle place.”

The difference between Alexandria next to Egypt and Alexandria in Egypt represents a huge difference. The identities of both sides are different. Alexandria is a colonial city controlled by the Greeks, while Egypt is the kingdom of the Egyptians. National conflicts arise. This has been plaguing this country since hundreds of years ago. Although improvements have been made until now, it has not been able to fundamentally solve the problem.

The Ptolemaic royal family was unable to completely Hellenize Egypt, nor could they completely Egyptianize themselves. They were just stuck without embarrassment, dragging down the development of the country. At least Orwell thought this was the Ptolemaic side. The important reason why the Roman Empire surrendered without a fight - places like mainland Greece, Seleucid, and Syracuse had fought with the Romans after all. If they lost, it would be a different matter. Egypt, the most powerful among them, directly chose to Surrender to the Romans, or, to put it nicely, "become a friend of the Roman Empire."

Ivar added at this time: "In addition, I also discovered a problem when I was observing in the city. The Egyptians' military discipline and quality are very poor, even those troops called the Praetorian Guards. The only ones who are acceptable are some veterans. Although these people are old, their arrows are still sharp and they are not easy enemies to deal with.

Except for these people, I think my 500 soldiers can defeat at least 1,500 Egyptian soldiers on the frontal battlefield, and can also maintain their organization. If you are prepared to fight these people, there should not be much technical skills. The problem. "

It is said that Rome originated from Greece. There are differences in the logic of the two civilizations, but there are also similarities. For example, now, the Greeks are far ahead and have already implemented some kind of Praetorian Guard succession law.

In the first hundred years of Ptolemaic Egypt, capable people emerged in large numbers, and the succession to the throne was relatively stable. However, this was not the case in the following hundreds of years. Competition for the throne was fierce, palace assassinations and even civil wars were common. In this case, Ptolemaic, who had 3,700 people, The Secret Guards are the most powerful and decisive force. If you master these people, you can control the palace. If you master the palace, it is not difficult to control the kingdom.

Due to their reliance on the Royal Guards, the Royal Guards have a great influence on the current succession of the throne, and they will not reach the point of monopolizing power, but it is no exaggeration to say that they are deeply affected.

In fact, among the current politicians in Egypt, the most important one is undoubtedly Berdinos, and the second most important person is also relatively certain, that is, the commander of the Guards, Achilles (not Achilles, but simply a historical figure). Cleopatra was driven out of Egypt largely because of him. With the commander of the Guards standing on the side of Berdinos, it is not realistic for Cleopatra to overturn the table and start a civil war in Egypt.

"I won't interfere with what you do in Alexandria or nearby. In short, your army must always maintain combat effectiveness and readiness, and can be deployed when I ask you to mobilize. There are too many potential enemies here. If they are not resolved with lightning speed, there may be more trouble."

"Don't worry, I have the ability to restrain my men. They have been through life and death with me and my father, and can faithfully obey orders. In addition, everyone's daily drinking and travel are restricted. I can put everyone in combat mode within two hours."

"That's good, keep it like this."

Ivar is a very clear-headed person. He will do things well without much instructions when communicating with him. Loyalty may be maintained entirely by interests, but when interests do not conflict, Orwell is more confident in him.

PS. I don't know much about this. Achilles may not be the commander of the Guards, but the commander of another army. This is for the needs of the plot, so let's assume he is the commander of the Guards.