Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Orville said this, and Astolfo didn't care. He fumbled for a piece of parchment on his body and showed it to Orville. It was densely written with numbers.

"My brothers and I are indeed not in shape, but please don't doubt our ability. We are all good players. Although we had a lot of fun during the time we came to Egypt in advance, we also had no time for fun. I have read about the laws of your country. There should be a "Julius Case Law" and a "Julius Civil Rights Law." Do you have any impression of the specific contents? "

The "Julius Case Law" contains many provisions on the behavioral norms of national public officials, while the "Julius Civil Rights Act" contains many legal provisions to protect citizens and provincial residents. Orwell affirmed the specific provisions I can't fully understand it, but I have a tentative impression of the general content of these files.

Seeing Orville nod, Astolfo continued: "According to the laws of your country, public officials cannot accept bribes exceeding ten thousand sesterces (large denomination copper coins, approximately two thousand five hundred dinars). Then The list of all taxpayers must be published to ensure fairness.

But the law stipulates this, but what I found locally is not exactly the same. The bribes Antonis collected far exceeded this order of magnitude. If you count, it is at least thousands of talents, and many things are not It’s measured by money. You can read the document yourself for the specific content. What we found out in a short period of time is definitely not complete. Just the tip of the iceberg is enough for you to impeach him.

There is one more thing. You have to collect a tribute in the Kingdom of Egypt. This amount is calculated according to the proportion of Egypt’s tax-paying population. I don’t know the specific proportion, but I am sure that Antonisk deducted part of it, and some people also paid taxes. However, they did not pay tribute to you Romans as required. All in all, like most places I've seen, the situation here seems fine at first glance, but upon closer inspection, there are indeed many problems. "

It seems careless, but Astolfo is a descendant of the royal family after all. He received a complete education as a noble ruler when he was young. He knows more about the twists and turns between money and taxes than most people. As long as you check carefully, it will be very easy to understand. It is easy to find some clues and discover the disharmony.

After Orville understood the general situation, he opened the parchment and started reading, and then he was deeply surprised by the data on it - he knew that Egypt was wealthy, but he did not expect that Antonis alone could scrape out so much wealth and wealth.

It is said that in the past half month alone, just discussing the situation discovered by Astolfo, Antonis's men have collected at least millions of dinars in bribes, and Antonis's fields and commercial properties here are even more It's hard to count, and a rough estimate is that it's calculated in tens of millions of dinars. As for the wealth that Astolfo said is "not measurable in money," he specifically refers to retired Roman soldiers.

They were originally Antonis' subordinates. After retiring from the army, many of them were given a piece of land to make a living in accordance with the rules. They directly obtained a piece of land in Egypt. Antonis was responsible for the distribution of the land. Many of these soldiers became soldiers in disguise. The protected person of Antonis is a relationship under the Latin patronage system. According to academic theory, the patron with a higher status uses the power and resources in his hands to grant favors or benefits to an individual or group with a lower status. The patron returns support, loyalty or service to the patron, thus forming a more stable reciprocal relationship.

To put it simply, Antonis accepted these people as his stable younger brothers, and their descendants are likely to continue to serve Antonis' family.

If Antonis relied on his own ability to expand the group of protected persons, then Orville would not point fingers. The problem is that Antonis is essentially relying on the empire to seek personal gain for his family. Soldiers who regard Antonis as their patron can obtain good farmland. , and those who do not agree are likely to be excluded.

It hasn't been long now, and Antonis has only been here for a few years, and has not yet developed any serious problems. If it is delayed for another five or ten years, it may not be possible.

Originally, governors, especially governors in key positions like Egypt, must be replaced frequently to prevent the governor from exerting power in the local area, but this practice was a bit unexpected for Antonis.

After a closer look, Nero can still be blamed. Anyway, the dead can take the blame at will. His reputation has been smeared by the Senate.

Nero was indeed a little slack in his rule in the middle and late period. Antonis, who was supposed to be transferred back to his homeland early and was reassigned, never went back. Then there was a year of civil war in Rome. He may have reached some kind of agreement with Vespa so that Vespa could Gaining his support to become emperor, Antonis could continue to make money in Egypt. In the short term, Vespa could not directly replace him due to interest exchange, which was one of the necessary prices for becoming emperor.

In short, judging from the final result, Antonis has been in office for nearly ten years. This is an unnaturally long time for a governor whose term is usually only one or two years, so Antonis already has some big tails. Condition.

This is the reason why Vespa agreed to Orville's request. He didn't care much about what the Egyptians did. The main thing was that Antonis was too close to the Egyptians and had been operating there for too long. He had to find a way to kick him out. Walk.

The size of Egypt was worthy of Vespa's vigilance. Although Rome itself during this period could rely on blood-sucking to achieve a better economic level than Egypt, the eastern part of the Mediterranean was several levels richer than the west, and the local advantage was not that significant.

Before the fall of Egypt in history, the central government's annual income was about six thousand talents. This is two hundred years later, and the productivity level is higher than at the same time in history. Egypt's land and trade can provide at least eight thousand to ten thousand talents. The financial revenue of Egypt may be more than ten times higher than that of Britain. Such a large area of ​​land can threaten the stability of the empire. Especially Egypt supplies one-third of the food of Rome itself, so it must be guarded against.

I have to say that Astolfo did a very good job this time and helped Orville find an excuse to take action. The next step was an opportunity to take action.

Putting away the parchment, Orville said to him: "You did a good job. I need more information in this area, as well as the most critical evidence. I hope you can take the trouble to help me find it. If you need any actual Please tell me the reward, I can meet your request within the limit.”

"I will, forget about the reward. I'm not doing it for money, I just enjoy the process of doing chivalry." Astolfo casually refused Orville's reward.