Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Orville brought his army to Alexandria. In fact, the news could not be concealed. Even if it was not a diplomatic visit, the Ptolemaic royal family had to respond to it.

As expected, the invitation letter signed by King Ptolemy soon arrived in Orville's hands. Out of courtesy, Orville took the time to go there once. Then, as expected, the two sides did not discuss anything, nor did they reach any consensus of practical significance.

Mainly because Orville did not want to negotiate with the other party in depth. If Orville used the title of emperor to put pressure on the other party and forced the other party to abandon the alliance with Antonius and turn to the emperor's camp, then this was possible based on the current strength comparison, because Antonius was only the governor of a place, and Egypt might not even be able to suppress the army of the Syrian governor Mucinus.

Considering the strength comparison carefully, the other party will most likely make a "difficult choice" in the end. After all, they and Antonius are just allies with political interests. But Orville does not intend to do so at present. He believes that the problem of Egypt needs to be further resolved.

The Ptolemaic royal family has ruled here for too long, to the point of being rigid. Even if the Roman Empire does not include Egypt in the provincial governance system, Orwell believes that at least Egypt should be reformed drastically to allow the potential of this place to be more fully utilized. Of course, the minimum condition is that it cannot transcend the control of the central government of the Roman Empire. The premise of doing so is to get rid of the constraints of the old forces as much as possible, so Orwell does not intend to compromise too much with these people.

Now the power comparison between the two sides has not tilted. The royal family, the representative of the old forces, certainly cannot accept the conditions that seem "too much", and they themselves may not be able to reform on their own. Therefore, it is more realistic to discuss this matter with Cleopatra after a while. Her foundation is shallower and she does not have so much ability to bargain. I am afraid that she can accept Orwell's conditions more.

As for whether he would be fooled by Cleopatra, he was not too worried anyway. In his opinion, the popular sayings in history obviously exaggerated the charm of a woman, and in most cases, they were still based on interests. He might not be wise and brave enough to make particularly amazing operations that would be talked about by future generations, but he would not do particularly abstract things.

If Cleopatra could offer more suitable conditions, it would not matter if he obeyed the other party's wishes. If not, from a political perspective, he would not consider personal friendship.

………………

While Orville was quietly observing the situation in Egypt, new news came from Rome, his home city.

After several years of cultivation, the country had barely recovered some vitality. When Tia was in Rome before, she had proposed methods to increase fiscal revenue such as land inventory and population census. These methods were finally put into practice as in history. After three to five years, fiscal revenue increased a lot.

Vespa's rule was also closer to stability because of this. He could make some controversial political decisions and issue some spending policies.

First, he announced the construction of public facilities, or to put it bluntly, he wanted to build wonders.

When the previous emperor Nero was in power, he announced that he would build a "city green lung" in the urban area of ​​Rome, that is, a large area of ​​urban parks. This concept was a bit ahead of its time for people in the classical era, so naturally, like many of his policies, it was resisted.

Vespa's views were more in line with the mainstream. He announced that he would use the land that Nero had cleared to build a grand arena. It was natural to build this thing in the city. Both citizens and senators agreed with it, so the construction of this arena started recently. It was very large in scale, very expensive, and had a great impact in the future.

This is the famous Roman Colosseum, one of the city's business cards in later generations. Its official name can be called the Flavius ​​Arena.

In addition, the road expansion project that was once interrupted has also resumed normal operation. Transportation is the reliance of national rule and economic prosperity. The original drastic cuts in various public service expenditures have now returned to normal levels.

In addition to public construction, he also did several controversial things. He reintroduced the "Emperor Law", stipulating that the Senate no longer had the power to designate the emperor as a public enemy of the state, nor could it impeach the emperor and force the emperor to step down.

Nero suffered this loss and had to commit suicide after being designated as a public enemy of the state by the Senate. As his successor, Vespa would certainly be more careful and not repeat the same mistake.

The "Emperor Law" ensured the stability of the emperor's rule and personal safety to a certain extent, but it also made it more difficult for the emperor's power to be restricted through procedural means. It was a mixed practice, but for the current actual situation, Orville at least felt that Vespa did nothing wrong. After all, stability and security are the most basic things.

Whether Nero, Caligula or Claudius were criticized by the Senate, the older Vespa saw all of this and was really tired of this situation. It is understandable that he does not want to repeat the same mistakes. There is nothing to say, it is human nature.

In addition to the "Emperor Law", Vespa finally responded publicly to the issue of succession. After the election, Tia officially took office as consul and shared the position of consul with her father. According to Vespa's plan, Tia will continue to do so in the future and become the consul only under the emperor to control central politics.

He also gave Tia the title of "Imperator" (i.e., triumphant general), and granted Tia the right to command the army and the privileges of the tribune, and allowed Tia to add the word "Caesar" as a prefix to her name. With military power, Tia actually became the second-in-command of the empire, just like what Augustus did to Tiberius in the past. In Vespa's old age, he transferred part of his power to Tia in advance, which actually showed his attitude to the Senate.

In this regard, the Senate did not dare to openly oppose it. This was not pleasant when Vespa was in power, but it is certain that many people were dissatisfied with it. It was the first time in history that the throne was passed to a woman, and the resistance to change would not be small at any time.

The document did not talk about Orville. Like Domitia, he was not allowed to be called "Imperato" or "Caesar", nor did he get any real power position, but he was not dissatisfied with it. He has gained enough, and he is not interested in the position of emperor, which is easy to die from overwork, work all year round and be monitored by people with a magnifying glass.

PS. Some articles in history were issued after ascending the throne, and the plot needs to be changed.