Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

For a moment, he couldn't understand what the other party meant by this. Orville first asked: "Which aspect are you referring to?"

"I know that you surrendered to the Romans during the Parphy War. Since the surrender, you have achieved a high position within the Romans. How does it feel?"

This was not a sensitive question. Orville did not shy away from it and basically answered the other party truthfully: "It's normal and nothing special. I'm very grateful to His Highness the Emperor for his respect and training in me, but I also used my talents to repay His Highness the Emperor." I feel very lucky along the way, but luck also requires ability to bear it.”

Mithridates shook his head slightly and did not agree with this answer: "I am talking about your feelings about your identity. You are a special existence among the Romans, and you have betrayed your own ethnic group. What do you do about these things? What do you think?"

"There's one thing you didn't understand. Although the Parfi people are known for adhering to their cultural habits and spiritual beliefs to the point of stubbornness, I don't have any belief or persistence in these things. I don't have any respect for the Parfi people. On the other hand, I have no problem living among the Romans. The Romans don’t think I am out of place, so I don’t feel uncomfortable or have a bad conscience.”

Orville himself is a modern person who has traveled through the soul. Of course, he has no community understanding of a group from two thousand years ago. Putting aside these things, the original owner himself is also a minority member of the Palfi group. Because he is a mixed race, he has always been a minority. Since he has not been fully recognized, he naturally does not have a strong identification with the Palfi people.

This answer was somewhat unexpected. Mithridates continued: "Then I think you can also see what the Romans did on your nation's land. The Romans also did similar things on my land." matter."

Orville did not accept the other party's argument: "If you are a commoner who cannot survive in the local area or a noble or businessman who was persecuted by the Romans until his family was ruined, I can understand this, but you are a rentier under the Roman rule. First, in the final analysis, the Roman rule over Pontus still depends on people like you. You are not a persecuted person.

And I don't see much kindness and sympathy for the local people in your actions and policies. Your tax collection is no less than before. The phenomenon of exploitation still exists, it just changed its name. Originally it was to maintain peace under Rome (PAX ROMANA), but now it is to protect the people from tyranny. What is the difference in behavior? I personally didn't see it. "

"That's right. You're right. I don't really care whether the local civilians live or die." Mithridates did not deny all this. "But the locals have indeed been dissatisfied with the Romans for a long time. This is true. The situation exists, and I just want to satisfy my own ambitions while the locals vent. Both the Greeks and the Pontians now need a leader, and another Alexander the Great is needed to repair reality. I am the most potential. The candidates are more deserving than the two women of the Ptolemaic family. They only inherited Alexander's reputation and a little bit of jurisprudence, and did not have the ambition to become Alexander at all."

"If you are simply reflecting dissatisfaction, there is no need to go to this step at all. It's just that you want to use this opportunity to realize yourself, and losing the bet led to all this. Even if Alexander the Great is resurrected, you should not choose at this time For a head-on conflict with the Romans, it’s good to be ambitious, but your strength must match your ambition.”

Orville probably believed that if Alexander really won the Easter Tournament and appeared in this time and space, the opponent would not choose to directly resist if Mithridates was in Mithridates's position. It is more likely that he would rely on the stronger rule of the local remote Romans. If you are weak, expand your power as quickly as possible, climb to a higher position within the empire, and then launch an attack.

"There's nothing to say. I lost the bet. The winner is the king or the loser. I lost because I misjudged the resistance of others. Except for the Franks, most of them no longer dare to resist. I shouldn't have adopted this method. This method.

Next, we have to see if your majesty, the prince, can make the right bet. According to the intelligence I have collected recently, the resistance you and your majesty have to face is not small."

Mithridates looked at Orville with deep meaning. Orville knew that he was talking about the succession of the throne. After Vespa died, there would probably be a fight between them and the Senate.

"Maybe." Orville didn't want to discuss such a core issue with his enemy, so he made a few perfunctory remarks and ended the conversation.

He was a little disappointed. He had thought that the other party would leave a deeper impression on him, but in the end he only felt that the other party was an open-minded gambler who lost his bet.

——

Within two or three days after Orville left the villa, Mithridates met some more people, and then committed suicide on the third day. He died by taking poison.

According to legend, Mithridates VI had a very strong tolerance for poisons. He would consume small doses of certain toxic substances every day, and regularly increase the amount of poisons he ingested. In this way, he gradually acquired a poison-resistant physique. , and finally developed a body that is invulnerable to all poisons.

Obviously this method is not as reliable as the legend, and the toxin can still kill people, but the death of Mithridates caused a lot of trouble for Orville and Tiya.

He did not leave a will when he died, which caused a lot of trouble. According to logic, this is easy to understand - it was simply that Mithridates did not want to bear the humiliation of being paraded through the streets as a defeated person, so he chose to commit suicide first. People who live their lives believe that it is better to die with dignity than to live in vain. This is a way of dealing with things that is often seen in people with strong self-esteem.

But this does not prevent some people from interpreting this matter as Mithridates committed suicide voluntarily. The culprit was Orville. As for why it was not Tiya, the public thought that Tiya was too upright to do such a thing. With the emperor sitting on top, it was difficult to throw dirty water on someone like her, so they chose Orville, who had more normal methods.

Tia felt a little angry at this kind of slander, but Orville didn't feel any pain at all. The psychological damage it caused to him was not as great as the previous slander he had been slandered as a lecherous man. Even celebrities and political figures cannot be justified without such rumors. He Not at all serious.

A few days later, leaving a part of the garrison to guard the vicinity of Pontus, Orville and the large army returned to Greece. At the same time, Ovid also came to Greece from Crimea.

Out of the desire to go home, it should be said that the other party burst out with extraordinary creative enthusiasm at this moment. When he arrived in Athens, he handed Orville a very beautifully written and very detailed record. After being organized, it becomes a quite readable history book (by the standards of this era).

Orville accepted the history book, and then agreed to take the other party to Rome and intercede for the other party. Ovid could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It can be clearly seen that he has quite thick dark circles under his eyes. He does not know how many days and nights he has been I didn't get a good rest because I was busy working on this book.

After the supplies, personnel, prisoners, etc. were all in place, Tiya set sail with the fleet and prepared to return to Rome. Originally, Orville planned to go back to Egypt directly and ignore these things, but at Tiya's strong request, he In the end, he complied with the other party's wishes and allowed Trajan to return to Egypt temporarily with the large army, while Orville took a small number of soldiers of the Ninth Legion to follow the other party back to the homeland to participate in the triumphal ceremony.

——

I will not go into details about the various procedures. This is not the first time that Orville has led an army from other provinces to the mainland, and he has long been accustomed to these routine activities.

After returning to the mainland, Orville did not wait in the military camp outside the city like last time. Instead, he came to the palace one step ahead. Vespa said that he had something to ask him.

It has been several years since I have seen him. It can be clearly seen that Vespa is much more haggard than before. There is a lot less flesh on his cheeks, his eye sockets have become a bit sunken, and he does not look very healthy. No wonder People in the Senate have been a little restless recently.

If the emperor's condition is not good and it is difficult to take charge of the overall situation, the power of the Senate will naturally expand. Obviously the opponent's condition is not very good. If this continues, the opponent may not be able to hold on for a long time.

After meeting, Orville asked tentatively: "Do you have something to do with me?"

Vespa was stunned for a moment before he said calmly: "It's mainly about Tia. The people in the Senate and I have some differences."

In short, the main point of disagreement between the two sides was Tia's triumph. They believed that Vespa praised Gautia too much. Over the years, three triumphal ceremonies have been prepared for Tia. This is a very unusual number. The three triumphal ceremonies were held by people like Caesar, and it is obvious that Tia is still not up to Caesar's level anyway. character, so they felt that they should hold less than one triumphal ceremony for Tia, two times would be enough.

After hearing this, Orville thought for a while and then replied: "I think we don't need to worry about them for the time being. Now that Tiya's reputation is at its peak, even if they are dissatisfied, they can only keep it in their hearts. And there is someone who should be able to do this for the time being." The situation helped.”

"who is it?"

"Ovid, who was exiled before, has many supporters in Rome and can help us."

"You know, he did some stuff before."

"He has now taken remedial measures and you will see the documents later."

"Okay, now that you have spoken, I will allow it for the time being. As for the triumphal ceremony, I still need you to do something. You go to the triumphal ceremony with Tiya, so that you can stop those people's mouths, even if it is just a formality. That’s all.”

Holding a triumphal ceremony specifically for Tia will make some people dissatisfied, but holding it for two people seems more compromise. Orville and Tia are actually a family, and this result will not cause much negative impact on Tia. influence, so Vesper can still accept it.

There is no need for Orville to refuse: "If this is necessary, no problem, I will make preparations for this."

Vesper nodded slightly, and then there was a relatively long silence.

"I heard about what you did in Egypt, including what happened with Cleopatra. As Tiya's father, of course I would feel a little unhappy about this matter, but as an emperor, I think you do That's right. You have secured a very suitable ally for yourself. He and Mucinus will obtain unimaginable benefits for our family. The entire eastern province of the empire is supporting us, even if the Senate opposes it, it will be of no avail.

But now I want to ask you what you think, what do you think of the emperor's position? To be honest, if this continues, passing the ball to you will almost become a more suitable choice. "

Apart from the issue of family background, Orville is indeed a fairly qualified successor to the ruler in Vespa's opinion. He has most of the necessary abilities and understands the scale. In this regard, he is stronger than Tia, who has many talents. It is too idealistic in every aspect and may not be suitable for governing as a ruler.

Of course, Orville also has his own problems. His background makes him wary of some Romans, but so far he has not shown any personality traits of the Palphians, which has eliminated a lot of this hostility. Thinking about it carefully, it doesn't seem impossible.

Knowing that this question was more important, Orville replied after thinking about it: "To be honest, I am not very interested in the position of emperor. I am very satisfied with my current position. Being an emperor is a very tiring job, and I I don’t think I’m talented enough to manage a large enough empire. I’m afraid managing provinces is almost my limit.”

Orville is not modest. He really thinks so. When he was governing the province of Egypt, he was dragged down by the complicated official duties to the point where he could hardly get away. While status brings power, it can also bring responsibility. Too high a The status and responsibility are too big for him, but he feels okay now.

"Maybe that's the case. You have to be prepared when you go back this time. I feel like I won't have much time, which is what happened in the last three to five years. You know what you should do. I'm tired, step back. Let me rest."

Vesper did not delve into these issues, and after saying something that made Orville break into a cold sweat, he sent Orville away.

After Orville left the palace, he carefully thought about the meaning of Vespa's words, and then decided to write a letter to Belisarius of Britain first, asking him to cheer up and prepare.

His goal in the next period of time will be very clear - to guard against dissidents in the Senate, prepare for matters related to Tia's accession to the throne, and at the same time manage the Egyptian province well. Vespa should not let himself go again. Transferred out of the Egyptian province.