Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

Persia can be considered an ancient country, with strong commercial capabilities and traditions. It has great influence in the Mesopotamian Basin and Syria. This is one of the reasons why the Parthian king is unwilling to break up with the Romans again. They have a surplus in normal business dealings, so why bother to shed blood and sacrifice, unless the opportunity is too good, otherwise they will at most do some small actions to disgust their old opponents.

This is also one of the reasons why the Romans often make trouble in the Eastern provinces. They have always had a trade deficit with the East, and they must be unhappy and want to change the status quo. However, there is no commodity that can compete with silk, and there is no way to continue to impose high tariffs (it is the rulers of the Roman Empire who buy a lot of silk). Since the problem cannot be solved through diplomatic and trade means, the Romans have only the last resort, that is, to show their fangs.

Fortunately, their fangs are still lethal enough at this stage, so they have been maintaining a trade relationship with the Parthians that is not satisfactory but acceptable to both parties. However, the Romans have also thought about changing this balance. Supporting other commercial forces is one of their means.

Palmyra is a concrete example. It is a commercial city-state that the Romans raised to compete with Persian merchants in the East. It did work for a period of time. In the end, Palmyra took advantage of the empire's weakness to raise tigers independently. Despite this, Orville did not think that supporting commercial city-states was a bad idea. The important thing was to maintain a balance between several commercial city-states and not let them dominate.

Mucinus of the Syrian province was supporting Palmyra. His subordinate Lucius was a good example. Orville was also prepared to support the Nabataeans a little during this period, allowing them to compete with Persian merchants in the Mesopotamian Basin and other places.

Of course, this kind of competition should be limited to land, and sea trade was the cake that Orville had set for himself.

The conditions for the exchange of interests were not bad, and the situation was stronger than people. The Nabataeans reluctantly agreed to the terms.

——

After Orville returned to Egypt, the situation gradually stabilized, and the previously restless rebel forces gradually died down, but Orville was not satisfied with this. He was still worried about the future.

There are not many people he can trust completely, especially when it comes to disputes with the Senate. They may be willing to die gloriously on the battlefield for him, but they may not necessarily go against the patron who has protected his family for generations.

Therefore, the soldiers and officers recruited from the local area may not be so loyal and reliable. He may have to rely on the power of the peoples in the eastern provinces.

Although people from the Iberian province can also be used as help, Orville does not trust Trajan so much now. It is true that his family and his family are old friends, but Orville is now quite wary of the world line correction force.

It stands to reason that Vespa's health would not be so bad. He should have died of fever, not this kind of long-term disease that is difficult to cure and slowly died. Orville has been trying to send him various supplements, but it is difficult to prolong his survival time. He can only watch him die.

In this way, Vespa's death time will not deviate much from the real history. He thinks it is a bit strange that this correction force is so strong.

According to historical circumstances, the person who succeeded Nerva was Trajan. Of course, in history, that was Trajan in his forties. The current Trajan, who looked like a complete emperor in his twenties, should not be designated as the heir, but Orville could not guarantee this. It is better to be safe than sorry.

After careful consideration, Orville decided to confess these things to Cleopatra. With the other party's approval, things can be said to be safer.

——

In the Ptolemy Palace, which had been preliminarily repaired, Orville was telling Cleopatra about the various problems under the succession to the throne.

".To sum up, I now need the help of the people in the eastern part of the empire." Orville looked at her with a slightly complicated mood.

"It's quite interesting," Cleopatra said with a slightly sarcastic tone, "The Mithridates incident has just been resolved, right? The previous war has just ended, so why is there another massive civil war now? You guys really can't take a break."

"Maybe this is the fate of the conqueror." Orwell didn't finish the second half of his sentence. Maybe one day this huge empire will be dragged down by these high-intensity wars.

He wanted to continue speaking, but was stopped by the other party. Cleopatra opened her red lips and said, "There is no need to tell me those things. What I will get and what risks I will take are already very clear. Save some time for both of us. I don't care much about these things. I have been bargaining with you or arguing with you just to fulfill my responsibilities as a ruler.

Of course I can help you, but I want to ask you one thing, what do you think? Your wife is a person with an overly simple mind. Even I can make her bow her head and admit defeat. Face the facts, such a person is not suitable to be an emperor. She is not very good at managing her own power. In fact, your power is much greater than hers now.

Augustus is the one with strong soldiers and horses. This is what you said when you persuaded him to ascend the throne. Now your wife is not as suitable as you to be the emperor. If you want, I am willing to provide more help. And she should also be able to recognize the facts. Some of the ideas in your minds are similar. What she wants to do is not to seize power but to use power to realize her political ambitions. You can do the same after you ascend the throne.

So for her, maybe the result of you ascending the throne will be better. Because she doesn't need to deal with things she is not good at, you only need to let her be responsible for things she is good at."

Before Cleopatra finished speaking, Orville shook her head and rejected the other party: "No matter how much you say, no matter how willing Tia is to cooperate with me and forgive the past, I am actually trying to usurp the throne. This loophole cannot be opened again. You should be very clear about the situation of your family. The order and stability of inheritance cannot be destroyed again, otherwise your family's present is the future of the imperial family of this empire.

As for what you worry about for me, it is actually harmless. We will naturally divide the work between the two of us to handle things well. "

Orville's desire for power is definitely there, but it is not particularly strong. No matter how he and Tia divide the power, it is just an internal issue. It doesn't matter to him and Tia, but it is very important to others around him. Orville can understand Cleopatra's ideas, but understanding does not mean support.