Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War

The other party breathed a sigh of relief, at least he could successfully communicate: "Claudius Ptolemy, His Royal Highness the Prince"

Before he could finish speaking, Orville stood up abruptly, rushed to him quickly, touched his shoulder, and a string of information entered his mind.

[Claudius Ptolemy—a brilliant scholar]

Diplomacy: 14

Military: 9

Management: 19

Strategy: 16

Knowledge: 42

Orville turned around silently, grinned and began to smile unconsciously.

It can be regarded as winning the jackpot. A rich woman is a rich woman, and she can win a big prize by just sending someone to deliver a letter. Basically, it is certain that this person is the scientist Ptolemy in history, the one who established the geocentric theory and maintained its authoritative position for thirteen hundred years before being broken by Copernicus.

Modern people may think that the geocentric theory is ridiculous because it has been falsified, but there must be a reason for any theory to last for more than a thousand years. Ptolemy was indeed an excellent astronomer and mathematician in his time.

The method he used to prove geocentrism was not metaphysics, but mathematics and geometry. He undoubtedly had a very good level in this regard. Just look at the evaluation of him by later generations.

The Arabs call his "Almagest" the "Supreme Treatise". As world-famous second-rate merchants, Arab merchants make a living on the sea. Their footprints extend from the western Mediterranean to southern China. Long-distance voyages must have a solid foundation. Basic astronomy, otherwise I don’t know how I would have died.

Since they unanimously praise Ptolemy's academic achievements and think it is necessary to study them, it means that these theories are somewhat useful for navigation and are relatively accurate.

In addition, Ptolemy also made many achievements in map surveying. He was the master of geography at that time. He used longitude and latitude in map drawing, and also discussed issues such as map projection and scale. He was a representative figure in pre-modern European cartography. Columbus was fooled by the maps he drew when he discovered the New World.

In simple words - he can draw more accurate maps, which is very important for any country with a vast territory. Maps have a huge impact on management, war and trade. An accurate map It is an exaggeration to say that the map can improve the efficiency of the entire country's machinery.

Orville turned around and laughed for three to five seconds before returning to his seat and said to the dazed Ptolemy: "Don't take it too seriously and continue talking about your story. I suddenly had some inspiration for literary creation. That’s all, I’m sorry for being rude.”

Ptolemy certainly had nothing to say, so he could only continue the topic, took out an envelope from his arms and handed it to Orville for him to read.

After opening the sealed letter, it was found that it was written by Cleopatra herself. The handwriting was beautiful and the content was concise and to the point.

"Dear Prince of the Roman Empire, I regret that I cannot go to Rome to talk to you in person because my freedom has been restricted. The eunuch Bodinos and the general Achilles are ambitious and want to usurp the authority of the Ptolemaic royal family. This is undoubtedly an act of treason.

I fully understand your difficulties, but I also ask that you provide some help to the best of your ability, whether in Rome or elsewhere. The Ptolemaic family would always be friends of the Roman people, and Cleopatra would not let her friends down. "

If Cleopatra used Alexander's previous affairs to get close to Orville, Orville would not accept this trick, but now the other party did not mention it at all, and did not even ask Orville to do something specific, which made Orville a little bit Not sure.

"Can you give me some tips on what she wants me to do?"

Ptolemy shook his head: "I don't even know the content of the letter, so how can I give you a hint? However, Her Royal Highness the Princess gave me some royal jewels and gold before leaving. She asked me to pass it on to you, saying that she hoped you would purchase it on her behalf. Some war supplies."

"Give me some time to think about it."

After thinking about it for a moment, Orville probably understood what Cleopatra meant.

Egypt or Syria and other places have complete metallurgical industries. They are not as developed as those in Rome, but they can still forge weapons and equipment normally. Buying from Orville in Rome obviously requires confidential delivery to hide the public's eyes.

She was a teenage girl with no acquaintances in Rome, and the only one who could accomplish this was Orville.

First of all, things like swords, guns, swords and halberds were okay. Armor was also a key control object in Rome and was not so easy to buy. It was possible for ordinary merchants to get three or five sets of armor. Thousands or even thousands of sets of armor were just a fantasy. Orville still has the conditions to do these things in the name of military procurement, and it will not arouse too much suspicion.

He also had his own fleet that could transport these weapons and equipment out of Rome and all the way to Egypt. At most, they would collude with the Herodian royal family and say that these weapons were ordered by them, shipped to Parphi, and then transferred to Egypt.

In fact, there are not many senators in Rome who have such channels. Among them, the only one Cleopatra may have direct contact with is Orville. The remaining people will most likely not help, but will expose this matter. To the eunuch Bodinos.

So it seems that the only person who can ask for help is Orville. Orville does have the ability to help the other party, but the question now is whether to help, and whether helping is good or bad in the long run.

Whether Cleopatra was really beautiful or not is aside, the impression she left on the Romans is really not good, and she left a very serious negative impression. She was a "woman who cannot be mentioned by name", and all the nicknames for her were derogatory. The most representative one should be the poet Propertius calling her "the promiscuous queen of Canopus", and the names of others later also failed to pass the review.

Under repeated propaganda, the psychological shadow she left on the Romans was so great that Berenice, the old lover of Titus (Tia) in another time and space, was strongly resisted by the people of Rome just for satisfying the two keywords of "foreigner" and "queen", and almost caused a riot. At that time, the Roman people called Berenice "Titus' Cleopatra", and there was a gap of more than a hundred years between the two, and the impact can be seen.

It is hard to say whether Orwell helped her, whether this behavior was an investment for the future or a tiger raising a tiger to cause trouble. It is certain that Berdinos is a person with no ability, and it seems that it is not impossible to let such a mediocre person govern Egypt like this.

This matter is of great importance, and it may affect the overall pattern of the Roman Empire in the future, so Orville is inevitably hesitant. Ptolemy also saw this, so he began to get nervous.

If Orville refused, it would be a question whether he could walk out of the mansion alive.

In the end, Orville made a decision: "I will prepare what Cleopatra asked for, but the method may be different from what she originally thought."