Rome Must Fall

Tullius followed the slave into the governor's residence and came to the central courtyard. From a distance, he saw the new governor wearing a white toga, sitting in the pavilion of the cloister, with his back to him, admiring the statue in the pool in front.

Tullius remembered some experiences about the new governor, and while bowing, he said loudly and respectfully: "Dear Governor, Tullius salutes you!"

Caesar turned around, looked at him with his hands behind his hands, and said with a half-smile: "I have heard of you, Tullius, a famous weapons merchant in the North Italian province. Half of the weapons and equipment of the army here are made of Please tell me, who is your patron?"

Tullius did not expect Caesar to ask such a direct question. He was stunned for a moment and immediately replied: "Gaius Cornelius Kitagus was my former patron. After he was executed (Cythegus) Tegus was one of the five "Catiline Conspirators" designated by Cicero). His family gave up their support for me, but I was criticized by my competitors here because of my friendship with his family. , stuck in trouble..."

At this point, he bent down again and said sincerely: "I heard that you, Lord Governor, have been defending Lord Kitagus before. I am willing to serve you as your master and devote all my strength to your cause!"

"I understand, you can go back first." Caesar said noncommittally and calmly.

Caesar's lack of expression made Tullius a little flustered, and he quickly said: "Your Majesty the Governor, I have recently discovered a major secret and want to report it to you."

"Tell me and listen."

Tullius did not speak, but looked around.

Seeing the cautious look on his face, Caesar couldn't help but be curious, so he retreated, leaving only his trusted slave beside him.

Tullius took out a small ornate cloth bag that he kept close to his chest, carefully took out a palm-sized piece of light red "cloth" from the bag, and handed it to Caesar respectfully.

Caesar reached out and took it, and by touch, he immediately realized that this was not cloth. It was soft and dense, somewhat similar to papyrus, but it was thicker and more flexible than papyrus.

What’s even more amazing is that this thing is also painted with complex patterns: In the mountain forest, beside a wide and calm river, stands a tribal camp. Houses of various sizes are scattered in the camp, and a wooden bridge spans it. On the river, there are boats sailing on the river, and people are walking around in the village...

The vast natural landscape and tribal life are condensed into such a small thing, but it can be so lifelike, giving the viewer a sense of tranquility and harmony. It can be said that the producer has extremely superb and exquisite painting skills.

Caesar hurriedly turned to the other side. Unfortunately, there was no pattern on the other side. Instead, there were several strange symbols painted in the center, and underneath the symbols there was a line of Latin text.

Caesar opened his eyes and looked carefully: "Ni...Nix...Tribe...Bank...Issuance...is this?!"

Facing Caesar's inquiry, Tullius immediately responded: "Your Majesty Governor, this is a banknote used by a tribe called Nyx outside the northeastern border of our province of North Italy——"

"Bills?"

"We in Rome and other city-states in the Mediterranean use gold, silver and copper coins to buy and sell things, but this tribe called Nyx uses this kind of paper money to buy and sell things. However, this kind of paper money is only used in their tribe and is strictly prohibited from being exported!

When I was trading iron ore with the big leader of Noriki, I accidentally discovered that he owned this thing, so I offered to buy it from him. He was reluctant at first, but I have been with him for many years and have a good relationship, and I paid a high price, so he finally agreed.

He also told me that he got this note from a leader of the Noriki tribe who was close to the Nyx tribe and had a close relationship with it, and he paid a lot of money for it. The leader of the Noriki tribe was quietly obtained from the Knicks tribe, and he also paid a high price, because the Knicks tribe had to take a lot of risks. It is said that the Knicks tribe's laws stipulated that , whoever gives banknotes to people outside the tribe will be severely punished...

The Noriki leader also told me that the Knicks' banknotes have many denominations. This banknote is equivalent to one of our Seths and is the lowest denomination. Their highest denomination banknote is equivalent to our Seris gold coin. , what is painted on it is a Celtic goddess they believe in. It is said that the painting is very beautiful. If he can get such a note, he will not change it no matter how much I give..."

While listening to Tullius's story, Caesar repeatedly touched and inspected the banknotes in his hand. His originally calm expression became turbulent: "You said this thing is called banknotes. Since the Nyx people use it for buying and selling, that means That Knick tribe has a lot of these banknotes?”

"I heard from the leader of Noriki that the trade within the Nyx tribe is very prosperous. There is a market in each of their towns. The market is very lively every day. I think the trading activities must be very frequent. The kind of trade that is needed There will definitely be no shortage of banknotes," Caesar said thoughtfully. "Since there are many such banknotes in the Knicks tribe, the patterns on these banknotes are definitely not painted one by one by painters. Do you know what method the Knicks used to produce such kind of banknotes in large quantities? Such beautifully designed banknotes?”

"Sir Governor, I have discovered this problem before. I asked the leader of Noriki, but he was ignorant and didn't care about it, so I spent a lot of money to ask him to help me find out about it.

After a while, he told me with regret that the Nix tribe was strictly controlled. Once an outsider approached their workshop, he would be arrested. He could not get any information about this.

Later, I used a lot of money to recruit several adventurers and asked them to use various methods to enter the Nix tribe to obtain information about this, but no one has returned so far..."

Caesar frowned, he gently rubbed the banknotes in his hand, turned his head and said to his trusted slave: "Go get some pen and ink. "

The pen and ink were quickly brought, Caesar unfolded the banknote, picked up the pen and wrote on the side of the banknote without a pattern.

"General..." Tullius wanted to stop him, but immediately closed his mouth, watching Caesar write his name on the banknote with heartache.

Caesar looked at the line of words he had written, savoring the writing process just now: "This kind of banknote has strong water absorption, and it will not crack even if you write hard. Even if you write densely, the handwriting is still clear, and it can be folded and rubbed... Since the Nixes dare to use it as currency, it should be able to be preserved for a long time, and it can be used in large quantities. I think the production cost will not be too high... It seems that this kind of banknote made by the Nixes is more conducive to writing than the Egyptian papyrus!"

At that moment, Caesar thought a lot, and his eyes burned with a burning light: "And since they can copy patterns on banknotes in large quantities, they can naturally copy text and knowledge on paper in large quantities, so that more people can see it. This will be a great thing for the Roman people! "

"Governor, you are so wise! "Tullius sincerely complimented: "I just thought that if I could get this technology to make paper money and make better paper than papyrus, people all over the Mediterranean would definitely rush to buy it, and then I could make a lot of money!

It's far less far-reaching than your consideration, and I want to seek more and better benefits for the Roman people! However, the Nixes seem to understand how tempting these technologies they have are, so they are on guard, and it may be difficult to obtain them easily! "

Caesar looked at him with a smile: "Are you instigating me to send troops to attack Nix?"

Although Caesar's tone was light, it frightened Tullius so much that he trembled all over, and immediately bent his waist lower, and quickly explained: "Your Excellency the Governor is wronged, I dare not do this even if I have the courage of the world! It's just that after I got this banknote from Nix, I kept it a secret and didn't let anyone know. But I'm not the only one who trades iron ore with the Norikis. Other weapons dealers may also be able to get information from the Norikis, and behind them are other senators. What if——"

Caesar curled his lips and said calmly: "I am the governor of the three northern provinces of Italy appointed by the Senate, and my term of office is five years. It is within my authority to conquer the Nix tribe. Do you think other senators have the ability to surpass me, destroy Nix, and obtain the technology to make banknotes and copy patterns? ! "

"This... Please forgive me, Governor, I'm really stupid!"

Caesar smiled slightly, turned around and pointed to the center of the courtyard, and said leisurely: "The most satisfying thing about this official residence is the statue in this pool. He is not Jupiter or Mars, but Minerva. It seems that the governor who asked people to build this statue knew very well that to deal with the northern barbarians, you can't just act recklessly. You need to plan more and use more wisdom to achieve your goals more easily. "

Tullius blinked his eyes, bowed again and said: "You are right, Governor. I am too anxious and stupid!"

"You are not stupid, you are a smart man!" Caesar walked up to him and said seriously: "And I like to use smart people. You asked me to be your patron-I agreed."

"Thank you, Governor!" Tullius was overjoyed when he heard it, and immediately knelt on the ground and said excitedly: "From now on, I, Tullius, will always be loyal to you! Willing to do anything for you!"

"Get up." Caesar picked up the previous gift list and handed it back to him: "Take this back."

Tullius was stunned and waved his hand quickly: "Governor, this is my intention, please accept it!"

Caesar ignored it, but looked at his trusted slave: "Take him to see Labinusis later and say that he is my weapons contractor and is responsible for providing weapons and equipment for the two new legions. "