Ten days later, Olympias, Cleopatla, and Roxana returned to Pella, where Neoptolemos II and Cleopatra were reunited, having long since been picked up by Alexander.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in a few days I would like to send a large army to send my cousin and aunt back to Epirus. Since the overthrow of Aekades, the throne of Epirus has been vacant, and with my strength I should be able to easily put my cousin on the throne, don't you? ”

"Your Majesty is right, at this time, let Prince Neoptormos return to Epirus, and he can easily inherit the throne of Epirus, so that Macedonia has a stable ally." Eumenes agreed, and others chimed in.

"That's right, I believe that this time I will be able to take the throne without blood. But, cousin! The subjects of Epirus are too presumptuous, they will overthrow the king's rule at every turn, my cousin can't be too polite to them when he goes back this time, if you want to consolidate the throne, you must weaken the power of the nobles, you can rest assured, I will give you 3000 Macedonian pikemen, with me as your most solid backing, you can let go and do what you want. ”

"Hahaha, thank you king, I will definitely sit on the throne when I go back this time, and I will never let anyone have a chance to take advantage of it again." Neoptolemos said excitedly. Neoptolemus's life story is also bitter, he lost his father before he became sensible, and his original throne was taken away by his uncle, although Aacates did not abuse him, but the life under the fence was always not easy. Now that he has finally been able to see the moon, he is in his prime at the age of 18 and ambitious.

"Okay, come, I'll give my cousin a drink."

"Your Majesty, Rome and Talentham (Talintun) have sent messengers asking to see Your Majesty." A guard entered the hall and reported.

"Oh? Declare! ”

"Yes!"

"The Roman legate Lucius Cornelius Scipio to His Majesty the King of Macedonia!" The visitor was wearing a white coat and a sheepskin jacket on the outside, and he looked heroic.

"I wonder what the messenger is doing here?"

"Your Majesty, our consul, General Quintus Fabian Maximus Junianus, and the messenger of Tarentham, Mercedes, have come to ask you to send reinforcements to help us defeat the Samnai and Lucanians." Lucius Cornelius Scipio said without humility or arrogance.

"Oh? As far as I know, your Roman army is very formidable in combat, and has always been known for its discipline and high morale, so why do you need our help? And General Quintus Fabian Maximus Junianus is even more proficient in military science, under his leadership, I think Rome will definitely be able to defeat the Samonians and Lucanians, as for Tarentham has always been wealthy, and the Lucanians have been fighting for hundreds of years, it shows that those barbarians are not terrible. Alexander said lightly.

"Your Majesty, Alexander I of Epirus was invited by Tarentham to Italy to deal with the Bruttii and Lucanians, and later fought with the Samnium. It can be said that these people are enemies of Epirus, and Epirus and Rome are allies, and Macedonia and Epirus are related by marriage, so Rome and Macedonia are naturally friendly relations, so when His Majesty's prestige spread to Rome, the Senate and General Fabian asked me to come over and ask His Majesty to send troops to help, and I hope Your Majesty can agree. Lucius Cornelius Scipio played the family card.

Alexander knew that this was the stalemate in the Second Samonai War, and that the humiliation of the Cadian Gorge in 321 BC had left the Romans with a painful lesson and forced them to improve their armament, expand their forces, and reform their methods of warfare, but victory was still far away. After learning that Alexander had defeated several Diadochi in succession, the Romans pinned their hopes on Alexander, because they knew that the king was very warlike. However, the Romans and Macedonians have never had much in common, so Scipio tried to make some connections. Alexander was not to be used as a gunman, but he had an excuse to enter Italy, not for the sake of currying favor with Rome or for friendship, for in his heart the Romans were always a curse, because he knew the Romans too well. The Romans not only had strong national cohesion, strong learning ability, strong military training and discipline, but also a strong will to survive and a sense of crisis, and great potential. According to the original history, in 10 years, Rome would have defeated the Samonai, and in 30 years, Rome would control 10 times as much land as it is now. Now sending troops, although ostensibly to help the Romans, Alexander was confident that he could at least capture most of Blutia, Lucania, Apuria, Calabria, and parts of Campania and Samonay. In any case, Alexander would greatly reduce the living space of Rome, and the Romans could only advance northward and become Alexander's vanguard against the Gauls. With this in mind, Alexander agreed to Scipio's request.

"Our army has fought repeatedly, the soldiers are tired, and I just gave the soldiers a big vacation, and now I am going to recruit them immediately, I am afraid that there will be a lot of resistance!"

"His Majesty is right, but Your Majesty has a large number of soldiers, so it is no problem to pull twenty or thirty thousand people at will. As long as His Majesty can help Rome defeat the Samonians, Rome is willing to cede the regions of Apuria, Calabria, Lucania, and Brutia. Scipio made the offer.

"What do you say, Scipio, what does Calabria have to do with you Rome? Your Majesty, Talentham is willing to cede the eastern part of Calabria and bear the military expenses of your army. Mercedes also said the price code.

"Hahaha, you Romans must have played too well, Brutia, Lucania, and Calabria are almost all within or close to Greater Greece, and many parts of Apuria and Calabria are under the occupation of the Mesapi. Your Excellency means that we will compete for territory with almost all the barbarians and even the Greeks! Do you feel that we are fed and hold up to let our warriors fight in completely unfamiliar places for the sake of that slap-sized place? Don't you know about the relationship between Greece and Macedonia? Now that there are tens of thousands of soldiers in the Macedonian army who are Greeks, and Your Majesty has issued a condition of freedom and relaxation to the Greek city-states, if you really want to do what Your Excellency wants, won't your Majesty slap yourself in the face? Eumenes said with a smile.

"This—" Scipio didn't know what to say for a moment.

"You are called being generous to others, giving us other people's land, you don't need to spend half a point to make the enemy defeat and get the land you want, how can there be such a good thing in the world, we will not take those lands ourselves, do we have to let our soldiers help you deal with the Samonai in order to get your recognition?" Alexander directly exposed Scipio's intentions, much to Scipio's embarrassment.

"Besides, the empire is huge, and how can it care about such a small piece of land. The priority now is to eliminate Ptolemy in Egypt, and the rest of the work has to be postponed. Seeing that Scipio's face was getting worse and worse, Eumenes immediately turned around: "Of course, if the conditions are reasonable, it is not impossible to consider. ”

"As long as the conditions of your country are not too excessive, I think the Senate can agree, after all, for Rome, the population of the land is the most important, and for Macedonia it seems that these are not the main things, so I don't think there should be much disagreement between us." Scipio said slyly.

"Your Excellency the Envoy is really smart, since this is the case, then I will be blunt, I have some interest in the soldiers and methods of warfare in your country, and I hope that your country can provide one or two legions of men to serve as mercenaries in the Empire, and there are also leather shield spearmen similar to yours in our country, but your soldiers are better at using short swords, and our soldiers are better at using guns, and I would like to see if your country and our soldiers can have some exchanges and exchanges, so that they can absorb more combat skills. In addition, in the future, Rome could not be hindered from conquering any country west of Macedonia, but could participate in it. In addition, after this victory over the Samonaeans, the prisoners of war were to be given to us, and the lands from Benevento to the southern part of the Samonai were to be included in the territory of Macedonia. Alexander said what he wanted.

"In addition to the somewhat abrupt request for the southern region of Samonai, His Majesty's request is not a matter of principle, but I am afraid that the number of mercenaries in your country needs to be further negotiated, after all, our Roman army is limited, and it cannot be compared with the Macedonian Empire, and we can only form 3 legions of about 18,000 people at most in general mobilization, and we send one legion is a little small, and two legions cannot guarantee the safety of Roman City, so I am afraid it will be difficult to transfer personnel to you."

"The messenger is so bad that no matter how difficult it is, we must send us a certain number of troops, and when we have cleared the enemy in the south for you, then Rome can concentrate its forces against the Umbrians, the Idalarians (Etruscans, Etruscans), and the Ligurians and Gauls." Alexander said with a smile.

"I am really flattered that His Majesty thinks so highly of us Romans, we only think about protecting the territory and the people, defeating and expelling the enemies who harass us, how dare we think so far, just want peace."

"If so, then the forces are even more sufficient, your forty-year truce with the Idalarians has not yet expired, the enemy in the north does not have to worry, it is good to focus on the Samonai now. I think it's so decided, and the Prime Minister and the Messenger draw up a covenant, and I will send troops as soon as it is sealed. Scipio's words allowed Alexander to take advantage of the loophole, and it was also a loss that Alexander still knew about the Forty Years' Armistice.

Scipio was about to argue a few words, but Eumenes immediately preemptively said: "Your Majesty, please! ”

"I didn't expect Your Majesty to know so much about the affairs of Ainolia (the earliest name in Italy) at such a young age, so I signed it." Scipio said helplessly.

"I am delighted with the generosity of Talentham, worthy of being the richest city-state in Greater Greece. However, I hope that the future conquest of the Macedonian Empire in the areas where the other barbarians of Ainolia are located will not be disturbed, and that I will not take the initiative to provoke or oppress the Greek city-states, as long as others do not provoke us. If anyone dares to shadow me behind my back, I don't care what intricate alliances you have behind you at that time. ”

"Tarentham is not a city-state that knows what to do, Your Majesty's prestige is far and wide, how dare we touch the tiger's beard, as for the allies, we will inform the good and bad, and we will not bother with other city-states." Mercedes said cautiously.

"Okay, draft the agreement right away."

After a while, the parchment scroll with the agreement written was presented, and Alexander looked at it, and seeing that the goal was almost achieved, he smiled and said: "Actually, the places you mentioned are only chicken ribs for the Macedonian Empire, even if there is no Greek factor, and I am more concerned about the assassination of my uncle, King Alexander I of Epirus, by the exiles of Lucania. As the king of Macedonia, as a nephew, as the cousin of the soon-to-be-enthroned King Neoptolemus, I can't spare this group of barbarians, Prime Minister, prepare 30,000 horses, and send troops immediately. ”

"So fast!" There was an uproar, and then there was a grunt.

"The soldiers are fast, send the troops early, settle them early."

In fact, the reason why Alexander had to hurry up was that a battle that broke out near Tarlazina in 314 BC became the turning point of the Second Samonai War, in which the Samonai lost more than 10,000 people and suffered extremely heavy losses. If you can't get to Ainolia or participate in this battle before this battle happens, the final share of the victory will inevitably be discounted. And it is a pity that the human resources of more than 10,000 people are dead, the Samonai people are brave and resolute, and they are good both as laborers and soldiers.

"Your Majesty, on behalf of the Consuls, the Senate, and all of Rome, I thank you for your generous help." Scipio seemed very pleased.

"Tarentham thanks Your Majesty for your kindness and generosity." Mercedes bowed and said slowly.

"Hehe, don't be so polite, in the end, it's just a matter of taking what you need, hahaha!" Alexander laughed heartily.