"Then, Lord Aetius." Luga said: "I have only more than 10,000 men at my disposal, and of course if I want to go with you, I can only use 5,000 men, as you can see, and the army that Gaisaric has returned with nearly 5,000 men. Together with the inhabitants he was now stationed in the area and the mercenaries, he was able to organize an army of forty or fifty thousand men in a very short time. Regardless of the quality, we must have an army equal to or even greater than theirs. ”

"I know that."

"The question is, the army, where did it come from?" Luga's question was very straightforward, and it was something they had to face at the moment. "It took you half a year to complete the formation of your 5,000 people, and now you want 50,000 or more, so it can't take ten years to prepare. Let's not talk about numbers, we need more military equipment and food, which is a lot of money, and I don't know if the empire can afford to supply it, especially after the loss of the three southern provinces, and the Iberian provinces are also in dilapidation, I really don't have an optimistic attitude towards the money reserves within the empire. ”

"We do need enough of Souledes." Aetius pondered and said, "The treasury of the empire is already very small, and the years of war have hollowed out the warehouses of Rome and Ravenna. But that doesn't mean we can't come up with money. ”

Sulledus: A gold coin circulated in the Roman Mediterranean, weighing 4.4 grams, it is a small gold coin.

"Denaris and Souledus, these are indispensable for maintaining the army, but we can do without the money from the treasury." Aetius seemed so confident that without Luga asking questions, he had already begun to state his plan: "First, we can borrow money like the nobles in Rome and Ravenna, and even in Palermo." ”

"Yes, yes." Lu Jia responded weakly, he was a little interested in hearing what the most powerful guy in the Western Empire had to say. "What good can we give them, a bunch of iron roosters who don't pull out a dime, but say, if you use your prestige, you can still make a lot of money, but once or twice for free, in other words, no one is willing to give it all the time."

"They are all very rich, but when it comes to giving for the sake of the empire, it is naturally closed." Aetius nodded and said, "I know what those merchants are thinking, so leave this matter to me." ”

"Okay, okay!" Luga sat up slightly, it seemed that Aetius sincerely wanted to solve the problem, and it was probably unreasonable for him to be so arrogant. "Then let's talk about the problem of the army, we must first settle the problem of the army's equipment, I can't let the soldiers wear nothing and go to the battlefield with sticks."

"The armory in the city of Rome has spare equipment capable of equipping sixty field regiments, which of course requires a sufficiently senior military officer to have the right to dispatch it." Aetius pointed at Luga and said, "I'm afraid this matter will require your Excellency's trouble." ”

"Sixty?" Lu Jia calculated in his heart, a field regiment of 500 people, 60 is 30,000 people, 30,000 according to his expected number of troops, although it is a little close, but there is still a big gap, where does the equipment of 20,000 people come from, not to mention to maintain a team of 50,000 or 60,000 people, the equipment must be at least 108,000, which is convenient to solve the losses caused by battles and marches.

"It's just a drop in the bucket, it seems that not only Rome, but also big cities like Ravenna and Milan have to go to them. In this way, you can get what you need. Luga secretly claimed to be holding it in private, and it was okay because he could take Andrew back to Milan, not only so that Andrew could see the quinta he had been thinking about for a long time, but also see Tenaia himself, after all, after nearly a year of separation, their mother and daughter must have had a very difficult time.

Thinking that he is also a figure with a head and a face now, naturally he can't let this unfortunate mother and daughter live like this, he has the ability to get rid of their current situation for them, isn't this what he did in the first place? Now that the dream has come true, it's time to keep it!

"Of course, Your Excellency wants those equipment, and I have to mention this serious problem." As he spoke, Aetius pulled out the golden eagle emblem and placed it on the table.

"What do you mean by that?" Luga was obviously a little displeased when he saw the eagle emblem, and it was strange for Aetius to do this, could it be that in such a short period of time, he had forgotten how Luga had rejected the eagle emblem just now?

"Your Excellency Luga, don't be in a hurry to get angry first!" Aetius explained with a smile: "Your Excellency is a newcomer, and you are an emerging power in the Eastern Empire, so naturally you do not have a title and prestige in the Western Empire, so Your Excellency needs to prove yourself, how to prove it, it is this token: the Eagle Emblem!" ”

"They don't know you, but they have to know the eagle emblem, and when the time comes, you will report yourself, and they will have no reason not to believe you, so that the equipment in this armory will naturally come into your hands. Of course, I propose that the transportation still need to be escorted by your army, if those slaves are allowed to transport, not only will the weapons be gone, but there will also be a large number of flies that cannot be eliminated. Aetius said, pushing the eagle emblem down in front of Luga's eyes again, and this time Luga had no reason to refuse.

Lu Jia hesitated for a moment, but finally reached out and took the eagle emblem and said, "Since this is the case, then I might as well be respectful." With that, he handed the eagle emblem into Andrew's hands.

Andrew looked solemn, he stretched out his hands and carefully took the eagle emblem and held it in his hand, he looked down, the eagle emblem reflected the golden light to illuminate his face, he enjoyed this feeling very much, as if he was embraced by this golden eagle, and was haunted by glory.

"Click, click."

A tear flowed from Andrew's eyes and fell on the golden eagle emblem, Andrew's vision was blurred, but he knew that his tears fell on the eagle emblem, and he wiped the eagle emblem with his fingers over and over again, afraid that his own tears would stain such a sacred thing.

His obsession with the Eagle Banner was fanatical, a common problem among Roman soldiers, and their desire for glory, and it is not surprising that Luga lost his mind for a moment when he got it. A soldier like Andrew, as long as he can stand firm, is very determined.

Aetius got up and said goodbye, and Luga didn't stay, but after Aetius left for a long time, Luga sat in his seat in a daze, looking like he was in a daze, but in fact he was thinking about every word of Aetius.

"There must be something in the words, there must be something in the words."

He didn't think much about anything else, but it required Luga to lead his own soldiers, and he began to worry that this was another trick of Remitius, so he blamed himself for just thinking about solving Tenaia's difficulties, but he forgot to be cheeky and blamed it on Aetius, and now that he agreed, he had to do it, in case something went wrong, it was someone else's territory.

"Alas, until now, there is only one way to see the move!" Luga shook his head and said to himself, he had indeed forgotten to turn back, which was the perfect miss to witness Andrew's dementia.