"I thought that only the old man would be so energetic at night, but I didn't expect Your Excellency to be the same as me."

Sebastianus' eyes narrowed in a straight line as he looked at Luga with a grin.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Luga patted himself on the head, and then said, "You were comrades-in-arms, and together you fought against Aetius, but failed. ”

"Oh my God, I was innocent!" Arecio protested dissatisfied. It is true that after many years, being able to meet his comrades-in-arms who had experienced the ups and downs together was a great boost to the spirit of Arecio now, and he was finally able to relax and laugh.

"Oh, my envoy!" Luga rubbed his stomach and asked, "I said whose car was outside the door, it turned out to be you, and you sneaked out." ”

"Alas, Lord Luga, having said so much, you always can't understand me, I just want to come to His Excellency Arecio, and ask for as much help as possible on the way to assist you, of course, I immediately thought of the bureaucrats who once supported Berniface, although they are not doing well now, but as long as we have the full support of Augustus, the Senate and Aetius will not be able to compete with us!" Sebastianus spoke confidently, and Arecio, who was on the side, nodded repeatedly.

Arecio couldn't help but look solemn, Sebastianus and Luga were puzzled, so they asked him why he was like this, and listened to Arecio say: "This is indeed a grand ambition, and it is naturally best to be able to pull the Flavies family out of the political quagmire of the Western Empire, but my eyes are also in the provinces of Gaul and Northern Italy, and for your family's dynamics in Greater Sicily, which are controlled by the Senate, I really can't do anything." ”

"I'm afraid that at this time, the Senate has already received the dynamics of Augustus, and they must know what this means, don't look at them are all old men, and they are full of a large number of barbarians, but their thinking and actions are no worse than anyone in this world." Sebastianus emphasized, "So let's consider the wedding of Caesar Valentinian III now, this is a political marriage, Theodosius is extremely important, as long as Lichinia can successfully complete the wedding with her distant cousin, then we can stabilize the control of the Augustan throne, so that some ambitious guys with heavy troops will not take the throne, which will only provoke war." ”

"So we are going to do it at the same time as the combined legion of Valentinian III and the Eastern Empire arrives in Great Sicily, like two fists at the same time, making it difficult for the Senate to parry." Luga clenched his hands into fists and pressed them against his mouth, much deeper. "Then Your Excellency Arecio will be able to appear at the marriage scene, and we will explain it to Augustus again, and strive to restore His Excellency Arecio to the position of Imperial Treasurer."

Arecio was naturally overjoyed to hear that the official had been reinstated, but the smile on his face quickly disappeared and was replaced by a solemn one.

"Are you afraid that we will break our word again, Lord Arecio!" Luga directly said what he thought Arecio was worried about, but Arecio shook his head with a smile after hearing this, only to hear Arecio say: "I'm afraid that Aetius will know this news and use his prestige in the empire and the support of the Senate to block the landing of the Eastern Empire United Legion, so that the Eastern Empire army will not stay on the sea for long." ”

"Rest assured, Lord Arecio." Luga said with a serious face: "My legion has already controlled Syracuse and Trapani, whether it is in the east or south, Aetius has no ability to let his legion stop it, not to mention that his main army needs to confront the barbarians there in Northern Gaul, and it is impossible to go south to Great Sicily." ”

"If he's desperate, then he can really do anything." Sebastianus reminded: "Don't forget how many Hun cavalry of 10,000 men passed through our territory, and the province of Pannonia is still under the control of the Huns. There is no reason not to believe that if the contradictions do build, it is not impossible for such a scenario to be repeated again, except that we do not know which province we will lose in the civil war next time. ”

"Then avoid conflict and try not to push it too hard and make people breathless." Luga knocked on the table and reminded the attendees: "Our greatest goal now is to occupy the Vandals in the province of Africa, and we must retake the grain-producing areas there, relying on them so that we can stabilize Iberia and prepare for the reunification of the empire." ”

"Well, then, Lord Luga's plan is ......"

"Negotiate with Aetius first, at least in the Senate, and let us first unleash a gesture of goodwill and fully respect Aetius's military command."

"That is, to give him part of the command of the Combined Legion?" Arecio's tone changed, and it could be seen that he was very unhappy, such a compromise and concession made Arecio intolerable, he was extremely disgusted with Aetius, and he could not even see that he was any better. "With such a large army, can we afford to give this guy a little face? Now that the provinces of Italy were not what they were ten years ago, Aetius didn't have so many troops at his disposal! ”

"But the Huns have!" Luga interrupted Arecio and said, "We must take into account the relationship between Aetius and the Huns, since there will be so many troops going to Great Sicily, Aetius and the Senate will naturally not sit idly by. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past. ”

Arecio gritted his teeth, he didn't say anything, just clenched his fist and slammed the table hard, as if to vent himself.

"I'm sorry, I was so selfish!"

Arecio said, reaching out and touching the ugly scar on his face, his breathing heavy as if he had been in anger for a long time.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but Aetius did disgrace you." Sebastianus said, reaching out and patting Arecio on the shoulder, explaining to him, "But now we have to focus on the big picture, let's deal with the Vandals first, and maintain the stability of the empire before anything else, okay?" ”

Under the careful persuasion of Sebastianus, Arecio chose to obey in the end.

"Then let's make arrangements!" Luga breathed a long sigh of relief, but his stomach was already writhing together with hunger, "Then Your Excellency Arecio, don't you have anything to eat at home, bring them all, it just so happens that my soldiers and I are hungry!" ”