In the opulent palace of Alexandria, where the enchanting fragrance slowly seeped from the Egyptian queen's bedroom, the maids crouched down and placed a basin full of mysteriously fixed medicines in front of Cleopatra, a delicious potion made from dried poppy juice, which the apothecarists roasted and kneaded into small strips in the room for the queen to suck and enjoy. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

In the slowly rising smoke, Cleopatra lay on a chaise longue like a water snake with her bare shoulders and indulged in this earthly delicacy.

"Come, Caesarion, my son. Look at you, like a handsome man. Hector, defender of Troy, yes, you should be a man like him. ”

Little Caesar was playing through the crack in the door when he was called in by his mother. The immature face, the age of chasing and playing with the wooden sword, has no idea what his mother is talking about. But Caesarion still strictly obeyed his mother's every "teaching", and he sat beside Cleopatra, looking at his mother with a pair of smart and simple eyes, well-behaved and ignorant.

"My son, haven't you always wanted to know who your father is? Well, today I'm telling you. Your father is not anyone in this palace, your father is the late Emperor Caesar, the dictator of Rome, and yes, you are his child. You should know that you have his blood in your veins, and you will be the future ruler of the Roman world. ”

Under the influence of the poppy, Cleopatra was a little fluttering, and it seemed that the magnificent city of Rome had appeared in front of his eyes again, and countless Romans were worshipping their son Caesarion as they had worshiped Gaius Caesar. However, the reality is not, Cleopatra finally took a deep breath of the enchanting breath emanating from the stove and looked at his son thoughtfully.

……

Three months later, Rome, Italy, and Sicily were cloudless, and under the scorching sun, a heat wave continued to invade cities and towns. River levels were declining, streams from the mountains were becoming scarcer, and several of Rome's large water bridges were drying up.

Various crops have failed to harvest due to lack of water, and in the cities and markets, not only the prices of cereals have risen, but also the prices of cash crops such as grapes, olives, and figs have risen. Even the aristocracy, who had always pursued a high quality of life, reduced their purchasing and daily expenses. Merchant ships arriving from Egypt, Asia Minor and other provinces were auctioned off even as soon as they docked at the wharf. Of course, unscrupulous merchants even acted as a conduit for these fleets, deliberately inflating the price of grain and all sorts of commodities to the point where the inhabitants of Rome would be able to bleed without being ruthless enough to refrain from buying them. Of course, if the drought continues, people know that in the future, no matter how much the price of cereals rises, they will have to buy, because people always have to eat......

In order to appease the catastrophe, Octavian even had Agrippa take his legions to guard the granaries and strictly control the distribution of grain every day. Sold at a fair price to Roman citizens, of course, the amount issued was far from satisfying the needs of two hundred thousand Roman citizens.

The megacity was like a double-edged sword, and when the economy was stable, it could provide Octavian with a huge amount of tax revenue and trade value, including a constant supply of soldiers. But in times of disaster, huge cities are undoubtedly a burden, a burden.

Seeing that the heat continued, Octavian could only ask Masinas to go to Egypt, Alexandria, with "sincerity", to seek Antony's help.

"One hundred and fifty thousand dinars, for twenty ships of wheat?"

"Yes, Lord Antony, Rome is suffering from drought and famine, and 200,000 Roman citizens are starving, and Octavian Turinus wants you to bestow mercy and love on Rome. Also, these were gifts that Octavian had ordered me to send. ”

Macinus said respectfully in the palace of Alexandria. But Anthony was clearly not interested in the cliché greetings and the old rhetoric. Like Appis, Antony pretended to sympathize with the Roman populace on the surface, but he was pleased with the catastrophe that befell Octavian. Of course, Antony was not mentally retarded, and he would not refuse Masinus outright, because he represented Octavian, that is, the Roman people asked for food on his behalf.

"There is no need for a gift, there are people who need it more than me. As for the grain, it had to be shipped to Rome. ”

Anthony paused deliberately, and Macinus almost smiled, but the next moment, Anthony changed his mind again-

"But I have one condition."

"You say, if I could decide, I would decide on the spot. Dear Anthony. ”

Macinus replied with a smile, but gritted his teeth in his heart, not knowing what kind of slippery Anthony would play again.

"Sicily, I want Sicily, and I don't need your money and jewelry, your negotiator, go back and tell your master Octavian, and tell him that as soon as he cedes Sicily to me, I will at once send a hundred ships of grain to Rome. Don't be surprised, Masinus, I know you can't decide such a thing, so it's better to return to Rome as soon as possible, and tell Turinus to do it as soon as possible. ”

Sitting in the luxurious chair of Alexandria's palace, Anthony said lazily, holding the queen of Egypt as bewitching as a water snake in one hand. Cleopatra then spoke: "Keep this box of gifts, too, there are many pirates after leaving the port, maybe it is safer here." ”

Masinaston, dressed in a white toga, was furious, but there was nothing he could do about the two dogs and men. He almost shouted on the spot, saying that it was impossible to cede Sicily. But the extent of this crisis in the country, he has been out of Rome for more than a month and does not know. After thinking hard, he still didn't dare to refute Anthony on the spot.

After being humiliated, he had no choice but to embark on a long journey back to Rome.

……

At the same time, Apis, who was far north, ordered the civil organizations to distribute grain slowly, store all the grain that could be stored, and sell some fruits and vegetables that could not be kept fresh, and Apis estimated that the famine was far from the worst moment. During the four months of the siege of Rome, the price of grain in the city increased from two or three times the usual level to more than 30 times the last one, and the interests in the middle were terrible. Nothing can be done as quickly as this means to accumulate wealth. Although it may seem despicable, if you don't starve people to death, you can exploit the opponent's assets to the greatest extent......

Of course, in order to keep the private traders from resenting him, Apis also allowed them to put 30% of their profits into his own pockets. The real collusion between officials and businessmen does all kinds of evil......