"Thirty percent of the annual revenues went into the treasury of the Roman Republic, a quarter of the annual grain harvest had to be shipped to Rome unconditionally, and one-fifth of Alexandria's trade tax revenue was paid to Rome, so Rome sent three permanent legions to Alexandria to keep the city safe from foreign invasions. Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"No, no, Caesar, such a resolution is ridiculous, half the poor in this country are starving every year, and we cannot afford to pay such exorbitant amounts of gold and silver and a large quantity of grain."

In the calm Mediterranean sea in the early spring sun, in the sumptuous central palace of Alexandria, Caesar sat in a soft tiger skin chair and let the personal civil servant inform Ptolemy XIII of his claim to Egypt, but such an aggressive and seemingly absurd diplomatic alliance was unanimously opposed by the Ptolemaic ministers, who stood up and told Caesar in a pleading tone the current state of his kingdom, and that the shipment of a quarter of the grain to Rome would lead to famine throughout Egypt.

Caesar, however, paid no attention to this, and even turned a blind eye to the protests of these ministers, and he just sat there, silent, and continued to let his servants finish reading their demands and resolutions.

"In addition, every year one hundred of the best boys from the royal family are selected to join the Roman legions, to be trained by the regular Roman army, to become members of the Roman legions, and we will fulfill their educational, medical, and guardianship obligations."

"I'm afraid that's hard to do, Caesar...... The Ptolemaic royal family consisted of less than 500 members, and many nobles did not even have heirs, and it was difficult to continue the family status by adoption, a hundred boys a year. ”

Caesar's servant read out the ordinance that was once again interrupted by Ptolemy's ministers, and everyone could see that such an ordinance was ostensibly intended to train children for Ptolemy's royal family to become as resolute and courageous as the generals of the Roman legions, but in fact, it was just a hypocritical phrase of Caesar's demand that Ptolemy hand over the hostages, and Ptolemy may not have heard it, but the ministers around him quickly understood what Caesar meant, and vetoed the proposal on behalf of their king. But this time, Caesar was no longer silent, he slowly turned his head, his black eyes full of power and oppression. To the horror of the Ptolemaic minister, who had always opposed him.

"Is that hard? I have heard that your country was originally ruled by you, Ptolemy, and your sister Cleopatra, but then, together with your ministers, drove your sister Cleopatra out of Egypt and ruled the country yourself, which was originally the internal affair of your country, and I did not want to interfere with it, but as a diplomatic agreement that reflected the friendly relations between the two countries, you could not agree to it now? And I, Julius Caesar, wrote about the children of the hundred royals in this proposal, and in fact included the family of Cleopatra. Child, think clearly about working with us, with Rome, such a request is not too much, and I am sure you can do it. If it really doesn't work, then I can only look for someone who can do these conditions and requirements for me. ”

Caesar turned his head, glanced at the minister beside Ptolemy, and instead of continuing to talk to him, he looked directly at the young Ptolemy XIII on the throne and spoke directly to him. In the words, the tone of coercion and threat is well known. The reason why Caesar negotiated with the king of Egypt with such confidence was that he had already understood the story of what had happened in this kingdom recently, and had made plans and intentions. Cleopatra, although not in Egypt at this time, became the best bargaining chip between Caesar and Ptolemy. Two siblings fighting each other for power, husband and wife, both yearn for the right to rule Egypt and urgently need the support and help of Caesar's Roman legions. Thus, the background relationship between Ptolemy and Cleopatra became the focus of Caesar's exploitation. And it was only at this time that the eunuchs and ministers around Ptolemy knew that Caesar had actually come prepared.

Caesar pretended to leave, when young Ptolemy fell into his trap in ignorance, and hastened to say—

"Caesar, we can accede to your request, but I hope you will not stir Cleopatra into my kingdom again."

"Okay, good boy, then we'll settle it."

Caesar turned back and looked at the young Ptolemy on the throne with a "friendly" gaze, while Antony, beside him, smiled slyly.

……

"Three of a kind! Sixty thousand! ”

At the base camp of the Tenth Legion outside Alexandria, while Caesar had already reached a diplomatic agreement with the young and ignorant Ptolemy in the city, Appis was bored sitting with the legionnaires, playing the gambling game he had invented, which had only recently become popular in the barracks-Camos.

"Oh, no, you old devil, you have won another five hundred sesterels, which is worth two months' salary. Appis, you are about to marry the youngest daughter of Caesar's mistress, what are you still doing with these possessions? Two months later, when you marry Tertira, the wealth of the Brutus family will be inexhaustible, at least for the rest of your life, you will have no worries about food and clothing, why should you earn this little asset from us here? ”

Klein, who had finished playing cards with Appis, said depressedly.

"Oh, I can't go to this business with that mentality, Brutus and Sevilla have warned me that with Tertila I can't come for riches and status. I have to set an example, after marrying that aristocratic girl. I'm not going to take a penny of her assets. Yes, that's how I fulfilled my promise. ”

Appis replied to Crane with a smile, and then continued to stir the hundreds of wooden cards with his large, rough hands. Knocking on the whole table. In this era, there is a pipe in the wood, and if you want to stop holding a cigarette, this kind of life is no different from the life of the ruffians in the old society.

"Well, well, your approach is always puzzling, but luck keeps coming, and to be honest, I envy your experience."

Klein continued without saying a word.

"Hehe, when you learn the real reason behind these experiences, you won't envy me so much."

Facing Klein, Apis simply replied with a smile. The ups and downs of this road, outsiders don't know at all, to this day, I still can't say that I am completely lucky and relieved, Emma's disappearance makes me feel guilty, Octavia's tragedy is also inseparable from myself, and Appius, well, that evil father, is still hiding in some gloomy corner of Rome, plotting another conspiracy against himself. How much does Klein know about this? And those on the outside, know even less. (To be continued.) )