"Appis, Caesar is defeated. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info In Greece, routed by Pompey's coalition of 50,000. The remaining legions are resting on the coastline. ”

At dusk, Pompey's luxurious private villa was temporarily a meeting place for Lepida and Apis to discuss the management of the city. Standing on a balcony covered with flowers, Lepida worriedly talked to Appis about the war in the distance.

"I heard. For now, however, we are more worried about the vacillating Roman aristocracy. ”

Appis said calmly, holding the white railing of the balcony in one hand and the low-strength wine in the other.

"Yes, Appis, your fears have become true. In fact, the nobles who remained in Rome had already begun to act. They fired civilians, drove them off their estates, and re-recruited cheap slaves. And some of them have joined forces and asked me to lower the existing tax rates. Apis, you know, these people are mercenary, they don't care about the lives of the common people, they don't care about the future of Rome, they only care about their own immediate interests. However, you know that we can't touch them, the wealth of Rome is in the hands of these few, and we can't go on a killing spree against them, otherwise, more nobles will lean towards Pompey, and Caesar, who is already at a disadvantage, will be even more passive. ”

Lepida looked impatient, but the current situation gave Apis an opportunity to squander his money.

"You're right. So, did you negotiate with them? In other words, he must have asked us to give them some benefit or promise beforehand. ”

Appis turned his head and looked at Lepida with a mysterious gaze.

"Yes, as soon as the dismissal of civilians happens, I will deal with it. But the attitude of these nobles was hard. Their condition is that the expulsion of civilians will continue unless we compensate them for the losses they have hired. They learned of Caesar's defeat. And it was thought that Pompey could have a final victory. As a result, many of the nobles who remained in Rome began to stir up. ”

Lei Bida said angrily, and couldn't help but clench his fists. His brow furrowed, and he didn't look easy. The mess that Caesar handed over to him when he left was not easy to deal with, and it could even be said that various demonstrations and protests could break out at any time. It is much more difficult to manage during a war than it would be on a normal day.

"Tell me, Apis, what do you think, if you were to run the city now, how would you face the current predicament? I've heard that your ideas are always creative. ”

Seeing that Apis was silent, Lepida began to try to ask Apis what he thought. After all, when Caesar left Rome, he also gave some of his authority to Appis. Lepida also had to respect Appis's opinion at times, although it seemed that they were still a little far apart in age. Just like many people think of Octavian as a child. Apis was the youngest of the group of generals around Caesar.

"There are no creative ideas. But, I think, the best way to deal with wolves is to divide them, not to put pressure on them. The mighty hunter can't deal with a pack of fierce and bloodthirsty wolves at the same time. They are united and share a common goal. Then we divide them so that they are no longer united, and it is often more effective to crush the enemy from within than to attack them head-on. ”

Appis took a sip of wine and said thoughtfully.

"How are you going to split them?"

Lepita became intrigued.

"Lapida, in fact, one thing I have to let you know is that not long ago there was a shortage of wine and olive oil in Rome. However, in a short period of time, a large number of speculative merchants sent these materials to the major markets in the city. And these people have made huge profits through this sale. I have to tell you, friend. These shipments are actually my shipments. I stockpiled and prepared the goods a year ago. ”

Apis pretended to be sincere and "confessed" to Lepida about the incident.

Then, as the provisional mayor of Rome, Lepida exclaimed-

"But where did you get that money from? Apis, I have the impression that you have no other source of wealth than to get some military merits on the battlefield and some loot rewards, but it takes a huge amount of money to import and hoard this batch of goods. I can't guess how you managed to store this money? ”

"Reward, Caesar's reward. When we first marched into Rome from Gaul, Caesar gave me a luxurious villa in Aretion as a reward for my outstanding performance over the years. Caesar said to me that I could wait until the war was over and come back there and enjoy this luxurious mansion. Or you can also sell it and get a good sum of money. Then, I chose to sell it. Because, in fact, I had no intention of returning to that place after the war, I chose to stay in Rome. So, I disposed of the huge asset. It was then that the funds of the 100,000 dinars began to accumulate. ”

Faced with Lepida's doubts, Appis told him everything that had happened and the truth. But in fact, it's not that I'm being honest, Apis is making a bigger investment. Because according to the history that Appis knew before he traveled. After the assassination of Caesar, Rome was again divided into three powers. Octavian inherited Caesar's legacy, while Antony and Lepida inherited Caesar's military power. Therefore, in the latter triumvirate, although the story of Augustus Octavian and Mark Antony is more famous in history, Lepida is actually one of the latter triumvirates. It's just that it didn't do much and was forgotten by history early. And Appis here, his sincerity to Lepida is actually also considering his future development career. It probably means that I have helped you today, and in the future, we will have to bear the responsibility of any needs and difficulties together.

"So you're going to use the huge profits from this speculation to split the alliance that the nobles have formed?"

Lepida was a little incredulous. Wealth was an enviable thing in Rome, and even in times of turmoil, those who possessed wealth were equal to power, because money could hire large legions. Apis, on the other hand, gave up his wealth and chose to be loyal to Caesar and help him. Lepida suddenly felt like a charcoal in the snow. However, as Caesar's experienced cavalry commander, Lepida was not a simple figure. He quickly guessed the purpose of Appis...... I just don't want to say it.

"Yes, in Rome the nobles and the commoners may have been different in many places, but one thing is the same. They are all after profit. And when the interests are uneven, there will be countless voices of protest, and this is the source of all struggles. I intend to use this money to make an agreement with some of the families of the aristocratic faction. I can compensate them for the loss of profits they have incurred by employing civilians during this time. However, they must help us, to destroy their alliance. I would tell them that we have the property that Caesar left behind when he left, but that it was only enough to make up for some of them. And it was not enough to take care of the loss of all the nobles. Then, if they are not yet satisfied with our practices and measures. At that time, we will use the legions as a threat to force them to submit and accept our terms. I suppose that under such favorable conditions, these mercenary Roman nobles would have accepted our terms. ”

As Apis spoke, Lebida bowed his head in disobedience. Later, he added-

"This kind of plan sounds perfect, but we have to choose the right people we need to work with, and I know that there are many family representatives that we can't meet, and they won't choose to join us because of such interests. We will even announce our plans to the other nobles in the Alliance. That's why it's so important to choose a partner. ”

"Batinhos, I know this man well. We can go to him. ”

Appis gave a sly look...... (To be continued.) )