"Appis, I heard, that you ordered your soldiers to kill Freira."

The battle between the Roman legions and the Parthian legions did not take place, presumably because they assessed the strength of the other party and weighed the lack of chips in their hands, and Sulena finally did not order a general attack, but held a meeting with Appis, the commander of the Roman legions, three days later. The two sides sat down to negotiate on how to withdraw their troops, in other words, you give a step, I give a step, and the two sides coexist peacefully. Of course, since the Parthian king had sent an army, he would not return without a single harvest.

"No, it was the spontaneous actions of the soldiers that killed him. However, my soldiers still have great respect for this nephew of yours, and he is admirable for his bravery in battle. ”

Sitting at the negotiating table, Appis returned coldly.

"But he's still dead."

Sulena's face was full of sorrow at the moment, he looked much older than Apis, he had passed forty, the famous desert siege nineteen years ago seemed to be vivid, he knew how much the Romans hated him, so he did not expect his relatives to survive in the event of a defeat.

"It was a tragic death. Even though he had an arm removed, Fureira tried to fight back with a long sword, and the soldiers pierced his body, but I ordered the medic to stitch up the broken wounds, wash him, anoint him, and give him a formal and dignified funeral. These are his ashes, Lord Sulena. ”

Appis said, making a gesture casually, and the knight next to him immediately handed the delicate locket to Apis. Appis took advantage of the situation and pushed it to the veteran general Sulena across the table.

Although the two came to negotiate a peace agreement and land reparations, at the beginning of the negotiations, they were full of warmth and condolences for the deceased.

Sulena took the box and opened it, glancing at the ashes inside, and her heart was as cold as water. But the negotiations continued, and King Orodes gave him an order to at least ask the Romans for at least the Hadba region in the upper Tigris in order to withdraw their troops.

Although he was uncertain, Sulena still tried his best to complete the task assigned by the king.

"Thank you for your generous burial of him, Lord Appis. Let's now turn to the peace agreement. ”

"Tell me what your king wants, I guess he wants at least the towns and regions of the upper Tigris so that he can continue to control your so-called trade routes."

In the face of the cunning and cunning Sulena, who was eight years older than him, Apis did not show weakness, but went straight to the point from the beginning, and directly guessed the thoughts of the Parthian king Orodes, which directly made Sulena feel the vision and strength of his opponent from the heart.

"In fact, not only that, but King Orodes wants us to sign an entente to lower customs duties on the Roman border."

Sulena, who had been disrupted, quickly regained his strength, showed a fox-like cunning look, and continued. In fact, this agreement was completely made up by himself, and when the time comes, when it comes to bargaining, he still has a step to go down. Otherwise, the other party will bite the subject directly, and he will have no room to retreat, so he can only meet again, and militarily, Sulena is not sure to defeat the general of the Roman legion in front of him.

"Lower tariffs? I'm afraid this is not fair, Your Excellency Sulena, as far as I know, the goods brought from the East to your country are already very profitable, and these luxury goods are sold to Rome and Greece, and the profits are at least tenfold, sometimes hundreds. It also demanded that Rome unilaterally reduce tariffs, which was difficult for a strong man. If necessary, I would suggest that both sides work together to lower tariffs and reach such an agreement. ”

Appis sat down in his chair and said unhurriedly. In the case of lower tariffs, it is obvious that luxury goods need to be taxed more at the same tax rate. Of course, for such a request, Sulena will definitely not accept.

"This is impossible, the tariff has been maintained for many years, and the old king will not agree to such a request from you."

Sulena then responded.

"Then there is no need for this negotiation to continue, you want to raise the tariff, however, even if I want, the merchants of Rome will not agree, Your Excellency Sulena, you and I are both people who have been galloping on the battlefield for many years, and we all know that most of the funds needed for the battlefield are supported by these noble classes, if I sign this agreement with you, and lose the interests of domestic merchants, they may even rebel and crusade against me." Therefore, you and your king should not think about this request as soon as possible. Because I'm going to stop you. ”

The negotiations went back and forth for three whole days, and there was endless contention over the distribution of interests between the two sides.

Of course, the two generals who are strong on the surface are actually very empty behind them. Although Sulena had a larger army and the support of the king, the troops of his expedition marched to the Antioch region, and the logistical supplies could not keep up, and the supply line was so long that only a tenth of the grain and grass brought from the rear reached the army. Appis, on his part, is actually facing the same dilemma. Antony cut off the Italian legion's land supply lines, and although Queen Cleopatra's ships could transport food and supplies from the sea, the confrontation with the Parthians took place far from the coast. In this case, Apis knew that he would not be able to delay for long, and Antony was still attacking Crassus the Younger, and there was a lot of crisis in the rear, and the sooner the matter at the front could be resolved, the better, even if it was acceptable to admit that part of the land belonged to Parthia, and when the time came, the blame would be on Antony, who was causing trouble in the rear, which caused Rome to lose the territory of the Far East. Yes, and indeed it is......

Three days later, this slightly humiliating treaty was signed, in which Apis recognized the region of Hadba as part of the Parthians, and when the caravan reached there, it entered the land of another country. In return, Sulena promised Appis that Roman merchants would trade in and out of the Hadba region for two years, exempt from all taxes, including customs duties. Such an agreement seemed to be very gentle, and the nobles and merchants of Rome would be satisfied with the benefits of the two years, and would not oppose Appis. Commoners, even if they objected, Appis had good reason to blame Anthony for the problem. Yes, the fact that the First Parthian War ended in this way only provoked the anger of Antony even more.

As soon as the Parthian problem was solved, Apis rushed back to Syria with a large army, where the army of Crassus the Younger had retreated to Damascus, the last major city in Syria. If there is no further support, Anthony will drive straight to Egypt...... Appis guessed that at this moment, Cleopatra should be in a state of anxiety like an ant on a frying pan......