After the fierce battle, the streets of the city were in shambles. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoLast night's street fighting continued until dawn in the wee hours of the morning, when all the resistance was swept away. The wounded bodies of the soldiers were still bleeding, and in this era of medical care, once the limbs were cut, it was difficult for the wounded to survive, and they usually died of severe infections. After the bloody battle, what was left was the terrible knife wound on the soldier's body.

Appis and Crassus Jr. walked through the barracks full of wounded, their hearts unusually heavy. However, more than the soldiers were injured and the crew were killed, what made Crassus Jr. and Appis feel more heavy was the problem of food supplies for the army.

The storm that landed in Spain had destroyed 80 percent of the food on the ships. And now, having taken the city, the situation is not getting better. In fact, it was the time of spring ploughing, not the time to harvest the grain in the autumn, and the city's food reserves were only enough for the citizens of the city, and if there were more troops of a few thousand men, the food would soon run out.

Apis finally understood why, in the history of Western warfare, many troops slaughtered entire cities once they captured them, because there was simply not enough food for the citizens and the army to eat. However, in the early days of Caesar's civil war, it was obvious that such a thing as slaughtering a city could not be done, and even if he could, Apis would not do that. As a result, the issue of grain and grass has once again become a thorny issue facing the army.

"If necessary, we can only limit the food rations of civilians in this city."

Sitting in the simple and comfortable temporary headquarters, little Crassus said with a frown. As a former treasurer of Caesar's Gallic legion, Crassus the Younger was sensitive to the consumption of food and money. At the same time, there are also worries about the impending food shortage.

He had a few apples at the top of his table, no other food, and seemed to be as frugal as Apis.

"You can't do that. That would cause a riot among the civilians in the city. ”

Apis quickly refuted Crassus Jr.'s words.

"We have no other choice, or to take the army out of the city. But it's at least a month's walk to the next town in Spain. Our food stocks will not last until then. Apis. ”

The early spring sun shone faintly on little Crassus's face, and his face was pale with worry. Like the white chrysanthemum in autumn, sorrow does not let go.

At this time, Appis thought of another way. That is, the pirate organization that was once active in the Mediterranean.

"Marcus, do you know if there are still pirates between Spain and Africa?"

"What do you want to do?"

Little Crassus was baffled by Appis's question, and before he worked with Apis, he had heard that the young civilian officer's mind was always full of whimsy and wisdom. However, no matter how clever the idea is, it has nothing to do with pirates?

"Smuggling the necessary rations through them."

Facing the expression of little Krasumuna, Apis explained clearly word by word.

"That sounds like a good idea, but after Pompey's extermination operation, there are not many pirates on the sea now, and even a small number of pirates are active in this part of the sea. If we want them to help us deliver smuggled food, I guess their asking price will be staggering. Appis, we don't have that much money. ”

Little Crassus reacted, but at the same time, another problem arose. That is, even if you want to hire pirates to smuggle food from Africa, you need a lot of money, and now, the Legion obviously doesn't have that much rich money. As in Antony's case, the funds allocated by Caesar during Apis's trip were only enough to maintain the legion's salary for three months. This part of the assets must not be misappropriated, otherwise, after three months, the soldier will not get his salary, and it is very likely that he will defect. Even though the shipwreck reduced the number of Legion soldiers by two-thirds, several boxes of coinage sank to the bottom of the sea. With the means to import food, but without the funds to hire pirates, it is also a major problem at the moment.

……

As for the financial problem, Appis himself does not have so much money now, and even if he had, he would not be so generous to take it out to collect supplies and food and grass for the legion. After all, this is the capital to make a fortune in the future. But soon, a whimsical idea came back into Appis's mind.

It occurred to Appis that in Rome at this time, there was already a lottery game, but it was not publicly distributed to the people through the government, but was limited to the entertainment of the court and the nobility. However, due to the particularity of the odds, in fact, the lottery industry can be used as a tool to collect money. And at this moment, here, to the whole city, the full issuance of lottery tickets, by the government unified payment is not without the possibility of implementation.

First of all, his army has just captured the city, and the mayor here has been killed in battle, which means that Crassus the Younger and himself are now the new mayors of the city, and have the power to manage and plan the city. In other words, any policy can be made possible by promulgating it on its own.

Secondly, at this time, the Roman commoners were still relatively poor, and they all had illusions about getting rich overnight. They hadn't made a profit in this kind of industry before, so Apis had no competitors in this medium-sized city at the moment. If this kind of gambling game is officially released, it is equivalent to an absolute monopoly. (Once it is discovered that the same industry is privately opened by the people, it can be banned immediately through the military.) ）

But Apis also speculated that the only obstacle to the development of this financial business may be the people's distrust of the government. After all, little Crassus and himself have just captured the city, and many people in the city, whether nobles or commoners, are wary of Caesar's army, and at this time, no matter what regulations and measures they promulgate, they will arouse the suspicion of the people. And most importantly, civilians are likely to feel that this is a pretense that no one will end up winning the lottery and getting the sky-high bounty. To convince everyone that it wasn't a scam, Apis speculated that in the early days of the lottery's rollout, some people had to be given the benefits and hyped up. to make more people believe.

After planning the entire lottery distribution process, steps, and the manpower, place, and tools that need to be prepared, Apis began to think about giving the game a nice name. After all, the word "lottery" was later invented by the Italians in the sixteenth century. At this time, the Romans understood this kind of game, that is, the rules were almost similar.

Pottery jar bar.

Appis suddenly remembered the name. Because the Romans at this time, the understanding of this game was that the nobles threw ceramics on the stage, and the people below picked up different ceramics, which meant that they could get different prizes. The use of pottery as the name by which the game spread among the Romans also seems to be relatively simple and easy to understand. (To be continued.) )