"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info Appius, don't hide your anger and hatred for Apis, I knew about the feud between you and him early on, otherwise, I wouldn't have found you among the many candidates. My friend, we have a common opponent, and this opponent is now too strong for us to join forces to deliver a fatal blow to him. Don't shirk my kindness any longer, and as for the benefits, I have already told Titus, that when the matter is done, he will pay you a tenth of the profits of the Lascott mines. ”

On a hot Mediterranean July, Carudes sat in his villa with Appius, "chatting". It's just that their topic is inseparable from interests. It was the most popular topic of conversation among all the Roman aristocracy, and this foreknowledge of the pursuit of political and economic interests was the most common pursuit of the aristocratic class of all ages.

"Oh? Is it? So what if I say it's not enough? You know, Apis is a man who belongs to Caesar, after the end of the civil war, along with Antony, Lepida and others, he is almost one of Caesar's colleagues, Caesar has now been appointed dictator by the Senate, his power is extremely powerful, against Apis, is equivalent to against Caesar, do you know how big the threat is hidden behind this matter? Is a tenth of the income of a mine worth the risk? ”

In the face of Caderus' persuasion, Appius gave the exact opposite answer, and pretended to be worried and embarrassed. The aristocracy always uses all means to maximize their interests, even between allies, there are disputes over such interests, and this is the aristocracy.

However, Caderus also has his own opinions on Appius's wording and explanation, or he is also prepared.

"Appius, you and I are both people who have been in Roman politics, and even though you are no longer involved in this complex circle, I believe that you still have some knowledge of the current situation. Although Caesar has achieved the role of dictator, but it is only four years, and, the most important thing is that Caesar is not Sula, he wants to reform, but not with the sword to reform, with coercion to reform, but to win the support of the vast majority of nobles and commoners, and then to reform, from this point of view, Caesar will not be so free to deal with his enemies, moreover, his every action must be restrained, yes, the eyes of the people are the best restraint for him. Therefore, in many aspects, the legal, trade, and administrative aspects, in fact, until the reform progresses, he will not use the army to suppress any nobleman for no reason and cause social injustice, which will only cause dissatisfaction among the people, so the closer the people to him, the more they must be bound by his reform of Rome, in other words, the people around Caesar must lead by example, to do everything fairly and justly, so that the people will obey him. This is Appis's greatest weakness. A short-sighted person like me can see it, can't you see Appius, the richest man in the former Yare? Don't go around in circles with me anymore, my friend, our cooperation will be perfect, and you can also get the results and benefits you want in this matter, get rid of the worries you have been holding down for a long time, and get the profits of the mine, it is a win-win choice. I hope you will give good consideration to my suggestion. ”

Caderus finished his understanding and opinion of the current situation in one breath, and connected what he and Appius were about to accomplish with the current situation in Rome.

……

"Well, mate, you've finally told me to do it. But I have one last request. ”

Appius did not expect that a Roman nobleman who had lived in Capua was so aware of the changes taking place in the city of Rome that he was speechless for a moment and could only compromise.

"Say it. My friend. ”

Caderus returned.

"It's a very dangerous operation, and it's going to be very expensive to hire a gang to do it. I know better than you know the state of Rome, and I know the great warehouse of Parutia, which you intend to target. So, I can plan the arson, but you have to pay most of the cost of this operation. At least two-thirds. ”

As soon as Appius finished speaking, Caderus suddenly felt that his fellow nobleman in front of him was a little funny and petty. In Caderus's view, if the operation is successful, the benefits they will get in exchange will not be a matter of one-tenth of the mine's income and the cost of the operation, and if it fails, they will not face a simple economic loss, but the danger of the population landing. In the face of such a big event, Appius was still fighting for the cost of action, and Caderus suddenly had a sigh, no wonder Appius lost when he repeatedly fought with Appis, because the two of them were not on the same level in the first place. But now he had to work with Appius...... Caderus thought, sighing gloomily, and then said to Appius—

"No problem. As long as you can. ”

……

Two weeks later, the Parutia warehouse on the east bank of the Tiber River was on fire at night, and the people who were frantically fighting could not stop the fire, and even, with the help of strong winds, the fire spread to the surrounding residential areas, and the little Crassus sent rescue teams to fight the fire, but more than a dozen residential towers and apartments were still burned in the fire.

During the day, before the wounded could be treated, the owners of the large warehouse in Parutia approached Appis and demanded compensation. And just when the Iris Guarantee Agency was busy with this large-scale fire accident, fires broke out in many warehouses and workshops in the east, south and west of the city. The slightly smarter citizens of Rome only need to use their brains to quickly think of the fires that broke out in succession over the course of two days, aimed directly at the Iris guarantor of Apis, or rather directly at Apis.

But who did it is still to be explored, and of course, according to conventional thinking, everyone will point their suspicious eyes at several of Apis's fellow insurance workers in the city of Rome. Because the Iris Guaranty Agency was hit hard, the people who benefited the most were these Roman nobles who opened the same insurance agency in the city of Rome.

"Give me three days, and I promise to deliver the payouts to you."

Faced with a group of Roman nobles, knights, and commoners who feared that they would not receive the reparations, Apis stood at the door of the villa and made a loud promise.