In the middle of summer, Apis withdrew from Aphilia to Spain with a large Roman legion, and traveled all the way north to Gaul. The Eighth Army was left in Far Spain to deal with the unstable law and order problems in the region.

As soon as he arrived in Lugdurum, the capital of Gaul, Livius embraced Apis excitedly as if he had seen a savior, and it was true that the master of Gaul had left him this newly conquered land, and the follow-up problems of the reform of the agricultural land law, the imperfection of the law, the problem of immigration, etc., were like mountains, which overwhelmed the young Livius.

He needed the return of Apis too much, at least with the legion to suppress the arrogance of these nobles and a few big business groups.

"The problem in Gaul is worse than what I have reported, and there are now daily cases of commoners rising up in protest, being injured or even killed by thugs hired by the nobility, and many of which we have not been able to find, and even if we do, the original agreement was that after a few years, the control of the land would be vested in the nobility. So there is no chance that civilians will win the case. If this continues, the surge of public anger will be difficult to deal with. Also, there was a rebellion in Britain. I have just received the news that on your way here, a tribal leader in North Britain, named Upirinus, has slain a local Roman officer, and with his people, slaughtered an entire brigade of four hundred men which we had stationed there. ”

The day after a short rest, Apis went early in the morning to the Julius Hall in the center of Lugdurum, where he discussed the crises and dilemmas facing Gaul with officials of Livius, Crassus the Younger, and Lugdurum. In fact, since the day Apis left Gaul, he knew that Gaul would one day have another storm. Because the new "Agricultural Land Law" is ostensibly in favor of the commoners, but in essence, there are the interests of the aristocracy behind it, which is equivalent to burying a huge hidden danger for itself. So Apis knew that he couldn't go south to conquer Africa for too long, but after a series of battles, he didn't delay his return to Gaul until winter.

It is true that Apis was not in Gaul during this time, and the newly formed cabinet could only deal with day-to-day affairs, with no power to interfere or propose new laws. Levius also did not dare to implement new policies and methods without authorization, because the implementation of any policy could affect the whole body, and if it was not done, new problems and contradictions would arise one after another.

"Okay, let's talk about the social problems that have occurred since the implementation of the new Agricultural Land Law. Levius, I've been thinking about the question you just said, and now I'm going to give you a suggestion that you can admonish. ”

Apis sat upright. Then, the 300 cabinet members behind him began to record like loyal fans......

"This law was actually designed from the beginning and was not intended to last long. Rome was a slave country, and our productive life was full of slaves. The idea of slavery is so ingrained in our bones that even a slightly wealthier commoner family would want to buy one or two slaves and serve as their labor, so it is unrealistic to let commoners replace slave labor. In fact, when I first devised this law, it was not really intended for commoners to replace slaves. Instead, they should first solve their food and clothing, arouse their enthusiasm for labor, and obtain additional wealth by contracting land. Alleviating social contradictions is the focus of the new Agricultural Land Law and the significance of its implementation. Then, we saw the scene of production and labor blooming everywhere. During this period, the interests of the nobles will be damaged, but this is temporary, and some additional benefits that originally belonged to the nobles will be distributed to the poor commoners. Now that the deadline for the first batch of commoners to participate in the reform of the new Agrarian Land Law has expired, it is not surprising that the nobles should redeem their land and estates, as stipulated in the original agreement. At this time, the situation that His Excellency Levius had just said arose. So, now, how is the problem solved? ”

Apis took a sip of water and continued—

"I propose, and intend to, sell the five hundred shops belonging to me in Lugdurum to these civilians whose contracts have expired, and let them use my shops in this city for free for one year, which will be a good time for them to do business and do business. Because after three years of land contracting, these people have some wealth in their pockets, and they are no longer the poor and hungry people of the past. They can use the accumulation of these three years as the start-up capital for the business to trade. Yes, Roman citizens had freedom of trade. After a year of rent-free, perhaps some of these people will become knights in their wealth. Some people may remain where they are, but in this way, they are freed from the shackles of the land and can return to city life. Integrate into a variety of industries. Yes, I have lost a lot of gains in this year, but I can solve the current thorny social contradictions and law and order problems. Of course, I propose, and I hope that all of you here, will be as considerate as I am of the civilians of the city of Lugdurum. ”

Appis spoke at the square table, while the cabinet members behind him, the scribe's quills rustled on papyrus, recording every word of the Gallic magistrate back and forth in neat Latin.

The scene was surprisingly quiet.

"Of course, if you feel that it is a pity to waste the shop that you rent out to these civilians for free for a year, then I have another proposal, which is to take a stake in their business. It is possible to partner with these commoners, and stipulate that they shall share with you what percentage of the profits they make after trading, so that if these commoners are rich in business, you may earn much more than the rent. Of course, this is just one of the proposals, and you can come up with a better way. Solve the problem at hand together. ”

Seeing that the officials present were silent, Appis continued to make proposals, and only then did Lugdurum officials raise their hands in approval......

"Okay, if there is no objection, this policy will be implemented in this way first, and we will meet and discuss what kind of obstacles or resistance we encounter. Next, let's explore the rebellion in Britain. ”

This important meeting in Julius's Great Hall was thus controlled by Appis's nervous and easy control. First, a question was raised, and everyone discussed it in a chaotic manner, and then Appis summarized the rhetoric and views of all parties. The discussion soon moved on to the rebellion in northern Britain.

It is said that it is the north of Britain, but in fact, Apis knew that the Romans of this era did not know where the real north of Britain was. From what they call the northern part of Britain, geographically speaking, it is only the middle of the island of Britain, which is estimated to be the area where Hadrian's Wall is located in the later generations. According to Livius, the rebellion in Britain was caused by a local Roman tax collector who levied a poll tax at a high rate, and when he could not pay the tax, he led the security team to every house to arrest people, which caused the local tribes in Britain to revolt. The tribal leader could not stand the endless taxation and raiding of his house by the local officials. only then did he get up and resist. Soon, more and more people responded to him, and it gradually turned into a mutiny, and a month earlier information came from Britain that the rebels had taken three towns and slaughtered all Roman immigrants in one of them. Appis estimated that by this time, the barbarian rebels in Britain had expanded their territory and killed more Romans. The situation is far more dangerous than imagined.