The warm waters of the pool are crystal clear, the lavish bathhouses are even made of gilded bricks, and by the cloister stand the gentle and beautiful servants of Cleopatra. In the entire bathhouse, only the Egyptian queen and herself were bathing, bathing. No wonder Antony will forget his mission after arriving in Egypt, forgetting Rome on the other side of the ocean, compared to the yellow sand and rough soil on the battlefield, Alexander's palace and beauties are simply unforgettable.

How many emperors in history are in such a warm bath and the arms of beauties, exhausting their last trace of blood, forgetting their eloquence, and the examples of loving beauty and not loving the country seem to be all there are people at home and abroad in ancient and modern times.

But Appis knew that he could not wear down his fighting spirit in this luxurious place. There were still enemies on the shores of the Mediterranean, Antony was not completely eliminated, he still had his own army and possessions in Asia Minor, and the East, which had always been the richest place in the empire. Rome, on the other hand, has not been so stable. Today's enjoyment is only temporary.

"What are you going to do with Damasipus and his allies, Appis?"

Lying on the edge of the bath, Cleopatra said softly.

After several days of pursuit, the queen's guards finally caught up with these two "traitors" who had fled to other places in the ports of Syria. This also made Cleopatra and Apis in the mood to enjoy themselves in this palace.

"They are your officials, if you want to deal with it, you can deal with it, how can I, Appis, have the right to intervene?"

Faced with the queen's question, Apis replied with a smile.

And Cleopatra also likes this answer, she can still enjoy the treatment of a queen, and can handle government affairs according to her own wishes. Although Cleopatra knew in her heart that this situation might not last long. What Appis was thinking, it was hard for her to guess. She is still always wary of the man in front of her, she knows that Apis's scheming is a hundred times better than Antony, if it weren't for Antony not being able to beat Apis, Cleopatra really didn't want to cooperate with Apis.

"You are too polite, Appis, no one else has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Egypt, of course you have, you have helped me through the difficulties, and you have helped the Egyptian people to tide over the difficulties, and in a reasonable way, you have the right to judge my standards of doing things."

Cleopatra said with a smile on her face.

"Don't tempt me, Queen, if our cooperation is still so tentative, then it is okay not to cooperate, and distrustful allies will not be able to cooperate for long. You and Anthony have been like that in the past, and I hope our relationship will not be like that in the future. I know you're worried, but I promise that after I defeat Antony, Egypt will still be able to govern itself. Just like Caesar was when he was alive. I will not interfere in the internal affairs of the Ptolemaic dynasty unless it threatens Roman rule in other regions. ”

Appis looked at the wise queen and said with a feigned seriousness.

Of course, from the bottom of his heart, Apis knew that what he was talking was nonsense. Egypt is its own pedal, in the future, when war breaks out again, it can be used as a front-line position, providing a steady supply of food and grass to the legions, saving the need to transport supplies and grain and grass from Italy. As for the question of who will rule Egypt after success, then it will depend on one's mood.

Cleopatra was a little embarrassed to be taken a dose of closed-door soup, and she quickly changed the subject.

"Your sincerity puts me to shame, Apis. There's a question I've always wanted to ask you. ”

Cleopatra stepped out of the bath, and the servants around him immediately covered her with clothes, so that Apis could no longer feast his eyes.

"Say it."

Lying in the cozy pool, Apis replied leisurely.

"How did Gaul become a prosperous scene in the midst of poverty? I knew that it was a barren land, and even though Caesar conquered it, the wealth was not brought there. ”

Cleopatra asked curiously.

"How do you say that? It's complicated. It is even more complicated than the Roman man-made bridge and the construction of aqueducts. I refer to them collectively as 'the economy'. It involves all aspects of society, political system, people's lives, and so on. ”

In the bath, Apis raised his arms and said slowly.

"For example?"

"I divide the whole economy into three parts, which are the primary, secondary and tertiary industries. The primary and most important industry is agriculture. The production of all food and crops is the most basic subsistence guarantee and can also generate wealth and profit. And we can't survive without it, so I call it the most basic and important part. The secondary industry is all the industry, in short, all the workshops, the mining industry, the textile industry, the things that we can use in our daily life, these can also generate wealth, I collectively call it the secondary industry. These are all familiar to us, and the tertiary sector, including the service industry. To put it simply, the service industry is the benefits and wealth generated by engaging in service work, such as commoners working for nobles and getting due remuneration, and commoners use the remuneration they get for consumption, going to brothels and so on, which is what I refer to as the tertiary industry. In general, these three industries can generate wealth, and traditionally, we have only focused on the primary and secondary industries, and often neglected the tertiary industry. Because our country is based on agricultural production, like Egypt, but also Sicily, and Africa. Merchants sold grain and other crops and thus gained wealth, which is what we know as wealth. But we ignore the wealth that the various facilities in the city served the nobles and merchants. ”

Lying in the bathhouse, Appis said slowly. It may be a bit puzzling to talk about economics with people of this era, but Cleopatra quickly reacted, and her sensitivity to knowledge and eagerness to learn made the queen quickly understand what Appis meant by "economy".

"And then?"

"And then very simply, when I was in Gaul, I knew that there would be bottlenecks in the development of agriculture in Gaul, and that there would be bottlenecks in the secondary sector, in all the production sectors, and that population and resources would be an insurmountable barrier. Therefore, I will vigorously develop what I call the tertiary industry. It's subtle, and you have to be careful with it. For example, there are industries such as gambling, money lending, and brothels, which do not have physical goods, but they generate wealth. The financial industry, involving the first two, also includes insurance, gambling, and so on. In the insurance industry, for example, fishermen who go to sea can buy insurance for themselves in advance, and then their families can get a substantial amount of insurance in case they get an accident at sea. Originally, this industry was set up privately by fishermen, but I legalized and formalized it, and this is an objective income, because not every fisherman will have an accident when he goes to sea, and we can easily benefit from it using the principle of probability. The same is true for the gaming industry, where capital circulates in the market and generates more wealth benefits. Of course, once these industries are developed, you cannot have an absolute monopoly, and there will always be aristocrats or wealthy businessmen who will follow suit. ”

Appis said, and walked out of the pool, these topics, which interest the queen without being thorough, are the best art of speaking.