"No, I'm thinking," Lipida kept shifting his fingers as he held his chin, "I don't have time to be overly sad, Sabo. I'm just wondering if the worst game of this Egyptian expedition was that I took advantage of the republicans, or did the republicans take advantage of me? At least now Brutus and his uncle approve of the latter, but the person who turns the tables the last every time is always me, how can I turn the tables this time? Seeing that the commander was brushing his hair again, Sabo knew that he had entered the "pit man" mode, so he shook his head and went to the barracks to arrange duties, ignoring him no more.

The following process was very uneventful, and about a month later Cato went to the island of Cyprus triumphantly, and no one in the city of Rome would publicize the achievements of Lypida's legion, but would only stare with envy at him who was not yet forty years old, a year before he had been persecuted, and only went to Rhodes with a prostitute and a thief, and a year later he skillfully used the situation, conquered a kingdom without spending a single ath of the Republic, restored a vassal state, and brought back the wealth of three thousand five hundred Tallents, What did he do worse than Caesar and Pompey?

But Cato the Younger did not fully express this idea before the battle of Egypt was completed, but listened to Brutus's suggestion and temporarily divided the island of Cyprus into three political districts, Salamis was stationed in the army of Lybida, and the pipers were stationed in order to facilitate the invasion of Egypt, while he himself was stopped in the small city of Nicosia in the north of the island, where it was convenient to receive the tax collectors and merchant groups of Asia Minor and Greece, and Defoemokis, after dealing with his brother's funeral, temporarily remained as the high priest of Paphos in the southwest. But under Cato's watch. Contact with Benenici is strictly prohibited.

So everyone is busy with their own things. And it will be safe. Moreover, when he heard that Cato had asked for instructions from the Republic, he would return to Rome at the end of the winter with that wealth, and humbly demanded that in the following year or the year after, when the Egyptian expedition was successful, the term of office of the Governor of Cyprus should be ended, and that he would continue to serve as a court officer in the state, without seeking a longer term. This kind of behavior is in stark contrast to the abnormal love stack of the three-headed monster, and it has to be said that it is a trick of Gato's invitation.

Soon after, Pharaoh's guard of honour appeared in the city of Salamis, and instead of daring to take the ship, for fear of being intercepted by the Egyptian fleet, he passed through the whole of Cyprus and came in a sedan chair. When he saw Li Bida, the first thing he said was, "My thief brother who embezzled money is dead?" ”

"Yes, although he was an enemy, he still maintained the dignity of the royal family when he died, and it was after the whole family swallowed poison. He who sat on Pharaoh's shoulder and died. ”

Hearing this, the piper's face sank. Li Pida's description really did not give him the pleasure of defeating the enemy, but added a certain feeling of sadness for the death of a rabbit and a fox, or the daughter gently held her father's hand and said with relief, "This is also an inevitable end, not only do we want him to die, but the Roman Republic has long wanted to directly annex Kiti (i.e., Cyprus), a sea route, as a province." ”

"Also, I did get half of the money, but I was given a reward of eight hundred talents to the officers and soldiers, and I am very sorry that our legion will repay His Excellency Pharaoh in the battle of Egypt with twice the zeal with which the reward was given."

Pharaoh's fake beard was raised, and his expression was very soft, and he nodded his scepter on the shoulder of Li Pida, "Now the most regretful person should be me, if I had listened to the advice of my subordinates and insisted on staying in Alexandria, maybe the rebellion would have been put down by me, instead of standing in front of the door of the Roman bureaucrats like a beggar to ask for their troops." Now that you have become the sword of the royal family, what do I have to be stingy with money? I have seen the fate of Ptolemy on this island, and I do not want to end up like this, dear Chancellor of the Exchequer and Governor, I have decided that the two thousand or so Tallents which have been added to the island shall be given as a military expense, except for the repair of the palace of Salamis for my garrison. ”

After speaking, the surrounding slaves, including Li Bida and other Roman generals, all bent their waists with all their might, praising the pharaoh's wisdom and profundity, and his high ambition and foresight.

Sabo apparently noticed that His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief had recently become silent, sometimes just marking something in the draft and drawings of the army training he had drawn up, and sometimes looking thoughtfully in the direction of Ephesus in the north, the training of the Thirteenth Legion was now formalized, but the weapons used by the two archery brigades were different and a bit tricky, one was similar to the attached cavalry brigade, using a single bow from the Mediterranean, and the other was from Syria, accustomed to using the Assyrian composite bow that had been captured earlier.

"The former is placed in the center of the formation to the right, and the latter is placed on the right flank, so that the archers can have the best view and the range can be complementary." Sabo gestured with his fingers on the sketch, but the commander was only glazed over, half-leaning back in his chair, nodding his head occasionally, when suddenly he shouted for the preparation of his horses and his retinue, and that he was going to Nicosia to pay homage to Cato.

Later, Li Bida suddenly shouted nervously, no, not to pay homage to Cato! made Saab and the others a little baffled.

When he arrived at the gate in Nicosia, Tagus and Sabo heard that he casually used "Marcus. Lucius" registered the names of the legionnaires, which in the Roman world were not ten thousand but eight thousand, anyway, there was a messenger, and then he said to Sabo, "You and Tagus go to see Cato, remember, you don't need any skill, just keep asking him for part of the budget and provisions, keep annoying him, try to get him to keep you for the main meal, but Cato's meal will not be very tasty, that is, hold on, this is your task." ”

After the instructions, Li Bida hid in front of the alley at the door of Cato's mansion, wearing a civilian's shirt, constantly observing something, because he completely remembered that there was such a line in the old Cato's family motto:

Servants should only be asked to prepare their own portion of the meal every day, and never prepare a banquet for guests unless they are forced to do so, because the guests who come to the banquet will definitely not be able to meet their demands.

Therefore, when Sabo entered the mansion, he did not directly ask for anything, but according to the request of His Excellency the commander, he took the trouble to stand in front of Cato, reporting all kinds of information, training, the amount of military pay, the preparation of oarsmen and ships, the combat readiness of the Egyptian army on the other side, and so on.

To his surprise, although Cato's performance obviously did not solve the problem for them, the expression on his face was not bored, and he politely invited Sabo and Tagus to sit in front of him, according to Roman custom, superiors and subordinates could not sit at the same time unless they had the permission of their superiors.

Because little Cato also needs to know about Li Bida's movements, he wants to draw valuable information from Sabo's official tone report, and in the eyes of little Cato, Li Bida's position is the "enemy". (To be continued......)