"They despise me as an upstart, but I despise them for being worthless; They humiliated me with my social status, and I was even more ashamed of their various scandals. —Marius's ridicule of the aristocratic senators

Little Cato walked up to his nephew, bowed his head and whispered a few words to him, and then politely said to Li Bida and Pharaoh, who were sitting beside him on the couch: "Since the commander has agreed to the second half, then I have nothing to say, I authorize you to send troops to Cyprus, but I hope that Cassiyo and Brutus will follow you, especially Brutus He must follow you to the island and besiege the capital of Salamis." ”

"Don't worry, I still have this bit of integrity, since it is clear that the spoils are divided in half, I will never rely on the possession of the legion to bully our philosopher, who is also my friend Brutus." Li Bida said it righteously.

"But you ...... uncle"

Brutus's words were interrupted by Cato the Younger's hand, saying, "The administrative districts of the province of Cyprus are too strange, including Byzantium at the Cape of Dardanos, which has just been granted the status of a Latin colonial city, and it is said that the Roman immigrants and the natives of Greece are also at odds during this time, and the troublesome chieftains and kings of Thrace, Asher will accompany me there to mediate at once." So Dillinger and Cannedis will follow you, keep the books and books, and register any seizures. After saying that, the uncle's hand pressed heavily on Brutus's shoulder, "Do a good job, you can do it." ”

This press is not trivial, Brutus took a deep breath, and said in a trembling voice that I will do my best. Cato Jr.'s move was profound, and of course Li Bida understood that he wanted to get a good amount of money to return to the city of Rome. But he is unwilling to damage his reputation. In addition, since the nephew and himself are good friends. It's not too difficult to think about.

But Lybida's judgment was only a matter of a moment, and his gaze quickly caught a new situation, and after Cato mentioned that Cannedis followed his nephew to the island, Munajius, who was holding a sponge stick in the corner, had a visibly complicated look.

Hmph, yes, the Romans valued the patronage relationship between the master and the guest the most, and on the one hand, this kind of contract required the guest to serve the interests of the master unconditionally. On the other hand, it is strictly forbidden for the host to be sorry or deceive the doorman. Even in court, the doorman can rely on this status to refuse to testify against the owner's crime, and vice versa. Don't look at Munajius now, he is not a big official, but when little Cato is constipated, he still has to prepare laxatives for his master, and he has to wipe his ass with a sponge stick for his master, but Li Bida believes that Munajius thinks that doing all this is without psychological burden, and he trusts the deep relationship between himself and his master.

But when Cato asked Cannedis to go to the island, Munajus couldn't stand it. What are you doing? Why? What is my relationship with my master, and what is his relationship with Canadis? Could it be that the master no longer trusts me? I was so sour and sour that emotions came out of my gushing and vividly showed between his eyebrows.

Hmph, there are flaws.

But now is not the time to provoke, Li Bida coughed twice, and said that there is still something to discuss, that is, the 100 million Cesdeus that the Jewish merchant group will lend to you immediately, and there must be 30 million allocated for the military expenses of my thirteenth legion.

Cato Jr. shrugged his shoulders and said no problem.

"Also, Ptolemy of Cyprus must die, and there is no priest of the Temple of Love for him, so that the republic can save a long time."

At this time, Pharaoh nodded at little Cato, meaning that Li Pida's request was indeed his plan, so Brutus took the opportunity to add weight, "Then I also have the right to accompany you to Egypt and supervise the auction of the loot." ”

The two sides reached a package agreement "very refreshingly".

On the ship back to Ephesus, under the sun-drenched sails of the ocean, Lipida quietly crouched down on the deck, in front of the Ptolemy father and daughter, and whispered, "Your Majesty, Honorable Pharaoh, you must tell me the truth, that is, is there a great amount of wealth on the island of Cyprus?" ”

Pharaoh and Cleopatra looked at each other, and then Cleopatra took the initiative to speak, "This is why my uncle betrayed my father, who suffered a national disaster when he was young (how many times is it now?). He took refuge in his uncle's kingdom, carrying with him a large amount of gold and silver treasures, and then left them on the island of Cyprus and went to the king of Pontus to ask for reinforcements. ”

Of course, of course, this story I heard from my patron tuna before, so I realized that the things involved in the war in this island nation will not be simple.

"But then after my father's restoration (how many times has it been now?) My uncle coveted the property, withheld it, and began to oppose my husband, which was why he and my sister had been on the same side and had been enemies of Rome. It seemed difficult for Cleopatra to say these words, after all, she understood that now both Cato the Younger and Lybida began to care about this treasure that should have belonged to my Egyptian royal family, even if he defeated Cyprus "My friend Lybidaeus, this property I do not deceive the number, it is enough to have seven thousand Talents!" ”

At this time, Li Bida's eyes were straight, and his Adam's apple was rolling up and down rapidly, seven thousand Tallents, seven thousand Tallents, this is probably the essence of the treasury of the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt for hundreds of years, it is precisely because of the loss of this wealth that Ptolemy planned an expedition to the island of Cyprus in order to take revenge, and then began to start a self-made expedition, and was bombed away for the second time. As long as I can have this money, even if it is divided equally according to the agreement with Cato, it will be three thousand five hundred Tallents, and God, I will be side by side with Caesar, Pompey and Crassus! Cato is willing to hand over this money to the treasury and make political capital as he pleases, but if I have this money, I will take my wife and Porti out, and I will not go back to Gaul, and I will go to the kingdom of Adiana in Asia Minor to develop, and in ten years I will be able to fight Rome, and what treason do I care, funny?

But after he looked at Guan Lao and then at Xiao Yan, he hesitated in his heart, especially Xiao Yanhou's pitiful eyes, and then thought about it again, it stands to reason that Lao would not have told him this shocking secret, but since Cleopatra said it, he must have been helpless and pinned all his hopes on himself. Yes, it's better to put a long line to catch a big fish, give up 3,500 Tallents, and win the covert manipulation of a powerful country, choose ah choose, it's a multiple choice question.

"Rest assured, the only thing I'm dissatisfied with is that I can probably only get back half of the gold and silver for His Majesty Pharaoh, but it should be enough to rebuild the country and pay off Caesar's debts." Li Bida's final answer made Pharaoh's cheeks cry, stained the fat powder, held the commander's hands tightly, and said tremblingly, "Li Bidaus, you will not only be my Minister of Finance in the future, but also the guardian of my son and daughter. ”

This, becoming a guardian again? (To be continued......)