"A soldier who has his feet on his own land is the bravest and most reliable." - Cicero, On the Republic

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For these things, Li Bida can be said to have made a lot of money.

The legions of the wheels, whether assembled in Liliba or already on the front line of the city of Utica, had every mouth to eat wheat, and the Sicilian Legate's Palace, where Leo was located, and the Executive Yuan, presided over by Ebro, were raising a large number of supplies and arranging a large number of mules and horses every day. The sea was cheap and cheap, but the overall cost was still enormous, and it was far from enough to support fifteen legions to go on the expedition, and it was still far from enough to count on supplies from the rear, and Rabinus fed the war with war, and then the two kingdoms of Mauritania and Getulia gave food behind the scenes; Compared to Lypida's side, he mainly relied on the province of Africa, as well as the supplies sent by Cleopatra and Adiana from the other side of the ocean.

After the arrival of Pompey, all the towns and villages of Africa had been plundered and supplied with many legions, and after Caesar's victory, those who had provided for Pompey's maintenance and garrison were subject to a hefty fine - to allow Caesar to reward the veterans and replenish the coffers. So now it's really hard to scrape oil and water out of this province.

But no matter what, you have to continue to scrape until you get to the bottom.

In the city of Utica, Li Bida gathered the representatives of the elders of many surrounding cities in advance and told everyone the exciting good news: "In the name of both the consul and the high priest, I propose a new law, that is, the city that was previously punished. All of them were restored to the status and treatment provided for in the law of Julius. Once again, it became a free city whose rights and interests were protected by the Republic. And get rid of all the huge fines you still owe. ”

However, in the town hall, after his words fell heavily, the scene of jubilation that had been expected did not appear, and most of the deputies still hung their eyebrows and wept their faces, and their sleeves were hunched, and it seemed that after so many ups and downs, they had not had much hope for the true benevolence and tolerance of the rulers of the republic, in case of Li Bida's following words. A dramatic reversal occurs.

This reaction made the high priest very embarrassed, he moved his butt twice in his seat, then took the mint tea sent by the servant Mattia, took a few sips, and really reversed, "Of course, now that the state is in difficulty, in order to quell the rebels in Spain, I have brought a dozen legions from Italy to here, and it is no longer possible to rely on the mainland for supplies. Therefore, it is necessary to beg for the support of all the local strong and active immigrants and nobles. ”

Then he looked out, or sit. Or the delegates standing in their seats leaned their backs even lower.

"Bang", which shook everyone, Li Bida slammed the gold-plated baton in his hand on the floor under his feet, "You must have heard about what happened in the city of Rome three months ago, four hundred senators and nearly three thousand knights died, and all their property was confiscated, that is to say, no matter what age the genealogy of the lintel they are proud of can be traced back to, and no matter how many wax figures of their ancestors can be filled in the courtyard of these people's houses, now the heads are on the ground and piled up in the main square, Paying with their lives for their stupidity and short-sightedness - what is money? Anyone who gets to the point where I am talking can only give an Ashi to Dijon, which is ferryed by the River Styx! Africa has always been an important food supply province in Italy, and it is densely packed with plantation estates, and it has also given rise to a large number of trading port cities, so this is the province with the largest number of knights outside of Italy, with 1,800 knights, and your resume, family, and assets are clearly on my roster. I don't want the drama of the city of Rome to be repeated in this place, if you don't believe it, you can ask those in the know how merciful and tolerant I am in the Great Raid of the City of Seven Hills, but this does not mean that I have no means to deal with the recalcitrant elements. ”

After Li Bida finished speaking, he quickly threw the roster on the floor, and struck it a few times with his baton, signaling that everyone must watch him, and when the eyes of the fearful were cast from all directions, he pointed with his baton to the Hu Cong who was standing full of people beside him, "See, I think you have also noticed, that is, my rod is always equipped with an axe." ”

"Allow me, an old man who has gone through so many years, to say a few words, that you should not despise the wise speech of the old man." After Li Bida finished singing the black face, Galba, the chief of the Utica Chamber of Commerce next to him, who was full of silver hair, immediately sang with a red face, "In fact, as long as the stability and order of the republic are restored and the rebel party is eliminated, there will be more long-term benefits for the merchants, and the high priest has also fully considered the difficulties of our respective cities, so his plan is like this." The Executive Yuan bears half of all the provisions of the fifteen legions, and the Afrika bears half of it, and in our half it is divided into three parts—one from the treasury of each city; One share is shared collectively among all the individual knights, but the High Priest will give you a corresponding share of the treasury; The last one, an emergency temporary tax for the entire province, could add some new taxes to cultivation, winemaking, oil extraction, urban construction, trade in luxury goods, maritime affairs, etc., but it should be remembered that this was temporary and would not be necessary after the war was over the following year. ”

After all, it seemed that it was still within the affordability of the city, and that Libida was not the Pompey and Scipio of the past, but that they were the ones who had fished with all their might, and that in the end even the stoves, door panels, and window lattices had to be taxed, and then all the city representatives finally stood up en masse and made a gesture of approval of the high priest's plan to levy taxes.

"Don't be discouraged, gentlemen! Just now, the chief honorary knight, the old man Galba, also said that the merchant should be long-term, and I will not forget the great help of the princes - I have decided to grant you additional rights as soon as the war is over - now that the Italian tax collectors have been killed, and soon I will make a proper allocation of the places in Numidia and Mauritania, and for others, the threshold will always be there. But for you, everywhere is like the terrain here," Li Bida finished speaking, and made a triumphant gesture of galloping.

Then, the burden of building the "trapezoidal storehouses" and the "three-way road" from the city of Utica to the Tumr River soon fell on the heads of all the horsemen of Africa.

The three-way road was a new way of road construction that Li Pida had previously used in the city of Lyptis - separating pack horses, cavalry and infantry, greatly reducing the time and burden of the march.

The trapezoidal warehouse group is a new thing he has come up with, which is to solve the needs of battlefield logistics. (To be continued......)