A team of mules walked on the trails of the Thracian mountains, each with a pedestrian, walking as smoothly as possible. Even so, the passengers had to hold on to the hoops in front of the saddle to make themselves sit more securely. After finally passing the trail, the mule team finally returned to the main road. The passengers, who had been rocking for hours, asked to take a break, and the crowd, including Maximi, stopped at a caravanserais on the side of the road.

Complaints are inevitable, and many people complain about the Legion's road construction. When the innkeeper heard this, he couldn't help but join in, "Everyone, in another legion, it will be repaired to my door." When the time comes, there will be guests coming to the door. ”

Maximi was silent, his son Sicelius was a member of the legion, and not long ago ended his two-year term as a military judge, and had become the captain of a legion in the west. The Roman legions were responsible for the construction of Rome's infrastructure when they were not at war, and now Sicelius should also be working on the widening of some section of the road. Although he encountered some problems, Maximi did not feel that there was anything to complain about. Once the road was widened, the transport capacity of Eastern Rome would increase several times over. I can't bear this inconvenience, I can't bear ......, these people just like to complain.

Not wanting to hear complaints, Maximi thought about his own troubles, which were undoubtedly one of the sources of annoyance.

"A strong monarchy will lead to the decline of the republic!"

"Why don't the people support the republic?"

"Your Excellency said that the inability of the republic to govern led to the collapse of the republic, and now it is the monarchy that is on the ......"

"We're arguing about it now, what the hell are we going to do!"

……

A few days after Li Tianran left Constantinople, Maximi didn't feel anything, and now Maximi misses the time when he could come to his door to consult Li Tiantian. Only a very small number of Lee's words were useful to Maximi, and most of them made Maximi feel good. That kind of strength and inner self-confidence is like entering a treasure trove, and there are only a few truly useful treasures, and most of the treasures you see along the way are pleasing to the eye. Compared with Li Nature's inner strength, the weakness and hesitation within the Eastern Roman republican faction now reminded Maximi of Li Nature's sentence that 'incompetence is the original sin'.

His arm was hit hard by his wife's elbow, and Maximi looked up from his contemplation. I heard my wife say with some dissatisfaction: "Maximi, Your Excellency Baldon is talking to you." ”

"Oh." Maximi replied casually and looked at Duchess Barden.

The Duke smiled and said, "Your Excellency, I know that you are working hard, which is why I invited you to my manor to relax. Problems that have not been solved for hundreds of years are not in a hurry to be completed in a few days. ”

Maximi smiled, if only the problems that had not been solved for nearly a thousand years could be solved in these days. Maximi is willing to pay any price for this. As the duchess said, since it can't be solved now, Maximi might as well relax and enjoy the journey.

"Your Excellency is right, I am indeed too immersed in official business." Maximi replied.

The husband's answer was also decent, and Sheila's mother was relieved. This invitation to visit the Duchess of Balden's manor house also has a very important reason for the Clysius family, if the two have no problem with the Bardon family, they will discuss when the two children will have their wedding. Many people have talked about the wealth of the Duchess of Baldon, and it is time to see how rich this great nobleman is.

It seemed that there were legions everywhere building roads, and the group was forced to make three detours after setting off again. After walking for three days, the team was on a fork in the road, and Duchess Bardon said indifferently to everyone: "From here, it is the land of Sheila's new estate plan in the west. ”

Both the Crysius and his wife had heard of this plan, and a group of nobles, led by the Duchess of Barden, began production on the model of the eastern nobleman Suren, and borrowed a large sum of money from the Constantinople bank. The scale of this loan is so large that even the Legion Recipe mentions it. If the plan is successful, it is said that a large part of the food supply of the Western Corps can be satisfied.

Looking at this territory, I don't feel that it is particularly different from other places. And the day went on, and there were many fields of wheat on both sides of the road, and the wheat was about to ripen, and most of the ears of wheat were already golden yellow, and only a small part of the emerald green remained. There were a large number of people in the fields who were making various preparations, and the scythe blades in their hands reflected bright light in the sunlight, which made Maximi feel a little dangerous.

By the afternoon of the second day, a manor house came into view. Duchess Bardon pointed to the manor and said, "The front is here." ”

Maximi looked at his wife, and was really surprised. The wife didn't even ask when the manor would arrive, but Maximi couldn't help but want to ask several times. Unexpectedly, Duchess Baldon actually controlled such a large land, no wonder the Bardon family could rank among the top three nobles in the west.

Sheila's mother was surprised to hear the distance from her daughter's complaint about the journey from Balden's house, and after seeing it with her own eyes, she felt that the Balden family really lived up to its name. Everyone was already tired from the journey, and after entering the manor, they were led by the servants to their respective rooms. Clysius and his wife lay in bed and did not want to speak, so they fell asleep in a daze.

When I was woken up by the servant's knock on the door, I saw that it was already dark outside the window, and the servant had come to invite the husband and wife to the dining room for dinner. As soon as they heard about eating, both of them felt that they were suddenly hungry. After washing their faces, they followed the servant downstairs to the dining room. Candles were lit in the dining room, and servants were bringing dishes to the table. The crowd didn't talk nonsense, and began to feed their stomachs with their heads down. After eating, everyone went back to rest and continued. It's been a hard ride.

After a few days of rest, Maximi felt unaccustomed to the first day, but from the second day onwards he began to enjoy the feeling. Everything was quiet, even though the tense summer harvest was going on outside the manor, it was still much quieter than the bustling city of Constantinople. The chairman of the Eastern Roman Constituent Committee could even go fishing in the small lake next to the manor, which itself was a bit like a ritual of thinking, looking at the empty wheat fields in the distance, Maximi allowed his thoughts to drift away, and he could think of whatever he wanted. Roman, Greek, and Great Song Dynasty, all kinds of ideas can be opened and terminated at will. It's much more comfortable than meditating on a goal in the study. As for whether he returned empty-handed in the end, it was not considered at all.

During this time, His Excellency Maximi even went to the harvested wheat field and saw that the peasants were wearing gloves, which made Maximi very strange. Asked the attendant who was with him, and the servant said that this was the request of His Excellency Suren, and that the new farming tools were very sharp and needed to be careful. Maximi had met Suren, a nobleman who had not read much, and his appearance did not match his current fame. Just looking at his appearance, this sun-swarned young man is more like an energetic ordinary person.

There were actually many medical points in the wheat field, and Maximi saw some injured guys come here to bandage and deal with them, so he really believed that Suren's judgment was correct. While continuing his rounds, Maximi also met Suren, who was more like an energetic and ordinary person. This sun-swarthy guy is surrounded by a group of aristocratic guys, compared to the serious study of students in Maximime's house, Su Lun's expression is now firm, and his casual body movements are a kind of confidence and firmness. Let Maximi be a little impressed by Suren. Although the nobles around Su Lun were not convinced, no one dared to really oppose Su Lun.

Knowing that Suren was very busy at this time, Maximi looked at it for a while and continued to move forward. The land controlled by the Barden family was very large, and there were wheat fields everywhere, and the peasants in the wheat fields, both men and women, were working hard, and rows of people were harvesting the wheat with sickles, and the sheaves of wheat beside the ridges were piled higher and higher. Behind the peasants there are more and more vacant land.

After coming here for a long time, Maximi did not come back. He visited the Baldon family's private library, which had a lot of books, but it looked like an aristocratic library that was not often visited. There was a lot of dust, and many books had probably not been touched since they were on the shelves. This reminded Maximi of his daughter Sheila's proposal to establish a public library, an initiative supported by the province of Europa, which Maximi had visited, and the people who read there were not rich, but those people were much more enthusiastic about reading than the nobles. There were even people who had walked for a few days and came to read the books in softcover voraciously.

I stayed in the library for two days when there was a knock on the door and someone walked in. At this time, Maximi was holding a relatively rare book, which was a collection of works by playwrights from ancient Roman times, and Maximi liked the works of this writer very much, but he did not expect to see the complete works here. Looking up casually, Maximi was stunned and saw his son in military uniform standing at the door. With a few blinks in his eyes, Maximi was sure he was right. And the cry of his son also made Maximi sure that he was not mistaken.

The father and son sat in the library and talked, and it turned out that Cicelius had accompanied the commander of his legion with the Western General to Balden's land to check the harvest. Why did they choose to accompany Cicelius, neither father nor son mentioned. Everyone is well aware of the relationship between the Bardon family and Cicelius, and there is certainly a reason why Cicelius is called at this time.

Maximi asked the general of the west what he thought of the harvest, and Cicelius said happily: "The general is very satisfied, especially with the price of wheat. It's only one and a half times what it was three years ago, and sure enough, it's the same price as agreed. In the east, there is Sulun, a big grain merchant, and we in the west also want to have our own grain merchant. ”

"I've seen Suren." Maximi laughed.

Cicelius did not have a surprised expression, he said to his father seriously: "So the legion is very grateful to Sheila. ”

Maximi was stunned for a moment, and he heard something out of his tongue from these words. Sheila has a very good cooperation with the military through the production of starch candy, but that cooperation is not to the extent that the military is grateful. I didn't expect my daughter to have such influence within the Eastern Roman Empire through cooperation. Maximi said: "Cislius, be precise. ”

"Yes. The legion is grateful to Sheila, who was previously the general of the East, and now the general of the west is also grateful. Cicelius said with certainty.

"But that gratitude doesn't last." Maximi replied.

Cicelius' voice was a little lower, "Father, since Sheila offered to move the factory closer to the new housing area, the Legion is thankful and hopes that Sheila will come up with more proposals that will help the Legion. ”

Maximi did not speak, although he had heard about it, but from the point of view of ordinary citizens of Constantinople. The renovation of the Old Town involved not only the legions, but also the entire inhabitants of Constantinople. The proposal to relocate the factory was supported by the general public. But judging from what his son just said, Sheila's influence is broader than Maximi thought.

Then he listened to his son continue: "Father, this harvest will soon be known to the entire Legion, and as far as I know, the Legion hopes that Sheila will be able to establish a new institution that will soon spread the model of Lord Suren's farm to the current farm directly under Baseles. The Legion even wanted His Excellency Suren to be appointed to a position in the Imperial Court. ”

"This ...... How can the legion interfere in the affairs of the court! Maximime's voice was full of vigilance, and His Excellency Tiberius had long been wary of this. In the history of the fall of the republic, the interference of military personnel in politics is undoubtedly the starting point. Marius's military reforms did help the republic survive the crisis of its demise, but it opened up military politics. Professional soldiers have become one of the key forces in determining the political situation since they stepped onto the stage of history.

"Father, I have read the history of Marius. But the Legion is about the same as it was then, and everyone can't accept the precarious life! Now Sheila is able to help the Legion, and the Legion certainly wants Sheila to solve these problems. And I don't think it's meddling, if Your Excellency Suren can save everyone from starvation, why not give His Excellency Suren a position where he can give full play to his abilities. Cicelius' voice was a little skeptical, but it was also very enthusiastic.

Maximi sighed helplessly. He remembered what Li Tianran said a few days ago, the emperor who eliminated the republic wore the crown on his head amid the earth-shaking cheers of the people, and the object of the people's cheers was neither the emperor nor the senator, but the person who could help the people solve their problems. The cheers of the populace who saw the man capable of solving problems in power take power, and renewed hope for their own future, were entirely visceral.

These words are cold enough, but they tell the truth coldly. If a republic does not feed the people, but acts of inaction day after day, year after year, why shouldn't the power that belongs to the republic be in the hands of those who can do it?