If the freedom of the will is denied, there can be no morality.

- Epictetus (famous Roman philosopher)

But, then again, Clyde, the leader of the barbarian tribes of Salzburg, can really sleep; The angry shouts and curses of more than 6,000 barbarian warriors did not wake up the sleeping Clyde, and Flavis was really convinced. If Flavies had known how much Clyde had drunk last night, he wouldn't have had that idea.

As the leader of the barbarian tribe of Salzburg, Clyde drank with countless barbarian warriors, barbarian commoners, barbarian nobles, and so on at yesterday's festival banquet; The mead, beer, and wine he drank in one day was enough for Flavies to drink for an entire year, and if it weren't for Clyde's large amount of alcohol, he would have been drunk to death.

Of course, the leader of the barbarian tribe is not easy to be; Especially the tribal chiefs of the Germanic peoples. First of all, you have to be able to fight, and the heir of the next leader from an early age must win all your peers in order to be recognized; Secondly, you must be able to drink, and the heir of the next leader must drink to win all his peers in order to be recognized; Finally, you need to have brains that can get everyone to obey your commands!

It's just that having brains here doesn't mean that you have to have extraordinary wisdom, after all, the thinking of barbarians is relatively simple and simple; As long as the leader heir's brain is not broken, everyone will approve of him. You must know that in the social life of the barbarians, the level of force and the amount of alcohol generally determine your social status; It's useless to talk about anything else, they never believe in it.

Flavies listened to the barbarian warriors' invective, but Clyde had no intention of waking up; Unable to wait, Flavis asked the soldiers behind him to fetch a basin of water and pour it over Clyde's head. At this moment, Clyde did wake up directly; However, the scene in front of him made Clyde, who was woken up, confused.

The warriors of their own tribe were actually tied up in the square, and they were also tied up; Not only that, but the square was also stained with troops in red armor, especially the person in red armor in front of him, which was not a good thing at first glance! Those red-clad armies, Clyde naturally knew their identities; It must be the army of the Julius family!

So the question is, why did the army of the Julius family suddenly appear in the city of Salzburg? Clyde shook his head to make sure he wasn't dreaming, but he jumped up from the ground and tried to knock Flavies away; Flavis, who had long sensed Clyde's thoughts, only took a few steps back, and Clyde fell to the ground on all fours.

After signaling the soldiers behind him to help Clyde up, Flavis smiled and said to Clyde: "Lord Chief, don't you understand the current situation? Is there any point in you rebelling now? Your city of Salzburg has been taken by us, and all the warriors have been taken prisoner; If you resist, you must also think about the old and young women and children of the Salzburg tribe! ”

Flavies, though spoken to Clyde, was loud enough for the nearby barbarian warriors to hear; The barbarian warriors who were still struggling to insult wisely shut their mouths when they heard Flavis' threat. After all, they can sacrifice everything for the tribe without fear of death, but they can't be indifferent to their families!

Clyde also lowered his head under Flavies's words, and asked dejectedly: "General, why did you Julius family come to attack our Salzburg tribe?" We have never provoked you, nor have any grudges against you; One lives in the southern Alps, the other in the northern Alps, isn't that far enough? ”

Flavies almost laughed at Clyde's words; If two countries or nations could coexist peacefully without grievances, there would be no war in the world. These barbarians are really simple; Flavies couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

However, on the bright side, Flavies still has to explain the big truth; Flavis made a benevolent expression and said, "Your Excellency, sometimes we go to war to avoid war; If we don't take Norikum first, we may be invaded by the Germans in the future.

In order to ensure our own peace, we can only preemptively strike; As for you Salzburg tribes, why don't you want to join us Romans in the civilizational family? You are living in Norikum as you are, and although you may seem to be living freely on the surface, it is not entirely so; At the very least, many of the things you lack in your life need to be purchased at a high price.

As long as you are willing to join our family of Julius; From now on, we in the Julius family will provide you with more, better, and cheaper goodies. The greedy merchants can no longer easily sweep away all their hard-earned wealth, and I can provide you with a lot of things on a regular basis for free; Let everyone in your tribe live the life of a civilized person.

Isn't that what you're looking for? Of course, we in the House of Julius will not restrict your freedom; You just have to listen to us in the big way, and we will not only not affect your life, but will add countless and better things to your life.

I can assure all of you here that you will surrender to our House of Julius; Every tribal family can get from our family every year at a low price good wine, fine clothes, durable goods, and everything else you want; And what you need to pay is that while you are loyal to your own tribe, you are also loyal to us in the House of Julius! ”

Flavies's explanation was not addressed to Clyde alone, but to all the barbarian warriors present; Flavies knew that as long as all these people in front of him agreed to submit to the Julius family, then the entire Salzburg barbarian tribe would also belong to the Julius family, and Norricum would also belong to the Julius family.

As for getting good wine, fine clothes, and durable goods at a low price, the question is what does it mean to be cheap? Isn't the price lower than those smuggling caravans? The Julius family only needed to sell these goods to the Salzburg tribe at a reasonable price, that is, a low price; This is also a good thing for the Julius family.

Flavies's seductive conditions also made the warriors of the Salzburg barbarian tribe present begin to whisper; However, it is Clyde who can really decide everything. In the current situation, Clyde had no choice but to accept Flavies' terms; Otherwise, what could he do?

However, the simplicity of the barbarians' minds is sometimes not really that simple; Clyde did not answer Flavies's question directly, but asked rhetorically: "General, if our Salzburg tribes really surrender to your Julius family, how can you ensure these conditions that you just promised?"

Also, I, Clyde, was the leader of the Salzburg tribe, so how will I be treated by your Julius family in the future? In addition to myself, these seven thousand of the most elite warriors of the Salzburg tribes on the square are also the core of our Salzburg forces; What will you Julius do to these of my soldiers? ”

Clyde's question was not sharp, and Flavies felt an indescribable joy in his heart when he heard it; Because Flavies knew that this was the condition on which they had already decided to surrender. So, Flavis hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and said:

"Your Excellency Lord Clyde, you may rest assured of my promise; Because I myself am the supreme ruler of the House of Julius, Flavis. The conditions I am talking about are those given by the House of Julius, and they will be implemented in the future; You don't have to worry about that. As for the arrangements for His Excellency Clyde and the Salzburg tribal warriors, I have an idea here.

I hope that Lord Clyde will lead his warriors to join the army of our House Julius, and form a new legion by himself; The soldiers in the legion are naturally the soldiers under your command, the commander of the legion is also served by your Excellency, all the officers in the legion are also appointed by your Excellency, and the weapons and equipment are all borne by our Julius family.

You only need to obey the orders of our Julius family, and we will not interfere in the internal affairs of other legions; Then there's the Salzburg tribe. We, the House of Julius, can send special officials and set up special governors to manage them; And Lord Clyde, how about you leading this newly formed legion? ”

Flavies's offer is not unaffordable, and for the loser, such conditions are already the best; Clyde understood this, too, so he replied after some thought, "I can promise your terms and surrender to you House Julius; However, you also need to agree to two more conditions! ”

Flavies said undeniably: "You say! "First, the officials sent by you, the governors of the House of Julius, must not oppress the people of our Salzburg tribes; Second, every year the Julius family must provide a certain amount of wine and food to the legion formed by our Salzburg warriors, so that our warriors can surrender to you. ”

It turns out that these barbarians don't have the concept of military salaries! Flavies laughed and said, "Good! I can guarantee that the officials of our Julius family will never oppress the local people, otherwise I will deal with it myself; In addition, our family of Julius provides each of your armies with a bottle of wine every year, and all other benefits are the same as the rest of our clan's legions! (To be continued.) )