PublioQuintilioVaro, ancheICorpo! ）

―Augustus Caesar (after Varus's army was wiped out in the Teutoburg Forest)

Time goes back to when Oscar came to the private parlor; When Oscar walked into the living room, he saw the two of them talking and laughing. Obviously, the red-haired muscular man on the left, who is in his 40s, more than 1.9 meters tall, with a sharp man's eyes in his eyes, and wearing a leather armor, must be the largest weapons and equipment dealer in the Republic, Carlis; And the nouveau riche next to him, who looks to be over 50 years old, only 1.6 meters tall, wearing the finest silk clothes all over his body, and even wearing various gemstone rings on his ten fingers must be His Excellency Charles.

However, compared to Carlis's sharp eyes like real swords, Charles's triangular snake eyes are more terrifying.

Of course, these things flashed in Oscar's mind in an instant, and they did not delay Oscar's enthusiasm for the two in the slightest. As soon as he saw the two of them, Oscar said with a smile on his face: "I heard that the old butler said that His Excellency Carlis and His Excellency Charles have a big gift for each other, so I will come over immediately, I don't know what kind of gift the two Your Excellency want to give me?" I'm looking forward to the two of you! "Haha, I've long heard that the new leader of House Augustus is a wonderful man; Sure enough, it lives up to its name! Naturally, Charles and I have specially prepared for His Excellency the new Leader, but there are still some things I want to talk about with Your Excellency the Leader before giving the gift; Charles, you said yes, right? Hearing Oscar's opening remarks, Carlle first explained Oscar's question in his rough voice, and then kicked the ball to Charles. It seems that this muscular man who is rough on the surface is not really as straightforward as he seems!

Charles was not at all surprised by Carlis' words; He knows his brother in private too well, and his swagger and arrogance on the surface are all pretended, and the real Kale is a big shark who eats people and doesn't spit out bones! Today, though, is not the time to discuss this; So he didn't refute, and said directly to Oscar: "Presumably, Your Excellency the new leader also knew everything about the Augustus family before the enthronement ceremony, and what about our intention; Your Excellency must be well aware of this. What we mean is that although the former head of your family has died in battle, life still has to be lived, and money still has to be earned. Moreover, much of our previous business was with Carthage; Now I wonder what His Excellency Oscar thinks? “

After speaking, the two focused their eyes on Oscar, waiting for Oscar's answer. I saw Oscar smile lightly and said calmly: "Of course I know that the cooperation between the family and your two families will not have any impact, and the business of Carthage will not be affected in any way. However, I have two conditions. First, business with Carthage absolutely did not include Hannibal's legions, and even business in Sicily and Sardinia was to be blocked for at least three months; Second, I need the support of both of your families for my battle plan. "Haha, good! We agreed to both of your conditions! I'll just say, how can the leader of the House of Augustus be an ordinary person; Business with the Carthage land continued. Also, in order to show our support for the Augustus family, we at the Carters family are willing to provide five brigades of standard legion equipment and two brigades of refined weaponry for free. What do you think? Enough fun! As soon as Oscar's words were finished, Carlisle took over the topic with laughter again, and gave a generous gift beyond Oscar's expectations.

Immediately afterward, Charles also said his price: "Fifty standard transport ships and all the supplies needed by the two legions for three months of operation." In this way, as soon as your army is organized, you can build some military ships and use these transports to transport all the legions and supplies anywhere. That's what the Richards family wanted. “

After hearing the congratulatory gifts from the two people, Oscar suddenly had a feeling of surprise, he didn't expect these two families to offer such a big gift! You must know that the standard regimental equipment of five brigades and the refined weapons and equipment of two brigades are already the output of the largest weapons and equipment production plant in the republic for a whole year! Both its cost and its value to the republic as a whole are extraordinary. Even if the Carters family wanted to come up with this batch of equipment at once, it would take a lot of effort.

As for the Richard family's gift, although in terms of family background, it is relatively easy to do than the Carters family; However, its true value is more than double that of the Carters family's congratulatory gifts. If the Augustans accepted this gift, the Richards' maritime trade power would have fallen by more than a quarter in the next decade; There is even the possibility of giving up the name of the first shipper in the republic!

No, there must be a demon when things go wrong! It is absolutely impossible for these two families to give such a heavy gift for no reason, just to continue to maintain the smuggling transaction with the family! There must be something hidden in this that I don't know, and this secret can definitely be jaw-dropping, otherwise these two families would not have made such a bloody investment; Thinking of this, Oscar solemnly ordered all the servants inside and outside the hall to leave, and asked the guards to be stationed a hundred meters away, so that no one could disturb him.

After everyone but the three had left, Oscar himself closed the door to the private living room and ushered Calle and Charles from the back of the living room into one of the family's talking dens. After closing the door of the study, Oscar sat in the seat of the head of the family that now belonged to him, stared at the two people with the same serious faces, and said helplessly: "Say, what happened?" “

Seeing Oscar's series of behaviors, Carlisle and Charles also understood that Oscar had sensed something abnormal; The idea of directly pulling the Augustus family into the water while Oscar was young and inexperienced was no longer there. So, Calle, who has always shown his rough face, also sat in the guest chair and calmly said to Oscar: "We want to ally with the Augustus family!" It is not an alliance that you and the Maxentius family are superficially dependent on each other, but in fact wary of each other; It's an alliance of life and death! Even, if the House of Augustus is strong enough, the two of us can exist as vassal families of House Augustus. All the family forces are at the mercy of the Augustan family, but the Augustan family must ensure the continuation and survival of our family! “

Listening to Carlis' words, Oscar not only did not solve the doubt, but felt even more confused. What kind of thing does it take to make the powerful Carters and Richards family fear this, and even go so far as to cooperate with their own family by self-destructiveness. Before Oscar could ask his questions, Charles spoke:

"Oscar, you should know about the Gabriel family and the Ulles family. Once upon a time, these two families were also prosperous families of the Republic, and their strength was not inferior to the so-called four major families, far surpassing the current Augustan family! Oscar, don't question me, I did a lot of your family's work in Crete; I know your family. Even counting the half of the legion in Crete plus the Black Reaper fleet, the strength of the Augustus family is far inferior to that of the Gabriel and Ulles families back then. ”

Without waiting for Charles to finish speaking, Oscar preemptively said: "However, weren't these two families strangled by the four major families because they betrayed the Republic and plotted to overthrow the Senate?" All members of the family were hanged in public. What does your business have to do with them? You don't have anything to do with them, do you? ”

Bang! Before Oscar could finish speaking, the hot-tempered Carlle stood up and slammed his fist on the wall of the study, hating Oscar: "Betrayal of the Republic? Those of you who don't know the truth will always be blinded by the white-eyed wolves in human skins of the four major families! The Gabriel family and the Ulles family fought bloody battles against barbarians and aliens for the future of the republic!

How do you think the Upper Sicilian, Etruscan, and Ubrian provinces, among the seven major provinces of the Republic, came to be? It was our ancestors who fought with the five legions of the former republic! The result? The birds are all gone, and the good bow is hidden; The cunning rabbit is dead, and the lackeys are cooking! Our ancestors did not fall under the sword of the enemy, but fell under the conspiracy behind them! This is what you call the Senate and the Four Families! ”

"Impossible! Even if the four great families and the Senate deceived everyone, I, the Augustan family, have a history of hundreds of years, why don't I mention such a big thing! This is not the style of our House of Augustus. If such a thing had happened, I, the House of Augustus, would have recorded it. Although Oscar didn't think Calle's words were fake, he still chose to believe his ancestors.

Charles, who had been listening to the conversation between Oscar and Carlis, suddenly said loudly: "This is indeed not the style of your Augustus family, but the Augustus family more than a hundred years ago was not such a first-class family at all. A hundred years ago, you were just an ordinary Roman family, how many secrets and truths could you know? What we say next, whether you believe it or not, in the end, how you choose is up to you. But in any case, we hope that the Augustus family will keep it a secret; As a reward, we will not take back today's gift. Whatever your choice! ”