Man has free will, and it is up to him to become an adult.

- Lucretius (Roman philosopher)

In fact, it was a negotiation in which Marius invited the Scipio family to join him and help him rule Rome proper. Because the current Scipio family is already more symbolic than practical for Marius; As the situation in Rome became more stable, the two legions of Scipio were no longer so important.

What's more, Marius now has an infinite amount of wealth in his hands, and he can use these massive gold coins to form dozens of legions to fight for himself at any time; Of course, this is also how Marius feels about himself. After the chaos of the Roman Nights, Marius took over the weapons industry throughout the Latin provinces, but production was not yet fully restored.

Even if production was fully restored, the annual production of weapons and equipment in the Latin provinces would be only enough for four legions; As for the shipyards, it is even more tragic. Oscar's fire not only burned down the entire Latin port, but also the shipyards belonging to various families.

The Roman workers sent out by Marius would have taken more than a year at the earliest to rebuild the Latin port; As for wanting to rebuild the battleship, then wait, it will be impossible in three or five years! In fact, the original production capacity of weapons and equipment in the Latin provinces was still relatively strong; At full capacity, the production of weapons and equipment for more than a dozen legions a year is not a big problem.

The reason why this situation has become the current situation is thanks to His Excellency the Calle family head of the Carters family; His family was the largest manufacturer of weapons and equipment in the entire Roman Republic. However, during his tenure as head of the household; At least half of the Carters' equipment and workers were sent to Sardinia, and the remaining half was destroyed by Carlis' orders on the night of the breakout.

This is the gloom of Marius after taking over the Latin provinces; There is no way, construction is always far from destroying it, and the human world has always been like this. However, these problems are solvable for Marius; It's about giving Marius time, and he can even solve any problem he encounters. There is no other reason, the word gold is enough!

Marius's immediate priority was to expand his army so that he could defend himself against simultaneous attacks by the House of Julius in the north and the House of Augustus overseas; And there is still enough strength to attack the Brutus family in the south! Of course, before that, negotiations with Scipio had to be completed; It was also crucial to have the support of the Scipio family.

In order to avoid a lot of people and more troubles, the negotiation between Marius and the Scipio family was essentially a secret conversation between Marius himself and Julianus; Marius invited Julianus to a manor outside Rome for a secret conversation, and Julianus did not refuse. After the two entered the meadow in the manor, Marius and Iulianus's guards withdrew to a place a hundred meters away to stand on guard.

Looking at Marius, who had recently changed from the son-in-law of the Maxentius family to the dictator for life of the Roman Republic, Julianus smiled and complimented: "Your Excellency the Dictator has been in the limelight lately!" Even the peasants of our most remote countryside in Campania are praising your wisdom and prowess, which is a shame to us who are old and have achieved nothing! ”

Marius has been really high-spirited lately; And he really despises Julianus in his heart for a waste like him who only relies on his family background and is powerless. However, there should still be some hypocrisy and mischief; So, Marius also smiled and excused himself: "How dare I be so praised by His Excellency Julianus!" If it weren't for your great help, I wouldn't be where Marius is today! ”

Marius was just casually modest, and then praised Julianus; But Iulianus didn't think so, he really thought that it was because of his great help that Marius had today's glory. Therefore, after Marius finished praising him, he nodded shamelessly; said that he thought so too.

Julianus's brain-dead, Marius was stunned when he saw it; However, I am not here today to watch Iulianus show his brain-dead arrogance, but I have important matters to discuss with the Scipio family of Iulianus. Regardless of whether Julianus is a complete straw bale rice bucket or not, as long as the Scipio family is still valuable; Then Marius wouldn't mind having a good talk with this piece of waste.

After simply ending the pleasantries and compliments, Marius went straight to the point; Turning to Yulianus, who was still immersed in his compliments, he asked, "Your Excellency Yulianus, do you remember the agreement I made with your family before?" Although Iulianus was dissatisfied with Marius getting down to business so quickly, he nodded and replied, "Of course I remember!" ”

"That's good, according to our previous agreement; After your family has helped me to complete the blow to the Maxentius, I will do everything I can to help your family expand south. However, the situation in the Latin provinces has not been stable in recent times; Therefore, the agreement between me and your family was delayed. I am so sorry for this! ”

"Your Excellency Marius is so gracious! The affairs of the Latin provinces are also obvious to all; If it weren't for the help of His Excellency Marius to turn the tide, the Latin province and the city of Rome would have known what the chaos would have been. As a Roman, I would like to thank His Excellency Marius for all that he has done for the city of Rome! Your Excellency invited me this time, are you ready to attack the Brutus family? ”

Iulianus did not accept Marius's apology like an idiot, but once again complimented Marius; Still, what Marius said whetted Julianus's appetite. Expansion into the territory of the Brutus family to the south was something that Scipio dreamed of; Is that possible? Julianus asked Marius excitedly.

Aware of Iulianus' eagerness and impatience, Marius smiled secretly in his heart, but on the surface he still sighed helplessly, shook his head and said: "Your Excellency Iulianus, I also want to help the Scipio family launch an attack on the Brutus family as soon as possible, and help your family obtain the fertile southern provinces.

However, the crisis we are facing has not been resolved, and I really can't spare enough troops to help your family complete the agreement! Although the family of Maxentius had been driven out of Rome, they did not die out but defected to the House of Augustus in Sardinia; Now, House Augustus has become our enemy.

In addition, once we attack the Brutus family, it is very likely that we will be attacked by the northern Julius family and the overseas Augustus family while encountering the stubborn counterattack of the Brutus family. Therefore, we must think carefully about this matter; Otherwise, the good situation we have worked so hard to build may be completely disrupted! ”

There is an obvious element of exaggeration in the consequences portrayed by Marius, and the Brutus family will certainly fight back; But the Julius and Augustus families would not necessarily attack, as Mallio knew. However, Julianus did not understand this; He was completely frightened by the consequences described by Marius, but he was unwilling to let his family get nothing, so he had to look at Marius for help.

That's what Mallio wanted; However, it is not too early to say what you have planned. So, Marius also pretended to be embarrassed; Then he said to Iulianus: "Your Excellency Iulianus, there is no way; It's just that this method still needs the cooperation of the Scipio family, and I'm worried about ......"

Before Marius could finish speaking, Julianus interrupted Marius impatiently, looked at Marius eagerly and said, "Your Excellency Marius don't worry! Say whatever you can do, as long as it is possible for us to annex the two southern provinces controlled by the Brutus; Either way, I can say yes! ”

As soon as these words came out, Marius no longer hid them; Instead, he said straight to Iulianus: "Your Excellency Iulianus, if you want to complete your family's conquest of the two southern provinces of the Brutus family; There are two conditions that must be met. First, there are external conditions; We must wait for the Brutus family to successfully expand into the Greek peninsula before we can do so.

In this way, the number of troops stationed in the two southern provinces of the Brutus family will be greatly reduced, which will help us to occupy the two southern provinces belonging to the Brutus family as soon as possible; And, as long as we can pay enough after the war, we can re-establish good relations with the Brutus family, which will also benefit your family's rule in the two southern provinces.

second, the internal conditions; We must expand our strength so that we can attack the two southern provinces of the Brutus family with absolute superiority, and at the same time have enough strength in the north and the mainland to resist the possible attacks of the other two families. To this end, I suggest that we expand our own army while we wait for the Brutus family to expand into Greece!

My initial plan is to unite the armies of both sides in a unified command operation, so that the combat effectiveness of our respective corps can be better utilized; At the same time, the total number of our armies will be expanded to nine legions in the next three months, with four new legions! ”

Marius's plan still sounded good, but he always felt that something was wrong; After thinking for a long time to no avail, Julianus had to ask this question: "Your Excellency Marius, after we unite our army, do we need to use a new number?" And what about the command and the corps commanders? (To be continued.) )