Honors and virtues can be attained by those who are gifted without education, but it is difficult for those who are only educated without gifted to do so.

- Marcus Tulius Cicero (Roman statesman, orator, orator, jurist, and philosopher)

On January 15, 269 B.C., after all the generals had finished their business, they gathered again at the governor's palace of Calaris; Unlike the last time you came to Calaris, it was sparsely populated. After Vipsani moved all the rich and powerful leaders of Sardinia to Calaris, the population of Calaris directly exceeded 30,000; The whole Calaris is bustling with activity.

In fact, it has little to do with the size of the population, Calaris was originally a bustling city; But after the thirteen noble families were slaughtered by the Augustus, the whole of Calaris seemed lonely. On the one hand, it was because of the bloody massacre of the Augustan family at that time, and on the other hand, because the rich aristocracy was wiped out by the Augustusian family.

Now, a large number of wealthy and powerful men have come to Calaris with large possessions; Once again, their wealth and luxury awakened Calaris from their slumber, and the bustling Calaris once again became a song and dance. This is what Oscar and the Augustus generals want to see, and the prosperity of the territory will also bring new taxes and high popularity to the Augustus, right?

In order to promote the further development of Calaris and to contribute to the future process of romanization of the whole of Sardinia; Oscar also ordered Vipsani to build several public baths and other public places for pleasure free of charge in the city of Calaris. Soon, after the immigrants arranged by Decius had arrived in Sardinia; They would bring all the pleasures of Rome to the original Sardinian aristocracy, and that was when Oscar should be happy.

When Oscar arrives in the conference room, he suddenly finds that two very different atmospheres have formed in the conference room; Luquis and Quintus still sat solemnly on the first seat on both sides of the Oscar as deputy commanders, and the generals of the Sixth and Eleventh Legions all gathered together to talk and laugh, while the generals of the Boar Legion and the Falcon Legion looked at these talking and laughing generals with dark faces and gritted their teeth in indignation.

Seeing this scene, Oscar probably still guessed what was going on, it should be that in last month's Legion competition, the Sixth Legion and the Eleventh Legion defeated the combination of the Boar Legion and the Falcon Legion; Plus the 1st Eagle Banner Regiment and the 5th Eagle Banner Regiment, which take first place every time. This time, it should be the tragic first place of the Boar Legion and the Falcon Legion; The saying that there is no first and no second is very marketable in the barracks, so such a result will become a topic of conversation among the generals after tea and dinner every time.

Although victory and defeat are commonplace, the Boar Legion and the Falcon Legion have been ranked first for two consecutive months, and it is no wonder that the generals of these two legions are beginning to sit still. But then again, that Hartmann centurion of the Eleventh Legion is really powerful; Although his graduation score is only second. But it's really good. In the last few legion competitions, the Eleventh Legion has relied on his 100-man team to win successive victories.

These words are all Oscar's own thoughts, and they are all unspeakable; After all, Oscar is the commander of the Combined Legion, and he has to take into account the feelings of all the generals and reconcile the relationship between the generals. Thereupon. Oscar smiled and said to Tetius, the captain of the Boar Legion, and Segudus, the captain of the Falcon Legion:

"Tetius and Segudus, don't keep your faces black; If the centurions under your command don't behave well, go back and toss them out of anger. If you really can't, you will knock out the most smiling men in the night and get them into your legion's tent; Whip them hard and see if they dare to do it! ”

Oscar's humorous words made all the generals present laugh out loud, and even Tetius and Segudus laughed embarrassedly; But they also swore in their hearts. This time when I go back, I must train my legions more strictly, and I must not lose again next time, otherwise I will be disgraced and thrown to the Governor's Palace! This kind of healthy competition between the generals and their legions is what Oscar likes to see, but Oscar will also adjust the atmosphere between the generals in due course; lest everyone really contradict their allies.

Of course, the fundamental way to solve these problems is Luquis's clan swap method, and the combination of different legions is the best way to solve the contradictions between everyone. At the end of the month, after the final clan competition, it was time to draw lots to decide the combinations; At that time, maybe the Sixth Legion and the Boar Legion will be combined, so everyone can still take turns to run in.

After a simple joke, everything is back on track; The main purpose of today's family meeting is to announce the formal implementation of the reform plan, and there are two major events. The first thing is that Oscar and the generals will determine their respective goals for the new year, and the second thing is to discuss the matter of awarding military titles to the generals; These two things are also important matters for the Augustan family now.

First of all. Or Oscar said to the generals: "Everyone should know what everyone is calling together today; Yes, we are about to officially launch the reform plan! Of course, the reform program is not just about reforming Sardinia's institutions; There are also military changes, the most important of which is the determination of the military merit level and the awarding of knighthood to you generals.

Before that, however, we have to set the goals for the year in Sardinia; So that we can slowly discuss our knighthood at the end. Now, Vipsani, you can report on the situation in Sardinia last year and the development plans for this year. “

At Oscar's order, Vipsani took out a parchment scroll that had been prepared long ago, and reported to Oscar and the generals: "Because the family has only completed the occupation of Sardinia in the last year, many things have not been done very well; Some of the construction work is also under construction, and we have only done some general investigation and simple planning for this.

First of all, there is the question of construction, although the family has hired a large number of Sardinian residents to assist us in the construction work; But time constraints left a lot of our work undone. The construction of roads between the eight districts and one government has not yet begun. A new military port is also under construction, while the port of Sardinia has not yet begun to expand; The only thing worth mentioning is that we have made great progress in the reclamation of wasteland, and in three months 50,000 acres of wasteland have been developed in the whole of Sardinia.

In the following year. The main plans of our Governor's Palace are as follows: First, to complete the construction of eight districts and one government, and to demolish all the small cities except the nine cities. The roads between the eight districts and one government were completed. For this project alone, we need to recruit about 10,000 workers to work for a year, and it will cost a total of 200,000 gold coins; When completed, Calaris will be a city with a capacity of 100,000 people. The other eight cities will also become cities that can accommodate 50,000 people. The ties between the cities will also be greatly strengthened.

second, to reclaim more arable land, which now has 350,000 acres of arable land in the whole of Sardinia; But in order to accept about 100,000 Roman immigrants, we needed to reclaim another 150,000 acres of arable land. By then, Sardinia will have a population of 250,000 and 500,000 acres of arable land; To be the true base of our Augustus family. But. It's a huge project; A minimum of 300,000 gold is required to complete it in one year.

thirdly, for the expansion of vineyards and the increase of wine production; The island of Sardinia now has a large number of vineyards, but the annual production of wine is only 10,000 barrels, which can only bring the family about 300,000 gold coins. In order to take advantage of the advantages of growing grapes in Sardinia, we expect to double the size of vineyards planted in Sardinia; The annual production of alcohol has also doubled. This cost may require 200,000 gold coins.

Fourth, for the creation of weapons and equipment, the family's weapons and equipment manufacturing area will undergo a large-scale expansion this year; It is expected to reach the scale of production of one corps armament in three months. The new military port will also be completed this year, and it will become a huge military port that can dock 15 ships at the same time; The shipyard will also accelerate the construction of a large-scale shipyard that can produce ten warships and ten transport ships per year. The expansion of the port of Sardinia is also planned to be completed this year; At that time, the port of Sardinia will also become a large port that can dock ten cargo ships at the same time. This cost may require 500,000 gold coins.

Finally, there is the issue of our taxes; After the introduction of new reforms. The annual tax collection in Sardinia is divided into four sections: commercial tax, agricultural tax, trade tax, and population tax. Among them, the commercial tax is expected to reach 50,000 gold coins per year, the agricultural tax is expected to reach 100,000 gold coins per year, the trade tax can reach 40,000 gold coins per year, and the population tax can reach 50,000 gold coins per year; The total tax revenue is expected to reach 240,000 gold coins. However, the prerequisite for this was to invest heavily in the construction required for Sardinia and to complete the 100,000 Roman settlers. “

Wipsani's government report doesn't say much, but the goals for the new year are a bit jaw-dropping; The Augustan family actually needed an investment of 1.2 million gold coins to exchange for an annual income of 240,000 gold coins. That is to say, the House of Augustus required a minimum of a pure expenditure of one million gold coins in the last year of governance of Sardinia alone; It's horrible! So after Vipsani finished speaking, everyone turned their eyes to Oscar.

But. Oscar was not intimidated by the number; Instead, a crucial question was asked: "Vipsani, tell me; After the completion of these infrastructures, the Augustan family will need to invest how much money each year to maintain this income and further increase their income. Once again, all eyes returned to Vipsani. After a moment of thought, Vipsani replied:

"In the future, the family will spend 200,000 gold coins every year on the manufacture of weapons and equipment and the construction of ships, 100,000 gold coins on the maintenance of the Nine Cities and road repair, and 100,000 gold coins on vineyard management and winemaking; Other aspects of governance, such as agriculture, as well as the management of Sardinia, also cost 200,000 gold coins, for a total of 600,000 gold coins per year! However, the family's harvest is also extraordinary.

This year's tax of 240,000 gold coins is only a preliminary income, and the family's taxes will increase more and more as time goes by; In the future the war ended. Trade would also flourish further, and eventually the family's annual income might reach 350,000 gold coins. In addition to this, we have access to the armament of four legions and ten warships, ten transports, and twenty thousand barrels of wine every year; Crucially, we also have enough food to last an army of 50,000 a year every year. In this way, we don't have to be controlled by others; Solve your own food and grass problems. “

In fact, the income from 20,000 barrels of wine is already more than 600,000 gold coins, plus weapons and equipment and the construction of ships, as well as other benefits; Not only Oscar, but even the generals of the family agreed to Vipsani's policy budget. Thus, Oscar officially agreed to the construction budget of Vipsani; And one million two hundred and twenty thousand gold coins were allocated from the three million gold coins for the management and use of Vipsani.

(To be continued.) )