The runway of life is fixed. Nature only gives people one route, and this route can only be run once. Each stage of life is assigned its own appropriate qualities: the weakness of childhood, the recklessness of adolescence, the seriousness of middle age, the experience of old age, each bear the fruit of nature, which must be stored in its proper time. There are things to enjoy at every stage.

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

Because the royal public baths were the most popular and luxurious public baths in the city of Rome; And it's open to the public and doesn't take a penny. Therefore, Oscar always thought that there must be a lot of people in it; There will even be overcrowding. But when Oscar came here, he found that the actual situation was not what he imagined.

The entire royal public bath does occupy a huge area, and the decoration is extremely luxurious; But there weren't many people in there bathing at all! Roman aristocrats or wealthy merchants gathered in small pools to enjoy the peace and comfort of bathing, and Oscar did not see not a single poor man, but even the ordinary citizens of Rome.

Quintus's explanation for this is that the royal public baths had a unique position in the city of Rome, and during the Roman kingdom, they were operated by the king's appropriation; In the Republican period, it was still the Senate that allocated funds for operation. Although nominally a public bathhouse is free and open to the public, it is impossible to enter without a certain family background and status in the Republic.

Moreover, this so-called "certain family background and status" requirements are also relatively strict; If you are a nobleman, you must have someone in your family who has served as one of the six major officials of the Senate, or someone in your family who is now a member of the Senate. If you are a wealthy merchant, you must have more than 10,000 gold coins in your family and pay more than 1,000 gold coins in taxes in the Republic! Otherwise, even ordinary nobles or merchants were not allowed to enter.

These demands, which were so demanding, directly blocked the vast majority of Roman citizens from the doors of the royal public baths, so that the space inside was large but not large; Of course, this is also more in line with the mentality of the real upper class. Soon, Oscar and his party also completed the warm-up preparations for the bath. Everyone found a warmer bath together and began to soak.

The warm hot water made Oscar's exhaustion from the afternoon slowly fade, and his whole body began to become comfortable; Oscar gradually closed his eyes. I don't know how long it was, but Oscar also fell asleep in the pool; Quintus and Licini also found Oscar asleep, but neither of them disturbed Oscar. Instead, he also soaked quietly on the side.

Suddenly, the arrival of an uninvited guest shattered the tranquility of the trio; I saw His Excellency Anthony, the newly promoted Commander of the Fourteenth Legion, once again drunk and came to the royal public baths. He came to the pool of the three Oscars by himself, jumped into the pool, and said to the three: "Presumably the leader of Oscar, General Quintus, and General Licinius will not mind my presumptuous interruption, right?" ”

Licinius snorted coldly and said, "What if we mind your interruption?" Haven't you already come in? Am I going to lift you up and throw you out? In fact, Oscar was already awakened the moment Anthony jumped into the water; But. Before Anthony explained his intentions, Oscar did not plan to take the initiative to speak. And now that Licinius has spoken, then Oscar has to speak.

Oscar said helplessly to Anthony: "I don't know what happened to His Excellency Captain Anthony's coming?" You don't just want to take a bath with us, do you? As far as I know, Lord Anthony is not a man who bathes very often; Also, even if you take a bath, you usually take a bath in a regular civilian public bath, and this kind of high-end bathroom must be the first time I have come in, just like me. ”

Because of Oscar's words, Licini stopped saying anything; Quintus, on the other hand, was old and didn't say a word. Anthony didn't answer Oscar, though; Instead, he changed the subject and continued: "Although I have not been to this famous royal bath, I have heard that there is a masseur in it who is very powerful; I wonder if Your Excellency Oscar would like to enjoy it with me? ”

"No, we are here with His Excellency Oscar; If you want a massage, we will go together. How is it possible for His Excellency Oscar and you to go for a massage alone? Without waiting for Oscar to speak, Quintus, who was familiar with the massage rules of the royal public bath, directly rejected Anthony. This is because the massage rooms in the royal baths are small rooms for two or three people, and it is not safe for Oscar to be in the same room with Anthony when his intentions are unknown.

Oscar naturally understood that Quintus's refusal was for his own safety, and Anthony himself did not have hope for this matter; After hearing Quintus's answer and seeing Licinius' angry glare, he consciously stood up and prepared to leave the bath of the three Oscars. As Anthony stepped out of the bath, Oscar said, "Anthony, I'm curious about how skilled this masseuse is; You lead the way, let's go and enjoy it together. Quintus, Licinius, you two bubble up here; Don't think about it. Captain Anthony is a smart man, he doesn't do anything stupid. When I finish enjoying the masseur's service, I will naturally come back to you. “

The first half of Oscar's words made Anthony's eyes light up, and he continued to lead the way; The latter words made Licinius and Quintus, who were about to speak out against it, shut their mouths. They are also smart people, and they all understand what Oscar means; Anthony has now achieved the position of corps commander at such a young age. This is already better than most of the Roman aristocratic youth, and it is impossible for him to do something harmful to Oscar for the benefit of others, because no one can afford such consequences.

Oscar followed Anthony in a crisp white bath towel to a relatively spacious massage room; However, not to mention the masseur inside, there is not even a single bug. Seeing this scene, the corners of Oscar's mouth unconsciously showed a meaningful smile; This Anthony is really not simple. At least definitely not as bohemian as it appears to be.

As if to see something from Oscar's smile, Anthony said to Oscar with a wry smile: "Your Excellency Oscar doesn't think that all the bad things about eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling on my body are disguised, right?" I'll admit that I do have my own secrets, and I'm not as simple as I seem; But who is what it seems? Decius or Marius; Even His Excellency Oscar has an unknown side.

I'm hiding something, but I'm not pretending to be bad; Sometimes. I also want to change my bad habits, but some habits are really not easy to change once they are formed! Does Your Excellency Oscar know how much foreign debt I have? I owe more than 200,000 gold to the great usurers in the city of Rome alone, not counting the more than 300,000 gold coins I owe to His Excellency Marius; You say, could I be in disguise? “

Oscar though didn't understand why Anthony was telling himself his **. But the foreign debt of more than 500,000 gold coins was enough to make Oscar dumbfounded. You must know that the military expenditure of one Eagle Banner Legion plus two ordinary legions for a year is only 300,000 gold coins; It is conceivable that the foreign debt of more than 500,000 gold coins is a huge amount of money!

Anthony clearly saw Oscar's shock; However, he didn't really care about this, and just said indifferently: "Actually." I don't really value the foreign debt of more than 500,000 gold coins; As long as I can get a few opportunities to fight a few times in enemy land with the Fourteenth Legion, my booty will soon pay off my debts and even allow me to live a better life.

Of course, the purpose of my secret meeting with His Excellency Oscar here today is not to ask His Excellency Oscar to give me a chance to lead the troops into battle; Because in a way, I should be considered to be the man of His Excellency Marius, and he will arrange everything for me. However, I am not a person who keeps things when I am young; I don't want to follow the path that others have arranged for me, and I don't want to be a pawn in someone else's hand for the rest of my life.

So, I want to work with His Excellency Oscar; We're all in this together. You provide me with a steady stream of foreign support, and if something happens between me and Marius, you will be responsible for receiving me, even if I will serve you at that time. and I will keep you informed of Marius's every move, as well as the movements of the Ninth and Fourteenth Legions; Of course, in addition to acting as my backup, you also have to secretly provide me with some warships, which I will spend money on. “

To be honest, Anthony's conditions were relatively favorable for Oscar; But Oscar really couldn't understand why Anthony wanted to work with him. So, Oscar tentatively asked, "Anthony, don't you think your words are ridiculous?" His Excellency Marius and I are both sons-in-law of the Maxentius family. We are also brothers-in-law; Why do you think I'm going to join forces with you to defend against Marius?

Also, Sardinia has limited shipbuilding capacity, so why don't you work with the Richard family; Instead, they sought to cooperate with me. Even if I agree to cooperate with you, you will not have a port or dock for these warships to anchor; Not to mention. How can you be sure that you can have enough gold to buy my warship, with the confidence you can imagine? “

Oscar's questioning did not waver to Anthony, and Anthony continued to say confidently: "Your Excellency Oscar, people don't say dark words; You and I both know that Marius was a wolf ambition, and there was absolutely no way he would have been subservient to the Maxentius family forever. And now the Maxentius family, except for the treacherous and cunning Decius, his two sons are not Marius's opponents; Once Decius died. Then Marius will soon be able to replace the two brothers as the new leader of the Maxentius family.

As for why I didn't choose the Richard family; I guess Your Excellency Oscar knows this better than I do. As I expected, the Richards and Carters have been secretly taking refuge in the Augustusian family; Otherwise, how could the personalities of the two old foxes, Charles and Calle, unconditionally transport so many precious craftsmen and equipment to Sardinia? Of course, Lord Oscar, rest assured, these are all things that I have personally figured out, and I have never told anyone.

Also, the fleet I assembled didn't need to be very large; More than twenty battleships, as well as the same number of transport ships, were enough. When His Excellency Oscar returns to Sardinia this time, I will arrange for my brother Marcy to lead more than 1,000 people back to Sardinia with His Excellency; When I have enough gold to pay you, you can simply hand over the battleship and transport ship to Marcy. For other problems, I will naturally have my own solutions; Your Excellency, what do you think? “

Anthony's analysis of the Richard family and the Carters family instantly shocked Oscar into a cold sweat; Fortunately, these were the words of Anthony's heart, and he didn't say them. However, this also made Oscar see Anthony's talent; With only some fragmented information to get the correct result, this Anthony is really not simple, it is even more powerful than he imagined.

In the end, Oscar agreed to work with Anthony; It's not that Oscar is worried that Anthony will tell the secrets of the Richard family and the Carters family, but that Oscar feels that this Anthony is indeed worthy of working with him. (To be continued.) )