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- Plato (one of the greatest philosophers and thinkers of Western culture)

Just as Oscar was taking Nat to the consul's mansion, the sound of trumpets was heard again outside the city; This time, it was no longer the enemy who came to Syracuse, but the light cavalry of the Augustus family.

It turned out that at the same time that Oscar led his army to march quickly towards Syracuse, Lucis also led the soldiers of Theophanes and the Samonai Legion to the south and headed towards Lilibal, the capital of Lower Sicilia.

According to Oscar's estimate, Luquis's army, with the assistance of Theophanes, should be able to quickly annex all of Lower Sicilia to the House of Augustus; This is exactly what happened, and Lower Sicilia, desperately lacking the strength of the defenses, surrendered without any resistance at all.

Even Luquis did not have time to play the role of Theophanes, and his army had already driven straight into the whole of Lower Sicilya; The reason for such a smooth result is still due to Hannibal's strength.

The existence of Hannibal, the god of war, was indeed of great significance to the Carthaginians; Even if the Carthaginian patriarchs hated Hannibal, that could not change Hannibal's high status among the Carthaginian people.

In fact, the name Hannibal itself represents victory; For Hannibal's enemies, it was even more symbolic of invincibility. Therefore, the Carthaginians of Lower Sicilia never thought that Hannibal would be defeated, nor that the enemy would come to the city.

Although during the last decisive battle of Sicily, the city of Liliba was captured by the House of Augustus, and the Carthaginian consul Hanno was also killed in battle; However, it was not a battle commanded by Hannibal. What's more, the people in Lilipol believe that the reason why the Augustus family was able to successfully capture Lilippa was nothing more than the outbreak of civil strife in Lilipo, and the Augustan family took advantage of the situation.

That is to say, all the people in the city of Lilibal did not realize that the Spartacus revolt was a premeditated rebellion; They were naïve enough to think that the House of Augustus was just a coincidence.

Based on such considerations, the entire Carthaginians of Lower Sicilia did not take the army of the House of Augustus into account; Coupled with the fact that Hannibal has assembled an unprecedentedly large army this time, no one will doubt that Hannibal will definitely win the final victory.

In fact, it was not only the Carthaginians of Lower Sicilia who held this idea; Even the Greeks of the city-state of Syrac and the Moffitt of the kingdom of Cyrenaica, as well as various powers on the North African continent, thought so.

Unfortunately, the truth is not always as simple as one might think; No one thought that the Roman Augustus family, who had been obscure, could annihilate Hannibal's entire army in one fell swoop in a decisive battle with Hannibal and force Hannibal to die on the battlefield!

Such a result was something that no one expected, and no one dared to believe; However, it is what it is, and whether you want to believe it or not, the facts will never change.

When Luquis led the mighty Samonai army into Lower Sicilya, the Carthaginians of Lower Sicilia completely collapsed; They really couldn't imagine why Hannibal, who had absolute superiority, would lose to the under-armed Augustus.

For these ordinary people, the comparison of the two armies, apart from the supreme commanders of the two armies, is only a simple comparison of numbers; In their eyes, Hannibal, with an army of 55,000, was stronger than the House of Augustus, with an army of 40,000.

But this was not the case, and the army of the House of Augustus, although slightly inferior in numbers, was more superior in quality; If other factors are taken into account, it is the army of the House of Augustus that has the advantage.

Unfortunately, the Carthaginians of Lower Sicilia did not understand this; All they know is that Hannibal, who has more troops, loses to the House of Augustus, who has fewer troops, which means that the House of Augustus is stronger than Hannibal!

You must know that Hannibal used to win more with less every battle, and was the final victor every time, until he was called the god of war by everyone; Before they knew it, Hannibal had become the spiritual pillar of the Carthaginians, the giant who supported them to fight the Romans all the time!

Now, the supernatural giant has collapsed, and the impact of this is immeasurable; The Carthaginian patriarchs thought that they had just eliminated a powerful political opponent, but they did not understand that they were destroying the spiritual pillar of the entire Carthaginian nation!

Therefore, when the Carthaginians of Sicilia faced the mighty army of Luquis, they did not resist at all, nor did they rebel; They simply silently accepted defeat and surrendered to the House of Augustus.

From the time Lucquius took the first city of Lower Sicilya, all the cities that followed were in despair; Even Lilibal, the capital of Lower Sicilya, surrendered without the slightest resistance.

Having taken over the ports of Liliba and Lower Sicilia intact, Luquis immediately sent light cavalry to Oscar to report what had happened in Lower Sicilya; In Luquis's view, the performance of the Carthaginians of Lower Sicilia was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Augustus.

The numbness and confusion shown by the Lower Sicilians after learning of Hannibal's defeat made Luquis completely see the dependence of the entire Carthaginian nation on Hannibal; Such a psychology can naturally burst out with great power when Hannibal succeeds, but when Hannibal fails, it will be a disaster for the entire Carthaginian nation!

Luquis could not exaggerate to conclude that when the news of the decisive battle of Zama spread throughout the world, the North African continent would inevitably fall into chaos; The first to bear the brunt of it must be the Kingdom of Carthage!

Whether or not the Kingdom of Carthage can hold out in this chaos, stability on the North African continent will never again be possible; Chaotic North Africa is a huge pie of profits, and how can the Augustan family not get a piece of the pie?

However, if the Augustan family wants to meddle in the affairs of North Africa, in addition to stabilizing their allies, they also need to handle the affairs of Sicily properly; Thinking of this, Luquis immediately threw himself into the follow-up affairs of Lower Sicilya.

When Oscar learned that Lucis had sent hussars, he immediately smiled happily; Then, with irrepressible excitement, he said to Nat beside him:

"Sir Nat, if nothing else, our House Augustus has completely taken over all of Sicily; From now on, the three major islands in the Western Mediterranean, Sicily, Sardinia, and the Balearic Islands, belong to our family of Augustus!

Add to this the province of Betica on the Iberian Peninsula, and the mighty naval fleet of our House Augustus; The whole of the Western Mediterranean has finally become the backyard of our Augustus family!

After the end of this war, our Augustan family will usher in a period of rapid development; In order to develop, we need to trade with the Kingdom of Egypt and the Seleucid Empire in the East, the Greek states of the Greek Peninsula, and many other powers.

These business things, Nat you are an expert; From now on, I will leave all the business and trade affairs of our Augustan family to you, are you willing to do your best for our Augustan family? ”

In the face of Oscar's burning eyes, Nat still smiled indifferently, and then replied lightly:

"Your Excellency, I have long passed the age of boiling blood; For me, actual trust is more important than anything else. Since I promised the Carters and the Richards that I would serve the Augustans in the future; I will not be treacherous.

As long as His Excellency Oscar is willing to trust me, whether it is for me to be the treasurer of a province or the treasurer of the entire Augustan family, I will do my best for the Augustan family; It's just that I don't like others to interfere in my work, is it acceptable for His Excellency Oscar? ”

"Haha! His Excellency Nat is really not an ordinary person! You were the first person to say such a thing to my face; I like it, though! Don't worry, no one will point fingers at you in business matters in the future, including me; You just have to do what you want, and all the resources of the entire Augustan family are mobilized by you!

Of course, that doesn't mean you can bypass the laws of our House of Augustus as you please; I don't care what you do, but you have to do things within the legal rules of House Augustus.

Moreover, I am a results-oriented person; I don't care what your process is, but I have to see the results I want when you're done. I'll give you a year for the next year; A year from now, I would like to see a new Sicily. ”

Nat's demands were unacceptable to the average ruler, but Oscar did not disappoint Nat; He decisively gave Nat everything he wanted. Oscar isn't a fool, though; After giving Nat the power he wanted, he also gave Nat a blunt warning.

If Nat couldn't handle his powers, then Oscar wouldn't care about lifting him up to the sky and then falling down; Oscar believed that, with Nat's wisdom, he should have understood what he meant.

In fact, Nat is far smarter than Oscar believes; The reason why he made such an excessive request to Oscar today can be regarded as a kind of temptation for Oscar. Oscar employment needs to be chosen; In the same way, Nat also needs to choose to take refuge in others.

Still, Oscar's generosity and trust surpassed Nat's best estimate; Just after Oscar said that, it was impossible for Nat not to be moved.

Although Oscar's words also have a strong sense of warning, how many people in this world are willing to give themselves so much power just by seeing one side of themselves? The man who dies for his confidant, that's all. (To be continued.) )