When Cato the Younger arrived with a guard of honour of the Roman consuls, Queen Cleopatra, dressed in a pristine white linen tulle dress, was presiding over the inauguration of a civic cemetery surrounded by tens of thousands of refugees, while personally leading the singing of an ancient Egyptian elegy:

“…… Death is in front of me today, like the scent of myrrh, like a breezy day sitting under the sails.

Death is in front of me today, like the fragrance of a lotus flower, like sitting on the bank of a river after being drunk.

Death is before me today, like a sunny day after rain, like a man discovering what he has neglected.

Death is in front of me today, like a man who has been imprisoned for many years, looking forward to visiting his family......"

The Queen's singing was long and sad, bringing tears to the eyes of the people of Alexandria in front of the cemetery, and the dancing of the ladies was also quite touching and poignant. This method of buying the hearts of the people made little Cato can't help but look up at her.

Then, under the guidance of several female officials, little Cato finally saw the objects of the trip next to the cemetery - the remains of Pompey and Caesar.

Although they had been dead for some time, the two bodies were still recognizable under the embalming measures of the Egyptians.

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Standing in front of Caesar's body, the leader of the Roman aristocratic republicans, the moralist Cato the Younger, couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion for a while.

Almost from the moment he stepped into politics, little Cato was at odds with Caesar. While acknowledging that Caesar was a talented military strategist and statesman, he also recognized Caesar as a careerist who did not act in a good way—knowing that his wealth came from borrowing and unearned gains. Politics and war alone are used to win popular support, but all this is taken for granted.

Not to mention, Caesar also used bribes extensively to bribe the unemployed and officials at all levels. The promotion of violent politics and street movements turned every election in Rome into a riot, and even Pompey, a warlord, could not stand it—such an unscrupulous and unscrupulous "degenerate" naturally made Cato the Younger deeply despise. He and Caesar were completely different people, and even if there were no political factors, the two would never have become friends.

Long before the outbreak of the Civil War, Cato the Younger was politically at odds with Caesar. And it was he who led the aristocratic faction of the Senate again and again, and forcefully rejected Caesar's compromise terms, which eventually led to Caesar's complete break with the Roman Senate. and the full-scale outbreak of the Roman Civil War.

Sadly, Caesar, though he only had a piece of territory in Gaul, was able to take advantage of the situation and win victory after victory. And the Senate though owns the whole country. But he behaved very clumsily in front of Caesar. Even if there are occasional small wins. It's just a set-up for the next big defeat.

When the news of the defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus broke, little Cato thought in despair that it was all over. The reason why he retreated to North Africa was only to hold on a little longer, to fight until Zuihou - because he could not bear to live in a Shijie ruled by Caesar.

However, the source of all this nightmare and fear suddenly came to an abrupt end in Egypt.

At this time, looking at Caesar's distorted corpse, little Cato found that he could not find a trace of joy in his heart to defeat his old enemy. I only felt a faint emptiness and melancholy, and there was more hesitation and confusion - the "tyrant" who tried to subvert the republican system was finally dead. But the Roman Republic was also in tatters, and there was no clear answer in his mind as to how to clean up the mess and rebuild the country in the future.

Standing in front of Pompey's charred corpse, little Cato's mood was even more complicated.

- In the midst of this civil war, Pompey was the military commander on the side of the Senate. But much earlier, it was the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus who joined forces to suppress the Senate, completely distorting the Republic's checks and balances and sacred laws, culminating in what is now a full-scale civil war.

But in any case, Pompey had opened up territory for Rome, conquered Syria and Asia Minor, and was now dead.

As the saying goes, the dead are great, and Cato the Younger felt that he should not say anything bad about Pompey at this time, even if it was just for the sake of thinking about it.

“…… Carry these two bodies back and cremate them all the way the Romans did! Make it as decent as possible! ”

He sighed and commanded his retinue, then turned around and said to the Egyptian lady who led the way, "...... Then, I beg you to report to Cato, Queen of Cleopatra, the Roman consul (who was self-appointed during the civil war), to request an audience as soon as possible, that she may give me a reasonable explanation for the deaths of Caesar and Pompey, and make appropriate daoqian and reparations......"

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“…… Interpretation? daoqian？ Indemnify? Oh hehehe! You must be kidding, right?! ”

On the outskirts of Alexandria, in the spacious and shady Queen's tent, after listening to Cato's arrogant request, Queen Cleopatra was immediately angry and laughed, "...... Dear Patriarch Cato, I have always heard that you are a man of high moral character, and I never imagined that you would be so unreasonable! Obviously, these two groups of Romans came uninvited, seized my palace, plundered my treasury, and fought each other on other people's land, burning the beautiful city of Alexandria to the ground. Zuihou angered the gods of Egypt and was killed by a meteor wrapped in flames...... I would like to ask you for the cost of repairs in Alexandria and food for hundreds of thousands of refugees! You're embarrassed to turn around and ask me for an explanation?! ”

“…… Queen Cleopatra, Bixia, do not forget that Egypt was a vassal of Rome. You have only the obligation to obey all the instructions of the Roman Republic, and you have no right to refuse. Little Cato blinked, his face calm, "...... Of course, I am not a completely unreasonable person, and I deeply regret the damage caused to Egypt by this war. I don't really want to delve into the deaths of Pompey and Caesar...... But. I also hope that you will show Egypt's goodwill to the Republic by providing us with forty boatloads of food......"

“…… That's impossible! After being ravaged by you Romans, there is nothing left in Egypt now! Queen Cleopatra exclaimed angrily. …… Patriarch Cato, if you just want to extort money, please go to another house! ”

“…… Bixia, you will be mistaken, this time it is not for nothing, I will pay for every grain of wheat. Faced with the thunderous Egyptian queen, little Cato lifted the sleeves of his "toga" robe. Make a gesture of "please calm down", "...... And it was according to the high prices of the famine years. ”

“…… Really? It's the first time I've seen the Romans pay for food in Egypt! Well, as long as there is real money. Everything is negotiable. But......" the queen glanced suspiciously at little Cato, "...... Forty boatloads of grain is not a small amount, do you have that much money? ”

To this, Cato Jr. only shrugged his shoulders. Turned around and slapped his palms a few times. A few sturdy Roman soldiers brought a heavy wooden box, and when the lid was opened, it revealed layers of gold and silver treasures, which were truly jeweled and shining.

However, Queen Cleopatra leaned over to look at the gold, silver and jewels in the box, but her eyes immediately went dark, and she trembled with anger.

“…… O gods! These gold crowns, silver ingots, and gemstone jewelry seem to have all been taken out of the treasury of the Egyptian royal palace in Alexandria. There's a cobra emblem on it! You have taken all this gold and silver treasure that you have stolen from my treasury. Buy food from me? ”

“…… bixia, regardless of the origin of the treasure. When Pompey moves these treasures out of Alexandria, they are no longer yours. Cato Jr. continued to calmly recount his bandit logic," ...... Alright, Bixia, please choose! Would you rather sell, or not? ”

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“…… So, in order to get back once again the gold and silver from the Egyptian treasury that Pompey had just stolen from your palace, we had to feed the self-proclaimed 'good man' little Cato? Hehe, if you can be considered a good person, what should a bad person be? ”

In the dusty and noisy port warehouse, Wang Qiu looked at the containers full of wheat from the United States in front of him, and said with an embarrassed expression. “…… Is it possible to be so polite to a gang of robbers? Weishenme can't violently enforce the law and snatch the money back directly? ”

“…… If my scrap wood mercenaries could defeat the Roman legions of Cato the Younger, I would not have been so troubled and humiliated. ”

The doppelganger of the Egyptian queen in the modern shijie, the zombie witch Sanae Rika rolled her eyes directly, "...... Otherwise, how about you help me go to the Roman ship to enforce the law and confiscate? I can canonize you as the captain of the Alexandria City Management Brigade, hereditary replacement! What do you think? ”

“…… It's better to be free! Wang Qiu hurriedly waved his hand, "...... It is not difficult for a few of us to sink the Roman warships with rockets, but it is not easy to capture these treasures intact, and if they sink into deep water, we will not have divers. Moreover, as soon as this battle starts, the expenditure on arms will be unstoppable like a faucet. If you get Zuihou, even if you seize that batch of gold and silver treasures intact, it's hard to say whether you will lose or make money on the books! By the way, how much is little Cato willing to return to you the treasury of the Egyptian royal palace? ”

“…… Twenty tarrants of gold, fifty tarrants of silver, and a few bits and pieces of precious jewelry, less than a tenth of the total savings of the Ptolemaic royal treasury. Sanae Rika shrugged helplessly, "...... What a damn bunch of Romans! ”

“…… So, if you convert them into modern units of weight, that's about three hundred and twenty kilograms of gold and eight hundred kilograms of silver? ”

Ma Tong took out the calculator from his pocket, tapped it with a snap, and then furrowed his delicate eyebrows, "...... Now the price of gold is 400 yuan a gram, and the price of silver is 8 yuan a gram (taking into account future inflation), and if you count those precious stones, you should be able to compensate for the previous 300 million yuan in arms expenses. But the problem is, we have to provide him with forty boatloads of wheat. Each ship is one hundred and fifty tons, and forty ships are six thousand tons of wheat...... Alas, there is a global drought in the past few years, and there are speculators speculating on the price of grain in the international market, and the price of wheat is not cheap...... Not to mention. You'll also have to give in to the war refugees in Alexandria. Until you defeat the dying throes of Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII once and for all, and restore order to the Nile Delta, there is no food source for Upper and Lower Egypt......"

“…… And that's not all. I can't bring all this gold and silver back to modern Shijie to settle my account, because I still have to gather a merchant fleet for him to transport this grain...... The merchant ships in Alexandria were almost completely burned out in the war, and they had to go to Cyprus and Crete to recruit sailors and ships. ”

Sanae Rika shrugged her shoulders, "...... That's forty merchant ships! In order to save a limited amount of precious metal, can you give me forty pieces of colored silk that I can use as a deposit for the shipowners? This thing seems to be better than gold in the Mediterranean Shijie BC......"

- Next. After meeting Queen Cleopatra again and finalizing the grain deal, Cato the Younger, known as the "good man" and a model of morality in the Roman Republic. Satisfied, he took Pompey and Caesar's ashes with him, boarded one of the fastest ships, and sailed ashore to contact his fellow Republicans. Only his clerk and adjutant general and a thousand soldiers remained in Egypt to supervise the completion of the grain procurement.

About half a month passed. The queen of Egypt had just scraped together enough merchant ships to transport grain. When the porter picks up the woven bag of grain onto the boat. It also surprised the Roman officers who supervised the trade - the textile level of Western shijie in this era was generally not very good, and the hand-woven linen was not only rough in texture, but also not strong enough, and the price was very expensive, and the sacks made of this cloth were generally reluctant to give away.

So, in this era BC, the Mediterranean shijie was among the bulk grain trade. Few seafarers used sacks of wheat, but generally used inexpensive large clay pots as containers for grain. Not only is this less expensive than using a sack. And it's not easy to get wet by seawater......

Then, standing on the beach of Alexandria, watching the grain convoy and the fleet of little Cato slowly moving away, everyone was full of emotion.

“…… Use stolen money to buy things from the stolen sufferer? This is the style of the ancient Roman moralists and 'good men'? Senior Sister Ma Tong sighed and said, "...... If such shameless deeds can be regarded as good people, I really don't know what a wicked person should be. ”

“…… That's right, if it weren't for such undisguised heavy exploitation, how could the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean hate the Romans? ”

Queen Cleopatra shrugged her shoulders, "...... But, no matter what, we finally sent this 'good guy' away. It's time to calculate the earnings—there are eighteen tarrants left in gold that can be shipped back to the modern-day shijie, and forty-seven tarrants in silver......"

However, it won't be long before they really get a taste of what the "wicked" of Rome really were.

However, before that, you visitors from different time and space can at least enjoy a peaceful New Year in ancient Egypt BC.

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At night, on the outskirts of Alexandria, the military camp of the Queen of Egypt

The bright crescent moon hangs in the deep night sky, casting a cold glow onto the earth. Under the bright moonlight, the vast camp was lit with bonfires, the tantalizing aroma of wine and food, the sound of flutes, harps and tambourines, and the laughter and shouts of men and women.

This day is just a very ordinary day in ancient Egypt, but in modern China opposite the gate of time and space, it is the most lively Spring Festival of the year.

Therefore, after getting tired of watching the Spring Festival Gala year after year, and hearing enough of the roar of firecrackers comparable to shooting war movies, everyone came to this ancient shijie to celebrate the festival, so as to experience the freshness of celebrating the festival in another world. And Queen Cleopatra also took advantage of the situation at the same time to order that the soldiers be rewarded in the name of celebrating the victory of the war, and a long-delayed celebration banquet was held, which added some festive joy.

So, in front of the rattling bonfire, mercenaries from all over the country sat on the floor with the barmaids of Alexandria, hugging each other, laughing, flirting, and hooking up. Nude dancers dressed in tulle danced in the firelight, twisting their waists to the beat of the musicians.

The ground was lined with picnic linen and topped with fresh bread, stuffed scones, chopped mixed vegetables and a wide variety of fruits. Roast chicken, duck and goat are lined with oily roast chicken, duck and goat, as well as the Greeks' favorite wines and Egyptians' beers...... Everyone in Queen Cleopatra's army seized this rare opportunity to transform into a big stomach, eating and drinking unceremoniously until their faces were flushed, spewing wine, and their mouths were full of oil. Some of these energetic guys competed in wrist wrestling and wrestling amid cheers and drumming. Other anxious soldiers, holding the woman, began a piston movement in the shadows.

And in the royal tent of Queen Cleopatra, the people from Yishijie obviously have a more wonderful enjoyment.

“…… Cheers! Happy New Year! Hopefully don't lose any more money in the new year! ”

“…… Ahem, Happy New Year...... Senior Sister Ma Tong, it's going to be the New Year, so don't say that kind of depressing words again! ”

“…… Hey, don't rub it off, the beef hot pot is already burned, let's hurry up and raise the chopsticks and start! Huh? Queen Bixia, you haven't even clinked glasses with us yet! How did you eat it first? ”

“…… Woo – it's delicious! That's the real enjoyment! (To be continued.) )