Because of the need to welcome the lords from all over the world who came to the banquet, Caesarea Castle was specially cleaned temporarily, and the branches and lawns were specially trimmed to make the originally very beautiful vestibule garden look more neat and beautiful.

Originally, Theodore thought that it would be good to have half of them, but when it came to Zuihou, more than fifty lords had all arrived, and after receiving the invitation, he rushed to Caesarea as soon as possible, and brought quite expensive "native products" to "pay tribute" to congratulate Rome on another brilliant victory, and by the way, he expressed his loyalty, implying that he also contributed to this war.

Indeed, although Theodore envisioned that each lord would produce ten knights and make up a wing of auxiliary cavalry. But the reality is that many lords may not have a total of ten knights under their hands, and they are piecing together, and even counting their own sons has fulfilled the indicators that Theodor has explained, although the quality is uneven.

Although the little lords who have worked so hard to find fault with such hardships do not expect Theodor to praise or reward them for this, at least he has no excuse to find fault, and it is their only hope to keep the family safe.

Because of the large number of people, and the fact that the banquet was more important than before, Theodore simply asked the servants of the castle to form a long table in a polygonal shape that was almost in a circle, and a high candelabra was placed in the middle as a decoration, and all the guests present sat in a circle in a circle, regardless of size, as a sign of unity and harmony.

Theodore, dressed in a purple coat, sat on the main seat facing the gate, and the rest of the minor lords sat in a clockwise order -- in short, although it was difficult to see what was long and inferior at the round table, they still followed some more conventional rules, such as a few lords of higher prestige would sit closer to Theodore, and a few "old men" whom Theodore did not know were farther away.

Sitting directly across from Theodore was Virgil, the foreign minister of Rome -- they had more dealings with this sleek young official than Caesar, and with him he could save a lot of unnecessary cumbersome links and unnecessary embarrassment.

The maids-in-waiting, who were going up and down the hall like butterflies, served a good meal and a fine wine—and after returning from New Gar, Theodore was at last able to be a little extravagant, and replaced the wine vessels and cups with glass, and the silver knives were finally available to all the guests.

However, although the table was filled with mouth-watering food and wine, the banquet was not very interesting from the host to the guests, and the glass was put down after just a few sips, and the food on the plate was only tasted, and the atmosphere was not as cheerful as last time.

It was clear to everyone that Theodore had invited them to not really be as simple as a "celebration party". The Roman Caesar, who had a heavy army in his hand and returned with the power of a great victory, obviously could no longer tolerate the fact that there was still Shili in his territory who was completely out of control. But at least it seems that the young Roman Caesar was still more personable, and did not drive the army directly into his castle, wanting to complete this transition in a more "peaceful" way.

The rest is simple, non-violent non-cooperation or kneeling on the ground and kissing Caesar's clothes, leaving them not many choices, as for what is left after the dispossession of the territory, it depends on Theodore's mood, the rulers are always excessive, and they also deeply understand this -- the harshness of the tax policy issued by the Holy Emperor to the north is still fresh in their memories today.

The atmosphere of the banquet became lively and cold in the midst of each other's thoughts, and some of the more resigned congratulated Caesar on his "great prowess", trying to dig up some useful information from the mouths of Theodore or Virgil. It's just that these people's tone is too exaggerated and looks too fake, as if the whole war was won by the Roman legions alone, and everyone else was playing soy sauce.

But more often than not, they were eating in private, whispering about possible situations, negotiating future plans and other unseemly intentions, and the atmosphere seemed to be quite harmonious, and the warm fireplace made the hall as comfortable as early summer, but everyone couldn't help but tighten their robes.

When he arrived at Zuihou, Theodore, who felt that the time was about the same, coughed lightly twice, and the lords, who were still greeting each other, turned their heads for the first time, and all eyes were firmly fixed on Theodore's face, waiting for what he was going to say next and make a decision.

Theodore smiled and raised his glass, glancing around the eyes of all: "First of all, thank you very much for visiting Caesarea, my castle, as promised, and I hope that we can all have a pleasant evening, and I will do my best to make your lordships as comfortable as possible." ”

"You're so gracious!" a chubby fellow stood up from his seat and raised his glass to Theodore, "It's our greatest honor to be invited by you!"

"Are you so eager to invite your Excellency Caesar to pet?" a young man sitting opposite the fat man sneered, shrugged his shoulders and whispered, "This flattering ugly face is really unappetizing!"

"Don't say that, my good son. The middle-aged man beside the boy stopped him: "Aren't we willing to submit to this Caesar? ”

"That's right. The boy had to admit this, and leaned back in his chair in frustration, not talking anymore.

Theodore did not hear the private conversation between the father and son, and looked at all the guests with a smile on his face and said: "Of course, the main reason why I want to hold this banquet is to thank you for being able to gather your knights to go out with the army as promised in wartime, it can be said that they have contributed a lot, and won the honor worthy of their status on the battlefield, and they have fought bravely and indomitably, which is worthy of praise and deserves to be commended!"

As Theodore's words fell, a burst of cheerful applause rang out from all sides of the round table, and the lords breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Theodore still admitted that they were meritorious, it meant that he had no intention of killing them all, and this was good news anyway.

"I have discussed this matter carefully with my ministers, how should you be rewarded for keeping your promises and making sacrifices for the sake of the strength of Rome?" Theodore put down his cup and looked at the nervous lords with a little mystery, "Finally, I found the best choice—or rather, the most balanced. A wonderful balance between the prosperity of Rome and the praise of you. ”

"Could you please make it clearer?" the fat man with a flattering smile asked in a tentative tone, "It seems to sound ............ It's hard to understand. ”

"Simply put, as far as I know. There are many tenant farmers under your name...... Or it would be more appropriate to call it 'serf', as my scholar told me. Theodore said as he looked at their expressions: "There is no personal freedom, there is nothing of one's own, and it is really sad that it has been the property of all adults from head to toe since he was born on this shijie!"

"But Caesar! They have debts, we help them pay their debts, and then they pay off their debts with their own labor, and it all makes sense!"

"No matter how high the debt, the labor of generations should be paid off!" Theodore raised his voice and looked at the fat man with cold eyes: "The laws of Rome do not allow anyone to deprive others of their right to liberty in any form of debt, and this is especially important. There would be no Rome without the people!"

"So, do you think we should give these tenant farmers back their freedom?" some of the spirited young men rose from their seats and looked at Theodore without fear: "Is this your will, my lord?"

"I seem to know you. Theodore remembered all of a sudden, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but raise slightly: "At the last meeting, it seems that you were the first to stand up and raise objections!"

"I'm very sorry, Caesar!" the middle-aged elder beside the young man quickly stood up in a panic and pushed him back into his seat: "My son is too young to be sensible. Please don't take his nonsense seriously!"

"Oh, you're mistaken, sir. Theodore laughed: "Such a righteous act deserves to be praised, and there are many among my courtiers who like to argue with me, such as ...... Mr. Virgil, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was sitting there, was such a noble Roman statesman!" he said, gesturing to Virgil, who was sitting in his seat.

"Just serve you wholeheartedly, my Caesar. Virgil, a natural diplomat with a personable demeanor, was neither humble nor proud, and his graceful salute was exemplary: "Clumsy words are not worthy of your praise!"

"I'm not saying that you want them back to freedom, my lords. After all, debts are also to be repaid. Excuse me, then, to pay off their debts!" Diodore snapped his fingers at the door, and the legionnaires who had been waiting outside the door rushed in and surrounded the entire hall, shields and sparkling Roman swords in their hands.

The sudden situation made the lords panic immediately, and many of them collapsed directly on the chairs, but more immediately drew their swords -- the banquets of this era did not seem to have the habit of not being allowed to wear swords, and they looked nervously around the table at the Roman soldiers who were waiting for them.

"What do you mean by that?!"

"It's not interesting. As soon as Theodore finished speaking, the shield wall formed by the soldiers immediately spread out, and dozens of small chests were lifted out from behind, and then they were opened in front of everyone, and the golden light exuded a blood-gushing emotion - the boxes were full of gold!

Although these lords are not overlords, they are also worth a lot of money. But most of their property is real estate such as manors, castles, and workshops. There are not many real precious metals, and I have never seen so much gold at one time!

Greed, longing—Theodore read this from their eyes, and his expression grew more and more triumphant, and he knew that these people would never be able to refuse such temptation.

These are not only rewards for you, but also ransoms for the serfs. The choice is now yours, gentlemen. Theodore smiled and sat down: "Just nod your head, it's all yours!"

(First of all, thank you for the reward of Longqi Chaos (this name is really powerful and domineering~) children's shoes!

In addition, although the book review area and the post bar have been very deserted, there are also many children's shoes who have put forward valuable opinions! But let's talk about it, many opinions can't be answered. When it comes to the development of the plot later in the novel (I can't spoil it), or there is a deviation from the setting of the novel itself, so it feels like a lot of enthusiastic readers have been left out in the cold, and it is daoqian here~.

zuihou,Please speak enthusiastically for the majority of readers,I'll reply one by one as much as possible,There really is no reply.,Most of them are empty "poor words".,I don't know how to reply.,I hope you understand)