Augustus Road

"He regarded farming as a kind of entertainment and a source of wealth." - Plutarch on Cato the Elder

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Until the sunset, the Eleventh Army and the Twelfth Army successively broke through two car camps and slaughtered a large number of barbarians. The two teams finally joined together and completely split the Helvetic camp in half, and Helvetic The two chiefs of Ti rode away, leaving behind tens of thousands of servant tribes. Abandoned, they could only surrender to Caesar.

In front of a car camp that was beaten to pieces, with the setting sun and the trumpeting, Caesar came on horseback, then jumped down, opened his arms and met Labienus, Lepidus and Apis who came across from him. They kissed and hugged each other warmly, "Let's verify this great moment together. Today we killed no less than 30,000 strong barbarians and captured 50,000 to 60,000 people."

"Perhaps we can also speculate that the more than 100,000 Helvetic people who escaped can hold out for a few days before surrendering to us." Rabinus joked. He knew that these barbarians whose organization and fighting spirit were completely defeated, They have turned into a flock of sheep. Without logistics and abandoning most of the women and children, they cannot persist for more than three or five days.

But Caesar's expression was very serious. He asked Apis about the customs of the tribes in front of him, and then asked Apis to send multiple envoys. "It is strictly forbidden for any tribe to take in the Helvetic people or provide food, otherwise they will be regarded as Discourse on the Enemies of the Roman Republic."

All the Gallic tribes knew that once they were labeled as "enemies of the Republic", they would be killed.

At this time, Caesar saw Lepidus who was silently beside him again. Then he laughed. Ask the other party if they are thinking about what level of reward the Twelve Legions who have performed well during this period need. After hearing this, Li Bida seemed to be suddenly shocked and said, "What I worry about is not whether there is a reward, but how to use the reward..."

Caesar also fell silent at this time, and his eyes moved, looking at the distant mountains and wheat fields in the south, as if he could see the city of Rome directly.

Although Caesar claimed to have killed and captured nearly 100,000 Helvetii, a considerable number of barbarians still broke out. Moreover, the six Roman legions that entered also suffered heavy casualties. After a rough count, no less than 2,000 people died, and two to three times more were disabled. Next, Caesar set up camp near the city of Bibrakd, carefully burying the bodies of the fallen soldiers and treating the wounded. The entire army was prohibited from going out, and large quantities of supplies from the Aedui and other tribes were also sent one after another. The war The business and sale of slaves was also carried out "in an orderly manner". Under the operation of Caesar's many economic slaves and staff, the mines and cities in Marseille and Liguria came here to purchase large quantities of low-cost war slaves. Now that there is enough food, Caesar personally announced that the price of all slaves was not only one-third lower than that in the normal market, but also paid for the food during the slave trade.

The amount of money obtained, including the weapons captured from the Helvetic people, the proceeds from the baggage auction, and the "gifts" from other horrified servant tribes, is simply astonishing. Even the current assets are no less than two thousand talents (of course, most of the money is all The richest (and most low-key) Lepidus among all the legionary generals also admitted that Caesar had made a fortune from the war.

Labienus answered to Lepidus privately, because he had promised to tell him before: In this war, Caesar obtained 80 to 100 million sestes, which was the fundamental reason why he launched the war.

However, Caesar is no better than Crassus. Crassus's assets are completely his own: villas, cemeteries, workshops, farms and mines. As long as Crassus gained the title, he could spread the money out at any time and organize a private army of ten legions. Caesar was different. Before he set foot in Gaul, he was still a poor man with heavy debts. His assets were erratic and he had no credit. If he was just a warmonger eager to get rich, his goal would have been achieved now. But Caesar is Caesar after all, and his realm is obviously not like this. Just as Lepidus reminded him before, "the reward of war, something won with sword and blood, what you should care about is how to use it."

So, Caesar decided to scatter all the money surplus within these three days, leaving not even half of the money for himself.

Part of it was given to centurions and soldiers, part of it was given to capable staff, and part of it was transported back to the city of Rome and used to bribe dignitaries.

Five years ago, Caesar was loved by no one except the common people wandering the streets; but five years later, I, Caesar, will become the most glorious and popular figure in Rome.

You know, but as far as the army is concerned, of the four regular main legions, only the Tenth legion can be regarded as the blood of Caesar, and there are two auxiliary legions. He took a fancy to Apis because of his talent, but although Apis His political stance is similar to that of Caesar, but this king is very principled and a fanatical follower of the Republic. Under his leadership, Caesar no longer regards the Eleventh Legion as his direct lineage (semi-direct lineage).

Therefore, the only ones Caesar trusted the most were Labienus and Lepidus. As for the other lieutenants, Caesar had to spend countless money as lubricants to slowly integrate them into his system.

Two days later, Lepidus returned one million of the 1.5 million sestes that Caesar had given him alone, leaving only 500,000. This made Caesar a little surprised and worried: Was Lepidus angry? ? Because the gift from the other lieutenants was two million sesterces.

"I left 500,000 because I wanted to spend this part as a pension and reward for the soldiers in my army." This is Lepidus' explanation. "As for the remaining one million, it is not much for me personally, and I don't care about this money, but for you now, every penny is precious."

"Well, you want me to use this one million sesquiterres on your behalf, which will bring greater benefits than your personal possession." There was no one in the tent, and Caesar's speech was very frank. "I understand what you mean. What do you want me to do with this one million sesquiterres?"

"The head of the Colonial Committee of Eunomia, and the war bill of the Republic to assist the restoration of the 'Piper'." Lepidus didn't want to ask Caesar for help alone, but he also understood that with his own connections and qualifications, no matter how rich he was, it was far from enough to operate such national affairs in Rome. He had to rely on Caesar's "shell", not to mention that most of his money was now welded in venture capital.

"Then this one million is not enough." Caesar said, "I have nothing to hide from you. Even if I am now, plus Crassus, to help you realize these two wishes, this one million Sestris alone is not enough. After saying that, he raised his finger and said that in fact, my friends in Rome also brought me news about Egyptian affairs from time to time. Yes, the Republic is ready to intervene militarily, but the wrangling will take a long time, maybe three years later, or even five years later. )