Three Kingdoms Eschatology

The second is that Feng Huyuan is now in Sicily Province, and the military and political power is in his hands.Augustus in the city of Rome beat him by financial manipulation at most.However, since the mint strike and rebellion, the financial system centered on the Finance Office was basically in the hands of the consul and emperor Alexander.What's more, Feng Hu doesn't seem to be very dependent on the financial support of the Roman Central Office, he seems to have his own financial resources.Otherwise, the little money allocated by the Finance Office would barely be enough to pay the soldiers of Feng Hu's army.How could it be possible for Feng Hu's army to obtain so much sophisticated equipment, and even build a navy that was extremely expensive?

After another month, Alexander witnessed that issuing bonds was indeed a good way to raise funds, so he issued a second batch of national bonds worth 20 gold for a period of [-] years.Because of the previous foreshadowing, this release went quite smoothly.Especially those high-ranking officials and nobles rushed to buy.Because the interest obtained through bonds is far more than that invested in manors.What's more, these bonds are extremely easy to cash out, and even to some extent they are a kind of currency.This amount of money is enough to solve the problem of water supply system improvement in the city of Rome and in large cities and towns throughout the Roman Empire.

Three months later, it ushered in the warm and humid spring in the Mediterranean.On the island of Sicily, there are seventy or eighty groups of hundreds of thousands of people busy everywhere.Some of them are building water conservancy, some are restoring deserted farmland or orchards, and some are building workshops and boats.There are still many people who are sweating profusely in training in the barracks.

More than half of these people were captured rebel slaves.They are currently performing military service in name, but in fact only a small number of them are incorporated into the formal combat troops.Most of them are the supply soldiers of the auxiliary corps.They usually spend more time on reclamation, building water conservancy and city defense, and building workshops and ships than military training.

Feng Yu promised them that as long as they have served in the army for five years, they will be granted the status of free citizens, and if they have military merits, they will also be granted citizenship.Feng Yu also promised them that when they retire, they will also get a generous settling allowance.

Feng Yu did not allocate land to retired soldiers like the Central Plains did.Because he has no intention of replicating the small peasant economy in the Central Plains here.Based on his knowledge of Rome over the years, many new technologies have appeared in agriculture.More advanced tools such as plows with wheels, corn cutters, lifting devices, and drainage machines appeared.The emergence of these new labor tools can exert high production efficiency on a large area of ​​land.But if the land is divided into small pieces, this advantage cannot be brought into play.

However, the current manor economy that supports Roman agriculture is concentrated in land, but it has not exerted its advantages, and it is declining more and more.Feng Yu believes that this is not the reason for the concentration of land, but the constraints of slavery.Slaves do not have personal freedom and are forced to work. The results of their labor have nothing to do with their lives. Therefore, they often adopt passive disguised labor in production, and even deliberately destroy production tools and resources to deal with slave owners. .

The Central Plains also encountered the same problem in the later period of the Warring States Period, but in the end they chose to use the small peasant economy to solve this problem.The small-scale peasant economy can accommodate the labor force to the greatest extent, but at the same time disintegrates the power of the feudal aristocracy, but the imperial power has been concentrated and expanded unprecedentedly.

Feng Yu also believes that the small peasant economy is also the reason for the cycle of dynasties in the Central Plains in 2000.Whenever someone concentrates a large amount of land, a new batch of feudal nobles will show their prominence on the historical stage and disperse the emperor's power.However, there will always be a mismatch between the high concentration of land and the small-scale peasant economy, leading to a slight natural disaster and foreign invasion, resulting in a situation where starvation fills the ground and the world is in chaos.In the end, these new feudal aristocrats who had just formed were destroyed together with the old dynasty, and the new dynasty replaced them, completing a historical change.

In Western history, until the barbarian invasion and the demise of Western Rome, there was no choice of small-scale peasant economy.The medieval countries that replaced Rome founded by the barbarians still inherited the Roman manor economy, but the citizen class disappeared, and the landlords became kings, knights and knights of all levels.The rest of the common people became serfs, working in closed manors with crude production tools and methods all year round.

Although this kind of productivity is far behind the small-scale peasant economy where the imperial power was concentrated in the Central Plains, a small number of the original citizens and free people in the Roman Empire still made a living by industry and commerce, wandering around the social margins and in the narrow space.

The social structure of the Western Middle Ages, with little royal power and no concentration, allowed them to easily handle the kingdoms of various kings, the feudal states of the jazz and the manors of the knights.In the end, the class they represented was able to grow and develop, regaining the fire of Hero civilization in the Renaissance, and extending the colonial tentacles to the whole world in the great voyage.Bring the whole human society into the modern and modern times in the industrial revolution.

Based on these superficial understandings of history, Feng Yu decided to explore a road in Rome that can directly cross the Middle Ages and enter modern times.This is his main purpose of seeking the highest power in Rome.

Feng Yu also thought about making such an attempt in the Central Plains in his early years, but he gave up after careful consideration.If he travels back to the Warring States Period, he might even have the idea of ​​trying.But now, 500 years after the implementation of the Qin system, he does not have the courage.

He thinks that this is not something that can be done by a time traveler like him, nor is it something that can be done by becoming an emperor.Not to mention that he is a man who has forgotten about modern science and engineering knowledge and natural science. Even a generalist who is proficient in all modern disciplines may not be able to do it.

In fact, his achievement in establishing the Liang Dynasty was also based on the blessing of that inexplicable system.And now, that system, too, has degenerated and disappeared as he ages.

Therefore, Feng Yu believed that if he had forced himself to do so in Daliang as the emperor, he would have been replaced by someone else, not much better than Xiang Yu or even worse than Xiang Yu.

Is a certain plant more likely to survive in its native place, or is it more likely to survive in a place that is very different from its original environment?Even if you don't have professional knowledge, you should know it is the former with only common sense.

In the same way, since in the history of the original world, modern civilization originated from the West, then in the new world that Feng Yu traveled to, it is definitely better to carry out this kind of experiment across the historical process in Rome than in the East after the Han Dynasty. The probability of success in the Central Plains is somewhat higher.

Chapter 1096 The Cross

Several carriages staggered off the ferry at the Messina ferry in Sicily.They didn't stop at all, and went straight to the capital Palermo along the dirt road on the north coast of Sicily.

In the car were tribune Quintus and several of his entourage.However, Quintus came here this time not as a tribune, but as a special envoy of the Roman emperor.Recently, through the intelligence network of the Severus family in various provinces behind him, Alexander learned that the two provinces of Carthage and Mauritania in western North Africa, as well as certain local forces in Transgaul, had signs of disgrace.

To say that they were unruly does not mean that they are going to start a rebellion, but that they have signs of moving closer to Alexander's opponents.These three provinces originally belonged to the traditional sphere of influence of the Severus family. If they turned to the opponent of the Severus family, the political balance in Rome would be completely disrupted.

So at the urging of Amias, Alexander sent envoys to these three provinces.But in the end, it is also very particular to choose Quintus as a candidate.Quintus has no obvious factional tendencies, so sending him to these three provinces will not arouse the vigilance and opposition of Alexander's opponents.Second, as a third party, it would be more effective to appease the local forces in these three provinces.

Quintus first went to Transgaul.Then turn south.His next task was to tour the two provinces of North Africa.He could have arrived directly by boat, without having to pass through Sicily.But he took some extra time to land in Sicily.Because there is a person he is very concerned about --- the person who was promoted to the Governor of Sicily in just a year and a half, Feng Hu from Liang State!

At this time, Quintus opened the curtains of the car window and looked out, only to find some disheveled Roman soldiers.They carried their guns and shields listlessly and passed by the carriage.Quintus couldn't help sighing, "When I was in Rome, I heard that Feng Hu had a good command of the army, but now looking at these soldiers with low morale, the rumors are obviously not true."

An entourage next to him smiled and said: "Your Excellency, you forgot. Although this is Sicily, it is not under the jurisdiction of Feng Hu. This is the garrison defense area of ​​the Thomas Army. It will take nearly ten miles to the west. It is really the province of Sicily under the jurisdiction of Feng Hu."

Quintus slapped his head and said: "Hey, look at my head, my memory has also deteriorated. Maybe it's because I drank too much water from the lead pipe. Speaking of the lead pipe water, I have to thank Feng Hu, without him, Maybe after more than ten years, I will become an old fool!"

While the people in the car were talking, the convoy had traveled a long distance.Quintus suddenly felt that the carriage had stopped, but looking at the scenery outside the window, it was still moving backwards quickly.He quickly stuck his head out of the window and looked down, only to find that the road on which the carriage traveled had become flat and wide.It is difficult to feel the vibration when the car is driving on it. This sudden change naturally makes people feel that the car has stopped.

Then, Quintus saw the people busy working in the farmland orchard, as well as the soldiers passing by the roadside.These soldiers had bright armor and did not carry spears on their bodies, but each of them held a crossbow-like object without a crossbow arm.One can tell by looking at this special weapon that these are members of Feng Hu's army, and only they generally use a long-range weapon like a bow and crossbow as their main battle weapon.Needless to say, the carriage must have entered Feng Yu's real territory.

Looking at the scenery outside the window, Quintus couldn't help nodding his head in praise: "I thought Feng Hu was only good at leading troops to fight, and he only relied on the excellent weapons he got from Liang Guo to improve the combat power of his army. But looking at it today, how can this person be someone who can lead troops to fight? In just a few months, he managed the Sicily Island, which was once in chaos and almost became ruins, in an orderly manner, revealing a scene of prosperity Come."

One of Quintus' entourage also responded: "Yes. Now almost the whole of Rome knows the name Feng Hu. There is no one who does not give him a thumbs up. I even heard that the Finance Office was able to transfer hundreds of thousands of gold coins a while ago. The success of the bond issuance is also due to his help!"

When Quintus heard this, a strange flash of light flashed in his eyes and he asked, "Oh, but he spent a large amount of money to help the Finance Office?"

"This... I don't know about this subordinate. I just heard the rumors in the market that some high-ranking officials and nobles in the city of Rome deliberately opposed His Majesty Alexander and disturbed the issuance of yellow bonds. Then Feng Hu sent someone to help him. These individuals have not succeeded."

Quintus snorted casually in his nostrils: "As far as I know, after the rebellion in Sicily was put down, the Finance Office or His Majesty Alexander did not allocate funds for the reconstruction of Sicily. It just pardoned Feng Yu who should The amount of spoils handed in. I also heard that he incorporated tens of thousands of prisoners of war from the rebel army into the army. Although most of them are security corps, it also requires a huge amount of military pay. He also formed a fleet, so I won’t I understand where he got so much money? Even if he didn’t use money to settle this matter, it still needs a lot of energy! This energy is not something that a provincial governor who just took office and has just gone through chaos can have.”

Naturally, the attendant couldn't answer Quintus's words, he was actually talking to himself, and then he fell asleep in the carriage.

Quintus didn't know how long he had slept, and was woken up by his followers.

"Why, Palermo is here?"

"Not yet. Your Excellency, Special Envoy, we are still more than ten miles away from Palermo. But someone stopped our convoy. They said that Governor Feng Hu was waiting to welcome us outside the gate of the barracks a few miles ahead."

Quintus nodded and said, "Alright, I was just about to visit his barracks. I can't find an excuse, so this is fine."

When Quintus got off the carriage, he saw Feng Yu in military uniform.After the two warmly exchanged salutes, accompanied by Feng Yu, Quintus walked towards the camp.

Feng Yu explained as he walked: "Your Excellency, the Special Envoy, did not say hello when he came to Bi Province. Otherwise, I would not have come to the barracks today, and I would have hosted a banquet for Your Excellency in Palermo."

Quintus also said truthfully: "Your Excellency, you are welcome. In fact, you don't need to call me a special envoy, because His Majesty Alexander did not order me to visit the province of Sicily. I just miss you, an old friend, so I passed by Sicily... "

When Quintus's words came to this point, he suddenly stopped, his eyes looked up into the air, his mouth was opened wide, and he was stunned for a moment.Feng Yu followed his line of sight, immediately understood what was going on, and burst out laughing.In Quintus' vision, he suddenly saw a cross on the roof.

Chapter 1097

Quintus looked at Feng Yu's nonchalant smile, pointed to the cross with a bit of sullenness in doubt and asked, "Your Excellency, what is this?"

"Your Excellency, Tribune, based on your knowledge, how could you not know the meaning of this cross. Of course, this is a Christian church in the barracks. Why should you be so shocked?" Feng Yu still had a smile on his face when he spoke.

Quintus said anxiously: "Your Excellency, how can you set up a Christian church in the military camp? You have been in Rome for so long, don't you know that - just two or thirty years ago, this Christianity was still a pagan religion that was clearly designated, It is going to be severely cracked down by the Roman government. It’s just that in the past few decades, the Severus royal family has been tolerant of various religions, revoked the accusation of heresy, and acquiesced in civil missionary activities. But even now, Rome There is no official recognition of Christianity as an orthodox religion. If you convert to this religion, you can just do it among the people. Why did you get it in the military camp? Hey, that’s right! Converted to Christianity again?"

Only then did Feng Yu put away his smile, and replied seriously: "Your Excellency Quintus, since you are a tribune, you should be proficient in Roman law. You should know that the law is legal without express prohibition. Roman military law expressly It is stipulated that soldiers and generals can freely believe in non-heretical religions. And Christianity is not explicitly designated as a heretical religion. Then it should be able to exist in the Roman military camp. Although the Roman government has not yet explicitly recognized Christianity as an orthodox sect, many religions It is also not recognized by the Roman government, such as the Taishang Laojun I believe in. Are they not allowed to exist?"

Quintus was speechless for a moment when Feng Yu said it, and he paused for a few seconds before asking: "But, it's fine if you allow the soldiers to believe in this religion, why do you want to build such a church in the military camp? Could it be that you converted? Did you follow this teaching? Therefore, using the public service for personal gain..."

Quintus suddenly realized that his words were too blunt and harsh, so his words stopped abruptly.

Feng Yu was not angry at all, and said in a calm tone: "Whoever said I converted to Christianity, I still believe in the Supreme Lord. I built such a church in this barracks not just for the convenience of those soldiers who believe in religion. them, but for this Legion of mine."

"Oh, I would like to hear your Excellency's advice. How can this Christianity affect the Legion?"

Feng Yu didn't directly answer Quintus' question, but instead asked: "My lord tribune, in your opinion, how does the current Roman legion compare with the reformed Marian legion more than 300 years ago? How about the Republican era?"

After pondering for a while, Quintus sighed: "In the Republic era more than 400 years ago, our legion was still a citizen conscript. Anyone with a certain amount of property was required to enlist in the army for military service. Their weapons and equipment even had to be paid for by themselves. Purchased from the national arsenal. The army only provides food and grass for daily consumption, but no military pay. Their only income from joining the army is the spoils captured in the war.

But despite this, in the early days of the Republic, these civil conscripts of the Roman Legion were still disciplined, morale was high, and they were brave and good at fighting.Otherwise, our Rome would not have such a large territory.

But more than 100 years ago, when the Roman Republic turned the entire Mediterranean Sea into an inner lake.For some reason, the combat effectiveness of the army declined rapidly.This is not only reflected in the lack of military resources.It is also reflected in low morale, greed for life and fear of death.This caused the Roman Republic at that time to suffer a series of humiliating defeats when it clashed with various surrounding enemies.

Then, a generation of strongmen at the end of the Republic, the consul Marius reformed the Legion.From civic conscription to recruitment system, not only the equipment and weapons are all provided by the state, but also a lot of military pay is paid on time.As a result, the Roman soldier officially became a profession.Therefore, there is no requirement for sufficient property for the source of soldiers, as long as you are a citizen or a freeman, you can join the legion.As a result, the problem of lack of soldiers was solved, and at the same time, combat effectiveness, morale and other aspects were also greatly restored.

But for some reason, it doesn't work anymore.You should be able to see and feel these yourself.Among other things, the slave rebellion that broke out in Sicily just a few months ago is enough to prove how weak the Roman legion is today.In fact, it's not a big deal if it's just weak combat power.Worse still is the current Legion..."

When Quintus said this, he stopped suddenly, because he realized that the next words were inappropriate in front of Feng Yu.Feng Yu smiled slightly, and then said:

"Compared to the civil obligatory military system before the reform of the Marian Legion. The current legion is not actually serving Rome, but only loyal to the person who can bring them great benefits. Such a person is generally their commander, the head of the legion , Grand Legion consuls, etc. And behind these officers are various forces in the Roman political arena that can provide them with financial support. Therefore, the current Roman legions have become warlords, and the warlordization of the Roman legions is the frequent turmoil in today’s Roman political arena The main reason."

Quintus was surprised that Feng Yu's words were exactly what he was about to say but stopped, and sighed: "My lord governor, I can't imagine that you, a man from Liang who came from the far east, know Rome so thoroughly. Then you Can you analyze why our Rome has become the current situation, and give a solution?"

Feng Yu laughed and said: "Master Special Envoy, don't be in a hurry. If you want to talk about this, it won't be finished in a short while. We can't chat for an hour under the sun. I have ordered people to prepare a banquet After taking the table, we ate and chatted."

At the banquet, after everyone had a few glasses of wine, Quintus urged Feng Yu to continue talking about the previous topic, but forgot the original topic—the matter of the Christian Church.

Feng Yu continued to explain: "In fact, the reason for this is very easy to understand. In the early days of the Republic, most of the Roman citizens came from [-] clans in the ten Curian tribal alliances in Rome. They are the real Romans. Now these Most of the descendants of people have become the nobles of Rome. They have a high sense of identity with Rome, and they will naturally be willing to fight for Rome. At the same time, war will bring them a steady stream of wealth and slaves. Therefore, both spiritually and materially, Inspired their high morale. However, in the late Republic, Rome has incorporated all that can be occupied and conquered into its own borders. Even the Mediterranean Sea has become an inland sea. At this time, the population structure of Roman citizens has undergone great changes. Change. Those citizens from Curia have become a small percentage. Citizens are mostly civilians from conquered areas or freedmen and citizens from slaves...”

Speaking of this, Feng Yu picked up his wine glass and took another sip of the dark red wine.And Quintus, who had already listened with gusto, couldn't wait to urge: "Your Excellency, please continue to explain."

Chapter 1098 The West Cannot Learn The East

Feng Yu put down his glass and continued: "The vast territory of Rome needs a huge legion to protect. An army of that size in the early days of the Republic is definitely not enough. However, according to the military system before Marius, only those with certain property can enlist in the army. The citizens who meet this condition are often those Roman noble citizens who were born in Curia. But they only account for a small proportion of the population, which naturally means that there is a shortage of soldiers. In addition, these noble soldiers are no longer the same as their ancestors In other words, they were born rich and possessed a lot of wealth and slaves. Therefore, they did not have the motivation to conquer and expand like their ancestors. Instead, they would be greedy for life and fear death on the battlefield because they commemorated the life of luxury and pleasure. Obviously, a generation of strongman Marius also saw this, so he carried out a targeted reform of the Legion. The previous compulsory military system was changed to a recruitment system in which any citizen could join the army. This had an immediate effect, but it also buried Rome. There is a deep danger."

When Feng Yu said this, Quintus nodded in agreement and said: "I think I have already guessed what the hidden dangers you mentioned are. A large number of civilians without property have entered the army, and most of these citizens belong to the army. Some of them were civilians from areas conquered by Rome, some immigrated from abroad and naturalized in Rome, and some were even accepted as Roman citizens because they planned to join the army, such as a large number of barbarian generals from the northern forest. Most of these people do not have a sense of identity with Rome. Although they have Roman citizenship, they do not really regard themselves as Romans. They join the army purely for military pay. So in fact they are mercenaries. Since they are mercenaries, then naturally They will be loyal to whoever can bring them more benefits. So they will only be loyal to those senior officers such as commanders, legionaries, and grand legion consuls, but not to Rome. This is our Roman legionary warlord The reason for the transformation!"

Feng Yu nodded in agreement and continued: "In addition to causing warlordization, this will also cause low combat power under certain conditions. Since they are fighting for money, when the country's finances are insufficient or they are fighting in some barren areas , or when fighting some wars without oil and water, they tend to be war-weary and fearful. This is why the current Roman legion is weak again. And this is precisely the reason why I introduced Christianity in the military camp .”

It was only then that Quintus remembered the topic he had brought up at the beginning, and before he knew it, the topic had been diverted far away by Feng Yu.But at this time, the other party just rightly brought the topic back.He asked in surprise, "Can this Christianity solve this problem?"

Feng Yu smiled and said: "Of course. The problem of fighting will and cohesion is a problem of spirit and consciousness after all. And religion is something in this category, and there is nothing more suitable than religion to solve it. Among religions, this Christianity is the most widely accepted religion among the Roman people, not only citizens, but also free people. Among those slaves, there are also a lot of believers. Just the tens of thousands of rebellious slaves captured by our legion, there are more than [-] Christian believers!"

When Feng Yu said this, he secretly thought that if Quintus knew the role of religious fanaticism in the Crusades and voyages like himself, he would not ask such questions.

Quintus nodded thoughtfully, and then his eyes burst into two gleams, and then asked: "That is to say, you used religion to solve the problem of fighting will and cohesion in the army. Then what about the current Roman legionary warlords?" Do you have any antidote for the problem of transformation?"

Feng Yu remained silent for a long time, then picked up the red wine glass and took small sips to drink.It looked like he was thinking about something.But in fact, he has thought about this question for a long time and has his own answer.He is just thinking about whether he should tell Quintus these things, and if so, how to say them properly.

Unexpectedly, Quintus was the first to answer his own question: "Governor Feng Hu, I have actually thought about this myself. I think there is only one solution, which is to learn from the Eastern Liang Kingdom you came from. Abolish the officials and dissolve the Senate. The financial and military power of the whole country is concentrated in the hands of the emperor alone. Aren’t these legions and armies loyal to anyone who can give them money? Then only His Majesty the Emperor can afford to support them. In this way, the problem can be solved The potential crisis we face in Rome right now."

Quintus thought that he would coincide with Feng Yu, but Feng Yu raised his eyebrows and shook his head again and again: "You want Rome to learn from Liang, and the West to learn from the East? No, this is impossible. In the world where I come from There is a saying in the east of the country - oranges from the Huai River are trifoliate oranges. It means that oranges from the south bank of the river are transplanted to the north bank and become trifoliate oranges. Your Excellency Quintus should be able to understand the meaning of the metaphor. In the east, the integration of tribes and the unified language have become It has been thousands of years, and the unified text has a history of nearly 500 years. And there is a unified, religious-like etiquette system that can play a role in uniting all peoples. And Rome now has dozens of provinces unified in the empire. However, there are hundreds of ethnic groups who speak different languages. Latin is the official language, but most of the nominal Romans do not know it. The reason for this state may be that there is no Rome in the East. In this way, the mountains, rivers and seas block the fragmented terrain."

After Feng Yu finished speaking, seeing that Quintus still had an unconvinced expression on his face, he continued to say solemnly: "Actually, before the reform of the Marian Legion indirectly led to the warlordization of the Legion, it led to the dictatorship of Rome's political arena. In Rome, Beginning with Caesar, some Roman emperors and dictators have tried what your Excellency said. The evolution of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire itself is a manifestation of these attempts. But they all failed in the end without exception. The result of failure is not to go back to the previous The era of republic, but warlordization. So warlordization and dictatorship are two sides of the same coin, not something that checks and balances each other. It is very stupid to choose the other side in order to offset one side, and the side to be offset will still fall on the in their own hands."

Feng Yu said so much, but he only told Quintus some superficial truths.His truth did not come out.In fact, he believes that it is not impossible to force Rome to imitate the East.The premise is to use strong means to replace the Roman manor economy with the small peasant economy of the monarchy, and turn tens of millions of slaves and civilians into self-employed farmers.It's just that he has already decided not to do it.

Quintus was obviously not persuaded by Feng Yu, his face turned red after drinking more than a dozen glasses of red wine, and he muttered to himself...

Chapter 1099 Aurelian and Theodosius

The next day, on the way to see Quintus off, he said to Feng Yu: "Governor Feng Hu, the Roman Empire looks peaceful now, but in fact it is in danger. The mint rebellion and the Sicilian slave uprising you experienced They are all preludes to this crisis. The real general crisis is yet to come. To be honest, I have never thought of standing in front of the various factions in Rome. But now I can only support Alexander. Your Excellency, I think whether you What kind of road do you think Rome should choose in the future? When Rome is torn apart and falls apart, you also agree to maintain the legal system and authority of His Majesty Alexander?"

Feng Yu replied without hesitation: "Of course, when I was naturalized, I swore an oath that I would be loyal to Rome. As long as it is beneficial to Rome, I will do my best to support it. If Rome really falls apart, some places will If the dignitaries split the country and stand on their own, conspire to usurp power or rebel to seize power, I will assume the responsibilities and obligations of a Roman provincial governor, a Roman consul of the Grand Legion, or a Roman citizen."

Quintus nodded with satisfaction and said: "Very well, I am relieved to hear that Your Excellency can say that. Besides, I think this big crisis is also a good thing for Rome. We have been in Rome for nearly 200 years. It is going downhill. This great crisis may also be an opportunity. While we can overcome it, we can also clean up the existing ills and reverse the decline of Rome in one fell swoop.”

After saying this, Quintus said in a low voice: "Your Excellency, among the dozens of provinces in Rome, there are only three that can be trusted by His Majesty Alexander. Your Sicily is one of them, and the other two are from Egypt. province and the province of Britain. The province of Britain is too far away and separated from other provinces, but the province of Egypt can be reached diagonally across the sea from your Sicily. You should have a lot with the governor of the province of Egypt, Aurelian Come and communicate."

Feng Yu heard the name Aurelian a little familiar, but he couldn't remember when and where he had seen this name.In fact, in the history of the original world, Aurelian was the hero of a generation who temporarily resolved the crisis of Rome in the third century through military skills and iron-blooded means.However, this person only ruled Rome for four years before he was assassinated, leaving no heirs to inherit the throne.Therefore, the historical reputation has not yet reached the point where people like Feng Yu can remember it.

Feng Yu nodded, and asked again: "I heard that some riots occurred near the Great Wall near the border in the middle of the British Isle not long ago. The governor appointed by the Senate has been dismissed. So who is the current governor?"

Quintus said with a smile: "It is because of this little commotion that His Majesty Alexander was replaced by someone I trusted. His name is Theodosius, who used to be a commander of His Majesty Alexander's Guards. Oh, by the way, he is also a devout Christian, and he will be very happy to know that you can set up the church in the barracks."

Feng Yu couldn't help exclaiming when he heard the name: "Theodosius!?"

This exclamation made Quintus ask in great surprise: "Why? Are you familiar with this person?"

"Oh, how could I know him. It's just that the name is the same as a man I knew in Syria in my early days, but it can't be the same person. Because the Theodosius in Syria is an old and frail blind commoner."

Quintus smiled and said, "Of course it can't be alone. Theodosius may never have been to Syria in his life."

Of course Feng Yu was talking nonsense.In fact, the name Theodosius immediately reminded Feng Yu of Theodosius, the last emperor before the split of Rome. It was he who divided Rome into east and west and governed it for his two sons.This person is also a strong military man. Although he is not as good as Aurelian, he is much more famous than the latter.His person and his family are comparable to the Sima family in the Eastern Central Plains.He pushed the imperial power of the Roman Empire to the highest point in the country's history.Anyone who is a little bit interested in Roman history will remember his name, and Feng Yu is no exception.

At this time, Feng Yu secretly thought that according to the timetable of the original world history, Theodosius should not have appeared at this time, a full hundred years earlier.It should not be alone.But everything is hard to say, the history of this world is very different from the original world.

One by one the boats left the pier and headed for the depths of the sea.Quintus looked at the smaller and smaller pier and sighed secretly: "Feng Hu, Feng Hu, if you are a native of Rome and can share my philosophy, you must be the best candidate for the Lord of Rome."

At this time, he saw many soldiers carrying some objects passing by on the deck, and asked, "What are you carrying?"

"Returning to the special envoy, this is a gift from the province of Sicily to the special envoy. It was originally packed on the deck, but the sailors on the deck said it was in the way and let us move into the cabin. The cabin door is too small to fit such a big box. We We had to disassemble the box and take out the contents and put them into the cabin."

It was only then that Quintus remembered that last night, while drinking, he begged Feng Yu for some weapons unique to the Sicilian Legion.Including their infantry main battle weapons, individual ballista, portable ballista, and a new type of ballista that is as powerful as other legions of Rome, but only the same size as ordinary ballista.Naturally, he wanted these things to take back to the city of Rome, so that the craftsmen there could see if they could be imitated, so that Alexander's Guards could also use them.

At that time, he just said it casually, and he forgot about it after he fell asleep. Unexpectedly, Feng Yu remembered it and did it.This move increased Quintus's trust in Feng Yu a little more.

Quintus took a straw mat wrapped and bound object from a soldier.When I opened it, it turned out to be a brand new individual ballista.After fiddling with it for a while, he figured out the principle, loaded a crossbow gun, and fired a test shot at a wooden board on the ship's side.With a muffled bang, the inch-thick side of the ship was pierced by a crossbow gun.The trembling gun tail made a long-lasting hum.There is no doubt that the ordinary large shield of the Roman legion is definitely unstoppable.

While Quintus marveled at the enormous power of this thing, he also understood that it would be quite difficult to completely imitate this thing.There is no problem in imitating most of the parts of this individual ballista with the skills of Roman craftsmen, but it is impossible to imitate the string that plays a key role.Because this kind of tendons that can be roughly pulled from the fingers are only as thick as an earthworm, and the tendons with huge energy storage do not know what material they are made of.

Quintus conveniently removed the tendon and handed it to a close confidant, and ordered: "When you return to Rome, use all the manpower and resources available to the government to find out what this thing is and where you can get it. "

Chapter 1100 The Academy of Sicily and the Library of Alexandria

Five miles south of the city of Palermo, in a place that was a wilderness a few months ago, a brand-new building complex suddenly appeared, and it was surrounded by high stone walls.This new building has not yet been fully completed, and there are still many workers shuttling back and forth on the construction site full of stones and plaster wood.

A carriage quietly stopped at the gate of the wall, followed by more than a hundred fully armed Roman soldiers.Two people got out of the car, one was Feng Yu himself, and the other was an old man with snow-white beard and long beard.

This building is neither a barracks nor a fortress.It is one of the three colleges built by Feng Yu---Sicilian Comprehensive College.The other two colleges are the Sicilian Naval Academy in Pozzallo in the south and the Sicilian Army Academy in the central city of Nicosia.

Vocational schools were nothing new in ancient Rome, but specialized military academies were pioneered by Feng Yu.Traditionally, officer promotions have been selected from rank-and-file recruits.And the Sicilian Polytechnic was not the same thing as the vocational schools common in Rome.

Feng Yu and the white-bearded old man walked into the fence and said: "Mr. Walo, you see that the school building of this college is about to be completed. How is the recruitment of talents and scholars over there?"

Mr. Varro is a famous jurist and philosopher in Rome.He was poached by Feng Yu heavily to be the first president of the Sicilian Academy.Mr. Valo stroked his snow-white beard and said: "Don't worry, Governor, I have recruited dozens of well-known scholars who are willing to come to our college to teach. There are philosopher Caraway, jurist Usolena, orator..."

Feng Yu frowned as he listened. Most of the people Warren mentioned were focused on philosophy, law, theology, music, debate speeches, and astronomy.A small number of Feng Yu thinks that it is of great use is limited to geometry, dialectics, mathematics, medicine and other aspects.

Feng Yu quickly said: "Mr. Warren, you and I have planned the disciplines before. All the disciplines in the plan are divided into three categories: basic, humanities and nature. Why are most of the people you are looking for in humanities? Almost all of the lower part are engaged in the teaching of basic subjects, but only one medical subject has recruited people for the natural subjects. This is too unbalanced!"

Varun spread his hands helplessly and said: "My lord governor, there is no way. In our Roman tradition, no one learns the natural sciences you mentioned. If no one learns, no one is willing to study. The Roman market Most colleges and universities teach law, philosophy, logical dialectics, speech and debate, and mathematics. Because most of the people who go to colleges and universities are children of aristocrats or wealthy families. Only these things are useful to them. Studying law is not only for becoming a judge or lawyer, For officials in the government office, it is also a must-have knowledge. Philosophy, speech and debate are of course for being a senator and an official, which is an indispensable skill for participating in political activities. Mathematics is for being a financial officer in various towns or legions , or for their own business. And the logical dialectic is the basis of all this..."

Varen is such a person. Whenever someone asks him a question, he will talk to the other party endlessly, explaining the problem clearly like digging to the bottom.

Feng Yu hurriedly stopped him and said, "Mr., there is no need to say so much. When I started planning with you, you knew that our college is different from other high schools in Rome. It not only teaches and educates people, but also researches. The function of literature. So regardless of whether there are people who are willing to learn it, the natural sciences must be developed. Old man, just say directly, is there any way to get scholars or talents in these natural sciences?"

With a bitter face, Walo frowned and said, "There used to be a lot of such talents, but it's hard to find them now."