©WebNovelPub
Rome Must Perish-Chapter 272 - 171 Sidonius’s Doubts_2
Chapter 272: Chapter 171 Sidonius’s Doubts_2
When the rebel army’s decrees were being implemented everywhere, bringing joy and laughter throughout the temporary camp, there was only one place that remained quiet.
This place was located on the western side of the camp, facing the direction of the Alde Tribe, between the inner and outer camps, surrounded by a moat and wooden fence, and sandwiched between the Inner Camp Guard’s tent area, the outer camp’s First Legion, and the new recruits’ rest area.
Inside lived the four thousand captured Pannonian warriors, who were escorted daily to construct the camp, working from dawn until nightfall, exhausted to near death. Upon their return, the food they received was not enough to fill them, forcing them to lie down early to rest to avoid excessive exhaustion.
But they had no tents to rest in; the rebel army merely marked areas on the ground, with ten people lying on a piece of bare land, covered with dry straw, lying down in their clothes, surprisingly soft.
As it was early autumn, it rarely rained at night here, and the weather was neither cold nor hot, so sleeping outdoors was not much of a problem.
Although the camp was close to the river, the rebel army had already cut and filled the mud pits and reed beds, prone to mosquito breeding around the camp. And as per Emmerich’s suggestion, they burned a kind of wild grass around the camp every day. Although the smell was strange, it indeed reduced the mosquito bites.
Therefore, the Pannonian warrior captives, who had finished their dinner early, were indifferent to the surrounding waves of cheering, quickly falling sound asleep under the sentries’ watch...
The Legal Officer Sidonius approached the Central Army Tent, seeing Maximus standing at the tent entrance, bidding farewell to an Aldean. He stopped, waiting for the person to leave before walking over, curiously asking, "Leader, which envoy from the Alde Tribe is that?" frёeweɓηovel_coɱ
"I didn’t quite remember either, just that it’s not one of those Alde Tribes that once lived along the Kupa River and were eventually driven away by the Segestica people," Maximus casually replied. "They all speak the same language, saying things like ’they’ve lost their homeland, and their tribesmen live in hardship, hoping we can help them return to their ancestral land’ and the like..."
"They’re dreaming!" Sidonius said coldly. "The treaty we signed with the Alde Tribe states clearly that the land we seized from the Segestica people belongs to us... are they trying to break the treaty?!"
"They dare not break the treaty now, for they know that even though we’ve won several victories, the Segestica people... no, the Pannonians are still powerful. Without us here to hold them off, the Pannonians who suffered losses could still pound them into submission."
Maximus scoffed, "They’re just trying their luck, hoping to get some advantage from us, but I certainly won’t agree to that! However, I told him, if their tribesmen truly are suffering, once we move to the eastern settlement and the territory becomes safe, we can hire their tribesmen to farm and obtain sufficient resources for their living. Meanwhile, their leader would also receive a certain portion of the reward."
"Leader, by saying this, you might give these Aldeans a glimmer of hope, which may trouble us in the future," Sidonius seriously reminded.
Maximus’s response was profound: "Our biggest problem now isn’t the Pannonians or the Aldeans, but that we have too few people! Even if we acquire vast lands, without enough manpower to make these lands productive, I won’t give their entire tribe land. Allowing their tribesmen to work for us for pay may alleviate some of the Aldeans’ grievances and maintain our alliance.
Additionally, these ordinary Alde tribesmen, working in our territory and understanding our decrees, gaining tangible benefits, would they still want to return to the hardships of the mountains and forests? Don’t forget, we are also an Illyrian Tribe now, so why can’t we accept them!"
Sidonius suddenly realized.
"Of course, I’m just giving them a hint for now. Before officially starting, this matter still needs to be discussed in the Political Affairs Hall." Maximus didn’t want to talk more about it and instead asked, "What brings you to me at this time?"
"Leader, did you look over the marriage decree I drafted earlier?" Sidonius asked.
"I looked it over carefully. I noticed that you included the suggestion I made before, ’after a couple divorces, the male must divide part of the family property with the female,’ which shows you understood my intention.
I’m not biased towards females, but I want this decree to make males understand that divorce comes with a cost, thus ensuring the stability of each family’s marriage. If every family is stable, then our tribe will also be stable—"
Sidonius interrupted Maximus, asking, "Since you think these marriage decrees are feasible, when are you planning to announce them to everyone?"
Maximus, understanding Sidonius’s concern for his work, was not displeased by the interruption. He shook his head and said, "Certainly not in the short term; the exact timing of the announcement depends on the situation."
"Why?! The Twenty Peerage System, the Nine Department Deliberation System, the Political Affairs Hall meeting... all those decrees were announced today!" Sidonius hastily asked.
Maximus responded seriously, "Because I just received news that the Segestica Great Leader has gone to the Pannonian Tribe Alliance for reinforcements, and he will probably lead a larger army than before against us. If we announce the marriage decrees at this time, the soldiers will be preoccupied with nuptials and inevitably affect the military’s combat capability.
Moreover, the next battle will be fierce and definitely involve casualties, which would be a huge blow to women who have already arranged marriages!"
Sidonius was momentarily stunned, then said, "...Your consideration is right, then let’s not announce it for now."
Saying so, he turned to walk away but stopped after a few steps and looked back, "Leader, I have one more matter to report to you."
"Speak."
"This morning, I went to Capito to apply for papyrus, but he only gave me a few sheets and told me that his stock of papyrus is running low, urging me to use it sparingly.
Leader, our Legal Department mainly deals with these legal documents. Without papyrus, should we use sticks and scratch in the dirt to make judgments?!"
Maximus stroked his chin, "I’m aware of this issue; I’ll find a way to resolve it."
Sidonius wanted to ask, "We are in a remote area now, buying papyrus is very difficult, what can you do?"
But ultimately, he didn’t voice it. In his view, it was enough that Maximus took the matter seriously. Asking him to solve this problem clearly was asking too much. After all, no matter how capable Maximus is, this issue was beyond his capabilities.
After Sidonius left, Maximus fell into deep thought. From his previous life, he certainly knew how to solve this problem—that was papermaking.
This wasn’t something he learned while gaming in his past life but from his hometown...
Maximus’s former hometown was a picturesque small town, and as a child, he loved to fish in the river. But when he was in elementary school, he found that there were several square ponds by the river, filled with brownish-yellow water, with bundles of bamboo soaking inside, emitting a pungent smell. Later, the river water gradually turned yellow, and there were fewer fish in the river... Later, he learned that a paper mill had been built in the town.
New novel chapters are published on fr(e)ew𝒆bnov(e)l.com