The Great Arcanist Who Traveled Through the World of American Variety Shows.

Chapter 565: I usually wear no more than eight sets of clothes a year.
In fact, even after the Industrial Revolution, few people in the upper class cared about the lives of the lower class. How many child laborers were buried under the glory of the British Empire?

In the eyes of the Roman nobles, Richard's practice was a complete waste of money and food, so they almost turned a blind eye to Richard's practice of recruiting those exiles.

Some nobles even believed that without these exiles, the security of their estates had improved a lot. No one incited the slaves in their estates to rebel or escape.

Richard gathered exiles and escaped slaves and easily acquired a large population. Next, he had to stop the looting of the northern Germans and continue to absorb population and grow stronger.

The city of Rome.

After the news of Aetius's victory over the Hun Empire came back, the city of Rome, which had been in panic because of Attila's arrival, immediately turned into a sea of ​​joy.

Countless Romans dressed up and walked on the streets to cheer for the victory of the empire, and as the emperor of the empire, Valentinian III also put down his hanging heart.

After all, if Attila broke in, he would be in trouble.

After learning of the victory on the front line, Valentinian III was very excited and directly announced a banquet in the palace. Ministers and Roman nobles came to attend, and the whole banquet was very luxurious.

At the same time, Valentinian III also ordered the preparation of cheap wine and food to be distributed to civilians in the city, so that the civilians could also cheer for the victory of the empire.

"Long live the Roman Empire!"

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

Seeing the whole city in jubilation, Valentinian III was also very happy. At this moment, he seemed to have returned to the heyday of the Roman Empire, when countless Roman legions expanded the territory of the empire.

Countless ships carried all the wealth of the conquered areas to Rome for the enjoyment of the nobles in the city.

Valentinian III was filled with pride for a moment. He felt that this victory of the empire was entirely achieved under his command and trust.

What? You said he had no command? Was Aetius the marshal of the coalition? Was he the one who appointed Aetius? He selected an excellent marshal and gave him full trust, which was the fundamental reason for all the victories.

"Your Majesty, under your wise leadership, we have once again achieved a glorious victory!" said the minister Petronius next to him flatteringly.

"Look, the people of Rome are cheering for you!"

"Hahaha, the credit goes to the generals and soldiers on the front line. Without their bloody fighting, we would not have won." Valentinian III said reservedly.

The ministers around would not take this statement seriously. Even if it was true, didn’t you see that the corners of Valentinian III’s mouth were almost raised to the sky?

Politics, not chilling.

"Your Majesty, in the face of such a glorious victory, we should build a triumphal arch for you. Your feat of defeating God is comparable to that of Caesar."

“Even the poorest civilians in the lower city of Rome would involuntarily straighten their chests when they think of the glory and greatness of the empire!”

"This is a great victory for the Empire! This is a great victory for His Majesty the Emperor!"

There was a joyful atmosphere in the palace, with a wide variety of delicious food and wine on display. The nobles gathered around the emperor and kept complimenting him.

"National affairs are difficult, and we still need the concerted efforts of all the ministers!"

"I am ashamed to accept this, and it is all thanks to your majesty's wisdom."

Everyone said, as if they had rehearsed it.

Seeing everyone's attitude, Valentinian III smiled proudly and couldn't help but say, "After defeating the Huns, the empire has regained stability and gained prestige. But the empire still has some minor problems to be solved. If you have any questions, please tell me and I will solve them myself."

Faced with the emperor's complacency, many ministers tacitly kept silent. The emperor was just being polite. If they took it seriously, they would be really stupid.

The emperor is in the best mood now. If he goes up to make trouble at this time, will he end up in trouble? You can say that these ministers are greedy, ignorant, and corrupt, but they are by no means stupid.

They have already mastered the art of reading people's expressions to the highest level.

His Majesty the Emperor has already said that the Empire is stable and powerful, can you still sing a different tune? Even though the Empire has given up the British province, lost the Spanish province, lost the North African colonies, and even the Gaul province has been constantly plundered by the Germans.

But, this is 'The empire is stable and its power is spread all over the world!'

This is the tone that His Majesty the Emperor has set.

Because of this, when faced with the emperor's question, the ministers around him were all silent and no one spoke. It seemed that everyone felt that the world was peaceful and the Roman Empire was in its heyday.

But there are always some people who think that something should be done. Even if the glorious empire of hundreds of years has become corrupt, with the emergence of a famous general like Aetius, there are naturally people who want to truly save the empire.

"Your Majesty, I have something to advise you."

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded. Valentinian III heard it and saw that it was the finance minister who spoke. Even though he was a little unhappy, he still showed his magnanimity and said with a smile: "Vares, what do you want to say?"

In his opinion, Vares' advice was nothing more than a matter of money and grain in the treasury. After all, the finances of the Roman Empire had been tight for the past hundred years.

"Your Majesty, the province of Gaul suffered heavy losses from the Huns' raids. This year's tax revenue is only 30% at most, and the fiscal deficit is even greater. The victorious army needs rewards, and the foreign legions also need rewards. The treasury simply cannot afford the money."

There was nothing wrong with what Vares said. The reward for the army was the most important issue, and the same went for the foreign legion. The Empire had won this battle with great difficulty, and the army had suffered heavy losses. If they were not rewarded, those troops would not give up.

"What do you suggest?"

"Your Majesty, cut spending and borrow money from ministers and nobles to reward the army. After the Gaul province recovers, use taxes to repay the nobles," said Vares.

In fact, he knew very well that the so-called repayment of loans with taxes was just a cover. With the current finances of the empire, there was no money to repay the debts.

His solution was to cut a piece of meat from the nobles to help the empire through the crisis. Those nobles had been sucking blood from the empire for hundreds of years, and if they were smart now, they should give some money to maintain the empire.

After all, only in the empire can they be considered nobles. If the empire collapses, they will not be able to keep their wealth no matter how much money they have.

Throughout the rise and fall of nations throughout the ages, the fate of these nobles of the previous dynasties was not very good. The men were killed or castrated as slaves, the women became playthings of the victors, and their wealth was pocketed by others. These lessons can be found everywhere.

So Vares thought that it would not be difficult to get those nobles to pay some money.

But he obviously underestimated the greed and stupidity of the nobles. "Cut spending? Borrow money from the nobles?" Valentinian III's face suddenly darkened.

"I only wear eight sets of clothes for the four seasons, I only have one bed to sleep in, I eat the same meals as the emperors of all dynasties, and I rarely leave the palace. I don't have any more expenses."

"Compared with previous emperors, he is very frugal. How can we cut down on expenses?"

"You ministers are all pillars of the empire. The country is in financial difficulty now. Are you willing to lend some money to help the empire overcome the crisis?"

"Your Majesty, you know that our caravan has not been transporting goods for a long time due to the war, and now we have no food to eat."

"Your Majesty, my estates are all in Gaul. Now that we are experiencing war, I can't afford to pay for food."

"Your Majesty, my estate is in North Africa and was taken away by those barbarians a few years ago."

At one time, the officials and nobles in the palace made various excuses, and no one was willing to spend money to help the empire.

Seeing this scene, Vares looked grim. He knew the wealth of these nobles very well. Although these people suffered some losses, they were definitely not seriously injured.

That's why he asked here to borrow money from the nobles.

"The empire has no money or food, how can it reward the army?" Vares said with a grim expression.

"Your Majesty, why not increase taxes?" suggested another official.

"The empire is rich. If we impose a tax of ten silver denarii on each household in the Roman region, it will be enough to reward the army."

"We just raised taxes not long ago, and we can't raise taxes again." Some ministers also argued that the empire had already raised taxes once in response to the invasion of the Hun Empire, and the people at the bottom could not get much money.

What's more, this is the capital of the empire after all, so we can't go too far.

"How about allowing the army to raise its own funds?" another minister nearby suddenly spoke up.

Hearing this, the other ministers around were also slightly stunned. The so-called self-raised military pay does not mean letting the army make money, but letting the army plunder by themselves.

But it would be unpleasant to directly tell the army to plunder, and it would also damage the reputation of the empire. So they changed it to raising military funds themselves. To put it bluntly, they just let the army plunder.

This kind of looting has occurred more than once since the financial crisis of the Roman Empire, and people have become accustomed to it.

Especially those barbarian foreign legions, their combat effectiveness is indeed very strong, but their military discipline is also poor, and they also like to plunder.

So after hearing the proposal, Valentinian III agreed to it and let the imperial army raise its own military pay.

When Vares saw this scene, he sighed secretly in his heart. He was very clear about the current situation of the empire. The Gaul region had been looted, and if the imperial army looted it again, it would not be able to recover within a year or two.

After a year or two, the Germanic barbarians will recover and start to plunder southwards again. What will happen to the province of Gaul then?
The empire lost the province of Gaul and North Africa, and only had Italy left. How could it survive?

Having served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for so many years, he had clearly seen the problems of the empire and the emperor.

Like previous Roman emperors, he was greedy for pleasure, spent money extravagantly, had no talent, but wanted to gain power.

He is short-sighted and ignorant, and is not fit to be an emperor at all.

In this situation, if the empire wanted to survive, it had to win over Aetius. As the Protector of Rome and the only famous general in the empire, it was precisely because of his conquests that the empire could survive.

However, the Emperor was not friendly to the only remaining Optimus Prime in the Empire. He felt that Aelius had violated his rights and affected his prestige in the army.

As a result, the army only knew Aelius, but not him as the emperor of the empire.

This made the emperor very uneasy, for he was afraid that Aetius might have the idea of ​​becoming emperor and rebel directly.

He did not realize that the current stability of the empire depended entirely on Aetius. Without Aetius, the Roman Empire would soon collapse.

Vares saw the contradiction clearly, but he was powerless to resolve it. Moreover, the Emperor was not as magnanimous as he appeared to be. On the contrary, he was very vengeful.

What I said at the victory banquet today has caused dissatisfaction among the emperor. Now he didn't lose his temper on the spot, but it won't be long before he will find an excuse from other places to deal with me.

Rather than waiting to be dismissed, he might as well resign on his own initiative. Moreover, the empire is about to sink, and he wants to save it, but he has no way to do so.

Now he wants to leave here and find a way out for himself.

As he thought this, Vares's expression did not change at all. At the same time, he knew that the conflict between the Emperor and the Protector of the Nation was almost irreconcilable.

And his Majesty the Emperor will certainly find an opportunity to take action. As for Aelius, if he does not rebel, then no matter how powerful he is now, he will not be a match for the emperor.

After all, the emperor had too many ways to deal with him, such as summoning Aelius to the palace to discuss state affairs, and then taking the opportunity to kill him directly.

Elius had a large army to protect him in other places, but not in the palace. Wasn't Caesar assassinated during a meeting?

At the same time, in the province of Gaul, the imperial army also began to retreat, and the Protector Aelius led the army back to Rome.

The Roman legion also suffered heavy casualties in this battle. The Huns' cavalry and archery were too strong. Even though they had a geographical advantage and were on the defensive, the Roman legion still suffered heavy casualties.

However, there was also good news. The king of the Visigothic Kingdom was killed. While leading his army into battle, he was shot off his horse by the Huns and then trampled to death by the warhorses behind him.

The Visigothic Kingdom is now caught up in a fight for the throne. After receiving the news, the prince who stayed behind has probably taken the opportunity to ascend the throne. The other prince is now returning with his army.

A war is bound to break out between the two, and then the Visigothic Kingdom will no longer be a threat. The Germanic barbarians also suffered heavy losses this time.

The province of Gaul is temporarily safe. As long as the empire has peace for a few years and accumulates some strength, it can send troops to repel the Germanic barbarians and restore the Rhine defense line.

Without the harassment from the Germanic barbarians, they can now free up their hands to deal with the Visigothic Kingdom and recover the Spanish province.

Aetius felt relieved when he thought of this. In his opinion, the empire was about to rise again.

(End of this chapter)