Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 188: Meeting of the Wise
The Council of Sages did not have a fixed venue. Orville himself set the venue for this council in a manor outside London. Strictly speaking, this was definitely against the rules, because it was either decided by the king or by the important members of the meeting. But now no one cared about Orville's small transgression. He announced the meeting immediately after the Battle of Hastings. It took about four or five days for him to arrive in London, and more than 20 sages had arrived to prepare for the meeting.

Considering the efficiency of information flow in ancient times, this is quite exaggerated. It can only be said that these wise men really cared about their own lives and property and did not take such issues lightly.

From various perspectives, England is not a big country. Its area is about the same size as Anhui Province in the Eastern Powers. The scope of the Orwellian Parliament of Sages was limited to the surrounding areas of East Anglia, which was an even smaller area. In later generations, it would be considered a county in the UK or a large county in the Eastern Powers. In such a small area, the spread of news would not take long.

In about three to five days everyone will basically receive the news, and another three days to make decisions and travel, and basically everyone who should come can come.

Seeing that more than sixty "wise men" had arrived, Orville decided to formally convene a wise men's meeting after resting in the manor for three days.
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More than sixty people were sitting in the not-so-spacious conference room. Production in Britain was not well developed, and there was no such advanced construction technology as that of the Romans. This was just an ordinary country manor, so the accompanying conference room was naturally not very big.

In addition to the local gentry and nobles, there were also many foreign tyrants who came to East Anglia spontaneously. Their original purpose was to help the locals here repel the Romans. Now many of them slipped back directly when they saw the situation was not good, but there were also many brave ones who chose to participate in this meeting.

Orville naturally sat in the chairman's seat, flanked by his trusted aides: Roman officials he temporarily appointed, generals like Belisarius, local nobles like Alfred, and even Celts like Boudica, Joanna and Cuchulainn. Basically, each party sent a few representatives.

This meeting would determine the tone and general guidelines for Roman rule over Britain, so everyone attached great importance to it and sent people to attend the vote.

After Orville sat down, everyone bowed their heads, either genuinely or falsely, to show respect and obedience to him. In any case, the situation was stronger than the person, and after looking around, Orville slowly began to speak.

"I think the matter is settled now. Enough blood has been shed. If you have no objection, I will not kill anyone or start a war. Of course, if you still feel that you haven't fought enough, then another battle is not a bad idea. My army is always ready to respond to challenges."

Everyone either looked at Orville respectfully or bowed their heads in silence. In short, no one disagreed with Orville, and he was quite satisfied with the result.

The desire for power is indeed a very subtle thing. Even though Orville himself is not a person with strong desires, he still feels comfortable and has a kind of possessed pleasure when he sees these nobles and priests who hold the power of life and death over civilians being respectful to him.

He was not addicted to it, and continued to communicate with everyone with a normal expression: "Some of you here are native nobles of East Anglia, and some of you choose to continue to fight here because you can't stand us Romans. I treat you all equally. From now on, England will be directly designated as a Roman province, and the emperor himself will send officials to govern it in the way of provinces.

You should have a certain understanding of how to do it specifically. You can ask my adjutants for details, and they will answer your questions in detail. You cannot compromise on this matter. You have already lost the war, so you naturally have to accept some decisions made by the victors. "Some people were obviously unhappy, but no one directly raised any objections. Those who really had the courage to resist were either killed in the battle or were now regrouping their troops in their hometowns to fight to the death. Most of those who came here had weaknesses and did not want to be buried with the old kingdom.

The first to raise an opinion was Boudica: "I have a question, how do you plan to deal with the Celts in the west and north?"

"You are friends and helpers of the Roman Empire. We will not interfere with your sovereignty. To be honest, this is not worth the loss. You can certainly retain a certain degree of autonomy. But we hope that you can open up trade and provide us with a certain number of mercenaries when the empire needs them. We can hire them with money.

If you need something from the Empire, you can either exchange it with your resources or with the service of your soldiers. We can discuss the specific amount and I will give you a condition that satisfies both parties."

Orville did not want to occupy the Celtic lands, as they had no particular value and were too costly to occupy. These lands in England could not be fully developed during his lifetime, and there was indeed not much potential for deep cultivation before the industrial age. The lands in England were enough to satisfy his greed, and any more would be a bit greedy.

Instead of spending time competing with the tribesmen in the mountains, it would be better to develop the great plains of Gaul, where the potential is obviously much greater.

Then again, he believed that places with advanced economy and culture would naturally attract population concentration. There was no doubt that Rome's political system and production levels were several levels more advanced than those in the tribal era. Perhaps in a few decades, or perhaps one or two hundred years, the Celts would sooner or later be influenced and assimilated by the Romans little by little.

Boudica was somewhat dissatisfied with this condition: "You know, we have been occupied by the Angles and Saxons in large tracts of land. I don't expect to get all the land back now. I just hope you can give us some fertile and rich land."

"I can return some of the disputed land on the border to you. This is within my authority. If you want to cultivate in the provinces of the empire, that's fine. I will find a way to give you some preferential treatment. But I can't give you too much territory. This is beyond my ability."

"You are the emperor's adopted son and the leader of the army. Is there anything that is beyond your ability?!" Boudica thought this was just a perfunctory excuse.

"I can't stand the criticism from the Senate. From my point of view, I really think that giving you some fertile land is not a big deal. If you insist on it, we should be able to reach some consensus, but you should think carefully about the future. What will happen after I leave?"

(End of this chapter)