Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 243 Military Personnel
A few days later, two groups of people were talking at the gate of a manor outside Rome.

Valerian Capuanus looked at the young man in front of him with awe, and said, "Your Highness, the people you want are all here. Do you need to inspect them? I can cooperate with you in the inspection. I swear on my family's reputation that there will be no problem. I stayed up all night to select these people one by one. I guarantee that they are the best ones I can find now. Everyone is healthy and strong. I will find more Gauls according to your requirements."

Orville frowned slightly and glanced at the long line of people behind Capua. Each of them was bound by ropes or shackles, and their clothes were ragged. They did not look very optimistic in their mental and health states. All the details revealed their identities - a group of slaves, one of the lowest levels of Roman society.

Orville met a lot of people during the Palphi War. Among them, the tribune Nicanor felt exhausted physically and mentally after the war and chose to retire directly. Now he is working in the inn under Orville. There is another person who is also very useful to him, and that is Valerian standing in front of him.

Vespa admired this man and gave him several opportunities to express himself. It turned out that he might not be suitable to be a soldier. After the Palphi War, he found a job in the local navy. For a family with considerable assets, this was not a difficult task.

Valerian's family had been slave traders for generations, and their business was quite big. Although Orville didn't like the word "slave" very much, this was the golden age of slavery after all, and it was impossible not to deal with these people, so occasionally he would still have business dealings with them.

Now is one of them. Most of these people are Gauls. Although the Gallic War ended with the efforts of Tia and Aurelian, there were still sporadic rebellions in various places for a period of time after the Gallic War. After clearing out these people, the local garrisons no longer acted as good guys and directly sold them as slaves. The economic and trade center of the western Mediterranean is undoubtedly Rome, so these people came to Rome after a lot of twists and turns. Now Orville has bought these people back.

He didn't want to be a pushover. Although resistance for survival was respectable, Orville had seen too many such examples over the years and had become more or less numb. He redeemed these people more out of practical interests - he needed soldiers in Britain, and these Gauls who were about to become freed slaves would be a good choice. Jeanne Dacre's popular prestige and Orville's conciliatory policy could fully accommodate these people, and by the way, he could continue to stir up trouble in Britain.

After thinking about how to deal with these people and what weapons to equip them with, Orville still asked to check the condition of the slaves: "It's not that I don't trust you, but the necessary business procedures must be followed."

Valerian didn't know what Orvel was thinking, so he just nodded repeatedly: "No problem, please ask your men to check it yourself, my people will fully cooperate with you."

He had always had a good impression of Orville, and after Orville's power in the empire gradually grew, he became a further supporter of Orville. Although he had not yet reached the level of being a "protected person," he would not refuse any requests from Orville that were not excessive.

When the two sides handed over their hands, Valerian said to Orville enthusiastically: "I heard that your wedding will be in five days?"

"That's right. Time is very tight. I will prepare an invitation letter for you and send it to your house soon. After all, you are one of my few friends." Valerian was also quite emotional: "I really didn't expect things to develop to this point. Now I regret not continuing to fight side by side with you."

Despite his timidity and poor adaptability, Valerian was still a relatively normal Roman at heart. He was eager to achieve success and bring honor to his family.

Orville reached out and patted the other person's shoulder: "Everyone has his or her own suitable things, but if you want to pursue honor, it is never too late."

It was obvious that Valerian did not want to waste too much of Orville's time. After chatting with Orville briefly, he took his leave after the inspection was completed, leaving Orville's soldiers and slaves looking at each other in bewilderment.

He subconsciously glanced at the sun. There was still some time before lunch, so he gathered these people together and gave them a brief speech. The gist of it was to tell them not to worry too much, that he was not here to settle scores with them, and that he would grant them the status of free men on the condition that they serve in the Roman auxiliary army for ten to fifteen years. After their service, he would give them the opportunity to obtain land. He also dragged Jeanne d'Acre, who was far away in Britain, into the discussion, saying that he redeemed these people at Jeanne's request.

Although they were skeptical, these people had no chance of escaping, so there was no need for Orville to lie to these people who could not decide their own fate. Judging from their expressions, most of them should have believed what Orville said.

Ivar watched all this from a distance. He did not hide his doubts. Instead, he waited for Orville to finish his speech and then walked over to ask, "As far as I know, you don't usually treat slaves like that. Why are you so tolerant of these people?"

Orville answered easily, "It's very simple. I almost became the same as them. These people are not animals. They just can't completely decide their own fate for various reasons. I think people who dare to resist should be respected. They did what many people wanted to do but didn't dare to do."
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While Orville was busy dealing with various government affairs, a piece of news spread quickly in Rome, causing an uproar.

Aurelius Flavius ​​Vespasianus, the adopted son of the current emperor Titus Flavius ​​Vespasian, is going to marry Thea Flavia Vespasian, the biological daughter of Vespasian. Gossip about dignitaries is always a topic of concern for the common people in any era. The emperor, as the pinnacle of dignitaries, is naturally the focus of special attention. Therefore, as soon as the news of the marriage was announced, it attracted a lot of discussion.

The people do not have much resistance to this matter at the moment, because Tia has a high prestige in Rome, and Orville is not without prestige either. Many people even forget that he was originally a Palphian, and think that he is a native Roman because he does not show any religious and cultural characteristics of the Palphians.

(End of this chapter)