Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 282 Investment
Cleopatra replied in fluent Latin: "Your Highness always mentions you, saying that you are extraordinary, talented, and beautiful. You can rest assured that I am not like my father or brothers who only care about their position and do nothing. Even if I don't want to do it, I will take on the responsibilities of a ruler, and you will see a land full of vitality."

Orville had never praised Tia like this, but it didn't matter. Tia was a little surprised when she heard him speak fluent Latin - most of these successors had a high opinion of themselves, and most of the upper-class Romans could speak a few words of Greek to show that they were elegant and cultured. Among these people, there were not many who could speak Latin, and even fewer who were as fluent as him.

In fact, let alone Latin, in history Cleopatra seems to be the first Ptolemaic Egyptian ruler who can speak Egyptian. This is definitely not a question of language talent and language environment, but more of an attitude and political issue.

Cleopatra was indeed a person with a talent for languages, and was willing to learn other languages. She could speak most of the common languages ​​on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, and she spoke them quite well - Latin, Greek, Egyptian, Aramaic. In short, if she went out traveling, she basically did not need to hire an interpreter.

Her knowledge attribute is very high, which is largely due to this aspect, with high knowledge points supported by language.

Tia quickly switched to Latin, which she was more familiar with. "I won't ask or mention too many political issues. This is not something I should care about right now. Orville will explain it to you. I only ask you to remember one thing. Remember your current identity and your current situation."

"Surely Egypt will be a friend rather than an enemy to the Roman people."

Cleopatra's words were quite appropriate. Tia herself was not a person who was particularly good at talking or finding fault, so she was very satisfied with the answer.

The banquet time that followed was more relaxed and pleasant. The three of them talked to each other about local customs and stuff like that. There was no tension and the atmosphere was cozy and relaxed.

Tia rarely talked to people of the same sex about astronomy and geography, not to mention that the other party was really knowledgeable and insightful, so she got along well with the Egyptian princess. Cleopatra's own words were also good, making the other party feel comfortable. Later, Orville hardly spoke much, just quietly listening on the side. The two chatted until quite late before leaving.
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Even though there were only a few thousand reinforcements, the arrival of these soldiers made the environment in Alexandria much more stable, because the locals felt the emperor's real support for Orwell, and they realized more deeply that if they rebelled, they would be fighting not just Orwell or a Roman legion, but the entire vast and powerful Roman Empire.

Thinking of this, even the most optimistic people felt that it would be difficult for Egypt to win. After all, the combat effectiveness of their army had been tested in actual combat: that is, those highly paid and well-fed guards could still fight back, but the rest of the army were basically weaklings who would fall down at the slightest touch. Nearly 20,000 people felt overwhelmed facing thousands of Romans.

There were only 4,000 Praetorian Guards, while there were more than twenty such Roman legions. After weighing the military strength of both sides, most rational people chose to temporarily lay low and wait for an opportunity to shake the rule of the empire.

Before the other party gets this opportunity, Orville still has a lot of room to maneuver.

Cleopatra and Tia set off after making simple preparations. On the one hand, this was a tour of Egypt by the Queen of Egypt accompanying the Archon of the Empire; on the other hand, it was also a parade to appease the people and demonstrate to hostile forces.

Orville knew this very well, but he was happy to see it happen. Cleopatra was now on the same side as him, and it would not be bad for him if Cleopatra ruled stably, as long as he could ensure that she always had the same position as him. While Tia was away, Orville arranged some business matters.

First of all, his inn and caravan could now officially enter Egypt. He had already written to Nicanor in Rome, asking him to send some men and merchant ships over.

Most of the money obtained from raiding the homes of Egyptian nobles had to be contributed to the central government's finances, which was one of the reasons why Vespa chose to take action against Egypt now. Now more money was urgently needed to support the central government. The remaining money had to be prepared for Egypt's future financial investment. Orville did not benefit much from it personally, because he was operating the Egyptian province as his base for a period of time in the future, and there was not much plundering or extortion.

Even so, he still received hundreds of thousands of dinars in cash, because this place was so rich and the nobles had accumulated so much wealth that even a tiny portion of it was more than what he could gain by scraping the land in Britain.

If it is a normal additional investment, these hundreds of thousands of dinars are actually more than enough. After all, the entry property qualification for a Senate elder is only 200,000 or 300,000 dinars. However, Orville has to do more than just normal additional investment. His budget investment is at least 3 million dinars.

This period happened to be a vacuum in Egyptian business. Many merchant ships in the port of Alexandria were burned down by Cleopatra's fire. Many industries suffered heavy losses due to the fire in the city. The reshuffle in the political arena also led to a reshuffle in the business world. To put it bluntly, Egypt is now in a state of post-war reconstruction, and it is a great time to enter the market.

Considering the size of Egypt, it would take an investment of at least two to three million dinars to make a splash. He scraped together 800,000 dinars in cash, and after selling part of the spoils, he would get about 300,000 to 500,000 dinars for his share, but there was still a gap of more than one million dinars.

First, he asked Tia for some money. Tia didn't have much to spend, so she simply lent all the more than 300,000 dinars she had to Orvel, and Orvel then got a portion of her shares.

Then he went to Cleopatra and explained the pros and cons to her, and she raised some money to invest, about 500,000 dinars, so she was also a shareholder.

The remaining money was just a loan without taking into account the shares. Orville went to King Herod and some local Roman merchants to borrow money, for a total of 1.3 million dinars, and promised them a relatively high interest rate.

After the calculation, Orville actually holds 65% of the shares, Tia holds 10% of the shares, Cleopatra holds 20% of the shares, and the remaining half of Orville's shares is temporarily allocated to Ivar and others.

(End of this chapter)