Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 32 "Dong Zhuo"

In the royal palace of Philippi, Architas II was talking to Orville.

"In other words, you want to recruit people in my country to serve as Roman auxiliary troops?" He looked at the young man in front of him with a complicated look.

Orville nodded in agreement. "That's right. We will provide them with food and a small amount of military pay. Don't worry about their training, we will be responsible for it. If you don't mind, I would like to give priority to recruiting people from the refugee camps."

From a rational point of view, there was no need for Archietas II to refuse.

First of all, he was already on the same front as the Romans, and he would gain nothing if the Romans lost the war.

Secondly, food rations for the refugees were a big problem. Food prices were very expensive now, and the Romans’ move was to help themselves relieve the pressure and avoid a more serious famine.

Finally, these temporarily recruited Roman troops will most likely be disbanded after the war. Those who have received relief from the Romans and their families will become their valuable supporters and consolidate the foundation of the kingdom.

At this time, Orville added a clause that he could not refuse: "I have already made an agreement with the Governor of Egypt. He will sell us grain at a low price. I will persuade the naval fleet in Caesarea to help transport the grain. Without those merchants making a profit from the price difference, the price of grain will be about 30% lower than the market price here. As long as you agree to let us recruit soldiers to suppress the rebels, these people will be used to deal with those rebels in the end."

The conditions were so tempting that Architas II nodded heavily and said, "It's up to you. I agree to this."

For a small country, support from a big country is very tempting, but if it is not careful, it will be tied to that big country, which is the case with Palfi now.

In fact, there was not much difference between this country and the general Roman province. The Romans could recruit soldiers, collect taxes, preside over trials and enact laws here. Rather than saying that Palphi was an independent country, it would be better to say that it was a province with a certain degree of autonomy.

Perhaps Architas II realized this situation, perhaps he did not, but the only choice before him was to stick with the Romans until the end. If he left the Romans, the surging public opinion would engulf him.

Orville walked out of the palace refreshed and in a good mood.

All of this was true, except that he charged a "little" commission, and the Governor of Egypt and the fleet of Caesarea would also share some of the profits, but even so, the price of grain was still much cheaper.

Compared with two years ago, local food prices have doubled, and food prices in Egypt are particularly cheap, so there is profit to be made no matter what.

Compared with those pure speculators, he is relatively human. What he agreed with the king is a long-term unified price. After a few months, the price of food will soar again, and the king will not be unable to afford food by then.

Orville was sure that the price would go up, because after Vespa arrived in Egypt, he would requisition ships to transport soldiers and supplies. There would be fewer caravans that could transport food to Palphi, and the price of food would rise again. He had already sent people to Syria and Cyprus in the north to buy ships, in order to make money from this information gap. Many people knew about Vespa's uprising, but except for some people in the core decision-making layer, no one knew that they were going to cross the sea for an expedition. It was estimated that the public still thought that Vespa, who was famous for his prudence and stability, would play a sit-in war and wait for the other side to take the initiative to attack.

It was a perfect time to buy a ship, and Vespa's cronies did not stop it. They just reported the matter to Vespa, tacitly allowing Orville to operate.
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What happened in the Holy City did not escape everyone's eyes. They all knew that the Holy City was in the midst of a civil war. In Orville's opinion, a very serious "humanitarian crisis" had also occurred there. It was said that the number of civilians who died in the chaos had reached 20,000 to 30,000. This was a number that shocked the Romans. They had fought for a whole year and only captured 30,000 people and killed more than 10,000 people. The Parvi people caught up in just two months.

He had people write notices neatly and posted them on the wall outside the refugee camp, and also had people spread the word inside the refugee camp, saying how the three parties in the holy city were irresponsible, how they burned, killed and looted, and that the Romans were more moral than them, giving them a chance to survive and guaranteeing their safety.

At the same time, he also spread the news that he wanted to recruit people, provide four people's rations per day, fight against the Zealots, the Dagger Party, and the Priest Party, and provide weapons, equipment and training.

He also guaranteed that anyone who joined the auxiliary army could obtain land, and if they had military merit, they could obtain more land and even become a member of the nobility.

This was a generous gesture, but it was true. After this war, what Palfi lacked was people, not land. The nobles had been purged by the rebels several times, leaving many seats vacant. It was something King Yaquita would definitely do to replenish the seats with fresh blood.

Regardless of whether it was for profit or hatred, many people signed up. Orville was not the director of the refugee resettlement office, so it was impossible for him to accept all of them. He only recruited the two thousand people with the best quality and condition as members of the auxiliary army.

In fact, the maintenance cost of these two thousand people is not much different from that of the six hundred people. Orville only needs to pay for the family's rations and blank checks. Rations are different from military rations. Orville's conscience is not to the point of letting everyone eat wheat. The food in this place is not so abundant, and it will be mixed with barley and other grains, but they are all decent food. His conscience is not so lost as to mix sawdust in it. He has no control over how these people eat.

As for the weapons and equipment and training methods of these people, they were still the same as those of the guinea pigs before. Orville did not let them start training directly, but gave them a week to recover. He also took all the families of the auxiliary troops out of the refugee camp and arranged them in a newly established camp, which had much better sanitary and safety conditions.

He also did not forget the corresponding punishment measures. Anyone who violated military regulations three times or the circumstances were serious would be expelled and sent back to the refugee camp, with a caning package. The auxiliary army was not protected by many military regulations.

The new recruits were being trained in an orderly manner, and time soon came to mid-March. Neither side had made any major moves. Before the spring war in Palphi began, new news came from Rome.

It was more than a month ago that the Roman Emperor Otto committed suicide after his defeat, and was succeeded by Vitellius, the leader of the Germanic Legion.

Although Otto had good political skills and won over the Guards and part of the Danube Legion to fight for him, his basic strength was too weak, and he did not have enough military literacy and military talents, and was eventually defeated by the Germanic Legion.

The German legions entered the city of Rome. Vitellius was not well regarded in history. To put it in more understandable terms, he was a Dong Zhuo-like figure, arrogant and licentious, indulged his subordinates, was rude and unruly, and had done such things as harming loyal people.

(End of this chapter)