Crusader Kings: Prisoners of War.

Chapter 98: Time to Split the Profit
The history of human civilization in this space and time is generally longer, and some of the exaggerated parts have come true, such as part of the story of King Solomon and King David, which can be traced here.

So even though the Romans disliked the Parvi people and thought they were troublesome and undisciplined, they also admitted that they were the type whose ancestors had been wealthy and that they probably had some good things in their storage.

Moreover, due to the Parphians' unique geographical advantage, the Egyptians, Greeks, and Persians all directly or indirectly ruled them for a period of time, and the Parphians had some contact with these three civilizations. Therefore, the treasures taken out by the hands of the Herod royal family were still somewhat convincing and not abrupt, which was equivalent to giving these treasures an anti-counterfeiting label.

Recently, the city of Rome has also been promoting the affairs of the Herod royal family. After all, a small country provided 7,000 auxiliary troops to help Rome fight. In the eyes of the Romans, this was truly a manifestation of loyalty and courage, and they had to take the opportunity to promote it to stabilize the people's hearts.

The reason given by Architas II for the auction was that "the country was in financial difficulties and had to take out some royal treasures to subsidize the treasury." The Romans still believed this at that time. After confirmation by the Senate, they were indeed in financial difficulties and could not afford to buy food.

Due to sympathy and a desire to help their allies, the treasures of Orville sold very well. The royal secrets were a good gimmick, and with the history of the Palphians being conquered by many nations, the wealthy people in Rome could come up with many epic stories.

It is really shameful for a king of a country to stand on the auction block to sell his property and sell fake goods. Now Architas II still has a high impression in the hearts of the Romans, and not many people think of him too darkly.

Having said that, it is really the case that the monk can escape but the temple cannot. It is extremely difficult for a king-level figure to run away with the money, so the people of Rome felt confident in buying the bids, and it was not just the people of Rome who did so.

Since suppressing Gaul was also a big deal for the Roman Empire, the fact that Herod's family led troops to support it attracted much attention, and the news that he was going to sell off the royal treasures also spread like wildfire. With the same idea as the residents of Rome, some wealthy people from the Apennine Peninsula also came to Rome to join in the fun, and even some people from Greece came to join in the fun to see if they could really find some good things.

In the end they were not disappointed, for these things were essentially treasures of the Ptolemaic royal family, and if traced back further they came from the Greek treasury, the Persian treasury, and the Egyptian treasury. It is possible that Ptolemy had really followed Alexander to rob these things from all over the world, and they were all authentic and old.

Orville was surprised at the price at which these things were finally sold, a total of two million dinars, which was an astronomical sum of money for an individual.

Fifty percent of the money was contributed by members of the Senate, 30% by newly wealthy businessmen, and 20% by wealthy Greek businessmen. Orville was really astonished at how these people spent money, spending hundreds of thousands of dinars without even blinking an eye.

Of course, out of the two million dinars, Orville could only get the biggest piece, but he couldn't get all of it. It wasn't that exaggerated.

The 100,000 dinars were given to the auctioneers. They were busy setting up the venue and promoting the auction, just for the share. Orville also signed a contract with them to distribute the Gallic spoils, so he took an internal price.

The two sides have always had a pleasant cooperation. Orwell wants to save trouble. Merchants think that Orwell is good at marketing and can sell things at a high price, unlike many generals who are taciturn and only care about exchanging things for money.

The four hundred thousand dinars were given to Architas II. He played an indispensable role in telling stories and stamping the anti-counterfeiting seal. Orville felt that he was worth the price. It was not easy for His Majesty the King to go through so much trouble with him for so many days.

Another 300,000 dinars were paid by Orwell to the king for the site fee and material fees. He wanted to build an arsenal in Palfi, so he naturally needed these things. Aquita II was also very satisfied with Orwell's cooperation and agreed to help Orwell find 50 blacksmiths for free, which was considered to have bought the racks for the arsenal.

Four hundred thousand dinars were the money for Cleopatra's equipment. In addition to swords and guns, there were also arrows and armor. These things were relatively expensive, and they had to be sent from Rome to Palphi. The freight cost was not cheap either. Orville bought several merchant ships and equipped a combat-capable galley as a frigate escort. In the end, the money he could directly use was about 800,000 dinars, which was not a small amount. At least he didn't have to worry too much about military expenses. With this money, he could arm the rest of his half of the legion and pay them for a period of time.

After everything was settled, Architas II returned to Palphi with a smile on his face. He had gained reputation, money, and food on this trip. Apart from sacrificing thousands of his subjects and his own sister, he had suffered no losses. This was rare good news given the current situation.

With these supports, he had no problem in holding on until agricultural production recovered and he could recuperate for a few years. The Herod royal family was still the legitimate ruler of Parfums.

Orville was not in such a good mood as he felt the clouds had cleared and the sun had risen. He was still calculating every penny carefully and waiting for the order to mobilize the troops.

Four hundred thousand dinars were used to purchase equipment, three hundred thousand dinars were kept as reserves, and one hundred thousand dinars were used to expand his business.

He expanded his hotel business to the fifth city, Syracuse, the capital of Sicily. It was also a wealthy city and a must-pass place for Rome to travel between Sicily and the North African provinces. It had a large passenger flow and it could be foreseen that at least he would not lose money.

Then the money he had worked so hard to earn was no longer available, and he still owed about 200,000 dinars in foreign debt. However, the debts were all to acquaintances and there was no interest, so there was no rush to pay it back. Orville planned to wait until the war was over before paying it back.

There was no other way. It was very difficult for him to support so many people with his family's financial resources. Fortunately, Vespa did not let him wait too long. In mid-June, he issued the final order for the army to march out.

He himself is the commander-in-chief of the eight legions, and he will lead the army in person. In fact, this expedition is a sure success. As a newly enthroned emperor, he needs some military achievements to stabilize the country. With enough military achievements, various domestic oppositions will naturally die down and contradictions will be covered up.

The most important thing for Orville was the list of candidates for legion commanders. Different from what he expected, the eight legions were split again.

The five legions were directly under the command of Vespa, and were mainly responsible for guarding the Rhine defense line in cooperation with the original garrison.

The three legions were divided and given to Tia to command, responsible for advancing into Gaul, and would receive assistance from Vespa's troops when necessary.

The three Danube legions remained under the same command, and the other two legions operated under Vespa.

Orville was still assigned to Tia, but this time as a corps commander. He was assigned to the reorganized 9th Corps "Spain".

(End of this chapter)