Simulating the Universe, Starting with Speedrunning Greece

But the Senate is not a pushover, and they even have a lot of armed forces at their disposal - private soldiers.

When it comes to the critical moment, it is inevitable that blood will be shed and there will be a show of force.

As someone who knows history, Ye didn't say much...

But he was very clear about the moral character of the Senate nobles.

They are really capable of assassinating someone, or even killing him by force!

But it will be soon—

Ye had already started to make plans with the Gracchus brothers, preparing to lure the snake out of its hole -

It's time to make these old fools pay the price.

Chapter 103: Senate: You are done with the Citizens' Assembly, right?!

Back to the topic, first of all, it is worth mentioning that -

Thanks to the open voting, Tiberius finally succeeded in taking office as the new tribune.

Even if the Senate is absolutely unwilling, the real data is there and they have no chance to falsify it.

If they wanted to stop Tiberius through normal means, the Roman senators could only hope that Tiberius would fail in the tribune election the following year.

They made a risky move at night, but it was the right one.

Because he spoke out in advance during the election, Tiberius was able to shorten the time for reform and start it immediately after the election.

It was over so quickly that the Roman Senate didn't even have time to react, completing the initial accumulation of the speech and successfully gaining the support and votes of many people.

Although the Roman Citizens' Assembly seemed to be in name only, it was still sacred and inviolable on the surface.

Even the Senate did not dare to openly break this fundamental rule.

During this period, the Senate repeatedly warned and threatened Tiberius not to pursue any more ideas or apply for any reforms.

But Tiberius completely ignored it...

The second and third square speeches soon began.

He even traveled to cities around Rome to give speeches under Night's escort.

The effect was very significant at the time - more and more people chose to support Ye and his friends.

Because everyone knows that this is a silent war, without smoke and blood, but it is still an extremely dangerous war.

If Tiberius, who had gone to such lengths for them, failed in the end, they would probably never have the chance to muster the courage to rebel again.

So - we cannot lose, we absolutely cannot lose, losing is not allowed!

The people were determined and ready to fight to the death with them.

The senators went from being angry and unbelievable at the beginning to finally panicking and beginning to be terrified.

Soon, they held a private emergency meeting.

At the meeting, a group of people were in an uproar, pouring out a lot of words.

"I can't wait any longer...

If we wait any longer, Tiberius's army will grow larger and larger!

Damn it, I should have taken action when that guy first became a tribune.

He should not be given the time or opportunity to continue his speech.”

"Kill this traitor, kill this heretic--!"

"I only regret that I didn't persist and not give Tiberius the opportunity to run for the tribune."

"Huh, that's all I have to say.

Let’s all think about how to deal with Tiberius.

It's not easy to kill him now.

Now, every time Tiberius gave a speech, a large number of citizens would spontaneously surround him and protect his safety.

I think it will be difficult for us to deal with Tiberius in the same way as we dealt with Lucienius."

That’s right. The method used to deal with Luginius was the assassinated tribune.

But unlike Lucienius, Tiberius had more numerous and more vigilant supporters.

At the same time, Tiberius had the support of the Gracchi family, which was at its peak, as well as the families of Scipio Elder and Scipio Minor, forming an ambiguous network of relationships.

Even though the families of the Gracchi, Scipio the Younger, and others had not yet expressed their support for Tiberius' actions, they had not stood up to express obvious opposition.

When the senators thought of the powerful forces behind Tiberius, they felt as uncomfortable as if they had eaten shit.

That's the benefit of having a background...

Even though the Gracchus brothers died miserably in history, that was because they were not prepared. They did not expect that with the support of the people, the Senate could shamelessly massacre the opposition forces led by the Gracchus brothers on the grounds of "open rebellion with weapons in hand (wooden sticks used by the people to protect the Gracchus brothers)"!

At this time, under the guidance of Ye, the Gracchus brothers, who had already clearly understood which resources and forces could be used, had already secretly accumulated and attracted many forces.

He became deeply wary of the Senate.

It was under such circumstances that the Senate could not find an opportunity to assassinate him.

With many speeches, the Gracchus brothers, led by Tiberius, and Ye, gradually became famous.

They all spoke out publicly in support of a change in Rome.

To give Rome a new lease of life - and various new decrees, which were said to be the masterpieces of the three men, were announced many times in speeches.

Gradually becoming known to the world——!

This time, seeing that the momentum was almost there, with Ye's help, a request for review of the new decree was soon sent to the Senate.

"...!!!"

"I disagree! I absolutely disagree!" This was the second time that Ye came to the Senate meeting in the sacred hall.

Even his review was rejected before the above specific matters were included - Ye did not find it strange at all.

There's no way these old bastards would agree to this.

However, he came this time just to inform, not to seek the opinions of these old guys.

Even Tiberius himself, the real boss, was not allowed to come that night, but was allowed to continue giving speeches everywhere with peace of mind.

He will be in charge of the Senate.

At this time, when he saw the many nobles in the Senate with red faces and thick necks and angry faces, Ye smiled faintly and said, "Don't you agree?

Then let’s hold a citizens’ assembly!

When there are important proposals regarding national affairs, even if the Senate does not support it, we have the right to apply to the Citizens' Assembly for a vote.

Let the millions of Roman people decide for themselves whether to introduce this new law.

I don't think the elders will refuse.

Our Rome is a republic and a people's country. I don't think there should be a dictator here!"

That night, many nobles automatically assumed the identity of the dictator after some insinuations were made, which made them even more angry and almost had a brain congestion.

Citizens' assemblies, citizens' assemblies, citizens' assemblies at every turn! It's never going to end, right?

This trick again——!!

That day, the nobles in the Senate finally remembered the terrible power of the people.

What was even more terrifying was the man in front of them. Although the Gracchus brothers had some talent and strategic vision, they had always had a very clear impression of them. They knew that the two brothers were talented, but they were definitely not so terrifying and precise in terms of strategy and overall planning...

One thing leads to another, and all of them hit their sore spot.

At this time, many elders already suspected that Ye was behind all this.

This also made the Senate very wary of Ye's existence.

From the initial attempts to win them over, which were actually dismissive, to the current feeling of fear.

Although those ambitious people who attempted to target the consul position and seize the core of Roman power were terrible, they were not even a fraction as bad as this kind of person.

This man's goal is too clear.

He was not even interested in winning over the nobles or joining the general wealthy class, but instead wanted to accompany the Gracchus brothers in carrying out some reforms.

An enemy who has no selfish desires but is extremely capable, has a very strong overall view, is terribly calm and wise, and only thinks about how to change Rome (kill them).

Without selfish desires, there are no flaws. How should we deal with such a terrible person who has no weaknesses? !

Chapter 104: Lista Ye, do you want to be the emperor of Rome? !

Listaye now made it clear that he just wanted to beat everyone here to death and there was no room for negotiation.

He turned a blind eye to their solicitation and was only focused on carrying out reforms.

How could there be such an unyielding man in this world?

At this time, the Senate finally understood who the real clown was. Until Ye issued the final announcement and left, they all put on masks of pain.

"Send the following document and let every senator see it." The consul had a sullen face and asked many senators to read the document sent by Ye.

The new bill, named the Sempronius Agrarian Law, was brought to trial.

The name is the same as what Tiberius did in history, but the content has been updated by more than one or two versions.

The first wake-up call that caught the eyes of the elders was the three major decrees.

500. From now on, the amount of state-owned land that each Roman could rent was limited to 1000 ugeres, and the amount that a family could rent could not exceed ugeres.

2. The right to lease the land shall no longer be resold.

1000. The state can forcibly repurchase and redistribute land exceeding yugers.

The three decrees basically revolved around the reform of recovering land and redistributing land to landless Romans every day.

Many elders with sharp eyes saw the hidden tricks at the first time.

The first article of the decree stipulates that the land owned by an entire family cannot exceed 1000 yugers. This is obviously a calculation of the fact that nobles like to register land in the names of slaves in order to evade taxes.

The second article stated that the land lease rights could no longer be resold, thus preventing nobles from forcing commoners to sell their land.

Even if they forced the Roman freemen into a desperate situation, they could no longer buy their land at a low price, which brought up the third article - state redistribution after the land was repurchased.

In theory, those to whom the land was redistributed only had the right to use it but not the right to sell it.

The land itself is not theirs and naturally cannot be traded. In this way, farmers who have lost their land can return to the land and no longer suffer from hunger.

If we talk about this, Tiberius’ three bills are still minor ones. Although the reform measures seem good, the senators can still come up with many solutions to deal with them. However, the following words made them completely angry.

If we look at the present situation alone, some enlightened senators may be able to accept Tiberius' proposals.

They were well aware of the problems that existed in Rome, and they knew that they would be solved sooner or later. As long as Tiberius's demands were not too excessive, they would not make them directly in public, otherwise it would be too embarrassing, and they, the nobles, also had to save face.

However, there is a major drawback in these first three laws.

That is the Roman planting industry. The local area mainly grows some economic crops, such as grapes for winemaking and olives for oil pressing, and growing these crops requires capital.

Just because the country gives you land doesn’t mean you can farm it.

Even if this decree is implemented and the land is distributed to the poor, the poor still cannot start construction because they do not have the capital. And as time goes by...

There will always be people who take risks and once again think of selling the useless land to the rich.

Not to mention that although Farewell I had some restrictions on nobles buying land, the rules were set by the nobles themselves. Let the nobles who ruled Rome supervise themselves? It would be a miracle if they could control themselves.

The decree also proposed a solution to the problem, which is to let the state take money from the treasury to subsidize the poor to farm.

If the elders disagree, then we can meet at the Citizens' Assembly.

If the Citizens' Assembly still disagrees, then we'll meet at the Common People's Assembly.

By the old Hortensius Law!

Tiberius's determination to pass the bill was almost obvious.

He was just about to come over and point his finger at the elders' noses to threaten them into agreeing.