My XX deal with Sister Nero

The rumors coming from Tony were even more outrageous.

The rumors coming from Tony's side were more true. For example, he did not say directly like the Senate did that he took credit for his subordinates' work. He was just leading the rhythm in a very tactful way, saying that this Prince actually did not know how to lead troops in battle. He was just a simple mascot. The battle was over, and it was time to count the results. The people below were in awe of his majesty and also wanted to please his prince, so they simply attributed all the results to Tony.

For the Senate, this was basically the truth. What was even more detailed than what the Senate knew was that in this rumor, there was a paragraph saying that His Highness had intended to personally command the battle in the early stages, and then... he lost all the wars he personally commanded. If it were not for the generals who turned the tide in the later stages, the entire battle might have ended in a complete defeat of the Roman Empire.

Because it was described in such detail, the Senate was even wondering if that low-level general was dissatisfied with Tony and was taking the opportunity to make crazy revelations.

"It seems that we must find the person behind the scenes. That person may have some words that can help us." An elder said in a deep voice inside the Senate Hall.

"Find this person and cooperate with the people behind him, right?" Pasu said with a frown.

"Well, if you look closely at public opinion, you should know that what this guy says is basically the truth, but he is weak and not many people believe him. We need his opinions, and he also needs our platform, doesn't he?" Vanore said with a smile.

"Yes." Pasu nodded and said, "I'll send someone to contact him right away."

Finding this guy is easy.

It took about four or five days for Pasu to finally find the person who originally spread the rumor.

Under this man's leadership, Pasu's men also met the person behind the scenes whom he wanted to see.

"You said... you are from the Senate?" The middle-aged man in armor took a sip of beer in his cup, looked at the people around him with a red face, burped with difficulty and said, "I don't believe it."

"It's normal that you don't believe me." The young man sitting opposite said, "I have investigated you. You are the quartermaster of the Sixth Legion, right? You also fought in many battles with His Highness."

"Your Highness?" The middle-aged man sneered and said, "He can't fight a hammer!"

"Really?" Hearing these arrogant words, the young man's eyes lit up slightly, and then he said, "The Sixth Legion can be said to be one of the most loyal legions to Your Highness. I am very curious. I am curious why you are complaining about Your Highness here."

"Why?" The middle-aged man gulped down the wine in the glass with all his strength, and said with a red face: "I have a friend, the general of the Sixth Army, who died because of your highness's blind command. Tell me why!"

"Oh?" Hearing this reason, the young man nodded.

That's it!

"I understand. How about this, two days, you wait for me here. I think... the elders of the Senate should be very interested in you." The young man stood up and waved to the quartermaster.

After the young man left, the quartermaster put down the wooden wine glass in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

It’s time to leave!

The Senate would never have dreamed that Tony was fishing in this way.

Just like the strategy he used in his previous life, Tony planned to find a trustworthy person to spread rumors that were unfavorable to him, and the Senate would definitely get involved. After all, they didn't have much that could be considered "black material" in their hands, and this new character had a lot of detailed "black material" related to Tony.

In order to prove that what this person said was correct, Tony even took the initiative to prepare extras for them. For example, he would arrange some officers from the so-called "Sixth Legion" to indirectly confirm that what the quartermaster said was true, so that the Senate would believe what the quartermaster said as much as possible and push him to the front. When the Senate thinks the time is ripe, they will of course jump out to support the quartermaster and tell everyone that what he said is right.

What they wanted was to completely defeat Tony in public opinion, thereby overthrowing the Claudius family and returning Rome to the Republican era.

And what Tony wants is for this drama to reach its climax, that is, when the elders of the Senate can't wait to jump out to support him. This is the time for him to defect!

In order to verify the quartermaster's words, the Senate will certainly agree and even use the "black material" they have to discredit Tony. But if the quartermaster defected at this time and said that the so-called black material he mentioned was actually fabricated, would the black material used by the Senate to discredit Tony still be credible?

No, and at this time the prestige of the Senate will be completely trampled under Tony's feet. At that time, Tony may even only need to guide everyone a little bit and let everyone think about why the Senate wants to discredit Tony and what is their purpose?

Human beings are herd-like. When some people realize that all this is a conspiracy of the Senate to overthrow Tony and take power themselves, they will regard this "speculation" as "fact". With the basis of public opinion, Tony can openly purge the Senate and replace it with nobles who follow the Claudius family, thus completely breaking the last layer of window paper of this so-called aristocratic republic.

No one is just in this war of public opinion, whether it is Tony or the Senate. The Senate's goal is to restore the republic so that they can take power, while Tony wants to centralize power and let Nero completely control the power of the country. His initial plan of fishing has now turned into frying fish.

Chapter 694: Nero's Decision

Tony only has less than three months to deal with the Senate in more than two months, because on June 3rd, Tony will marry Nero, and he has basically torn his face with the Senate. If he were the Senate, it would be inevitable that he would cause some trouble at the wedding ceremony.

Time was running out, but Tony didn't want to give up. With his composure, about three days later, Pasu finally couldn't help it and decided to meet the quartermaster in person.

Tony had been fishing for many years in his previous life. He was familiar with the rules and routines of fishing and knew how to speak. Under his instructions, the quartermaster spoke flawlessly and Pasu could not find any fault with him. In the end, Pasu was really convinced that this man was not lying. He was indeed a quartermaster of the Sixth Legion and had a general friend who died on the battlefield.

……

"Brother, it would be better for you to stay in the palace for the time being." Just after lunch that day, Nero suddenly came to Tony and said with a somewhat conflicted look.

"Huh? What's wrong, sister?" Tony was a little curious when he saw Nero's conflicted look.

"Well, brother, you are still young. It's normal for someone to be jealous of you, so...so don't take it too seriously." Looking at his brother's silly expression, Nero's eyes were a little evasive.

She felt a little sorry for her brother. Rumors about her brother were spreading everywhere in Rome, but she, as his elder sister, had found nothing and still hadn't found out who was spreading the rumors.

Correspondingly, Tony did not tell Nero that he was frying fish.

Well, in short, no matter whether it is the Senate or Tony, both sides have their own ulterior motives and are madly discrediting Tony himself. Originally, the people of Rome trusted Tony very much, but under this crazy smearing, many people began to have certain doubts. His Highness... is he really as powerful as the rumors say?

Grassroots officials in Rome were trying to dispel the rumors, while senior officials were leading the city guards to frantically arrest people. However, as the rumors spread, many people began to doubt Tony, his past military achievements, and whether he was the child of Agrippina the Younger.

About a month passed like this. When the rumor fermented to a certain extent, the Senate, which had been silent for a month, finally spoke out.

Spurius, the veteran with the iconic bald head, openly questioned Tony's previous false reporting of his military achievements in public.

"According to the Sixth Legion's quartermaster, I have sufficient reason to suspect that His Highness does not know how to command. The reason why he was able to win so many battles in the south and the north is simply because he has famous generals like Vespasianus and Lius under his command. The battles he personally commanded all ended in defeat without exception."

At this point, Spurius paused for a moment before continuing, "Of course, we can't blame His Highness. After all, His Highness is still young, still a child. It's normal that he doesn't understand war. It's just that His Highness should have known this earlier, otherwise... the warriors of my Roman Empire wouldn't have suffered so many casualties." As Spurius spoke, he squeezed out two tears and pretended to wipe the corners of his eyes.

Spurius's words sound very much like that.

Tony is a child, an ordinary child who has not received any systematic command training. He does not understand war and cannot even command a war. This is very normal. After all, in most families, their children do not know how to command a war, right?

Spurius's remarks sounded too normal. In addition, the rumors that the Roman residents had heard about His Highness this month were basically negative. Under these factors, no matter how much they trusted His Highness, even if they admired His Highness, after hearing such rumors too many times, they would have some doubts in their hearts.

Your Highness...are you really as powerful as the rumors say?

……

"Your Majesty, what Senator Spurius said... is roughly along these lines." A woman wearing the armor of a Royal Guard officer knelt on one knee in front of Nero and said in a panicked tone.

"Spurius? Very good." Nero nodded indifferently.

Although Augustus established the principal system, this so-called principal was ultimately restrained by the Senate. In addition, Nero was not so concerned about governing the country at first, so he did not have any useful intelligence agencies working for him. It was precisely because of this that when the public was full of unfavorable remarks about Tony, Nero... was unable to investigate the source of the news at all.

But what made her happy was that Tony's mentality had been relatively calm over the past month. At least when she told him that there were unfavorable comments about him among the people, he behaved... fairly calmly.

It's as if he had known these things for a long time.

Nero didn't take her brother's strange reaction seriously, or she never thought that among the many unfavorable remarks about Tony in Rome, the most credible source was Tony himself.

"The fish finally took the bait." After listening to Zero's report, Tony raised the corners of his mouth slightly and said softly.

Spurius stepped forward and stood behind the quartermaster to provide evidence for him. At the same time, he also disclosed a lot of negative information about Tony that the quartermaster had not disclosed. This was exactly the effect Tony wanted.

But... it's not enough.

The only one who stood up now was Spurius. If he took action at this time, he would most likely alert the enemy and make the Senate sacrifice its own plan to save its own.

Fishing requires patience. Even though the fish has taken the bait, it is not the time to lift the rod yet.

It's just that Tony wanted to have a good time fishing, but some uninformed people wanted to overturn the fish pond.

"Your Highness!" Just as Tony was about to ask Zero to leave first, the door of the study was suddenly pushed open, and Mary strode in from outside, knelt on one knee in front of Tony, "Your Highness, His Majesty intends to order the arrest of Spurius!"

"What?" Hearing this, Tony stood up subconsciously.

Is my sister going to overturn her own fish pond? !

"Let's go find my sister!" Tony quickly left the desk and was about to find his sister to stop him when he suddenly stopped and muttered, "No, we can't do this."

Tony originally wanted to find Nero to persuade her to give up the idea of ​​arresting Spurius, because this would alert the enemy and cause the Senate to abandon the rook to save the king. But then he thought, now Spurius has stood up and openly slandered him. If Nero had no reaction, wouldn't that be very abnormal?

Chapter 695 Closing the Net

"Brother..." In Tony's study, Nero stood in front of him with a frustrated look on his face, his hands unconsciously twisting the corners of his clothes.

"What's wrong, sister~" Tony put down the pen in his hand, looked up at Nero and said.

"Hmm, my brother's handwriting...is getting more and more beautiful." Coming to Tony, Nero subconsciously glanced at Tony's desk and spoke.

"Emmmm..." Tony took a look at the Latin words on his desk that looked like monkeys crawling and coughed twice in embarrassment.

If Tony didn't know that his sister was absent-minded at the moment, and if he didn't know that his sister loved him very much, she would have almost thought that what she said was a mockery.

"Sister, if you have something to say, just tell me~" Tony put down the pen in his hand, stood up, motioned for his sister to sit down, then reached out and rubbed his sister's shoulders, his tone still full of embarrassment.

"I... I'm sorry, brother." Nero lowered his head and spoke in a low voice like a child who had made a mistake.

"Hmm? How have you felt sorry for me, sister~" Although he guessed what Nero wanted to say, but... Tony thought that he should take the opportunity to tease his sister?

"I..." Nero opened his mouth and turned his head to look at his brother standing behind him, looking a little aggrieved: "I didn't protect my brother well..."

"Huh?" Tony looked at himself in surprise, then said, "But I'm not injured."

“Brother…” Looking at Tony’s innocent expression, Nero seemed to have made up his mind, and his expression suddenly became a little angry: “Brother, I will make those who hurt you pay the price!”

???

While Tony was confused, Nero's guards successfully arrested Spurius on the street.

"Has Spurius been arrested by His Majesty?" In a dark room in the Senate Hall, Vanore looked at Cornelius with indifference and said in a cold voice.

"Yes, Senator, His Majesty has just sent out his own guards to capture Mr. Spurius." Cornelius nodded, his tone somewhat serious.

"Very good." Vanore nodded. With Spurius arrested, the Senate had new public opinion to target Nero.

Sure enough, on the afternoon of the next day, several elders appeared on the streets and denounced His Majesty passionately, saying that His Majesty was willing to attack the elders for the sake of his brother.

You know, even though Tony had weakened the Senate several times before, the Senate was still the aristocratic class. They were a small number of people among the tens of millions of people in the Roman Empire who could receive higher education. They were the backbone of the empire and the most powerful people in the empire.

What does it mean for Nero to do this? It means that she is attacking the backbone of the empire!

……

"If they hadn't told me, I would have forgotten it." After listening to Zero's report, Tony slapped his forehead and said, "The reason why the Senate can hold power is, on the one hand, because they are aristocrats, the former knight class, and on the other hand, and most importantly, they are scholars, they are knowledgeable, while the common people can only be low-level officials forever, because they can't read a single word."

"So, Your Highness...what are you going to do?" Zero asked Tony as she stood in front of the desk.

"It's simple. I want to open a school." Tony said proudly.

There were schools in the Roman Empire.

The education system of the Roman Empire was inherited from Greece, and the education system of Greece was somewhat similar to the education system two thousand years later, except that their learning content and learning methods were slightly different.

It is a private school.

What Tony wanted to do was to run a public school, to open a school in the name of the empire. His purpose in opening the school was not to teach any high-sounding stuff like philosophy. He had only one purpose in running the school, which was to make the citizens, all the citizens of the Roman Empire, at least be able to write their own names.

But these are things that should be done later. Now, because of Nero's actions, many senators in the Senate are active. Some are responsible for standing on the stage to say bad things about Your Majesty and Your Highness, while others are connecting with other nobles or officers of the Guards, intending to use other means to make Your Majesty hand over his power.

"The time... is almost up." After waiting for another half a month, Tony realized that the time was almost right and finally took action.

This morning, in the Roman city, in the Forum of Augustus.

The quartermaster who was pushed to the front came to the square under the protection of a group of Senate guards. According to the news released by the Senate before, the quartermaster would announce the most important information he had today.

The most important piece of information? What is it?

Many people are thinking about this question, and even many citizens who heard the news are speculating that this so-called most important information may refer to the rumor about His Highness's life experience that was previously widely circulated in Rome!

In the center of Augustus Forum, on a temporary platform.

"It seems that our prediction was correct." An elder pointed to several young girls in the crowd below the stage and said, "Did you see that? Our Majesty sent her personal guards to silence us."

"But how many guards did she send?" Another elder with golden hair beside the elder said with a smile: "We have nearly 200 guards deployed in the square today."

Ah.

Turning his head to look at the elders standing behind him, the quartermaster sneered.

Fight with His Highness? You are far from it!

"Everyone."

After taking a deep breath, the quartermaster took two steps forward, glanced at all the civilians present, and said slowly: "I think you all should have heard something recently about His Highness Tony."

At this point, the quartermaster paused before continuing, "I'm sure you all know that I was once the quartermaster of the Sixth Legion. Many of the news you heard actually came from me. It was precisely because of this news that His Majesty has always wanted to capture me. As a result, many of you are now His Majesty's personal guards."

Your Majesty's personal guard?

Hearing this, everyone present almost subconsciously turned their heads to look at the people around them.

"It doesn't matter, actually. What I want to say today is not only for you, but also for His Majesty." The quartermaster chuckled, looked around at the citizens, then turned and nodded slightly to the elders standing behind him.

"I'm sure you all know that His Highness is not good at military affairs. His so-called victories were all won by his generals. His so-called ability to fight well is nothing more than the generals' victories and His Majesty attributing their military achievements to His Highness. You all... you must have heard of similar remarks, right?"

Chapter 696: Senate (Part 1)

"Hmm..." The people in the audience nodded. In the past month and a half, they have heard too many similar remarks. From everyone's ridicule in the beginning to their doubts now, it is because they have heard similar remarks too many times, so many that no one is sure whether it is slander or has factual basis.