My XX deal with Sister Nero

After shaking off Zero, Tony patted his face lightly and started to deal with business.

He didn't need to worry about the Roman customs and fleet for the time being. What he had to deal with now was the financial report of the Odeni Territory in the last quarter and some preliminary preparations for the Nero Festival.

"Right now... the financial situation in Odney County is very difficult..." After carefully reading the first quarter financial report in the evening, Tony knocked on the table in annoyance, muttering to himself.

As a border city, the financial income of Odeni Territory mainly comes from two aspects: one is taxes from the people, and the other is various import and export trades.

Originally, Sanoni City had some reserves after so many years, both in terms of money and food, but because the Sarmatians moved in, they were not allowed to graze. You said you had to feed more than 10,000 people, right? Well, they paid for money and food, and in a short period of time, not only did they use up Sanoni City's reserves, but they also instantly caused the financial situation of Odni Territory to be in deficit.

However, this problem was quickly resolved.

When Tony went to the Egyptian province, Nero ordered that all import and export business of the British province could only be done with the Territory of Odenia. In other words, Nero forced the British province and all countries on the British Isles that had trade relations with the Roman Empire to trade through the Territory of Odenia in the form of decrees, and forcibly increased the trade income of the Territory of Odenia in the form of decrees.

At the same time, the central government of the Roman Empire will also provide certain financial subsidies to prevent the economic collapse of Odeni.

PS: The backend crashed, so I’m posting it now. Also, when will this broken vocabulary be fixed?

Chapter 261: A Visit from Caligula

After reading the financial report, Tony rubbed his temples with a headache.

"Your Highness?" Seeing Tony put down the financial report in his hand, Ola, who was standing beside him, immediately stepped forward and filled Tony's cup with water.

When Tony picked up the cup and was about to take a sip, he looked at the cup and suddenly frowned: "Come to think of it... this cup shouldn't be made of silver, right?"

As mentioned before, when Tony was in the palace, Nero, who pursued luxury, always used silver cups. Even in this suburban villa, there were many silver utensils.

But...the cup in Tony's hand is not made of silver.

Although the colors are similar, Tony can tell from the texture and other details that this cup is not made of silver.

"Ah... Your Highness, this is a lead cup." Ora lowered his head and added in a low voice: "Although Your Highness usually uses silver cups in the palace, in the entire Roman Empire, we generally use lead cups."

???

lead?!

Tony subconsciously threw the cup away, stood up and said, "Why is it a lead cup? Do you want me to die of lead poisoning?!"

"Your Highness, please calm down." Although he didn't know what lead poisoning was and didn't know why His Highness was so afraid of this cup... everyone was using it just fine, but no matter what, if His Highness really believed that someone wanted to poison him, then... even if His Highness didn't pursue him, I'm afraid His Majesty wouldn't let him go.

When Ola, who was kneeling on the ground, thought of this, he couldn't help crying out loud.

"Why are you crying, Sister Ola?" Tony scratched his head and looked at Ola in confusion.

Although he was a little angry just now, Ola's crying... directly interrupted his energy.

"Your Highness...I really don't mean to poison Your Highness..." Ola said while looking at Tony with sobs.

"Ah?" Tony looked at Ola blankly and said, "I didn't say you wanted to poison me."

"But Your Highness just now..." Ola still looked at Tony with a tearful expression and said.

"I... forget it. Let me put it this way. Lead is poisonous. I don't mean to blame you. In this era, I may be the only one alive who knows this. This is a bit complicated to explain. So, first help me replace the cup with a silver or wooden one. Then, when you ask my sister to come tomorrow, replace all the lead cups in this villa."

"But... if Your Highness thinks that the material used to make this cup is poisonous... then... just replacing the cup is not enough." Ola looked at Tony and said cautiously.

"Huh?" Tony was stunned for a moment, frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Your Highness..." Ola looked at Tony carefully before saying, "I heard that... all the water supply pipes in the city are made of lead..."

???

"Well." Tony thought about it for a while, then said to Aura: "Sister Aura, go hire a few men, or just buy a few slaves, and fetch water from the Tiber River for us to drink."

"Is this... is this really poisonous?" Aura asked nervously. After all, she had been drinking from lead pipes for so many years. If it was poisonous...

"It's really poisonous." Tony nodded, remembering that hundreds of years later, the Romans, whose fertility was affected by lead poisoning, had to promote foreign officers in order to maintain the number of troops. As a result, the military became increasingly powerful and undisciplined, and eventually the country was destroyed. Tony felt that he needed to popularize the issue of lead poisoning.

"First of all, lead is poisonous. I know there was no stainless steel in the Roman Empire, and lead is an ideal material for making water pipes because it is easy to produce and not easy to rust. But think about it, lead is poisonous, and if water does not flow in a lead pipe for a long time, it is easy for... well, it is easy for certain chemical reactions to cause lead to appear in the water, and then we will die after drinking it." Tony scratched his head and tried to explain to Oraco the disadvantages of lead pipes in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

"But, Your Highness..." Aura tilted his head and thought for a moment before saying, "I heard that the water pipes outside the city are made of stone, and only after entering the city are the water pipes made of lead, and... and the water is always flowing."

"Huh? Running water?" Tony was stunned for a moment, and asked in surprise: "But...but when you turn off the faucet, the water should not flow, right?"

"Can the faucet... be turned off?" Ola tilted his head, a little curious.

? Don’t you have a valve?

Tony thought about it for a moment...it seemed that the valve was a bit advanced for this era?

If that's the case... does that mean the probability of lead poisoning is not very high? Or does it mean the amount of lead I take in... is not too high?

Anyway, there's definitely no harm in changing these tableware first and then paying more attention to them in the future.

Just as Tony was thinking about the lead pipes and containers, suddenly, a guard came to the door of Tony's room and knelt on one knee: "Your Highness, His Majesty Caligula is here."

What is he doing here? Tony was stunned for a moment. Considering that this was his uncle, it was not easy to just chase him out. Tony had to say to the guard, "Well... please invite His Majesty to the living room first. I'll be there soon."

"Yes, Your Highness." The guard nodded and then withdrew.

After adjusting his toga a little, Tony coughed twice and walked towards the living room.

"Your Majesty Caligula." Tony bowed to the sturdy young man sitting on the balcony as soon as he arrived in the living room.

"Ah, you are Tony?" Caligula smiled at Tony, then waved and said, "Come, come to your uncle. Your uncle wants to take a good look at you."

Tsk, what's so good about me? Apart from being handsome, that's all I have.

While Tony was silently complaining in his heart, he also put on a fake smile on his face: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"What Your Majesty? Just call me uncle." Looking at Tony's smiling face, Caligula pretended to be dissatisfied.

"Uncle...sir." Tony called out this title somewhat awkwardly, feeling almost resentful in his heart.

According to normal history, Caligula exiled Nero's biological mother, Agrippina the Younger, early on because he was worried that Nero would seize the throne from his son. Unexpectedly, he died before his son was born, and his daughter was also gone. However, in the history of this world, Caligula still had no son, and... Nero was a girl.

So the most direct result of this is that among the entire direct descendants of the Claudius family, there is only one male, Tony.

Let's do the math. Let's not talk about Augustus, as he didn't belong to the Claudius family. The first emperor of the Claudius family, Tiberius, had a son who died early, and his grandson was killed by Caligula. Caligula was even more miserable, as he had no sons. As for Claudius... he should have had two sons in history, but he only had one eldest son, Drusus, who also died. So if you calculate this way... the only boy in the direct bloodline of the Claudius family is Tony.

Chapter 262 Did Caligula know something? !

"I heard from Nero that you are only thirteen years old this year, right?" Caligula asked happily, looking at Tony with interest.

Tsk, can the Heroic Spirit cure madness? After all, Caligula behaved like that in FGO, and Tony was a little uncomfortable seeing a normal version of Caligula.

"Yes, Your Majesty...Uncle." Tony nodded, still with that hypocritical smile on his face.

"Thirteen years old." Caligula smiled and touched Tony's head, saying, "At only thirteen years old, you can improve military equipment, command the army to fight two beautiful battles, and slay dragons. To be honest, little guy, when I was your age... No, even when the God Ancestor was your age, I'm afraid he wasn't as good as you."

nonsense!

Tony curled his lips in his heart. No matter how powerful you are, you were still just a thirteen-year-old child when you were my age. How can I be the same? Don't look at me as a child, but deep down I am... Forget it, if I continue, I will become a famous detective in the Heisei era.

"Uncle, thank you for your praise." Tony coughed lightly and said with a slightly uneasy expression on his face.

"So I'm very curious, why don't you want to be the emperor?" Caligula looked at Tony strangely and asked, "From your sister's attitude, it's obvious that she wants you to be the emperor, and I think... the Senate and the Guards should have similar ideas. After all, you are a boy to the Guards, and they prefer boys to command them. As for the Senate... children are easier to fool, so why did you refuse to be the emperor when everyone wanted you to be the emperor?"

"Eh? Why should I be an emperor?" Tony asked in surprise. "Although being an emperor is great, I have to deal with a lot of things. And I have to scheme against others from time to time to prevent assassinations. Isn't it tiring? It's better to be an idle prince, where I can farm and don't have to scheme. Except for having less power and having to pay certain taxes, it's basically no different from an emperor, and I don't have to worry about being assassinated."

"..." What Tony said really made sense. Caligula was unable to object for a moment. Although he was assassinated because of his foul mouth, but... thinking back in time, there were several emperors and consuls who were assassinated because they offended someone, right?

So in a way…Tony wasn't wrong.

"Then...why do you occasionally help Nero with government affairs?" Caligula asked curiously.

"I don't want to either!" Tony said with a sad face. "At the beginning, I reached a deal with my sister. I could occasionally help with government affairs, but the prerequisite was that she had to support some of my decisions, such as... for example, I would be the commander of the war against Parthia."

so close!

Tony kept a sad expression on his face while secretly breathing a sigh of relief. He almost told others that he was planning to take control of the border!

Tony definitely didn't dare tell Caligula about being granted the fiefdom of the small town of Oddney. He might be able to get away with it with cuteness from Nero, but Caligula probably wouldn't fall for his cuteness.

"Do you support your decision..." Caligula nodded. He admired Tony's fantastic idea. At least if he were asked to launch a war against Parthia, he really could not think of the idea of ​​attacking Babylonia and threatening Ctesiphon.

It's just...a pity.

Caligula sighed. Although Tony was young, his talent and wisdom were no less than Caesar and Augustus. It was a pity that he had no intention of succeeding the emperor. If he was willing to be the emperor, the empire should be able to gain more territory under his leadership, right?

"Alas." Thinking of this, Caligula sighed for no reason.

"What happened, uncle?" Tony asked this question in a very mean way when he saw Caligula sighing.

"I heard that you are about to get engaged to the princess of the Iceni Kingdom? I was thinking... it would be great if you could get engaged to your sister. In this way, firstly, your son's bloodline would be pure, and secondly, your son should be able to inherit your genius, right?"

???

Caligula had an eccentric way of thinking, and he had some unspeakable things happened to him between him and Nero's mother, Agrippina the Younger, who was also Caligula's sister. So it was probably only he who could come up with such a shocking idea so calmly.

Anyway, when Tony heard this idea, his first reaction was direct and simple.

Did he know something? !

Because of Zero, Tony is now like a frightened bird. Now Caligula said such a shocking line very calmly. If Tony didn't really trust Zero, he would really think that it was Zero who leaked the matter.

"This... How can a sister and brother get married..." Tony scratched his head awkwardly and tried to change the subject.

"What's impossible between siblings? Back then, my sister, your mother, and I... never mind. Anyway, just consider this as your uncle's wish." Caligula patted Tony on the shoulder and said, "Get ready. I heard that Levi and his men will arrive in Rome in about a week. Also, the Nero Festival you've been preparing for these days... I'd also like to go and have some fun if I can."

Did Caligula participate in the Nero Festival? Tony thought about it for a while. It was indeed a good gimmick, but it seemed that it might not be acceptable to the public.

After all, the Roman Empire had always kept the resurrection of ancient people a secret from the people, so the people of the Roman Empire basically did not know about the resurrection of Caligula.

"I'll think about this matter carefully." Tony nodded.

"Okay, well, go get that little princess. I want to see what your future fiancé looks like."

Looking at Caligula and Princess Ryan chatting and laughing in the house, Tony, who was standing in the garden, breathed a sigh of relief.

My dad was so scared that he almost thought Caligula had noticed something and that’s why he kept hinting at it!

Well, as long as you don’t find out.

But then again…what’s the situation in the South now?

At almost the same time, in the southern suburbs of Rome.

"I'm so tired." In a grove of trees, Rosa grabbed a water bag and drank a big gulp of it, then poured it over his head. He took a deep breath and looked at the tall Roman wall not far away. The words that the hero Tony said that night kept echoing in his mind.

"The dead must do something for the living."

Chapter 263: Cheap Brother-in-law Rosa?

"Your Highness, here is a letter for you." The next morning, Tony had just finished breakfast and returned to the study when he saw a guard knocking on the door and coming to him and saying, "Your Highness, here is a letter for you."

"My letter?" Tony was stunned for a moment. After taking the familiar cowhide envelope from the guard, he waved at her and said, "Okay, you can leave now."

"Yes, Your Highness." The guard nodded and then retreated.

"What did this guy send me again?" Tony muttered as he opened the envelope.

The content is very simple, just one sentence.

"In this life, when you receive this letter, I think I should be dead, right? So next, that bastard Rosa will contact you on my behalf. At the same time, he will also pass on to you the intelligence that he and I have collected together this time."

Looking at this familiar string of Latin, Tony was subconsciously confused.

The heroic spirit Tony, dead?

Did this bastard go to fight with Cefalu head-on? Also, who is Rosa? This name...why is it so strange?

Isn’t this the Latin way to write rose?

Although as an Archer, he has the ability to act alone, but according to normal logic, a Servant should be with his Master, right? In other words, this Rosa should be the summoner of the Heroic Spirit Tony. This guy named Rosa... is the summoner of the Heroic Spirit Tony?

Who is he?

Wait a minute.

Tony suddenly slammed the table and stood up. He... seemed to have guessed Rosa's true identity!

According to the Heroic Spirit Tony, he is a Heroic Spirit created "artificially" because the world was cut into a Lostbelt. In other words, the Heroic Spirit Tony is unique and belongs only to this Lostbelt. He does not belong to pan-human history. If you want to summon him, you must either have a bond with him, or you must have an item in this Lostbelt that is very important to Tony to serve as a relic.

But, who created the Lostbelt?

That’s right, it was created by the guy holding the strange big sword that Nero and he dreamed of!

To sum up, the person most likely to summon the heroic spirit Tony is that guy!

Therefore, this Rosa is most likely the future cheap brother-in-law!