Chapter 482: Maintaining the Army (Part 1)

In the evening, the Governor's Palace in Athens is a classical white stone building, which is still in the style of hundreds of years ago before the Romans conquered it. Because the Romans respected Greek civilization, they tried their best to protect the superior civilization with the same roots instead of trampling and destroying it like barbarians. Nostalgic nobles or governors have spent money to maintain this place from time to time. After so many years, it is still as good as new. This is a great achievement, at least it is the pride of the local nobles in Athens.

The same respect for civilization was reflected in the nobles in the audience, who were wearing Greek robes and sitting opposite each other at a large round table in the empty hall, just like in previous debates.

Although it was called a banquet, no one would have thought that they were actually here. The Greek nobles looked at the empty table in front of them and looked at each other, not understanding the meaning of this.

The nobles who had gathered urgently sat on the stone seats nervously, and they began to whisper before Luga arrived.

"Hey, I heard they were defeated in their fight against Attila."

"Who told you that?"

"Who are you going to listen to? If you are not going to be defeated, then why are you here? The generals in charge of the army are all useless. Look at Attila's proud look now. Even if a slave were to lead the army, he wouldn't end up like this."

"Don't talk nonsense, that man is Theodosius' son!"

Anyone who is not a fool can see the current situation. The Thracian Field Army should build a defense line in the Macedonian province to resist the Hun army, but they actually appeared here.

The heated discussion came to an abrupt end when the door was opened. Everyone looked in the direction of the door. A figure flashed by, and everyone held their breath. The whole hall was eerily quiet. Everyone seemed to be petrified and stood still, quietly waiting for the figures standing at the door.

"Looks like everyone is here, right?" Faced with such a big scene, Luca was naturally not surprised. He smiled, looking calm, and nodded to Arleto beside him.

Arletto's expression was indescribably embarrassed. He had no idea what Luca was thinking. Now that the Macedonian province was in danger and the Huns were the enemy, he actually brought an entire legion to Athens to eat and drink for free. This was totally unacceptable.

While Arleto was hesitating, Luca had already walked in.

He became the focus of the crowd. All the nobles' eyes followed his movements. No one dared to whisper or chat with each other. They all thought they were spectators, and they came to see what this adopted son of Theodosius would bring them, even if it was a delicious meal or the fine wine of Edessa. As long as it was enjoyable, they would be happy to spend some dispensable time listening to this guy's leisurely talk. Yes, who would care about these boring words? Fine wine and food were the theme of this banquet.

Luca walked slowly to the center of the hall, right under the gorgeous carvings on the ceiling, as if he was the most dazzling star in the banquet. The guards around him were busy running around for him, and even the chair he sat on was at just the right temperature so that the cold would not make him feel uncomfortable.

Andrew, the captain of Luca's guards, stood behind Luca. He nodded to Arletto and whispered, "Okay, Sir Arletto, let's get started."

Soon, the empty table in front of him was filled with exquisite silver plates brought by slaves. There were not many delicacies here that were not seen in Athens. It could be said that they were quite conservative, but although common, one could still see that these foods were of high value, especially in the Balkans which had just suffered from famine.

The nobles had waited for most of the day, and seeing the table full of delicious food, they were naturally hungry. They rubbed their stomachs that kept wailing and protesting, but they had to show a noble and unmoved demeanor, smiling with their upper and lower teeth locked like a door, blocking the saliva that was about to burst, as if the silver plate of delicacies in front of them had nothing to do with them. God knows how many of them were secretly praying that Luca would not keep them waiting and say a few words.

"What a rare delicacy!" Looking at the table full of delicacies, Luca couldn't help but exclaimed: "I once passed by Athens and met the first legion that belonged to me here, but I didn't have the opportunity to eat such delicious food. During the time we held out in Thessalonica, I ate hard bread with the soldiers, and the soup I drank had mud under my feet. Oh my God, I really don't know how I got through that time. But now, I have come to Athens and received a warm hospitality from the Athenians. Thank you very much, thank you very much." Then, Luca talked about his past, which is a wonderful piece of history.

He said a lot, but it was hard for these nobles. After all, he was the adopted son of Theodosius. They could only wait patiently for Luca to speak slowly. In order to show their approval and recognition of the speeches of the Purple Room members, they kept smiling throughout the whole process, and even applauded to show their approval at critical moments, just like they had been taught since childhood.

How could the pampered nobles endure the torture of hunger? Their smiles turned into bitter smiles because of hunger, and no one dared to touch the tableware without Luca's consent.

Seeing their ferocious faces, Luca took the opportunity to raise his glass and said loudly to everyone present: "Cheers to this rare gathering!"

"good!"

The nobles heaved a sigh of relief and raised their glasses, each looking like a prisoner who had been rescued from torture. They realized that this would be the end, but just in time, Luca's play had just begun.

"Everyone, enjoy yourself, don't be polite!" The nobles were waiting for this sentence. Luca said with a smile on his face, holding out his palm. This ordinary behavior was like God in the eyes of the nobles. They cast grateful eyes at Luca, and then pounced on the food like hungry wolves and devoured it.

Luca was not in a hurry for the food in front of him, although he was hungry. He played with the knife in his hand and a fork with two teeth like a pitchfork. These were tableware invented by Theodosius, and they soon became popular among the upper aristocrats of the Eastern Roman Empire.

"This is still considered a famine, right?" Luca asked thoughtfully to Arleto, who was dining elegantly beside him.

"Yes, sir." Arletto nodded, stuffed a piece of perfectly roasted beef into his mouth, chewed it and answered Luca: "God knows what happened. They all say that Attila is the Scourge of God. Disasters have never stopped since he besieged Constantinople. First, the earthquake caused the Golden Gate of Constantine to collapse, and then the drought caused the crops in the fields to fail. Slaves and civilians are starving, but we can't do anything. We can only save money and try our best to let them fill their stomachs so that they don't cause trouble."

"Is there no other way?" Luca frowned and asked Arletto, "My soldiers are also starving. It's a miracle that they can walk here from Thessalonica. They need enough food and enough military pay to maintain themselves, otherwise we can't go to the battlefield to resist Attila's attack!"

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"I understand what you mean, Lord Luca." Arletto said, and then picked up the wine glass and drank the wine in it. He was completely immersed in the feeling of enjoying the delicious food, and he was a little hesitant to answer Luca's questions. "I am beginning to understand your intention, Lord. You set up such a grand banquet and want the nobles in Athens to help solve the problem of maintaining the army." He put down the wine glass and looked at Luca with a serious face. He continued: "After all, these are thousands of mouths and thousands of hands. It's not a small number."

"I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Arletto." Luca tapped his wine glass with his knife, and asked gloomily, "Are you suspecting my greed or my intentional appropriation of your property?"

"No, no, no, that's not my idea, Master Luca." Arletto quickly put down his glass and explained hastily: "Listen, Master Luca, I don't mean to offend you, but you have to understand that if you want to get money from these nobles, you have to have something that can move them so that they can donate generously. After all, Basileus is too far away and is far less real than the Suledes in your hand."

"I don't understand your thinking, Athenians." Luca put down his knife. "It is undeniable that you are all excellent merchants, but now the Huns are looting in Macedonia and will soon reach the Peloponnese. Aren't you afraid that they will plunder you like they plundered Macedonia?"

Luca's words made Arletto stop eating. He put down his knife and fork, turned around and looked at Luca, his expression full of confusion, "Sir Luca, I am not the one who makes the decision here. No matter how much you complain to me, I cannot solve the problem of your military pay even for one Suledes."

"Sorry, I lost my composure!" Luga waved at Arleto, then turned his gaze to the nobles in front of him. They didn't care about the conversation between Luga and Arleto at all, and devoted themselves to enjoying the delicious food.

That's right, they just met Luca for the first time, how could they care about each other? They just used each other, just like now, who didn't come to enjoy the delicious food and be a mute in silence?

"I'm talking to you all!" Luga really couldn't help it. He shouted loudly, and finally made the nobles present put down their knives and forks, turn their heads and look at Luga, their eyes full of confusion.

(End of this chapter)