Chapter 658 Money

For Levi, whether this was considered a deception or not, Luca didn't know. He was even more curious about how Levi would view him after knowing all this, whether he would say he was a good man or a beast who only made others eat his leftovers.

But it doesn't matter. Whether the result is good or bad, let Levi decide for himself. I also hope that Anai's spirit in heaven can accept this infatuated guy to look after her grave. After all, in this ambiguous relationship, no one wins.

Luca sat in the carriage. He took out the ring tied around his neck from his underwear. Looking at this plain-looking silver ring, Luca could only sigh that things in the world are impermanent. When faced with the many choices in life, everyone is like a disabled person with one hand. Faced with two equally tempting cakes in front of him, he can only choose one of them. Unfortunately, he can only choose one.

In the morning, just as the sky was getting light, in this still somewhat chaotic time, citizens from all the streets of Ludinan had already gathered outside the Governor's Palace.

They gathered in the Flavius ​​Square, quietly looking at the gallows in the middle that took a whole night to erect. Everyone's face was filled with anticipation, and they were all eagerly waiting to execute the defeated barbarian captives and hang them in public, because only in this way could the Romans' enthusiasm for killing be satisfied, and only in this way could the Romans know that Rome was still strong, and the barbarians who invaded Roman land would have only such a fate.

In the meeting hall of the Governor's Palace, Luca sat in the innermost seat. Aetius, a senior official, and even Pope Leo were on Luca's right, while the officers and aristocratic bureaucrats of the next level stood on the left.

Maybe because they drank too much last night, everyone present looked listless, especially Leo, the Pope. He stood there coughing. If he were given a seat, he would probably fall asleep.

"Originally we captured more than 10,000 prisoners, but the journey back was long and many of the prisoners had wounds. God did not appease his wrath, so he brought death upon their heads." As a subordinate that Aetius trusted quite a lot, Tereus stood up to report to Luca the number of prisoners at the time, but his words were quickly interrupted by Luca.

"Listen." Luga raised his hand and continued, "I am not interested in your explanation of how these prisoners died. I just want to know how many of them are still alive."

"More than 7,000 people," Tereus answered. Then, he looked at Aetius standing opposite him. Aetius nodded slightly. Tereus immediately said to Luca, "Caesar, for the remaining barbarian captives, we have already discussed with the slave traders who are waiting here. They will buy 6,500 of them who are intact, and each of them will be 15 solidus. After calculating the finances, 10 solidus will belong to the Roman treasury."

"Fifteen Souledes?"

Luca repeated, raised his head and looked at Aresio not far away, and then asked: "Aresio, fifteen Suledes per person, is this price reasonable?"

"It should be changed to 20 Suledes per prisoner." Alessio shrugged and said to everyone, "After all, the gold content of Suledes coins has decreased a lot now, so they should be more expensive, not so cheap."

As soon as Aresio finished speaking, the officers and courtiers under Aetius present all looked embarrassed. They looked at each other, especially Aetius, who pretended to be calm and stood there without saying a word.

"Let's do it this way, Aresio." Luca said directly to Aresio, "After all, these are Roman prisoners, so I decided to transfer fifteen solidus from the sold prisoners to the Roman central treasury, and five solidus from them to the army of Lord Aetius to make up for the losses."

This was a big piece of fat meat that was cut off. I'm afraid Aetius didn't expect that Aresio was familiar with the current market, so he was able to reveal the real price. Luca was able to take away half of his gains, and he couldn't show any dissatisfaction. This was the most torturous aspect.

After Attila's army retreated north of the Rhine, the alliance between Luca and Aetius should have collapsed. Luca knew this better than anyone else, so he would not give in on issues of interest, even if friction and cracks occurred.

"Then let the Romans decide the fate of the remaining 500 people. There is no point in keeping these guys alive who can't even be slaves."

"I object, Caesar."

At this time, Aetius stood up. He cleared his throat, looked up at Luca, and said slowly, "There are more than 6,500 slaves. If they are put into the market, it will impact the price of existing slaves. So, Caesar, I would like to ask, how can we protect the rights of our slave traders?"

This was obviously a challenge, proving that Aetius was unwilling to let go of these large numbers of barbarian captives without getting enough benefits. He wanted Luca to make some concessions, and Luca saw it clearly.

"Oh, isn't this the agreed price?" Luca looked at Aetius with a smile, but got no reply.

"Slaves are a group of completely unreliable guys. They are lazy and greedy, and they may betray their masters at any time. It would be better if they could be sold, but the prerequisite is that everyone must be tied with heavy shackles to prevent them from escaping."

Luca didn't want to let such a large sum of money slip away, nor did he want Aetius to get too much.

"Let me put it this way. For every slave I give you, I will give you seven solidus. Sir Aetius, you should know how to explain this to the slave owners. If this doesn't work, I'm afraid we will have to kill all those who are not sold."

Aetius' Adam's apple moved up and down. He wanted to raise the price. Yes, he tried to get more. But when he looked up, he saw Luca's cold gaze. He gave up the idea of ​​bargaining and could only nod.

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Afterwards, Luca met with Pope Leo alone, handed the tip of the Spear of Longinus to Leo and said, "Papa, I plan to give you the remaining tip, and take the butt to Constantinople and store it in the church there."

"I understand what you mean, Caesar." Leo took the spear tip with a smile. "This is also something worthy of your remembrance. I am particularly grateful for your willingness to not take a single cent."

"Papa, this is nothing." Luca smiled at Leo, revealing helplessness in his smile. "After all, I belong to the East. This money is insignificant. But for Rome, it is extremely important, although it is a drop in the bucket for the huge financial budget of the empire."

"You are a great man, Luca, no, Lucuganus." Leo held Luca's shoulder and said solemnly: "I will keep this spearhead. Of course, the church will not forget your contribution, Luca, the great Luca."

(End of this chapter)