Chapter 676 Renegotiation

Andrew left with an uneasy heart, leaving Tenaia and her son staring at each other in bewilderment.

Tenaia's face was full of fatigue. She would never have thought that after so many years, everything around her had changed dramatically.

She didn't know why Andrew was in such a hurry to get Adnus, especially why he wanted Tenaia to agree to the wedding of Adnus and his daughter. It would only take a few years for him to reach the right age for a wedding, but before he could even think about the girl, he was already thinking about his own child.

Of course, Tenaia could tell from Andrew's words that he would definitely not tell Luga about this, at least not in the near future.

After nearly three months of preparation, in the early spring, Kessel finally felt that the time was ripe. He held the papyrus letter sent from Carthage in his hands while tidying up his clothes.

Walking out of the guest room specially prepared for him, he slowly went down the stairs holding the handrail. If he had not been recognized by the waiter who often saw him, he would probably have been regarded as a lowly barbarian and kicked out of this magnificent hotel.

This time he did not try to show the Romans his civilized side. He put on his coarse cloth shirt again and an ordinary robe over it.

At this time, the entire court and Senate of Constantinople were operating in an orderly manner, and taxes paid from all over the country were gradually filling the huge warehouses of Constantinople.

The streets were filled with merchants from all over Eastern Rome, selling all kinds of goods.

Kessel wandered on the street, looking at the citizens coming and going. They all glanced at him at the same time, their eyes full of confusion and curiosity.

The citizens of Constantinople who came and went from this Vandal from the south were very confused as to why this fellow dressed as a barbarian was not wearing chains. After all, the Romans were accustomed to the concept of barbarians as slaves.

They were watching Kessel, and Kessel was watching them. The city that had just experienced the war recovered from the war at an astonishing speed, and regained its vitality under the rule of Flavius, as if nothing had happened.

"The rulers play an amazing role in this!" Kessel sighed in his heart as he walked forward.

When he arrived at the gate of the palace, he handed over his pass, which was a roll of parchment with a double-headed eagle emblem on it.

He was already familiar with such a huge palace. Gradually, this palace that seemed mysterious when he first arrived slowly unveiled its mysterious veil before him.

Augustus's council hall was still packed with people as usual. This time, Cassell learned how to queue up and consciously stood at the end of the waiting crowd. In contrast, these picky Roman nobles did not look at him with disgust as before.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Kessel couldn't help but straighten his chest. Compared to before, he looked more confident this time.

Finally, he came to the door of the council chamber. The guard glanced at him, then turned back to the courtiers inside and said, "The Vandal messenger."

The courtier understood and turned around and shouted inside: "The Vandal envoy wants to see you."

"Can!"

A majestic voice came from inside, and the guard understood and turned around to nod at Kaiser.

Kessel took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. He realized that it was finally his turn. He showed an unfathomable smile, then took a step and slowly walked into the meeting hall.

He walked forward and finally came in front of Luga. Luga was sitting on the throne with a lazy look on his face, which was full of fatigue.

"I have been waiting for a long time, Lord Cathal, the Vandal messenger."

Luca seemed tired because he had received too many courtiers before, but he still gave Cesare a friendly smile and said to him: "Let me see what you have brought, Vandal envoy."

"Caesar!" Caesar saluted Luca solemnly, and then said to Luca: "My king Gaiseric has a question, that is, the tribute we paid originally belonged to Valentinian, but now Caesar asked us to give you the tribute that belonged to Valentinian. There is only one tribute, and giving it to Valentinian will not satisfy your request. But if we give it to you, we will not be able to give Valentinian an explanation. So, should we submit to Valentinian in the west, or to you, Caesar in the east?"

When Kessel asked this, all the courtiers present discussed privately, discussing the implications of Kessel's words.

This question really posed a big problem for Luca and the Roman courtiers in the court. No wonder they were talking about it. After all, who should they submit to? This was a question.

Seeing Luca's embarrassed expression on the stage, Kessel couldn't help but reveal a sinister smile, "Go ahead, Flavius ​​Luca, tell us who we should submit to."

This was equivalent to casting a vote for Luca, the most powerful man in Eastern Rome, whose words and deeds represented the attitude of Eastern Rome.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was a trap, because if he told Valentinian, the Vandals might still be perfunctory as before, but if Luca told himself, it would be tantamount to once again confirming the long-standing disagreement between the East and the West. The Vandals might then incite such remarks and arouse the anger of Western Rome, especially the attitude of the Senate in Rome.

After all, there were a considerable number of "outstanding people" of Vandal descent among them. If they openly opposed Luca, then both Valentinian and Aetius would certainly respond, after all, what Valentinian needed most was supporters, and so did Aetius.

Then according to the original statement, it didn't matter whether Valentinian or Luca paid tribute to anyone, which was tantamount to shooting oneself in the foot, after all, there was only one choice between Luca and Valentinian.

What a cunning Vandal envoy! All the courtiers present frowned at this question and couldn't think of any answer to his question for a while.

"This doesn't seem to be a problem." Luca paused for a moment and then resumed his lazy look. He leaned on the throne, and his brows showed full confidence. "As I said at the beginning, we are collecting tribute from the Vandals, not taking it all for ourselves. I can guarantee this with my honor."

"What's the meaning?"

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"What do you mean?" Luca repeated, snorted coldly, and then said: "Your country's protection of tribute has disappointed us. You know, as far as I know, the tribute that could reach Rome in the past few years was very few, far less than the amount in the original contract. I don't know why the Western Roman army deployed a whole fleet along the coast of Greater Sicily but could do nothing about the so-called pirates. So after thinking about it, we will do our best to deliver these tributes to Rome in person to fulfill the contract for your country, so as to prevent your country from falling into a talk without any credibility. After all, your life is not worth mentioning compared with the reputation of Gaiseric."

"But…"

Kessel was so angry that his face turned blue and purple. He wanted to argue something, but he didn't know where to start.

"Oh, I forgot!" Luca emphasized, "In order to safeguard the honor of your king Gaiseric and to ensure the reliability of the peace treaty between Rome and the Vandals, please go back and tell Gaiseric to make up for all the tributes that have not been delivered in the past ten years. In return, the powerful Roman navy will be stationed in the Greater Sicily to help your country solve the headache of pirates!"

"This is not against the rules!" Katel argued, shaking her head.

"No, no, no, this is very much in line with the rules." Luca said with a meaningful smile on his face. Now Kessel was at a loss for words.

"How can we be sure, then, that the tribute actually reached Rome?"

"Vandal." Luca's face gradually darkened. "So you have agreed to this on behalf of Gaiseric."

"I didn't!" Kessel argued. "It's impossible. It's impossible!"

Kessel's emotions were a little out of control, and Luca knew how to make him shut up. Luca waved to the etiquette officer beside him, and the etiquette officer immediately took out a papyrus and read it aloud.

"The combined fleets of the Black Sea and the Eastern Strait have assembled in Athens, and the newly formed Macedonian Legion and Alexander's field army will also meet in Crete..."

These noises clearly indicated that they were preparing for war! Regardless of their authenticity, these reports did calm Kessel down.

"Robber, robber!"

Even though Kessel was furious, he was helpless facing Luca in front of him. He finally lowered his head in submission.

(End of this chapter)