Chapter 722 Departure

In the morning, Li Jiniya sat in front of the dressing table, her head lowered, her hair messy. How could she tolerate her sloppy appearance in front of the mirror when she was taught to be neat and tidy since she was a child?

She did it. She didn't care about her appearance at all. She just held a parchment letter in her hand. It was the letter left by Luca for her, and it belonged to Likinia alone.

"Forgive me for not waking you up, Liginia. I swear I will keep my promise. I never break my promise. Believe me!"

Li Jinia looked at the letter and folded it neatly with an expressionless face. Everything seemed so natural.

"What a strange fellow." Likinia snorted coldly, showing that she was so disdainful of Luca's letter, but even so, she couldn't help sobbing. Then, she hugged the inconspicuous parchment tightly in her arms as if she had obtained a rare treasure.

Sitting in the carriage, opposite Luca sat Jovian, and in Luca's hand was a map of the defense line of the Danube River basin.

"Now Innobindes is too confident in his own strength. He always believes that he can handle these problems, especially when it comes to the Huns. I don't think we have any strength to maintain an offensive posture against the Huns, especially when the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia have not yet recovered."

"Caesar, what are you worried about?" Jovian looked at Luca with a frown. He couldn't understand what Luca was thinking at the moment.

"Caesar, you don't think highly of Lord Innobindes, so why did you appoint him as the commander of the Thracian field army?"

"Innobindes is too greedy. He longs to get more from the war to fill his purse. Of course, he wants to be a guy who has gained fame and money." Luca couldn't help shrugging his shoulders when he said this. He smiled at Jovian and continued, "Everyone has greed. Innobindes likes money and fame. There is nothing else to seek. I, Rome, can give him all these. Although it is a gift, it does not mean that he can do whatever he wants."

"What about Atilinnaeus, Caesar?" Jovian continued, "He is still a good veteran. His loyalty and reliability were proven during the last Augustus' tenure."

"Attilinnaeus?" Luca couldn't help laughing when he mentioned the name. "Yes, he was one of the veterans who followed me to conquer Africa. Of course, this status also gave him many privileges, but my minister, don't you feel that he is too old? He is so old that he is moody. This is not a good thing. It is better to hand over power to the new Romans. After all, only by passing on the glory can the current land and foundation of Rome be maintained, rather than some seemingly more brilliant reforms."

Jovian was silent for a moment, then raised his head and looked at Luca, and said slowly: "Does Your Excellency want to support young Roman generals and replace the old ones?"

"This cannot be a question at all. Am I right, Master Jovian?" Luca spread his hands. "Even if it is Master Innobindes or Master Atilinnaeus, sooner or later they will be too old to even lift a weapon."

"So you want me to choose a young general who can replace Innobindes."

"Let's go with Malenius." Luca answered without hesitation, "He has been following me since the establishment of the Ninth Legion. Although he is not as resourceful as Inobindus, he has made great achievements in battle. At least he is not as radical as Inobindus. As for targeting Atilinnaeus, I still need to trouble you to help me make a choice. I don't know much about the Southern Military Region, but the Eastern Military Region has been controlled by Zeno after the death of Cicedes."

"Can you really trust this, this barbarian?"

"I don't want to trust him more, my friend." Luca smiled bitterly, "But compared to the barbarians who are grateful and willing to go through fire and water just because you give them a surname, a wealthy noble who smiles but hides a dagger in his back is more worthy of caution."

Jovian did not answer, but just looked at Luca quietly.

"No matter what." Luca sighed lightly, "I'm not sure how other nobles would describe me in the parliaments of their own cities. I must ensure that I am not in Constantinople and maintain the absolute stability and loyalty of Constantinople and the surrounding areas with absolute advantage. Now the whole of Rome has survived the war. The population, civilization, cities, everything needs to be restored. This is not something that can be decided in one or two years. It may take ten, twenty, or even fifty years to restore the strength of the Romans. This requires a transition period, and I happen to be Augustus during this period. I must understand what I should do. After all, if I want to truly let Rome regain the strength to recover all the lands it can take back."

"This is also a fact, Caesar. After all, our finances are stretched to the limit. The construction of the Cathedral of St. Luculcanus has been suspended for a long time and is nowhere near completion. We really need more money to restore our former glory. If we expand our army because of the war, the coin minting workshop will need a lot of gold coins. With the current gold, doing so will only make the gold coins in people's hands less and less valuable."

"Wars are decided by the clinking of gold coins." Luca said, looking at Jovian with a meaningful smile. "I agree with you, just as I always keep honest with you."

"How could it be?" Jovian spread his hands and said to Luca embarrassedly, "An Augustus should maintain a sense of mystery for his subjects, but why did you tell me everything without reservation?"

Listening to Jovian's words, Lugano pursed his lips, shrugged his shoulders, and didn't say a word.

Then he looked out the window, watching everything outside breaking through the winter's snow, reviving and showing a green, vibrant scene.

There's nothing I can do anymore.

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Looking at this vibrant scene, Luca did not feel the slightest bit of joy in it. Instead, he felt sad. At the age of forty, he should not be so enthusiastic anymore.

Jovian disembarked from his carriage in the province of Macedonia. He was supposed to go north to Innobindes and his Thracian field army and tell them what Caesar wanted them to do.

Luca, along with Maximus and his Ninth Legion, were advancing slowly along the main road towards the west.

Soon, he would return to the country he had been away from for a long time. Luca leaned his head against the carriage, staring blankly out the window, moving forward day after day. This might be his last expedition. It was completely different from the proud feeling when he first returned to the Apennines. Luca was no longer the high-spirited man he was before. Even when he stood up in the sea of ​​blood, picked up the crown and put it on his head, he thought he had gotten used to the weight of the golden crown, but he never expected that the weight was getting heavier and heavier, until he couldn't lift his head.

(End of this chapter)