Chapter 6534 The Will of the Empire

Chapter 6534 The Will of the Empire

After all, the situation in the Roman Empire was dangerous to a certain extent, so much so that the letter presented by the Roman Senate to the Han Dynasty basically arrived in the Central Plains and Northern Europe at the same time as the document of enthronement of Yuan Tan.

In fact, the document conferring Yuan Tan the title of Duke of the Northeastern County of Rome may have arrived earlier. If it were not for respect for the law and rules, Yuan Tan might have received the Roman conferment before the Han Dynasty received the letter.

Even if Rome had made mental preparations and even if the Han Dynasty disagreed, it would forcibly enthrone Yuan Tan after informing the Han Dynasty. However, if it could obtain the Han Dynasty's tacit consent and then enthrone Yuan Tan, then at least the subsequent operations would not be so difficult.

"What? There's a locust plague in East Africa?" Severus looked at the young man sent by Sergio with a confused look on his face, and failed to clearly realize how serious the matter was.

"Yes, it's the locust plague in East Africa." Serrali explained helplessly. He also participated in the Senate meeting and could explain to Severus in detail the scale and lethality of the locust plague in East Africa. In short, Severus was stunned by what he heard.

As the Duke of the Roman Frontier County and the Governor of North Africa, Severus had seen locust plagues in Africa, but he had never seen such an outrageous plague. However, he knew the impact of locust plagues, so his expression became much uglier after listening. Especially when Serrali gave a complete description of the impact of a locust plague of such a scale, Severus' face turned even more grim.

"Does the Senate have a reliable solution at present?" Severus asked with a gloomy face. After what happened, it became a big problem whether the Nordic plan to besiege Odin could continue. The food consumption of the expeditionary force was no joke.

Seralis sighed and handed Severus the investiture document signed and filed by the Senate. Severus was stunned after reading it, then sat in his seat without saying a word, and began to think about how much benefit and disadvantage this thing would bring to the Roman Empire.

Severus already had an accurate understanding that the Seraph Ring was sealed, but he was still relatively more cautious about the subsequent canonization.

Of course, this was mainly because Nigel had the ability and power, and Severus was indulgent. Anyway, Severus had more than 200 loyal followers in the Senate. Even a guy like Nigel, who was so powerful that he had one-tenth of the Senate's barking power and had theoretically triggered the Roman emperor's strike line, was of no concern to Severus.

Although rights and obligations are not completely equivalent, once Yuan Tan is conferred the title of Duke of a Roman frontier county, he must at least be given a position in the Roman Senate. Whether or not to attend the meeting is one thing, and whether or not to have the position is another. If the other party is to fulfill his obligations, then the lowest level of authority must be delegated to him.

But if this authority is not given, then there is no point in enthroning him.

If Yuan Tan was allowed to be integrated into the Roman Empire, even if Yuan Tan had his own team and was allowed to be semi-independent from the imperial political system, his powers and interests could be greatly reduced, but his most basic rights and interests could not be touched.

"Go and find Emperor Huangfu and Perennis. We need to discuss something, and we also need to wait for the reaction of the Han Dynasty after being informed." Severus already had a plan in mind, so he said to Serali. After Serali left, Severus said to the shadow man behind him, "Letas, go inform Oswin, and then go back to Italy first. The country needs your strength."

So Nigel had more than thirty senator positions and Ganasis had more than twenty senator positions, but for Severus there was no difference at all.

This is also the reason why Sergio dared to bring Yuan Tan in. Even if he came in anyway, when I voted to hammer the Duke of the northeastern border county, it would be meaningless even if you voted no. The Claudius family with a patriarch is so arrogant.

If Yuan Tan was enthroned as a duke, he would be given the most basic powers and benefits. These benefits were there. As long as the duke of the northeastern border county had not fallen, sooner or later a political force would emerge to represent him and speak in the Senate.

So Severus went straight to the core of the problem. Compared with Sergio's description in the secret letter to Severus, he, as a military emperor, was more direct. He gave the newly arrived Duke of the Border County several positions in the Roman Senate. This was the most realistic and most basic interest.

"Yes, there is no other choice. Our current grain reserves cannot last until the second round of new grain arrives. We must sow seeds at this time. The only suitable location at the moment is Eastern Europe. Compared to mobilizing personnel to Eastern Europe, it is more appropriate for the existing Yuan family agricultural reclamation corps to undertake this task." Serrali explained.

Take the newly appointed Duke of the Northern March and Governor of Great Britain, Gordian, for example. Why was it confirmed that he would be the Duke of the Northern March three or four years ago, but the title and powers were only truly implemented this year? In fact, it is because the division of many powers and interests is not so easy to achieve. Each duke has a team that can operate semi-independently.

"Is there no other choice?" Severus asked Serali.

Every duke of a Roman border county has his own faction in the Senate. Ganasis does not appear in the Roman Senate all year round, but this does not prevent Ganasis from flying directly to the Roman Senate and slamming the table with Pompianus when the interests of the eastern border counties are damaged, and tearing off some of the interests from Pompianus with his unreasonable momentum.

After all, politics is the concentrated expression of economic interests. It is impossible to want the horse to run without feeding it grass.

Take the current Governor of the Atlantic, Duke Nigel, as an example. He has more than 30 senator positions in the Roman Senate. Although it cannot be directly determined that these people are all Nigel's people, when Nigel has any ideas, these people will take the initiative to help release them in the Senate, and then discuss them, form bills, and promote them by the state.

"Has the Senate discussed how many Senate seats to leave for Yuan after he accepted the enthronement?" Severus evaluated it in his mind and finally did not deny the fact. Indeed, compared to the Roman Empire organizing its own people to farm in Eastern Europe along the Don River, it would be faster and more effective for Yuan to farm and then collect taxes. However, if enthroned, there would be more than just obligations!

Anyway, the Claudius family has more than 200 senators, and Severus is the patriarch of the Claudius family. So when voting, they have to find dozens of people from their own family to play traitors. This is completely different from the situation in the past when the elite Roman emperors had nearly a hundred senators supporting them because of their own interests. In the past, the opposition parties in the Senate could join forces to fight against the emperor, but now...

What is a duke? This is a duke.

However, Sergio could not directly suggest in the secret letter how many senator positions should be left for the Duke of the northeastern border county, or even how to distribute them. After all, he was not the emperor, he was just an acting patriarch. How could he overstep his authority?

You better shout louder, I want to see whether the final vote can be passed. There is no way of blocking it. My die-hard fans can cast more than 200 votes themselves!

Over the years, Letas's combat effectiveness has not only not increased, but has even declined. However, his status has risen greatly from the Roman emperor's attendant to a tool of the Roman Empire. The guy who originally needed to be hidden because of his outrageous black history of killing Commodus now has his own special position in the Roman Empire, and everything that happened in the past is no longer pursued.

There is no other way. The only mature space teleportation technology currently available in the three empires was developed based on Letas's special abilities. As of now, if you want to carry out space teleportation smoothly, you still need Letas, the tool man, to coordinate.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Letas bowed and left quickly. Soon Perennis and Huangfu Song arrived at Severus' place, and when they came in, they saw Oswin sitting in his seat with a sullen face.

Severus did not hide anything and directly informed Perennis and Huangfu Song about the locust plague. Huangfu Song's face turned visibly unhappy when he heard this. After all, he had also seen locust plagues, and that thing was really too terrible. Especially after hearing what Severus said, that the last wave of locust plague in East Africa might have hundreds of billions, his head was buzzing, it was really too outrageous.

However, Huangfu Song thought that the locust plague occurred in East Africa, which was about 18000 miles away from the Han Dynasty, so he was not panicked at all. In addition, there was an ocean between them, so only Roman North Africa and other places would be affected by the disaster, which had nothing to do with the Han Dynasty, so he just watched it as a fun thing.

However, the news Severus gave Huangfu Song was completely stunned. Is this a locust? It can fly from Africa to South Asia and eat up all the food in Central Asia. Is it a locust? Are the locusts in Rome so outrageous? They can even fly across the sea!

"This is the current situation. I have already notified General Oswin in advance and asked the Kushans to take precautions. Although considering the scale of the locust plague, it is estimated that it will be of no use." Severus was somewhat sighing. The Han Dynasty had already produced a migration map of the locust plague, and Serali had also specially recorded a video. It was basically the rhythm of the three empires that the eldest brother did not mention the second brother, and they were all in trouble together.

The locust plague in East Africa has a very outrageous characteristic. It is normal to attack North Africa and Upper Egypt. After all, they are very close to the core area where the locust plague takes shape, so it is natural to be hit. But the outrageous thing about the locust plague in East Africa is that there will be a lot of locusts that will kill into South Asia.

Assuming that the scale of the last wave of locust plague is 200 billion, then there are about 100 billion locusts in North Africa and Upper Egypt. After a period of time, except for the tens of billions that remain in the original place to cause trouble, the remaining tens of billions will fly across the Red Sea, cross the Red Sea and catch up with the main force. The scale of the locusts is about 150 billion. The main force will wreak havoc in the Mesopotamian Basin, leaving 30 to 40 billion and then continue to move forward.

By the time it came to the three Persian Gulf countries, there were still more than 100 billion left. The three Persian Gulf countries were basically wiped out, and then tens of billions were left to be divided into small teams to occupy the Central Asian region and continue to cause harm. The remaining 80 billion all rushed to the Indus-Ganges core area.

This is the process that every generation of super locust plagues in East Africa will follow. In other words, Rome suffered the same amount of attacks as Kushan. In fact, because Kushan's climate was more suitable, tens of billions of locusts lingered directly in the Indus-Ganges core area for several months, eating up all the food!
This is also the reason why Oswald looked so pale. Eighty billion locusts ate the food of an army of 32 million people in one day. Even if the Kushan had abundant food reserves, it could not withstand such a swarm.

A few years ago, the production reductions in Pakistan and India were both calculated at 30%. It is no joke that tens of billions of locusts would rush over and feast there.

"So after our Han Dynasty finally caught its breath in Central Asia, it was directly reduced to its original form?" Huangfu Song looked at Severus with a gloomy face and said, there was no way, the shit pot was directly put on Rome, because East Africa was the radiation zone of the Roman Empire, and when something happened, of course the Romans had to bear the responsibility, even if the Romans said that it was really not their fault, the Han Dynasty and Kushan still put the shit pot on Rome!
"You are all doing well. There are only 20 to 30 billion locusts lurking in Central Asia, and at most a few hundred billion locusts passing through the Persian Gulf." Oswald said coldly. His brain was boiling at the thought that the core area of ​​his own Indus-Ganges River Basin would be destroyed by 80 billion locusts. Roman Empire, what you are doing is bullshit!

"This time it is not our Roman responsibility. The use of the Seraphic Ring was driven by the joint efforts of the three empires, and Rome only provided the technology." Severus said that he would not take the blame. The Seraphic Ring was used by everyone together, and it was not our Roman business.

"The locust plague started in East Africa. Didn't you Romans notice it at all?" Huangfu Song said with great sorrow.

Although the Huangfu family is full of big and small cats, do you believe Huangfu Song if he says that he has no interests in Central Asia? Believe it, there is no fiefdom belonging to the Huangfu family, but at least there is a military force controlled by Huangfu. Even if it cannot be shown openly, controlling one secretly is also the future. Don't fence-sitters know the benefits of fiefdom? This is a foundation for thousands of years.

"Of course we discovered it. The problem is that when we discovered it, we just thought it was an ordinary locust plague. We are all from military aristocrats, and you have all seen locust plagues. Have you ever seen a locust plague of hundreds of billions of locusts?" Severus said very impolitely. The shit pot must not be put on Rome. Even if it formed in East Africa, the three parties had to shoulder it together. "Besides, can you guarantee that your Han Dynasty's biological transformation technology and the Kushan beastly evil gods are behind the super locust plague?"

"Even if our Han Dynasty has a little bit of responsibility, your Claudius family in Rome is at least 80% responsible." Huangfu Song stopped pretending. Looking at the map, the fiefdom that his family actually controlled had been eaten up. Of course he had to curse. Everyone knew that the most outrageous family engaged in biological modification in Africa was your Claudius family. How could those rubbish in our Han Dynasty have such technology?

"Which bastard came up with the bloodline lock and unlocking reorganization evolution!" Before Severus could say anything, Perennis had already started cursing. He would not be intimidated by Huangfu Song, just an old dog!

"Who is this bastard who absorbs the breath of the external evil god and turns the core of living things into energy?" Huangfu Song was not polite either, as if he really thought that Huangfu Song knew nothing.

Oswald opened his mouth and wanted to curse. He didn't care about these things, but his status was high enough now, and the Kushans gave him a lot of negative information about the Han Dynasty and Rome.

Soon the Han and Rome began to blame the All-Spirits for their enlightenment and it looked like a war was about to break out. Severus was helpless as there were so many disasters worldwide and the troublemakers were all here. Even the Kushans, who pretended not to have caused any trouble, knew what they had done in Africa, as did the other two families.

"Shut up, now is not the time to blame each other. Now is the time for the survival of the Roman Empire. We can consider prevention and control of locusts later." Severus felt a headache after hearing this and stopped Huangfu Song and Perennis from arguing. Arguing would not solve the problem.

"What plans are there for the Roman Empire to take shape at the moment?" Oswald asked Severus.

"We can't fight the locust plague directly. We plan to mobilize some troops back to the country. We can't continue to put our forces in Northern Europe to besiege Odin." Severus said sincerely. Expeditionary forces consume a lot of food. In the current situation, as long as you have a sound mind, you will know what to choose. Let's stop the war in Northern Europe for now.

"I understand." Huangfu Song nodded. After all, the locust plague was such a big thing that the guarantee of logistics and food would become a big problem, so it would be better to retreat.

"Of course, only the soldiers with human bodies will retreat. The soldiers with alien bodies who do not need to consume food will stay here, and Perennis will be left behind to ensure that Odin does not wander around and cause new problems." Severus explained, and Huangfu Song nodded. In this case, he was also ready to lead the Yuan family to retreat, or at least withdraw part of the main force of the Yuan family.

"And then it's this." Severus handed the re-edited investiture document to Huangfu Song, investing Yuan Tan as the honorary duke of the northeastern county of Rome, ruling over Eastern Europe, exercising the right of tax farming, adding the title of Augustus, and recognizing Yuan Tan's rights and interests in various parts of Eastern Europe.

After reading it, Huangfu Song looked a little unhappy and frowned.

"I don't think Duke Zhong would be able to accept this kind of enthronement." Huangfu Song declined tactfully.

"The Han Dynasty has been notified. There will be news soon, and it is impossible to be a rejection." A map appeared in Severus' hand. On it was the area affected by the locust plague and the potential disaster-stricken areas. Huangfu Song looked at the map in silence. Rome, whose three major grain-producing areas had been completely annihilated, was willing to sit down and talk for the sake of the Han Dynasty's face. If they were really forced into a corner, they would have to do it themselves.

Either accept it and be a duke, or reject it and turn against it completely. This is the will of the empire!
　Climb, climb, climb, while taking care of the baby at home
　　(End of this chapter)