Chapter 6674 Plot
Chapter 6674 Plot
The current situation in Rome is indeed not very good. Although the super locust plague in Africa has been suppressed, the losses incurred during the locust plague are irreversible. The Roman Empire is actually short of food for millions of people this year.
Even though the unrest was suppressed and the situation was stabilized as much as possible by relying on the iron fist unique to the feudal monarchy and the powerful military force, the substantive problem was not solved. Food shortage is food shortage. Without the ability of five fish and two loaves of bread, one will die without food!
Therefore, it is absolutely not nonsense to say that the current Roman Empire is facing internal and external troubles. But even so, it is definitely not a reason for Cyprian to speak out in the Roman Senate.
"Internal and external troubles?" Sergio, the acting patriarch of the Claudius family, glanced at Cyprian and said with a sneer, "What do you mean by external troubles? What are internal troubles?"
"Isn't it Odin? Isn't it a barbarian who is short of food?" Cyprian retorted bluntly, "Maybe Odin really couldn't do anything to the Roman Empire before, but now, the utopia around the Mediterranean has been shattered. If Odin really wants to rush into the essence area at all costs, Rome, which has lost its ability to efficiently regulate the essence of heaven and earth on a large scale, can it refine it instantly?"
The three empires have actually been very clear about the nature of the Divine Guards by now. They are the physical essence of heaven and earth embodied by elite talents. This thing is really powerful. It does not need to eat, drink, defecate or urinate, and its combat effectiveness is reliable. If it rushes to the core areas of the three empires, burning, killing and looting, the three empires will not be able to withstand it.
But its nature is destined to make it instantly refined when faced with some outrageous things. Even though this means of instant refining requires a lot of preparatory work, the three major empires have their own homelands where they are building things. Even if there is a sucker like the Kushans who provide enough energy, it will not be a problem to directly build such a thing in the place where Odin is wreaking havoc in Northern Europe.
In fact, when the three empires joined forces to kill the locust plague in Africa, the special means finally used by Rome and the Han Dynasty were all things that could refine Odin into energy in an instant.
According to the output at that time, in the entire Nordic force, the only two idiots, Sigurd and Beowulf, who could withstand it. As for the others who could not fully control their own power, they would be instantly turned into nothingness and charged into the circulation of the magic circle as energy.
Therefore, the three major empires took the Nordic disaster seriously in the early stage. Later, after realizing the nature of the Divine Guards, they were actually not that afraid of Odin. What was there to be afraid of about something that could be refined in an instant? It was just a matter of input-output ratio at most. When it was really necessary, they would just refine it!
But this was before the African locust outbreak. By the time the African locust outbreak was over, most of the Kushan Empire's energy reserves had been drained, and the Roman Empire's utopia around the Mediterranean had suffered a large number of breaches due to the extreme output. In a short period of time, unless there were other big enemies like the Kushan Empire willing to invest such a large amount of energy, the Roman Empire's most powerful defenses would have no way of being activated.
As a result, the Nordic disaster, which was no longer a disaster, became a disaster again. Even considering the current serious food shortage in the Roman Empire, if Odin took the opportunity to choose to go south and mix with the barbarians within the Roman Empire, the Roman Empire would really suffer this time.
So logically speaking, Cyprian was not talking nonsense, he was really considering the issue from the perspective of the Roman Empire. It was just his tone and expression that really made the high-ranking officials of the Roman Empire very unhappy - damn, a beggar from outside the country actually came to our Senate to cause trouble, he is really brave!
In addition to what Cyprian had done, the Roman high-ranking officials were basically aware of it by now. The explosion of the Tianzhou Divine Kingdom was not something that could be easily glossed over, and Cyprian was at least the mastermind.
However, due to the other party's current identity, he was obviously a disgusting elder brought here by Yuan Tan, the Duke of the Eastern European Border County. Even if the senior members of the Senate had some ideas, they could not implement them at this time.
Therefore, facing Cyprian's verbal attacks, this group of people could only listen first. After all, no matter how malicious the proposal was, as long as the other party's brain was not problematic, there would at least be an internal logic. Although the characteristics shown by Cyprian at the moment were not very clear, he was indeed considering the stability of the Roman Empire. But how to say it, how can you believe the words coming out of the mouth of this wanted criminal?
"What? Does the Roman Empire have the ability to create grain out of thin air?" Cyprian said with a somewhat teasing tone.
"Not really." Sergio said after a moment of silence. Then, while the others were shocked, Sergio continued, "Cyprian, we don't really want to pursue what you did in the past. After all, by chance, you appeared in the Senate as the Duke of an Eastern European border county and became a Roman senator. So we won't dwell too much on the past."
Cyprian looked at Sergio expressionlessly, thinking that the other party was just talking nonsense, while Xu You looked at the people in the Senate with great interest. Recently, the Roman Senate had been discussing how to stabilize the internal situation, and they, as well-known traitors, sat in the Senate and listened, and even spoke from time to time, which felt pretty good.
More importantly, only by sitting in the Roman Senate could Xu You see the Roman Empire more clearly, and everything discussed here recently gave Xu You a clearer understanding of this empire that had been suppressing their Zhong Kingdom. It was very strong, but not invincible.
"Euside, bring the information here." Sergio called to his nephew who was working as a recorder here. As he said, if a handyman can come to a place like this, he is basically a backup for these positions. After all, Euside's last name is Claudius, so he really has a position here that needs to be inherited, and this is not a joke.
"Cyprian, you are indeed a genius, but there are only three empires in this world, and you don't understand the true meaning of this sentence." Sergio said to Cyprian calmly, and then handed Cyprian the information brought by Eusedai.
Cyprian didn't understand, but just a glance at the Latin text on the document made his pupils shrink suddenly, and then he quickly read it, analyzed it, and mastered it. Cyprian picked up the wooden cup of water at hand and tried it on the spot.
A special secret technique was released from Cyprian's fingertips. Under the influence of the special magic circle of the Mediterranean Utopia, the wooden cup was decomposed on the spot. Then Cyprian stretched out his hand and touched the residue, and then his expression became much more solemn.
"This is a high-level secret technique - grain making. Under the effect of special secret techniques, wood and water can be converted into edible starch." Sergio said calmly, "So, you don't need to worry about the Roman Empire's food shortage. We just want to see who has the intention to do so. As for the military force to suppress the rebellion, I think you have absolute confidence even if you stand on the opposite side of us, right?"
There is no doubt that Cyprian is confident in the military power of the Roman Empire. With such a powerful force that can even defeat the Tianzhou Divine Kingdom, there is no need to consider the issue of strength at all. To put it bluntly, except for the Han Dynasty and Kushan that are fighting each other now, other things are not even opponents for Rome.
At the same time, when Sergio said this, the elders sitting in certain corners of the Senate couldn't help but show some strange looks.
"Is this the secret technique of turning wood and water into edible starch?" Xu You looked at Sergio in shock as he reached out to touch the product that Cyprian had made using the secret technique with a wooden cup and water. After tasting it, his expression became much weirder.
It is not completely converted into starch, there is still a lot of wood residue in it, but to be honest, it is not deadly enough. It is enough to deal with the barbarians. Even in the Han Dynasty more than 20 years ago, it was life-saving food.
"The technology doesn't seem to be mature enough yet." Cyprian said as he pinched the fine powder with his fingertips.
"It won't kill people anymore, so what's the problem with non-citizens eating starch with sawdust?" Sergio said calmly and directly. The class is so obvious. The Roman Empire was an empire responsible for the Roman citizens. As for non-citizens, it was good enough to have starch with sawdust. Not dying was a victory. What else did they want?
"What's more, technology? Humph, there are only three empires in this world. Who are you talking to?" Sergio said to Cyprian with arrogance on his face.
"It's not really a problem." Cyprian was silent for a while and stopped dwelling on this technology. Since Sergio could come up with this technology and let Cyprian learn and use it on the spot, it was enough to show the maturity of this technology.
"Let's move on to the next topic." Seeing that Cyprian was no longer talking, Sergio looked at Pompianus and spoke. Pompianus also looked at his acting patriarch with a look of astonishment. There is such an outrageous secret technique in the family? Shit, why didn't I know about it!
The Senate meeting lasted the whole morning, and Xu You and others were quite eye-opening. When the meeting was adjourned, this group of people, as the power of the Duke of the Eastern European border county, collectively booked a bathhouse to have fun. There was no other way, as this was the custom in Rome, and even though Xu You was a little unhappy, he had to follow the local customs.
"What's the grain-making technique?" After the meeting, the real powerful leaders in the Roman Senate held a small meeting in another place. After all, big matters should be handled in small meetings so that quick decisions can be made.
"Yeah, is there such a secret technique in the family? I've never heard of it. If there is such a secret technique, why should we give so many benefits to the Yuan family? Are we looking for trouble?" Ulpian asked Sergio unhappily. Cyprian learned and mastered the secret technique on the spot. Ulpian also tasted the starch produced. It was just like what Sergio said, what's wrong with sawdust? Just tell me if it is starch. Can it prevent people from starving to death?
There is no doubt that Cyprian, who learned and mastered this secret technique on the spot, took the wooden cup distributed by the Senate and directly made something that could be used as food for the barbarians. Why should the Roman Empire cede its interests to the Yuan family?
"This is too wild, making starch directly from wood, who on earth came up with this? This is too outrageous." Herodian also looked at Sergio with surprise.
"We didn't invent it. We asked the Kushan Empire for it. And it's not as good as you think. Cyprian learned it and used it on the spot. That's because he was in the Senate and Cyprian's qualifications were indeed extraordinary. Otherwise, it would never have been possible." Sergio said unhappily, "This is Papinian's plan to stabilize the country."
Under certain conditions, wood can be converted into starch, sucrose and glucose. In fact, in reality, an enzyme in termites can do this, the concentrated hydrochloric acid method in chemistry can also do this, and methods such as hydrolysis can also achieve this effect.
In essence, this secret technique of the Kushan Empire only speeds up the transformation process, and there are still some problems that cannot be transformed during the process.
As for the origin of this secret technique, it was actually because some Kushan researchers saw Dalit Dawn members chewing wood to obtain nutrition and even strengthen themselves, and they felt it was very strange, so they conducted special research. Although there were some problems in the research direction, the researchers on the Kushan side did develop a special secret technique to convert wood into starch.
However, this secret technique consumes a lot of energy and is difficult to master. Even though Cyprian mastered it quickly after reading it once, the problem is that Cyprian's level is rare even in world history.
Of course, most Roman senators did not know how outrageous Cyprian's true level was, but as the helmsman of the Claudius family, Sergio had to detect and manage those who might threaten the existence of the Roman Empire. Therefore, even if Sergio did not find out the truth about Cyprian's true level, he would still have a relatively accurate judgment.
For an empire of this level, the ability to determine qualifications can be obtained on the spot if desired as long as one is willing to invest. Moreover, the Roman Empire is no pushover. It was just that it was not worth it before, but it is worth it this time.
Therefore, the old judge Papinian asked Sergio to perform a play in the Senate through Cyprian for the senators, a play called "Arrogant Roman Empire can get enough food and grass, but just wants to see how many people will disobey the management of the Roman Empire."
After all, ever since the Duke of Eastern Europe appointed Cyprian to come to the Senate, the rebelliousness shown by Cyprian made all the senators realize that this man was here to sabotage them, and the young and hot-tempered Cyprian would never be able to make peace with the Claudius family, the core power of the Roman Empire. So what Cyprian did would definitely not be a deliberate cooperation.
"There are some true traitors in the Senate." Sergio said slowly, "The resurgence of the barbarian turmoil is driven by some people in the Senate. These people have different ideas, but generally they are dissatisfied with us."
The Claudius family was too large, so large that its mere existence had squeezed the living space of other senators. Even if there was a food shortage, unrest should not have broken out at this time, because last year's food had not yet been used up. Moreover, with the Mediterranean Sea behind them, the Roman barbarians could use some fish and meat to supplement their food supply for a while.
Theoretically speaking, if the Roman Empire was really going to be in turmoil due to food shortage, it should have started from now. In fact, the turmoil in the Roman Empire started with the first round of locust plague. You should know that during the first round of locust plague, the Roman Empire did carry out disaster relief to some extent.
In this situation, the top leaders of the Senate actually knew whether there was someone behind the rapid outbreak of unrest. However, at that time, Sergio and others had not really considered the possibility that the enemy was in the Senate. It was only as time went on that this possibility became more and more obvious, which led to Papinian's suggestion.
"Cyprian will never cooperate with us. He would like to destroy us Romans. So it is very important for him to use this true secret technique to directly transform the wooden cup into starch. This is the most illustrative point." Sergio said with a deep expression.
"Give me the secret technique and let me try it." Ulpian said to Sergio, and Sergio did not refuse. After Ulpian took it, he quickly read it twice, then closed his eyes and thought for a while, raised his hand and performed it, and the wooden plate in front of him was directly transformed into starch mixed with wood chips.
"In that case, there is nothing wrong with this secret technique." Pompianus pinched some of the powder and felt it. There was fine starch and rough wood residue. "It is indeed the art of making grain."
"Nonsense, if it's fake, it will be exposed. Of course it's real." Sergio sneered, "In fact, this grain-making technique can really convert wood into starch, but the energy consumption is very high. Your current level is the result of my best efforts to balance energy consumption and output. The energy consumption may still be ridiculously high. If we were not in the central area of the Mediterranean Utopia, this secret technique would not be able to be performed."
"Oh, Kushan relies on supermodel clouds, I understand." Ulpian teased.
“In any case, the secret technique is real. Those elders who have changed their minds will compare it again and again and will definitely confirm this in the end. In this way, the problem becomes that the arrogant Claudius family wants to see how many trash want to go against them.” Sergio said with a sneer.
"This is indeed a way to solve the problem. At least after seeing this operation, even if there are elders with ulterior motives, they will have to consider how to deal with this matter." Herodian nodded.
The grain-making technique actually cannot produce much grain due to energy consumption issues, but other people don't know this. The only thing they can be sure of is that the acting patriarch of the Claudius family took out this thing, and it is absolutely impossible for Cyprian, who had no intention of making peace with the Claudius family, to learn and master this secret technique on the spot, and then used the wooden cup to make starch.
It doesn't matter whether it's slag or not. Sergio said that to everyone. It sounds outrageous for the arrogant Claudius family to make such a statement, but if you think about it carefully, if you really combine it with reality, there is nothing wrong with it.
"This operation can reduce the intensity of the civil unrest to a certain extent. Our food reserves are already insufficient. If we suffer losses due to the unrest, the trouble will only be greater. So now we should stabilize those who have ulterior motives and make them think that we are doing this on purpose and will not give up the food even if we have it." Sergio instructed the core members of the family.
"I will remember to urge for food and grass. I will urge you when the treasury is empty." Pompianus said, and Sergio did not refute. In fact, when the treasury was empty, there would probably not be much food and grass left in the Claudius family's reserves, but the show still had to go on.
"Give citizens some extra." Ulpian half-closed his eyes, like a fox.
"Deliberately creating conflicts and showing that we do have food and grass, and is consistent with our performance in the Senate this time?" Sergio said with some embarrassment.
There was no other meaning. Sergio was afraid that if he didn't control the degree well, the barbarians would become excited and explode as a whole. In that case, even if the Roman Eagle Legion was in its hands, it would not be easy to suppress them.
Moreover, if it really came to that, the other senators would certainly use public opinion to force the Claudius family to release grain, or at worst use grain-making technology to produce huge quantities of starch containing sawdust to maintain the stability of the Roman Empire. But these two are just tricks in themselves, and once they are exposed, it will really explode!
"You must have several candidates, right?" Ulpian looked at Sergio and said, he must know who the elders with ulterior motives are, right?
"It's still a little dangerous. I can't grasp the degree. What is happening in Central Asia tells me that all those who think they can control the hungry people will be eaten by them." Sergio was silent for a while and rejected Ulpian's proposal. The other party's proposal was good, but the current situation of the Roman Empire meant that it had to be stable now and it was impossible to take risks on this matter.
"Forget about that. Let's maintain the status quo for now. You have already released the information that you should have released. Generally speaking, judging from the performance of the Claudius family, others can still trust them." Pompianus thought about it and felt that it was too risky to do these things at this time.
"Then let's do this." Seeing that no one on the scene supported him, Ulpian gave up his radical idea reluctantly. "By the way, who is leading the optimization of grain production technology here?"
"We can't get out in a short time. The conclusion given by the Kushan Empire is that we are a bit behind them in terms of secret techniques." Sergio sighed and said, "But now no one knows the real situation, this level is enough."
On the other side, Xu You and others who had returned from the big baths, after returning to the Duke of the Eastern European Border County's office in Rome, immediately asked Cyprian to use the grain-making technique again.
After using the grain-making technique for more than a dozen times and producing a lot of starch rich in wood residue, Xu You asked Cyprian to stop, and then found professionals to use special methods to analyze the starch. Finally, it was determined that except for having more impurities, the starch was no different from the normally obtained starch, and was real starch.
So the question turns to what Sergio said before, it really doesn’t matter whether it contains sawdust or not, what matters is that it is indeed starch, something that can make people full!
"The Roman Empire actually has such means." Xu You looked at the steamed buns made with the starch created by Cyprian, picked up one, took a bite, it was a bit prickly in the mouth and the taste was also terrible, and it was a bit irritating in the throat when swallowing, but it was still okay to say that this was a steamed bun that could fill the stomach.
"Now a new question arises. If the Roman Empire had this means, why did it incorporate Duke Zhong into the Roman Empire and make him a Duke of a border county?" Sima Yi took a bite of the starch bun rich in wood residue, swallowed it with difficulty, then put the bitten starch bun aside, and watched Xu You eat the whole bun with an expressionless face.
"That's my doubt, too. The only explanation is that this secret technique appeared after we were lured into farming." Xu You sighed and said, "But that's not important. What's important is that this secret technique has changed a lot of things. The Claudius family is indeed very arrogant."
"Cyprian, what do you think?" Sima Yi looked at Cyprian and asked.
"I'm just wondering why they wanted me to see this secret technique?" Cyprian frowned. "No matter what, this thing shouldn't be in my hands. This is not a question of whether the Claudius family is arrogant or not, but a more realistic question. How can I get access to this secret technique? Apart from anything else, this secret technique is definitely no less than any special great secret technique. It's already a national-level thing. What's my rank in Rome? How can I get such a thing?"
Sima Yi raised his eyebrows and looked at Cyprian with surprise. What the people in the game see is completely different from what the outsiders see. Therefore, when the people in the game tell the outsiders certain information, the outsiders can get even more than the people in the game.
"Sergio is using Cyprian as a magician." Xu You turned his head to look at Sima Yi and said, Sima Yi nodded, he also thought so.
"It should be a very important factor that Cyprian can use this secret technique." Sima Yi looked at Xu You seriously and said, "Cyprian, please explain this secret technique. Even if there are special taboos in this secret technique, I think you should be able to bypass it with your ability."
Cyprian was silent for a while, and began to test the logic of the ban on this secret technique. He soon found out some clues and began to show them to Sima Yi. After Sima Yi looked at it for a long time, he finally determined that it would be difficult for him to learn this secret technique based on these parts alone.
"This secret technique is very difficult, more difficult than anything I've learned before." Sima Yi frowned, "This seems to be one factor. Cyprian's ability to learn and use it on the spot is another factor. It seems that there are a lot of calculations involved, but they are not against us."
When it comes to conspiracy, Cyprian is not as good as Sima Yi. Under the premise of such incomplete information, what Cyprian can figure out and what Sima Yi can figure out are completely different things. At least when Cyprian is still confused, Sima Yi is basically certain that Cyprian has been used as a tool by the Claudius family.
Fortunately, Cyprian was not the other party's target, so...
"There are people with ulterior motives in the Senate." Xu You, who was playing with a round chalcedony the size of a pigeon egg, gave his own judgment, "Zhongda, I'll leave it to you to contact them."
Sima Yi felt helpless when he heard this, but he did not refuse. After all, Xu You was the leader among this group of people, and the others, whether it was him or Cyprian, were just deputies.
"Do you want to have an open contact?" Sima Yi looked at Xu You and asked. Although both were possible, they represented different attitudes and approaches.
"It's an open and aboveboard connection. We told Rome a long time ago that we are not here to join Rome, but to overthrow Rome. So why should we hide this connection?" Xu You said casually.
Sima Yi nodded upon hearing this and quickly left with his men. What he had to do next was to find these treacherous guys and win them over to the Duke of Eastern Europe's camp. This way, even if these people did something wrong, they would still have a golden ticket to avoid death.
After all, Yuan Tan, the Duke of Eastern Europe, was openly anti-Roman, and everyone in Rome should know this, so is it a problem for some guys who have defected to the Duke of Eastern Europe to do something anti-Roman? We need to tolerate him, at least at this time.
Isn't this a get-out-of-jail-free card?
No matter how rubbish the senators of the Roman Senate are, they are still outstanding figures among hundreds of thousands of people. They may be stupid because of their buttocks, but they are definitely not completely brainless. Therefore, when they take a wrong step and are completely finished, it is definitely a win-win situation for them to receive a golden medal of immunity from death from the Duke of a border county in Eastern Europe.
"Cyprian, do you have any idea of visiting the Han Dynasty?" After watching Sima Yi leave, Xu You looked at Cyprian who was frowning and thinking and asked.
"Go to the Han Dynasty?" Cyprian was slightly stunned when he heard this. "That's fine. I've been to many places in the Roman Empire, even the Senate. On the contrary, I have never seen another powerful empire. If I have the chance to go, as long as I'm not too busy, I would like to go and take a look."
"At the beginning of next year, it will be the third five-year plan of the Han Dynasty. The Yuan family needs to send powerful personnel to the Han Dynasty. At present, the lord, the princess, and the concubine are unable to leave their fiefdoms, and I need to stay in Rome. Only Youruo can lead the team, so I ask you if you want to go." Xu You did not hide it and told the truth.
"Early next year, there will be enough time, and I can go with you then." Cyprian thought for a moment and made sure he had time, then he spoke excitedly.
After all, that was the Han Empire, which stood at the top of the world like Rome. Cyprian would naturally not refuse the opportunity to participate in the highest-level meeting of the empire.
Divide the chapters yourself. Anyway, I have tried my best. Sigh












