Rome must fall.

Chapter 201 Segestika’s plan
"I don't know what the reward you are talking about is?" Budokaribas asked with interest.

"I want your people to work in my tribe, mainly to help the people of my tribe cultivate the land. Many of my Nix people were originally engaged in fighting or other industries and were not very good at farming, and you The tribe has been living on this land by the river. They know the habits of the land here and are better at farming than them...

After the fields are harvested next year, I think those of you who come to help will be able to get at least 1% to 2% of the harvest of the land planted. Of course, it may be more. As for the specific amount, it depends on the private opinions of both our ethnic groups. The result of the negotiation. "

In this regard, several leaders gathered together to discuss quietly, and finally expressed their willingness to consider Maximus's suggestion.

At the request of the Ardei leaders, Maximus quickly made an oath with them, which roughly means: when the Nyx tribe attacks the Pannoni, these Ardei tribes will send troops to help, and after victory, Maximus must then allocate part of the land to these tribes in the newly occupied Pannonian territory. The allocated land must meet the living needs of all the tribesmen. These tribal leaders must support the tribesmen to come to work in the Nix tribe, and the remuneration they deserve will be determined by the tribesmen of both sides through discussion...

The oath was engraved on the wooden board, and both parties signed their names or pressed their fingerprints. Apart from swearing to abide by the oath to the gods they respected, there was no other solemn ceremony. The main thing was that Budokaribas hoped that both parties could Keep it a secret and don't let anyone else know about it.

Maximus was of course happy to comply.

After doing this, several leaders refused Maximus's banquet and hurriedly left Snodia. Halfway through, Tenedorotis stopped and stood on the river bank, looking back at the place. The village is bustling with people.

"Don't look at it. Since we have all signed the oath, it is equivalent to giving up the land that once belonged to us, but I believe that Chief Maximus will allocate us land that is not much worse than here in accordance with the oath." Cleo Nidas said with relief.

"No, I'm not reluctant to part with the land I owned in the past, I'm looking at that -" Tenedorotis raised his right hand, pointing in the direction of the wooden bridge spanning both sides of the Kupa River, although there were still There are many craftsmen busy at work, but its framework has been built, the bridge deck is almost finished, and it is already passable...

"That makes sense."

"All the races here are not good." Budokaribas said: "And the Nyx tribe can fight and build such a bridge. They settled here and may want to change everything here. This is why The reason why we are willing to sign an oath with Chief Maximus is that I think we have made the right choice!”

"This is our only hope, isn't it?!" Budokaribas' rhetorical question caused several others to fall silent.

Cleoneidas asked: "Budokaribas, your tribe is now separated on both sides of the bank, connected by a small pontoon bridge. I heard that the pontoon bridge suddenly broke last year and many people fell into the water. Why didn't you just do that? Ask Chief Maximus to help you build a wooden bridge like this?"

Then Ciceliotes said loudly: "I think we should try our best to help the Nyx tribe to make it stronger and more capable of defeating the Pannonians, so that we can not only get the land, but also get Maxim Other rewards from Leader Si, such as building a bridge..."

And they had built such a bridge within a few months of coming here! Who among the Pannonians, Boii, Skodisci, the rumored Dacians, or us can do it? "

At this moment, Tenedorotis said with emotion: "I'm looking at that bridge, a real bridge! Our tribe has lived here for decades and has been troubled by how to cross the river. We have built several floating bridges. It's always washed away during the rainy season, so I mostly rely on boating...

Before entering the main house of Snodia to discuss with Maximus, several leaders specially ran to the root of the bridge and looked at it again and again.

Budokaribas shook his head and said: "We are here to talk about important things today. I cannot affect everyone because of my personal affairs. Besides, we will obtain new territories in the future, and if we want to build, we must build on new territories. Why waste time building a bridge in that small place!”

The other leaders nodded in agreement.

"It seems you are really confident that you can get land from the Nyx tribe."

"I agree!"

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After several Ardei tribe leaders left, Maximus fell into deep thought. After making the oath with them just now, he realized that the Ardei tribe was not a monolith: the conflicts between the landless tribes and the non-landless tribes, and the Arko The great leader of Upagos is actually seriously ill... There should be something to be done about this... Maximus patted the arm of his chair, not realizing that Akago had already walked up to him: "Chief, Picris requested See you!”

"Oh, Pygris is back, please come in."

Pigaris walked into the hall, and Maximus looked him up and down: "It seems that you didn't bring any good news."

"Chief, there is no good news, but there is no bad news either." Pygris sat down at the empty seat closest to Maximus, picked up the water glass and took a sip, and then said: "Segostica people They rejected our proposal to withdraw from the banks of the Kupa River, but they recognized the land we occupied and said they would not ask for it back.”

"They still want to claim back the land we occupy?" Maximus laughed contemptuously.

"However, they did not refuse our request that if we want a ceasefire, Segostika must make compensation. They just proposed, "If we can release all the captured Segostika soldiers and their families, they Willing to pay a large ransom', including a large amount of grain and livestock..."

"Well..." Maximus pondered for a while and said: "It seems that the people of Segestica are quite eager for an armistice. From what I learned before... the leader of Segestica was seriously injured and unable to govern. The noble named Kabdus whom we once captured was temporarily replaced, and the entire tribe was relatively turbulent... These circumstances are consistent.

Now that the entire tribe of Segestika is in a bad situation, they have to temporarily surrender, so all the captives in Segestika must not be released, otherwise it will be our turn to have a headache if it suddenly regains its strength... I We can release 500 to 1000 people. You can determine the specific number, but the ransom must be high in order to solve our food shortage problem. "

"Okay, leader." Pigris rolled his eyes and said with emphasis: "I have an idea. After we decide on the number of prisoners to be released, we can ask the Segestika people to list who they want to release. We can refer to the list, but we may not necessarily release people exactly according to the list..."

Maximus thought for a moment and understood Pigris's intention: the leaders of Segestica decided to release the prisoners, which transferred the conflict to them, and the families of the prisoners who were not released would There is resentment against the leaders, and based on their origins, the release lists listed by the Segostika leaders are probably mostly prisoners with higher status, which will undoubtedly increase the conflict with ordinary people... This was a conspiracy, and even if the leaders of Segestica knew it, they had to do it.

"Good idea, let's do it like this." Maximus praised.

Pygris chuckled and said: "The Segestica messenger hopes that the term of the armistice agreement will be temporarily set for one year. If both parties abide by the agreement within one year, then they are willing to renew the armistice. agreement……"

"One year? It seems that we and the Segestica people want to go together." Maximus smiled.

"Yes, these Segestica envoys say nice things, but they actually want to deceive a year of peace so that they can solve their tribe's troubles and regain some strength. When the armistice agreement expires, maybe they will Declare war on us," Pygris reminded slightly angrily.

"Isn't that what we think too." Maximus stretched out his fingers calmly and tapped the arm of the chair: "What about armistice and peace? In the end, the ownership of this land must be determined by force."

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At the beginning of December, it was already winter. Although Snotia and Vesterni were not too far from the coast, compared with the pleasant Italian winter, the temperature here was significantly lower. Although there was no snowfall, the sun was no longer shining during the day. How much heat has been lost, and living near a river, the cold is accompanied by dampness. Once the wind comes, it can be strong enough to penetrate the bones, and the feeling is very unpleasant.

But on this day, even though the sky was a little cloudy and the temperature was lower than usual, most of the Nix tribe members gathered in the fields outside the Snotia Village.

Tens of thousands of people gathered around a huge loose circle. Everyone had eager expectations on their faces, and their eyes were focused on the center of the circle. A simple wooden platform was set up there, and their leader Maximus was standing there. On it, he put a long trumpet made of tree bark to his mouth and shouted excitedly with a very loud voice: "People, I have called you here today to do something you have been waiting for." What has been going on for a long time is to divide the land!”

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud noise broke out around him, and everyone was cheering heartily. Not only was the sound deafening, but it was also long-lasting.

Maximus looked around the excited crowd with a smile on his face and did not force them to quiet down. He knew that everyone had been looking forward to this moment for a long time.

(End of this chapter)