Rome must fall.

Chapter 288: New Problems for the Clan Members
"This is a good proposal." Maximus nodded and said seriously, "Since everyone agrees, then it's settled. The name of the twenty-title system will remain unchanged. Under the reserve tribesmen, a level of foreign auxiliaries will be established. From now on, all captives who are unwilling to join the tribe will be foreign auxiliaries."

"Chief... I have a question." Quintus said hesitantly, "After these captives become foreign auxiliary people, they will find the benefits of becoming reserve tribesmen compared with other captives who have already joined the tribe, and they will ask to join the tribe as reserve tribesmen. What should we do?"

Before Maximus could respond, Volenus defended himself, "Isn't this a good thing? Isn't the purpose of establishing foreign auxiliaries to make these captives our own people? Anyway, whether they are reserve tribesmen or foreign auxiliaries, they all have to work hard for the tribe."

"I think it's different." Quintus reminded: "These foreign auxiliary people suddenly changed their minds and wanted to join the tribe. It must not be out of sincerity, but to suffer less. When they become tribal members in large numbers in a short period of time, what is the point of establishing foreign auxiliary people? And doesn't this go back to the problem that the leader was worried about just now!"

After Quintus's revelation, the others immediately realized the problem. Even Pigris muttered quietly: "Eh, it seems to be like this. After going around in circles, the problem has not been solved. The establishment of foreign auxiliary citizens seems to be a bit redundant!..."

Maximus had certainly thought about this issue beforehand. He smiled slightly and said, "If foreign auxiliary people want to become reserve tribesmen, we can't just let them join the tribe with one word. We need to set a deadline and examine their performance—"

Volenus suddenly realized and said, "Chief, do you mean to set a three-year deadline, just like the time for reserve members to become official members, so that only those who perform well can become reserve members?"

"Three years is a bit too long. We can set the deadline at half a year and release some quotas for reserve tribesmen every half a year to those foreign assistants with good performance. This will also give other foreign assistants hope and encourage them to work harder. It will also ensure that the tribe always has a relatively sufficient labor force..."

"The chief's proposal is a good one..." Cornelius had just finished a flattering remark when Maximus waved his hand to stop him. "Don't worry, for foreigners who voluntarily join the tribe and those who become reserve tribe members from foreign auxiliaries, it is not as simple as just saying they have joined and registering with the finance department. They must also participate in the sacred ceremony..."

"Chief, what sacred ceremony?" Kephisophon asked hurriedly, because it involved his duties.

"Let them swear an oath to the goddess in front of the statue in the Temple of Danu to be loyal to the Nyx tribe." Maximus said solemnly: "If anyone refuses to swear, or cannot say the oath loudly when swearing, no matter how well he has performed before, he cannot become a candidate tribesman! Kephisofon, you must discuss with Emmerich to formulate the entire process and oath of this sacred ceremony. Pay attention! Make sure this sacred ceremony looks solemn and let them feel the majesty of the goddess Danu!"

Quintus, Capito and others present did not raise any objection to Maximus's request that those who joined the tribe swear an oath only to the goddess Danu. This was not only because they were afraid of Aymeric who had been claiming in the past few months that "the leader of the Nyx tribe is the descendant of the goddess Danu", but also because they understood that their current enemy, the Pannoni, respected the Celtic deity, the goddess Danu. During the ceremony, they dared not lie in front of the statue, let alone break their oath, so that after these people became reserve members, the tribe could still remain stable. This was indeed a good idea!

But in this way, the Knyx tribe officially and publicly stated that Celtic gods were its main belief, so Quintus and the others were a little disappointed.

Maximus was not interested in his subordinates' thoughts at this time. He glanced at the tribal priest at the other end of the table and said, "Aimerich, how is the construction of the temple on the other side of the Kupa River going?"

Aymeric, who had been waiting for Maximus to ask questions, immediately answered: "Chief, the temple was built more than a month ago, and the statue was just made a few days ago. I originally wanted to ask you when to hold a grand sacred ceremony to bring the statue of the goddess Danu into the temple, and then open the temple to accept the prayers of the tribesmen... But because of this war, it has to be postponed temporarily."

"Fortunately it was postponed." Maximus did not feel regretful, but thankfully said: "Hurry up and recruit all the people who are building temples and carving statues here. Our tribe's first Temple of Danu will be built here! I thought about it for a long time today, and I think it would be better to build the temple in the mountains south of Linkou Village."

"Ah! This--" Emmerich was somewhat reluctant, because the Temple of Danu, which he had been looking forward to for a long time, was about to open, and the druidic teachings were about to be officially sown in the tribe, but Maximus wanted to postpone it.

"The reason why we prioritize building the temple here is not only to make it more convenient for the Scodischi and Segestica people who are about to join the tribe to swear an oath in the temple..." Maximus explained patiently, "but also to stabilize this area we have just occupied as soon as possible, so that the Segestica people here know that we have the same beliefs as them, so that they can identify with us more quickly! The temple on the other side of the Kupa River is not abandoned. After this one is built, the other side will also continue to be built. In the future, we will also build the Temple of Danu in all the new territories we acquire!"

After hearing this, Aymeric was no longer disappointed, but excited: "Chief, I will rush back to Snowtia tomorrow and call them all here to build the temple! The temple is actually very easy to build. As long as we choose a suitable place in the mountains west of this village, and then follow the previous drawings, transplant some trees and flowers, place stones, build an altar, and build a awning... They already have experience, and it should be built within fifteen days. The statue was originally the most troublesome. Before, it was up to you, the chief, to do it yourself. It took several months to carve such a sacred statue of the goddess Danu that makes people want to kneel down and pray at the sight of it.

But since we are going to bring the statue here, I think the new tribe members who join the tribe can go directly to the new temple to take the oath within half a month. But after that, I have to ask you to spend time carving another statue of Danu and put it in the temple on the other side of the Kupa River. "

"Of course." Maximus agreed readily. In his previous life, he studied modeling at the Academy of Fine Arts, but also took sculpture as a sideline. After graduation, he joined a teacher's sculpture studio and worked there for two or three years. His sculpture skills and knowledge far exceeded this era.

Maximus then asked, "Regarding my proposal just now, every six months, we will give some quotas to the tribe's foreign auxiliary people, so that a few of them with good performance can become reserve tribesmen, but they must go to the temple to swear an oath...Do you have any other opinions?"

"The solutions the leader has come up with solve the problems I just raised. I completely agree with them." Quintus responded first.

"The idea the leader came up with is great! I can't find any reason to object!" Cornelius said immediately.

Everyone expressed their agreement, and the foreign vassal was thus established as an auxiliary legal provision of the twenty-title system.

Then, Volenus asked with concern: "Chief, which department will manage these foreign vassals in the future?"

Maximus said seriously, "The Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of Military Affairs have had a lot of experience in jointly managing the reserve tribesmen. I think it will be no problem for you three departments to take the lead and manage the foreign auxiliary people this time."

Voronus, Capito, and Quintus looked at each other for a long time. Voronus, who was not very good at opposing Maximus's opinions, gritted his teeth and complained: "Chief, our supervision was already a bit difficult before. Now that we have occupied such a large area, there will be more reserve tribesmen to supervise. We don't have enough manpower. We have to supervise the foreign auxiliary people as well. I'm afraid... I'm afraid it won't work."

Maximus did not show any displeasure at Volenus's objection. He nodded with deep understanding and said, "You are right. If we manage everything, we don't have enough manpower and we can't manage it all. So the institutions that you used to manage the reserve tribesmen will now only supervise the foreign auxiliary tribesmen, and let the reserve tribesmen manage themselves."

"Take care of yourself?! How is that possible!" Volenus and Capito blurted out in great surprise, and the others were also a little surprised.

"Listen to me first." Maximus looked at everyone and explained with a serious expression: "Before, the reserve tribesmen provided a lot of labor for our tribe, cultivating land, cutting trees to build houses, building bridges and roads... They were mainly responsible for the public construction of the tribe, and also helped many of our officials and official tribesmen reduce the burden of farming.

Now that we have foreign auxiliary people, we can let them do these things. If we still let the reserve tribesmen do the same things as the foreign auxiliary people, it will not show the superiority of joining the tribe and becoming reserve tribesmen, and it will also make them resentful.

They would definitely think, 'We believed what you Nixes said and betrayed our tribe, but after joining you, we have to give up our original fields, houses and property, lose our freedom, and be governed by you, just like slaves...

They will feel regretful, and after regretting, they will slack off in their work. Once they slack off, we will punish them, which will make them even more resentful. At some point, they will suddenly explode, and I'm afraid it will cause great trouble to the tribe!"

(End of this chapter)