The Mad Tycoon of Rome

< 259. Rome 3 >

Cleopatra, who was led to her accommodation, took a deep breath.

She felt a refreshing and fragrant scent touch the tip of her nose.

“You said you were going to make a new perfume, but are you already at the final stage?”

During her stay in Rome, Cleopatra and Arsinoe stayed at Marcus’s villa.

As in Antioch, she felt comfortable thinking that she was sleeping in a place touched by his hand.

She was no longer a young girl who had fallen in love, but it was a bit awkward.

“Hehe.”

There was no one around, but she unwittingly laughed and quickly covered her mouth.

She couldn’t show a flustered look like Arsinoe, or she would lose her dignity as a pharaoh.

She needed to firmly establish her position while she was in Rome.

With that thought, Cleopatra got up.

Although she was invited as a guest of honor, she had a lot of things to deal with unlike other people.

Egypt could not stay the same as before, as Rome was undergoing a great change.

She brought several officials from Egypt with her on this invitation.

She hoped that they would observe the advanced system of Rome well and learn anything they could.

She also had to keep an eye on her younger sister who was still in love, and make sure she didn’t do anything too excessive, and also watch out for her daughters who were now interested in everything in the world.

While doing that, she had to analyze the good policies and systems that could be applied to Egypt, so she was short of hands even if she had several bodies.

She wanted to hold Marcus and ask him for his opinions on politics all night long.

He was so wise that he could give her some advice that would benefit Egypt for several nights.

But she didn’t want to bother him any more than he already had to deal with everything in Rome.

“I wonder what kind of world he wants to lead… He said he was going to make a new perfume.”

Rome, the giant ship, had already sailed towards the ocean.

But even for someone as intelligent as Cleopatra, she couldn’t see its destination.

That’s why there was a limit to her deliberation on the country’s policies and systems.

A country should have a clear identity and a legal and administrative system that suits it.

The legal systems of monarchy, republic, and democracy are naturally different for that reason.

From Cleopatra’s point of view, Rome was transitioning from a republic to an empire.

For now, it was still in the form of an old republic with an imperial power, but she thought it would gradually change.

Caesar was getting old, and when he retired, Marcus would have all the power in Rome by himself.

That would be the start of an undeniable imperial Rome.

But at the same time, there was something that bothered her strangely.

Was that really the country that her beloved husband wanted?

Or was he seeing something that she couldn’t even imagine?

If it was the latter, then she would be no different from Arsinoe in terms of level.

Julia seemed to know something, but she didn’t have a complete grasp of everything either.

It was hard to be next to a man who was too smart.

She couldn’t take the lead and pull him along, but she was busy following him behind, which hurt her pride a bit.

Maybe it would be better to be like Arsinoe and just admire Marcus’s moves without thinking.

“But whatever shape it takes, I have to follow his decision.”

She lovingly stroked the bed that Marcus had personally chosen for her and muttered.

“But I wonder what kind of country he wants to make. It would be nice if he gave me some hints. Is this some kind of test where I have to figure it out myself?”

There was no answer to the queen’s monologue.

※※※

The two rulers who received the grand titles of agents of the gods and the Best Romans lay silently on their chairs in their office, buried in their bodies.

A few minutes ago, there were piles of documents on the desk that showed the scene of their fierce battle.

They had delegated as much work as possible to the bureaucrats, but there were still so many things that they had to review and approve as the top leaders.

For Marcus especially, it was more desperate because he had to go through this process again when he returned to the East from Rome.

Publius was acting as governor-general, but his brother had his limits on what he could handle.

He had to take care of the structural reforms himself.

He wanted to leave Rome’s affairs to Caesar and spend time with his lovely daughters who were growing up fast.

“How about we get back to work now? I think we can finish today’s work if we just suffer for another hour or so.”

“Can’t we just rest a little more? I only slept for two hours yesterday and I’m sleepy.”

“Is that so? Then let’s have a chat to wake up.”

Caesar picked up one of the unresolved documents on the desk and brought it to his eyes.

“It’s about the appointment of administrative bureaucrats. Are you sure I can do whatever I want?”

“I’m going to the East in a few months anyway. You have to take care of the state affairs here, so it’s better to choose the people you prefer.”

“Then I should be grateful, but… I don’t see anyone who is worth using.”

“That’s partly because of the education system. That’s why I suggested last time that we need to overhaul the education system on a large scale.”

Caesar nodded his head in full agreement.

“Are you talking about the educational reform that you mentioned last time? It certainly looks more practical than the current one.”

“If a generation that has received practical education and grown up is put into work, it will definitely be different from now. But to do that, there are too many things to worry about.”

As in any era, education was the foundation of the country.

Changing the education system completely meant that it would entail tremendous repercussions.

Especially in Rome, where there was a pervasive atmosphere of enthusiasm and passion for education.

No one would follow unless a perfect blueprint that everyone could agree on was presented.

Fortunately, Caesar was very positive about the educational reform proposed by Marcus.

“The vocational school that you casually mentioned last time seems to be an interesting attempt. I think it would be good to try this first as a pilot project.”

“Then I’ll build a few in Rome and the East as a test.”

“Yes, do that. And about the diplomacy with Han that we talked about last time… Is there any special reason why you handled it that way?”

“Of course.”

Marcus’s immediate answer made Caesar show a curious reaction.

To him, Marcus’s actions seemed rather emotional.

The Senate also actively agreed with him.

It was as easy as swallowing cold soup to incite them.

A treacherous country that did not give any help in the fight against the Huns despite receiving Rome’s help.

This alone made the attitude of the Senate and the citizens flare up like fire.

It didn’t matter anyway since the production of silk was over and the cultivation of tea leaves was going well, so there was no impact on Rome even if they cut off their income.

Rather, it was more beneficial in terms of preventing gold from flowing overseas.

All the money that should have gone to Han was going into Marcus’s pocket anyway.

But he wondered if it was necessary to limit the export of sugar as well.

“If you had the purpose of economically subjugating Han, you should have actively exported Rome’s goods instead. The combination of coffee and sugar is very popular in Han, as you said yourself.”

“I’m not really limiting it. Rather, I’m opening up the goods that I exclusively provide to Han to other countries.”

“I remember you were enjoying quite a lucrative benefit from that exclusive export… I’m worried that diversifying your export routes will reduce your profits.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s reduced a bit. I’m already working hard on developing new products to export. In a few years, you’ll see profits that are unstoppable. Rather, I need to take care of the financial side in advance so that unexpected side effects don’t occur.”

Marcus’s strong confidence made him put his worries aside, but there was still one question that didn’t go away.

“Do you think Han could be a threat to Rome in the future?”

“Of course not. Han is already a waning moon. No matter how hard they struggle, they can’t do anything to Rome. But if we assume the distant future, they might be quite annoying opponents.”

Caesar couldn’t even guess how far Marcus meant by the distant future.

Sometimes Marcus would casually talk about the future hundreds or thousands of years later, and it seemed like he had taken out one of those words now.

“So what you’re trying to do is cut off the sprout that might become a competitor in the future? But then it would be more effective to keep them economically dependent and then cut them off. If you do it like this, you might give them a chance to recover.”

“It doesn’t matter if Han collapses or not right now. I don’t care either.”

“Hmm? But if you step on them now, they won’t be able to use their power even in the distant future.”

Marcus chuckled and shook his head.

It was natural that Caesar couldn’t understand Marcus’s intentions even in this regard.

He couldn’t help it.

Unlike Marcus, who knew all the flow of history, Caesar was just a human being living in this era.

And he was ignorant of the order of the East centered on the Han Dynasty, so it was impossible for him to understand Marcus’s words.

“The emperor of Han is not a simple concept of a king. If I had to compare it with something similar in this side, it would be like the Shahanshah of Persia or the Pharaoh of Egypt. Considering the uniqueness of the East, you should see them as having as much impact as combining those two.”

“I see.”

Caesar seemed to have guessed Marcus’s intentions roughly by hearing that much explanation.

“It’s useless to make Han collapse. A new country will rise up and claim to be the emperor of Han Dynasty and take its place.”

“What about weakening the national power of Han Dynasty and leaving it to the immigrants? It seems possible if they receive our support.”

“That’s useless too. It’s like Alexander conquering Egypt and taking the place of the Pharaoh. Even if the Huns revive and conquer Han and establish a new country, they will also call themselves emperors. Even if you punish the Han people, you will only be absorbed by the supra-national order they have established.”

Caesar slapped his knee and opened his eyes wide as if he finally understood.

“I see. What you’re trying to do is to make the concept of emperor lose its position?”

What would happen if the emperor was no longer the center of the world and the representative of the ruler of the world?

Naturally, the subsequent conquerors would have no reason to call themselves emperors.

It was similar to Marcus not bothering with the title of Pharaoh.

“My goal is to make all the countries in the East realize that Han is no longer the center of the world. It’s not long before that happens. Rumors spread anyway, and they’ll find out soon enough.”

Marcus smiled triumphantly and added one more thing.

“Where the world is revolving around right now.”

< 259. Rome 3 > End