Mythic version of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 7320 Different Attitudes

Chapter 7320 Different Attitudes

When Tachito heard that Ganis had arrived, he was somewhat taken aback, and his expression turned rather grim. After all, those who could become legion commanders were bound to have some political acumen. At this time, why was the commander of the Eleventh Loyal Claudius Legion, who should have been in Italy, appearing in Media?

“Alright, I’ll go see how the Italians really view this.” Tacito paused for a moment, suppressing his emotions. He was now also curious about how the Italians viewed him and the Spanish army’s concession.

Whether to exterminate him or let him go would determine his overall view of the Italian elders. If it was the former, there was nothing to say; it would be as if he had been wrong about Rome all these years. If it was the latter, then at least it showed that he wasn't blind.

Seeing that Tachito didn't say much, Ma Chao felt much more at ease. Given his comradeship with Tachito, he would never let anything happen to Tachito in Midia. Even if Ganis came, or even if Luciano came with the Eleven Loyal Claudius, he would still have to take action. Some things are better left unsaid.

One of the main reasons Ma Chao has stayed in Rome for so many years is that he has a very good impression of the city. Even though there have been many unpleasant things, Rome as a whole is thriving, and the important figures in Rome don't put on airs and truly treat him as one of their own.

In addition, the Roman Empire hadn't really done anything too dark in recent years. At least in his view, everything that Ma Chao had come into contact with was handled reasonably. This was very important, as it meant values ​​and acceptance.

But if the next matter involving Tachito is handled in a way that doesn't align with Ma Chao's understanding, then don't blame Ma Chao for being impolite.

When others say, "At worst, we'll rebel," they're joking. But when Ma Chao says, "At worst, we'll rebel," he's serious. He truly has the confidence and a way out.

"Come on, let's go see what's going on here at this time." Ma Chao said with a hint of sarcasm, dragging Tachito outside from the banquet. He wanted to see if a mere camp commander with a double-digit eagle badge could withstand the welcome of a legion commander with a single-digit eagle badge, and whether he had the fate to do so!

Upon seeing this, Tacito roughly understood Ma Chao's thoughts. He couldn't help but smile and said nothing. His brother was willing to stand up for him in this matter, so Tacito naturally wouldn't hold him back. They had both fought their way up from the battlefield. In the past, due to various reasons, he had restrained his emotions and seemed much more honest, but now that he had chosen exile, why was he still pretending?

I, Tacitus, have a temper too, you know.

The two men, arm in arm, quickly appeared outside the government office. However, since they were there to see Ganis and had a vague idea of ​​what Ganis wanted, they brought their personal guards with them, ready to fight at any moment.

Tacitus and Ma Chao left Ma Chao's residence and arrived at the place where Ganis was waiting with his troops after a few runs. After all, Midia was Ma Chao's stronghold. The fact that Ganis was allowed to enter directly showed that he was willing to accept the talisman in his hand. If he wanted to lead his troops directly into Ma Chao's residence, he was dreaming. He should just wait at the place designated by the Seventh Eagle Emblem Legion!

When Tacitus and Ma Chao appeared, Ganis was already somewhat agitated. There was no way around it; the Seventh Eagle Legion seemed unwilling to give them any face at all, with several hundred men surrounding them on the outside, and even subtly revealing hostility.

Well, nobody's stupid. You, a camp commander, have brought an army and insist on entering the city, even carrying the seal of an Italian elder. No matter how you try to persuade them, they refuse to bring only a few dozen men into the Midian Trading Post, leaving the rest of the main force in the camp outside the city. They insist on bringing in thousands of men at once. The soldiers of the Seventh Eagle Emblem Legion really have nothing to say. It would be strange if they had a pleasant expression.

After Ma Chao and Tachito appeared together, they looked at Ganymede, who was riding in front of them, without saying a word or asking any questions. They just stood there quietly, wanting to see what tricks the other party could pull.

When Ganis saw Ma Chao and Tachito appear together without asking him what they wanted, he was in a bind. Tachito was in a bad situation, but Ma Chao, while not at the height of his power, was not someone a mere camp commander could afford to offend. If he really pushed him too far, Ma Chao's actions in Media today would be a consequence of Ganis's lack of discretion.

"Greetings, Governor of Midia, Spanish Elder." Ganis dismounted first and bowed to the two men. Normally, he could be impolite because he had the power and the background, but he couldn't stand up to the fact that the other party had even more power and a stronger background.

"Speak, what does Luciano want with you?" Ma Chao subtly blocked Tachito's path, taking the blame upon himself. For him, having Tachito speak wouldn't solve anything at this point, so it was better to speak himself and lay everything out on the table.

“It’s not the legion commander’s business. The Senate ordered me to recall General Tachito to attend a meeting in Italy,” Ganis replied respectfully. He then took out a decree from his robes and had it presented to him. Upon hearing this, Tachito’s face turned grim. He had already backed down more than once, yet these people still wanted to kill him. When did the Roman Empire become like this?

"The Senate issued an order?" Ma Chao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. He saw the centurion of the Eleven Loyal Claudius come to him with the edict in both hands. After taking it, he didn't even look at it before crushing it into powder. At this moment, not only Ganis but even the Tachitto people were dumbfounded.

Neither Ganis nor Tachito had ever imagined that Ma Chao would simply crush the imperial edict. How the hell would they explain this afterward?

"The Senate is qualified to command the Eleventh Eagle Emblem Legion? I don't need the Senate's decree. I ignore all those dubious documents. I only recognize two things: do you have the First Citizen's decree? If not, that old man Perennis's decree will do. Of course, if you don't have either of those, I can talk to you if you have a military order officially signed by Luciano." Ma Chao crushed the decree and looked at Ganis coldly as he asked.

At this moment, Ganis's face was extremely ugly. He had thought that Ma Chao might use all sorts of methods to prevent him from capturing Tachito, but he really did not expect Ma Chao to dare to do so.

“Ganis, an imperial edict, a decree from the vice-emperor, or a formal arrest warrant signed by Luciano—any one of these three will do, but it has to be a decree from the Senate!” Ma Chao looked at Ganis with a hint of mockery, then turned to his own camp commander, Uberto, and said, “Write him a few decrees signed by me, a senator, and tell him to get as far away as possible!”

Ma Chao didn't give Ganis any face. To him, any decree from the Senate that had no clear reason was just a trick by some scoundrels in the Senate. After all, there were 300 senators there, and if a few of them manipulated the system, they could create something and claim it was a consensus of the Senate as a whole. It would be hard to find fault with it.

For Ma Chao, this was just a way to find a reason to make the Senate take the blame. If they really wanted to arrest someone, they could just put on the official seal, bring the person who signed it, and say "Senate," since we are also Senate elders!

After saying that, Ma Chao prepared to take Tachito back, completely ignoring Ganis. However, the moment Ma Chao turned around, Ganis shouted at him, "Chao, you need to think this through. You and I both know that this isn't the idea of ​​one or two elders, but the idea of ​​a whole group of elders. If you do this, how many people will you offend?"

“Let them come!” Ma Chao said with a sneer. “For Luciano’s sake, you can get lost. If you say another word, don’t blame me for taking you all down.”

Besides being a legion commander, Ma Chao was also the governor of Media. In this place, many things could be decided with a single word. Even if he directly took down Ganis, it would be Ganis's bad luck. It wouldn't even be considered outrageous, since it was not uncommon for the governor of Rome to rebel and fight against Italy.

Ganis watched Ma Chao and Tachito's departing figures, his face turning red and then pale. He had brought the eleven loyal soldiers of the Claudius Legion into the city of Midia to put pressure on Ma Chao, but Ma Chao felt no pressure at all, as if to say, "If you want to fight, I'll fight you, but if you do, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Ganis watched Ma Chao and Tacitus leave, but ultimately held back and didn't dare to make a move. Making a move on someone else's governor's territory and getting taken down was only to be expected. Besides, Ganis didn't have Luciano's strength and it was unlikely that he could defeat Ma Chao here.

"Let's retreat." Ganis sighed. The mission had failed. With Ma Chao determined to protect Tacito, it didn't matter what the Senate thought, because it was impossible to send a few Eagle Emblem Legions to handle such a matter. And without a few Eagle Emblem Legions, trying to defeat the Governor of Media in Media was pure nonsense.

"They're gone?" Ma Chao asked quietly as he listened to Uberto's report beside him.

“Yes, Ganis has already left with all his soldiers. Perhaps seeing that things were hopeless, he stopped struggling. I feel that he had the idea of ​​taking General Tacito with him, but after confirming your thoughts, he gave up.” Uberto explained simply.

"Send someone to keep an eye on them and escort them out of the country politely." Ma Chao nodded to Uberto, then continued his banquet with Tacito, who was clearly in a bad mood at this point.

“Tachito, don’t overthink it.” Ma Chao looked at Tachito with a sincere expression. “There are indeed people in Italy who are after you, but they can’t produce an imperial edict, nor an edict from the vice-emperor, nor even a commander of the legion. This means there is still a lot of room for maneuver in this matter.”

As I said before, some things can't be brought to the table. Like this incident, the elders' edict in Ganis's hands is definitely genuine, but Ma Chao tore it up. When he goes to Italy to attend the meeting, there will definitely be no elder who explicitly states that he approved the edict.

Because in this matter, everyone only wants to gain some benefits and doesn't want to take on the responsibility. After all, the nationalization of Spain is against the law. Pabinian had discussed this many years ago, but because the benefits were too great, he preferred to amend the law rather than continue with the old system.

No matter how it's modified, it can't go against the fact that Tachito himself did nothing wrong. In fact, the other party was even willing to take a step back. Under such circumstances, to still try to kill him is just bullying an honest person.

If anyone dares to claim that they signed the decree to arrest Tacito, then many people will seek revenge for Tacito in the future.

“But the fact that Ganis came speaks volumes,” Tachito replied gravely, holding his wine glass.

Ma Chao remained silent for a while. Yes, the fact that Ganis was able to come to Media, and bring half of the eleven loyal Claudius with him, actually says a lot.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. I'll just do what I need to do," Ma Chao said, then naturally picked up his wine glass. Some things can't be understood by thinking about them, so let's drink and drown our sorrows.

This time, Tachito got completely drunk and didn't want to think about the Senate and Spain anymore. He just wanted to get drunk, clear his mind, and have a good sleep.

Ma Chao didn't say anything when he saw this. Just like that, a powerful expert at the Breakthrough Level was drunk by cup after cup of wine.

The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Tacitus woke up, and Ma Chao had all sorts of supplies prepared for him.

"Tachito, take care on your journey," Ma Chao said to Tachito after he had finished packing.

“I will, Chao. Thank you for what happened before,” Tachito said sincerely.

"It's nothing. If you encounter any problems in the Han Dynasty, remember to tell me. I'll take care of everything I can. My connections there are still in good shape," Ma Chao said with a smile. Then, he looked at the sky and realized it was getting late. After seeing Tacito off, he returned to Media.

When Ma Chao returned after escorting Tacitus, he found Uberto waiting anxiously at the gate of Midia. Upon seeing this, Ma Chao realized that something had happened that he didn't know about, so he immediately spurred his horse and met up with Uberto.

"What's wrong?" Ma Chao asked calmly, seeing the anxiety on Uberto's face.

“The commander of the Eleven Loyal Claudius Legion has arrived,” Uberto said gravely. “He hasn’t said anything, he’s just waiting for you in the main hall of the government office. I don’t think he has any good intentions.”

"The newcomer is up to no good?" Ma Chao chuckled twice upon hearing this. "Whether he's up to no good or I'm up to no good is still hard to say. If he's going to throw a tantrum here today, I'll show him why I'm the Governor of Media. Everyone earns their position through hard work!"

After saying this, Ma Chao dismounted, tidied himself up, and headed straight for the government office. However, since Uberto said that Luciano was waiting for him at the government office, it meant that the other party definitely did not intend to turn against him. After all, if they really wanted to fight, the army would definitely have to enter the city.

So after a few defiant words, Ma Chao quickly went to the government office. He wasn't very familiar with Luciano, but his strength was still worthy of respect. Even Ma Chao acknowledged that Luciano was ranked third in the Eagle Emblem Legion; the Fivefold Sacrifice was just too terrifying.

"Chao, you're here?" Luciano noticed the shadow looming over the doorway, looked up naturally, nodded at Ma Chao, and didn't ask about Tachito.

"It's rare that you've left Italy. Shouldn't you be leading your elite army to guard His Majesty the Emperor?" Ma Chao asked, sitting in the main seat with a hint of doubt.

“I would like to, but Ganis made the move, so I had no choice,” Luciano said calmly. “This is what I asked His Majesty the Emperor for when I left.”

Ma Chao looked at Luciano with confusion. He didn't sense any hostility from the other party, meaning that the other party wasn't there to cause trouble. So Ma Chao didn't intend to cause any trouble and reached out to take the official edict that Luciano handed over.

"What is this?" Ma Chao asked as he opened it, and quickly realized what it was. It was an imperial edict, a decree authorizing Ma Chao to open and release Tacitus. It also preserved Tacitus's status as a veteran and gave a clear answer to the question of whether he would be promoted to governor after more than ten years. In other words, once Tacitus returned, he would be the governor of Spain.

"This edict..." Ma Chao asked with some doubt, "Can't you run faster? Tacito just left, and he's probably already traveled dozens of miles. I can just catch up with him."

“I only went to see His Majesty Severus because I received news that Ganis had the decree from the Senate. Italy is in a real mess right now,” Luciano sighed. “However, after I explained what it was about, His Majesty Severus wrote a decree on the spot, saying that you would have this thing from now on, until Tachito returns.”

Ma Chao was completely bewildered upon hearing this. He couldn't quite understand what was going on, but this edict with the emperor's seal was still trustworthy. Moreover, Tachito had mentioned at the banquet that he was indeed not suitable to stay in Rome recently. Thinking about it that way, exile wasn't such a bad thing. Letting the other party stay abroad for a while would be fine.

“My duties have been handed over,” Luciano said calmly. “Next is your turn. The treasurer has passed away, and you are required to attend a meeting of the Senate. There are many things that need to be answered clearly this time, so be prepared.”

"?" Ma Chao was completely confused. What definite answer? I don't know anything about this.

"You'll find out when you get there," Luciano said coldly.

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