Chapter 290: Chapter 150: Strike Where the Money Is Southampton.
Duncan naturally hoped to lead an army and conquer the lands, but now he somewhat understood why ancient emperors found it difficult to lead expeditions personally.
Because he had too many matters to handle.
Once the emperor or king is far from the center of power, it becomes impossible to manage the entire situation, nor can they keep track of changing circumstances. As the saying goes, when generals are outside, they may not follow orders; after the emperor leads an expedition, many issues cannot be dealt with, and intelligence cannot be sent to the front line in this era.
At the moment, something more important than war has occurred.
The Emperor Valentinian III of the empire had completely fallen out with the Protector of the Realm, Aetius, and even under the instigation of close courtiers, he had developed the idea of assassinating Aetius.
The most provocative in this was the Imperial Senate.
Valentinian III has now made a mistaken judgment, thinking that with the Senate’s support, he could control the situation after getting rid of Aetius, but he forgot that the Senate could no longer influence the army.
Duncan didn’t remember many historical details, but he knew how Aetius died in the original history.
Aetius was stabbed to death chaotically, his death was somewhat like Caesar’s, with over a hundred stab wounds, nearly everyone present added a stab to show their political stance. It can be imagined how many people Aetius had offended over the years as a powerful minister.
Duncan, while listening to Anya’s report and looking at the urgent secret letter Quintus sent, said with a serious expression, "I’m afraid they are indeed determined to kill Aetius."
Duncan was not familiar with this fellow Maximus, but Anya was.
Seeing this, Anya introduced, "Maximus is from a noble family in the empire, with deeply intertwined forces behind him. He has served twice as consul, and has almost controlled half of the Senate."
Despite the empire being in decline, only controlling areas around Italy, the old nobles still wielded great power.
The empire’s weakness did not mean their weakness; in fact, they were extremely wealthy.
The fall of an empire always ends with all power and wealth concentrating in the hands of a very few, leaving others no choice but to rely on violence to overturn it all.
These aristocratic nobles of the Senate, over hundreds of years, have accumulated unimaginable wealth.
Duncan paused, curiously asking, "Between you and Maximus, who has more wealth?"
Anya was truly wealthy.
Duncan’s rise basically depended entirely on her support; without Anya’s support, he would have had to resort to robbing the rich to aid the poor in the early stages.
Upon hearing Duncan’s words, Anya pondered for a moment before saying, "Even ten of me combined wouldn’t amount to half of their family’s wealth."
Hiss!
Are they really that wealthy?
Anya continued, "Valentinian III’s luxurious lifestyle is partly due to their sponsorship, and before the fall of the empire, their family also held positions as local governors and consuls. As far as I know, they once controlled several gold and silver mines."
These are not unlike the gate-keeping families of the Tang Dynasty.
Anya continued, "If Maximus truly intends to assassinate Aetius, he absolutely has a chance to succeed."
"The Imperial Senate could murder Caesar."
"Now they plot to murder a Protector of the Realm, persuaded the Emperor to support them, plus Aetius, who likely considers himself loyal to the empire, probably wouldn’t take precautions."
The cycle of history is repeating.
Caesar’s assassination led to Octavian establishing the imperial system, and now Aetius is on the Senate’s assassination list; it seems history has come full circle.
The two hurried towards the residence of Duchess Igraine.
Anya, after pondering for a moment, cautiously asked, "How should we respond?"
She was actually asking Duncan what he planned to do.
Should they warn Aetius or watch and wait? For the British Province, watching and waiting was the best choice.
If the assassination succeeds, the empire will truly be doomed.
Duncan turned to look at Anya, slowly saying, "You are asking me whether we should save Aetius, right?"
He pondered for a moment and slowly shook his head.
Duncan intended to shatter everything and rebuild the empire; whether it be Protector of the Realm Aetius, Emperor Valentinian III, or the restless Senate, they all had to be swept into the dustbin of history.
It’s a dog-eat-dog scenario, and he would surely sit back and watch, waiting to clean up the mess.
Anya, seeing his expression, relaxed quite a bit and softly said, "If successful, Valentinian III will definitely face backlash."
"At that time, it will be our opportunity."
The Emperor assassinating the pillar of the empire would drive the Roman populace mad.
The Roman people had accomplished significant historical events.
At this moment.
They saw Merlin and others outside the door, Merlin looking quite tense; shortly after, the cry of a newborn rang out.
However, inside it soon fell silent, and after about ten minutes, a woman cautiously came out, saying, "The child is born. It’s a girl."
Merlin was instantly stunned.
He had foretold all his life, and in the end, even got the gender wrong, as if heaven had played a huge joke on him.
Anya’s expression also paused, turning to look at Merlin with a look akin to seeing a shameless shaman.
Did you make such a big fuss over the prophesied King Arthur?