Chapter 204 The Cost of Reform
Shira Yuzas is probably one of the few generals who has served in both the Shadow Legion and the Immortal Legion.
He was originally the deputy general of the Shadow Legion.
After Emperor Marius established the Immortals, he served as their lieutenant general - he was the first middleman between Emperor Marius and the Shadow Legion.
Marius once trusted him very much. In fact, General Agathon was just Hera's successor.
Unlike Agathon, Hira Yuzas was actually a native of southern Pendor.
But his family defected to the Empire when General Osa established New Bacchus. They were a military family of Bacchus, so Shira was also from a famous family and was regarded as a member of the Bacchus.
Therefore, Shila always called himself a Bacchus - even though his ancestors had no Bacchus blood at all, he still insisted so.
His family always kept a large number of slaves, and during his tenure he continued to kill enemies to obtain spoils and slaves. It seemed that his desire for wealth would never end.
This kind of behavior was actually quite normal for Bacchus and was not a big problem. At least he was not like Livius who bullied men and women and harmed civilians. Moreover, being greedy for money was a good thing for the emperor.
It was precisely because he was from Pendor and was a noble of the Bacchus Empire that Marius gave him such an important task - both the Shadow Legion and the Immortal Legion would consider Shira to be one of their own, and such a person would actually help ease the antagonism between the two nations.
And Sheila had indeed spent the first half of her life working diligently for the empire.
Whether facing the Principality of D'Shar or the Kingdom of Sarleon, he killed countless enemies in his twenty years of military career and made great contributions to the empire.
Although he served as a lieutenant most of the time and was therefore not well-known abroad, as the lieutenant of two core legions, he was undoubtedly one of the most important commanders in the empire.
And inside the empire, everyone knows that he is a true imperial warrior and the best general in all of Bacchus!
Perhaps his only flaw was his excessive greed for money - he was extremely ruthless in his quest for spoils, sometimes causing massacres in enemy territory...
However, treating the enemy as an enemy and taking spoils from them cannot be considered a general's shortcoming.
Originally, he could retire as a top general and leave his portrait forever in the corridor of the palace of the Bacchus Empire.
But no one expected that he would suddenly lead his troops in rebellion after Emperor Marius vigorously promoted reform policies!
It was not until he started the rebellion that everyone realized that the massacres that Shira had carried out before were probably not because she regarded the enemy as an enemy...
Purely because he is cruel and bloodthirsty.
His so-called 'greed for money', the constant acquisition of spoils, was merely a byproduct of his love of killing.
Yes, Shira is not greedy for money. He keeps making money not for his own enjoyment, but to gain the recognition of the Shadow Legion and launch his grand plan of "returning to the Osa era"!
Hieraeus did not support Emperor Marius's reforms.
Or should we say that he was extremely opposed to Marius' reforms...
Logically speaking, as native people of Pendor, most of them would support Marius' reforms.
But Shila Yuzas is different. He insists that he is a member of the Bacchus nation.
This is probably a bit like being unable to stand up after kneeling for too long, similar to some people who still have pigtails in their thinking and always think that foreigners are superior to others.
And in the eyes of Hieraeus, Marius's reforms were a betrayal of the Bacchus!
Or rather, it was a betrayal of a local military family like his...
It took his family more than a hundred years to abandon their relatives in Pendor, endure the infamy of being a traitor, and bear the oppression and ridicule of the Bacchus. It paid countless prices before the Bacchus finally accepted them as one of their own.
He changed from a Pendor to a Bacchus, and was finally accepted by the Bacchus in his generation. He joined the Shadow Legion, and became a general thanks to his efforts in the first half of his life.
At this time, the Yuzas family finally became the superior people and became a member of the highest class!
But the first reform of Emperor Marius was to treat the Pentecostals and Bacchus equally... From then on, no one was superior to the others?!
Shira Yuzas felt that this was like turning his half-life's efforts and the humiliation and sacrifices his family had endured for a hundred years into a joke...
He couldn't accept such a policy...
He believed that under the reforms of Emperor Marius, the empire had deviated from the right track!
In Hira's opinion, Emperor Marius is not worthy of sitting on the throne of the empire, and he will overthrow the false emperor Marius, lead the empire to restore order, and return to the Osa era!
As a result, Hira Yuzas broke away from the Bacchus Empire and became an independent armed force.
He distributed most of the money and slaves he got to his cronies who had been planted in the imperial army for many years, and used General Osa's method to get many officers to support him - he said he would implement the Civilian Level Law, and the "Military Level Law" based on military rank...
However, his so-called "military waiting method" of "returning to the Osa era" is not very complete.
Because there is no people in his structure.
He planned to have everything managed by military system and build a pyramid with military system.
Slaves, Pender soldiers, Bacchus soldiers, Pender officers, Bacchus officers, generals - the Bacchus are above the Penders, and the generals are at the top of the pyramid.
Authority is determined by class, and there is no other means of governance. Below the soldiers are slaves, and there is no civilian class - this structure is not even a warlord government, and it is far inferior to the empire established by Osa.
In Shira's logic, starting from the soldiers, the upper class can own everything in their territory, and official ranks can be hereditary.
This is probably a strange combination of warlord thinking, feudal logic and nationalism. It seems that there is no big problem, but if it is really implemented, I am afraid it will be no different from the Jatu people...
Oh, there is a little difference. The Jatu people don't actually think that their nation is nobler than other nations, but Shira, a native of Pendor, insists that the Bacchus nation is inherently superior to other nations...
However, Shila Yuzas's traitorous logic does have a market in Bucks.
Restricted by Bacchus' strict military regulations, legionnaires could only receive relatively low pay during their service and had to serve for sixteen years. After the service period, even if they had made great contributions, they could only become officials such as tribunes at most, and could not become hereditary nobles.
Especially the soldiers of the Immortal Legion, although nominally they are the emperor's personal army, but they can't get any extra benefits under Emperor Marius. After all, Emperor Marius will strictly implement his own reform policies.
Therefore, many imperial soldiers, especially some elite and middle-level officers who have served for many years, do have illusions about Shira Yuzas's logic.
Those who have emerged from the ranks of the common people due to policy reasons have been given opportunities that they would never have gotten in their entire lives. However, after they have risen from the ranks, they are actually more eager to become oppressors than traditional nobles, and they are even more greedy...
Human nature has been like this since ancient times.
The traditional nobles, that is, the people of the Shadow Legion, felt that Sheila's ideas were actually in line with their original traditions...
Especially those Shadow Centurions who suffered losses due to the military reform.
Therefore, when Shira announced his independence from the Bacchus Empire, there were indeed many people who followed him, and most of them were veterans or officers who had served for many years.
But in fact, Hira Yuzas did not raise the flag of rebellion at the beginning. Perhaps he was not good at governing the country, but he was definitely not a fool. He knew that direct rebellion would be a dead end - he just declared that he would retire with the veterans and leave the empire to become a free man.
Emperor Marius did not initially regard them as rebels, but simply allowed them to renounce their nationality and expel them from Bacchus.
After all, these soldiers had made many military contributions to the country, and they did not cause chaos in the country at the time. They just did not want to be citizens of the empire anymore, so there was no reason to wipe them out directly.
Marius was implementing reforms at the time, and if he made a fuss about it, the conservatives would attack him instead.
As a result, this hidden danger gradually grew into a cancer.
Under the instigation of the Senate of the Bacchus Empire, Augustus, a rebel leader who had been lurking in the empire, approached Hira Yuzas.
In fact, Augustus was the emperor elected by the Senate of the Bacchus Empire twenty years ago, but in the end Marius used some "tricks" to make the Senate change its mind, and Augustus became a rebel.
Augustus himself was a politician and did not have strong leadership skills, so he could only hide all the time.
But Shira Yuzas was a general who had experienced many battles.
So, the two sides united and began their journey - Augustus "surrendered" to Shira Yuzas, and they planned to join forces to capture Siyuan City, change the world in one fell swoop, and implement Shira's warlord ideals.
But the situation was not very good at the beginning, because the one who was ordered to destroy them was the battle-hardened Marshal Kairos...
The rebels were chased everywhere and didn't dare to fight a direct war, let alone conquer...
However, Shira Yuzas was lucky.
Not long ago, he unexpectedly received a large sum of funding from the Kingdom of the Fierce Lion—countless dinars and food, as well as a large amount of equipment!
As a result, many fence-sitters who were originally on the sidelines defected to the rebel army after Hillary threw a huge amount of dinars.
Among them were hundreds of centurions of the Shadow Legion - people who had lost the authority to lead peasant soldiers under Marius' new policy.
It also includes six hundred immortals - the Immortal Legion that Emperor Marius spent a lot of effort to build, and nearly one-third of them have joined his army!
There were even three hundred imperial knights - after Emperor Marius implemented the reforms, they were just cavalrymen of the First Legion of the Empire and were not true noble knights.
This rebel army quickly grew to a considerable size, and this was a rebellion on the battlefield...
Shira Yuzas’s ability to command operations was indeed very strong. He led the rebels to catch Kailos off guard - Kailos did not expect that his shadow centurion would suddenly turn against him!
Thanks to this accidental funding from the Kingdom of Sarleon, the rebels won several incredible victories in a row, even reaching a position less than thirty miles away from Siyuan City!
In fact, even if the rebels of Hira Yuzas achieved a temporary victory, it would still not be enough to cause serious damage to the empire.
King Ulric provided him with money and food only to prevent the Bacchus Empire from taking advantage of the civil unrest in the Kingdom of Sarleon to launch an attack.
However, this rebellion caused a huge storm in Bacchus.
While the rebels of Hira Yuzas were attacking in large numbers, a group of gladiators in the Royal Arena of Siyuan City took advantage of the rebels' attack to launch a slave uprising.
While most of the defenders of Siyuan City were busy guarding and suppressing the rebellion, the gladiators broke their shackles and rushed out of the city.
The Royal Arena in Siyuan City is the highest level slave arena in the entire Bacchus. Those who can participate in the competition here are naturally all highly skilled fighters. When these gladiators are freed, the fighting power they show is quite terrifying...
In just half a month, this team of gladiators successively conquered seven or eight villages and towns, fighting all the way from Siyuan City to Boshi City.
The gladiators continued to liberate various slaves in , constantly expanding their team, and eventually formed a terrifying scale of nearly 10,000 people under the city of Boshi!
Although they were short of food and clothing, and most of them had no reliable equipment, their numbers alone were enough to render all the lords of the empire helpless.
The reputation of this slave uprising army led by gladiators even spread to Sarleon in a short period of time.
At the same time, due to the large-scale riots of the rebels and slave uprisings, the snake worshippers in Bacchus also began to cause chaos.
The entire southeastern part of the Bacchus Empire was filled with Snake Cult troops, and countless villages were destroyed.
As Governor Kairos was leading his troops outside to suppress the rebels and was unable to return to resist, Dilingang was attacked by a large number of Snake Worshipers.
Most of the surrounding lords fled, and many high-ranking officials were forced to rely on the Snake Cult.
Dilingang is now on the verge of collapse. It is said that the civilians and serfs have spontaneously organized troops to put up a difficult resistance.
Malasburg, an important hub between the three core cities of Siyuan City, Boshi City, and Dilingang, has even been captured by the Snake Cult.
Almost the entire Bacchus Empire was engulfed in war, and there was no normal communication between the major cities.
In this situation, let alone dealing with the Kingdom of Sarleon, even the Bacchus Empire's self-preservation would become a problem...
…
Siyuan City.
Emperor Marius stands in front of the map in military uniform.
This is the palace hall, but the current layout looks more like a military command center.
"Where is Kairos now? There's no reason why he can't send back a message? The rebels of Shira Yuzas haven't completely defeated him yet..."
Emperor Marius looked at the map and asked General Agathon beside him without turning his head.
"When I received your order, Marshal Kairos was in Finrad Village with the main force of the Shadow Legion. Your Majesty, Marshal Kairos probably didn't dare to send you detailed military reports... There are many traitors in the Shadow Legion! Shira Yuzas always knows the movements of the imperial army first!"
General Agathon frowned tightly and looked much more anxious than Emperor Marius.
"Alas... not only did the Shadow Legion have traitors, but the Immortal Legion also had many traitors. The number of Immortals who joined the rebellion far exceeded my imagination..."
Emperor Marius said this with some helplessness, but he did not show any frustration: "Agathon, the situation is urgent now. You must immediately recapture Malasburg. It is the hub between Siyuan City, Dilingang and Boshi City. It cannot be lost..."
Malasburg is located between the three core cities of the Bacchus Empire and is indeed an extremely important connecting hub.
Emperor Marius's eyes were always wandering around Malasbourg on the map.
"But... Your Majesty, Olega Castle has fallen. The rebels and the Snake Cult heretics may attack Siyuan City from both sides. If I take the army away at this time, you..."
Agathon looked quite worried.
"I believe Kairos will wipe out the rebels. As for the Snake Cult in Fort Olega, I have recalled Titus... Compared to Siyuan City, I am more worried about Dilingang."
Emperor Marius pointed to the location of God's Port on the map and said, "The snake worshippers who are causing trouble this time are not just simple believers. They have a strict organization and military order, and have formed a real army! These are not just snake worshippers in the empire . Their army actually came from the sea, from the continent of Amara!"
Agathon's eyes widened: "Your Majesty! If that's the case... I'm afraid Dilingang..."
"It's because we've lost contact with Dilingang, so you have to control the area around Malasburg and ensure the safety of Dilingang! I'll personally go into battle in Siyuan City..."
Emperor Marius nodded and patted Agathon on the shoulder: "Go now, don't worry about Siyuan City!"
"Yes, sir!"
Agathon took the order and left. He had confidence in Emperor Marius' judgment.
Marius looked at the map again, then turned around and poured a glass of wine from a metal cup on the table. "Is Justus okay?"
"We are currently unable to contact the people in Boshi City, but if nothing unexpected happens, father should be able to convince the slave rebels... But if we recruit them all, Boshi City might not have enough food."
A young girl came out from behind a side screen. "Your Majesty, why didn't you let Brutus lead the gladiators to fight against the rebels of Hira Uzas? Isn't that what you originally thought?"
The girl looks quite young, but she seems calm and bookish.
"Luciana, I didn't expect that Shira Yuzas could persuade so many troops to rebel... I knew that many centurions of the Shadow Legion might rebel, but I really didn't expect that even so many elites of my Immortal Legion would join him. Now the rebels are too close, and I can no longer send officers to guide them. The slave army that Brutus has raised is too large, and it may not be easy to drive them smoothly now. It is better to recruit them quickly to avoid greater chaos..."
The Emperor Marius was quite patient with the young girl and treated her as a friend - just as he had been with Justus, but even more cordially.
"Your Majesty, my name is Arina now... Actually, those gladiators are quite cooperative, and Brutus is still their leader. I think we can let him have a try..."
The girl corrected the way Emperor Marius addressed her, and it seemed that she did not regard Marius as an emperor at all, but more like a close elder.
"Arina, child, you have never really dealt with gladiators. They will only obey those who can beat them in combat. I'm afraid it will be difficult for Brutus to make all of them completely obedient..."
Marius shook his head and changed the address, explaining like an elder teaching a child.
"Then I really have no choice but to recruit them in advance. I still haven't considered it thoroughly enough..."
Alina sighed as she spoke: "The chaos in the empire now can be said to be caused by me... I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I didn't expect it to be like this."
"Alina... this is not your fault. There is nothing wrong with your plan. Using the rebels of Shira Yuzas to drive the gladiators to launch a slave uprising was originally a good plan to promote the reform of the slave system in one fell swoop... but no one expected that the Snake Worship Church of the Amara continent would suddenly cross the sea to launch an expedition..."
Emperor Marius drank the wine in his cup in one gulp and sighed, "I hope there won't be any bad news from the north."
"The Sarleon Kingdom is too busy to take care of itself. It won't happen... However, Your Majesty, the Noldor elves seem to be cooperating with Baron Leon of the Sarleon Kingdom. The Viper troops lurking there sent back news that the Noldor elves are following Leon to fight against the Jatu people."
Alina lowered her head and looked at the booklet in her hands.
"Huh... This is probably good news. At least that guy won't come to cause trouble... That Leon can control the Noldor elves. It seems that he is really extraordinary. By the way, Alina, I heard that Baron Leon is not married yet..."
Emperor Marius looked back at Arina, and suddenly his eyes seemed to light up.
"I am only interested in the hero that Madigan once predicted... Your Majesty."
Alina shook her head expressionlessly.
"Your excuse... You've been using this excuse since you were sixteen. How many times have you said it now? You can't stay single forever, Alina. You'll be twenty next month."
Emperor Marius also shook his head and smiled: "Or do you plan to continue to be my intelligence officer? Justus will definitely complain about me..."
"...Your decree limits the marriage age for women to 28, Your Majesty. Besides, it's not that I don't want to get married, but those men don't dare to propose to me, so what can I do... Instead of worrying about my marriage, you might as well worry about the domestic situation..."
Alina pouted and retreated behind the screen.
"Ha, we can never be pessimistic... As long as Agasson clears the enemies near Malasburg, everything will be solved. Titus has also contacted the Ashborn... Alina, this chaos is not a bad thing. The Empire will eliminate all the Shen Ke in one fell swoop! Bacchus will be reborn from the ashes and will become extremely powerful!"
Emperor Marius poured himself another glass of wine, drank it in one gulp, then picked up his sword and left the hall.
A stream of bright red liquid slowly flowed from the metal wine glass, looking like blood.
