The Mad Tycoon of Rome

Chapter 32: A Rain of Silver 1

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A skilled farmer pays special attention not only to sowing, but also to harvesting.

Marcus took care of not only the new business he was about to start, but also the existing business he had entrusted to Septimus.

“How is the gladiator-related business going? Didn’t you have a trial match a while ago?”

“Yes. We had a ranking match to select the gladiators who would represent us in the regional competition. The interest of the citizens was different from before when we entered the representative selection match. We benefited a lot from the ranking match and the title match we introduced recently. It was thanks to Spartacus.”

“That’s what I expected. Spartacus is now the best star in Rome.”

After the play about Spartacus was performed, his popularity was indescribable.

On the day of the match, people flocked to the amphitheater so much that it was unbearable, and they fought to get a good seat.

As a result, Spartacus had to hide his face when he went out on the street.

Of course, there were still some annoying things because of people who recognized him like ghosts and followed him.

Marcus told him happily that this was the life of a popular person and he had to accept some of it.

Spartacus was awkward at first because he got such a fanatical popularity, but now he was used to it.

Marcus now drastically reduced the number of matches Spartacus himself played.

It was for the scarcity of the matches.

This made it possible to establish inter-regional exchanges.

From selecting gladiators to represent Rome, to moving and conditioning gladiators, and promoting matches and coordinating schedules with other cities.

Septimus, who oversaw the actors, was in a state of exhaustion from overwork.

But his expression was full of vitality because his results were amazing.

“The biggest problem was contacting the regions where we would have trial matches, but fortunately Pompeii showed quite an interest. Thanks to that, we got a good promotion, and the competition went smoothly.”

“So how was the reaction? Was there a good response?”

“It wasn’t just that. To be honest, I thought this could cause trouble.”

Septimus shook his head and stuck out his tongue.

Pompeii had been an ally of Rome for more than 200 years.

But it was completely subjugated by Sulla during the allied city war about 20 years ago.

Maybe that background sparked a strange sense of rivalry.

The reaction of Pompeii’s citizens was different from the previous gladiator matches.

“It’s symbolic to fight for representing the region. It’s somewhat expected, isn’t it?”

“It’s not that. You can’t understand this unless you see it yourself. First of all, we need to increase the number of security guards. I was worried that the citizens would start a riot or something when Pompeii lost.”

“So the result of the match was Rome’s victory?”

“Yes. We eventually won. But Pompeii sent out their carefully selected elites, so the match was quite tense. They were so excited that they almost broke down the amphitheater when they won.”

“That’s how hot their reaction was…”

Marcus crossed his arms and nodded his head.

The patriotism of these people in this era was different from that of modern times.

‘Did I create the first hooligans in Italy?’

Septimus also reported that the amount of silver pouring into the gambling table was incomparable to normal times.

Even the commission they took was enough to make their eyes sparkle.

The defeated gladiators were cursed, but they did not hear any words to kill them.

It was not only because they fought fiercely and showed a good match as elite gladiators.

The citizens were rational even though they were angry.

It was not right to tell the gladiators who came to represent other regions to kill their own regional representatives.

And after all, they had to win the next match. If they killed them, they would only weaken their own power. The citizens urged the training school to train the gladiators stronger.

This was what Marcus had expected.

“The results of the regional competition are already rumored everywhere. Capua, Aputium, and Tarentum contacted us first. They asked us to include them as well. Even Mediolanum in the north and Agrigentum in Sicily are interested.”

“Really? This is going to be much bigger than I thought. But even so, Agrigentum and Mediolanum are too far…”

Mediolanum was at the northernmost tip of the Italian peninsula, and Agrigentum was located in Sicily below the Italian peninsula.

It might be possible with modern transportation, but it was impossible with the ancient means of transportation.

But it was a pity to reject the cities that expressed their willingness to participate.

An idea flashed through Marcus’ head.

There was no need for a regional competition league to be one. It could be divided into two and proceed like the baseball leagues in modern America or Japan.

Marcus spread out a map and drew a line with his hand.

“Let’s divide it into north and south leagues. And then have the winners of each region compete in the final. It’s hard to go back and forth between north and south several times, but it’s possible once.”

“Indeed… The final match will be a decisive battle to determine the true strongest city. I can’t even imagine how hot the atmosphere will be.”

“As much as the atmosphere is hot, silver will also pour in. We just have to enjoy it with a happy heart.”

“Your skill is amazing. I’m afraid I’ll get used to being surprised because I’m surprised so often.”

Marcus felt a little guilty because he was using the wisdom of humanity accumulated until modern times.

He coughed lightly and naturally changed the subject.

“Let’s leave this talk here, and are you preparing well for what I told you?”

“Are you talking about preparing for buying a large amount of wheat? I’ve found suitable merchants as you ordered. And I’m also buying warehouses in large quantities in dry areas to store wheat.”

“Good, well done. I’m going to buy wheat as much as possible when this year ends, so make sure you’re ready without any problems. And above all, pay attention to storage.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait a little longer? Anyway, if the east is pacified, the price of wheat will stabilize over a long period of time. Do we really need to jump in right away next year?”

Septimus challenged Marcus’ opinion for the first time in a long time.

He followed as he was told, but he couldn’t understand it no matter how he thought about it.

Marcus did not blame him for this.

Anyone with a rational mind would have such a reaction.

He needed people who followed him blindly like Danae or Spartacus, but the existence of a subordinate like Septimus was essential.

  Marcus was not a god, so he made mistakes sometimes. The existence of someone who could point out objectively at that time was very precious.

“I understand how you feel. It’s natural to feel that way. But everyone thinks that way, so we can make a lot of money.”

“I know that one-shot deals are not always good.”

“This is not gambling. It’s a business with confidence. You’ll understand naturally by next year. Just trust me for now.”

“···Yes. To be honest, I’m still not convinced, but since it’s your word, sir, I’ll follow it.”

Accumulated trust was important for this reason.

Septimus, who would have opposed to death a few years ago, agreed to Marcus’s words for the time being.

Wheat had a low moisture activity, so it could be stored indoors for two years easily, and even up to three years if kept in a dry environment.

If he used this opportunity well, he could double his assets.

However, Marcus decided to sell the wheat through another merchant instead of doing it himself.

Wheat was the staple food of the Romans. 

He was worried that he would receive unfavorable eyes if he inflated his wealth with such an essential commodity.

Management was not only about making high profits in a short period of time, but also about looking far ahead.

He thought it was much better to find someone who would take the blame for him instead of reducing his profit margin a little.

“Well, then let’s talk about the chariots and carts for the last time······.”

Marcus was about to continue his words, but he glanced at the door.

It was because of Seline, Spartacus’s wife, who cautiously peeked her head through the gap of the door.

She was holding a bowl with steaming soup and waiting at the entrance of the room.

She had officially married Spartacus and her mind had become much more comfortable, so she had almost regained her previous beauty.

He also thought that maybe all Thracians were naturally pretty when he saw Danae growing more beautiful as she grew up.

“If you’re busy, should I come back later? I brought this because I thought it would be better to taste it before it gets cold······.”

“No, you came at the right time. Let’s take a break and talk about the rest later.”

Marcus gestured and Seline put the bowl on the desk.

The bowl contained a soup that looked very similar to the pork bone soup that Marcus liked to eat.

The smell was slightly different, but visually it was passable.

“Be careful, it’s hot. The taste should be much better than last time. I’m not sure if it’s what you want, though.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

Marcus carefully picked up the bowl with a half-expectant, half-worried mind and brought it to his mouth.

It felt slightly different, but it was much closer to the taste in his memory than before.

Marcus emptied the bowl with satisfaction. 

He handed the empty bowl to Seline and asked

“It’s a bit different but I’m very happy with it. How did you do it? It’s much better than last time.”

“Last time, I didn’t drain the blood properly from the bones, so the pepper didn’t cover the smell well. So this time, I thoroughly removed the blood and added bay leaves and pepper for flavor. And when it boiled vigorously, I lowered the heat and skimmed off the scum on top.”

“Wow, you put a lot of effort into it.”

Marcus, who was ignorant of cooking, thought that he just had to boil pork bones to make soup.

When he asked for that, he got a result that smelled so bad that he couldn’t eat it at all.

Seline improved that result with her own knowledge and achieved this level of success.

Of course, considering the price of pepper in Rome, this soup was not something that commoners could afford at all.

‘A soup that is not for commoners is meaningless···no, there is no rice in the first place, so it’s not even a soup.’

The production of rice in Italy began in the 15th century.

Marcus mistakenly thought that there would be rice in Italy because he remembered risotto.

So he made a substitute food similar to couscous in a hurry, but it felt lacking.

‘Maybe I should just bring rice from the east and grow it myself? I think Romans would like dishes like risotto if I make and sell them······.’

Marcus, who was briefly lost in a fantasy, soon shook his head vigorously to set his priorities straight.

This was not the time to be distracted by something like rice.

He already had a pile of crops to bring in.

Marcus decided to check on the topic he had talked about before, since it came to his mind.

“Septimus, how are the crops I told you to bring in?”

“Ah, you mean that sugarcane thing. I sent some merchants, but as you know, it’s too far away, so they haven’t come back yet. I told them to bring as much as they can, so we should be able to grow enough here.”

“Good, good. You have to pay special attention to that. It’s an important thing that can change the root of Rome’s food culture.”

The method of extracting sugar from the stem of sugarcane by squeezing it was already used in India at this time.

The introduction of sugar made with this method to Europe was a distant future event that happened after the Crusades.

But Marcus felt that he had to bring this sugarcane to Rome first than anything else.

It was not just to sell sugar and make money.

It was because of the serious lead poisoning problem among the Roman nobles.

Rome produced an enormous amount of lead, comparable to Europe during the Industrial Revolution, and used it a lot in everyday life.

Even the pipes that brought water were made of lead.

But this was not a big problem. 

The water with lime components coated the surface.

So commoners rarely suffered from lead poisoning.

The problem was the wealthy class who used lead as a food ingredient.

When they heated wine in a lead container, sapa was produced, and the Romans used this sapa as a seasoning for cooking.

If they kept eating this food, they would inevitably get lead poisoning.

Marcus was shocked when he saw them using sapa in cooking.

From that day on, all dishes using lead were banned at Crassus’s mansion.

And Marcus came up with a way to solve this problem and make a lot of money at the same time.

That was the introduction of sugar.

Fortunately, the northern limit of sugarcane cultivation was near the Mediterranean Sea, so it could be harvested enough in Rome.

“Septimus, when sugarcane is grown, investigate as many people as possible who have eaten sapa and have serious health problems. People will look for alternatives if they see the damage of lead poisoning directly.”

“Yes. But does the sweet taste really come from the stem of that plant?”

“It’s certain according to the Greek records. Even Alexander the Great was surprised by the fact that there was a region where honey was obtained from reeds.”

“I think anyone would be surprised by that.”

“That’s why it’s a revolution. Do you think I wasted money and sent people all the way there for nothing?”

The initial price of sugar would be high, but anyway, the class that would consume it would be nobles and knights, so it didn’t matter.

Rather, commoners would enjoy the superiority of eating expensive products that they couldn’t afford. 

It was historically true.

Gladiator regional competition and monopoly of wheat, and production of sugar on top of that.

A fantasy of silver coins pouring down like rain naturally passed through Marcus’s head.

Of course, this was not the end. 

There was one more improved product that Marcus had worked hard to create.

He got up from his seat after having some fruit that Seline brought as a dessert.

“We’ve rested enough, so let’s get back to business talk. Selkne is here too, so I think it would be better to see and hear her opinion on this. Both of you follow me.”

“Yes?”

“Hoo, has the prototype already come out?”

Unlike Seline, who was bewildered, Septimus followed Marcus with great interest.

“Yes. I just got a call that it was completed today. You can look forward to it. It won’t be long before all the chariots and carts in Rome are replaced with this new model.”

Marcus smiled confidently and led them to Vitruvius’s laboratory.

The new chariot equipped with leaf spring suspension was finally completed.

It was another moment that would give a huge shock to Rome’s society, following the stirrups and the horseshoes.