Three days later, Bryan returned to the 13th Army station with three brigades and 1,000 pounds of gold.
Upon returning to the camp, he ordered his infantry to cast the gold into gold coins.
Because gold is an equivalent currency.
A gold coin weighs 8 grams.
Therefore, the value of 8 grams of gold is equivalent to a gold coin.
The Roman Republic allowed nobles to mint gold coins in private.
Soon 1,000 pounds of gold turned into about 41,000 gold coins, equivalent to 10 tarans.
1 Tarrant = 100 pounds = 33000 grams
Seeing so many gold coins, Captain Cateus was dumbfounded.
At first, Cateus, you thought that although there is gold in the Red River Valley, you just didn't expect so much.
The Roman soldiers of the three brigades held the most primitive gold-digging tools, and they scoured 10 Tarrants of gold in three days.
These are roughly equivalent to the military expenditure of the entire army for half a year.
The corps pays soldiers every year, and it costs about 50,000 to 60,000 gold coins.
Coupled with the cost of food and clothing for the entire army.
It is impossible not to have seventy or eighty thousand gold coins in a year.
"Is there still gold in the Red River Valley?"
Seeing so many gold coins, the first thought of the legion commander Kateus was to pull the entire legion over to mine gold.
"they don't have much anymore!"
Brian spread his hands and said.
The fact is exactly the same, he led the three legions to get, but the nuggets all over Red River Valley.
Brian firmly believes that there must be abundant reserves of gold ore underground in the entire Red River Valley.
But it must have professional equipment and a lot of manpower before it can be mined, which will undoubtedly increase the cost.
Leading legionaries to mine gold is no longer a cost-effective business.
In these few days alone, in order to appease the soldiers, Brian needs to pay 10% of gold, which is 4100 gold coins.
This is quite a large sum of money. On average, each Roman soldier can get two gold coins.
You know, the salary of a Roman soldier is only about 8 gold coins a year.
It is obviously uneconomical to use soldiers to mine gold.
The best way is to buy a large number of slaves and let them mine for free.
"How can I know if I don't try?"
Cateus obviously didn't believe Brian's answer.
After all, the golden coins are right in front of you, and if you say there are none, there will be none.
Cateus, 54 years old this year, is already considered an advanced age in ancient Rome.
There is not much desire for foreign conquests.
However, there is an inexplicable desire for the pursuit of wealth.
Before Brian went out to play the autumn wind, the wealth he earned would be shared with him, just like this time.
For many things, he closed one eye.
Privately mobilize the forces of the three brigades, if they were placed in others, they would have been nailed to the cross long ago.
"Anyway, the Red River Valley is there, sir, you can lead the team there yourself."
Brian shrugged helplessly. The Red River Valley is there anyway. If you don't believe it, you can go there to dig.
"Oh!"
Cateus looked up at Brian.
There has always been an unwritten rule in Rome, that is, who discovered it and who owns the mine.
Because the Red River Valley is not in Rome and belongs to Gaul, Brian, as the first noble to discover a gold mine, owns the ownership of the gold mine.
Right now, Brian actually allowed Cateus to mine.
"Do you really allow it?"
Cateus still couldn't believe his ears and asked further.
Know that his deputy, Brian, is notoriously greedy and lustful.
"Of course, you are the commander of the 13th Army! But I have a small condition, that is, if you have dug a gold mine, I will score a little bit!"
"Okay! According to the old rules, this time I will take the lead. I am 5 and you are 4."
The habit of the two people working together for a long time is to get the property to score 5 or 4 points, and the remaining part is given to the soldiers.
"Well, that's it, but I want to bring a line of soldiers into Barcelona City!"
A brigade can be divided into three formations, namely young soldiers, middle-aged soldiers and old soldiers, and is commanded by a centurion.
"Barcelona City? What are you doing with your soldiers?"
Cateus had a bad feeling.
This guy will definitely cause trouble with his troops into the city.
Roman law stipulates that, if not, the governor of the local province or the commander of the legion.
The Roman army is not allowed in the capital city where the province is located.
The city of Barcelona is the capital of the Iberian province.
"Of course I bought some equipment and developed the Red River Valley. I suspect that they have rich gold mines underground!"
Brian snapped his fingers.
Although Cateus is often uncomfortable with some of Ryan's actions, as long as it involves making money, the two people's opinions will be surprisingly consistent.
The Roman Republic provided less than 20,000 gold coins for each legion's annual military expenditure.
The money is not enough to eat, let alone pay.
Often the senior generals of the legion are raising the legion out of their own pockets.
Before the reforms of Mario, all citizens brought their own weapons to join the legion.
In addition, the establishment of a small legion was implemented before, and a standard Roman legion did not exceed 4000 people.
After the reform of Mario, a recruiting system was implemented, and the army provided weapons and equipment.
The corps has expanded to a large corps of five or six thousand people.
However, Senate, the military expenditure provided to each legion has not changed, only a handful of 20,000 gold coins.
These 20,000 gold coins not only need to buy equipment, but also bear the clothing, food, shelter, and wages of the soldiers.
In order to control the military power, senior generals often have to pay out of their own pockets.
Therefore, both Brian and Cateus have an inexplicable obsession with money.
Because as long as you have enough wealth, you can maintain the legion.
With soldiers in hand, he can maintain his status as a nobleman.
The status of the nobles with soldiers in Rome is different from the nobles without soldiers.
"Well, you can lead a line of soldiers into Barcelona, but you can't cause me trouble!"
Brian spread his hands helplessly.
"When did I cause you trouble? Those previous troubles were not caused by my personal relationship!"