The Mad Tycoon of Rome

< 262. Succession Structure 3 >

“No, that’s…”

Marcus was momentarily lost in thought at the unexpected question.

He didn’t intend to keep it a secret.

He just wanted to explain it step by step after everything was ready.

He knew that if he spoke before then, he would get a reaction like this.

Marcus was not sure how much information he should give.

His hesitation was misunderstood by Julia, whose face grew darker.

“You don’t do anything without thinking. That’s why I’ve been watching you… But you didn’t really do it without thinking, did you?”

“Of course not. Have I ever done anything impulsively?”

“No. But I’m worried because it’s related to your child. Even the most rational and logical person can become emotional when it comes to their child. Especially you, you’ve been too attached to Sophia since before. You know I’m not being anxious for no reason, right?”

Marcus made a faintly embarrassed expression and looked around.

As Julia said, considering his actions so far, it was unreasonable to tell her not to worry.

He eventually decided that it would be better to reveal as much as possible.

“You’re probably right about what you’re thinking. But of course I didn’t do anything impulsively, and I’ve prepared everything thoroughly, so you don’t have to worry. If you have any concerns, feel free to ask me. I’ll answer them all.”

“Are you really going to make your daughter your successor? It’s completely against the Roman sentiment.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a daughter or a son. I’m giving my position to someone who has the ability to do so. The successor of the Julius Reginius family will be regarded as a living god who has descended in this era. So it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman. Of course, I’m not going to insist on that, but I’m going to make the Romans naturally feel that way. I’ve already started preparing for that.”

“Are you going to cause the same innovations that you’ve done so far with Sophia in front of you?”

“Yes. Changes that no one has ever imagined will happen and the glory will go to Sophia. She might even enjoy more fame than me. People have a different feeling for goddesses than for gods. They are sacred beings, holy maidens, mothers, something like that. They can give both feelings at the same time.”

If he considered how much respect and reverence the queens of England had received, he could roughly guess the reaction.

If Marcus’s breath was involved, she would probably receive more respect and love than the queens of England in their heyday.

Julia fell silent for a moment and thought.

If what Marcus said was true, it seemed that there was no difficulty for his daughter to reach the highest position in Rome.

It would be a problem if it was a person, but it would be different if it was a god.

There would be no problem if it was seen as someone who had the qualifications of a god taking that position.

There might be some criticism about how he would do that, but Marcus also offered a solution.

If he achieved achievements equivalent to those he had achieved so far, such as innovation in agriculture, reducing the incidence of disease by distributing soap, inventing paper and printing press, no one could complain.

The real problem was whether such great inventions could come out in the future, but Marcus gave him a definite answer that it was possible.

Then he could say that he had lessened his biggest worry.

But that wasn’t the end of the problem.

“Weren’t you considering Octavius as a son-in-law?”

“He’s the one with the most ideal conditions. He’s from a commoner background but has a noble bloodline, and his ability is outstanding beyond anyone’s reach. And most importantly, Sophia seems to like Octavius, so shouldn’t I respect her wishes?”

“I agree that he’s the best son-in-law if you only look at the conditions. But that’s only if you’re healthy.”

“Are you worried that Octavius will show his true colors when I die?”

Julia nodded slowly.

“I know it might be an excessive worry, but I can’t say that the possibility is zero. You said Octavius has an outstanding ability, but he’s more than just excellent.

He also has a ruthlessness that can cut off anything for his purpose. Even if Sophia takes the highest position, she’s still a woman after all. How can you be sure that Octavius won’t dominate Rome in reality?”

“That might be possible if you only look at his abilities. Octavius is definitely on a different level.”

Politically speaking, there was no one in Rome who could match Octavius except Marcus.

Even Caesar might be inferior to Octavius if he only looked at politics.

If he became Sophia’s husband, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t try to take over Rome.

He would have the ability and the background to do so.

“Unless Octavius dies before you, it doesn’t matter. He’s a weak child…”

“No. He’ll probably live disgustingly long. People who whine like that usually have a long life.”

In the original history, Octavius lived until he was 75 years old.

That was an amazing longevity for an ancient person.

If Marcus wanted to live longer than Octavius, he would have to live almost 100 years old, but he honestly didn’t have the confidence.

He couldn’t guarantee anything about human lifespan, even with the help of modern medicine.

How could he say for sure how long he would live in ancient times?

Marcus quickly added more words before Julia’s expression darkened after hearing his answer.

“But there’s something you haven’t considered. Octavius is fatally lacking in one ability.”

“What is that? He seemed to be good at everything as far as I could see…”

“That’s inevitable. I never entrusted him with anything related to the military. But Octavius is seriously deficient in military ability. No, that’s not an appropriate word either. He’s just a person who has no military talent at all.”

Julia widened her eyes and tilted her head.

“How can you be sure that he has no talent if you never entrusted him with it? There are cases where you think he can’t do it, but when you try it, he does surprisingly well… They’re more common than you think.”

Marcus looked at her gently, who was not fully convinced.

“It’s a fact that has already been perfectly verified. So don’t worry.”

There were three major factors that enabled Octavius to reach the peak of Rome in the original history.

The first was, needless to say, Octavius’ outstanding political ability.

The ability that Octavius possessed was so different that he could manipulate not only his own situation but also his competitors perfectly.

The second was the legitimacy of being Caesar’s rightful successor.

It was because Caesar had designated him as his successor in his will that a young man who had just become an adult and was unknown could form his own faction.

Octavius emphasized and obsessed over the fact that he was Caesar until he received the title of Augustus.

In fact, in the civil war he fought with Antonius, he spared all of Antonius and Cleopatra’s children, but killed Caesar and Cleopatra’s child mercilessly.

He had to be the only successor of Caesar.

And the third was the existence of a friend who could supplement his lack of military talent.

Caesar saw through Octavius’ lack of military talent long ago and gave him Agrippa, an outstanding person.

In fact, most of the military victories that Octavius achieved until he became emperor were commanded by Agrippa.

Agrippa was a commoner of ordinary birth who had nothing special in terms of status, so he faithfully played the role of a loyal assistant in Octavius’ shadow.

In other words, Marcus had already taken away two of the three advantages that Octavius had in the original history.

Octavius now had neither the sole successor of Caesar nor someone who could compensate for his lack of military talent.

Rather, the legitimacy was with Marcus’ children, and Agrippa would also become a knight who pledged loyalty to Sophia.

Moreover, his eldest son, Trajanus, was a very talented child in terms of military ability.

If he looked at his aptitude, he would rather welcome him to be a general who commanded the army than to do politics that he didn’t have any luck with.

If Trajanus and Agrippa took over the military power, Rome’s military strength would be completely dominated by the Julius Licinius family.

Anyone who did not have military power in Rome could never cause a great event.

No matter how high their political ability was, this was an unchanging truth.

Even if they cornered their opponents politically, in the end, the final decision was made by force.

And above all, if Octavius had such ability, he would realize this fact himself and restrain himself from doing so.

After hearing the detailed explanation, Julia finally relieved her worries about Octavius.

“But it’s not over yet. Hearing your explanation makes me worry about one more thing. Rather, this might be the biggest source of anxiety. What if the children who are qualified to be successors rebel because they are pushed out of the competition? What if there is a slight difference in their abilities and they are all excellent? What if the child who fails to become a successor rebels and there are forces that sympathize with him? It seems to me that it would be a perfect environment for a civil war to break out.”

Julia’s insight was indeed exceptional.

Giving the throne to the most outstanding person seemed practical at first glance, but this could naturally cause a civil war.

The ability to become emperor means that anyone with ability can overthrow the throne.

In fact, in the original history, Rome, where the emperor’s authority was shaken in the late imperial period, had several civil wars.

How many civil wars were there that some people even described them as folk games?

Julia’s concern was very reasonable.

But Marcus had the best countermeasure to prevent this.

“My successors will be given absolute dignity and legitimacy that no one can shake. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Even if you hold the nation’s treasury and legions, that can be shaken over time…”

“No, that’s not it. My successors will inherit the wisdom of God that no one else knows. If I arrange it so that only the person who is designated as a successor can see it, no one can deny it.”

“The wisdom of God…”

“Literally. Who else can doubt it?”

Marcus had prepared secret information that only his successors could see in the form of a will.

He couldn’t write down all the knowledge he could see, so he only picked out the realistic parts and made them into books, but the amount was so much that it was almost tens of volumes.

He divided the things he pushed forward using the knowledge of the future into three stages.

What he could finish in his generation, and what he could finish in the next generation, and what would only be possible in the distant future.

For example, reforming the administrative system and expanding educational facilities were things he could finish while he was alive.

And he thought that it would have an effect around the time when Sophia or her successor ascended to the throne to be able to destroy the celestial order of the Middle Kingdom (Han Dynasty).

Finally, things like antibiotics or the establishment of a true democracy would be possible after some more time had passed.

Marcus wrote down the things that his successors had to know, the appropriate means to achieve them, and the effective ways to elevate his authority for this.

A representative example was the volcanic eruption of Pompeii and the earthquake that would hit Antioch.

What if the successors of the future predicted these national disasters with precise years and dates? How would the people of that time react?

If such a thing actually happened, then the words of Marcus’ successors would become literally the voice of God.

Of course, as history went on, the gap between the original history and this one would grow bigger, so writing down the details might not be very helpful.

But anyway, looking at the current rate of development, it would only take a few generations for democracy or true republicanism to sprout.

By then, the emperor’s position would be meaningless.

He might not be beheaded like the royal families of France or Russia, but there was no guarantee that he would never do so.

He just had to write down information that would help his descendants until they could retire with as much praise as possible.

The words that Marcus left for his descendants would become the true scriptures left by God, and they would follow them without a doubt.

Of course, even if he told Julia all this, it was obvious that she wouldn’t believe it properly at this point.

So he just told her a story that he had heard the voice of God in a way that suited him.

Caesar and Julia did not doubt that Marcus was blessed by the gods, so they surprisingly accepted it easily.

※※※

Marcus decided to move up his schedule a little more after telling Julia most of the facts and went straight to Octavius.

As expected, Octavius seemed to have a rough idea of what Marcus was going to say just from the recent situation.

“Did you come here for something related to Lady Sophia?”

“You probably already guessed it, so there’s no need to waste time explaining it. That’s why I like talking to you.”

“You’re too kind. I only know that it’s related to Lady Sophia, but I can’t guess exactly what you’re going to say.”

Octavius lowered himself tightly and listened to Marcus’ words that followed.

“It’s up to you and Sophia to refine this thousand-year empire that my father-in-law and I built into an eternal empire. You will become one who knows everything under heaven. But there will be one price to pay.”

“What is that?”

“You can’t pass on your surname to your children from Sophia. From now on, the women of the Licinius imperial family will inherit matrilineally as descendants of the goddess of Rome.”

< 262. Succession Structure 3 > End.