"I say......" Just as Luga was about to open his mouth, he saw a nobleman stand up, he raised his hand to signal Luga, and then said to Luga with a smile: "Your Excellency's meaning is naturally familiar to us, such a luxurious banquet, and the son of Baseleus himself presided over, then we naturally can't just enjoy it without rewarding!" ”

After speaking, the nobleman who took the initiative to stand up and speak smiled and nodded at the nobles seated, which attracted a response from the nobles, who also smiled in return, as if they had a heart.

I saw that the nobleman who stood up gave a few orders to the slave behind him, and the other nobles also whispered something to the slave waiting behind him, anyway, Luga didn't understand.

The slaves seemed to be veterans of the subject, too, and they nodded their heads after only a sentence or two, and then went out in one go, leaving the nobles in their seats with a meaningful smile.

In a short time, large and small boxes of gifts were brought into the Doge's Palace, good fellows, full of Suledus and valuable jewels, precious spices from Asia and even silk from the Far East, which I heard was an uncommon item because of the war in the East. In this way, Suledus has become the most difficult thing to handle.

Not only was Luga stunned, but even Andrew, who was behind him now, couldn't help but stare at this box of rare things with wide eyes, Andrew couldn't help but lean behind Luga and whispered to Luga: "Are these all for us?" ”

"These are our requests to Flavies, the son of Baseleus, the supreme commander of the Thracian field army. A small greeting gift from His Excellency Luga! The nobles turned their eyes to Luga, and their eyes were full of flattery.

"What does that mean?" Luga looked at the big box and small box of "gifts", and did not feel moved, but wondered, he didn't ask for this thing, but the nobles actually took the initiative to send it themselves, and he hurriedly asked Alleto, who had stopped the knife and fork in his hand.

"Oh, my lord, don't you understand?" Arleto smiled and said to Luga: "The previous governor has been urgently transferred back to Constantinople by Baseleus to take up the defense work, but your Excellency is here at this time, and he is leading a legion, isn't this obvious enough?" Your Excellency the Governor! ”

"Governor?" Luga pointed to himself, as if he couldn't believe the truth of Arleto's words, and lost his mind for a moment, then he came back to his senses, and couldn't help shaking his head and smiling bitterly: "It seems that the change of the governor of the city of Athens is probably more diligent than the change of your honor's clothes." ”

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ladies and gentlemen! ”

Without waiting for Arleto's doubts, Luga stood up directly, he looked at the nobles, took a deep breath, and then spread his hands, and said to everyone with a clearly kind attitude: "As you are here, or as you should be able to think, a digression, everyone, the food on this table is to your liking. ”

"Oh yes, it's delicious!"

"Oh, if my cook could make something delicious, I wouldn't have reprimanded her every day."

"Yes, it's a supreme delicacy, and I think that if Holy Jesus had been there, he would have been too excited to pray and feast with us."

The nobles praised again and again, but they seemed to be too satisfied, and the flattering language made Luga not so happy, he just forced a smile and listened to the praise of everyone until he finally said, "So, do you feel that you want to eat this meal again?" ”

"Why, why don't you want to?"

"Oh, this must be a cook from Constantinople, much better than that piece of waste in my house."

The aristocrats began to gossip, and none of them got to the point.

"It's a pity that happy times are always so short." When Lu Jia said this, it seemed meaningful, so that the nobles present stopped praising and looked at Lu Jia suspiciously, not knowing what he was sad about.

"As you know, the great enemy is present, and now the Huns are pressing on it, and in Thessaloniki, General Anlasis died heroically, and Areobindes betrayed Rome because he was afraid of Attila's might, but fortunately I have the loyalty of the Thracian field army, otherwise I would have died in Thessalonica." Luga spoke unhurriedly, but the speaker was unintentional, the listener was intentional, and Anlasis and Areobindes were part of the ranks of commanders of the combined legions that had been chosen to recover Carthage, and were members of the Senate Council of Constantinople. In the entire Eastern Empire, he can be regarded as a figure with a head and a face, but the environment in which the two people live is very different, and the result is embarrassing.

After a brief discussion, the nobles present did not say a word, they looked at Luga, and listened quietly to see if Luga had anything else to say.

"As you can expect, the fall of Thessaloniki means that there is no longer a line of defense to stop Attila's attack in the north of Athens." Luga said to the nobles present with a solemn face: "Attila may say that the Greek road is going south at any time, we can't stop Attila's horses' hooves, if we can't wake up, then we will all die under their horses' hooves in the end!" ”

The nobles began to whisper when they heard Luga's warning, Luga didn't know what they were talking about, and in such an emergency, they should work together to the outside world, instead of saying a few words to me, I am afraid that only the nobles who opened their mouths knew.

"Am I being naïve?" Luga asked himself, and it seemed that his well-intentioned warning did not make the nobles present feel even the slightest nervousness. Are you really going to force me to do this? Luga gritted his teeth, looked at the nobles seated, and then looked at the gifts piled up like a hill, if he accepted it, then it would be difficult to deal with it if he took it and ate people's mouths. No, this is so many things, enough to maintain the army's expenses for a month or two, but it is far from enough, because Luga needs to expand the army, and he needs to pull up an army that can compete with Attila!

"Lord Luga" At this time, another nobleman stood up, he looked left and right, as if he had received permission from his companion, and then said: "We think about it, but we still can't understand what Your Excellency means? ”

"Where do you not understand?"

"Your Excellency says that Attila is destroying one city after another in the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia, but you can guarantee that they will not be able to get here, after all, there are many cities between Thessaloniki and Athens, and consider that the army of Xerxes, the king of Persia, has not passed the hot springs. Besides, we have tall and sturdy walls that rival Constantinople, so I don't understand why you still feel nervous. ”

"You don't understand at all, Attila is not Xerxes, he is more cunning and powerful than Xerxes!" Luga replied.

Another nobleman stood up and said, "But we have heard that Barcellus has been negotiating with Attila about the gold to be distributed, and I hope that it will not be long before they will accept the gold from Constantinople and obediently retreat, just as the Visgoths did in the beginning." ”

Hearing this nobleman's words, Luga couldn't help but smile, he already felt a little impatient, and then he continued: "Attila asked for a lot of gold, a full six thousand pounds, think about how many gold people can be minted with so much gold?" ”

"Six Thousand Pounds ......"

The nobles let out a burst of exclamation in private, and it seemed that the six thousand pounds of gold had indeed frightened them.