CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 41 DECREE

Maximus’ words inexplicably stirred something within Flanitnus: He was a farmer in his youth, later became a refugee, then was recruited as a soldier, eventually becoming a Centurion in the Roman Army. But even so, he was just an ordinary member of Rome’s vast military machine. After retirement, he became an ordinary farmer again, and later turned into a slave... His life was unremarkable, like tiny dust, unnoticed and meaningless. But now he could become a teacher, and many would listen to his words, just like Maximus did tonight. What he would gain was a respect he had never had before!

Flanitnus took a deep breath and solemnly said, "I can give it a try."

Maximus noticed the change in his expression, his lips slightly curled, and said, "Then it’s settled!"

He then looked towards Fesaros: "Apart from training, ensuring the safety of the Supply Team is your Guard’s duty. Starting tomorrow, you need to take responsibility for this, especially since the women in our team are always being harassed by soldiers from other brigades. I hope such incidents won’t happen again in the future."

"If those soldiers don’t listen to our dissuasion and forcefully try to break into our camp, what if a conflict erupts?" Fesaros looked troubled, having heard of such incidents before.

Maximus replied without hesitation, "Then arrest them and hand them over to me. Don’t worry about making a big deal; I have a way to handle it."

"Alright, we’ll follow your lead." Fesaros shrugged, revealing slight helplessness.

Maximus did not pay much attention to him and once again looked around at everyone, solemnly saying, "We have another very important task ahead! The number of people in our Supply Team has increased to nearly 300, and it will continue to grow. To prevent confusion, we must establish some decrees applicable to the Supply Team to facilitate management and maintain the stability of the entire team. I’ve thought of a few, but I’m not sure if they are suitable for us, so let’s discuss them together."

Does the rebel army have legal provisions? No. After all, this team was formed only a month ago and has been busy expanding the team and struggling to survive; such considerations were far from their minds. Even when they eventually settle, Spartacus and other leaders might not immediately realize this.

But Maximus was different. Coming from the China of a past life, he deeply understood the importance of ruling by law. Moreover, he was a fan of Zhuge Liang, a grand figure in Chinese history known for attacking the powerful Wei Country with the power of a single state and launching six expeditions to Qishan. Although this exhausted the national strength greatly, Shu Country remained stable, officials were clear-minded, powerful were subdued, and the people lived peacefully, all mainly relying on ruling by law... Therefore, he wanted to plan and constrain his subordinates with decrees while the team was still weak. This way, they would encounter fewer obstacles when the team grew larger.

Others didn’t think much of it, but Flantillus was shocked: Rome is an extremely lawful country, with countless decrees established and passed since its founding as a City State. As a Roman citizen, he deeply felt this, and now a small department of a rebel force, with less than three hundred people and occupying less than a mile, was going to establish decrees!

Flanitnus was already amazed by Maximus’ talents, and now he looked upon him even more highly.

"The first one—" Maximus raised a finger, stating solemnly, "We are a team resisting Rome. So anyone voluntarily joining us should have this resolve. If anyone attempts to defect after joining, or secretly conspires with the Romans to harm us, upon discovery and capture, they will be put to death. What do you all think of this one?"

"Agreed!"

"A traitor should meet such an end!" Acronis, Pigeris, and Fesaros all shouted, while Gaius and Seksepis nodded repeatedly.

Only Flanitnus frowned slightly, thinking that Maximus’ first line seemed mainly targeted at them, these army slaves, so he decided to remind those fellows seriously afterwards not to act foolishly!

"The second one, any resolutions passed in our Supply Team meetings must be conscientiously executed. Non-implementation, or wrongful implementation, constitutes dereliction of duty and should be punished!"

After Maximus finished speaking, everyone was internally startled, as this rule was clearly targeting them.

"The third one, everyone in the Supply Team should diligently perform their duties. Anyone slacking off must be punished.

The fourth one, the materials stored in the Supply Team belong to the whole team, and no one is allowed to steal. Otherwise, they will be punished.

The fifth one, individuals in the Supply Team are not allowed to cause trouble without permission. Otherwise, they will be punished."

Since the rebel army was just formed, the people in the Supply Team all lived together without their private properties, thus Maximus temporarily thought of these five rules.

After some discussion, there were no additions or deletions to the rules, only some extensions were made on the details, such as the severity of penalties depending on the severity of the delicts.

After the meeting, Maximus kept Acronis, Vorenus, and Fesaros behind.

"In the coming period, your Guard should particularly keep an eye on these Roman Army slaves who have just joined our Supply Team and be on guard against any attempts of escape," Maximus whispered to Fesaros.

"Ah, how can this be! Haven’t they all joined us? I think that Flanitnus is quite cooperative!" Fesaros was a bit astonished.

"Spartacus told me that some of them were not very willing when joining our team... In any case, your Guard should pay more attention to them. I also do not want to see anyone violating the first decree shortly after it’s issued!" Maximus said gravely.

Tonight, he delivered a speech, told stories, and had Flanitnus attend their meeting. All this fuss was mainly to win these Roman Army slaves over. He could tell that Flanitnus was somewhat reconciled by the end, but even though Flanitnus had considerable prestige among those slaves, it couldn’t be guaranteed that no one would act foolishly.

After Fesaros left, Maximus walked over to Vorenus, a former farm manager, who was busy taking notes during the meeting without uttering a word, thanks to the good education of a home-born slave.

Maximus picked up the papyrus Vorenus had written on. The tasks assigned and the five decrees established tonight were all clearly written on it.

Maximus nodded in satisfaction, "Very good, it is clearly written. I will officially announce these decrees to everyone tomorrow night. Vorenus, starting tomorrow, every new member joining our Supply Team must be vetted by you, including their birth, race, experiences... and most importantly, what they can do. Whether they are skilled at woodworking, weaving, farming wheat, or sailing... Record all these categories for me for better assignment of tasks."

"I can do these things, but I’m afraid the papyrus might not be enough," Vorenus reminded.

"That’s an easy matter. In the future, I’ll ask other leaders to pay attention to collecting more papyrus when leading teams out."

After Vorenus left, only Acronis was left in the room. She eagerly asked, "Captain, quickly tell me, how can we make those guys in the kitchen work better?!"

"Don’t rush." Maximus’ voice was clear, with a slow pace as he analyzed, "You see, the work in your kitchen can generally be divided into three categories: chopping wood and lighting the hearth, cooking porridge, meat, and soup, and baking bread.

Chopping wood and lighting the hearth is time-consuming and labor-intensive. From now on, the Guard will handle this work. For them, it is just an additional project to their daily military training. Your kitchen can then save on manpower and only assign two or three people specifically to keep an eye on the hearth each day and ensure the fire doesn’t go out—"

"Captain, your solution has really solved our big problem!" Acronis said happily.