Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1659 Superman
"What are you doing here! This is the co-ruling emperor's office, what do you want to do!"

The guards at the gate blocked Shang Luo's way. They actually knew Shang Luo, because Shang Luo was considered an acquaintance of Agassiz, and the guards at the gate were naturally familiar with him as well.

But now Shangluo wants to go inside the gate, which is not right. Because Emperor Agassiz had explicitly ordered before he left that this gate should not be opened for anyone.

"You won't let me in?"

"Our orders are not to open the door, not to anyone. Not even His Majesty the King of Rome."

"Interesting. So even though he's here, you're not opening the door?"

"His Majesty the Co-ruling Emperor has a passageway in and out of his room." This means that when Agassiz went on "business trips," he did not actually need to leave his room.

In other words, he locked himself in his room. He would open the door himself once he was finished. If the door wasn't open, it meant he wasn't done yet, and naturally no one was allowed to enter.

"I see." Shangluo nodded. "So your orders are to not let anyone in? Then, can Victoria come in?"

“No. The co-ruling emperor’s orders include Her Majesty Victoria, so she cannot enter.”

"So, with what kind of authority did he have to access Victoria's information?"

Logically speaking, Victoria was the legitimate emperor, and when the powers of the co-ruling emperor conflicted with those of the legitimate emperor, the legitimate emperor's power should prevail.

“By the authority of the clan, Your Majesty the King of Rome,” he said to Shangluo, “His Majesty Agassocles is the clan chief.”

[Oh, I forgot about that. Clan authority was indeed very important in Rome. For example, Caesar's successors would include "Caesar" in their names to confirm their patriarchal status. In the Palaiologos Isaurian dynasty, clan authority was still in her father's hands, because while the throne could be passed to a daughter, in principle, the patriarchal position could not.]

"It's not allowed in principle, but it's actually possible?"

Yes, it is indeed possible. Otherwise, the name Palaiologos Isauria wouldn't exist; it was the result of the merger of two dynasties.

That's true. The name itself indicates that one of the two dynasties lost a male heir, leading to a merger between the dynasties.

In principle, such a joint rule would normally constitute a change of dynasty in Rome. However, because the Palaiologos dynasty was so influential, it was necessary to combine the names of the two dynasties.

Such things rarely happened in Rome, but they did occur. For example, the first dynasty to establish the Roman Empire—the Julian-Claudian dynasty—was jointly founded by the Julius and Claudius families, since Augustus was Caesar's nephew.

Shangluo hadn't expected that Agassiz would have such a tactic to deal with Victoria.

Rome governed the country based on filial piety, and the clan itself was the foundation of Roman politics. The senators were not considered individuals but were counted according to their clans. The one who ascended the throne was not Victoria herself, but her family.

In other words, the ruling body was actually the Palaiologos Isaurian dynasty. As for who was chosen as emperor within the dynasty, that was a matter for the dynasty itself and had nothing to do with the outside world.

This allowed for more freedom in the selection of Roman emperors at times. For example, Agassiz's abdication was a functional one, allowing him to focus his energy on magic while ensuring his rule.

Of course, this also allowed clan power to sometimes supersede imperial power—the emperor was just a puppet emperor, and it was only natural for the father to discipline the children. "Is this reasonable?" Shang Luo asked in surprise. "It's clearly unreasonable! Is there any precedent to follow? Or is this a fabricated fallacy?"

The two men at the door looked at each other and shook their heads. "We don't know either. But we can't afford to offend His Majesty Agassiz. So, Your Majesty the King of Rome, and Your Majesty Victoria, please have mercy on us and don't make things difficult for us."

All three individuals with the highest level of security clearance within Rome were here. Three suns appeared simultaneously, blinding the two men at the door. They had no choice but to close their eyes and pretend they saw and heard nothing.

"I understand," Shangluo nodded. "So, the Holy Dynasty governs the world with filial piety. Do you think filial piety is more important than imperial power?"

"No, no, no, we never said that. But if things escalate and both father and daughter are right, then we're doomed."

"How about this?" Shang Luo snapped his fingers, and his title appeared above his head: [DVPERPINVDNPTPPCOS·Luo·Shang·Roman King]

This is Seberonia, where titles can be worn on your head.

The long list of titles stretched wider than the corridor, with molded ends embedded in the wall. Neither of them recognized what the list meant, and neither could remember it.

However, the gold-lettered "COS" in the middle of the title was clearly visible, and they recognized it.

This is the emblem of the consul.

Consul, from Latin and Archon from Greek, is a word used in alchemy to refer to a powerful deity who rules over the material world.

The word itself is a symbol of immense power. The Roman Empire had a maximum of two consuls at the same time, appointed by the emperor himself, who acted as the emperor's deputies.

One of them was the co-emperor Agassiz. In theory, there was no fixed rule regarding the power of a co-emperor; their power mainly came from the co-emperor's own establishment of government offices. Many co-emperors who were heirs had virtually no power, while "father emperors" like Agassiz could directly sideline their "son emperors."

The co-ruling emperor, who held the title of consul, was the true ruler of Rome.

"I order you to leave," Shangluo, the governor, issued the order.

The two men looked at each other: "Your order is valid, but it conflicts with His Majesty Agassiz."

"Hmm, very good." Shangluo nodded. "I knew you were reasonable. Let's talk about reason again—how many consuls were there in Rome?"

"two?"

"No, three."

"..." The two paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously. "Yes, there are indeed three."

The third consul was the emperor himself. The title of consul was part of the emperor's own title, and it was one of the bases of the emperor's power. Therefore, there were actually three consuls in Rome, not two, but only two were officially appointed by imperial decree.

(End of this chapter)