Antony is visibly shaking as he read Kaiser's will. Meanwhile, Ciceron is having a field day in his attempt to take away what little support remains in the Senate for the late dictator.
Lepidov walked towards Antony and whispered to his ear, "Come on, buddy Antony. These senators are as restless as the mobs outside."
Finally, Antony spoke, "I know, Aemilio!"
"Alright, sheesh. What does it say?", Lepidov asks as he tries to peek the documents.
Antony cleared his throat, and then declared, "Jubemus!"
With Antony's call for order, the senators look away from the standing Ciceron, and shift their eyes to the podium.
"Consule. First... I would like to propose Kaiser to lie in state..."
Ciceron interrupted, "Enough dilly-dallying! What is Kaiser's will, if any?"
"Don't rush, my erstwhile friend. I'll tell you all."
"Spill it. We're all ears," Ciceron responded, turning his back at Antony to face the senators and show them his iconic hand gesture which goes well with his rhetoric.
"First... Divisa in partes tres. The 75 percent of my personal fortune shall be given to my great-nephew, Octavian, and I adopt him as my son!"
The Senate as a whole was surprised. Even Ciceron cannot believe what he just heard, and so he bothered to look at Antony as he continued to read the will. The largely unknown relative of Kaiser is designated to inherit his powerful name.
"In case Octavian is unavailable to claim what remains of my fortune, I designate Barotov as my second heir!"
The Populists were thrown into a frenzy. One senator shouted, "How can he be Kaiser's son?! He killed his own father!"
Antony tried his best to ignore the grumbling Populists, and continued, "The 25 percent of my personal fortune shall be shared by my great-nephews, Quintin Pedov and Lucius Pinarov!"
Pedov and Pinarov were grandsons of Kaiser's sister Julia.
"Then, Caesarem vehis, Caesarique fortunam! I declare all my gardens and parks be made public places, open for all citizens to see and enjoy! What land remains of my estate shall be given to all farmers through a revitalized land reform program! One hectare each! What finances remain of my estate shall be given to all citizens in Moscovia! Four hundred sestertii each!"
This time, Kaiser amazed every senator of his magnanimity and generosity. If there are 450 million people in Russia by this time, with some 4 million residing in Moscovia alone, and assuming they are all citizens, then it means giving away 1.6 billion sestertii, which is equivalent to 400 million denarii or 4 million aurei. Taking out of consideration the inflation brought by Kaiser's doubling of wages, the figure is as much as what Krassa was credited with. One can just imagine how much Kaiser's personal finances were, which is rated by analysts to be as much as 9 million aurei, if he was so willing to give away that much money to as many people.
One senator cried, "Kaiser was the world's most powerful! Kaiser was the world's wealthiest!"
The senators applauded, and when Antony saw this, he said loudly, "Senators, do you approve?"
Trying to regain lost initiative, Ciceron interrupted, "Not so fast, Antony! I propose to keep the distribution on hold until we've ascertained where all Kaiser's money came from. Once distributed, we won't be able to trace the paper trail."
"Yeah, right," Lepidov said to rebut Ciceron, "Kaiser is dead. Who else will be prosecuted?"
"Why, his family, of course!"
YOU ARE READING
Code Antony
Historical FictionJulius Kaiser is at the peak of his power after his triumphant return from the American Wars in 1950. However, Kaiser's political ambition became apparent to his many rivals. In a desperate effort to hinder his continuous rise, at least sixty senato...
