Chapter 406 Meeting of Two Heroes
In order to avoid such a bad thing happening, Maximus has been entrusting the Skodisci tribe to convey his wish to have good relations with the Dacian king in recent years.
In the process of conquering the Boi tribe, he also specifically ordered a fleet to be based on a captured Boi river port on the west bank of the Danube River and patrol along the west bank of the Danube River every day.
At the same time, camps were built on the west bank of the Danube River and multiple legions were stationed... These measures were all to prevent the Dacians from suddenly crossing the river to attack.
However, since the war between Nyx and the Boii, the Dacian king has never shown any sign of Maximus's overtures, but there has been no movement on the east bank of the Danube, so Maximus thought that the Dacians didn't care at all. Changes in the situation on the west bank of the Danube.
Unexpectedly, at the last moment of the Nebo War, the Dacians sent a message.
Do they want to prevent the destruction of the Boi tribe? Or do you want a piece of the action? ... Although Maximus was upset, he was not too nervous because he and the Ministry of War had discussed the possibility of the Dacians participating in the war many times and made some preparations.
However, the messenger from the Skodisci tribe repeatedly assured that King Brebista had no ill intentions towards the Nyx tribe. He just wanted to personally discuss with Chief Maximus the relationship between the two major forces of Dacia and Nyx and the relationship between them. Peace throughout the Danube plain.
Maximus was doubtful, so he sent the commercial officer Pygris to follow the leader of Skodisci to the Dacia territory to meet Brebista and find out what was going on.
Pigris's visit finally confirmed the statement of the Skodisci envoy. Subsequently, the envoys from both sides went through many exchanges of visits and finally determined the date and place for the meeting between the leaders of the two sides.
On the first day of June, when the first ray of sunshine in the morning shone on the Danube River, thousands of people quickly gathered on both sides of the narrowest part of this section of the Danube River that flows from north to south.
After the thick and distant horn sounded, a carefully built wooden boat sailed to the center of the river. Then four heavy iron anchors tied with thick ropes at the bow and stern were thrown into the river bottom, making the wooden boat stand firmly. In the middle of the river.
After confirming the safety of the wooden boat, the whistle sounded again.
Although it is the narrowest point of the Danube, the width of the river is more than 250 meters. Maximus could only vaguely see a man wearing a tall straight hat who was surrounded by people on the other side and stepped onto the boat. .
So he also said goodbye to the officials and soldiers who came with him, and took an official from the Ministry of Commerce who was proficient in Dacian to set foot on the canopy anchored on the shore.
The Danube River flows gently, and the water is as clear as a huge mirror. From time to time, plump fish can be seen swimming from the bottom of the boat, and groups of wild ducks play happily on the river... A gust of river wind blows, and the water surface ripples. Dots of golden light flicker in it...
Maximus was not attracted by the beautiful scenery in front of him. He only had the upcoming talks in his mind.
Soon, we arrived at the meeting place in the middle of the river.
Maximus took a deep breath, calmed down his chaotic thoughts, and stepped firmly and forcefully onto the deck of the big wooden ship.
This large wooden ship was provided by the Knicks tribe. In order to improve the ability of the Knicks fleet to carry troops and supplies, the Knicks fleet specially asked the shipbuilding workshop to build new ships in recent years that can sail stably on the wider Danube River. The fat belly of the ship is enough to accommodate thirty soldiers, and its capacity is more than five times that of the original shuttle ship.
The shipwrights modified the ship, laying flat and thick planks, building a roof to block the sun, fixing the wooden table in the middle of the ship, and adding a few chairs... It looks more like it is standing A small pavilion in the middle of the river.
At this time, two people were already standing beside the wooden table in the boat, and Maximus walked over calmly.
One of the middle-aged men with a tall figure and a rough face looked at Maximus carefully and said in a loud voice: "I am Brebista! Are you Maximus, the leader of the Nyx tribe?!"
After he finished speaking, he looked at the Ministry of Commerce official who followed Maximus and motioned for the other party to translate.
Unexpectedly, Maximus responded in slightly blunt Dacian: "I am Maximus! Nice to meet you, King of Dacia!"
Brebby Staton was surprised: "You speak Dacian?!"
“My father is Illyrian and my mother is Thracian, they were both slaves of the Romans and I grew up speaking both languages. I heard that the Dacians were of Thracian origin The languages of both branches are roughly the same, so during this period I specially asked my subordinate who can speak Dacian to practice. However, I haven’t spoken Thracian for many years, so I can’t speak it very well. Please forgive me."
While explaining the reason, Maximus revealed a little about his life experience intentionally or unintentionally.
Sure enough, the thin, slightly old attendant next to Brebis immediately asked in surprise: "Chief Maximus, please allow me to take the liberty of asking, your parents are both Roman slaves, you How did you become the leader of the Knicks?”
Maximus looked at Brebista: "Who is this?"
"His name is Deceneu, our high priest of Dacia, the person I respect the most!" Brebista introduced.
Maximus showed a solemn expression and said seriously: "I have long heard that the High Priest of Deceneu is a wise man among the Dacians. It is really an honor for me to have the honor to meet him today!"
"Those are all rumors spread by the clan members. I am just assisting the king of my family to do some small things." Deceneu said modestly.
"The high priest really helped me a lot. Without him, Dacia would not be what it is today!" Brebista praised loudly, making no secret of his dependence on Deceneu.
"Chief Maximus, I'm sorry, was my question a little presumptuous?" Decheneu changed the subject and continued to ask in a tactful tone.
"Isn't that presumptuous? There's nothing bad to say about my past experience." Maxim smiled calmly: "My parents were slaves of the Romans, and so was I. It's just that I couldn't stand the oppression of the Romans when I grew up. , fled the Roman manors and towns with other slaves, and fought several battles with the Romans on the way. Later, we fled Italy and fled here. With the help of my compatriots, the Ardeii, we established the Nyx tribe. …”
Brebista and Deceneu looked at each other.
Deceneu then asked: "So, Chief Maximus, you must hate the Romans?"
"Of course I hate it!" Maximus did not hide his emotions. He said categorically: "I can't wait to lead the army to capture Rome and turn all the Romans into slaves! Not only do I hate the Romans, come with me The people here also hate the Romans! By the way, I forgot to introduce to you, this is our tribe’s official in charge of foreign affairs—Medaphrastis, who comes from Dacia. Was a slave to the Romans!"
Metafratis then saluted and said: "The noble King of Dacia and the High Priest, #$!"
Metafratis specially said a Dacian slang specifically used for greetings, which made Braby Staton feel friendly. He asked curiously: "Which tribe are you originally from?"
"To be precise, I am a Geta. My original tribe is to the west of Historia." Metafratis replied.
"The Getas are also part of us Dacians. Now the entire Dacia and Getas have united together to form a solid tribal alliance!" Brebista said without hesitation.
"Really? That's great!" Metafratis showed a look of surprise at the right time.
The Carpathian Mountains divide the middle and lower Danube plains into two parts, and also divide the Dacia territory into east and west parts. In the area near the Uk Star Sea in East Dacia, the Scythians and other nomadic tribes who migrated from the north had a long period of conflict and intermixing with the Dacians, and eventually formed a branch of the Dacians - Gai. Tower people.
Brebista did not lie. Over the years, he used both military conquest and political persuasion to incorporate the Geta tribes into the Dacian alliance.
"I never thought that you and your subordinates, Chief Maximus, are related to us Dacians!" Deceneu sighed with a smile.
"Since we are not outsiders, let's sit down and chat slowly." Metafratis also smiled and asked everyone to sit down. Then he picked up the kettle on the wooden table and poured a bowl of syrup for everyone. water. The entire wooden ship and the furnishings in the cabin were provided by the Nyx tribe, and Metafratis took the initiative to serve everyone as a master.
Maximus raised the wooden bowl and said loudly: "I am half Thracian, and Medafratis is a Geta. We came here from Italy, and today we can meet King Brebista and King Priest Deceneu, this must be the arrangement of the gods! How about a drink with water instead of wine for the four of us?”
"Well said! Let's have a drink first!" Brebista raised the bowl generously and drank first as a sign of respect.
After drinking a bowl of sweet syrup, Maximus saw that the atmosphere in the cabin had become more harmonious, and he deliberately sighed and said: "King Brebista, I am a little dissatisfied with you. I have long wanted to teach Ipodres ( The leader of the Skodisci tribe) conveyed to you my good intentions to make good friends, but you never responded, which made me dare not send an envoy directly to reach Chia to see you, so several years have passed. , we didn’t meet until today.”
"Uh, um..." Brebista looked a little embarrassed.
Deceneu hurriedly said: "Chief Maximus, when Ipodres first sent us a message, the king was about to send an envoy to contact you, but I stopped him. I'm really sorry!"