Chapter 189 Disputes of Interests

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Of these merchants in Turii, Theos had the closest contact with officials, especially with the Ministry of War, and now he was a relative of the king.

"I don't have any inside information." Theos said seriously: "To tell the truth, don't listen to it, your brother doesn't have any amazing records, and it is generally difficult for a legion commander to advance according to his seniority. Become a veteran, but because of you, he has a great chance..."

"Me?!" Sostatus was a little puzzled.

Tios gently mentioned to him: "You have provided a lot of help for the expansion of the kingdom in the past. Take the Greek war as an example. You organized a large number of ships for transporting troops to Greece and Thessaly. Intermittently helping to transport the baggage, and even the supply of military rations in the later stage is somewhat difficult. As the president of the Turii Chamber of Commerce, you have organized many merchants from the kingdom to purchase a large amount of food by borrowing from the kingdom, helping the Ministry of Military Affairs to survive. Difficulties... You have done this kind of thing in the Gallic War, and the Ministry of Military Affairs should not forget it. If you can get the Ministry of Military Affairs to agree to push your brother into the Senate, then there is absolutely no problem for your brother to become a senior. "

Sostatus' eyes lit up, he knew that the military elders were a very important force in the Senate, and if he got the support of the Ministry of Military Affairs, this thing would definitely be done.

He immediately pulled Tios to the living room in the backyard with a happy face, ready to talk to him in detail.

Due to the needs of business, Sostatus' house has two dining rooms, one in the front yard, used to entertain the merchants in his huge distribution network, and the living room in the back yard is used to receive important guests.

After sitting down, Tios talked to him about another matter with a serious expression: "Sostatus, are you doing these things to Dickpolis too much?"

Sostatus was not surprised, he was prepared for Theos to bring this up, and immediately defended: "You definitely wronged me, I don't have any grudge against Lord Dickpolis, on the contrary I I respect him very much. He gave me the position of President of the Turii Chamber of Commerce. I am not a person who retaliates for revenge. You see, in recent years, my fleet has transported the pottery produced by his workshop to the mainland of Greece. Going to sell with Ionia, the sales volume is increasing every year, helping him open up the market, and earning a lot of money for him, if I have a grudge against him, will I do this?"

Theos pondered and said: "...but you brought pottery from Athens and sold it in Turii. Now many officials and rich people are more willing to buy your pottery, which has led to the sales of Dikpolis' pottery in Turii. Great reduction... Sostatus, our chamber of commerce once had a stipulation 'prohibiting malicious competition between members of the chamber of commerce', as the current chairman of the chamber of commerce, you should take this lead well..."

Hearing these words, Sostatus suppressed the anger that rose in his heart, and he said a little rudely: "Lord Theos, I know that you and Dickpolis are good friends, but you can't ignore the facts. He said that the price of the pottery I sold was more than two times more expensive than his pottery. How can this be called vicious competition?! And it is precisely because of him that the quantity of my imported pottery is not too much, just in the picture Yi sales, this is the biggest concession I can make, and he is still dissatisfied with this, what else does he want me to do?!"

Tios hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said: "...We have been friends for decades, and you are a big businessman with strong financial resources, distributing so many kinds of goods, why should you separate the two of you because of pottery? The relationship between the two is so tense..."

"Theos, I have always respected you as a person, but what you said today is wrong!" Sostatus' anger was evident: "You all expect me to sell a large number of your goods to the Eastern Mediterranean. Go, but I am not allowed to take the goods of the Eastern Mediterranean to the kingdom to sell, what is the reason?! If you really want to do this, then I will go to see His Majesty Davos, and tell him that Dickpolis and you strongly Demand that goods produced outside the kingdom not be sold in the Turii region!"

"Eh... eh,

That was not what I meant. Tios quickly defended: "Look, since you introduced Athenian pottery to Turii for sale, not only are the upper classes of the kingdom willing to use it, I heard that even His Majesty wants to buy it from you, which will inevitably form a trend . If things go on like this, Dickpolis's pottery sales in the kingdom will inevitably decline greatly. You also know that Dickpolis has pottery workshops in many towns in the kingdom. At that time, it will be difficult for him to maintain such a large scale, and he may even face bankruptcy. …”

Sostatus put on a dignified face and said, "After the Greek War, Your Majesty asked the Ministry of Commerce to convene a meeting of the heads of the chambers of commerce in towns and cities, and at the meeting, he specifically proposed 'for the Greek mainland who will come to the kingdom to do business. Businessmen, you must not squeeze out, but try to help as much as possible. After I finished the meeting, I specially called you to convey it. You and Dickpolis both expressed their full support at the meeting, do you remember this?"

Theos nodded helplessly.

"I am also carrying out His Majesty's order!" Sostatus said confidently: "In the past few years, I have not only sold Athenian pottery in the Turii area, but also Corinthian iron, Greek stone, Thessaly horses, Athens. Gold and silverware...why you didn't protest against me, Inipias didn't protest against me...just Dickpolis against me? Because his pottery is not as good as Athenian pottery, and he's afraid of competition!"

Tios persuaded in a gentle tone: "In recent years, Dikpolis has been working hard to improve the quality of pottery, and even improved the process of making ceramics... You and I know all of this, but Athenian pottery has developed several times. Hundred years, the background is very deep, it is impossible for Dickpolis' workshop to catch up in a short time...

His Majesty hopes to win over native Greek merchants, and also hopes that the kingdom's market will be more diversified, increase competition, and allow the public to have more choices, and do not want an exclusive monopoly... I understand all these things, but if Athenian pottery is sold in large quantities in the kingdom, it will not It will only push Dickpolis, who is still working hard, to a dead end. I don't think this is what Your Majesty wants to see. "

Sostatus froze in his heart, and immediately said: "As the president of the Turii Chamber of Commerce, of course, I will not deliberately harm the interests of the members of the Chamber of Commerce. I have been selling Athenian pottery in Turui for more than two years. All of them have kept their sales very low, the imported products are all high-quality products, and the prices are very high. The business of ordinary pottery is still occupied by Dickpolis, which does not pose a great threat to him. And I have long realized this. Question, I took the initiative to talk to Dickpolis several times about this, but he turned me away several times, making me a joke of the people of Turii, I believe you have not heard of it!" Sosta Tusi looked aggrieved.

Theos was silent for a moment: The stalemate between Sostatus and Dikpolis had become a joke for the entire Turian people after dinner, how could he not know it. He didn't want to take care of this tricky matter, but several friends in the chamber of commerce asked him one after another, and he didn't want to see the originally united Turiyi chamber of commerce continue to strife, so he intervened.

At this moment, he had to persuade sincerely again: "Dikepolis refused to discuss with you, which led to the intensification of the problem, which is of course his fault! However, he is angry with you for no reason. Of course, he understands that only we are allowed to It is impossible for the goods to be sold in the mainland of Greece. It is impossible to not allow the merchants from the mainland of Greece to buy and sell on the land of the kingdom. However, if merchants from other kingdoms introduce fine Athenian pottery, he will not have any opinion. Only you cannot, because your sales Channels are too wide!

You see, in a short time, you helped Athenian pottery open up the upper-level sales channels of the kingdom. Even if Dickpolis was desperately trying to improve the quality of his pottery, he couldn’t keep up with your pottery sales. You even sold pottery to The royal family—"

"Wait a minute!" Sostatus interrupted him: "His Majesty wants to buy the Athenian pottery that I sell, and I didn't recommend it, but Ribazzo, the head of the court, took the initiative to find me, and he told me again and again, how many times? The first time I mentioned the name of the pottery merchant I worked with, I guess... Your Majesty already knew about his fellow countryman."

"Your Majesty's fellow countryman?!"

"Yes, this pottery merchant is called Hesklaus, and he is from Peleus..." Sostatus said slowly, as if trying to recall, "I remember when I went to visit my brother-in-law Xi. Ross, the Peleus merchant I met at a banquet, was introduced to me by the new Thessaly intelligence chief Gorgion..."

Now it's Tios's turn to feel nervous: Merchant Peleus...recommendation by the intelligence chief... The upper-level people in Turii all know that the Kingdom Intelligence Department mainly serves His Majesty Davos!

Theos immediately asked: "This... Hesklaus is His Majesty's relative in Peleus?!"

"I don't know that." Sostatus spread his hands and shrugged: "I think even Lord Ribazzo himself doesn't know, but if His Majesty is clear, no one will know."

Tios frowned and fell into contemplation. After a while, he said solemnly: "It seems that I can't blame you for this matter, but as the president of the Turii Chamber of Commerce, you should understand that you and If his conflict is not resolved as soon as possible, it will have too much impact on the Chamber of Commerce... Well, when he comes over, I will convince him first, and then I will act as a mediator, and you will negotiate with him. Both parties will make some concessions. Let's strive for What do you think about resolving this conflict tonight?"

"That's exactly what I hoped." Sostatus responded with some doubts. "But is Dickpolis coming today? My servant told me that he did not respond to my invitation."