Chapter 89 The Arrival of Mariji

"I said—" Diomilas was interrupted by Eumacas as soon as he exited: "Let's hear about the terms of the Mesapi people's peace talks."

Timoros cleared his throat and said: "Tarantum and Messapi and Puchetti immediately ceased fighting, returned to their respective territories, returned each other's prisoners of war, and signed a peace agreement for a period of two years. During the year, they must not violate each other, and after the expiration, they will decide whether to continue the contract according to the situation..."

"What do you mean by returning to their respective territories?" Yumachus was keenly aware of the problem with this sentence.

"Of course it's back to the state before the war started, and the occupied territories must be returned!" Timoros said confidently.

Diomilas scolded a few swear words and shouted: "You want us to give up Manduria and have a good dream! If you want, take the life of the Messapi!"

The negotiation soon broke down, and Timoros was not in a hurry, and threw a sentence: "I hope you will think about it again, the camp of Mesapi welcomes you at any time!" After that, he cursed Diomilas. If you don't hear it, walk away. He could see it: in addition to Tarantum's stubborn attitude, Dionysian consul Davos and the generals of Metapontum and Heraclea were a little moved by the proposal of peace talks. The Greek coalition was not monolithic. There are articles on this.

What Timorus could see, Eumacas certainly saw, so he explained to Davos: "We can't agree to such a peace request, and even if we agree, it won't work, because Tarantum The people of this country will not agree to give up Manduria, which was exchanged for the blood of citizens, in vain!"

Davos smiled: "I understand, but negotiation is like buying and selling goods. You can bargain. The Mesapis don't necessarily have to take back Manduria."

Yumachus was a little anxious when he heard this: "The Mesapi people have no sincerity, and the peace agreement he proposed is only for two years. In two years, Tarantum has not been able to restore its previous strength, and simply cannot cope with the possibility that they may start again. aggression!"

Davos pondered for a moment, and just as he was about to speak, the tent was opened, and Thormid walked in: "Lord Consul, the Senate has sent an urgent letter saying that there is a change in the Brutians!"

Davos stood up suddenly and asked anxiously, "Where is the letter?!"

"The messenger is waiting for you in your tent, my lord!"

Davers looked anxious and walked out without saying a word.

The remaining four looked at each other.

"Bruty?" Eumacas thought the name was familiar, but didn't remember it for a moment.

Diomelas was even less impressed.

"The Brutians are indigenous people living in the mountains west of Dionia, they are close to Dioria, and they used to go down the mountain to loot the people and property of the city-states such as Turii and Castellon... " Triphias said in detail.

"This... Brutians shouldn't be strong, right?" Eumacas asked with a bit of luck.

Triphias thought about it seriously, and his expression seemed solemn, but he was deliberately exaggerating the fact: "The Brutus have little contact with the outside world, because no other race has ever invaded their land (the city of Vig was originally It was the Lucanian coalition who took the initiative to surrender. Strictly speaking, the Lucanians did not enter the land of the Brutians.) It is said that they have dozens of tribes and five or six large cities. Chetties are stronger."

After hearing this, both Eumacas and Diomilas felt uneasiness in their hearts.

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After leaving the military tent, the anxiety on Davos' face disappeared without a trace, and he still had the leisure to make fun of Thormid: "You performed well just now."

Thormid laughed too. At the beginning, he was called "the first messenger of the mercenary army", one of the main reasons was that he was good at understanding the intentions and difficulties of the leaders, and did his best to help realize or resolve it, precisely because he felt Davos' heart. The contradiction between them, only by taking advantage of the opportunity of the Xilu tribe, they marched into the tent and shouted so loudly. He was not sure whether Davers would accept his self-assertive approach,

Because this is the first time he has served as the exclusive messenger of Davos, although the two sides had contacts in Persia, but now Davos and him are very different. Davos's words dispelled the unease in his heart.

"What's the specific situation?" Davos asked calmly. Through the understanding of Bruti during this time, even if the race is moving towards unity, he does not think that Bruti can pose a big threat to the Dionysian Alliance now.

"I heard that a tribe of Greeks in Bruti sent someone to our Senate to ask for help, because it refused to obey Cosenza's order of incorporation, and Cosenza wanted to send an army to destroy them. For details, you can ask Marigi, he is waiting for you in your tent." Tormide said seriously.

"Oh, Marigi is here too." Davos moved in his heart, but his footsteps remained the same: tribe of Greeks? ...I'm talking about Xilu... This is really just about to fall asleep, someone sent a pillow, just killing two birds with one stone! ...

He thought about it all the way, and soon reached his military tent.

After reading the urgent letter from Cornelus, the rotating speaker of the Senate, and after listening carefully to Marigi's narration, a narrow smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Could it be because of Polyxius that you are allowed to do this? The top commercial officer of the alliance, who is busy with business, came to deliver the letter for me, right?"

"What kind of thing is a Pollux who can only chatter in the Senate and has no power, and needs my attention!" Mariji raised his eyebrows: "I came to Tarantum mainly to take this opportunity. , come and learn about the situation at the port of Tarantum. However, Lord Davos, Pollux has been too active recently, which will cause some elders to have other ideas..." He took a few steps closer, Lowering his voice, he seemed to want to remind Davos of something.

Davos looked calm, but his heart turned a few times: Polyxis usually dissatisfied with him, he did not care too much, because few other elders in the Senate would respond to him, and he also needed such an "opposition". "Sect" exists to show that the Senate is not his word. But if Polyxis thinks that his indulgence towards him is too weak and too arrogant, causing some possible chain reactions, then he needs to wake him up...

Seeing that Davos was a little lost, Marigi knew that his words had an effect, and he turned to another matter: "My lord, I heard the reserve soldiers stationed at the Tarantum barracks say, 'These two days There has been a lot of Tarantum crowd besieging the camp gate, not only shouting insults at the Dionian soldiers, but also demanding punishment of the criminals.'"

"What criminal? What happened?" Davos frowned and asked repeatedly. He is quite sensitive about violations of military discipline.

"It is said that... some soldiers in our regiment beat up a theater owner in Tarantum in the market outside the barracks."

"There is such a thing!" Davos became angry when he heard this, and shouted out, "Thormid!"

Thormed stepped forward.

"You go and notify Capps and Drakes, and ask them to send a military judge to thoroughly investigate who in their respective legions participated in the fight in the market before the expedition!" After speaking, his anger seemed to subside a little, and he thought about it. After thinking about it, he added another sentence: "What else caused it?"

After Tormide left, Davos temporarily put the matter behind him, turned around and asked Marigi, "What is the price of grain in the Turii market now?"

"It's relatively high! Because of the war in Sicily, and the war here, especially the war between Syracuse and Carthage, the war lasted for a long time, the number of people participating in the war was too large, and the demand for grain was great, which also affected Turii. The price of grains in the market..." When talking about business, Mariji said: "But this year, the wheat in Dionia is growing very well. In more than ten days, after the people harvest the wheat, the price of wheat in Turii will be There should be a big pullback..."

Davers rubbed the few young beards under his chin, paced back and forth, and finally said: "Then tell Mersis after you go back, let him use the treasury, quietly buy grain, and at least protect the four legions, Two months' supply."

Marigi's eyes lit up, and he didn't even think that Davos's practice of using the treasury without the consent of the Senate violated the laws of Dionia. The Persians, who still obey the king's system in their hearts, thought it was reasonable. What he should be interested in is: "Sir, have you decided to support the Xilu tribe and take action against the Bruti people?"

Davers glanced at the excited Marigi, with a hint of warning in his calm tone: "I'm just planning for the worst, but I hope you can keep this a secret and don't do anything extra!"

This extra thing, of course, refers to the fact that Marigi used the news of the war to be waged in advance for personal gain.

How shrewd is Mariji, who immediately made a solemn promise, and then asked: "My lord, if we have a war with the Brutus, what will happen to Tarantum?"

Davos smiled lightly: "Tarantum can't fight anymore, especially your arrival. I'm afraid the two Tarantum consuls are discussing how to negotiate with the Mesapis."

Marighi's eyes lit up again, and he remembered: the black veiled and mourning people of Tarantum he saw along the road when he came from Tarantum City, Tarantum's downfall was against Dio From his point of view as a commercial officer of Nia, it is definitely a good thing. He sees hope that the port of Turii will surpass the most prosperous port of Tarantum in the Gulf of Taranto!

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In fact, it was the people of Tarantum who first proposed to negotiate with Messapi. After they learned the truth of the war from the wounded civic soldiers, they hated Diomilas for his recklessness, and at the same time, they were also against the whole The prospect of war was disappointed. A few months ago, it was they who pushed the Senate to wage war on Messapi, but as the months passed, Tarantum had gained little but blood.