Chapter 25 Public Trials and New Acts

Terry Todmos suddenly rang the bronze bell: "Defendant, warn you for the last time! If you continue to make random guesses and accusations, this court will forbid you to speak again!"

Polyxis hurriedly swallowed his words and looked back at the jury, wondering if they were affected by what he had said intentionally. By now, he felt that his chances of getting rid of the guilt were getting slimmer.

Aristocrates took out a papyrus and said to the jury: "This paper records the amount of property that the patrol went to the house of Polyxis. Fortunately, Polyxis did not deposit the money in the Banks (at that time, the reputation of Cristoia Bank was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In order to prevent the loss of property, the people deposited their property in the bank, and they only needed to pay a very low storage fee every year, and they could use it at any time, and with the voucher issued by the bank, It can be used in various Cristoia banks in Dionia, and it is very convenient to trade bulk goods, so it is very popular. Polyxis refused to deposit the money because the bank was opened by the Davos family. Enter the bank), so the patrols and servants of the mansion, as well as a few people who were watching the fun and broke into the mansion by mistake, can all serve as witnesses. The total number of these possessions is—”

Aristocrates deliberately paused, facing thousands of focused eyes from the audience, and said loudly and clearly: "22 Talents and 45 Minna!"

The audience exclaimed again and again.

Aristocrates also added: "As far as I know, Polyxis, you have no other property except the income of 15 acres of land."

Polyxis forcefully argued: "A lot of them are from me...my grandfather and father..."

Aristocrates smiled contemptuously: "But why are the coins in your house mostly silver Hades coins? (Refering to the silver coins issued after the establishment of the Dionysian Alliance, because the face of Hades is engraved on the front. famous) I asked your family, you never go to the bank to change money."

Aristocrates' words blocked the lies that Polyxis came up with, and he shouted in exasperation: "The Davos family has much more money than mine, why don't you go and check if he has any problems? !"

There was boos from the audience.

Aristocrates smiled again: "Look, I don't need to speak, the people's eyes are sharp. Everyone knows the property of the Davos family very well. The Cristoia Bank offers very low interest rates. How many Dionysian citizens have been helped! How many shops that are about to go bankrupt have been saved!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Good Cristoia!"

...

The crowd scrambled to shout, and the anger that was about to erupt before seemed to disappear without a trace. Therefore, Terry Todemus was happy to see it, and did not interrupt Aristocrates.

"The restaurants and large baths not only made life better for the people, but also made Turii known as 'the most attractive city in Greater Greece'..."

"Young man, you are so right!"

"Lord Davos has brought pride to Turiyi!"

...

"In addition, the money earned by Lord Davos is not stored at home like you do. He donated property, built a temple, and is building a library, a stone bridge..."

"Is Stone Bridge also donated by Lord Davos? I really don't know that."

"I heard that after the library is built, Lord Davos will give away a large number of precious books to the library."

"You Turians are so lucky! If I want to read books, I have to come from Crimea..."

"Maybe one day, Lord Davos will donate a library to Crimissa."

...

When there was a lot of discussion in the audience, Terry Todmos asked: "Defendant, do you have anything to defend?"

Like a drowning man who was about to make his final struggle, Polyxis said repeatedly: "Yes! Yes! My family once owned 350 acres of land in Turii City, this is true! I still have land deeds to check! But Since Davos came, I... I voluntarily gave up all the land,

Only have this 15 acres of land. I made such a big concession for Turii and for Dionia, shouldn't everyone... shouldn't everyone think about the loss of my family? ! "

"Even if there really are these so-called title deeds--" Aristocrates looked at Polyxis' unwillingness to say anything, knowing that he was in a mess, and was even more confident in his heart: "I hope the defendant will understand a little bit. After Rotone destroyed the city of Turii, the old city of Turii no longer existed, and the original government no longer existed. Of course, the contracts signed by Turii City Hall were void. Lord Davos led the army to repel the Crotones. Do the original Turui people still dare to live in Turui? Obviously not, everyone can only be forced to wander to other city-states, and even survival is difficult. Not to mention owning land..."

Speaking of this, Aristocrates' tone was slightly heavy, and then he raised his voice again: "So although the city of Turii today is still called Turii, it is no longer the original city of Turii, it is the city of Dai Part of the Onia League, the heart of Dionia!"

"That's right, the current Turiyi has nothing to do with the previous one. It's a dream to want to occupy more than 300 acres of farmland!"

"A greedy person like you, Hades will definitely send you to hell and let the poisonous whip of Lord Radamandas beat you fiercely!"

...

In the jeers of the people, Polyxis seemed to have drained all his strength and sat back down on the wooden chair.

Terry Todmos looked at him and said, "Please keep quiet in the audience! Now it's up to the jury to vote on the defendant's guilt!"

After speaking, the orderer immediately placed an hourglass on the judge's table, and before the hourglass was finished, the citizens of the jury had to make a decision.

Each of them had two bronze medals in their hands, one was engraved with "guilty" and the other was inscribed with "not guilty". Without any hesitation, the jury members quickly threw one of the bronze medals in their hands into the copper jar in front of the table.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!..." The crisp sound was like a hammer hitting Pollux's heart.

After waiting for the voting to end, the orderer walked over and began to count the votes. He picked up a bronze medal from the jar, showed it to the jury, and said, "Guilty!...Guilty!...Guilty!..."

Every time he chanted, the audience cheered, and Pollux turned pale.

The result came: 50 guilty votes, no abstentions. (If there are exactly 25 guilty and 25 not guilty, then the judge in court has the final decision.)

The audience immediately cheered, and Pollux's face turned ashen.

The trials of the elders such as Orifices, Mathesacus, Enanilus, Eurycopus, as well as some nobles and public officials were easier. In the face of iron-clad evidence, everyone was convicted.

But the collective crime of so many elders and public officials made the people present feel fear and anger. In the end, the call from the square to "comprehensively investigate the senate and public officials, and find out the criminals of the corruption alliance's public property" resounded throughout the city of Turii.

The roar reached the ears of the elders of the senate, which shocked them. And Davers, who was presenting a motion to the Senate, smiled.

……………………

The day's trial continued until dusk. After the end, many people spontaneously ran to the front door of the Senate House in front of the square to protest to the elders.

After the meeting, the elders had to quickly retreat from the back door. When they came out, they all looked solemn.

"After the new bill is promulgated, the power of our Senate will be greatly restricted! Lord Davers has the heart to propose such a bill, what good is it for him!" Stromboli said slightly dissatisfied.

"Lord Davos is right! Listen to the shouts of the people in the square-" Cornerus pointed to his back and said with a sigh, "It's the right to give citizens some rights to participate in politics. In the past, we Wasn't it always like this when you were in Amendolara, and it's not like you haven't experienced it before, so why do you feel unaccustomed to it now?!"

Stromboli was stunned for a moment, thought about it, and said, "I think the current system is quite good, at least you don't have to worry about when you will suddenly be accused by citizens, and you don't have to worry about the end of the half of the matter. I was terminated because my one-year term ended and I was not elected again. In the Dionysian Alliance, I can do a detailed investigation of what I have to do, and then plan, and then concentrate on realizing it step by step... Now it's good, a group of people who only care about their own interests and don't understand anything can also point fingers at our affairs!"

Such similar words kept happening among the elders who hurried back to the city.

Marigi and Plessinas walked behind.

"Lord Mariji, why did the consul propose such a bill? You must know that the anger of those citizens was never directed at him! I knew very well in the temple that most of them were full of respect for the lord." Plessing Nas couldn't help expressing the doubts in his heart.

Marigi laughed and said in a low voice, "You have already explained the reason for your question just now."

Plessinas was even more confused.

Marighi raised his head and looked at the sunset that was about to hide behind the mountain. His eyes became dazed, as if he was thinking of something, and finally he murmured: "...You Greeks have been away from the era of kingship for too long, obviously you don't know the most important thing about being a king. What's the important thing?"

The obvious metaphor of "being the king" didn't surprise Plessinas. He thought about it carefully, but he still couldn't get the point.

A word softly spit out from Marighi's mouth: "Balance!"

…………………………

It was already evening, and the night shrouded the city of Turii, but the Cristoia restaurant in the city was brightly lit with candles, full of diners, and it was extremely lively.