Chapter 225 Carthage's Decision

"Yeah, arrogant Tarantum!" Davos remembered the Tarantum he saw there when he led the army to aid Tarantum, whether it was an elder or an ordinary citizen. This inexplicable sense of superiority reminded me more: in the history of the previous life, it was this Tarantum, who was even weaker later, who took the lead in resisting the invasion of Rome and invited Pyrrhus to lead the army into Italy, thus triggering the Elephant War; A hundred years later, Tarantum, who had surrendered to Rome, rebelled again and became Hannibal's supporter and the logistic base of the Carthaginians in southern Italy. Hannibal fought against Rome in Italy and could last for 13 years. Thum has contributed a lot. It can be seen that there is an element of rebellion in the blood of the Tarantum...

Simply stand on the sidelines and let the Maple coalition completely destroy it, and then take it back later, so that the name can be changed... Davos's face is uncertain.

Henepolis saw the new king of Dionysian frowning, pacing back and forth in the tent, bowing his head in thought, so he did not speak out, for fear of interrupting Davos's train of thought, but stood there. aside, wait quietly.

After a while, I heard Davos say: "Heney, it is difficult to make Tarantum merge into Dionia in its entirety, but how about making it partially merged?"

"Part? Your Majesty, do you want Tarantum to cede part of the territory to Dionia?" Henepolis was not surprised by this decision made by Davos, and gradually annexed a Dabang is also a solution.

"It's not like that." Davos shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I want to make Tarantum a 'free city' in the Dionysian Alliance."

"Free City?!" The new term made Henepolis puzzled.

"The Free City is to make Tarantum a part of Dionia, but it does not have to pay taxes to the treasury, and the Senate does not interfere with its self-governance of the city-state according to the original laws, but it has no independent diplomatic rights, nor There is no power to form an army... When the alliance encounters difficulties and needs its help, it must also contribute its own strength!" Davers is also straightening his own thinking when he talks about this new idea, so his The speech is slow and the voice is clear.

Henepolis' eyes lit up, he applauded Davos's novel political concept, but he had to remind him: "Your Majesty, although Free City is only a small step forward from becoming an affiliated city-state, Taran is still a small step forward. The people of Tum would probably not agree."

"The Mesapis, the Puchetti will force them to agree. Of course, I would prefer the Tarantum to have the courage to say no, so that we can build a building on the ruins of Tarantum in the near future. New City!" Davers' teasing words revealed a little coldness.

…………………………

The Carthaginian city of Motia at the southwestern tip of Sicily has been destroyed five years ago.

The commander of Carthage, Similco, built a new city, Liliba, near it.

After several years of development, this new city has gradually prospered. And since Marco served as the governor of Sicily and made Lilibe the center of the entire jurisdiction of Sicily, its development has become even more rapid: gold and silver coins, weapons and armor, grains, war horses, slaves... Every day, countless merchant ships are loaded with various military supplies. Sail into the port of Lilibe, and then send it to various military camps through Lilibe.

The development of the port has created a demand for labor, and a large number of Phoenicians, Numibians, and Mauritanians have flocked to Liliba, which has made the residential area of ​​Liliba continue to expand outwards. In less than a year, Lilibe has become the largest city controlled by Carthage in Sicily.

This morning, Marco received the messenger Aditya Ruba from the Carthaginian senate at his governor's mansion.

For this senator, Margo's attitude is quite friendly, because Aditya Ruba belongs to neither the Margonid faction nor the Hanno faction. He is an important figure among the few neutral senators in the Senate. , because he does not belong to the first two, he sometimes dares to propose some bills that are detrimental to the interests of the two factions and beneficial to the people. Although they often fail to pass, they make him more prestigious among the people, so he has been elected as " He is an important member of the Court of Hundreds, so Brother Ma dare not underestimate him.

After the two had a friendly chat for a while, Adidas Ruba turned to the topic: "Master Margo, you applied to the Senate a month ago to "request for Lilibe to obtain the right to coin". Argued, and finally made a decision-" Adidas Ruba saw the slightly nervous expression on Marco's face, and couldn't help shaking his head secretly, he said slowly: "The Senate rejected your proposal."

As soon as the Senate made a decision, it sent Adiya Ruba as a messenger to come to Liliba immediately, so Marco had not had time to receive the summons from Carthage's cronies. He was surprised, but the atmosphere of peace was reversed before. , immediately asked loudly: "Why?!"

"The right to coin coins can only be enjoyed exclusively by the city of Carthage. This is to ensure Carthage's leadership among other Phoenician allies, and it is beneficial to our Carthage trade. I think as the main city builder of Carthage. The current patriarch of the Margonid family, you will not fail to understand this truth!" Adidas Ruba's calm tone carried a warning.

"What I propose is only the temporary coinage right." Margo defended: "Since the Senate has appointed me to be responsible for the military defense of Sicily and to ensure the safety of the north of Carthage, I will take responsibility for it seriously! But the current situation is that Carthage Every time the military funds delivered by Taiji are either delayed or insufficient, and sometimes the ship carrying the gold coins is sunk by a storm... Do you know how much trouble these problems have caused my military defense plan? ?! The soldiers are very angry! A few days ago, the mercenaries stationed in Segsta caused a commotion because of the late pay for many times. I spent a lot of energy to appease them!"

The more Marco said, the more angry he became: "I now suspect that the elders headed by Hanno are embarrassing me, but if they continue to riot like this regardless of Carthage's interests, the Sicilian mercenaries will be in danger of chaos! Then, the Sicilian defense system I have worked so hard to build will be destroyed, and the riotous mercenaries may also cause danger to the city of Carthage! Lord Adiaruba, you have always acted impartially, and this time I hope you will be able to from In the real interests of Carthage, reconsider my proposal!"

Margo's accusations and implied threats against Hanno were too outspoken, causing Adyaruba to frown. He felt: Compared to Margonid's former patriarch Himilko, Margo may be in military terms He has some talents, but he is still politically immature, so it is no wonder that he can't compete with Hanno, who is very shrewd.

Although Aditya Ruba, as a neutral faction in the Senate, criticized these two factions from time to time in meetings, he was able to do well in the Senate, and naturally he was not lacking in flexible political skills. At this moment, he locked his mind and persuaded tactfully: "Master Marco doesn't have to be so anxious, although the Senate did not approve your proposal, but the issues you mentioned have attracted the attention of the elders, and the Senate has sent a special person for this. Responsible for the casting and transportation of Sicily military funds, and also send another person to supervise, I believe that these problems will not appear again soon.

Of course, the problems you mentioned were not caused by someone deliberately targeting you. I think all the elders of the Senate will be vigilant and worried about recruiting mercenaries, so they strictly review the amount of military funds and the amount of salary, and cut off some unnecessary funds, resulting in a reduction in the amount and a delay in the delivery time. I miss you It should also be understood that it is all out of the public interest of safeguarding the interests of Carthage..."

Marco snorted and did not continue to dwell on this issue. He was indignant on the surface and a little guilty in his heart, because he had used a small part of the military funds for the family's development in Iberia, so he felt that Adiya Ruba said these words probably to warn himself, it seems that The Senate has noticed this. Fortunately, the purpose of his proposal has been achieved. He did not have much hope for the temporary coinage right, and only used this to threaten Hanno not to deduct military funds.

"In addition, the proposal you put forward the day before yesterday, 'While Syracuse and Dionia are at war, Carthage should send troops to attack eastern Sicily and restore Carthage's former sphere of influence' is also not in the Senate. Passed." Aditya Ruba continued.

Marco was not surprised. After all, he knew the urine of those in the Senate. He glanced at Adiya Ruba and asked coldly, "All rejected? No other opinion?"

"Most of the elders agreed that Carthage should not intervene in this war at times like this, but should remain neutral and avoid having the Greeks unite against us again."

"What nonsense is this! Are those people in the Senate all idiots!" When Marco heard this, he couldn't help shouting angrily: "What a rare opportunity! Not only did Syracuse lose to the naval battle Dionysus was defeated in the following battle, and yesterday I also received news from eastern Sicily that the Dionysians landed in Sicily and captured Mejaro, Syracuse Zha was completely defeated in the war in Great Greece, and even whether the troops of Great Greece could safely return to Sicily became a big problem. In this way, the strength of Syracuse will inevitably be greatly weakened, and I am afraid that it will no longer be able to control Sicily. The situation in the east, we should take advantage of the fact that the Greek city-states in Sicily are in chaos, quickly send troops eastward, and re-establish the hegemony of our Carthage in Sicily!  …”