Chapter 49 The Family Gathering and the Choice of the Lijim

Alcibiades has long noticed the food on his table, broth, grilled fish, bread, a small can of wine... The dishes are actually quite rich, but compared with the hospitality he received here before, it is indeed a lot less. Little, remembering that the big businessmen in Lijim, including himself, still held banquets from time to time even during the drought, the food was much richer than this, and Dasheng couldn't help sighing: "It's already very good! I think you've eaten more than usual since the drought. It's so easy!"

"We have eaten much better than most people in Dionia! I know that many citizen families can only eat two meals a day, and the main food is porridge..." Agnes said with a sigh, as He The chief priest of the Temple of Ra, she learned a lot from the people who came to the temple to worship during this time.

Alcibia Das is silent, but he is very clear: with Davos's supreme status and wealth in Dionia, even in times of drought, the whole family can live a prosperous life, but his brother-in-law He must be strict with his family as before, and set an example for the people of the Kingdom of Dionia, and this habit and practice has deeply affected his family. Perhaps only a person like him can become a king. Bar!

Alcibiades drank a big mouthful of broth pretending not to care, and then praised: "It's still a good cook in your house! Even if the food is less, the food is still so delicious!"

"You must have been very tired since you came all the way from Lijim! Since it's delicious, eat a little more to replenish your strength." Kristoya said with concern, and then sighed: "Thank you Hardy. God's blessing, this terrible drought is finally over!"

She looked at Alcibiades and asked with concern: "I heard that the people of Lijim rioted because they couldn't afford food, and injured a lot of nobles and businessmen. Your shop has not been attacked. destroy it?"

"Thanks to His Majesty's prestige, those angry people completely bypassed my shops and workshops!" Alcibiades said gratefully. This is indeed the truth. The Lijim people in the riots have prayed for the Kingdom of Dionia, and naturally they will not attack Alcibiades, who is related to King Davos by marriage.

"You Lijim Council have gone too far. You don't care about the lives of the people. You deserve to be attacked by the people!" Agnes said angrily. After all, it was her hometown. How could she not be in a hurry when she was hungry and suffering: "If you had allowed your sister's bank to settle in Lijim, then the people there today can borrow money from the bank and use it to buy food!"

Agnes' words are obviously a bit naive. Lijim's riot is not a matter of whether the people have money or not, but that the crazy behavior of the entire business class to make a fortune in the country cannot be contained. However, when Lijim became a free city in the Kingdom of Dionia, one of the conditions put forward by Lijim people was that Cristoia Bank was not allowed to enter Lijim, because Lijim’s business was developed, and loan sharks were one of Lijim’s merchants. An important means of making money, if the Cristoia Bank was built in the city, with its loan interest rate far lower than that of usury, the entire usury industry in Lijim would soon collapse.

Alcibiades wiped his face with his hands in embarrassment, and suddenly said, "Maybe it won't be long before Cristoia Bank will be stationed in Lijim."

Cristoia opened her eyes slightly, with a surprised look on her face, and asked, "Why?"

Alcibiades knew that he had lost his words, coughed dryly, and said apologetically, "I can't say this until I meet His Majesty Davos and get his confirmation."

Cristoia was thoughtful, she took a sip of wine and was about to speak. Briantes, who was dining on the side, shouted dissatisfiedly: "You adults are saying things that we don't understand, it's boring! Uncle, you went to Egypt before, have you seen a kind of fish in the Nile River, it can not only live in the It can swim in the river, and can climb on land, and it is very ferocious, not only can it eat people, but even a lion can’t beat it, is it true?”

"Brother, you're talking about a crocodile, right?" Apox corrected immediately.

Alcibiades laughed: "I don't know whether the crocodile can defeat the lion. But the crocodile does eat people, and according to Egyptian rumors, the crocodile even ate one of their great pharaohs."

Apox immediately said with interest: "Uncle, tell us this story."

Under the urging of the children, Alcibiades also did not refuse in order to avoid Cristoia's inquiry. He thought back carefully and said, "You should all know that the center of Egypt is in Memphis."

Several children nodded together. At school, teachers have taught them the basics of this.

"Then do you know that the Pharaoh of Egypt is also honored as the king of Upper and Lower Egypt."

Only Apox nodded, the other children shook their heads.

Alcibiades explained patiently: "A long time ago, Egypt was not a unified country, it was divided into two countries: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Because Lower Egypt was located in the lower reaches of the Nile River, at that time because of There were floods, swamps everywhere, and wild beasts, so the population was small. Later, the king of Upper Egypt launched a war and finally unified Egypt.

After many years, the Egyptians, through the efforts of generations, gradually turned the vast swamps and wetlands in the lower reaches of the Nile into fertile plains. Among them, a pharaoh named Menes played a great role. On this fertile plain, he established the city of Memphis, and moved his capital to Memphis..."

Except for Ivia, the other three children were gradually attracted by Alcibiades' story and listened carefully.

"... Menes was a very effective pharaoh, and under his rule, the kingdom of Egypt became stronger and more prosperous. One day, when the weather was very hot, he went hunting with his entourage, and it didn't take long for them to feel Thirsty, so the group came to the Nile River. Pharaoh Menes asked his men to fetch water, and he sat by the river to rest, but what looked like a broken tree trunk was floating in the river not far from him, but it was actually a crocodile In disguise, it suddenly pounced on Menes, who was not far from him, bit him in one bite, and dragged him into the river before the followers could react...

The Egyptians organized a large army to search in the Nile River, but in the end they did not find his body. Not long after, an oracle came out from the Temple of Amon, and King Menes was taken over to the heaven by the Crocodile God because of his great achievements..."

……………………………………

In the evening, Davos, who returned to the mansion, met Alcibiades in the study.

"This time you came here and brought a lot of gifts to Cristoia, Agnes and the children. They are all very happy. The children even prefer to see you, not my father!" Diver said jokingly.

"Your Majesty, I finally came here once. It's easy to buy these gifts. It doesn't cost a lot of money to make them happy. I'm also very happy." Alcibiades said quickly.

"For the children, you are a good uncle! For Cristoia and Agnes, you are a good relative! For me..." Davers smiled slightly: "You have done a great job. All right! Agnes has told me about her wanting to go to Liegem to see your father, and I basically agree, but not now. Lijim is in chaos and it's not very safe. I don't know what your council is going to do What measures to stabilize the whole situation?"

Only at this point did Davos get to the point.

Alcibiades was ashamed, and whispered awkwardly: "The council has been arguing about whether to suppress the riots, and so far, there is no specific plan to come up..."

"Do you want to apply to the Dionysian Senate for us to send the army to suppress the people of Lijim?" The sneer at the corner of Daves' mouth disappeared. In fact, he knew the situation in Lijim well, and even this time Lijim was able to riot because of his intelligence department.

According to the stipulations of Dionysian law: Lijim, as a free city, cannot have its own army (of course, as the main body of a city-state army at this time - most of the ordinary citizens have already participated in the riots), and the kingdom is in normal operation. Under the circumstances, he could not interfere in the internal affairs of his city, so Lijim could only apply to the Kingdom of Dionia if he wanted to use the army to quickly quell the riot.

Alcibiades smiled wryly, shook his head and said, "It's a cruel thing to stab your own countryman with a sword. Not only me, but some sober people in Lijim City do not approve of such a practice."

"Oh?" Davers asked in surprise, "Then what are you going to do?"

"Your Majesty, I believe you already understand that the management of the city-state has been very chaotic in the Lijim Council in the past two years. Many people do not want to manage the city-state well, but want to use power to satisfy their own desires, so they After being elected through various fraudulent means, they often formulate some proposals that are beneficial to their interests and detrimental to the development of the city-state. Many public offices in the city are held by their relatives or people who are incompetent but bribed them... Lijim seems to be prosperous In fact, the people's dissatisfaction with this has been accumulated for a long time, and this time the drought has only caused the people to explode their anger..."

Alcibiades said sadly, and Davos listened calmly. Of course, he was very aware of Lijim's condition. In fact, if Artili Cruz hadn't fallen ill, Lijim's political situation would have been better. After all, he He has the ability and prestige to control the council, but none of the generals and councillors elected by Lijim can control the overall situation, which has led to riots for several days, and the council has yet to come up with a decent measure.