Chapter 263 The Argument About the Celebration

The hearts of the elders were tense, and no one said anything to refute. Over the years, the Hades belief has become more and more popular among the people. The year before last, a judge in Crotone died suddenly in his sleep, and his widow surrendered to the city hall on the second day, saying that "it was her husband who accepted bribes several times and made unjust judgments, so he was punished by Hades. Severe punishment..." This matter was widely circulated in the kingdom, and the people respected the fair and dignified Hades even more, and made officials a little more reverent for this gloomy and solemn god, including the elders of course .

At this time, Plessinas saw a man standing up not far away, it turned out to be Marigi, thinking that he was going to object, and he couldn't help but be surprised.

Marigi smiled at him and said, "Of course I support His Majesty's decision, but I want to say that His Majesty's decision is correct from a trade point of view. Because three wars broke out successively, especially the war with Carthage. , Although the war has not yet burned into our main territory, it has led to the reduction of foreign merchants who used to come to Dionia to do business and trade, and the commercial taxes of various cities have also increased in these months. less, because these foreign merchants were not optimistic that Dionysus would be able to win the final victory in these three simultaneous wars, and therefore did not dare to contact the kingdom any more.

And we dare to hold such a grand celebration as the Rugby Finals during a war to show them our kingdom's confidence in victory, so that trade can return to prosperity. "

"And the Rugby Finals itself can increase a lot of taxes and improve the tight state of the treasury." Finance Minister Mersis interjected, while banging his fingers on the armrest of the wooden chair, he reminded dissatisfiedly: "Everyone! Everyone! You must be clear now that the biggest problem in the kingdom is not food, but the treasury! The money in the treasury is not enough!"

Weisba asked in surprise: "Lord Mersis, during this time, His Majesty has transported a large amount of property obtained from Rome and other occupied city-states to the port of Turii by ship, and finally they are all included in the The treasury, I heard that there are at least several thousand Talents, and that the Alexis army also brought back a lot of property after occupying the towns of Kautim, Beneventum, Lola, etc. Are you still short of money?!"

"Master Vespa, you only saw the treasury collect money, why didn't you see the treasury spending a lot of money!" Mersis snorted coldly and complained loudly: "The previous drought has already made the The treasury has spent a lot of savings. At the beginning of this war, the Sicilian fleet was almost wiped out. His Majesty and our Senate made a decision to build hundreds of warships immediately! Do you know how much it will cost?! Thousands of soldiers and sailors were killed or drowned, and many citizens were disabled after being seriously injured. Do you know how much it will cost?! Eleven regiments fought nearly 100,000 people, and a battle killed Come down, how many javelins and arrows to consume?! How many lances are broken? How many daggers, shields, and warhorses are damaged?! How many spare weapons and armors do I have to buy to ensure that the soldiers can continue to fight, are these all the same? Don't you need to spend money?!... The loot sent by Your Majesty and Alexis is just to wipe out the previous consumption of the treasury, but the war is far from over, and the treasury will continue to be consumed, so any beneficial The measures for fiscal revenue should not be spared!"

Vespagan laughed a few times: "It seems that the war has a great impact on the kingdom's trade and finances, but the autumn harvest is about to end. Once the citizens pay the land tax, the Finance Department should feel a little more relaxed."

There were a few sneers in the venue, and that was because some of the elders felt that Vespa didn't understand the kingdom's finances at all, and the land tax was a drop in the bucket for this war.

Antaoris stood up,

His eyes swept his surroundings majestically. He couldn't allow some people to despise the authority of the rotating chairman. Although he also despised Vespa's incompetence, as the rotating chairman, they were one on this issue.

"Are there any objections?!" Antaoris said loudly: "If not, then hurry up to implement His Majesty's decision. It will be September 9 in a few days, and we must start preparations immediately."

Silence returned to the venue.

Vespa nodded in thanks to Antaoris, and then said loudly: "Since everyone agrees with His Majesty's decision, this year's Rugby Finals will continue!"

After speaking, he raised the small hammer and struck the small bell on the table, making a crisp sound, and then turned his attention to one of the five rotating chairmen in the front row, the Chief Executive of Turui: "Lord Lycias, This time you are still in charge of the football game, what difficulties do we need to solve?"

Lysias pondered and said: "I also support the decision made by Your Majesty. You also know that during this war, many citizens of the Turui region were killed and injured, and the people's emotions were relatively depressed. The rugby match was held. It is conducive to the release of their emotions. And on the day of the Hades celebration, I hope that the ceremony of honoring the dead soldiers in the Temple of Valhalla can be held more solemnly to appease their relatives!"

"This is what it should have been. I will arrange it. You can rest assured, Lord Lysias!" Plessinas responded.

"In order to prevent accidents, I hope that the inspection department can send more patrols to maintain the security in and outside the city of Tulii... and the military affairs department can send more soldiers to maintain the order of the square and temple in the city on the day of the celebration."

After receiving a positive response from Hiros and others, Lycias continued: "More importantly, because of the war, our Senate has not made a decision on whether to hold the Rugby Finals this year before this. Reply, I am afraid that the cities are not ready, we must notify them as soon as possible and let them send the participating teams as soon as possible, otherwise the teams cannot arrive on time, and the competition schedule can only be postponed. Also... In the past, every year Inviting friendly city-states to watch the ceremony, will you still invite old people this year?"

"I think we should continue to invite them, as Lord Marighi said before, we need to show these allies and friendly city-states the confidence of Dionia's victory in order to gain more support from them." Foreign Secretary Ancitano Sicily suggested: "In addition, in the Sicilian battle report received yesterday, friendly city-states such as Agrigento, Gera, Minoa and others have been destroyed. We invite them to send messengers to participate in the grand ceremony. We can take the opportunity to show that Dionysus will not give up their resolve in order to reassure their refugees."

"Lord Ancitanos." Antaoris asked loudly: "Among the allies you said you want to invite, do you include Egypt? When we encountered drought and war, Egypt gave us great help, allowing us to We got through the toughest first few months."

"Yes, yes, although Egypt is an ally that we have just established diplomatic relations with, it has helped us the most. Why has no one mentioned to invite them before?"

"I only remembered to invite Egypt at this time. I'm afraid it's too late." Some elders said regretfully.

"Don't worry, my lords, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just received news from the Eastern Mediterranean. The Egyptian pharaoh has sent messengers to visit our Dionysus, and it is estimated that they will reach Turii before the celebration." Ancitanos immediately responded.

"Why didn't you say such an important thing earlier!" Cornelus complained: "Sir Ancitanos, Egypt is our important ally, your foreign ministry is responsible for receiving the envoys from Egypt, what do you need us for? What the Senate did, even if it was brought up, in short, to satisfy them! In addition, you must immediately tell His Majesty and let him know about it.”

Ancitalos nodded in agreement.

Cornerus said to Vesba in the center of the venue: "Since everyone agrees to hold the Rugby Finals, then quickly send a messenger to notify the chief executives of each city and invite allies and friendly city-states to participate as in previous years. Festival."

Vespa nodded and called the clerks who were in charge of recording the meeting, and asked them to start writing letters immediately. After they were stamped with the seal of the Senate, they were handed over to the messengers waiting in the side hall at any time and sent to various places (because wearing The Senate of Onia holds meetings almost every day, and some proposals may be passed at any time. Therefore, the Senate has a fixed messenger to convey the resolutions of the Senate to those who should be conveyed in a timely and accurate manner).

After making these arrangements, Vespa breathed a sigh of relief and asked in a routine manner: "My lords, do you have any new proposals?"

The Minister of Military Affairs, Hiros, stood up and said with a serious expression: "The Ministry of Military Affairs has received a piece of information in the past few days that Puchetti's former prince Vadarka is summoning Mesapi, who fled to mainland Greece in the Peloponnese. The remnants of Puchetti and Downey are ready to attack our Apulia region."

Everyone was surprised when they heard it.

Vespa also swept away his previous indifference and asked anxiously, "Is this news accurate?"

"It has been confirmed by Aristillas." Hiros replied simply, and everyone no longer expressed doubts. Although many elders kept a distance from the intelligence chief of King Davos, he obtained information. ability is undeniable.

"Lord Hiros, do you know how many enemies there are?" Vespa asked again loudly.

"According to the information received last time, there are less than 4,000 people." Hiros said seriously: "It is estimated that they will land in Apulia in the near future."

"These bereaved dogs are very good at choosing the time, and when Alexis led the army on an expedition to the Samone mountains, the 4th Fleet left the Adriatic Sea for Sicily, and the entire Apulia region was defenseless. "