Chapter 290 Infighting

The Syracuses were temporarily relieved, but at the same time they were puzzled: What are the Dionians going to do? !

Not long after, another spy came to report that the Dionians were in the swearing-in meeting, and their roars of "revenge" could even be heard by the people living on the northwest frontier outside the city.

The lawmakers suddenly became nervous again.

At this time, Theagenis finally made a suggestion: "Everyone, the Carthaginians have broken through the small town of Paragonia, killed all the Dionian soldiers in the city, plus the previous invasion of the Catania plain. , Destruction will inevitably arouse the wrath of the Dionysian reinforcements, who are the targets of the Dionysians' revenge!

As for our Syracuse, it was only under the coercion of the Carthaginian army that we had to send troops to attack the Dionysian League gang Taunis. But we remember our past friendship with Dionysus, and there was never a real full-strength attack, so Taunis has been safe and sound, and there have been no casualties.

Now we should thank the arrival of the Dionysian reinforcements, forcing the Carthaginian army to retreat, without the threat of Carthage, the safety of Syracuse has been guaranteed, and the peace with Dionia can be restored. ! …”

Some generals and deputies were stunned: before, the alliance with Carthage and the declaration of war on Dionia were mainly from the proposal of the chief general, but now Syracuse has become a victim in his mouth, which also It can turn black and white!

But more people, after being reminded by Theagenis, scrambled to say: "Yes, yes, we have never declared war on Dionia, nor attacked Dionia directly, so there is no demand for And the question of peace. The Dionysians should thank us, and it is precisely because of our old friendship that we did not attack seriously, delaying the attack of the Carthaginians, so that Catane was saved."

"Let's make peace with the Dionysians for a while, and let the Dionysians and Carthaginians fight with all their might. When they are all dead and exhausted, this is our chance in Syracuse."

...

"But we occupied Camerina and controlled Pachinus, and I don't think Dionysus could turn a blind eye to this." Someone objected.

Theagenis argued: "It is not to capture but to protect, and it is precisely because Syracuse protected Pachinus and Camarina that they were prevented from suffering the tragic encounters of Gera and Agrigento. , they should thank Syracuse, not to mention that they are not allies of Dionia. Based on this, I think Dionia should not have much response to this, of course, this requires our messenger to go to Kata Nai did a good job lobbying..."

Finally, the Council of Syracuse passed a proposal: send envoys to Catanay to express friendship to Dionysian, and to investigate the attitude of the Dionysians.

The last time he negotiated with Margo, Theargenes personally went out because he was sure that the Carthaginians would not be bad for him, but for Dionysus, he did not dare to be so big, so he recommended democracy. A very good member of parliament, Cybanus, was sent to Katanai.

That night, while he was waiting anxiously, the servant came in and told him, "Cerbernus asks to see you."

Te-Argenis immediately rushed to the gate of the courtyard and introduced him into the study himself.

"How's the embassy going? What's the attitude of the Dionians to Syracuse? Did they agree to make peace with us?  …"

Theagenis looked eager, different from the poise he was in the council during the day,

This is probably the real state of mind of the chief general under the current situation...Cerbanus thought to himself, but on the surface he did not dare to slack off, he said: "General, after I arrived in Katanai, I did not I met King Dionia, but I met Cyprous, the former lord of Catane, who is now said to have been promoted to the governor of Sicily. He was lukewarm to me, and as you might expect, there was no mention of it Kamanlina, Pachinus. However, in response to our request to restore friendship between the two sides, Cypros said, 'Let's punish Falecus, Staceikos, and Cucias, and then come back Talk about restoring friendship.'"

"Punish Falecus, Stacycus, and Kukias, why?" Although Teagenes vaguely sensed the reason, he still asked.

"General, why have you forgotten that they led the army to besiege Taunis, and Taunis is an ally of Dionysus, of course Dionia will stand up for it!" Cybanus reminded.

At first, Tergenis led an army to raid Camarina, then forced Pachinus to surrender, and then successfully negotiated with the Carthaginians, thus gaining great popularity. This made the generals of the neutral faction jealous, so in the ensuing military operations, they, who had the majority in the executive committee of the generals, strongly demanded to be the commander-in-chief. On the one hand, Theagenis did not want to have a standoff with the generals of the neutral faction. On the other hand, he considered that the next war would be dominated by the Carthaginians, and the Syracuse army was only auxiliary, and there was not much benefit to be gained. So he chose to back down.

After listening to Cybnus's words at this moment, Theargenis felt a bit of a fluke in his heart, and at the same time made him ponder.

"General." Cerberus took a few steps forward and whispered, "This is a good opportunity! Falecus and the others have occupied the committee for many years, causing so much trouble for you, seriously hindering those who support you from entering the committee. , now may be a good opportunity to solve this trouble..."

Te Argenis looked up at him: "But the Dionians did not say that after punishing Falecus and the others, they returned to friendship with Syracuse."

"But they didn't show any obvious malice to us. They always have to give it a try." Cerberus continued to persuade.

Theagenis didn't respond for a while, and after thinking for a while, he hesitated and said: "Be careful that the Dionysians are playing tricks! ... Let's do it... Tomorrow, at the council meeting, in addition to sending you as an ambassador. Apart from telling the truth about Katanai's situation, don't say anything else, I will also inform our people in advance not to speak casually, see the reactions of other people, and then make plans..."

……………………………………

The next day, at the council meeting in Syracuse, there was a big uproar after Cerberus spoke of Dionia's request.

Kuchias first jumped out angrily, accusing it of being a ridiculous request.

Some centrist lawmakers also expressed clear opposition, seeing it as a humiliation to Syracuse.

Of course, some people also suggested: For the benefit of Syracuse, Falecus and other generals are not wronged a little bit. Anyway, they just put on a gesture to satisfy Dionia, then Syracuse can avoid it. Dioria's cavalry.

A handful of MPs from the port's populist faction agreed.

The two sides argued endlessly.

The democrats, led by Theagenis, have been on the sidelines.

When it was almost noon, the council suddenly got news: there was a lot of panic and changes in the people in the city!

It turned out that rumors suddenly spread among the people in the city: The tens of thousands of Dionysian troops were about to attack Syracuse, and such terrible consequences were caused by Tai Argenis! It was his forcible demand to 'alliance with Carthage and declare war with Dionysus' that angered the Dionysians. As a result, the Carthaginians he relied on retreated alone without faith, leaving Syracuse in In danger, Theargenis must be held accountable! Punishing Te-Argenis might assuage the wrath of the Dionysians...

Rumors quickly spread throughout the city, and the people gathered to discuss it.

This news surprised the democrats, especially The Argenis. He knew that if this matter was not handled properly, it would have a great impact on his prestige, so he proposed to temporarily adjourn the meeting and send someone to appease the people first.

But at this time, Falecus and others expressed their opposition, especially Kuchias angrily pointed out: "If you want to appease the anger of the Dionysians, the most should be punished is Theagenis, because he It is the culprit who caused all this! And as the chief general of Syracuse, he not only failed to fulfill his duty, but also brought disaster to Syracuse, and is no longer worthy of this sacred post!  …”

Kukias' remarks caused an uproar.

The democrats headed by Theagenis are now more certain: the rumors in the city are most likely created by Falecus and the others, in order to divert the contradictions and attack the prestige of Theagenis.

As a result, Te-Argenis first attacked, attacking Falecus and others, and other democrats also stepped up to help.

Falekus and other centrist generals and parliamentarians did not dare to show weakness, and accused the democrats one after another.

The originally orderly debate at the venue turned into a heated quarrel, especially since Falecus had long been dissatisfied with Theagenis, so he simply wooed Theagenis over the past year against the neutrals. Dirty things such as alienation and bribes were exposed one by one.

Tai Argenis was also not to be outdone, accusing Falecus and other neutral factions of uniting to crowd him out during his tenure as chief general, and that they secretly coerced himself to unite with them to jointly suppress the port civilians...

There was a lot of scolding in the venue, and there was no order at all, and even the scolding turned into a fight.

Only a handful of port populist lawmakers headed by Hiktas watched with expressionless faces.

In the end, the meeting did not reach any agreement and had to adjourn early.

It didn't take long for what happened in the venue to spread throughout the city of Syracuse, and it also affected the people in the city. Under the instigation of people with a heart, the fans of the centrists began to scold Theargenes for his hypocrisy, and declared that the council should punish him to quell the war.

The opinion of the people who support Theagenis is just the opposite, and the two sides have a dispute, which has evolved into a conflict.