ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1109 Revenge
Originally, Okriton was already prepared to be teased, but he did not expect that Haka would explain it verbally. This gave him a little confidence in today's talks, so he smiled and said: "Even the Carthaginians , and almost everyone admits that Dionia’s medical skills are the highest in the entire Western Mediterranean, so the advice they gave you is of course correct, and you look very healthy now!”

"Dionysia is much better than Carthage, and it's not just medical skills." Haka's tone was still calm: "But for you, it's best to hope that I live a few more years, because this will be very important to Carthage." There are benefits.”

Haka's words cheered up Okriton, and he seemed to feel that Haka was expressing goodwill to Carthage.

"Please sit down, Lord Okriton." Haka pointed to the opposite side of the heated pool and said: "There is another reason why I invite you to meet in the bathroom. The Turiyi people think that the bath is the best time to talk, because both parties are Be honest and have nothing to hide.”

Okriton nodded, without any further hesitation, stepped directly into the pool and sat on the stone bench in the pool.

"Have a glass of wine? This is the best wine produced by the Turi Orifes family. Its output is not much, and it is usually not available in the market. These cans of mine are all given by His Majesty, saying that they are taking a bath." Drinking it when you drink it is good for your health..."

Okriton wanted to refuse, but changed his mind after hearing the next words: "Then have a drink."

The slave standing by the pool poured a glass of wine.

After Okriton took it, he took a sip and felt the sweet and sour taste. He couldn't help but exclaimed: "How comfortable it is to be able to soak in comfortable water and drink such good wine every day! Haha! Mr. Ka, I really envy you!"

Haka said calmly: "Carthaginians can fully enjoy this kind of life, but you are still clinging to the past and unable to accept the reality."

Haka's words were a bit vague, and Okriton couldn't accurately grasp its meaning for a while, so he asked tentatively: "What do you mean..."

Haka did not respond directly, but instead asked: "I know that the Carthaginian nobles have also developed the habit of taking baths in the past 10 years, but what do you think is the difference between Dionia and Carthage in taking baths?"

Although he didn’t know why Hakkar asked this, Okriton still thought about it seriously and then replied: “We Carthaginians take a bath without the tedious steps in the front, and just soak in the hot pool, and then Massage, body shaving..."

"In fact, those links removed by the Carthaginians were precisely the purpose of the Dionysian invention of bathing. They believed that bathing was a useful exercise for physical exercise, while the Carthaginians only regarded it as a kind of physical exercise. Enjoy." Without waiting for Okriton to respond, Haka picked up a handful of water with his hand and asked, "Do you know where this water comes from?"

"Of course it's the water that the slaves went to fetch." If it was in Carthage, Okreton would definitely say that, but here he felt that it was not so simple, so he simply replied: "I don't know much about it."

"It flows into the house on its own."

Haka's answer surprised Okriton: "Turiyi City Hall specially built a pool in your house?!"

According to what Okriton learned, the Dionians specially built elevated water bridges to introduce water from rivers into the city, built pools in important places covering a wide area in the city, and then built sealed waterways to introduce water. , supplying the whole city relies on these pools and water.

"It's not a pool, but a hollow pipe as thick as a spear shaft that was built by the Dionia Construction Department and iron merchants using copper as the main raw material. It was directly connected to the water tower, and then buried under the ground, extending to My kitchen... His Majesty Davos named it the water pipe. The slaves don't have to go to the nearby pool to get water. They only need to turn on the switch of the water pipe, and the water will flow out naturally..." Haka introduced it quite proudly.

Okriton looked amazed, but he also realized: "This kind of water pipeline uses copper as the main raw material, and the copper material and cost should not be a small amount, right?"

"It does cost a lot, but the fees are paid by the residents who apply for the installation of water pipes, and the water fees are paid monthly (water in public pools is free), because the water management office has also designed a method to calculate household water usage. A large amount of equipment... Even if the cost is not low, there are still many citizens who have heard the news and asked to apply for the installation of water pipes. However, it has just started operation, and the consumption of copper materials is too high, so it is only installed in the inner city for the time being.

Someone once suggested that water pipes should be made of lead that is cheaper and more abundant. 'You also know that there are many lead mines in Corsica and southern Iberia that Dionia just acquired. However, His Majesty severely criticized this proposal, saying that 'after lead dissolves in water, it will have a negative impact on people's health. Very harmful to the body. 'Now iron merchants are working hard to research cheaper and more durable materials for making water pipes, such as using tin as the main raw material... Because once the development is successful, they can make a lot of profits just from the fees obtained from the patent, maybe not much more. In the year, you can see water pipes in the homes of wealthy citizens in other towns in the Kingdom of Dionia..."

After Haka finished speaking, he saw that Okriton was listening attentively, so his expression gradually became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Because of Carthage's glory in the Western Mediterranean in the past, the Carthaginians have always been proud that their motherland is The best country in the Western Mediterranean has the best culture in the Western Mediterranean. Even other races are considered barbarians in the eyes of the Carthaginians.

I used to have this kind of pride when I was in Iberia, but after coming to Thurii and staying here for more than a year, the pride in my heart has disappeared. Although Dionia is a new kingdom, it is more Carthage is so great!
I believe that when you enter the mouth of the Craty River, everything you see will make you think that the city of Thurii is already much more powerful than Carthage, not to mention the Kingdom of Dionia. There are Crotone, Catanai, Rome, Syracuse...these big cities are no less powerful than Carthage, but they are not Utica.

Although Utica is an important ally of Carthage, it may not obey the orders of the Carthage Senate at critical moments because of its own interests. However, all towns in the Kingdom of Dionia are under the control of His Majesty the King and the Senate. Under direct jurisdiction, when a war occurs, all human and financial resources can be concentrated and all efforts are made to fight the enemy. This is the main reason why Dionia was able to defeat Carthage in the Western Mediterranean War.

After the failure of that war, Dionia's national power has skyrocketed, but Carthage has been weakened to the point that it may not even be as good as Katanai. In such a situation of extremely disparity in strength, you are still stubbornly resisting - "

"We have no intention of confronting Dionia!" Okriton was shocked and quickly defended: "We just want to live our own lives! But now those humble Eastern Numibians People are frequently harassing our territory. If it were not for the peace agreement signed between Carthage and Dionia, and the East Numibians are Dionia's allies, we would have gathered a large army to attack these hateful people. The Numibian tribe!”

Haka showed a sneer: "Didn't you fight back? No, you have already fought against the Numibians, but you suffered a defeat."

"It was just a... small battle. We originally wanted to teach the Numibians a lesson and let them retreat in spite of the difficulties, but we didn't expect that they would send so many soldiers..." Okriton defended himself. road.

"In this case..." Haka opened his arms, held the edge of the pool, and said calmly: "I can suggest to your majesty that you choose to ignore it when you launch an attack on the Numibians."

Okriton did not expect Hakkar to answer this, and was speechless for a moment.

Haka took advantage of the situation and said unceremoniously: "Look, I just said that the Carthaginians today are unwilling to accept reality. You are an obvious example! With Carthage's current strength, it can defeat Eastern Numbia. People? You know, the Numibians have now got rid of their fear of the Carthaginians. Although they still go their own way, they can still reach an agreement on the matter of 'fighting the Carthaginians'. In addition, They can now obtain more sophisticated weapons and armor from Dionia... Carthage gathers the power of its Phoenician allies and fights with all its strength. It may be able to win, but I believe the casualties will be high. The key question is whether Carthage can still Can we give orders to the Phoenician city-states on the continent of Africa as before?"

Okriton wanted to say "Yes!", but when he saw Haka's half-smiling face, he swallowed his words again, with a slight embarrassment on his face: "Yes...those Phoenician allies are no longer like We were so closely united around Carthage before the war. As time went by, anyone with a discerning eye could see... We Carthage is weakening day by day, and the Kingdom of Dionia, which has a vast territory and a huge population, has become It is a powerful presence that cannot be bypassed by any race or city-state that survives in the Western Mediterranean.

Especially the Phoenician city-states east of the Robben Peninsula. They rarely obey Carthage's orders. Instead, they frequently send envoys to Hadrumantum. It is said that this is to allow their merchants to enter Dio more conveniently. The vast market of the Kingdom of Nia.Hatrumentum is like a poisonous needle stuck in the body of the Carthaginian alliance, and it has begun to exert its destructive power..."

"Let me tell you the truth." Haka splashed the pool water onto his chest, rubbed it gently, and then slowly immersed his body in the pool water: "I suggested to His Majesty Davos, 'drive the people of East Numibia To invade what little land you have left in the interior...'"

(End of this chapter)