ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 704 Family gathering and the choice of the Liji people
Alcibiadas had long noticed the food on his table. Broth, grilled fish, bread, a small half can of wine... The food was actually quite rich, but compared with the hospitality he had received here before, it was indeed a lot less. Thinking of the big businessmen in Lijim, including himself, who still held banquets from time to time even during the drought, and the food was much richer than this, Dasheng couldn't help but sigh: "It's already very good! I think since the drought, you usually eat more than It’s easy!”

"We already eat 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 wheat porridge..." Agnes said sadly, as Hercules As the chief priest of the Temple of La, she learned a lot about the people who came to worship at the temple during this period.

Alcibiadas was silent. In fact, he knew very well: with Davos's supreme status and strong net worth in Dionia, even during the drought, the whole family could live a life of luxury and debauchery, but his brother-in-law He must have been as strict with his family as before, setting 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!

Alcibiadas pretended not to care and took a big sip of the broth, and then praised: "Your cook is still the best! Even if there is less food, the food he makes is still so delicious!"

"You must be very tired after coming all the way from Lijim! Since it tastes good, eat more and replenish your strength." Kristoya said with concern, and then sighed: "Thank you Hadi With Si’s blessing, this terrible drought is finally over!”

She looked at Alcibiadas and asked with concern: "I heard that the people of Lijim rioted because they could not afford food, and injured many nobles and businessmen. Your shop was not damaged. Destroy it?"

"Thanks to His Majesty's prestige, those angry people completely bypassed my shop and workshop!" Alcibiadas said gratefully.This is indeed the truth. The Lijim people in the riots prayed to the Kingdom of Dionia, and naturally they would not attack Alcibidas, who was related to King Davos by marriage.

"You, the Lijim Council, have gone too far. You have no regard for the life and death of the people. You deserve to be attacked by the people!" Agnes said angrily. After all, it was her hometown, and she heard that people in her hometown were being attacked. How could she not be anxious when she was suffering from hunger: "If you had allowed your sister's bank to be stationed in Lijim, then today the people there would be able to get loans from the banks to buy food!"

Agnes' words were obviously a little naive. The riot in Lijim was not a matter of whether the people had money or not, but that the madness of the entire merchant class to make money for the country could not be contained.However, when Lijim became the free city of the Kingdom of Dionia, one of the conditions put forward by the Lijim people was that they did not allow Christoya Bank to enter Lijim, because Lijim has developed business and usury is a Lijim merchant. An important way to make money, if the Christoya Bank is built in the city, with its loan interest rate far lower than that of usury, the entire Lijim usury industry will collapse soon.

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

Kristoya's almond-shaped eyes opened slightly, with a look of surprise on her face, and she asked, "Why?"

Alcibiadas knew he had made a mistake, coughed dryly, and said apologetically: "I can't tell you this until I meet with His Majesty Davos and get his confirmation."

Kristoya was thoughtful, she took a sip of the wine, and was about to speak.Briantes, who was dining nearby, was already dissatisfied and shouted: "You adults are saying things that we can't understand. It's really boring! Uncle, you went to Egypt before. Have you ever seen a fish in the Nile River? It can not only swim in It can swim in the river, and it can also 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, that's the crocodile you're talking about." Apox immediately corrected him.

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

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

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

Several children nodded together.In school, teachers have taught them basic knowledge in this area.

"Then do you know that the Egyptian pharaoh is also honored as the king of upper and lower Egypt?"

Only Apox nodded, the other children shook their heads.

Alcibiadas 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 Floods flooded, the land was covered with swamps, and ferocious beasts were rampant, so the population was small. Later, the king of Upper Egypt launched a war and finally unified Egypt.

After many, 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 very important role. He also established the city of Memphis on this fertile plain and moved his royal capital to Memphis..."

Except for Ivia, the other three children were gradually attracted by Alcibiadas's narration and listened attentively.

"... Menes was a very accomplished pharaoh. Under his rule, the Egyptian kingdom became stronger and more prosperous. One day, the weather was very hot, but he took his followers to hunt. It didn't take long for them to feel Thirsty, so the group came to the Nile River. Pharaoh Menes asked his men to go down to fetch water, and he sat and rested by the river. As a result, what looked like a broken tree trunk was floating in the river not far from him, but it was actually a crocodile. It suddenly pounced on Menis who was not far away from him, bit him, and dragged him into the river before the followers had time to react...

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

.............................................

In the evening, Davers, who returned to the mansion, met Alcibidas in the study.

"This time you came here and brought a lot of gifts to Christoya, Agnes and the children. They were very happy. The children even preferred to see you instead of me as their father!" Diver Si said jokingly.

"Your Majesty, I finally came here. It's easy to buy these gifts. It doesn't cost much. I'm very happy to make them happy." Alcibiadas said quickly.

"To the children, you are a good uncle! To Christoya and Agnes, you are a good relative! To me..." Davers smiled slightly: "You did a great job Alright! Agnes has told me everything about her plan to go to Lijim to see your father. I basically agree, but not now. The situation in Lijim is chaotic and not very safe. I don’t know if your council is planning to take What measures to stabilize the whole situation?"

At this point, Davos finally got to the point.

Alcibiadas was ashamed and whispered in embarrassment: "The council has been debating whether to suppress the riot, and it has not yet come up with a specific plan..."

"Are you trying to apply to the Dionia Senate for us to send troops to suppress the people of Lijim?" The sneer at the corner of Daves's mouth flashed away.In fact, he knew the situation in Lijim very well, and even this time Lijim was able to have a riot because of his intelligence department.

According to the provisions of Dionia 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 ordinary citizens have participated in the riots), and the kingdom is under normal conditions Under such circumstances, they cannot interfere in the internal affairs of their city. Therefore, if Lijim wants to use the army to quickly quell the riots, it can only apply to the Kingdom of Dionia.

Alcibiadas smiled bitterly, shook his head and said: "It is a cruel thing to stab your compatriots with swords and spears. Not only me, but also some sober people in Lijim City do not agree with this approach."

"Oh?" Davos asked slightly surprised, "Then what are you going to do?"

"Your Majesty, I believe you already know very well that the management of the city-state by the Lijim Council in the past two years has been very chaotic. Many people do not want to manage the city-state well, but want to use power to satisfy their own selfish desires. Therefore, they After being elected through various fraudulent means, they often make proposals that are beneficial to their interests but not conducive to the development of the city-state. Many public offices in the city are held by their relatives or people who have little ability but bribed them... Lijim seems to be prosperous. In fact, the people's dissatisfaction with this has been building up for a long time, and this drought just made the people burst out their anger..."

Alcibiadas said sadly, and Davos listened calmly. Of course, he knew Lijim's situation very well. In fact, Lijim's political situation would have been better if Atili Cruz hadn't fallen ill. After all, he With the ability and prestige to control the council, none of the generals and congressmen elected by Lijim can control the overall situation, which led to riots for several days, and the council still couldn't come up with a decent measure.

(End of this chapter)