Chapter 1032
At this point, Heniboris crossed one leg, tapped the negotiating table with his right hand, and said mockingly, "And the result? The Carthage army in Sicily suffered a crushing defeat. More than half of the 100,000 troops were lost, and the rest are not far from destruction. At this time, it is a little inappropriate to use this condition to negotiate. "
Ecriton's heart sank.
Heniboris straightened his face and said coldly, "Because the main force of the fierce attack on Serinus this time is the Iberian army, His Majesty is worried that even if the two countries reach a peace agreement, the southern part of Iberia ruled by the Magonid Family will become the biggest threat to the peace between the two countries. Therefore, we have added two more conditions to the original negotiation —"
Heniboris stretched out a finger and said loudly, "First, the entire southern part of Iberia, the Carthage colony, will be handed over to Diónia."
He then stretched out a second finger, "Second, Carthage must return all the land occupied by Numibia and grant independence to the Numibians. They must no longer invade the territory of the Numibians and interfere in the internal affairs of their tribes."
When Ecriton heard this, his expression changed drastically. He did not expect the demands of Diónia to be so greedy and fierce. It had far exceeded the imagination of the Senate. Agreeing to the conditions of Diónia would undoubtedly shake the foundation of the Carthage people. He did not dare to negotiate these two new conditions without authorization. This trip was in vain again!
… …
"Master Publius, Turií is almost here!" The Roman agricultural official, Tibulus, pointed to the front and said to the former great noble of Rome, now the newly promoted senator of Diónia, Publius Manlius, who was already panting a little from exhaustion.
In fact, there was no need for his reminder. Through Publius' own observation, he had already felt that Turií was not far ahead. As the road became wider and smoother, the number of pedestrians increased sharply. Many of them were farmers carrying farm tools and covered in mud. The houses on both sides of the road became denser and taller …
"Sir Publius, there are still four or five miles from here to the inner city of Tuliyi. You'd better get on your horse first and save some strength. You can come down when you reach the inner city gate." Tibruce kindly advised when he saw Publius gasping for breath.
"4 or 5 miles?!" Publius was a little surprised. Looking at the density of the houses on both sides of the road and the bustling crowd, it was not much compared to the inner city of some Latin city-states. It was actually so far away from the real inner city of Turií. How huge was this central city of the Kingdom of Diónia?!
Publius had always thought that the city of Rome was the largest city-state in this land. Now that he looked ahead in disappointment, he suddenly felt his own insignificance. This strengthened his previous insistence, "I don't need to ride a horse. I can walk, and I can take my time to enjoy the scenery of Turií."
After passing by the Turií barracks, he heard the officials of Rome who came back with him talking about that except for special duties such as cavalrymen, horses were generally not allowed in the inner city of Turií. Although it was allowed in the outer city, strangers would be questioned and reminded by the patrols. The main reason was that they were worried about hurting pedestrians. Publius, who had just arrived, quickly dismounted and walked in order to keep a low profile. At that time, he also used similar words to explain.
Tibulus could more or less guess what he was thinking, so he did not persuade him anymore.
"Tibulus?!" Suddenly, a shout came from behind him. Tibulus looked back and saw a young man dressed like a farmer striding towards him. He said excitedly, "Looking at your back, it looks like you! We were worried about you when we heard that you volunteered to go to Latin. Look at you now, you must be very tired in Rome. Are you on vacation this time? Or is it official business? "
"Official business," Tibulus said simply. He then turned around and introduced, "This is the new senator of the kingdom, Lord Publius from Rome."
The young man looked at him curiously. He was a little hesitant, then he moved closer to Tibulus' ear and whispered, "Can he understand what we're saying?"
"Lord Publius is very fluent in Greek!" Tibulus said loudly. He then introduced to Publius, "This is my former colleague, Acicarus, the agriculture officer of Demo in the northern outer city of Turií."
Publius immediately smiled and nodded in greeting. "Nice to meet you, agriculture officer Acicarus!"
Acicarus was slightly embarrassed. He quickly squeezed out a smile, stepped forward, and bowed. "Lord Publius, welcome to Turií!"
"Tibulus and I are not just colleagues. We've been neighbors since we were young. We studied together in Turií school, passed the exams together, and happened to be assigned to the agriculture department together … Do you think this is the blessing of Hades? Our friendship is very good!" Acicarus said as he put his arm on Tibulus' shoulder and patted him excitedly.
Although Publius did not quite understand what Acicarus said about Turií school and exams, he still nodded politely.
Tibulus pushed his hand away and scolded, "Your hands are dirty, and you're rubbing them on me!"
Acicarus immediately put on an angry expression. "Tibulus, you've been in Latin for a while, and you're starting to dislike us agriculture officers! So what if I'm dirty? This is the proof of my hard work in guiding the people of Turií to complete the spring sowing! "
Although he knew his good friend's lively character, his words still attracted Tibulus' attention. He could not help but ask, "How's this year's spring sowing going?"
"Of course, it's not going well!" Acicarus shrugged and sighed helplessly. "You should have felt it when you were in Latin. The war has lasted for such a long time, and the scale is so large. Our Turií region has lost more than 40,000 young and strong citizens, and those who returned are all wounded. Think about how great the impact this has on Turií's agriculture. Now, there's a shortage of labor here!
Not to mention the spring sowing, the autumn harvest has already given our Turií agriculture officers a headache. We've applied to Governor Lucius and used a large number of the kingdom's slaves. We've also promised to shorten the period of becoming a citizen of the kingdom and recruited many free people. (The war between Sparta and the Thebes and Athens is getting more and more intense, causing the people of Greece to start migrating to the Kingdom of Diónia under the guidance of some people.) Under our supervision, we finally completed the autumn harvest in Turií. But before we could take a breather, it's time for the spring sowing. Fortunately, this time — "
Acicarus looked at Publius and deliberately lowered his voice. He said to Tibulus, "Turií has gained another batch of slaves from Latin and Syracuse. Originally, they were all going to be sent to Sardinia, but we Turií intercepted some of them. These slaves are good at taking care of the fields! Coupled with the enemies from Greece captured in Apria, Turií can ensure that there's no shortage of labor, and we can also provide help to the surrounding areas.
However, it's very tiring to supervise the labor of so many slaves. Do you know why I have so much dirt on me? That's because I often have to go to the fields to personally demonstrate and teach them. If you had come to the outskirts of Turií earlier today, you would have seen hundreds of reserve soldiers and cavalry patrolling the villages and fields to prevent these slaves from escaping or other accidents. It's quite a spectacular scene! … "
Although Acicarus mentioned the slaves of Rome, which made Publius feel a little awkward, he listened very carefully and learned a lot about Diónia.
After listening, Tibulus said with some worry, "Always using the slaves of the kingdom to solve the problem of labor shortage is not a solution in the long run!"
"Of course, this is only temporary." Acicarus immediately took over the conversation and said in a low voice, pretending to be mysterious, "Last night, a fast ship from the south docked at the port, and a messenger sped into the inner city of the Senate. This morning, I received insider news. After our navy completely defeated the Carthage fleet in the waters of the Carthage a few days ago, His Majesty the Devers led the main army to completely defeat the 100,000 troops of Carthage at Serinus. The Carthage people have suffered repeated defeats. I'm afraid this war will end soon!"
Hearing this, Publius was shocked. The ally of Rome, known as the wealthiest and most powerful city-state in the western Mediterranean, Carthage, was defeated so quickly?!
Tibulus asked what he wanted to ask, "Is what you said true?!"
"Of course, the news is absolutely reliable!" Acicarus said with certainty, "However, the Senate did not announce this good news to the public today. I guess … this good news may be announced at the Kingdom Assembly tomorrow! By the way, Sir Publius, are you also here to participate in the Kingdom Assembly? "
"Ah … yes." Publius came back to his senses.
"Hey, you guys!" Suddenly, a shout came from the front.
Publius looked over, thinking that the soldiers of Rome had come to Turií. He saw a group of patrolling soldiers in red helmets and red armor walking straight toward them. The patrolling soldiers were originally black helmets and black armor, but in recent years, they had changed to red helmets and red armor, mainly to distinguish them from the legions of the kingdom. At the same time, the red color was more eye-catching, making it easier to carry out official duties in a city with a large population.
The leading officer looked at the group of people and the horses behind them suspiciously, then said with a serious expression, "Don't you see that there are a lot of pedestrians? You are still blocking the middle of the road and blocking the traffic. Hurry up and go! "
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