Chapter 1034
The Kingdom Guesthouse was a hotel funded and built by the Kingdom of Diónia. As the name suggested, it was used to receive guests from the kingdom, such as envoys or VIPs from other countries.
However, at this time, the Kingdom Guesthouse was mainly used to receive the councilors and civil guards from various towns who came to participate in the Kingdom's General Assembly. It was a large number, and the original building alone could not accommodate so many people. Therefore, the Senate specifically recommended in the announcement sent to all towns that the participants of the General Assembly who had relatives or friends in Turín should try to stay in their homes.
In the past few years, the Ministry of Construction had built three or four similar buildings and a few separate villas to the south of the Kingdom Guesthouse. They were all collectively known as the Kingdom Guesthouse, which basically met the needs.
It was almost the opening time of the General Assembly, so the hotel should be overcrowded. Even if there were rooms left, the conditions would not be too good. However, according to the replies from the town hall of each town, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had prepared a list of accommodation in advance and sent it to the person in charge of the hotel. Publius and Tibulus, of course, had specially reserved rooms with very good conditions, especially Publius. He was not only a noble senator, but also a representative of Rome who had just joined the kingdom. He was assigned the best room in the entire hotel — a detached villa.
The villa had three floors. The first floor was mainly the living room and kitchen, and the second and third floors were the bedrooms. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had built these villas in consideration of receiving some VIPs who came with their families to stay for a longer period of time.
The hotel attendant led Publius into the villa. After a brief understanding of the situation in the villa, Publius immediately invited Tibulus, who came with him, to stay with him.
Tibulus readily agreed and quickly checked out of his original room.
It was still winter in January. Even though Turín was close to the sea, the weather was still relatively cold. However, Publius stepped barefoot on the smooth marble floor of the living room. He had a strange look on his face because the floor was actually hot.
Tibulus did not immediately answer his question. Instead, he pointed to the door and said, "Sir, do you see the big house next to it that has been steaming? That's a bathroom. "
"It's the place where people can take a bath that you mentioned to me on the way here." Publius was a little curious.
Although Tibulous had never stayed in the Kingdom State Guesthouse before, he knew that there was a relatively large bathing area in the middle of the Kingdom State Guesthouse. Therefore, he explained based on common sense, "The reason why the floor is hot is that they must have directed the heat from the bathroom to the bottom of the floor and heated it up."
"It drew the heat down here?" Publius stomped on the floor and was even more shocked.
"The underground isn't completely solid. When building this house, the craftsmen created many gaps under the floor to facilitate the flow of heat …" Nowadays, the construction of bathrooms had become common knowledge in Turií. Tibulous explained fluently.
"After dinner, let's go to the bathing area!" After listening to Tibulus' introduction, Publius said eagerly.
"Sirs, you don't need to go to the bathing area. There's a bathroom in this house." The waiter who had just delivered dinner immediately introduced the place to them.
Therefore, after dinner, the two entered the bathroom connected to the villa. Although the bathroom was not big, it had all the facilities that a general bathing area should have. In advance, the waiter had already informed the central bathing area. The hot water and steam passage leading to the small bathroom had been opened. By the time the two of them took off their clothes in the changing room and changed into wooden slippers, the bathroom was already ready.
The two of them passed through the changing room and entered the first small room. The room was relatively cool. It was meant for people who came to take a bath to relax and slowly transition to the bathing state.
However, Publius was obviously more anxious. He did not stay there for long. Instead, he pushed open the wooden door and entered the next small room.
The temperature in this room was a little hot, and the temperature in the next room was even hotter … After passing through three small rooms in a row, the temperature became higher and higher. Publius began to sweat.
When he pushed open the next wooden door, he saw a circular pool inside. He stepped on the stone steps and walked to the side of the pool. He stretched out his foot to test it. It was warm water, so he immediately jumped in.
Publius submerged his entire body in the water, allowing the warm water to envelop his body and drive away the cold that he had suffered from the past two days of trekking in the mountains.
After a while, he broke the surface of the water and shouted, "Ha!" He felt energized.
Then, he saw Tibulus soaking in the bath, leaning against the wall with his arms on the edge of the pool, looking very pleased.
As Tibulus rubbed his body with his hands, he said, "This bath is indeed not bad, but there's nothing special about it. It's just a little bigger than the bathtub at home."
Tibulus smiled and said, "Lord Publius, you've only completed half of the bathing area. Don't jump to conclusions."
"Is there more behind?" Publius was somewhat surprised.
Tibulus did not say a word as he pointed to a wooden door at the side.
Publius got up and walked out of the bath. He pushed open the wooden door doubtfully and immediately felt a wave of heat hit him. The room was shrouded in white mist, and it was indistinct.
Publius was still hesitating about whether to enter when Tibulus walked in first. He sat on the wooden stool in the room and said, "This room is called the fumigation room. It's the most important place in the entire bathing area, and also the place closest to the stove that boils the water. They even sprinkle hot water on the ground and turn it into mist from the heat, making it the hottest room.
But according to the Turís doctors, moderately increasing the heat in the body will train the various organs in the body, speed up the blood flow, and eliminate the waste in the body. It's very beneficial to protect the body's health. I heard that most of the old senators like to fumigate like this — "
Before Tibulus could finish speaking, Publius immediately walked in and sat on the wooden stool.
Soon, he felt that the room was hot and humid, and even breathing became a little difficult. Soon, he began to sweat profusely. Mixed with the mist, the sweat clung tightly to his skin, making his body feel especially heavy.
Publius wanted to immediately get up and walk out of the room, but when he saw Tibulus's figure still sitting opposite him, he remembered what Tibulus had said. "The longer you persevere, the better it is for your body." So he endured it and leaned back in the chair to make himself more comfortable.
In such a quiet room, the surrounding mist was thick, and he could not even see Tibulus's face clearly. The heat made him feel dizzy, as if he was drunk, and he had the urge to speak.
"Turís is really a huge city. It's more prosperous than I imagined! It's much better than Rome! " Publius said with a sigh. "According to the Senate's request, I'm moving to this city this year. But I think it won't be easy to have a house with so many residents in Turís."
"That's true. The population of Turís has been increasing rapidly in recent years. I remember that last year, the population of the entire city and the entire Sibari Plain, excluding the other towns in Turís, was 49,000.
That's about 238,600 people, and this doesn't include the free citizens, slaves, and other floating population … With such a large population, the land for housing is very tight. You saw it when we entered the city. The outer city is so big because of the city's continuous expansion.
Many of the cultivated lands have now been built with houses. The rent that the Turís get from renting out their houses is several times what they get from farming. The Ministry of Agriculture has reported this to the higher-ups several times, but His Majesty said, 'As long as the kingdom grows stronger, Turís will definitely develop rapidly. This is in line with its position as the center of the kingdom. The Turís have contributed a lot to the kingdom. Being able to earn money by renting out their houses is also a benefit that the kingdom has given them. As long as they pay taxes normally, there's no need to force them. As for the problem of food, the entire kingdom is providing for Turís. The people don't lack money, so we don't have to worry about them not having bread … '
His Majesty is right! The kingdom's territory is vast. The Catania Plain, the Orfemia Plain, the Capulia region, the Crotone region, and now the newly acquired eastern plains of Campania, the fertile lands of southern Sardinia, and … "
Tibulus paused. "The Latin Plain … Besides, we can also obtain a large amount of cheap food from our ally, Egypt. Indeed, we don't have to worry too much about food. The Turís have contributed a lot over the years. They are the main force in every major war, so the casualties are the highest. Just like this time, before the war even ended, the civilian soldiers in the entire Tuliyi Region have already suffered more than ten thousand casualties … They indeed deserve more. "
Tibulus had worked in the Turís Ministry of Agriculture for many years. When it came to land and housing issues in the city, he could not stop talking. "Since Turís do not allow the sale of land, owning land here is like holding a golden hen that can continuously lay golden eggs. You don't have to worry about food and clothing in the future. However, the entire Sebari Plain … No, the entire Turís region had already completed the distribution of land ten years ago. It is almost impossible for a new citizen to obtain land in Turís, unless he marries a Turís widow whose husband is dead and has no children. Just like this war, I believe there will be many widows … Sigh … "
Publius suddenly interrupted him. "I have a question. If a Turís citizen dies in battle and has no children, can't the land be inherited by his family or other relatives?"
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