Chapter 1066
"Yes … Your Majesty …" Publius choked with sobs as he nodded. He made up his mind. After this matter was over, he would make Renturus leave Turií and go to a town without Rome to suffer.
The Devers smiled amiably and raised his glass again. "Come, let's toast. After you have successfully settled this matter, I think you can smoothly become the governor of a town."
Hearing this, Publius' spirit was lifted. He drank the wine in his glass in one gulp and said resolutely, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will catch them all in one fell swoop. Not a single one of them will escape!"
… …
Guriala was led by the palace's ceremonial officer to the entrance of the palace hall of Diónia. He heard a loud shout from inside, "Guriala, the envoy of the Etrurian Alliance, requests an audience!"
Then, he heard a dignified and heavy voice saying, "Let him in."
Guriala began to feel nervous. He took a deep breath and stepped into the palace hall.
The tall and spacious hall was particularly bright under the sunlight that shone through the side windows. Tall and mighty soldiers stood straight on both sides of the hall, their armor shining brightly.
Guriala walked through the corridor formed by the guards and saw a row of black wooden chairs on both sides of the hall. There were more than ten officials of Diónia sitting on the chairs. Most of them were looking at him curiously. Among them was the foreign minister of Diónia, Ancetanos, whom he was familiar with.
The gentle old man smiled and nodded at Guriala. This calmed him down a little. Then, he saw the man sitting on the throne in front of him. The crown on his head was bright and dazzling, and his face was dignified and solemn. Guriala could not help but feel his heart tighten again. This was the King of Devers who destroyed Rome, conquered Carthage, and made Diónia the only overlord of the Western Mediterranean Sea.
He quickly bowed and bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty the King of Devers, on behalf of all the people of the Etrurian Alliance, I extend my most respectful greetings to you!"
"Welcome, envoy of the Etrurian Alliance!" Dyvers smiled and said amiably, "The Etruria Alliance is an ally of Dionia. In the past few years, not only have we been trading frequently, but we have also had a lot of cultural exchanges. This is a good trend. I hope that the exchanges between us will become closer. This will be beneficial to the stability of Central Italy!"
"Your Majesty, you are right!" Guriala took over the conversation and said, "But we, the Etruscan city-states, hope to strengthen our relations with the Kingdom of Diónia not only in terms of trade and culture, but also in terms of military relations."
"Ambassador Guriala, your words are confusing. You should know that Dionia and Etruria are allies, and the treaty states that there are no restrictions on trade and cultural exchanges between the two sides. Once one side is in trouble, the other side must provide military aid. This shows that we have a deep military relationship." Antares, the president of the Senate, immediately interjected, "Guriala, your words are confusing. You should know that Dionia and Etruria are allies.
"That is only an emergency measure under special circumstances. What I mean by strengthening military relations is that we, the Etrurian Alliance, hope to receive military assistance from the Kingdom of Diónia under normal circumstances!"
Guriala said in a heavy tone, "Your Majesty, you should know that the Etrurian Alliance's northern neighbor, the Gauls (The Greeks have always called these ferocious barbarians from the north of the peninsula as the Celts, and the people of Diónia initially used this term as well. After Rome was annexed to the Kingdom of Rome, they gradually began to call the Celts of northern Italy as the Gauls) have been invading the Etrurian Alliance's territory. The invasion has been intensifying over the past two years. The alliance has formed an army to defend against them, but …"
Guriala showed an angry and worried expression, "The northern border is too vast, and the Gauls are very cunning. They rarely fight with our assembled coalition army, but they always attack our small groups and invade our defenseless areas. Now the alliance is overwhelmed. The citizens of several cities near the northern border are fleeing south in large numbers. If this continues, the Gauls will be able to take over Luna, Luca, and Florentia in the north. Then, more tribes will be able to easily cross the steep terrain and settle down in the northern part of the Etrurian Alliance's territory. By that time, the large-scale invasion of the Gauls 20 years ago will probably happen again!"
At this point, the ministers in the hall whispered to each other for a while, but no one took the initiative to speak up.
The Devers avoided Guriala's pleading gaze and looked at the military minister, Alexis (the former military minister, Hilos, had already retired two years ago. The Devers personally appointed Alexis to replace him. Alexis, who had made great contributions in the Western Mediterranean War). She asked softly, "Alexis, what do you think about this?"
Alexis frowned and thought for a while. Then she said with a serious expression, "From what the Etrurian envoy said, the situation in the northern part of the Etrurian Alliance is quite serious! But … the Gauls have not invaded the south, nor have they conquered the cities in the north. If we, Diónia, agree to the Etrurian Alliance's request and send reinforcements to their northern border, we will probably encounter the same predicament they are facing. The Gauls will refuse to fight us head-on and will continue to disperse their troops to harass Etruria. On the other hand, we will not be able to gather a large army to attack the Gauls' territory …
To effectively defend against the Gauls' invasion, we will need a long confrontation and fierce battle. Our reinforcements cannot stay in the territory of our allies for a long time. This will cause the soldiers to be unable to deal with their own affairs and affect their income … Moreover, if the reinforcements stay in the north for a long time, it will consume a large amount of food for the Etrurian city-state, which will lead to complaints from the local people … "
"Your Majesty, Lady Alexis is right. Sending reinforcements at this time is disadvantageous to both Etruria and Diónia. We should consider it more carefully …" Most of the ministers agreed. Obviously, they did not agree with the idea of sending reinforcements to Etruria. Guriala was a little flustered.
Fortunately, he was prepared in advance. "Erm … We also think that it is not appropriate to ask Diónia to send reinforcements at this time … So after many discussions, the leaders of the alliance have unanimously decided that Luna, Lucca, and Florentia will be given to Diónia. You can build towns in these territories. The cost of building cities and the short-term consumption of resources will be provided by the Etrurian Alliance for free."
As soon as this was said, there was an uproar.
Burcos, the Minister of Agriculture, could not help but ask, "You mean … these territories will belong to Diónia forever?"
"Yes, forever!"
"Then how much land is there? Apart from building towns, is there enough land left to provide for the people in the towns? " Burcos immediately asked. At the same time, he reminded, "If there is not enough land for the citizens of Diónia, even if His Majesty agrees to your request, I'm afraid the citizens of the kingdom will not be willing to move to Etruria. After all, it is much more dangerous to live there than in Etruria!"
Guriala felt hope. He immediately said solemnly, "Of course, the Etrurian Alliance has considered this problem. So please rest assured, the land provided by the Alliance is wide and fertile. It should be able to meet the needs of the citizens of Diónia. There are even rich mines in some places …"
Guriala's words immediately caused a heated discussion among the ministers.
This scene caused Guriala to sigh in his heart. If not for the Gauls' constant plundering and harassment, causing the citizens of the cities near the northern border to flee to the south in large numbers, causing the lands of these cities to become barren and desolate, they would not have been able to provide so much land to Diolia!
At this time, Alexis asked again, "Envoy of Etruria, does Diónia have the right to choose which lands to give to Diónia? Where should we build the city? "
As the highest military officer in the kingdom, Alexis asked this question because he did not want the Etruscans to give the lands closest to the Gauls to Diónia. He did not want the citizens of Diónia to stand at the front to defend against the Gauls, bearing the casualties alone, while the Etruscans hid at the back and did nothing.
Before Guriala could respond, the Devers coughed softly and said with a serious expression, "I am also concerned about this question."
Guriala's heart skipped a beat. He knew that he could not be perfunctory about this question. He gathered his spirit and said after some deliberation, "Your Majesty … The Kingdom of Diónia is powerful, and the Etrurian Alliance is relatively weak. Why would we play any tricks? We are sincerely offering land to you, asking you to help us defend against the Gauls! If Your Majesty and the ministers are not satisfied with the allocated land, we can discuss again and choose a new land. "
The Devers was satisfied with his attitude. He leaned back and placed his hands on the armrests of the throne. He smiled and said, "I am aware of the request of the Etrurian Alliance. Please go back and have a good rest. We will discuss this matter further."
"… Yes, Your Majesty!" Guriala did not get a clear answer. Although he was a little unwilling, he did not dare to say anything more and left the palace respectfully.
At this time, the Devers looked at the ministers and said in a clear voice, "Everyone, you have heard the request of the Etrurian envoy. If you have any opinions, please speak."
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