Chapter 1074
Lucias took over the conversation and replied, "It's just that it's a little far and requires a ship, but the Twin Cities of Naxos and Crimissa have already provided us with rich experience in governance."
Mentotic-Ells let out an "Oh" and had no more questions.
Devers continued, "Apart from Messina, the original territory of Sicily, together with Leontini and the eastern mountains of Sikere (during the Western Mediterranean War, the tribal settlement of Sikere was destroyed by Carthage, their food was plundered, and some tribes betrayed Diónia … After the war, Diónia won a great victory. Some tribes were afraid of being liquidated, and some tribes, in order to survive, chose to surrender to the kingdom under the direct threat of the army of Diónia and the goodwill of diplomacy, thus creating a domino effect. After a year, finally, the entire Sikere mountains were completely annexed to the Kingdom of Diónia), merged into the region of Eastern Sicily, with Catanai as its seat;
Taunis, Syracuse, and its original sub-states, Camanlina, Paccinus, and the entire southeastern corner of the Western Mediterranean were merged into the region of Syracuse, with Syracuse as its seat;
Then, Germe, Minoa, Agrigento, Ecomus, Gela, and the central mountains of Sikere from Enna to Kefaloition were merged into the region of Southern Sicily, with Agrigento as its seat;
The remaining towns of Sicily and the Sican region (after the war, the Sicans, who suffered heavy casualties and were afraid of the revenge of the Sikere people, voluntarily surrendered to the Kingdom of Diónia) were merged into the region of Western Sicily, with Lili as its seat;
With Saros as the dividing line, the northern half of the island of Sardinia was divided into the region of Northern Sardinia, with Saros as its seat;
And the region of Southern Sardinia, with Kalaris as its seat;
All the areas formerly controlled by Carthage in Corsica became the region of Corsica, with Alenia as its seat;
The southern part of Iberia that Carthage assigned to us became the region of Southern Iberia of the Kingdom, with Seisi as its seat;
There are nineteen districts in total. "
Everyone listened attentively to the Devers and pondered over these new administrative divisions. Obviously, the King of the Devers had given it much thought and made the divisions for the sake of ease of administration and the development of trade. Some areas were large, but the population per unit area was not large, such as Lucania Municipality and southern Sicily. Some areas were small, but the population was dense, such as Crotone. Some areas were small, but the population was small, but it was very important to the kingdom, such as Corsica, which was rich in precious metals, especially tin. But even so, everyone still had some doubts.
"Your Majesty, you seem to have forgotten about Hadrumentum of Afrika," the attentive Antares reminded.
"I haven't forgotten. Although Hadrumentum is not large, its location is very important. It is adjacent to Carthage and the Eastern Numibians, and it is temporarily under the direct jurisdiction of the kingdom so that we can get the situation there accurately in time and respond in time." The Devers' answer made everyone feel that it was reasonable, so no one raised any objections.
"Your Majesty, the area of southern Iberia is too large, the area is the sum of many of our other regions. It doesn't seem appropriate to just turn it into one region." The steady Lucias was a little worried.
The Devers explained somewhat helplessly, "Although the Carthage people have conquered southern Iberia, that is only a conquest, and it is still a long way from completely making it their own. Apart from the people in the coastal towns who are basically the original Carthage and Phoenicians, the inland areas are almost governed by the tribes of southern Iberia.
After we took over, there were very few people from the kingdom who colonized there, and the officials who were sent there are still familiar with the situation there. Apart from the mines being operated by the kingdom's merchants, there has not been much change in the political structure there. Now that the entire kingdom's land is largely empty and the population is insufficient, it is impossible to change the proportion of the population in a short period of time. It is better to maintain the status quo for the time being, to ensure the stability of the region … At least from the looks of it, the governor of the region, Hakkar, is still very active in cooperating with the kingdom's request, and strictly acts in accordance with the laws of Diónia … "
"Lord Hakkar is indeed very sensible, but ruling a region for a long time is also against the laws of Diónia, and I heard that his physical condition is not too good …" When Sedorum said this, he cast a questioning look at the medical minister, Helpes.
Helpes replied truthfully, "According to the medical records sent back by the doctor we sent to treat him, his heart has not been very good since he was young, and there is no way to cure it. He should not be too tired!"
"So it is best to transfer him back to Turií to take up an important position, and at the same time, he can better treat his illness … At the same time, let our officials take over Iberia earlier, and it will be beneficial for it to integrate into the kingdom faster." Sedorum continued to suggest.
The Devers fell into deep thought.
Lucias, Sedorum, and the other ministers exchanged glances, but none of them said anything.
After all, Iberia's governor Hakkar's identity was too special. He was not only the patriarch of the Magonid family of Carthage that had surrendered to Diónia (Half a year after the end of the Western Mediterranean War, Mago, who had been in a coma all this time, finally passed away. Although it was reasonable to say that the Magonid patriarch should be inherited by Hasdrubal, most of the family members hoped that Hakkar, who had a gentle personality and was more favored by the King of Devers, would take over the position. Hasdrubal himself did not want to take up this heavy responsibility, so even though Hakkar repeatedly declined, he still took the position in the end. However, he very modestly repeatedly said that he was only acting as the patriarch in place of his brother.) Moreover, because he had been in charge of government affairs in southern Iberia for a long time, whether it was the original officials or the local natives, he had more prestige. Moreover, he was a relative of the King of Devers.
Also considering these issues, the Devers carefully considered for a moment, and replied more cautiously, "This matter … I have to first seek Hakkar's opinion. If he agrees to come to Turií, do you think Bagoule will be able to smoothly take over southern Iberia? "
Back then, after southern Iberia was annexed to the Kingdom of Diónia, in order to stabilize the situation there, Devers promised not to replace the officials there in the short term. However, he sent a group of Diónia officials with strong administrative abilities to various towns in southern Iberia to serve as the assistants of the original officials. The leader of this group was Bagoule.
To have an important minister of the kingdom serve as the administrative assistant of a newly annexed region, this undoubtedly seemed like a demotion. However, the Devers considered that Bagoule had previously served as the chief executive of Grummentum, Cosenza, Oudier, and other large towns in the kingdom. Not only was his political achievements outstanding, he was also rich in experience, and was especially good at dealing with the local natives' affairs. Thus, he was the most suitable candidate. That was why he specially invited Bagoule's family to participate in the royal family's banquet and had a heart-to-heart conversation with Bagoule. Afterwards, Bagoule gladly accepted the appointment and headed to southern Iberia to take up his post.
"Your Majesty, from Bagoule's special trip to the Senate last year to report on state affairs, not only has he familiarized himself with the state of affairs in southern Iberia, he has also made the local officials familiar with him. Some officials are also willing to cooperate with him, and he has also made friends with many of the Iberian native tribe leaders in the territory, winning their trust. I believe there shouldn't be too big of a problem, but we should still first seek his opinion." Hemont first praised Bagoule, and then cautiously expressed his own opinion.
The Devers used a wooden stick to point at Iberia's position on the map. A moment later, he asked, "If Hakkar chooses to come to Turií, what position would be more suitable for him?"
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.
As mentioned before, Hakkar's identity was too special. He was already a senator of the kingdom (although he rarely attended Senate meetings), and he was already a governor (although it was only a post-war compromise). He was already an important minister of the kingdom, and even the rotating chairman of the Senate and the ministers of the various departments were only of the same rank as him. Moreover, all the important positions in the various departments were occupied, and there were no vacancies. As for leaving them idle for the time being, it would probably be a considerable risk. This was because this would cause the original citizens and officials in southern Iberia to misunderstand that the kingdom was starting to get rid of the donkey when it was no longer of use, and it was afraid that it would cause unrest in southern Iberia …
While everyone was silent, some people also began to complain about Cydorum, feeling that he should not have made such an unnecessary move, making it difficult for everyone to get off the tiger.
The Devers's deep gaze swept across everyone's faces, and then he slowly said, "I think it's better to set up another rotating chairman and let Hakkar take the position. What do you all think?"
Everyone was stunned.
Cydorum, who had already sensed everyone's resentment, was the first to respond. "I support His Majesty's decision. Now that the number of senators has increased, five rotating chairmen are not enough to represent all the senators, especially since there are already more than ten senators from Phoenicia. Lord Hakkar being the rotating chairman is in line with the kingdom's needs!"
Where did these more than ten Phoenician senators come from? More than half of them were not from western Sicily or southern Iberia, but from Sardinia. Although some of the Phoenician city-states in Sardinia chose to surrender in the Western Mediterranean War, Diónia did not allow them to choose autonomy like their compatriots in Sicily. In the past, Carthage could completely control the entire Sardinia Island for the sake of benefits, so of course, Diónia could also force all of these city-states to join the Kingdom of Diónia. The people of Sardinia, who had been ruled by Carthage for a long time, did not have strong political demands. When Diónia was tough, they obeyed. However, in order to appease the local people and make it easier to govern, the kingdom still chose some of the island's famous people to enter the Senate.
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