Chapter 1238
Why was the pottery of Athens so popular among the wealthy of Diónia? It was not only because of the unique and superior quality of the pottery with red drawings on a black background, but also because of the exquisite drawings on the pottery. Many outstanding painters from the Greek world were gathered in Athens. Almost all of them were engaged in vase painting. Onyximos was one of the best among them. He had won twice in the vase painting competition organized by the Pan- Athens Nassai Society. Hesklaus had spent a lot of money to hire him.
In the face of Hesklaus' compliment, Onyximos's reaction was not much different from the other people of Athens. "I hope the people of Diónia can fully appreciate the beauty of my works! Ah … this batch of pottery is too large. I'm a little tired and need to rest for a while. "
Looking at Onyximos who was putting on an act, stretching and yawning, Hesclaus cursed in his heart. But on the surface, he went along with Onyximos, "Yes, yes, you really should have a good rest … Looks like I can only postpone this order for the time being."
"Why is there another order?!" Onyximos said impatiently. "Wait until I'm well rested!"
"In that case, I can only decline this order from the buyer because they are in a hurry," Hesklaus said in a seemingly unintentional manner. "It's said that the Royal Family of Dionia personally ordered it. They want to display this batch of pottery in the palace and use it to entertain the VIPs from various countries during the Sports Meet," Hesklaus said in a seemingly casual manner.
"What did you say? The Royal Family of Diónia wants the goods?! "Onyximos suddenly asked in a serious tone.
"Yes, I can swear to Athens that it is the order of the Royal Family of Diónia!"
"Erm … I think I can rest after this batch of pottery is completed." Onyximos immediately changed his words shamelessly. Although he looked down on the people of Diónia, he knew very well that the Holy Kingdom of Diónia was the overlord of the entire Western Mediterranean Sea and the Greek world. The royal family of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia was very prestigious. If his works could be liked by the supreme King of Diónia and used to entertain distinguished guests from other cities, he would definitely become famous throughout the Mediterranean Sea. (One of the characteristics of the pottery in Athens was that the pottery had the signature of the potter and the vase painter.)
Hesklaus's lips curled into a mocking smile. "Alright, I'll arrange it now."
"Wait, what are the requirements for the vase paintings?"
"It must be related to the Divine Codex of Hades. After all, the Dionya royal family are descendants of Hades."
"I understand. Get me a copy of the Hades Codex as soon as possible," Onyximos said without hesitation.
There was another reason why the people of Diónia liked the pottery in Athens. It was because the vase paintings in Athens were not like those in other cities, which mostly depicted still life. Their vase paintings were narratives, wars, legends of heroes, gods, and so on. They often had a solemn and stirring sense of epic. This might have something to do with the people of Athens' fondness for drama.
Most of the requests that the people of Diónia made to the potters in Athens were related to the wars during the rise of the Kingdom of Diónia, the miracles of the Hades, and the great deeds of the King of the Devers. The vase painters could only comply with the demands of their parents. Later on, a clever person even opened a bookstore in the town of Thaysia, which specialized in selling books related to the Holy Kingdom of Diónia: The Long March by Xenophon, The History of Magna Graecia by Ancitanos, The War of the Western Mediterranean by Henipolis, The Chronicle of Northern Italy (adapted from the information Ancitanos found in the forbidden area of the Turií Library by Maximus, the clerk of the Kingdom's Ministry of Intelligence, and the Etruscan Codex) … and of course, the Hades Codex. This made Thaysia the only place in Greece other than Messenia, New Sparta, and Thessaly that openly sold the Hades Codex.
"Be careful! Be careful! If one of them is broken, you will lose three months of salary! " The foreman kept reminding the slaves who were carrying the pottery. Pieces of exquisite pottery were put into wooden boxes covered with straw and thick wool.
Before leaving, Hesclaus repeatedly told the foreman to start the production of the next batch of pottery as soon as possible, but he must strive for perfection and not make any mistakes.
There was a port not far from Thaysia, which specialized in the transportation and export of pottery, but Hesclaus still transported the pottery back to his house in the suburbs of Athens first. Although it was his house, it was actually a long-term rental, because Hesclaus was a foreigner and had no right to buy real estate in Athens.
If it was four years ago, Hesclaus would not have the courage to settle down in Athens and do business, because he was a small merchant from Thessaly, which was once regarded as a barbarian land by the people of Athens. However, Thessaly became a region of the Holy Kingdom of Diónia, and the Thessaly people became citizens of Diónia. Hesclaus was fortunate enough to know a Turií merchant, and with his help and support, he moved his family to Athens to engage in the pottery industry.
Athens was an open city-state, and there were a large number of foreigners in various industries, but most of them were of low status. Although the citizens of Athens hated Hesclaus's identity, his identity as a citizen of Diónia ensured that the judge would not be too partial to the locals when he was in trouble. Of course, he also had to abide by the laws of Athens. In addition to paying a certain amount of taxes and the occasional public donation, as a foreign merchant, he also had to pay a small market tax that the citizens of Athens were exempted from.
Of course, these fees were only a drop in the bucket compared to the profits he earned. The most reassuring thing was that because of his identity, he would not be recruited by the government of Athens as a heavy infantry. Of course, since the establishment of the New Greek Union, there had been no more wars in Greece, and the days of fear for the people had passed.
Now, Hesclaus had no desire to return to Thessaly, and preferred to stay in Athens, which was full of business.
In the evening, Hesclaus held a banquet at his home and invited several Thessaly merchants who were doing business in Athens like him.
Everyone sat at the banquet, eating delicious food, drinking wine, and talking about the great changes that Diónia had brought to Thessaly over the past few years.
Not to mention anything else, the format of their banquet had changed greatly. It was no longer like a traditional Greek banquet, where each guest had a bed, and they could eat, drink, and talk while lying down. Instead, they sat on wooden chairs with their own dining table in front of them. This was due to the increasing interaction between Diónia and Thessaly, as well as the migration of some native Diónia citizens to the Thessaly Plains. The people of Thessaly originally had a sense of inferiority when compared to the native Greece in the south. Now that they had become citizens of Diónia, although this sense of inferiority was gradually disappearing, another sense of inferiority was quietly growing, and that was when they were facing the native citizens of Diónia. Therefore, the people of Thessaly, who had close contact with the native Diónia, had been trying their best to learn. For example, the merchants had been trying their best to imitate their customs in order to shorten the distance between them and the native Diónia.
The atmosphere of the banquet was very lively, and everyone drank a little too much. Hesclaus even called his eldest son, Lilias, and drunkenly told him that he would take him on a boat to Turií the next day.
The nine-year-old boy was so excited that he did not sleep well that night.
In the end, the next morning, Hesclaus, who had woken up from his drunken stupor, could not remember anything. Lilias cried and threw a tantrum. Finally, under the persuasion of his wife, Hesclaus had no choice but to nod his head in agreement.
After breakfast, he brought his son and led the pack to the port of Piraeus.
Piraeus was the largest trading port in the Eastern Mediterranean. Every day, thousands of cargo ships entered and left the port. It was unusually prosperous.
Hesclaus came to a remote dock. Although it was still early, the dock was already full of cargo ships. The ground was filled with all kinds of goods, and countless dock laborers and slaves were busy moving goods onto the ships. Fortunately, at the banquet last night, a few Thessaly merchants had agreed to set off for Turií today. They had already booked the cargo ships and found the laborers. (The port of Piraeus had a rule that no one who did not belong to the port was allowed to enter the dock to avoid disrupting the order of the dock and causing losses.) Hesclaus hurriedly asked the laborers to carefully move the wooden boxes of pottery to the dock's warehouse one by one. Then, the laborers' foreman brought him into the warehouse.
In the middle of this huge room, which was also filled with goods, was the office of the port officials of Athens. After confirming the type and quantity of goods that Hesclaus wanted to ship out of Athens, they asked Hesclaus to register and sign. Then, after calculating the value of the goods according to the market price, they asked him to immediately pay a one-tenth tax on the exported goods. (According to the rule of Athens, no matter if it was exported or imported goods, they had to pay one-tenth tax. It was simple, crude, and convenient. However, the tax was too high, which naturally led to the high selling price of the goods. If the goods were not sold well, the owner would face losses.)
Hesclaus brought a large amount of silver Hades coins with him. (The coins of Diónia, since the establishment of the New Hellenic Union, were highly sought after in Greece due to their high silver content and exquisite workmanship. As for the silver owl coins of Athens, due to the depletion of the Laurion silver mine and the large consumption of the national treasury over the years, the silver content of the coins had dropped again and again. They were no longer as popular as before. Even many people of Athens preferred to use the silver Hades coins.) He immediately delivered the coins as requested.
There was also a set of official measuring tools in the office. The clerks carefully examined the coins. After confirming that there were no errors, Hesclaus' cargo ship was allowed to leave the port.
By the time all the goods were loaded onto the ship and it left the dock, it was almost noon.
Hesclaus and the others boarded the largest cargo ship. After the entire fleet left Sarons Bay, the wind happened to turn south. The fleet, which had raised its sails, sped along as if it had grown wings. Hesclaus and the other merchants were delighted. With the help of the sea breeze, the fleet could reach Turií earlier.
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