Chapter 126
Upon hearing this, many of the Turiyi emissaries turned pale with fright.
Cunogorata had no choice but to suggest that the Turís should discuss this in private before making a decision.
Devers nodded in agreement. Seeing that the Turís had walked away, he turned around and gave Strompoli a thumbs up. "Master Strompoli, what you said was great!"
"I meant what I said!" Strompoli said with his eyes wide open.
"That's what I want!" Devers smiled.
Strompoli smiled too. He had finally vented his anger in front of the Turís today!
… …
"Everyone, it seems that Amendolar has reached an alliance agreement with Tarantum, and Amendolar must have gotten Tarantum's consent to make such a condition. If we don't agree to this condition, this meeting will not continue, "Cunogorata said solemnly.
"Then let's not talk anymore! Anyway, the threat of the Lucanians has been resolved. We don't need to suffer Amendolar's anger anymore! " Neonces said angrily. A year ago, Amendolar had treated the Turís's emissaries with great respect. Now, he was pointing at the Turís's general and shouting at him. Neonces could not bear the huge change in attitude. He said with hatred, "Damn Tarantum. I thought they were helping the Turís sincerely. I didn't expect them to play dirty tricks in the dark!"
Ancetanos said helplessly, "Who asked us to be defeated? A weak city-state cannot be respected. This is the law of history. We have all received news that the Bruti have stopped the war with the Crotone. Someone in the Crotone's council has mentioned the issue of us tampering with the old city of Sybaris. This must alert us. Once they attack us, we will be in a dangerous situation with the hostile Amendolara behind us! Besides, we also know that the Lucanians are very vengeful. After this battle, we don't know when they will recover. But once they recover and invade again, we, the Turís, will be the ones standing at the front. Can we defeat them? Don't you need Amendola's help? "
Ancetanos's words worried the others. Neonsis snorted but didn't say anything else.
"In fact, the key to this question is whether Tarantum has the ambition to encroach on our Turií." Kunogorata reminded everyone as he analyzed seriously, "I don't think Tarantum has this intention. Otherwise, they would not have tried so hard to advocate the establishment of the Great Hellenic Defense Alliance against the indigenous people. If they want to encroach on Turií, I'm afraid Crotone, Siletina, and the other city-states will join forces with us to oppose them. The alliance will collapse, and their efforts over the years will be in vain. And even if they occupy our city-states and support a puppet government that is close to them, they will lose more than they gain, because they will have to face three powerful enemies: the Mesapi in the southeast, the Lucanians in the northwest, and the Crotone Alliance in the southwest. Once the Lucanians or Crotone invade, as the 'mother state', Tarantum will not only send a few thousand people to Turií to deal with them. So I think Tarantum is only doing this because we have defeated them before, and they want a little revenge. Since our ancestors could build the city more than 40 years ago, they can make Turií a great Hellenic state in just a few years! As long as we bear with it for now and work together, we can definitely make Turií rise again in a short period of time! We will definitely return the humiliation that Amendolara and Tarantum gave us, just like what our ancestors did! "
"Master Cunogorata is right!" Cunogorata's words lifted everyone's spirits and boosted their confidence. Back at the negotiation table, the Turií readily agreed to Amendolara's first condition.
Looking at Cunogorata, the Devers knew that this somewhat gloomy old man played a big role in this.
At this time, Antonio stood up again and said, "At the beginning of April, our Consul Devers signed an employment agreement with the Turií. The main content of the agreement was to 'assist Turií in defending and repelling the Lucanians'. The time limit was half a year. Within this half a year, regardless of whether the mission was completed or not, the Turií had to pay the mercenaries regularly and a certain amount of grain. This is the original text of the agreement. "
Antonio handed the parchment in his hand to Ancitanos. "According to the agreement, even if the Lucanians have been repelled, the Turií have to continue to pay the mercenaries and the mercenaries will continue to carry out the requirements of the agreement. 'Protect Turií until the end of the half a year.' Now, it is time for you to pay the salary and grain."
Cunogorata nodded and was about to answer.
Neonsith quickly stood up and said, "The Turií do not intend to carry out this employment agreement!"
Not only was the emissary group of Amendolara in an uproar, but the Turií were also shocked. Before they came, they had discussed this matter and felt that it was necessary to carry out the agreement. Since the Devers had become the Consul of Amendolara for life, hiring the Devers was equivalent to hiring Amendolara. First of all, this could satisfy the pitiful pride of the Turií. Most importantly, the Turií's strength had been greatly weakened, and they actually needed the protection of the powerful mercenaries led by the Devers so that they could get through the recovery period safely. At that time, Neonsith had objected on the grounds that the treasury was empty, but in the end, he was persuaded by Cunogorata. He did not expect that Neonsith would go back on his words at the critical moment, and the Turií emissary group was caught off guard.
Under Kunogorata's cold gaze, Neonsis' heart trembled, and he hurriedly dodged. Forced to the edge of the cliff because of his impulsiveness, he braced himself and continued, "First of all, the original target of the contract in Tuliyi was the mercenaries. Now that the mercenaries have become citizens of Amendarra, the identity of the contracting party has changed, and hiring the public militia of a city involves more complicated interests and procedures, which is not something that can be solved with a simple employment agreement. Secondly, you should have noticed that the name of the person who signed the agreement was General Felix. Back then, he was the one who put Burcos in charge of recruiting mercenaries. When this agreement was brought back to the Tuliyi City Hall, most of the generals expressed opposition to the contents of the agreement. In the end, it was Felix who forcefully passed the agreement in the name of the chief general because he said that he would be responsible for half of the salary and provisions, so the agreement was signed with his name alone. Now, he and his family have almost all died on the battlefield, so …"
"Pfft! The Turií are not only selfish, but also untrustworthy and shameless. They even slandered the old men who fought for the Turií to the death! " Stromboli cursed again, which made the Amendolarans feel better and the Turií feel ashamed.
Seeing that Cunogorata was whispering something to Ancetanos, the Devers quickly turned around and winked at Marigi. Marigi immediately stood up and said, "We agree with your proposal to abolish this contract! But not because of your explanation, but because we don't want the Turií to raise extra taxes because of the empty treasury, which will make the already sad Turií people even more miserable! After all, Amendolara and Turií have been allies for many years! "Marigi said with a compassionate expression.
The Amendolarans, including Stromboli, all looked serious, which made the Turií feel even more ashamed.
Cunogorata looked at Neonsith coldly, but Neonsith did not feel any sense of achievement from his successful argument.
"Not only do Amendolara and Turií need to defend against the same enemy in military, we should also strengthen our cooperation in trade …" Marigi continued to speak with assurance, tactfully stating the terms that he had discussed with the Devers.
Out of guilt, most of the Turií agreed. It was out of guilt for canceling the contract, and at the same time, some of the terms were also beneficial to the Turií's difficulties. For example, the port in the Turií city had become overcrowded due to the influx of freemen, foreign merchant ships, and sailors over a long period of time. Accommodation was difficult, and the cost was high. There were already many complaints. However, in order to win the last battle against the Lucanians, the city hall decided to recruit freemen to fight outside the city, and announced that the freemen who participated in the battle would be granted citizenship. In the end, the battle ended, the Turií were defeated, and the freemen suffered heavy casualties. In the end, the allied Lucanian tribes were annihilated. The surviving freemen who participated in the battle asked the Turií city hall to fulfill the promise, but after a discussion between the generals and the council, they concluded that the Lucanians' defeat was entirely due to the mercenaries and the reinforcements from Tarantum. The freemen did not participate in the subsequent annihilation. On the contrary, in the previous battle, the freemen were the first to retreat, leading to the defeat of the entire battle. Therefore, the freemen had no reason to ask for citizenship.
Tuliyi's refusal made the freedmen feel dissatisfied, and a tense atmosphere began to pervade the port area. Provocations, fights, and disturbances gradually increased, and the City Hall had no choice but to increase the number of patrols at the port to deter those dangerous people. The problem was that Tuliyi's current young and middle-aged citizens did not exceed three thousand, while the port area and the city's freedmen were much more numerous. Once a riot was caused, it would be a disaster. Therefore, the warehouses and hotels built by Amendolara could help to disperse the crowd in the Turií port, alleviate the conflict, and benefit the Turií.
Comments