Chapter 136
The people watching from the sidelines cheered, while the Lucanian slaves who were involved in digging the canals and setting up the waterwheel were dumbfounded, wondering if it was the work of the gods.
"Lord Devers, Zeus has blessed us. This is amazing! This is great! With this … water … water wheel, Amendolara will have an additional three hundred acres of good farmland! "Cornelus was excited.
"Not only will there be more farmland, but it will also be more convenient for the people to use water in the future!" Scombras seemed very happy as well.
"Everyone, this is not the blessing of Zeus. We have to thank Lord Devers for this! The waterwheel was personally designed and provided by Lord Devers. If there is really a blessing from the gods, it must be Hades! "Marigi's blunt words made Cornelus and the others feel slightly awkward.
The Devers did not stop Marigi's rudeness, nor did he express humility. He needed to let these old citizens understand that under his control, Amendolara would bid farewell to the past and shine brightly!
The cheers of the people were in stark contrast to the discomfort of the old citizens.
At this moment, the Asistes rushed over to tell him that Izam was back!
The Devers immediately handed over the task of hosting the celebration to Cornelus. Cornelus took over the glorious task with a complicated expression.
… …
The Devers hurried back to their house with the Asistes.
Izam was covered in dust. His face was dirty, and his long hair was unkempt. He wore a tattered Lucanian leather robe and was barefoot. Standing in front of the Devers, the Devers could hardly recognize him.
It turned out that when Izam returned to the city, he did not go home first. Instead, he went straight to the Devers. As a superior, the Devers could not but show some concern for Izam's zeal in his work. So he asked the slave girl to take Izam to be bathed, to have his hair cut, to trim his beard (the Greeks, unlike the Romans, wore beards), and to prepare a sumptuous lunch, over which he invited Izam to talk.
Under the relaxed atmosphere created by the Devers, and after drinking a few glasses of wine, Izzam gradually relaxed. "Master Devers … uh …" Izzam burped and said, "I followed your orders and disguised myself. I crossed the mountain path to the west of the Xu Bari Plains and went to Laos first. It's located at the mouth of the river known as the 'Ra River'. The city isn't big, but it's a stone city. It also has a port, so it's not too heavily guarded. I snuck in and worked at the docks, moving goods every day. That's how I got to know a few of the docks' slaves. Can you guess who they are?"
"They should be Greeks." The Devers was not surprised. The Lucanians had invaded the Turií region many times, and many Greeks had been abducted.
But Izzam's answer did surprise him. "To be precise, they are the descendants of the Xu Baris people. Laos was built by the Xu Baris people. According to them, the Xu Baris people built Laos to be a transit port for Xu Baris to trade with Neapolis, Etruria, and Massinia. That's why Laos was very prosperous at that time … But after Xu Baris was destroyed, Laos had no backup, so it was quickly taken over by Neutum. "
"Oh, I see …" The Devers was indeed surprised. He asked, "So, the original Xu Baris people became slaves? How many Greek slaves does Laos have now? "
"I don't know how many Greek slaves there are, but when the Lucanians attacked Laos, some Greeks surrendered and joined the Lucanians … One of the leaders of Laos, Avinogis, is a descendant of these people. The tribe he leads is also the descendants of the Xu Baris people. The Lucanians think that they are not pure-blooded Lucanians, so they don't trust them very much. They often insult and suppress them. Although the Greek slaves despise these people and think that it was their betrayal that led to the fall of Laos, they don't hate Avinogis too much. Most of them think that he is a good man because he often helps them … "
Izzam drank a few more mouthfuls of wine and said excitedly, "Now the city of Laos is not stable. Because some of the Lucanians led by the great leader of Laos, Tula, only let his tribe stay and did not participate in the invasion of Turií, in order to prevent Avinogis from sharing the spoils of war. I didn't expect you to lead us to almost destroy all the Lucanians who invaded Turií! Haha … The great leader of Laos, Tula, only fled back to the city with a few dozen warriors, and Avinogis became the strongest leader in Laos. Can you guess what happened, my lord? "
Izzam seemed to be a little drunk and did not pay attention to his words, but the Devers did not care. He thought of something and said, "The great leader of the extortion wanted to annex Avinogis' tribe?"
Izzam patted the wooden chair and said, "My lord, you are so amazing. You guessed it right!" He grabbed a piece of bread, tore a large piece, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed.
Asistes raised his eyebrows and was about to reprimand him, but the Devers waved his hand to stop him.
"I heard from the slaves at the docks that Tula once invited Avinogis to a banquet. I don't know what happened, but when he came back, several of his guards were seen injured. From that day on, Avinogis hid at home and never went to the city to discuss business. When I walked around his house, there were soldiers patrolling the area with weapons in their hands. They said that Avinogis did not resist because he was observing the situation in Neutum. "
"Neutum?" The Devers listened carefully.
"Yes, my lord." Izzam scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "I was going to go north and go deep into the hinterland of Lucaria to explore, but Neutum controls the passage to the north upstream of the Raa River. It is now heavily guarded, and strangers cannot pass through. Laos was originally under Neutum's command, but this time, Neutum's warriors died in battle. I heard that Neutum's great leader, Udera, died in our hands, and their strength has been greatly reduced. " Speaking of this, Izzam was a little proud. "The few leaders in Neutum are busy fighting for the position of great leader, and I heard that they almost fought."
As Izzam spoke, he subconsciously raised his wine glass, but found that it was empty. The Devers got up and filled it for him.
Izzam sat still and only thanked them. The Devers did not mind and continued to listen to him. "My lord, I remember that after we annihilated the main force of the Lucanian Alliance, we rushed to their camp. Didn't we see that the camp had been burned to ashes and there were many corpses? At that time, everyone speculated that it was caused by internal strife among the Lucanians. I now know who did it. "
"Who?" The Devers leaned forward to express his concern.
"The people of Wigg!"
"My lord?"
"My lord, Wigg City is south of Laos, not too far from Laos. It is the city of the Bruti. But because of the strength of the Lucanians, it was forced to join the Lucaria Alliance. But because it is an outsider, it may be often bullied, so … "
"Hmm, the Bruti …" The Devers rubbed his chin. He knew even less about this native race that was also a neighbor of the Turís. He only knew that because of geographical reasons, they did not pose much of a threat to the Turís, but they were a big problem to the Greek city-states in the south.
"I heard that after the people of Wigg escaped, they announced that they were leaving the Lucaria Alliance. They also built walls and sent many warriors to patrol the border, blocking the passage of Laos to the south." Speaking of this, Izzam raised his head and drank a few more mouthfuls of wine.
"You only know how to drink. After saying so much, do you have any news about the Grumentum?" Asistes said impatiently.
"Izzam went to the unfamiliar Lucania alone to investigate. He suffered a lot and brought back valuable information. It's nothing to drink, but you can't just drink. Eat more fruits. It's good for your health," the Devers said with concern.
"Yes," Izzam responded gratefully. He immediately put down the wine glass and coughed a few times. He then said in a serious tone, "Although I did not go to the Grumentum City to investigate, I still got some accurate information about him."
Hearing this, the Devers and Asistes immediately became alert. After all, the Grumentum was the main culprit of the previous war. It was also the leader of the Lucaria Alliance. Its every move was related to the Devers' plan of attack.
"Picossis is another port city in Lucania Municipality. It is a powerful city in the Lucaria Alliance that is second only to the Grumentum. I heard that it is also a stone city." Izzam did not mention the Grumentum first. Instead, he changed the topic to Picossis.
A stone city! When the Devers heard this, his heart skipped a beat. Based on his understanding over the past half a year, the Greeks liked to build their cities with stone, while the mountain tribes mostly built their cities with wood. With the precedent of Laos and the fact that it was a port city, he could not help but suspect that Picossis was also taken from the Greeks by the Lucaria.
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