Chapter 160
Mercies glanced at the Devers timidly, but still said honestly, "I … I gave them a portion of the rations and supplies we distribute to the citizens of the Tua Alliance every day …"
He quickly explained, "But it's all recorded in the accounts. You can check."
The Devers calmly asked, "Do these rations and supplies count?"
"Of course …"
The Devers smiled. "Look, you've already realized the difficulties of the lowest civil servants. You've already given them their salaries before our bill has even been passed."
The elders burst into laughter.
Mercies was speechless.
The Devers struck while the iron was hot. "These bookkeepers of yours were freed slaves who followed us in Persia back then. Now that the Land Lease Law is about to be passed, a large number of probationary citizens will come to Burcos to apply for land leases, but your bookkeepers can only silently contribute to the city. A year later, when the other probationary citizens have food and clothing and are relatively wealthy, but they can only rely on your charity to survive, what will they think? What will their families think? Will they still feel that holding public office is an honor? "
"In the future, we can use … official citizens," Mercies said softly.
"Using citizens as the lowest civil servants of the Alliance? You're saying that the citizens' land will be taken care of by slaves, so they can work without worry, right? "
Mercies nodded.
"Do ordinary citizens in the Alliance only have one slave in their family? Do citizens also need to lead their slaves to work?" the Devers asked Cornelus.
"It's like this, Your Excellency. Some families don't even have slaves, "Cornelus replied.
"If citizens work for the Alliance, the labor at home will be reduced by half. Won't the family's income be reduced as well? In the long run, public office will become a burden to him! For our Alliance to function normally, we can't do without the hard work of the scribes under Raphael, the firemen, sentries, jailers, and jurors under Cornelus, the navigators and market managers under Marigi … These are the lowest level public servants! We can't just let the horses run and not let them eat grass. Not only do we have to let them feel that serving the city is a kind of honor, but it is also a kind of welfare. Let them bring money home every day and let their families feel happy. Only then will more and more outstanding citizens be willing to contribute to the city! Of course, there's no salary for everyone here. We can't let money corrupt the dignity of the Senate! "The Devers's words resonated with everyone.
"You're right!"
"Well said!"
The elders puffed out their chests and expressed their agreement.
Devers patted Mercies on the shoulder and comforted him, "Also, paying public officials will help you collect more taxes."
"Really?!" Mercies suddenly raised her head.
Devers looked around. Seeing that Cunogorata was also surprised, he said loudly, "When the citizens have money in their hands, they will have the desire to buy things. A copper pot, a clay pot, a jar of olive oil, a set of tables and chairs … Even more extravagant, wine, spices … When the citizens have money to buy things, the market will prosper, and you will collect more taxes …"
Mercies perked up. "But most of the money has been earned by the foreigners."
"That's the case for now. But very soon, our products will be produced. Let Marigi explain the situation in this regard. "
Marigi stood up and said excitedly, "As of yesterday, there is already a pottery workshop, an olive oil workshop, a masonry workshop, a mill, two carpentry shops, a paint shop, and a stone carving shop in the Turií market. At the same time, there is also a large wine workshop in the planning stage, and it will start soon."
"That's the wine workshop of Orifis. The wine produced by his family has been famous throughout Greece for decades!" Cunogorata pointed at one of the elders and interrupted.
"It's all thanks to the loan from the Cristoya Bank. My family and I can rebuild the vineyard and the wine workshop!" Orifis nodded to the Devers to express his gratitude. The people of the Alliance now knew who the real owner of the bank that had contributed greatly to the reconstruction of Turií was.
"We should impose high taxes on the same type of foreign goods to protect our own business that has just started," Cunogorata suggested.
"You're right!" The Devers nodded and said, "Now, our commercial officer, Marigi, is preparing to implement some new measures in the Turií market. The time for the foreigners to earn our money is almost over. We need to vigorously support our own businesses. If the same goods are sold in the Turií market, we will impose low taxes on our merchants and high taxes on the foreign merchants. For the goods that we urgently need but can't produce ourselves, we will use low taxes to encourage them to transport these goods to Turií and sell them. For the goods that we can produce, but we can't compete with the foreign countries for the time being, the Alliance will provide subsidies. For the foreign luxury goods, since the money in the pockets of the citizens is limited, we will impose high taxes for the time being, so that the citizens will be easily tempted to use their money where it is needed. In this way, we will guide them to buy our own goods. Only in this way can our own business flourish! "
The crowd nodded in agreement.
Dyvers shouted again, "My lords, we need to understand that silver coins are not used in the treasury. They are not money, but just a pile of metal. Only when they are used will they be able to generate huge profits. Only then will we be able to make the lives of our citizens better, make our trade more prosperous, and at the same time, make our treasury more abundant!"
"Agreed! Agreed! " The elders, led by Cunogorata and Cornelus, all expressed their agreement. Some even applauded.
… …
Dios, a Corinth merchant, wandered through the crowded and noisy Turií market. He saw the excited Turií chatting with each other. "The Tua Alliance has promulgated the Public Service Law. Any citizen of the Tua Alliance can apply for public service. They can start from the bottom, and if they perform well, they can even be promoted to higher positions. The Alliance is even prepared to pay these public servants one to four Opor a day …"
Zeus above, is the Tua Alliance trying to copy the Athens Games? Are they as rich as the Athens Games?! Dios was no longer in the mood to listen to the citizens of the Tua Alliance. Although he did not think that the Tua Alliance could do what the Athens Games did, deep in his heart, he felt jealous.
As an ordinary citizen of Corinth, even though Dios was rich, he could only serve as a low-level official in the city. This was because only nobles could serve as members of the city council (Corinth was an aristocratic system), so he chose to devote himself to business. He came to Turií this time because of the tense relationship between Corinth and Sparta. There was a risk of war breaking out at any time, so he needed to stock up on food in case of an emergency.
Two hundred years ago, Corinth's trade was flourishing. Weapons, pottery, and other goods were sold to all the cities along the Mediterranean Sea. Later, the Athens Games caught up and started to compete with Corinth in all aspects of business, especially in the pottery industry that Corinth was proud of. It dealt a heavy blow to Corinth, and it never recovered. Now, Corinth's business was not as good as it used to be, but it was still a large city on the Peloponnesus Peninsula, and it was still rich. As a city that was not rich in food, Corinth had always bought food from other states. Their food was usually imported from the Yoke Galaxy, but now that Sparta's fleet was rampaging through the Aegean Sea, Dios chose to come to the Western Mediterranean Sea to prevent any accidents.
Sicily was his first choice, but unfortunately, the Greek city-states in Sicily, which was famous for their wheat production, had recently seen an increase in food prices. It was said that Syracuse was buying food in large quantities. It seemed that something big was about to happen in Sicily. When Dios felt this, he hesitated to go to Carthage. Just then, he heard that Turií was rebuilding and was in urgent need of a lot of supplies, and the tariff was very low.
Dios was very tempted and quickly asked an insider about the food situation in Turií. He knew that the Sibari Plain was famous for its wine, wheat, livestock, and beeswax during the Turií period. When he got the answer that there was a good harvest of food, he decided to change his route to Turií. By the end of summer, the wheat in Amendola had a good harvest, and the wheat in Turií had been forcibly harvested by the Crotone in advance. In the end, all of it fell into the hands of the Devers, so the Tua Alliance had an abundance of food. In addition to satisfying the rations of the people, they still had enough surplus to sell.
When his merchant ship finally squeezed into the port, he went to the rumored "market management office". The first thing he said when he saw the manager was to complain, "Your port needs to be expanded. It's too small! It's a waste of time! "
The manager replied politely, "Yes, you are right. We are also expanding the port. I apologize for the difficulties this temporary port has caused you! Is there anything I can help you with? "
The manager's apology dispelled most of Dios' resentment. He originally wanted to go to the market first, but the manager's attitude won him over, so he directly stated his request.
The manager immediately checked the day's trading log and introduced him to a seller. In fact, the seller, Nicoblos, was a subordinate of the agricultural officer, Burcos, who was in charge of the sales of Amendola's agricultural products.
After looking at the samples and negotiating to determine the price, Dios decided to buy five ships of wheat.
However, Nicoblos told him that five ships of wheat was a lot, and there was not enough stock in the market. He needed to move it to Amendola and could only deliver it the next day.
Dios expressed his understanding.
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