Chapter 195
"No! I didn't say that! "The merchant hurriedly refuted when he saw the judge's expression change. Suddenly, there was a burst of cursing behind him, "How dare you discriminate against us Lucarians! Are you tired of living?!"
"Y 'zam is a warrior of our alliance. How dare you insult his wife! Your Honor, please punish this lecher! "
…
The merchant groaned inwardly. He had originally thought that the woman was a Lucanian slave who looked rather pretty, and he had wasted too much time just asking for the price. That was why he had said those words in a moment of dizziness. He did not expect that he had provoked the wife of a citizen of the Dionian Alliance. In fact, it was because he had only been here for a few days and did not understand the customs here. Most of the wives of the citizens of the other cities stayed at home. If they could go to the market to buy and sell things, and they were foreign women, then they must be female slaves. Taking advantage of the language, even if he touched them a few times, no one would care. However, Diónia was different. Many of its citizens married Lucanian women, and many of the Greek women of Diónia married Lucanian citizens. These foreigners did not have as many complicated etiquette as the Greeks. They were bold and open, and naturally, they gradually influenced and changed the conservative atmosphere of the original Greek citizens of Diónia. In addition, the Governor Devers, who was revered by the people, also allowed his wife to appear in public. They even opened banks and restaurants in the market, which naturally further promoted the change of customs in Diónia. Now, it was common to see the wife of a citizen of Diónia in the market.
"Defendant, is what the plaintiff said the truth?" Proxilaus asked. Seeing that the merchant was about to speak, he reminded him loudly, "If it's only discrimination against foreigners, the most you will have to pay is a fine and corporal punishment. But after swearing in front of God, you still lie. This is a crime of blasphemy, and you will have to suffer the cruel punishment of having your tongue pulled out! So you have to think carefully before you speak! "
The merchant was shocked. After a long silence, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Finally, he said in a low voice, "What she said … is mostly true … but … but I didn't know that discrimination against foreigners is also against the law!"
"Really?" Proxilaus looked serious, "When you rented the stall, did you not familiarize yourself with the 'Regulations of Diónia Business Must Follow' written by the Market Management Office?"
"No …" The merchant wanted to deny it, but he suddenly remembered the regulations of the Diónia Market Administration: If one was not familiar with the regulations, one could not rent a shop. So, he could only nod. "Yes."
"Since that's the case, you're knowingly breaking the law! First of all, if you violate the law of "Diónia cannot discriminate against foreigners", you will have to pay a fine of ten Drachmas and two strokes of the rod in order to deepen your memory and prevent you from doing it again! As for you using words to profane the plaintiff, but not putting it into action, this … Does our alliance have a bill in this regard? "Plotsilaus asked Fraukeleon.
Fraukeleon thought it over and shook his head.
"Looks like I have something to do at the next Senate meeting." Proxilaus muttered to himself. He thought for a moment and then said, "As for the punishment for your verbal blasphemy, I leave it to the plaintiff to decide."
The merchant trembled and looked at the plaintiff with a pleading gaze. The young Lucanian woman did not refuse and simply said, "Then punish him to be a guide in the market management office and do five days of voluntary labor."
"Good, that's it!" Proxilaus applauded the plaintiff's suggestion. "Defendant, you can choose not to accept the 'five days of voluntary labor' given by the plaintiff, but you will be expelled from the alliance and will never be allowed to do business here again!" Proxilaus said in a serious tone, "Think about it carefully. Are you willing to accept this punishment?"
As a merchant, dignity was not important. What was important was whether or not he could make money. His pottery business in the Turií market had been very prosperous these days. Of course, he did not want to be expelled from the alliance because of such a small matter. Of course, he accepted the punishment in the end.
The next dispute was quite the opposite. It was a conflict between a registered freeman peddler and a foreign merchant. This free man insulted and beat the merchant. The facts were clear and the evidence was conclusive. There was no dispute. He could be punished according to the market management law of "not discriminating against foreign merchants" and "fighting and causing trouble". However, this free man did not admit to beating the merchant during the trial. He kept hinting to Proxilaus that he was the confidant of Polyxis and had been working for him. He hoped that the judge would let the matter go.
The young and vigorous Proxilaus could not stand Polyxis who always showed off his noble birth in the Senate and occasionally looked down on the non-Turian senators. Now that he had the opportunity, he would not let it go. He shouted angrily, "Bold defendant, how dare you destroy the reputation of Lord Polyxis! Not only did you bully the plaintiff, but you also hurt him! You still refuse to admit the truth and violate the oath you made before. I sentence you to be guilty of blasphemy immediately! "
The free man was shocked and hurriedly begged for mercy, while the onlookers cheered for Proxilaus.
In the end, the free man refused to accept the torture of "pulling out his tongue" and chose to be beaten 40 times with a stick. He was beaten until he was barely breathing and was carried out of the court. At the same time, the scribe recorded what he had done. Even if he eventually recovered, the Registry Office would use this to expel him from Diónia.
What happened in the market and the port were only small disputes and conflicts. The process of sentencing was very fast. There was no need for cumbersome legal procedures, lawyers, and juries …
Dios watched for a while outside the court and saw something strange: it was clear that this small court was using practical actions to show the citizens, slaves, foreigners, and foreigners that the Union of Diónia was fair and just, and to protect the legitimate rights of all law-abiding people in the territory of Diónia. It was especially touching for merchants like them who traveled far and wide.
Merchants like Dios were considered citizens with status in their own city-states. When they did business in other city-states, the local citizens often acted out of jealousy, holding the mentality of "this foreigner wants to earn the money of the city-state", and often some hostile actions were taken. The higher-ups of the city-states often favored the citizens of the city (because elections needed the support of citizens). Among the Greek city-states, Athens had the best attitude towards foreigners who settled and did business in the city. Because its super-developed trade and handicraft industry required it to be open to the technology, capital, investment, and employment brought by foreigners. It gave foreigners considerable rights in the law. In addition to being unable to own land and hold public office, foreigners could even contract the mines of Athens, monopolize the sea, and so on.
Of course, the generosity of Athens was also rewarded by the kindness of the foreigners. Usually, they would make some charitable donations, such as repairing temples, holding theatrical celebrations, and letting the citizens of Athens watch them for free. When Athens was in danger, they also stepped forward like the citizens of Athens, serving as heavy infantry, buying weapons and equipment, and even donating three-tiered warships to the government of Athens.
Now, Diónia had a tendency to follow the example of Athens, and in some ways, they were even bolder than Athens. This time, Dios came because the Senate of the Diónia Union had passed a new bill, which allowed the lease of land between the Saraceno River and the Sisno River to foreign merchants as handicraft land for a period of 20 years.
The news immediately caused a sensation among the foreign merchants in the Turií market and quickly spread throughout Greece. Most of the merchants who had been to Turií were optimistic about the business and trade prospects of the Diónia Union, not to mention that Diónia had allowed Laos to join its Union, so that any merchants who traded in the Union could enter Laos at a preferential price and open up trade with Naples, Massilia, Gaul, the Iberian Peninsula, Mauritania, and other regions. Especially in Turií, the construction of the Laos Avenue had begun. With the quality of the roads built by Diónia, the completed avenue would certainly make the transportation of goods between the two cities more convenient. By then, it was estimated that it would take two days to travel from Turií to Laos, which was almost the same time as using cargo ships to travel by sea. What's more, traveling by sea was more risky, because as long as they encountered pirates or storms, their efforts might be ruined, and they might even lose their lives. At the same time, when crossing the Strait of Messina, the city-states of Messina and Liguim, one to the south and the other to the north, collected high tariffs, which would greatly reduce the profits earned.
The land that Dios passed through when he stayed in Amendolara last time was flat, but due to the hard geology (mostly gravel), it could not be used as agricultural land, so it was not distributed to the citizens of the Union. Except for a small part of the land that was built into the Amendolara military camp and used for public militia training, most of the land had been idle. For Dios, such a barren land was also full of value. He wanted to auction off the next piece of land and open a weapons workshop.
After making money from the last trade, Dios became interested in this new Union. He found that Diónia was an Union that advocated military force, otherwise they would not have held a triumphal ceremony to give the victorious generals and soldiers so much glory. Therefore, there would be no shortage of wars in the future, and the rapidly increasing number of citizens of the Diónia Union had a high demand for weapons. As far as he knew, there was a large weapons shop in the port market of Turií. It was said that the Union opened it to comfort the families of the soldiers who died in the war and to take care of the disabled soldiers. Most of the weapons and equipment sold were seized, and most of them were for maintenance. There was basically no one who could produce a complete set of heavy infantry equipment from scratch, and they did not have the ability to do so. This gave Dios a chance to make money.
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