Chapter 341
Lykasus closed the door and hung a wooden sign that said, "Out, closed."
"Hey, Nicostratus, you're going out?!" The owner of the butcher shop across the street waved his knife and shouted.
Nicostratus snorted and ignored the butcher. He had always thought that it was because of the butcher's loud peddling across the street every day that the rich were not willing to go to his clinic. He had thought of moving the clinic several times, but the housing prices in Ciudad Crotone were not low. The location of the house he could afford was not as good. Therefore, he had always been rude to this rude neighbor.
"How long are you going to be out?!" The owner of the butcher shop was used to the doctor's attitude. Seeing that he did not answer, he continued to ask loudly.
The well-behaved Lykasus saw that his teacher's face was gradually becoming gloomy and quickly answered for him, "I'll be out for about 20 days, Uncle Marcus."
"That's so long!" The owner of the butcher shop exclaimed, "We're sick. What if you're not here?!"
Nicostratus's face twitched a few times. He could not help but shout back, "Then bear with it and don't get sick until I come back!"
"It's not up to me to decide whether I get sick or not. It's all a prank by the gods!" The owner of the butcher shop complained.
Nicostratus did not want to talk to her anymore and strode forward.
"Doctor Nicostratus, where are you going after being out for so long?" Another person asked.
This time, Nicostratus stopped in his tracks because the person who asked was a merchant from the bakery. He was a rare and important customer, and every time he came to see him, he would pay a lot of money.
"To Turií," he answered seriously.
"Turií? You're invited to treat your illness, right? " The merchant saw Lykasus carrying a medical box and said proudly, "The medical skills of our Crotone are famous throughout Greece! Diónia only has a larger territory and can fight wars. In other aspects, it is far inferior to Crotone, which has a long history! "
His words resonated with the owner of the butcher shop, "You're absolutely right! Those people in the north are actually refugees. How can they have any culture or city-state traditions! "
Diónia's influence in Great Greece was growing year by year, causing the ordinary people of Crotone, who were once strong, to feel disappointed. Out of a sour grapes mentality, they always liked to compare some of the advantages of their city-state with Diónia, and then make sarcastic remarks about the people of Diónia in order to obtain some kind of psychological satisfaction.
Nix said a few perfunctory words to Tratus and quickly walked out of his neighborhood.
"Ignorant." At this time, he softly spat out.
The rise of Crotone Medicine originated from Democadis a hundred years ago. When he was young, this Crotone man was determined to become the best doctor in the Mediterranean. He traveled around the various states to learn medicine, and after he finished his studies, he practiced medicine in Athens. Because of his good medical skills, he earned a lot of money. Later, he went to the island of Samos to treat his tyrant. In the end, Persia attacked Asia Minor, and Samos fell. He became a prisoner and was escorted to Susa. Coincidentally, the king of kings, Darius, fell ill, and he was cured. Only then did he escape from prison and serve the royal family, but he was restricted from returning to Greece.
After living in Persia for five or six years, he missed his distant hometown very much.
One day, Darius's queen, the daughter of Cyrus, the founding king of Persia, Atossa, had a lump on her thigh. No one could treat it, and she suffered greatly. Atossa heard that Democadis was a skilled doctor, and with the thought of giving it a try, she invited the Greek to the inner court to treat her, and promised that if he cured her, the queen would agree to any of his requests.
As a result, Democadis helped Queen Atossa recover. At his request, Atossa suggested to Darius that Democadis could take Persia's spies around Greece to gather intelligence in preparation for the future conquest of Greece.
Darius agreed, and Democadis also vowed to return to Susa.
As a result, after leaving Persia, he found an opportunity to escape Persia's surveillance, and fled back to Crotone.
At that time, although Persia was strong, it had not yet declared war on Greece, and it could not affect the Western Mediterranean thousands of miles away, so it could only leave it be.
Democadis opened a clinic in his hometown, widely accepting apprentices, and selflessly imparted his years of experience as a doctor, as well as his combined medical skills in Greece and Persia, which greatly improved the medical skills of Ciudad Crotone, and made Crotone's doctors second to none in Greece for a century.
However, in recent years, the medical skills of Diónia, like the strength of its alliance, improved rapidly. It was said that some of the difficult and complicated diseases that Crotone's doctors could not solve were miraculously cured or improved by Diónia's doctors. Some Greeks who were not part of the Diónia alliance and were terminally ill tried to go to Diónia's hospitals for treatment, and most of them happily returned to their homes. Just like that, the reputation of "the excellent medical skills of Diónia, taught by Pluto" gradually spread …
As far as Nicostratos knew, many wealthy citizens of Crotone often went to Diónia's center, Turií, for treatment. The doctors of Diónia had even set up an organization called the Southern Italian Medical Forum, which was held every spring, inviting doctors from the Diónia alliance and its allies to gather in Turií to discuss new medical discoveries and exchange medical skills. Last year was the first year, and the conservative Nicostratos did not attend. However, when he chatted with his colleagues who returned, they said a few words about the novel medical theories and methods they learned from Diónia. After being surprised, Nicostratos began to ponder.
Therefore, at the beginning of this year, when Turií Hospital sent out invitations to its allies, he could not wait to set off.
Originally, it would only take half a day to reach Turií by boat from the port, but unfortunately, Nicostratos suffered from seasickness, so he could only travel by land.
When they arrived at the north gate, another doctor, Stasippus, was already waiting there. The three of them left Ciudad Crotone, stepped on the soft dirt road, and headed north.
The three of them arrived at the pontoon bridge on the Neto River.
During the second war of Crotone, the pontoon bridge was burned down to prevent the Diónia from breaking into Ciudad Crotone. When it was rebuilt, for some reason, the bridge was not only narrow, but also less stable than before.
Stasippus could not help but complain on the way, "The bridge on the Neto River in Turií is a real wooden bridge. Not only is it wide and flat, but boats can also pass under it. Compared to them, our pontoon bridge looks more like it was built by the natives! "
Nicostratos did not say anything. He remembered that last year, Crotone had held a citizens' meeting to discuss whether to invite the Diónia to help them build a wooden bridge on the Neto River. Most of the proud citizens of Crotone were against it, and the proposal was not passed. Nicostratos himself was one of them. Like the majority, he thought that it was fine as long as the roads and bridges could be used. The money from the national treasury should be used to repair public facilities such as theaters, arenas, and temples. They could even provide extra benefits for citizens on special occasions.
Due to the blessings of the gods, the weather in Greece had been good for the past few years, and the crops had been harvested. Coincidentally, there had been frequent wars in the past two years, and the price of grain had risen. After the citizens had saved enough for themselves, they sold grain on the market and made a small profit. Therefore, spring came early this year, and the citizens brought their slaves to plant wheat seedlings in the fields early.
Walking on the Croton Plains, one could see lush green wheat fields as far as the eye could see. The slaves worked hard in the fields.
There was more rain in spring, and the roads became muddy. In order to avoid tripping, Nicostratos and his group walked slowly. They only walked out of Crotone's territory in the afternoon.
When they trudged through the slippery mud, and their feet began to ache, they saw a flat and wide road in front of them. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
"Teacher Stacypus." Lycassus, who had never traveled far in his life, shouted excitedly, "Is this the Crimissa Asprostum Avenue that Diónia built?!"
"That's right." Stacypus glanced at Nicostratos. "Old friend, what do you think of this road?"
Nicostratos snorted and did not say anything. He walked straight forward until he came to an empty stone block in the middle of the pedestrians who were resting on the sidewalk. He had a problem with his waist to begin with, and he felt like his waist was about to break after the long walk.
Lycassus was young and full of energy. Seeing the bustling traffic on the main road, he even crossed the drainage ditch and tried to walk on the main road. In the end, he was almost hit by a pack-cart and was scolded by the coachman. Embarrassed, he retreated back to the sidewalk.
Nicostratos only quietened down after scolding him. But after a while, he pulled Stacypus and asked, "What's that cart for?"
Looking in the direction he was pointing, a two-horse pack-cart with a canopy was heading north at a relatively fast speed. The sides of the tarpaulin were painted with the Diónia's symbol, "Double Fork and Three-Headed Dog." The cars on the avenue deliberately moved to the sides.
"That's a mail cart."
"A mail cart?"
"That's what the people of Diónia call it. It's responsible for delivering letters and parcels between the two places. It's said that Diónia has a department dedicated to this," Stacypus said.
"That's a good idea. It's convenient for the people of the city," Nicostratos interrupted.
"If only Crotone had a mail cart! At least we wouldn't have to run back and forth to deliver medicine to the patients. It's a waste of time, "Lycassus said enviously.
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