Chapter 574
"If that's the case, I'm already weak in Syracuse. It's very likely that I'll be ousted by the rebels led by Harolis! To me, this is a terrible thing! To Sparta, this is not good news either! Phoebidas, I need your help now! "Dionysius had a rare look of begging on his face.
"Tell me, what do you need me to do?" Phoebidas's emotionless face was devoid of emotion.
Dionysius was already used to it. He sincerely begged, "I hope that you can do what you did last time. Meet the leaders of the rebels, such as Harolis, and persuade them not to fight with me when Syracuse is in danger. This will only allow Diónia to take advantage of the situation and threaten the survival of the people of Syracuse! We should unite and overcome this crisis together! As long as they can accept me as their general, I'm willing to share my power with them and satisfy their demands … "
"Alright, I'll try." Phoebidas agreed without hesitation. "Do I need to tell them that you're back?"
"No! I'll appear at the right time. "Dionysius immediately refused.
Seeing Phoebidas leave, Dionysius had a few doubts in his heart. Why did Phoebidas agree so quickly this time?
… …
In the city hall of Syracuse, Harolis, who was elected as the temporary chief general, and a few other generals who were elected by the people during the rebellion, formed a war general executive committee.
As a poet, Ferosanus was already famous among the people. Because he had repeatedly contradicted Dionysius, he was even locked up in the stone prison. Therefore, the people trusted him and elected him as the general. At this moment, he unceremoniously questioned the representative of the port's sailors and the poor, Tethys. "Tethys, why haven't I seen you using your warships to blockade Ortygia Island? We discussed this yesterday! "
"Yesterday … Yesterday, we were still tasked with cleaning up Masias' defeated soldiers. Now, there are still thousands of sailors searching for traces of them in the mountains. How can we spare any manpower to seal off Ortygia Island?" Tethystis complained bitterly.
"Tethys, don't quibble. You have enough manpower at the port. You can eliminate those mercenaries while sealing off Ortygia Island. This is an order issued by the committee after a discussion, and you have accepted it, but you still refuse to carry it out. Do you think the people elected you as a general just to let you have fun here? " Another noble from the city, a good friend of Harolis and the newly elected general Kuzias loudly criticized.
Although Tethys was a newbie in the political arena, he had been on the sea for decades and had a rich life experience. He was not annoyed by the reprimand. Instead, he spread out his hands and said helplessly, "There are not many people in the city, so you can't work together. You can't even gather enough people to build a city wall in a few days. You still need us to provide manpower. Moreover, the port area has a large population with complicated sources. How can you listen to me completely? If you have a problem with me, you can take my position away. In order to be a general, I have to talk until my mouth is broken every day, and I have to be misunderstood by the people at the port. It is not as comfortable as when I was a sailor. I have long wanted to quit! "
Tethys threatened to resign, and the generals immediately stopped criticizing him. They knew that Tethys was already the most amiable of the poor people at the port. If it were someone else, they would not be so easily cooperative. Now that the Great Hellenic War had taken away a large number of citizens from the city, they urgently needed the strength of the poor people in the port area.
"Lord Tethys!" Harolis broke the silence in the room. At this time, he was much more haggard than before the riot. His voice had become hoarse, but his eyes were sharper. "What difficulties do you have now? Let's discuss and solve them together."
Tethys was still respectful to Harolis and did not beat around the bush. He said directly, "The people of the port hope to participate in the general assembly to discuss the various proposals decided by the council. Also, the land that you promised to distribute to the people of the port has not been moved. They suspect that the executive committee of the general is deceiving them. In addition, they have taken on many tasks before, and they feel that it is unfair compared to the people in the city. So now, they are not willing to listen to my orders … "
"How is it unfair? The poor people of the port have always been — "Another general, Stesicos, heard this and could not help but want to argue. Harolis interrupted him, thought for a moment, and said seriously," Lord Tethys, we have overthrown the tyrannical rule of Dionysius and will implement a democratic system. But Syracuse is not Athens. Not all citizens can participate in the general assembly, but … to put it simply, only citizens who can afford a set of heavy infantry equipment and can serve in the military at any time are qualified to participate in the general assembly. This has always been the political tradition of Syracuse, and we will not change it easily! Not only the poor people of the port area, but also in the city area. Many citizens cannot participate in the general assembly. "
"But the last time —" Tethys still wanted to argue.
Harolis waved his hand to stop him, and said seriously, "Listen to me first! We promised you that we would distribute the land, why didn't we carry it out immediately? Because we do not know how many Syracuse people who fought in Greece can return alive, so we are not sure how much land we can free up. We also need people to survey the land again before we can distribute the land to the landless citizens of the port and the city in a fair and just manner.
But since 'land' has become the most important issue for the people of the port, and it has affected our unity, we have not occupied Ortygia Island. You must know that we did not occupy Ortygia Island. Dionysius and his mercenaries could come back at any time and shackle the freedom that we bought with our blood! "
At the end of his speech, Harolis' voice became sharp. He was reminding Tethys and the other generals, "Therefore, I suggest that the land owned by the 5000 mercenaries led by Masias and the 1000 mercenaries in the city should be distributed to the people of the port. These mercenaries are actually citizens of Syracuse, but Harolis thought that they were loyal dogs of Dionysius and refused to recognize their citizenship in Syracuse!"
"The land that the mercenaries occupy is huge!" Ferosanus reminded loudly.
"I think this suggestion of Harolis is acceptable." Tethys expressed his agreement. Unlike Ferosanus who was straightforward but did not understand politics, when Harolis made the suggestion, Tethys immediately understood the intention of the chief general. The village built by the 6000 mercenaries was not within the traditional territory of Syracuse. It was a territory that Dionysius had expanded after conquering South-East Sicily. Of course, this included the land of the neighboring city-states that he had forcibly occupied. The village of the 6000 mercenaries was southwest of Syracuse, adjacent to Ackley, a small city-state that belonged to Syracuse. It was a place that the armies of the South Coast had to pass through to reach Syracuse. Harolis arranged for the poor people of the port to live there. Not only could he let these greedy and fearful people continue to fight the mercenaries who had escaped into the mountains for land, but he could also guard against the possible hostility of the South Coast city-states towards the new Syracuse regime. Moreover, the land was further away from Syracuse. Allocating it would not cause the people in the city to protest against the injustice. It could also appease the dissatisfaction of the people of the port and let them feel the sincerity of the executive committee.
Therefore, not only did Tethys realize the benefits of Harolis's suggestion, the other generals also expressed their agreement.
Harolis continued calmly, "But in order to win over the mercenaries, Dionysius had given them too generous terms. Every mercenary would be given ten acres of land. This is a little too much. I hope to temporarily allocate five acres of land to the people of the port, and only the poor who have actively participated in the rebellion against the tyranny are eligible. Lord Tethys, you will provide the list of names. Once it has been verified by the people of the city hall, we will immediately start allocating the land. What do you think? "
Tethys did not think too much. The committee had agreed to immediately allocate the land, so that he would not have to face the questioning and criticism of the people every time he returned to the port. He was already overjoyed. Thus, he said in relief, "I agree!"
Harolis took the opportunity to say, "With land, the people of the port will be able to accumulate wealth, buy weapons and equipment, and become heavy infantry. It is only a matter of time before they participate in the citizens' meeting. So, Lord Tethys, you mentioned that the people of the port are requesting to participate in the citizens' meeting. As long as the land is allocated, it will not be a problem. Am I right?"
"Yes! Yes! You're right! "Tethys quickly agreed.
"Since the problem has been solved." Harolis's expression became serious. "I hope that you will immediately allow the warships that are about to rot to sail out of the port. Seal off the entire Otigia Island. Do not allow any ships to enter or leave the island! Although we are temporarily unable to attack Otigia Island, according to what I know, the grain stored on the island can at most feed the two thousand mercenaries and the people for three to four months. By then, they will have no choice but to open the city and surrender. "
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