Chapter 709
"Just a friendly exchange?" Pharaoh Nektanibu sat down again, his eyes gleaming brightly.
Nektanibu's rhetorical question stunned Ancitanos, but the pharaoh continued, "Why not form an alliance?"
Ancitanos was really stunned this time. He did not expect Nektanibu to be so direct.
Nektanibu did not care about his surprise and said seriously, "As far as I know, the citizens of Diónia are mainly Greeks. Egypt and Greece have always been friendly, and the city of Naucratis is the proof! Over the past few decades, the Greeks have helped Egypt fight against the tyrannical Persia many times. Today, there are many graves of the Athens people outside Memphis. Those are the sacrifices that the Greeks made when they joined forces with us to fight against Persia 70 years ago. We need to continue this friendship! " Nektanibu said with a slightly emotional tone. He had obviously ignored the fact that the Athens people were hired by Persia to attack Egypt a few years ago.
It turned out that the Egyptians hoped to form an alliance with Diónia to help them defend against Persia's attack! Ancitanos was no longer surprised why Nektanibu would talk about the alliance so urgently, although this diplomatic option was originally in his and the Devers's plan.
But Ancitanos would never know that in the eyes of Nektanibu, the threat of Persia to Egypt was not just a potential threat, but a real and present danger.
In the first half of this turmoil, some Egyptian officials in the towns of the Nile River Delta secretly sent secret letters to the land of Canaan, which was under the rule of Persia, adjacent to the eastern border of Egypt, in an attempt to surrender to Persia and let it re-occupy Egypt. This included some people in Memphis. Although the Persia people had been defeated by Egypt for more than 20 years, they had never stopped alienating and enticing the Egyptians. The governor of Persia in Asia Minor, Fanabazos, had been rebuilding warships and gathering soldiers for the past few years.
Although the spies reported that this year, the governor of Persia, Fanabazos, had been summoned by the king of Persia and had led his troops to Babylon.
But Nektanibu had never forgotten that a few years ago, it was this governor of Persia who had led his army to burn and loot in Egypt. Although he was defeated in the end, he did not suffer much loss and could make a comeback at any time.
If it weren't for Nektanibu's slogan of "preferential treatment for the monks" (Pharaoh Hakaul had restricted the monks from owning too much land and farm), which won the support of the Egyptian temple priests, Nektanibu's army would have been unstoppable. Even the army stationed in Memphis surrendered to him, and he quickly stabilized Lower Egypt in just a few months. As for Upper Egypt, which was centered around the Thebes, it was still the world of the priests.
After Ancitanos realized what the Pharaoh was really worried about, he immediately said solemnly, "Although Persia is far away from our Diónia, it also has its claws in the Western Mediterranean — Carthage. This Phoenician state has been continuously sending gold and silver from the Iberian Peninsula to Tyre for decades, thus providing the king of Persia with funds for expansion and invasion, thus becoming extremely rich.
As a new kingdom, our Diónia held the principle of living in harmony with our neighboring countries. More than ten years ago, we signed a friendly agreement with Carthage, but we did not expect it to secretly support the neighboring forces of Diónia and constantly go against Diónia. After its plots were thwarted one after another, the people of Carthage actually tore up the friendly agreement with Diónia and threatened to wage war against Diónia. Therefore, Diónia is willing to form an alliance with Egypt to help each other and defend against the invasion of Persia and its affiliated forces! "
Pharaoh Nektanibu was surprised because this had just happened, and he had not received the news yet. He knew about Carthage. It was a powerful city-state established by the Phoenicians in the Western Mediterranean. Their merchant ships often passed the sea of Egypt and even traded with the coastal towns of Egypt. The Egyptians had long known that some Carthage ships carried gold and silver, but they had never thought of intercepting them. This was because the Egyptian army was not strong, and the navy was even weaker. In addition to the Egyptians not liking to sail, the lack of dense forests in Egypt was an important reason. Therefore, the Egyptians could only make small papyrus ships. If they wanted to have large wooden warships, they could only buy them from abroad.
Therefore, Pharaoh Nektanibu immediately asked with concern, "I heard that Carthage is very powerful and has a powerful navy. If Diónia and Carthage go to war, can you win?"
"Dear Pharaoh!" Ancitanos said with a smile, "More than ten years ago, the Greek overlord of the Western Mediterranean, Syracuse, defeated Carthage one after another, forcing it to sign a humiliating peace treaty. However, this Syracuse that defeated Carthage suffered a crushing defeat when they attacked Diónia. We defeated Syracuse's powerful navy through a frontal naval battle, and we defeated Syracuse's powerful army through a frontal battle. In the end, Syracuse became an ordinary city-state in Sicily.
Now, the land and population of the Kingdom of Diónia have increased several times compared to more than ten years ago. How can Carthage be a match for us! The cunning Carthage only dared to declare war because we, Diónia, have encountered a drought this year and do not have enough food to supply the army! "
Ancitanos's words were impassioned, and his words also hinted at the predicament that Diónia was currently facing.
While Pharaoh Nektanib was pondering, the minister who spoke to him before suddenly interrupted, "Egypt and Diónia have become allies. If one day, the Persia army invades Egypt, will Diónia send an army thousands of miles to Egypt to fight against the Persia?"
Ancitanos put on a proud posture and replied, "When Diónia was just established, we once risked destruction to declare war against a powerful enemy because our ally was invaded. In the short history of Diónia's establishment of nearly 20 years, more than half of the wars that took place were because of the invasion of our ally. In order to fulfill the covenant, Diónia had to fight against powerful enemies again and again. Fortunately, we won in the end.
If you ask a person from the Western Mediterranean, what is the greatest advantage of the Kingdom of Diónia? He will definitely tell you, 'Diónia keeps its promises and never betrays its allies!' "
"I've heard this sentence from the Greek merchants in Naukratis …" Pharaoh Nektanib spoke. When he was a general, he had heard this rumor. It was only after learning that the envoy of Diónia had arrived that he thought of forming an alliance. The Egyptian army was not strong. A few years ago, it was also with the help of more than 2,000 Greek mercenaries that they managed to hold the line of defense. Therefore, he believed that Diónia was the best choice for Egypt to form an alliance with a country that was stronger, more trustworthy, and far away from Egypt.
Ancitanos did not expect that the thing that the King of Devers had been insisting and promoting would blossom in the distant Egypt. But he was happy about it.
Pharaoh Nektanib put his scepter on the ground and said loudly, "In return for the generous gift from the King of Devers, I will return it with 100 ships of wheat! And after Egypt and Diónia form an alliance, Egypt will continue to provide Diónia with free grain to solve the food shortage of the people of Diónia! "
Ancitanos, who had always been restrained, could not control the joy on his face at this time.
For the pharaohs and ministers present, they did not feel that it was a big loss. Egypt had a lot of grain. With the blessing of the Nile River, Egypt had a bumper harvest. The vast number of Egyptian farmers had to hand over most of their harvest. The granaries and temples of various towns were filled with grain that had been collected, and some had even become moldy from being piled up for too long.
After finalizing the alliance, Pharaoh Nektanib also warmly invited Ancitanos to have lunch in the palace garden.
After arriving at the garden, Ancetanos's eyes widened. In front of him was a huge artificial lake. The surface of the lake was covered with mist, lotus leaves and blooming lotus flowers. Beside the lake was a lush garden where all kinds of exotic flowers and plants, as well as rare animals, could be seen everywhere …
Pharaoh Nektanib and Ancitanos had a meal on a huge wooden boat in the lake. They ate fine wine and food, chatted about the past and the present, and there were beautiful maids accompanying them …
For a moment, the guests and the host were happy.
… …
At the same time that the Foreign Minister of Diónia, Ancitanos, arrived in Egypt, an important meeting was being held in the city hall of Catanai in Sicily.
The participants were Prososus (Leotychides), the Commander of the Eighth Legion of Diónia, Flarios, the Commander of the Third Fleet, Cypross, the Governor of Catanai, Myron, the Governor of Naxos, Amicles, the Governor of Messina, Apirosia, the Governor of Sicily, Krelu, the Governor of Hena, Hebita … In addition, the chief generals of the two allied city-states, Leotini and Taunis, were also participating.
Logically speaking, the people present were all leaders of various cities, and there was not much difference in their positions. Referring to the many innovations that the King of Devers had in handling government affairs in the past, one of the smart ways to deal with this was to implement a round table conference, so that there was no difference in status. However, Cypross was sitting at the head of the table, with Prososus on his left. This made the governors who were familiar with Cypross's character grumble in their hearts, but even if they were a little dissatisfied, they did not show it on their faces.
Cypross looked around at the crowd and said in a serious tone, "My lords, you all know that a few days ago, our First Legion has gathered to the north to help the Worsi people resist the Rome people. If the Carthage people fulfill what they said when they tore up the agreement, then they will soon declare war on us and send their troops to Sicily. In fact, the signs from Carthage indicate that the Carthage people are indeed preparing for war! In order to understand the situation of our war preparations in Sicily, so that His Majesty and the Senate can control the overall situation of the war and formulate a better strategy, His Majesty has sent Sir Felicius of the Ministry of Military Affairs to Sicily to inspect. Now, please welcome Sir Felicius! "
All the governors were stunned. Felicius had come to Sicily, and they had not been informed in advance!
Comments