Chapter 77
At night, Cristoya came to the Devers's tent and heard about what had happened during the day. With her understanding of the Devers, she asked, "You want to take over those mercenaries?"
"I really want to help them," the Devers said seriously.
"Really?" Cristoya smiled coquettishly, her full breasts pressing against the Devers's strong chest. She raised her head, revealing her sexy red lips.
"Really." The Devers lowered his head and suddenly pressed his lips against hers, sucking hard.
This kiss ignited the flames of desire on both sides. The Devers reached out and picked up Cristoya …
At this time, Martius's voice came from outside the tent. "Chief, Mercies and Marigi want to see you."
The Devers cursed in a low voice and was about to say, "I won't see them!"
Cristoya laughed and punched him. "It must be something important to make Mercies and Marigi, two people who have some conflicts, come to see you together!"
The Devers knew that she was right. He put down Cristoya helplessly and kissed her twice unwillingly.
Cristoya pushed him away.
Mercies and Marigi entered the tent one after the other. They didn't care at all when they saw Cristoya in the tent. The intimate relationship between the Devers and Cristoya was already an open secret in the army. Then, they explained their purpose of coming to the Devers.
It turned out that while the soldiers were building the camp, Mercies and the others hadn't been idle. No, it should be said that the Turís hadn't been idle. Although the Turís forbade mercenaries from entering the city, the Greeks were known for being good at business. As soon as they heard that mercenaries were coming, merchants and peddlers ran to the old city of Sybaris to see if there were any business opportunities. Besides the food provided by the Turís, the mercenaries naturally needed other daily necessities. So, the two sides hit it off.
At the beginning, the trade was only one-way. The Turís were the sellers, and the mercenaries were the buyers. However, he soon discovered that the Turís merchants were very interested in certain things in the supply camp. When the mercenaries were on their way back, they didn't just rob women and slaves. They also robbed a lot of gold, silver, and some works of art. For example, strange spice wood carvings, exquisite gold statues, exotic ivory carvings, and so on. They were going to bring them home in the future. They could be used as decorations, souvenirs, and evidence to brag about. Although they lost a lot of them because of the constant battles along the way, they still kept some.
For the Turií merchants who were thousands of miles away from Persia, these objects from the hinterland of Persia and some unknown races were very exotic and novel to them. They immediately realized that these things were very valuable and expressed their desire to buy them.
Mersis was not a fool. Of course, he would not sell it cheaply. Moreover, some of the items did not belong to him. They were left by the soldiers in the supply camp. He thought about it and decided to look for Marigi first. This was because only Marigi, who was also from Persia, could explain their origins, cultural meaning, and value.
Marigi gave him a suggestion. Why not set up a market, managed by the mercenaries, and trade with the Greeks? They might even be able to collect taxes.
Collect taxes on the land of another country?! Mersis felt that this idea was too crazy, but he could not resist the temptation of money. So, he decided to look for the Devers with Marigi.
Set up a market? The Devers felt that this was a good idea. Not only could it satisfy the needs of the mercenaries, but it could also be a place to expand the mercenaries' influence. They could also understand the market of Greece and train the mercenaries' business team. At the same time, they could gather intelligence, search for talents, and so on. From the perspective of the leader of the mercenaries, the Devers, who had the goal of taking root in Greece, naturally thought more comprehensively and deeply than Mersis and the others.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was wonderful. He immediately nodded and said, "We can set up a market. Tomorrow, I will ask the soldiers to set up a market between the east side of the camp and the coast. Marigi will be in charge of the construction of the market, but we don't have much time. Don't build it too complicated, as long as it can be used. After it is completed, you will be in charge of its management and operation, Marigi … "When the Devers said this, Marigi looked excited.
The Devers reminded him, "My request is that the market can be simple and crude, but it must be orderly and ensure that transactions are fair. It must also be clean and expand the reputation of the market as much as possible to attract more merchants from other cities to trade here. As for collecting taxes, don't even think about it. I don't want to make the Turís unhappy. However, you can think of other ways, such as getting slaves to help move goods, providing cheap water, and so on. You can even collect shop fees when the market is prosperous in the future. "
Marigi nodded and praised sincerely, "Leader, I didn't expect your wisdom in business to be so amazing!"
The Devers smiled. These ideas were already common in the industrial era. However, ever since he gave Marigi a promise, this guy got into the zone very quickly. Did he really want to be a commercial officer?
The Devers turned to the slightly depressed Mercies. "As for the transactions between us and the Greeks, I will leave it to you, Mercies."
"Alright! Alright! "Mercies was happy again.
"Don't touch the things that the soldiers have left in the supply camp, unless they are willing to sell it. You have to sign an agreement with them. Other than a small handling fee, you have to negotiate with the owner, but it's best that it doesn't exceed one-fiftieth of the goods sold. Return the rest to the owner. Don't hide or embezzle! Marigi, you are in charge of supervising! "The Devers sternly instructed Mercies.
"Devers, you are too biased! One-fiftieth is too little, it should be at least one-twentieth! It's not easy for us to sell things. We have to stand under the sun for half a day, how much effort does it take … "Mercies grumbled.
"One-twentieth is too much, it should not exceed one-thirty-five. It's settled then!" The Devers couldn't be bothered to continue arguing with him. "Instead of earning money from the soldiers, you might as well think of a way to increase your trade projects and expand your source of income!"
Hearing this, Mercies fell into deep thought. Very soon, a smile appeared on his fat face. "The women in the supply camp come from some races in Persia and Armenia, and many of them have learned the massage techniques of the medical camp. It is definitely a new experience for the men of Greece. We can set a high price …" Mercies' excited voice was interrupted by Christoya's coughing.
Discussing sex business in front of a woman, this guy … The Devers didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "I can give you an idea. The medical skills of our medical camp's doctors are very high. Also, there aren't any major injuries in the military camp, and we have nothing to do anyway. Why don't we let them open a clinic in the market and collect money to treat patients? You can discuss the details with Christoya. " Originally, there were eight doctors in the medical camp. When they left Byzantium, two of them left, while the other six doctors led by Helpes stayed in the medical camp under the strong attraction of the so-called mystical medical knowledge from Hades that the Devers taught them from time to time (it was actually the basic medical knowledge from the modern world).
Hearing Christoya's name, Mercies, whose eyes were originally shining, had a bitter expression on his face.
Christoya didn't make things difficult for Mercies. This fatty looked easy to bully, but Christoya knew how important he was to the Devers, so she seriously discussed with him about opening a clinic and how to distribute the fees. However, she made a request: she hoped that Mercies wouldn't force the women in the supply camp to be prostitutes. Mercies felt wronged and said, "Most of the women in the supply camp were kidnapped by the soldiers on their way back to Greece. A small portion of them are slaves in the supply camp, and they need to take care of the beasts of burden and manage the goods. Only about a dozen of them are real prostitutes, and they are used to using this … this method to earn money. "
"I'm afraid it's not just these prostitutes," Marigi interrupted.
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