"I see, I'll go and discuss this with Merses tomorrow. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info" Phellisius nodded.

"Mersis is a stingy guy, he probably just wants to draw more money into the treasury, you must stick to your principles." Davers said half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"I'll take Amintas and Matonis tomorrow." Pherisius said solemnly, and both of them laughed.

Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, Philicius carefully put forward his thoughts: "My lord, you can get paid for public office, and after serving in the war for a long time and can't go home, shouldn't you also be paid?" ”

"Well, you, the military officer, are starting to learn to take advantage of your own department." Davers pointed at him and scolded with a smile.

Phellisius also smiled and replied: "If not, the soldiers will blame me, the military officer, for not doing my duty during my tenure." ”

"It stands to reason that it should be given. I remember someone saying, 'The sailors on the Athenian expedition were two opol a day, and the heavy infantry were four op......ol a day,'" Davers recalled.

"That's true, sir."

Davers sighed: "But that's Athens, it's one of the richest city-states in the entire Mediterranean, and it can afford it, and the Dionian League can't do it yet." There are less than 200 civil servants, and the treasury can barely pay for it. The number of soldiers on an expedition is either a few thousand or tens of thousands, and even if a soldier is one Opol a day, how much money will have to be paid every day, you calculate! The mere rebuilding of Turii and the payment of public officials is already too much for Mersis, and if you mention it again, I guess he will fight with you. ”

Davers smiled and said affirmatively: "When the alliance has money in the future, don't worry, I won't let the soldiers who go out to fight suffer!" ”

Although it was only a verbal promise from Davers, Phellisius knew it. Not only because Davers has always kept his promises, but also because Phellisius has worked with Davers for a long time, he knows deep that Davers is a man with great ambitions, and an army that cannot fight for a long time cannot achieve his ambitions.

"What is the military discipline of the troops in Niutum?" Davers asked again.

"Not bad, there were no clashes with the Lucanians in Niutum." Phellisius smiled: "Of course, this is also related to the fact that you have to hold a victory ceremony for them, because they are afraid of violating military discipline and cannot participate in the ceremony. ”

"A soldier with a sense of honor will be a good citizen!" Davos lamented, thinking of his comrades who might be on an expedition to Persia that might be coming, hoping that they, accustomed to plundering and unfettered, would not cause too much trouble in the Dionian League.

Suppressing the worry that had just popped up in his heart, he looked at Phellisius: "Are you ready to be reviewed by the public?" ”

"I ......", a mild-mannered man who has spent half his life on the battlefield, seems a little nervous and shy.

"Hey, what's there to be nervous about, aren't you the only one attending, and Drax, Epitenis, and Hieronymus with them! Show the people of the Alliance the image of our Dionian generals, and let them know that only by fighting valiantly for the Alliance can they enjoy such a high honor! Davers patted him on the shoulder and said solemnly.

Phellisius understood what this triumphal gesture meant to his army, and he became more and more unable to ease himself.

Davers had no choice but to change the subject: "By the way, Bagul and their fourth brigade are also going to participate in this triumphal ceremony, so they have to let the first brigade go to Niutum to replace them for a few days." ”

Davers pondered and said, "In the future, the soldiers of Bagul's Fourth Brigade will settle in Niutum. In this way, they can defend Niutum nearby, and we can also save money on the military...... However, the military quality of the Fourth Brigade is far from meeting our requirements, and instructors must be sent in turn for rigorous training......"

Davers said, seeing that Phellisius was about to speak and stopped, he asked suspiciously, "What, are you worried about the Fourth Brigade?" ”

"No, I'm not worried about the Fourth Brigade. Bagul was a good leader who knew right from wrong, and he would be the son-in-law of the Greeks, and most of his soldiers believed in him, and the sisters of these Lucanian soldiers were almost all married to our citizens, so in our alliance, especially the Greek citizens of Amendolara, and their citizens of Lucaria were already very close. Therefore, since the expedition, the 4th Brigade has been very proactive, and the cooperation with other brigades is also good! Phellisius praised: "I just want to ask your lordship, how to solve this problem that the fortress of La River needs to be garrisoned by soldiers for a long time?" "The Dionian Union does not have professional soldiers, and it is impossible to keep the citizen soldiers out of their lives and stationed there for a long time.

In Phellisius's opinion, this is a difficult problem, but Davers has already solved it: "Having the reserve citizens take turns is what they must do to become full citizens of the Alliance." At the same time, the veterans were also allowed to serve as instructors, go to the Lahe Fortress as team officers, manage them, and train them, so that the Lahe Fortress was used as a military training base for the Alliance. First, to train prospective citizens to become qualified soldiers; Second, to train veterans to become qualified reserve officers. Thirdly, it is possible to garrison the fortress of the Lahe River for a long time......"

Davers spoke eloquently, apparently deliberately: "The fortress of La River controls the arteries from Turiyi to Laos and to Lucania, and I am sure that this road will soon be busy with the rapid increase in merchants. If you think about it, the caravan could reach the port of Laos on the west coast of the Apennine Peninsula directly by land without going through the Strait of Messina and accepting the exploitation of Messina and Ligem, and Laos was also our ally, with preferential tariffs, so it was very attractive to Greek merchants. In addition, as long as we can stabilize the situation in Lucaria, then certain goods in Lucaña, such as furs, cattle and sheep...... and so on, which can also attract the attention of businessmen. Therefore, we should be more than enough to levy a very small percentage of the customs duties at the fortress of La River, so as not to discourage the merchants, and to allow the alliance to use this money to buy food supplies for the garrison troops, and at the same time to pay a certain amount of living expenses for the soldiers who are unable to work for two or three months......"

At first, Davers talked about the content of commerce, which made Felicius dizzy, and it was not until he mentioned the garrison of the fortress of La River that he understood that the food and salary of the garrison could be easily solved by collecting customs duties, and he could not help but admire it.

"It takes about three days to get from Turii to Niutum via the mountain trail, right?" Davers asked suddenly.

"Yes, sir. We marched relatively fast when we set out before, and even then it took three days, and the normal pace of marching is probably about four days. Phellisius replied.

"If there is another pack caravan, I'm afraid it will take more time." Davers tapped his finger on the back of his chair and muttered to himself: "Therefore, the construction of the road between Turiyi-Niutum-Laos must be put on the agenda as soon as possible, preferably in three cities at the same time, so that Turiyi and Lucania can be connected, and the connection and integration ...... enhanced."

………………………

Three days later, Davers offered to travel to Niutum.

Some senators tried to dissuade Niutum from going at this time, citing the unstable political situation.

He replied firmly: "I went to be more stable in Niutum!" In the end, the Senate was persuaded and it was able to make the trip.

The traveling procession included more than a dozen non-public veterans such as Veesba, Scombras, and Trito Demoss, and was escorted by the officers and men of the First Brigade, who were also going to temporarily replace the Fourth Brigade stationed in Niutum so that they could return for the triumphal ceremony. In addition, there were the families of the soldiers of the Fourth Brigade, a few merchants of the Alliance.

Little Heraclid has been busy thinking about how to build a wooden bridge over the Krati River lately. At last he had some eyebrows, and was about to start the experiment, but he was forcibly pulled in by Davers and stuffed into the procession, saying that he was asked to inspect the construction of the Turiyi-Niutum-Laos Boulevard.

Little Heracrid did not have his father's stubborn temper, and Davers was so kind to him that he had to put aside his work for the time being and reluctantly went to Niutum with the team. But once he gets into the groove of work, his concentration can make him ignore the bad environment around him, and the identity of other people.

"There are a lot of sharp rocks on the ground in this mountain, which must be polished, which will undoubtedly increase a lot of labor and cause the construction speed of the road to slow down!"

"You see, there is a lot of floating earth on this mountain wall, and if it rains, it can be washed down and block the road, so it must be fixed with mortar, and the little trees that grow on the cliffs must also be cut down!"

"This section of the trail is too narrow for a pack cart to pass through, so it has to be widened! …… Well, I think we can burn this large protruding mountain wall over a fire, and then pour cold water on it, and we can make it explode. But be careful, don't burn the forest! ”

……

Davers and the senators gathered around little Heraclid like students, and listened to him observe and analyze how to build the roads in the mountains, and the whole procession naturally did not move too fast.

In the evening, the whole team could only sleep in the mountain road, and the escort team and the first brigade set up a cordon and sentry.

For the families of the Fourth Brigade, the mountains are their home, and when they return to this familiar land after a year's absence, their breathing has become much easier. They naturally lay on the ground and soon fell asleep.

Most of the soldiers of the First Brigade had made expeditions to Persia, and camping in the wilderness was the most common.

Merchants are running from place to place, and they can bear any hardship for profit.