Since the two most important Turian merchants had chosen to give in, Sostatus did not shirk any more. As he stood up, the other merchants stopped whispering, and listened to him intently with respect on their faces, not only because of his background, but also because of his own abilities, even though he was the youngest of them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'll make a long story short, so as not to delay everyone's time to earn money." As soon as Sostatus spoke, laughter erupted from all around.

"His Majesty summoned me and thanked me for our generous donation, and said that it was because of this grain that he had the opportunity to personally lead a large army against Rome in central Italy, and that he hoped that we, the merchants of Turij, who had donated food, would go with his army—"

"What?! We've all donated so much food, and we're going to let us go on the march and continue to provide military funds for the army! Before Sostatus could finish speaking, the wine merchant Calmandes shouted dissatisfied.

"Shut up, Kalmandes!" Sostatus glared at him and warned, "Whatever your stupidity or for some other reason, stop insulting the great King Davers, or get out of here!" ”

"That's right, the great King Davers is not to be blasphemed!" Theos emphasized it loudly on the side, drawing the crowd in response.

Most of the merchants of the Kingdom of Dionya had great respect for King Davers, not only because the bank set up by his wife Christoya played a huge role in promoting the commerce of the kingdom, but also because the new business management model he invented and the process of fine division of labor in the workshop were an unprecedented innovation in the commerce of Dionia, so some merchants even believed that Davers was not only a descendant of Hades, but also favored by Hermes.

"Carl Mandes was absolutely not disrespectful to His Majesty Davers, he was just worried about making endless donations for the expedition of the Great Army." Shipbuilder Mikryth defended his friend.

Mikris was the cousin of Enanilus, and Kalmandes was the son of Oriffis, both of whom were famous families of the original Turiyi, and were closely related by marriage. At the beginning, Enanilus and Oriffis were implicated and imprisoned because of the Polyxis case, but their family and estate were not greatly affected, but their political status plummeted, and it was inevitable that they would feel uncomfortable. In fact, both Enanilus and Oriffis were released a few years ago because their sentences had expired, but because of the impact of the scandal, they were no longer fit to show up for the sake of their families.

"Looks like you two are really stupid!" Cyberus, the slave trader, stood up, the same man who had urged Sostatus to speak.

The merchant was a man of five sizes and three thick, and he was a choking talker, but people still wanted to be close to him because he always provided satisfactory slaves, and the great demand for slaves in the Dionian kingdom made Cybonus, who had an abundant source of slaves, make a lot of money.

At this moment, he laughed loudly, "Don't you understand, this is the return of the food that His Majesty Davers has donated for us!" Since the establishment of Dionia, when did the army need our merchant retinue when it went out?! Never before, but now there is! This means that the captives captured by the powerful royal group can be obtained in time at the best price! The loot obtained by the army, we can also get it at the best price! In the towns occupied by the army, we can get shops at preferential prices, and occupy the market first! ……”

Cyberus's impassioned words made everyone's eyes light up, and some even excitedly shouted, "Your Majesty Davers, all the victory!" ”

Calmandes couldn't help but mutter, "Don't be too happy, this expedition will not necessarily win." ”

But he happened to be heard by the wool textile merchant Folasia next to him.

Originally a cloth merchant from the island of Euboea, Phraccias came to Turriy to do business, and he found that Dionian wool was not only of high quality, but also cheap and abundant (because there were two excellent pastures in Lucania and Bruti), so he chose to settle down and became a citizen of Dionia, and began to convert to wool textiles, and soon his garment factory expanded dramatically by taking out a loan from the Kristoa Bank, abandoning the traditional model of the family workshop, and managing the fine division of labor in the large workshops. The wool carpets, ornate robes made of wool, and wool tunics were popular with the Dionian populace and were exported to other inland city-states, making him a great merchant.

Therefore, after hearing the words of Karma Mandes, he immediately retorted loudly, "Under the leadership of His Majesty Davers, when has our legion been defeated!" Expecting the defeat of the Kings is not the attitude that a Dionian citizen should have! ”

Faced with the disgruntled gazes of the others, Kalmandes hurriedly explained, "I...... I hope the army doesn't be too careless, because I've heard ...... I've heard that Rome is a very powerful city-state......"

"I heard that the army that went to Rome this time consisted of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth legions, as well as the first and second cavalry legions!" Sostatus interrupted him and exclaimed, "That's an army of nearly 60,000 men!" Ladies and gentlemen, I remember that even the Battle of Crotone and the later Battle of Brindisi (i.e., the battle with the Mapu coalition in the war waged by Davers for the conquest of Apulia) never sent so many soldiers! No matter how strong Rome is, how can it withstand such a powerful army as our Dionias! ”

"Sostatus is right, it's going to be another big win! No wonder you are so excited, Sebonus, it turns out that you have known the news for a long time, this time you will get a lot of cheap Latin slaves, and then make a lot of money! What are the rest of you waiting for?! ......" With Dick Polis's encouragement, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became lively.

Merchants pledged to follow King Davers' army to Latinum to open up a new trading base in central Italy for their industries.

In the midst of the cacophony of voices, a question from Forassias drew everyone's attention to Sostatus again: "President, are we the only merchants of Turiyi who follow the army to Latium?" ”

"Of course not." Sostatus' face showed a hint of helplessness, "And the merchant of Lijim...... For they also gave a great amount of food to the kingdom free of charge. ”

"Ouch......" everyone sighed in frustration.

At this time, Theos spoke, "You don't have to worry, Latin is a vast territory and many city-states, even if there are more Lijim merchants, there will still be enough profits for us to earn. Moreover, the merchants of Lijim are very different from us, most of their merchants are engaged in transshipment trade, warehousing and hotel services (this is due to the special geographical location of Lijim due to the barren land, narrow territory, and the special geographical location of the most important trade routes in the Mediterranean), while we rely on real goods to make profits, and there is no great conflict of interest between the two sides, on the contrary, we can strengthen cooperation......"

"Theos also has a point, I heard that the seaside city-states in the Latin region are small and poor due to economic backwardness and trade depression, and the ports can be handed over to these Lijim people who are the most proficient in port management to expand and manage. My men and slaves can also stay in their inns, and it will be much easier to have them in charge of transportation......" Cerberus's words dissipated the gloom on the merchants' faces a lot.

In fact, the addition of the Lijim merchants did not have much impact on most of the Turrij merchants, but there was still competition for a small number of people, such as the transportation and transshipment trade of the fleet, which was in direct competition with the main business of Sostatus.

But Sostatus is very big-minded and self-confident, and he has actually aimed at the transshipment trade of the fleet of the Lijim merchants for a long time, and wants to expand and improve his fleet by poaching people and acquisitions, and expand the channels of foreign marketing, but in the past, Lijim was a free city, and the Lijim merchants were monolithic, and it was difficult to approach, but now the city has been completely incorporated into the kingdom, and this expedition is convenient for him to get close to the Lijim merchants, and he believes that there will be a great harvest.

But for the shipbuilder Mikres, the addition of the Lijim merchant will be a lot of pressure, as he faces competition from King Davers's in-laws, Alcibidas.

When Mikris's cousin Enanilus was the commander of the Dionian Navy, Alcibidas's shipyard was invited by Davers to settle in Turiyi, due to the poor management of Enanilus, the quality of the ships and ordinary ships manufactured by the family shipyard declined, so it was robbed of a lot of share by the shipyard of Alcibidas, and his downfall made the shipwrights and laborers of the family shipyard panic, and as a result, many of them were poached by competitors.

By the time Mikrice took over, the efficiency of his shipyard was not as good as before, but fortunately, he made up his mind to strictly manage the shipyard and actively improve the technology, which greatly improved the quality of the ships and saved some shipbuilding shares, but it was far from being able to compete with the shipyards of Alcibidas. At this time, the Ministry of War also began to give orders to Mikris to build warships, and told him bluntly that this was the king's will. As a result, others believed that the family had been forgiven by King Davos, and began to reach out to Mikris, resulting in a huge increase in the sales of the ships he built, and the family that had been building ships for decades in Turiy was reinvigorated.