"How can there be money!" Gorgian burped, his face was slightly red, and he said with a little emotion: "Look at the roads of the kingdom are all smooth and wide!" Is every bridge made of stone, strong and durable! Isn't the arena in every town spectacular and luxurious! …… But do you need money to build them?! Do you need money to maintain them?! The kingdom has a vast territory and many towns, and in order to govern them well, it takes a large number of officials to devote themselves wholeheartedly, so do you need to pay them?! …… The maintenance of these expenses accounts for the lion's share of the treasury's expenditures, where is the excess money! The kingdom has worked hard to maintain such a good environment for its citizens, but how much tax do the citizens pay? ”

"Only 1% of the annual harvest!" One of the diners shouted, "These Ionian citizens are so happy!" I am from Delos, and my home country has once again been incorporated into the Athenian Maritime League, and Athens has forced us to give us money, which is 60% of my income! That's why I had to leave my mother country and come to live in Dionia. ”

"My mother country, Milos, was not the same, and I was forced to join the Peloponnesian League, and I had to pay Sparta a lot of tribute every year so that Sparta could cope with the Corinthian War and this time the Theban War, and every year I paid no less than 20% of my income. Last year's naval battle, Athens won a big victory, won the dominance of the Aegean Sea, my mother country took advantage of the situation to break away from Sparta, joined the Athenian maritime alliance, originally thought that life would be easier, but I didn't expect the Athenians to also ask for money, the tax rate has not changed, there is really no way, this is the Turiyi, alas......" Another diner also took over the conversation, pouring bitter water.

Their plight also resonated with other diners.

After a period of complaint, the man named Gorgian exclaimed, "Dionya is indeed a good place to live here compared to our former home state, and even though the treasury is so tight, His Majesty King Davos and his ministers still do not want to raise taxes on the people. But the 1% tax is indeed too little, and the life of the regular citizens is so good, why not take the initiative to pay a little more tax to help the kingdom solve this financial difficulty, so that it can form a frontier army composed of freemen, which also solves the problem of being sent to the border for a long time. ”

"Gorguion is right, these official citizens own so much land anyway, and a little more tax will not affect their lives?"

"If they don't even dare to pay more taxes, how can they still have the face to claim that they are warriors who protect the kingdom!" ……

The conversation quickly turned to the question of whether citizens should be allowed to pay more taxes to help the kingdom form a border army, and the conversation became more and more lively.

Massimus wasn't too concerned about the topic, but he noticed that every time the man named Gorgian spoke, the discussion became more intense.

Maximus wanted to hear them talk about "why the Registrar had suspended the registration of freedmen applying for citizenship," but until he had taken the porridge and haggis from the cook, the diners were still talking about the topic, and it was obvious that he himself was a newcomer to the house and could not have stirred up a new topic in an unfamiliar environment.

Finally, Gorgian only turned his gaze to Massimus, who was staring at him from time to time, as he left, and nodded to him with a smile.

Maximus, of course, nodded politely in return.

Seeing him walking away slowly, Massimus picked up the bowl and jar, got up and handed it back to the cook behind the counter, and asked intentionally or unintentionally, "The person who left just now greeted me, but unfortunately I didn't even know who he was." ”

"He's called Gorgian, he works as a clerk at the town hall of Turiyi, and I heard that he is about to become a full citizen, and he is very friendly to people, and knows a lot about people, and he is a frequent visitor to our place. He often said that although our shop is small, the quality of the wine is good, and the food is also very good...... "The cook was not wary at all, and said a lot of enthusiasm, and praised her small shop by the way."

When Massimus heard these words, the first thought that came to his mind was: should I also apply for a job at the town hall as a scribe or scribe?

Of course, it is necessary to think about how to earn money to support the family in the future, but the main problem at the moment is to set up the home first. But by the time the family walked out of the tavern on the street, it was already dark.

Judged by his experience in Rome and slave camps that all the shops in the outer city of Tourii must be closing, Massimus was shocked to see what he saw: many of the shops were lit with candles, the streets were still full of pedestrians, and the patrols were still patrolling......

Overjoyed to see the neighborhoods lit up by countless candles, the Massims family bought a bed and some fabrics in a furniture shop not far from where they rented, some candles from the candle shop next door, and some crockpots from the pottery shop...... In the end, I spent a little more money and entrusted the labor of the furniture store to move these things to my home.

After a period of busyness, this room has a new look.

Although Forvia looked a little tired, she kept wiping the sweat from her forehead, but her eyes flashed with happiness: "Massimus, we finally have a new home!" ”

Massimus looked at the two children who were making noise on the bed, and nodded wordlessly......

…………………………………………

There were more than a dozen military camps in the territory of the Dionian Kingdom, which served both as bases for military training of citizens and as military fortresses. Among these barracks, the Turii barracks is unique not only because it is the largest in size and has the largest number of citizens who participate in each training, but also because it has a unique function - to train officers.

In the past, the staff officers of the Ministry of Military Affairs mainly conducted actual combat training and study here, but after the Western Mediterranean War, Davers ordered that all middle-level officers who want to be promoted to senior officers must go through study and training and pass the examination before they can be promoted.

And the location of this training was also set at the Turii barracks, which made the aura of the Turii barracks even more dazzling in the Dionian army.

On this morning, the tactical training room of the Turiyi military camp was full of people, and in the center of the field were the two best performers in this group of senior cadets, Sextus and Patroclus, who were going to conduct a practical deduction assessment.

Chief of Staff Tomid (after the Western Mediterranean War, Felicius resigned as Chief of Staff and was replaced by him) coughed and said: "I declare the examination begins!" ”

There was a sudden silence in the room.

The referee, the commander of the second army, Mattonisto, came to the two people who were about to be assessed with a wooden disc and asked, "Who will throw it?" ”

Sextus modestly said, "Cross, you come first." ”

"Okay." Patroclus simply grabbed a square dice carved from sheep bones on the wooden plate and threw it gently.

"It's an even number." After seeing the results of the color roll, Matonis immediately gave an order: "Patroclus, you will attack next, and Sextus, you will be mainly responsible for defense, and you will be the color roll next." ”

Sextus cautiously grabbed the two dice and threw them upwards with all his might.

The two dice spun around the ground several times, and after seeing it clearly, Matonis said loudly, "It's nine!" ”

The other referee next to him, former chief of staff, Felicius, immediately picked up a table to look at it, and then said: "The tactical map of number 9 is a mountain with an average height of more than 300 meters, and there is a large river with a width of 50 meters. ”

As soon as Felicius finished speaking, it immediately caused a small discussion among the surrounding officers watching the battle, obviously such terrain is very favorable for the defending side.

At this time, a large wooden board map was placed between Patroclus and Sextus.

While the two of them carefully observed the map and began to think about the tactics that might be implemented, the chief referee and the four referees (they were at least all legion commanders, all of them had rich battlefield experience and outstanding achievements) also seized the time to whisper a discussion.

After a while, Tormid, the chief referee, stood up and said loudly: "In view of this tactical map, we finally decided after discussion that the strength of the defending side is 4,000 men, including 500 medium Samonai infantry, 1,500 Samonai light armor infantry, 1,500 Samonai javelinmen, and 500 Samonai spearmen...... The attacking side had 20,000 troops, 18,000 men from the two Ionian legions, 200 besieging troops, 500 Ionian cavalry, 500 mountain reconnaissance brigades, and 500 baggage battalions...... The defending side has a supply advantage, and the attacking side can only supply for 30 days because of the deep penetration into the enemy's territory, and the baggage is carried at one time, and the winner cannot be decided after 30 days, the attacking side is judged to be a loser! ”

While Tolmid was telling, both Patroclus and Sextus picked up the boards in their hands to record the data.

After he finished speaking, the two of them looked at the map and thought about it against the data on the wooden board.

"This is an example of the kingdom's attack on the mountains of Samonai, although the terrain is complex and the march is difficult, Patroclus has two kingdom legions, as long as he can find the main force of Samonai, he should be able to win."

"I don't think it's that simple, didn't the instructor say it when he lectured before, the combat effectiveness of the Samonai people is not weak, especially their javelinmen, and they are good at mountain combat, the reason why we were able to conquer them is because we have never really fought with the Samonai people in mountain battles, and several times we have eliminated their main force on the plains, and now Sextus can defend in the mountains with all his might, and the battle situation must be very different."