Of these merchants in Turiy, Theos had the closest contact with officials, especially the Ministry of War, and he was now a relative of the king.

"I don't have the inside information." Theos said seriously: "To tell you the truth, don't you don't like to hear it, your brother doesn't have any amazing achievements, and according to the seniority of the legion commander, it is generally difficult for him to become a veteran in a situation like him, but because of you, he has a great chance to ......"

"Me?!" Sostatus was a little puzzled.

Theos reminded him softly: "You have provided great help for the expansion of the kingdom in the past, take the Greek War as an example, you have organized a large number of ships for the transportation of troops to Greece and Thessaly, and you have continuously helped to transport baggage, and even in the later period, the supply of military food is a little difficult...... You also did such things in the Gallic Wars, and the War Department should not forget it. If you can get the Ministry of War to agree to push your brother into the Senate, then your brother will have absolutely no problem becoming a senator. ”

Sostatus's eyes lit up, he knew that the military senators were an important force in the Senate, and if he had the support of the military department, this would definitely be possible.

With a happy face, he pulled Theos to the living room in the backyard, ready to talk to him in detail.

Due to the needs of business, Sostatus's house had two dining rooms, one in the front yard to entertain the merchants of his vast distribution network, and the living room in the back yard to receive important guests.

After sitting down, Theos talked to him about something else with a serious expression: "Sostatus, have you done these things to Dickpolis too much?" ”

Sostatus was not surprised, he was prepared for Theos to mention this matter, and immediately defended: "You have definitely wronged me, I have no grudge against Lord Dickpolis, on the contrary, I respect him very much, the position of president of the Turriyi Chamber of Commerce was humbly conceded to me by him, and I am not a person who will take revenge, you see, in recent years, my fleet has transported the pottery produced by his workshop to Greece and Ionia to be sold, and the sales volume has increased every year, which has helped him open up the market. I made a lot of money for him, and if I had a grudge against him, would I do it? ”

Theos groaned, "...... But you brought in pottery from Athens and sold it in Turiyi, and now many officials and wealthy people are more willing to buy your pottery, resulting in a great decline in the sales of Dickpolis's pottery in Turiyi...... Sostatus, our Chamber of Commerce once had a rule that 'prohibits malicious competition between members of the Chamber of Commerce', and you, as the current president of the Chamber of Commerce, should take this lead......"

Hearing these words, Sostatus suppressed the anger rising in his heart, and he said a little unceremoniously: "Lord Theos, I know that you and Dickpolis are good friends, but you can't speak for him regardless of the facts, the price of the pottery I sell is more than twice as expensive as his pottery, how can this be called vicious competition?!" And it's because of him that I don't import too much pottery, and it's just sold in Turiyi, which is already the biggest concession I can make, so he's still dissatisfied, what else does he want me to do?! ”

Theos hesitated for a moment, sighed and said, "...... We've been friends for decades, and you're a big businessman with deep pockets, distributing so many kinds of goods, so why should the relationship between the two of you be so stiff because of pottery......"

"Theos, I have always respected you as a person, but what you said today is not right!" Sostatus's anger overflowed: "What is the reason why you all expect me to sell your goods to the Eastern Mediterranean in large quantities, but you do not allow me to sell them in the kingdom?!" If you do this, then I will go and ask His Majesty Davers to tell him that Dickpolis and you strongly urge that goods produced outside the kingdom should not be sold in the region of Turiy!" ”

"Huh...... Eh, that's not what I meant. Theos hastened to argue: "You see, since you introduced Athenian pottery to Turiy for sale, not only the upper echelons of the kingdom are willing to use it, but I have heard that even Your Majesty wants to buy it from you, and this will inevitably form a trend. If this continues, Dickpolis's pottery sales in the kingdom will inevitably decline greatly, and you also know that Dickpolis has built pottery workshops in many towns in the kingdom, and it will be difficult for him to maintain such a large scale at that time, and he may even face bankruptcy ......"

Sostatus put on a solemn face and said: "After the Greek War, Your Majesty once asked the Ministry of Commerce to convene a meeting of the presidents of the chambers of commerce in various towns, at which he specifically proposed that 'for the local Greek merchants who are going to come to the kingdom to do business, they must not be excluded and suppressed, but should be helped as much as possible. ”

Theos nodded helplessly.

"I'm also carrying out His Majesty's orders!" "In recent years, I have not only sold Athenian pottery in the Turiyi region, but also Corinthian ironware, Greek stone, Thessalian horses, Athenian gold and silver products...... Why didn't you protest to me, Inipios didn't protest to me...... What about Dick Polis's dissatisfaction with me? Because his pottery was not as good as Athenian pottery, he was afraid of competition! ”

Tios said in a gentle tone: "Over the years, Dickpolis has been working hard to improve the quality of pottery, and even improved the process of making pottery...... You and I know all this, but Athenian pottery has been developed for hundreds of years, and the roots are so deep that Dickpolis's workshop cannot be surpassed in a short time......

His Majesty wanted to win over the native Greek merchants, and he also wanted the kingdom's market to be more diverse, to increase competition, and to give the people more choices, and not to have an exclusive monopoly...... I also understand all this, but if Athenian pottery sells well in the kingdom, it will only push Dickpolis, who is still struggling, to a dead end, and I don't think this is what His Majesty wants to see. ”

Sostatus was in his heart, and immediately said: "As the president of the Turriy Chamber of Commerce, of course, I will not deliberately harm the interests of the members of the Chamber of Commerce, I have been selling Athenian pottery in Turriy for more than two years, and I have always kept its sales very low, and the introduction of high-quality products is very high, and the price is very high, and the trade of ordinary pottery is still occupied by Dickpolis, and it does not pose a great threat to him." And I have long been aware of this problem, and have offered to talk to Dickpolis about it several times, but he has turned me away several times and made me a joke of the people of Turii, and I am sure you can't have not heard it! Sostatus looked aggrieved.

Theos was silent for a moment: how could he not know that the stammering relationship between Sostatus and Dikpolis had become an after-dinner joke among the entire Turiyi people. He didn't want to care about this tricky matter, but several friends in the Chamber of Commerce asked him one after another, and he didn't want to see the originally united Turii Chamber of Commerce continue to quarrel so far, so he intervened.

At this moment, he had to sincerely persuade again: "Dick Polois's refusal to negotiate with you has led to the intensification of the problem, which is of course his fault!" However, it is not without reason that he is angry with you, of course he understands that we are only allowed to take the goods to Greece for sale, and it is impossible not to allow Greek merchants to buy and sell on the land of the kingdom, but other kingdom merchants will not have any opinions on the introduction of Athenian fine pottery, only you can't, because your sales channels are too wide!

You see, it didn't take much time for you to help Athenian pottery open up the sales channels of the upper echelons of the kingdom, and even if Dickpolis was desperately trying to improve the quality of his pottery, he couldn't keep up with you selling pottery as fast as you could, and you even sold pottery to the royal family—"

"Wait a minute!" Sostatus interrupted him: "Your Majesty wanted to buy the Athenian pottery I sold, and it was not recommended by me, but it was the court director Ribazo who came to me on his own initiative, and repeatedly told me that the name of the pottery merchant with whom I worked was mentioned several times, I guess...... His Majesty has known about this countryman of his. ”

"Your Majesty's countrymen?!"

"Yes, the pottery merchant's name is Heskrus, and he is a Peleus......" Sostatus said slowly, as he tried to remember, "I remember when I went to visit my brother-in-law Shiros, and I met this Peleus merchant at a banquet, and it was the new Thessalian intelligence chief Gorguion who introduced him to me......"

Now it was Theos' turn to get nervous: the Peleus merchant...... Recommended by the Director of Intelligence...... The upper echelons of Turiyi know that the Kingdom Intelligence Department is mainly for His Majesty Davers!

Theos immediately asked, "This He...... Hesklaus is a relative of His Majesty in Peleus?! ”

"I don't know." Sostatus spread his hands and shrugged: "I don't think even Lord Ribazol himself knows, but if His Majesty doesn't know, no one knows." ”

Theos's brows furrowed and he fell into deep thought, and after a while, he said solemnly: "It seems that I can't blame you for this matter, but as the president of the Turii Chamber of Commerce, you should understand that if the conflict between you and him is not resolved as soon as possible, it will have too much impact on the Chamber of Commerce if it continues...... In this way, he will come over in a while, I will convince him first, and then I will be the mediator, and you will negotiate with him again, and both sides will make some concessions, and we will try to resolve this conflict tonight, what do you think? ”

"That's exactly what I wanted." Sostatus replied with some confusion: "But is Dickpolis here today?" My servant told me that he did not respond to my invitation. ”