"He's not there?" Calistratus was both disappointed and a little skeptical.

"Your Highness led the army to Argos." Karias looked at each other, and his voice was exceptionally clear: "Because the Argos have decided to withdraw from the Greek alliance and surrender to our Dionia, His Highness has decided to personally go to appease them. ”

"When will Prince Klotocatax return?" Callistratus asked with an unchanged expression, as if he didn't care about Argos's surrender, but his heart sank: Argos surrendered? Is this true?!

As the second largest power of the Peloponnese, the surrender of Argos is actually reasonable, the Argos army in the previous Greek coalition insisted on going east, first back to the mother state, so it was separated from the main force of the Greek coalition led by Iphiclateus, and as a result, it was surrounded by the Dionian army in the territory of Tigoa, and more than 7,000 Argos soldiers were partially killed and more than half surrendered.

Printors then advised Klotocatax to send emissaries to Argos, demanding that they surrender or sell all the Argos captives into slavery in the western Mediterranean.

Although 3/4 of the young and middle-aged citizens of Argos fell into the hands of the Dionian army, the stubborn Argos showed hesitation and did not immediately agree. However, it was not long before they learned that "the Dionian army that had landed in Thessaly had invaded the region of Attica, and that the army led by Iphiclates had fled back to the city of Athens", that the Argos knew that the tide was turning, and they decided to surrender to Dionia.

"Your Highness should be back tomorrow." Karias suddenly said in an aggravated tone: "However, if Lord Callistratus is here to negotiate, there is no need to go to His Highness, because the officials of the Kingdom of Dioonia are in charge of their own duties, and the negotiation is under the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." Now, negotiations with the Greek city-states are in the hands of me, Karias, a diplomat of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia! ”

After hearing this, a smile appeared on his face again: "This is very good, Lord Karias and I are already old acquaintances, and it will be more convenient to discuss." ”

He coughed lightly, sat up straight, and said with a straight face: "The war between Athens and Dionya is actually not the intention of our Athenians. I believe you should know that the original Turii was a sub-state advocated by the great General Pericles and fully supported by the Athenian people, so many Athenian people have always believed that Dionya was gradually expanded from the original Turiyi, and they have a special affection for Dionia, even if they love to watch the play "The Dionians", it is mostly because of this feeling, otherwise why are there no plays depicting other city-states being created......

Although we were surprised by the landing of the Dionian army in Messenia and the subsequent attack on Sparta, they did not send emissaries to stop it, but on the contrary, many Athenians were happy, because Sparta, which had oppressed us, was being conquered by Dionia, who had some emotional connection with Athens, and it was a kind of revenge for Athens.

However, Dionya was a foreign nation after all, and your occupation of Sparta caused unease among the priests of Olympia and Delphi, who lobbied around for other city-states to make Dionya their enemy, and even affected many of Athenian's allies, which eventually led Athens to join the Greek alliance and declare war on Dionia......"

Callistratus sighed: "But the war was cruel, the vast amount of gold and silver in the Athenian treasury was rapidly consumed, the people's living materials were gradually scarce, and the young citizens were constantly killed and wounded...... The Athenian people have tasted the cruelty of war! I think it should be the same for the people of Dionia! So today, with the will of the Athenian people, I come here to solemnly propose that Athens is willing to stop the war with Dionya and restore peace! ”

Callistratus glanced at the other and saw that Carias was listening attentively, so he continued: "After the peaceful truce, Athens will recognize Dionia's existing arrangements for Messenia and Sparta, as well as Dionia's disposition of the city-states of Thessaly, and will also persuade Delphi and Olympia to accept Dionysa as a member of the Greek Holy League."

At the same time, Dionya was supposed to withdraw all its troops on the Greek mainland, and Dionia's fleet could no longer appear in the Aegean Sea.

If Dionya agreed to the above conditions, Athens was willing to sign a long-term peace and friendship agreement with Dionia, and was willing to open the trade market of Athens and its allies to Dionian merchants! ”

After hearing this, Karias blinked his eyes and said slowly: "This armistice proposed by Athens sounds good, and it reminds me of the friendship agreement that Dionya once signed with Sparta. But at that time, Dionya had to compromise with Sparta because of his strength, but the kingdom has developed to this day, and His Majesty has not allowed us to sign such a self-binding agreement-"

"Relying on force and blindly expanding aggression will only provoke the Greek people to revolt and ultimately lead to defeat!" Callistratus persuaded sternly: "Only friendly exchanges and peaceful trade can make the city-state stable and prosperous!" ”

Carias smiled: "Isn't it because of your Athens' continuous expansion on the sea that caused Sparta's worries, and eventually led to the Peloponnesian War?" ”

Instead of arguing, Callistratus said in a deep voice: "You are right, it is precisely because of the mistakes made by Athens that we should learn a lesson today and avoid making the same mistakes again." ”

Karias was speechless for a while, he drank the syrup water in the wooden cup in one gulp, and then said bluntly: "Let me tell you clearly, Dionya cannot agree to this condition you proposed, if Athens wants to negotiate an armistice with Dionia, I have a truce request prepared by His Majesty the King himself, and Argos agreed to this request, so Dionya and it quickly turned from enemies to friends, do you want to hear it?" ”

Callistratus said with a solemn expression: "Please speak." ”

"Athens must dissolve its alliance and join the new Greek alliance led by Dionia, and peace will be achieved at once, as simple as that," said Karias. ”

As soon as Karias's words fell, Karalistratus said in a loud voice: "Your demands are too harsh, and Athens will never agree!" Most of the allies of Athens were children of Athens, and they were related to the people of Athens by blood, and the people of Athens could not agree—"

"Alright! The Greeks used to say, 'The stick of Sparta, the tongue of Athens.'" 'I have seen your eloquence myself in the city of Athens, and I do not want to hear you any more. Karias interrupted him and said in a resolute tone: "This is a request made by His Majesty, and it is impossible to change it!" If you don't agree, you can only go back and continue the war with us, we don't care. ”

Calias directly tried to meet the dagger, so that Callistratus did not have the calmness when they first met, he felt bitter in his heart, but he still wanted to fight for it again: "I can't agree to these conditions you put forward, I must return to Athens, put forward them in the assembly of 500 people, discuss and reach an agreement with the councilors, and then go through the plenary discussion and approval of the citizens' assembly before I can give you a positive answer, this process will take about five or six days...... Could the Ionian army be allowed to suspend the offensive against Athens until Athens gave a final answer? In order to ensure that your request is accepted by the citizens of Athens relatively smoothly. ”

"It's impossible!" Karias categorically refused: "I am only in charge of diplomatic negotiations, and I cannot influence the command of the army commander, if you want to make Athens suffer less damage, it is better to hurry up and give an answer!" ”

Seeing that the other party did not eat oil and salt, although he was disappointed, he did not see anything unusual on his face, he stood up and said helplessly: "Okay, I will convey your request to the people of Athens as soon as possible." ”

After saying that, he walked out of the tent, walked a few steps, but couldn't help but turn around, and said solemnly: "I think you should be prepared, the citizens of Athens who advocate freedom are likely to oppose your demands, so the citizens of Athens will unite and defend the city of Athens and the port of Piraeus with all their might!" During the Peloponnesian War, the Spartan coalition failed to break through the city of Athens for more than ten years, and the war between Dioonia and Athens was bound to be protracted, which would be a disaster for both countries at that time! ”

Karias said confidently, "Thank you for the reminder! The reason why His Majesty the King dared to put forward such a condition has made us fully prepared for all kinds of preparations, and we are convinced that the final victory will belong to Dionia! And are you Athens ready for everything? Also, I would like to remind you that the Carthaginian envoys came to negotiate with us like you, but they were unable to make a decision, and when Carthage had to surrender in the end, they paid a higher price, and I hope that Athens will not repeat the mistakes of Carthage! ”

Callistratus wanted to say something, but found that he had nothing to say, so he silently walked out of the tent.

When he walked out of the barracks, he couldn't help but turn his head and look back: the new Greek alliance led by Dionia?! …… The decision made at the beginning was not wrong, Dioonia really had great ambitions for Greece itself, and wanted to replace Sparta as the new overlord of Greece! It's a pity......

Calistratus turned to look at the city of Corinth in front of him, stone bullets kept smashing on the city wall, the roaring sound made him feel frightened, and he began to worry about whether the walls of Athens could continue to withstand such an attack: yes, but it is a pity that for a powerful kingdom that can send 100,000 elite troops and thousands of warships, Athens's previous efforts may be in vain, what should I do next?

There was endless confusion in Calistratos' lonely eyes......