"Plato is indeed a great scholar, I have read his "Ideal State", which completely shocked me with his exposition of the various systems of the city-state and the conception of the ideal city-state!" Fosterkada's heartfelt praise made the young people look at him kindly, and he continued, "But he will soon be invited to the Dionian Academy." ”

What the?! The students were shocked, some hurriedly looked at Plato, others shouted in disbelief, "You liar! ”

"Calm down, my student! Jealousy and insecurity blind you and make you unable to think rationally, so what is the use of learning so much! Plato's reprimands made the youth a little ashamed.

He turned to Forstkada again and said, "Knowledge is for you to improve yourself and observe the world, not to show off!" ”

Fostercada was shocked when he heard this, and quickly admitted his mistake frankly: "What you said is right, I did it wrong!" ”

Plato's face softened, he picked up the letter in his hand, and asked, "I want to know whose proposal is the All-Greek Scholar's Congress mentioned in this letter?" How does it work? Who did you invite? ”

After being drunk by Plato, Fostercada was respectful and did not dare to slack off, and after thinking about it carefully, he replied: "It turns out that our Dionian Kingdom has the "Great Greek Medical Forum" held every year, and later the Dean of the School of Mathematics, Mentotik Ayrs, founded the "Great Greek Mathematical Seminar", and then Mr. Ansitanos held the "Historical Seminar...... After Mr. Gorkia came, he also proposed to hold a "Philosophy Seminar" at the beginning of this year, and after King Davers knew about it, he thought that many scholars were proficient in many subjects, and that all the colleges in the kingdom were engaged in academic seminars, which were not only repetitive, time-consuming, energy-consuming, and inefficient, but also the scope of scholars invited was too narrow, mainly in Italy and Sicily. Therefore, he proposed the creation of an "All-Greece Academic Exchange", inviting famous scholars from all over Greece to participate in the conference to exchange knowledge and discuss the mysteries of nature and human beings.

I remember that His Majesty once said a sentence that was widely circulated in our school garden. He said, 'The spark of wisdom is produced in collision, and the truth becomes clearer and clearer the more it is argued.' ’”

When Forscada said this, Plato's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but be moved.

Fostercada continued: "As far as I know, this congress will consist of two parts. Some of them are scholars who give lectures on one or more topics according to their areas of knowledge, and there will be many students, people, and even scholars who will observe. The other part is the exchange of debates between scholars, which also allows a small number of students to sit in and ask questions......

This time, we sent invitations to all the famous scholars from all over Greece. I don't know exactly who the scholars were, but at least I know that there were Antisthenes, Isocrates, and Theaetus in Athens. Because I'm going to deliver letters to them. ”

At the mention of Antisthenes, Plato frowned slightly.

Spicippus, who was next to him, asked urgently, "This All-Greek Scholars Conference of Dionysia...... Can we go too?! ”

Fostercada smiled and said, "Of course. Dionya welcomes all young people from all over Greece who love, respect and desire knowledge to participate in this all-Greek academic event in Turiy! ”

At this point, he respectfully asked Plato, "Have you made your decision?" ”

Plato stroked his long beard, nodded and said, "I have long wanted to travel to the kingdom of Dionia, which has a unique form of government. It's a good opportunity, I'll be there on time! ”

Receiving a definite reply, and quickly receiving a reply from Plato's Books, Fostercada immediately removed the package from his shoulder, and opened it on the stone bench, listening only to the metallic sound of "bang-la-la-la", which was full of silver coins with white flowers.

Facing Plato's astonished gaze, Fostercada said earnestly: "His Majesty Davers said, 'Knowledge is priceless, and the time and energy of a scholar are very valuable. Therefore, these 500 silver coins of the Kingdom of Dionya are given to you in return to this meeting, and this also includes the cost of your return to Athens, so please accept it!

Once you've arrived in Turiyi, you'll have your accommodation and food arranged by Dioonia College, so you don't have to worry. And also...... Be sure to take this letter of invitation with you when you go to Turiyi, in case a ship from Sparta or another city-state intercepts it, just show it to them, and they will let it go, and we in Dionyas have communicated with these city-states beforehand......"

"You've been so thoughtful!" When Plato heard these words, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: Obviously, Dionya knew what had happened to him before, so he had such a special explanation.

Six years earlier, when Plato had traveled to Syracuse, he had been intercepted by Spartan warships as he had been departed by civil strife in Syracuse. At that time, the Corinthian war was not yet over, and the Spartan generals, who were angry with the Athenians, took the famous Athenian scholar and sold him as a slave, and if it had not been for his immediate rescue by his friends, he would still be digging in a mine...... This terrible experience also made him afraid to go to the Western Mediterranean, and when the news of the "Treaty between Dioonia and Sparta" reached Athens, most of the Athenians scolded Dionya as a traitor (because the old Turii was built on the initiative of Athens, and the Athenians thought that Dionya should support Athens). This also affected Plato's mood, so that he still did not travel to the most powerful kingdom in the Western Mediterranean.

This time, he can finally make up for this regret......

………………………………

In the King's Chamber at the Dionian Palace, the five rotating presidents of the Senate gathered together with the Minister of Commerce, Marigi, the Minister of Finance, Mersis, and the Supreme Inspector, Sesta.

Davers looked at them and said solemnly, "I invited you here this time because I wanted to discuss with you a few important things in advance. At the beginning of the year, some of you attended the Assembly of the Kingdom of Ionia and the Assembly of the Tribunes, and those who did not attend should have heard of it...... Many representatives of local councillors and tribunes have raised the issue of 'senators accepting gifts from citizens and foreigners', especially those who are chief executives. They also repeatedly mentioned the 'treason of Polyxis and now the case of Laodisian', hoping that we can do something about it, and I promised them to change this issue, and now it's time to make good on that promise! What are your thoughts on this? ”

Everyone looked at each other, and their faces were solemn, and most of them did not expect that Davers had summoned them today to discuss this thorny issue.

There was silence in the hall for a while, and Cornerus, the leading figure of the Senate after the death of Cuno Gorata, had to stand up first and speak: "Your Majesty, since the establishment of Dionia, it has been the right and duty of a citizen of the kingdom to hold public office, and at first there was no need to pay any salary. But today, not only the middle and low-level officials, but even the laborers who transported the baggage, the jailers who supervised the criminals, and the sentinels who guarded the fortresses were paid, but the senators of the entire kingdom did not. Because this is a noble position, the senators are at the service of the whole country and its citizens, and should not be like low-level officials who are paid by the pounds.

But...... I remember that when the League was first established, there were no major events, and usually there would be a big meeting of the Senate in five or six days, and the rest of the time I would be able to take care of the fields with the slaves at home. But now that the Kingdom is so big and so many things to do, we have meetings in the Great Council Hall almost every day to discuss the Kingdom and pass bills, and where do we have the time and energy to increase our income for our own families. Although, according to the laws of Dionia, for every time the land acquired in the war, our patriarchs will receive no more or less. However, after all, the income from the land is limited, and it is often affected by the climate and soil, and many of the elders who do not know how to run the household are even worse than the officials at the bottom......

"You're saying it's reasonable for the patriarchs to receive gifts?" Davers asked softly, with a calm expression.

Cornerus was so nervous that he couldn't speak for a moment.

"Your Majesty, Lord Cornerus is telling the truth." Lucias took over and defended Cornerus: "The position of the senator is noble, but the senator is also a human being, and they also have desires, and they also want to be able to eat good food, drink good wine, and wear gorgeous clothes, although money does not reflect a person's nobility, but we can imagine that when an old man in distress meets a rich merchant who is dressed in splendid botons, fine gold and silver jewelry, and is followed by four or five slaves, who is more like a senator in the eyes of the people?"

Therefore, the reason why Laordisian was so popular among the senators in the first place was because he was generous and often invited the senators to banquets...... This is why there are so many people vying for every vacancy in the Administrator, because as the Administrator, they have more opportunities to accept gifts from the local people to increase their income and enable them to live like the wealthy citizens of Dionia. ”

"Is it because we want to live in luxury that we can accept gifts from foreign envoys and outsiders, and speak well of them at the Senate meetings! Your Majesty, Laodisien is but an unlucky bastard, and it is not uncommon for him to throw out some suggestions in the Senate that are not at all detrimental to the kingdom and seek benefits for the Gentiles! I have long felt that this problem should be solved, and this time, since the reaction of the people is so great, we can take the opportunity to prevent the patriarchs from accepting gifts from others, and punish those who violate them! Supreme Ombudsman Sesta suggested with a serious expression.