Chapter 4 The Turiyi Stone Mine
But at the same time, the slave camps also accept some private employment, and the surplus labor is temporarily rented out, and part of the gold and silver earned is handed over to the slave management office, part is used for the camp's own expenses, and a small part is used for the wages paid to the slaves (according to the regulations, slaves who have worked in the camp for half a year can be paid a certain amount of monthly wages according to their labor performance, although the wages paid are far lower than the wages of normal employees in the market, but it also greatly promotes the enthusiasm of slaves in their work, lowered their sense of resistance).
Although the Slave Administration Department has a clear price for private employment of public servants engaged in all kinds of labor, and does not allow employment for more than one month, the demand for this kind of temporary employment is still very strong, such as various festivals have led to a surge in foreign tourists, and various restaurants, hotels, and shops are short of manpower; For example, during the autumn harvest, it will also lead to a shortage of labor in private households...... An important reason why short-term employment is very popular is that the cost is lower than that of normal employees.
But because of the high demand, the camps were often a major financial target for the Ombudsman and Tribune, and over the past 10 years, dozens of officials in the Turij slave camps have been severely punished for embezzlement and bribery.
The reason why the slave camp management office will write all kinds of employee information, needs and specific numbers in detail on the black wooden board is that on the one hand, it is hoped that the slaves will voluntarily sign up according to their own situation after seeing the information, for example, Christoya's restaurant needs to temporarily hire 4 slaves who can keep accounts, so the applicants need to have a certain arithmetic ability and be able to write Greek characters, and the slaves can make judgments according to their own circumstances; On the other hand, in addition to receiving a little extra remuneration from the Administration, the slaves who are often hired will be given priority by the Camp Administration, after all, this fully shows that they have been able to integrate into the life of the kingdom.
This forced the slaves in the camp to take the initiative to learn the Dionian script and language. (There are specialized schools in the camp that teach the language and script, but you have to pay a fee), which is a very good means of assimilation.
Massimus subconsciously looked at the contents of these billboards as he passed them, which was already his habit, as long as he stayed in the camp and had no tasks, he would come to the playground to check the signs to see if there was any work to do. As the head of the family, he not only has a wife, but also has two minor children, although the canteen also provides the children with a little free food, but that food is not enough to meet the needs of the children's growth, and he needs to spend money from the camp shops to buy food to satisfy the children's appetite.
In addition, as a former Roman nobleman, Massimus not only longed for freedom, but he also longed for the children to develop well in this new kingdom after gaining freedom, so he had to let the children learn the Dionian script and language from now on, but this required money, so he was hardly idle, and worked as a private servant many times, which also deepened his understanding of this kingdom.
Today's signboard is the same as in the past, there is nothing superfluous, there is only one thing - that is, to encourage the slaves to work hard to complete the task of expanding the main temple of Turi Ihades, and when the task is completed, the slaves who behave well will be given priority to be rewarded with freedom, etc.
Marcimus was not thrilled by this, because he knew that according to the regulations, the public servants generally had to work for four years before they were eligible to be free, and whether they could be free depended on their past performance and whether they could be recognized by the management office, and his own years were not enough.
Hundreds of slaves had already gathered in the square, and the arrival of Massimus delighted some of them, who greeted him one after another.
The foreman also came over and asked with concern, "Are you well?" ”
"It's already done."
"Don't hold on, if something happens, I'll have to be implicated."
"It's really good."
"Okay, you're still on your old team." As soon as the foreman finished speaking, the slaves beside him cheered.
The foreman patted Massimus on the shoulder and turned to leave.
The reason why the foreman had a good attitude towards Massimus was because in the slave camp, the foreman was the direct person in charge of managing the slaves and supervising the work of the slaves, they were all hired by the camp, and they were free citizens and temporary citizens who applied to join the kingdom, and they often had to manage hundreds of slaves alone, and the performance of the slaves also determined whether they could receive additional remuneration and rewards and become full citizens in advance.
In order to facilitate management, they often divided the slaves under their control into more than a dozen teams, and selected the most capable ones as captains to assist him in managing the slaves well. These captains were often the first to be selected by the slave administration for freed slaves, so they were mutually beneficial.
After the foremen counted the number of slaves, the detachment leader from the barracks instructed the soldiers to escort the hundreds of slaves to the mine.
It's the end of April, the annual Marriage Day celebration for the goddess Hera has begun, the rainy season is coming to an end, and the day is getting brighter and earlier. Even though the slaves got up early and set out early, they could still see some farmers tending their fields as they braved the rising sun.
And these farmers were not surprised to see such a large group of people passing by, and some of them even shouted loudly: "Hey, I wish you all the best today, and dig more stones for the temple!" ”
The slaves soon crossed the stone bridge over the Koseni River, a branch of the Kratti River, into the delta region of Turiyi.
Passing through here in the early morning, they could always hear the clear and loud voices coming from the high walls not far to the east, and they knew that it was the students of the so-called "Dionian Academy" reading or practicing their speeches, and most of the slaves were accustomed to it, and only a few would cast longing glances at it.
The slaves crossed the stone bridge and turned westward, the ground getting higher and higher, and the ground gradually became uneven, except for the road paved with stone bricks and cement beneath their feet. But in fact, the road surface will collapse and crack after years of being crushed by carts carrying stone and copper ore, but the maintenance of it by the Turiyi Construction Department is relatively timely, and this has also prompted construction officials and craftsmen to continuously improve the road construction process, find better materials, and improve the hardness and load-bearing capacity of the road.
After a stretch of the road, it diverges north and south, with the northwest leading to the copper mine and the southwest road leading to the quarry. Normally, when they arrived here, the slaves would be divided into two parts, but during this time, due to a special mission, all the slaves of the kingdom of Turiyi were gathered to mine stones, so the foremen led all the slaves to the southwest road together.
It didn't take long to reach the foot of the mountain, where the hard stone road ended, and in front of it was a valley carved out by hand, and the open space that could accommodate thousands of people was scattered with many stones of different shapes, as well as countless pieces of wood and tools piled on the side.
The clearing was surrounded by towering hills, their green lichens stripped of their green lichens, revealing rocky mountains as white as snow, the closest part of the valley had been carved straight by years of mining, and the walls reflected a soft white light in the morning light.
This is the marble mine of Turii, and the marble excavated from it was considered by the Greeks and Ionians to be the main stone most suitable for the construction of the temple.
At this time, a few people came out of the valley, led by a middle-aged man with a burly figure and a dignified appearance, but it was a pity that he was missing a left hand, which was quite regrettable. The bodies of several people behind him were also somewhat mutilated, but none of the foremen dared to show disdain, but greeted respectfully.
Aristagras is the name of this man, 20 years ago he was a slave of the owner of this stone mine, because of his prestige among the mining slaves and was appointed by his master as a foreman, the Crotone people conquered Turiyi, the master's family was destroyed, and later the Dionian League was established, he was freed, and several times as a baggage laborer to fight with the Dionian army, a few years later he became a Dionian citizen and joined the Dionian First Legion. However, after landing in Sicily and fighting with the army of Syracuse at Meyaro, he was seriously wounded and fortunately survived by the doctors, but his left hand was amputated and he could no longer serve in the army.
However, with the rewards and pensions he received, he bought a few more slaves and farmed at home, and his life would not be too bad. What's more, with his military exploits, he can run for the village head, and then step by step from the village head, the mayor of Demo, the town official, and the city administrator by virtue of his political achievements...... Eventually, he may even become a member of the kingdom, as in the case of King Davers's relative, Palian Doros (Cynthia's father-in-law), and some citizens who were disabled by his service were inspired to follow this path to politics. If he doesn't want to tire himself too hard, he can also choose to run for the tribune to protect his own interests and those of the villagers.
Of course, if he wants to make his life better, he can also write to the Kingdom Soldiers' Council and apply for a job in the Legion's weapons shop. This legion weapons shop was originally established at the suggestion of Davers, and it repaired and modified the weapons, armor and other trophies obtained on the battlefield and sold them on the market, and part of the profits obtained were used for the bereavement of the dead and wounded soldiers, and also to solve the future livelihood of some disabled soldiers.
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