Originally, Ocleton was ready to be teased, but he didn't expect Haka to explain, which gave him a little confidence in today's talks, so he smiled and said: "Even the Carthaginians almost all admit that Dionia's medical skills are the highest in the entire western Mediterranean, so of course the advice they gave you is correct, you look healthy now!" ”

"Dionya is better than Carthage in many ways, not just in medicine." Haka's tone remained flat: "But for you, it's better to hope that I live a few more years, because it's good for Carthage." ”

Haka's words lifted Ocleton's spirits, and he seemed to sense Haka's kindness to Carthage.

"You may be seated, Lord Ocriton." Haka pointed to the opposite side of the pool and said, "There is another reason why I invited you to meet in the bathroom, the Turiyi people think that bathing is the best time to talk, because both sides are honest and have nothing to hide." ”

Ocliton nodded, and without further hesitation, stepped directly into the pool, and sat down on the stone bench in the pool.

"A glass of wine? This is the best wine produced by the Turi Ioriffis family, its production is not much, usually not available in the market, I have given these cans to His Majesty, saying that it is good for health to drink a little during the bath......"

Ocliton wanted to refuse, but after listening to the latter words, he changed his mind: "Then have a drink." ”

The slave standing by the pool poured a glass of wine.

After Okriton took it, he took a sip, and suddenly felt sweet and sour, and couldn't help but sigh: "How comfortable it is to be able to soak in comfortable water every day and drink such a good wine!" Lord Haka, I envy you! ”

Hakka said calmly: "This kind of life can be fully enjoyed by the Carthaginians, but you are still clinging to the past and cannot accept the reality. ”

Haka's words were a little vague, and Ocliton couldn't accurately grasp the meaning for a while, so he tentatively asked, "......What do you mean?"

Haka didn't respond directly, but instead asked: "I know that the Carthaginian nobles have also developed the habit of bathing in the past 10 years, but what do you think is the difference between Dionia and Carthage in terms of bathing?" ”

Although he didn't know why Haka asked this, Okriton thought about it seriously, and then replied: "We Carthaginians take a bath, remove the previous tedious links, and directly soak in the hot pool, and then massage, scrape, ...... body."

"Actually, the very things that were removed by the Carthaginians were the intention of the Dionians to invent bathing, which they considered to be a good exercise for exercising the body, while the Carthaginians only saw it as a pleasure." Without waiting for Ocriton's response, Haka scooped up a handful of water with his hand and asked, "Do you know where this water came from?" ”

"The slaves, of course, fetched water." If he were in Carthage, Ocleton would have said this, but here he felt that it was not so simple, so he replied very simply: "I don't know." ”

"It came to the house on its own."

Haka's answer surprised Okriton slightly: "The town hall of Turii has built a pool in your house?!" ”

According to Ocleton, the Dioonians built viaducts to bring water from rivers into the city, pools in important areas of the city that covered a wide area, and closed channels to supply the people of the city with these pools and water.

"It's not a pool, it's a hollow pipe as thick as a spear shaft made by the Dionian Construction Department and the ironsmiths using copper as the main raw material, which is directly connected to the water tower, and then buried under the ground and extends to my kitchen...... His Majesty Davers named it the water pipe, and the servants did not have to go to the nearby pool to fetch water, but only turned on the switch of the water pipe, and the water flowed out naturally...... "Haka said quite complacently.

Ocliton looked amazed, but he also realized: "This kind of water pipeline uses copper as the main raw material, and the cost of copper materials and expenses should not be a small amount, right?" ”

"It's a lot of money, but it's all paid by the tenant who applies for the installation of the pipes, and the cost of water is paid on a monthly basis (the water in the public pool is free), because the waterworks management department has also designed a device that calculates the amount of water used by the household...... Even if the cost is not low, there are still many citizens who have learned the news and asked to apply for the installation of water pipes, but it has only just started operation, and the consumption of copper is too large, so it is only installed in the inner city for the time being.

There was a suggestion to 'make water pipes with cheaper and more abundant lead.' 'You also know that the newly acquired regions of Corsica and southern Iberia had a lot of lead mines, but His Majesty criticized this proposal very harshly, saying that 'lead is very harmful to the human body when dissolved in water.' Now ironsmiths are working on cheaper and more durable materials for making water pipes, such as tin as the main raw material...... Because once it is developed, you can make a lot of profit just by relying on the fees obtained from the patent, and perhaps in a few years you will be able to see the water pipes in the homes of wealthy citizens in other towns of the kingdom of Dionia......"

After Haka finished speaking, he saw that Ocriton was listening intently, so his expression gradually became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "Because of the glory of Carthage in the Western Mediterranean in the past, the Carthaginians have always proudly considered their home country to be the best country in the Western Mediterranean, with the best culture in the Western Mediterranean, and even other races are barbarian natives in the eyes of the Carthaginians.

I had this pride when I was in Iberia, but when I came to Turie, and stayed here for more than a year, the pride in my heart was gone, and Dionia, though a new kingdom, was much better than Carthage!

I believe that when you enter the mouth of the Klatty River, everything you see in your eyes will also make you think that just one city of Turii is already much more powerful than Carthage, not to mention that the Kingdom of Dionya also has Crotone, Catanay, Rome, Syracuse...... These are not inferior to the great cities of Carthage, they are not Utica.

Although Utica is an important ally of Carthage, it may not obey the orders of the Carthaginian Senate at a critical moment because of its own interests, but all the towns in the Kingdom of Dionya are under the direct jurisdiction of His Majesty the King and the Senate, and when the war occurs, all the manpower and financial resources can be concentrated and fight the enemy with all their might, which is the main reason why Dionya was able to defeat Carthage in the Western Mediterranean War.

And after the defeat of that war, the power of Dionya has skyrocketed, and Carthage has weakened to the point that it may not even be as good as Catanay, and in such a situation of great disparity in strength, you are still resisting-"

"We don't have any intention of fighting Dionia!" Ocliton was shocked and quickly defended: "We just want to live our own lives!" But now those lowly East Numibians are frequently harassing our territory, and if it were not for the peace agreement signed between Carthage and Dionys, and the East Numibians are allies of Dionia, we would have gathered a large army to attack these hateful Numibian tribes! ”

Haka showed a sneer: "Didn't you fight back? No, you have fought against the Numibians, but you have been defeated. ”

"It was just a ...... In a small battle, we wanted to teach the Numibians a lesson and make them retreat, but we didn't expect them to send so many warriors......" Ocleton defended himself.

"Since that's the case......," Haka said unhurriedly as he opened his arms, grabbed the edge of the pool, and said unhurriedly, "I may suggest to Your Majesty that you choose to ignore your attack on the Numibians." ”

Ocliton didn't expect Haka to reply, and he was speechless for a moment.

Haka took advantage of the situation unceremoniously and said: "You see, I just said that the Carthaginians today are unwilling to accept reality, and you are a clear example! Can Carthage defeat the East Numibians today? You know, the Numibians have now gotten rid of their fear of the Carthaginians, and although they are still on their own, they are still able to agree on the 'fight against the Carthaginians', plus they can now obtain better weapons and armor from Dionia...... Carthage gathered the forces of the Phoenician allies and fought with all their might, and may be able to win, but it is believed that the casualties will be small. The key question is whether Carthage can still command the Phoenician city-states on the continent of Africa as it has done in the past. ”

Ocliton wanted to say, "Yes!" But seeing Haka's smiling face, he swallowed back the words, with a slight embarrassment on his face: "Yes...... The Phoenician allies were no longer as closely united around Carthage as they had been before the war, and over time it became clear to the discerning ...... Our Carthage is weakening, and the kingdom of Dionia, with its vast territory and huge population, has become a powerful presence that no race or city-state living in the Western Mediterranean can bypass.

The Phoenician city-states east of Robben's peninsula, in particular, had seldom obeyed Carthaginian orders, and instead sent frequent emissaries to Hadru Mentum, supposedly to give their merchants easier access to the vast markets of the Dionian kingdom. Hatrum Mentum has been piercing the body of the Carthaginian League like a poisonous needle, and has begun to exert its destructive power......"

"Let's be honest with you." Haka slapped the pool water to his chest, rubbed it gently, and then slowly dipped his body into the pool: "It was I who suggested to His Majesty Davers, 'Drive the East Numibians to invade what little land you have left in the interior......"