"Yes, arrogant Tarantum!" Davers remembered the inexplicable sense of superiority of the Tarantum people he saw there when he led his army to aid Tarantum, whether they were senators or ordinary citizens, and even remembered that in the history of his previous life, it was this later weakened Tarantum who took the lead in resisting the Roman invasion and invited Pyrus to lead his army into Italy, thus triggering the Elephant War; A hundred years later, Tarantum, who had already submitted to Rome, rebelled again and became a supporter of Hannibal and a logistical base for the Carthaginians in southern Italy, where Hannibal could fight Rome for 13 years, and Tarantum contributed a lot. It can be seen that the Tarantum people have a rebellious factor in their blood......

Just sit back and let the Mapu coalition completely destroy it, and then take it back later, so that the name can be justified...... Davers' face was cloudy.

Henipolis saw that the new king of Dionya was frowning, pacing to and fro in the great tent, bowing his head in contemplation, so he did not make a sound, lest he should interrupt Davers's train of thought, but stood by and waited quietly.

After a while, Davers said, "Heni, how difficult is it to annex Tarantum to Dionya in its entirety, but to annex it in part?" ”

"Part? Your Majesty, are you going to let Tarantum cede part of her territory to Dionia? Henipolis was not surprised by Davers's decision, and the gradual annexation of a large state by encroachment was not a good idea.

"Not so." Davers shook his head and said in a deep voice, "I want to make Tarantum the 'Free City' of the Ionian League. ”

"Liberty City?!" The new term puzzled Henipolis.

"The Free City made Tarantum part of Dionia, but it did not have to pay taxes to the treasury, and the Senate did not interfere with its self-administration of the city-state according to its original laws, but it did not have the right to independent diplomacy or the power to form an army...... When the Alliance is in trouble and needs its help, it must also contribute! Davers was also straightening out his train of thought when he spoke about this new idea, so he spoke slowly and his voice was clear.

Henipolis's eyes lit up, and he was amazed at Davers's novel political idea, but he had to remind him: "Your Majesty, although the Free City is only a small step forward from becoming a dependent city-state, the people of Tarantum will probably not agree. ”

"The Mesapi, the Puchetti will force them to agree. Of course, I would prefer that the people of Tarantum have the courage to refuse, so that we can build a new city on the ruins of Tarantum in the near future! There was a slight coldness in Davers's teasing words.

………………………………

After the destruction of the Carthaginian town of Mothia on the southwestern tip of Sicily five years ago, the Carthaginian commander Himirko built a new city near it, Lilipa.

After a few years of development, the new city has gradually prospered. And since Marco became the governor of Sicily and made Liliba the center of the whole Sicilian territory, it has grown rapidly: gold and silver coins, weapons and armor, grain, war horses, slaves...... Every day, countless merchant ships loaded with various military supplies sailed into the port of Lilibali, and then sent to the various military camp stations through Lilibal.

The development of the port created a demand for labor, and Phoenicians, Numibians, and Mauritanians flocked to Liliba in large numbers, so that the settlement area of Liliba City continued to expand outward. In less than a year, Liliba had become the largest city controlled by Carthage in Sicily.

On this morning, Marco received Aditya Ruba, an emissary from the Carthaginian Senate, at his governor's residence.

For this senator, Margo's attitude is quite friendly, because Aditya Ruba does not belong to either the Magonid faction or the Hanno faction, he is the smallest number of neutral senators in the Senate, and since he does not belong to the first two, he sometimes dares to propose some bills that are detrimental to the interests of the two factions and beneficial to the people, although he often fails to pass, but he has a high reputation among the people, so he has been elected as an important member of the "Court of the Hundred", so that Ma Ge does not dare to underestimate.

After a friendly exchange of pleasantries between the two, Adiyaruba changed to the topic: "Lord Margo, a month ago, you applied to the Senate for "asking Lilibal to obtain the right to mint coinage", and the Senate finally made a decision after a long debate-" Seeing the slightly nervous expression on Margo's face, Adiyaruba couldn't help but shake his head secretly, and he said slowly: "The Senate vetoed your proposal. ”

Since the Senate had just made a decision to send Aditya Ruba as an envoy to Liliba immediately, Marco had not yet had time to receive the summons from Carthage's cronies, and he was surprised, and immediately asked loudly, "Why?!" ”

"The right to mint money can only be reserved for the exclusive possession of the city of Carthage, which is to ensure Carthage's leadership among the other Phoenician allies, and to benefit our Carthaginian trade, I think as the current patriarch of the Magonides family, who was once the main founder of Carthage, you will not fail to understand this truth!" Aditya Ruba's calm tone was tinged with caution.

"All I'm proposing is a temporary coinage." Marco argued: "Since the Senate has entrusted me with the military defense of Sicily and the security of northern Carthage, I will take responsibility for it!" However, the situation was that every time Carthage brought military funds was either delayed or insufficient, and sometimes there were terrible incidents in which ships carrying gold coins were sunk in storms...... Do you know how much trouble these issues have caused to my military defense plans?! The soldiers were very angry! A few days ago, the mercenaries stationed in Segesta caused a commotion because of the repeated late payment of salaries, and it took me a lot of energy to pacify them! ”

The more Marco spoke, the more angry she became: "I now suspect that it is the senators led by Hanno who are making things difficult for me, but if they continue to mess like this without regard for the interests of Carthage, the mercenaries of Sicily will be in danger of becoming chaotic!" Then the Sicilian defenses I have worked so hard to build will be destroyed, and the rebellious mercenaries may be in danger to the city of Carthage! You have always acted justly, Lord Adityaruba, and this time I hope that you will reconsider my proposal in the true interests of Carthage! ”

Margo's accusations and implicit threats against Hanno were too blunt, which made Aditya Ruba frown, and he felt that compared to Magonid's former patriarch Shimirko, Margo may have some military talents, but he is still politically immature, no wonder he can't fight Hanno, who has a deep city government.

Don't look at Adiyaruba, as a neutral faction in the Senate, from time to time in the meeting to criticize these two factions, but he can do a good job in the Senate, naturally there is no lack of flexible political skills. At this moment, he tightened his mind and persuaded him tactfully: "Master Margo, don't be so anxious, although the Senate did not approve your proposal, but the problems you mentioned have attracted the attention of the senators, for which the Senate has sent a special person to be responsible for the casting and transportation of Sicilian military funds, and also sent another person to supervise, I believe that soon these problems will not appear again."

Of course, the problems you are talking about are not deliberately caused by someone targeting you. I think all the senators of the Senate will be wary and worried about recruiting mercenaries, so they strictly review the amount of military funds and the amount of salaries, and cut some unnecessary funds, which leads to a reduction in the amount and a delay in the delivery time, I think you should also understand, all out of the public interest of Carthage......"

Margo snorted, not dwelling on the issue. He was outwardly indignant, but a little inwardly weak, since he had diverted a small part of his military funds to the family's development in Iberia, so he felt that Aditya Ruba might be warning himself by saying this, and it seemed that the Senate was aware of this. Fortunately, the purpose of his proposal had been achieved, and he did not have much hope for the temporary coinage, but only used it to threaten Hanno not to withhold military funds.

"In addition, your proposal the day before yesterday that 'while Syracuse and Dionya are at war, Carthage should send troops to attack eastern Sicily and restore Carthage's former sphere of influence' was also not approved in the Senate." Aditya Ruba continued.

Marco was not surprised, after all, he knew the urine nature of those people in the Senate, he glanced at Aditya Ruba and asked coldly, "All veto?" No other comments? ”

"Most of the senators agreed that the more Carthage was at such a time, the less it should intervene in this war, but should remain neutral and avoid uniting the Greeks against us again."

"What bullshit is this! Are those people in the Senate idiots! When Marco heard this, he couldn't help but shout angrily: "What a rare opportunity! Syracuse was not only defeated by Dionysa in the naval battle, but also suffered a crushing defeat in the subsequent battle, and yesterday I received news from the eastern part of Sicily that the Dionicians had landed in Sicily and captured Meyaro, and that Syracuse had been completely defeated in the war of Greater Greece, and that even the safe return of the troops in Great Greece to Sicily was a big question. In this way, the strength of Syracuse will inevitably be greatly weakened, and I am afraid that it will no longer be able to control the situation in eastern Sicily, and we should take advantage of the chaos of the Greek city-states in Sicily, quickly send troops to the east, and re-establish our Carthaginian hegemony in Sicily! ……”