Standing on the side of the ship, Haka could see the long, encircling white breakwater of the Kratty estuary in the distance, and countless boats shuttling through it, as if it were a busy beehive.

When the ship approached, it turned out that there were multiple water gates open on the breakwater.

"All cargo ships have to pass through the water gate on this side and get a wooden sign to stop at the dock before they can enter; The water gate on that side of the breakwater is responsible for inspecting the outgoing cargo ships and handing over the wooden plates of the dock, and if they don't, they will be fined. But large ships like ours don't need to go through the breakwater gate, but go through the wide channel in the middle and be inspected by patrol boats......" the captain explained to Haka in detail.

"Why is the whole ship inspection process so cumbersome? This is too much of a delay in the delivery of cargo ships coming to the port for trading! One of Haka's subordinates pointed to the long line of cargo ships outside the water gate ahead and raised his objection.

"It's better to let them wait a little time outside the water gate than to waste more time by swarming them and causing congestion throughout the Kratty estuary. You see that there are a lot of boats outside the water gate, but in fact, there are more boats in the estuary, and if there is no effective management, it will be a disaster! The owner of the ship said with a serious expression.

"You're right." Hakka nodded in agreement.

The owner directed the large passenger ship around the long line of boats in front of the breakwater and into the middle of the river.

In the middle of the river floats a large wooden platform on which a wooden house is built, in front of which the flag of the Kingdom of Dioonia is flown high.

The passenger ship took the initiative to dock in front of the platform, and an official came out of the wooden house, he asked the owner a few questions, and checked the documents submitted by the owner, and then looked surprised, immediately jumped on the passenger ship, strode to Haka, and saluted respectfully: "Greetings, Lord Haka!" ”

Haka nodded politely in return.

"We have received news that the passenger ship you are on may not arrive until tomorrow or tomorrow, so Your Majesty and the Senate may not be prepared today, and I must send a fast boat to catch up with the inner city dock notice, so I have to ask you to ...... Wait a little longer here and I hope you will be able to forgive me! The official said apologetically.

"There's no problem with that." Haka agreed.

"We didn't want to come, but your king wrote several invitations to agree! Now we have come all the way from Iberia, and you will not let us in. Since we won't be allowed to enter, then we won't go in, go back! Back to Iberia! ......" stood a rickety Hasdruba at the entrance to the cabin, shouting and looking angry.

When the port official heard this, he panicked a little and was about to continue to explain.

"You don't have to worry about him, he drank too much, let's follow the procedure, do what we have to do!" Hakka comforted him as she glanced at her men.

Soon, his men, with a few strong soldiers, forced Hasdruba into the cabin.

The passenger ship was docked behind the wooden platform, and the port official stayed with Haka to chat with him to spend the time waiting.

Haka stood at the bow of the boat, watching the ships from the front, rear, left and right side of the boat without stopping, and found that the position of the command office of the estuary boat is very ingenious: directly in front of the sea is the mouth of the sea, the left and right diagonally in front of the breakwater and the water gate, the north bank is the entrance to the main port of Turii, and the rear leads to the city of Turii, where all the ships are staggered and converged, so this estuary boat management office has 10 clippers with eye-catching signs on their sails, responsible for directing and dredging the river.

Although Haka felt a little uncomfortable with the frequent traffic of ships and the noise of the river, he did not hide in the cabin anymore, but asked with interest: "How many cargo ships enter the mouth of the Klatty River every day?" ”

"On average...... There are about 5,000 of them. "The official thought for a moment and said: At most, it can reach tens of thousands, but that is usually during the Hades celebration."

Despite Haka's estimates, he was taken aback by the number: "So many ships?!" ”

"Of course, this is only the number of cargo ships entering the mouth of the Kratti, and not counting the ships of other ports on the coast of Xubari, such as a large fishing port not far north of the estuary, where thousands of fishing boats come in and out every day, providing fresh seafood to the people of the entire Turiyi region; To the north of the fishing port, there is a port dedicated to the transport of livestock; South of the estuary, the former naval base of the 1st Fleet has been converted into a port for the transportation of the people, and many of the residences of the former naval base have been converted into hotels, which are overcrowded every day, and more than 1,000 passenger ships come in and out every day......

And the cargo ships that come and go from the mouth of the Klatti River are mainly to supply the goods needed by the people's daily life, such as wine, olive oil, cloth, wheat, ......" The official said in detail, seeing that Haka's expression seemed to be a little confused, and specially explained: "My lord, the reason why these ports in Turii are so busy is because if they don't, they can't feed Turii. ”

"Why?" Haka had some guesses, but he still got to the bottom of it.

"Because the population of Turriyi is too large, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Household Registration at the end of last year, there are about 300,000 people in and around the city of Turii alone, and the population of the entire Touriyi region exceeds 400,000, which is as large as the city of Tourii in the Mediterranean!" With pride on his face, the official continued: "But with such a large population, a lot of supplies are consumed every day, such as grain, olive oil, wine, meat, fish, ...... Grain, olive oil, and other supplies produced in and around the Sybari plain were not enough, and the entire kingdom and the entire western Mediterranean were needed to supply them.

Moreover, the city of Turiyi had many wealthy citizens, who were not only well fed and clothed, but also had a higher need for life, so many precious goods were brought here from other parts of the Mediterranean, such as spices, magnificent cloths and delicate gold and silver jewelry from Persia, perfumes and cosmetics from Egypt, ivory from Africa and marble from Greece...... That's why there are so many merchant ships coming to Turii every day that our original main port can no longer accommodate it, so we have to build docks on both sides of the river, which is enough to meet the demand......"

Listening to the officials' narration, I looked at the corner of the main harbor on the north bank of the Klatty River on the left, where the masts were like forests and the trees were like the ground, and there was no trace of the color of the sea at all.

Hakka couldn't help but think of the port of Carthage in the past, and he remembered that even at the height of Carthage's maritime trade, it was far from the size of today's port of Turiy, which was not only the result of meeting the needs of a huge city with a population of more than 400,000, but also the comprehensive strength of a powerful kingdom, which made Haka even more convinced that his decision was the right one.

As the two were talking, the noise around them suddenly became louder.

The river officer glanced back, immediately smiled, and said, "Lord Haka, the boat to greet you has arrived!" ”

Haka turned his head to look back, and saw a large ship coming upstream, its hull seemed to be made of two warships, and a wooden building stood in the center of it......

Two-headed dragon! The term immediately crossed Haka's mind, but it was evident that this one was different from the former Carthaginian naval flagship: it was a black hull, a wooden tower was red, and the two bows did not collide with each other, but raised two wooden statues, like dog heads; On the aisle of the ship's railing around the wooden building stood court guards dressed in velvet and purple robes, and the flag of the Kingdom of Theoria fluttered on the towering mast.

After the Western Mediterranean War, the Ministry of War considered building a special ship for King Davers to facilitate his patrol or lead the army on a campaign, otherwise it would be too simple to take a passenger ship or warship every time as before, and it would not be in line with his noble kingship.

After receiving the task, the shipwrights finally decided to build the king's ship based on the Carthaginian two-headed dragon warship, considering that the ship would often enter and leave the Klatty River, and the size of the entire warship was reduced a little.

It was the image that was finally presented in the view of the Haka, and although there were not many opportunities to sail since its construction, and most of the time it docked at the docks of the inner city, it was already a household name among the people of Turii, so the boats in the river were kept on both sides as much as possible, and the central waterway soon became wide and unobstructed.

The ship soon stopped beside the passenger ship on which Haka was riding, and then a wooden ladder was taken up, and on board the passenger ship was a middle-aged man in a white Burton embroidered with black stripes, who was slender and elegant.

At this time, the river officer immediately greeted him, and said respectfully: "Salute you, Lord Henypolis!" ”

The middle-aged man smiled in return: "Hard work!" ”

He was Henipolis...... Haka had certainly heard of the Ionian senator, who had been with King Davos for many years.

Just as he was looking at the king's henchman, Henipolis came up to him with a smile on his face: "Lord Haka, welcome back to Turiyi!" I am Hennipolis, the clerk of King Davers, and on behalf of His Majesty the King and the Senate, I have come to meet you! ”

"I've read the "Southern Italian War" written by Master Hennipolis several times, and it's very exciting! I've long wanted to meet with adults for a good chat, but when I meet today, it's really the same as I imagined-" Haka paused deliberately, and then said in an accentuated tone: "Gentle and elegant, worthy of a historian!" ”