The patriarchs' hearts tightened, and no one said anything to refute it, and the Hades faith has become more and more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people over the years. The year before, a judge in Crotone died suddenly in his sleep, and his widow turned herself in at the city hall on the second day, saying that "it was her husband who took bribes several times and gave unjust sentences, so he was severely punished by Hades...... This matter was widely spread in the kingdom, and the people respected the just and strict Hades even more, and made the officials more awe of this gloomy and solemn god, including the senators.

At this time, Plesinas saw a man standing up not far away, it turned out to be Marigi, and he thought that he was going to object, and he could not help but be surprised.

Mariji smiled at him and said, "Of course, I also support His Majesty's decision, but I want to say that His Majesty's decision is correct from the perspective of trade. As a result of the outbreak of three wars, especially with Carthage, although the flames of war have not yet burned into our main territory, it has led to a decrease in the number of foreign merchants who used to come to Dionia for business and trade, and the commercial taxes of the various cities have also decreased to a greater or lesser extent in these months, because these foreign merchants are not optimistic that Dionya will be able to win the final victory in these three simultaneous wars, and therefore do not dare to contact the kingdom again.

And we dared to hold such a grand celebration as the rugby finals during the war to show them our kingdom's confidence in victory, so that trade could flourish again. ”

"And the rugby finals themselves can raise a lot of tax revenues and improve the tight state of the national treasury." Chancellor of the Exchequer Merses interjected, tapping his fingers the armrests of the wooden chair, and reminding him dissatisfiedly: "Everyone! Ladies and gentlemen! You must now be clear that the Kingdom's biggest problem now is not food, but the treasury! It's that there is not enough money in the treasury! ”

Veesbah asked in surprise: "Lord Mersis, during this time, Your Majesty has transported a large amount of property obtained from Rome and other occupied city-states to the port of Turriy by ship, and finally put it into the treasury, I heard that at least a few thousand Talientes, as well as the Alexis army after occupying the towns of Kautim, Beneventum, Lola and other Samonai, also transported back a lot of property, how can the treasury still be short of money?!" ”

"Lord Wesbar, why don't you see the treasury collecting money, but you don't see the treasury spending a lot of money!" Mersis snorted coldly and complained loudly: "The previous drought has already cost the treasury a lot of savings, and at the beginning of this war, the Sicilian fleet was almost completely wiped out, and Your Majesty and our Senate made a decision to build hundreds of warships immediately!" How much does it cost, you know?! Do you know how much it costs to pay for thousands of soldiers and crew members who died in battle, drowned, and many citizens who were seriously injured and became disabled?! Eleven legions fought nearly 100,000 people, and how many javelins and arrows would be consumed after a battle?! How many bayonets were broken? How many short swords, shields, and horses were damaged?! How much spare weapons and armor do I have to buy to keep the soldiers fighting, and don't they cost anything?! …… The spoils of war sent by His Majesty and Alexis have only just wiped out the previous consumption of the treasury, but the war is far from over, and the treasury will continue to be consumed, so any measures that benefit the treasury should not be spared! ”

Veesbagan laughed a few times: "It seems that the war has a great impact on the kingdom's trade and finances, but the autumn harvest is coming to an end, and once the citizens have paid the land tax, the Ministry of Finance should feel a little more relaxed." ”

There were a few sneers in the room, and a few of the senators felt that Wesba didn't understand the kingdom's finances at all, and that the land tax was a drop in the bucket for the war.

Antaoris stood up and looked around majestically, he could not allow some people to flout the authority of the rotating chairman, although he also despised Veesbah's incompetence a little in his heart, but also as the rotating chairman, they were one on this issue.

"Are there any objections?!" Antaoris said loudly: "If not, then hurry up and implement His Majesty's decision, in a few days it will be September 9, and we must start preparations immediately." ”

Silence returned to the venue.

Veesbah nodded at Antaoris in thanks, and then said loudly: "Since everyone agrees with His Majesty's decision, then this year's rugby finals will continue to be held!" ”

After speaking, he raised the small hammer and struck the small clock on the table, making a crisp sound, and then turned his gaze to one of the five rotating chairmen in the front row, the administrator of Turiy: "Lord Lucias, this time you are still the person in charge of the rugby game, what difficulties do we need to solve?" ”

"I also support the decision made by Your Majesty, and you also know that during this war, the citizens of the Turiy region were killed and wounded, and the people's emotions were relatively depressed, and the holding of rugby matches was conducive to the release of their emotions. And on the day of the Hades celebration, it is hoped that the ceremony of paying homage to the fallen soldiers in the temple Valhalla can be held more grandly to appease their relatives! ”

"This is the way it should be, I will arrange it, Lord Lucias, you can rest assured!" Plesinas responded.

"In order to prevent accidents, I hope that the Patrol Department will send more patrols to maintain law and order in and out of the city...... In addition, the Ministry of Military Affairs was able to send more soldiers to maintain order in the city square and temple on the day of the celebration. ”

After receiving a positive response from Shilos and others, Lucias continued: "What's more, due to the outbreak of the war, our Senate has not given a positive answer on whether to hold the rugby finals this year, and the cities are probably not ready, we must inform them as soon as possible and let them send the participating teams as soon as possible, otherwise the teams will not arrive on time and the competition schedule will have to be postponed." And also...... In the past, sister city-states were invited to watch the ceremony every year, but this year, will they still recruit old ones? ”

"I think we should continue to invite them, as Lord Marigi said before, we need to show these allies and sister city-states the confidence of Dionya to win in order to gain more support from them." Foreign Minister Ansitanos earnestly advised: "Moreover, in the reports of the Sicilian war received yesterday, in which friendly city-states such as Agrigento, Gera, and Minoa have been destroyed, we invite them to send emissaries to participate in the ceremony, which is an opportunity to show that Dionya does not give up on their determination in order to appease their fleeing population." ”

"Lord Ansitanos." Antaoris asked aloud, "Do you include Egypt among the allies you are talking about to invite?" In times of drought and war, Egypt helped us tremendously through the most difficult first few months. ”

"Yes, yes, Egypt, although we have just established diplomatic relations, has helped us the most, why hasn't anyone mentioned inviting them before?"

"At this time, I thought of inviting Egypt, I'm afraid it's too late." Some of the patriarchs said regretfully.

"Your Excellency, don't worry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just received news from the Eastern Mediterranean that the Pharaoh of Egypt has sent an envoy to visit our Dionia, and it is estimated that we will be able to reach Turii before the celebration." Ansitanos responded immediately.

"Why didn't you say something so important earlier!" Cornerus complained: "Lord Ansitanos, Egypt is an important ally of ours, and your Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for receiving the Egyptian envoys, and if there is anything that needs to be done by our Senate, just bring it up, in short, make them satisfied!" And tell Your Majesty at once that he may know about it. ”

Ancitaros nodded in agreement.

After finishing his instructions, Cornerus said to Veesbah in the center of the venue: "Since everyone has agreed to hold the rugby finals, let us send messengers to inform the chief executives of the cities to invite the allies and sister city-states to participate in the ceremony, as in previous years." ”

Veesba nodded, summoned the clerks who were in charge of recording the meeting next to him, and asked them to start writing letters immediately, stamping them with the seal of the Senate, and handing them to the messengers waiting in the side hall at any time, and sending them to various places (because the Dionian Senate held meetings almost every day, and some proposals could be passed at any time, so the Senate had a permanent courier to convey the Senate's resolutions to those who should convey them in a timely and accurate manner).

After making these arrangements, Weisbard breathed a sigh of relief and asked as usual, "Ladies and gentlemen, are there any new proposals?" ”

The Minister of War, Shiros, stood up and said with a serious expression: "The Ministry of Military Affairs has received information in the past few days that Vadalca the former prince of Puchetti is gathering the remnants of Mesapi, Puchetti, and Daoni, who have fled to the Greek mainland, in the Peloponnese, to prepare to attack our Apulian region. ”

When the crowd heard this, they were astonished.

Wesbah also swept away his previous indifference and asked urgently, "Is this news accurate?" ”

"It has been confirmed by Aristiras." Shilos only replied simply, and everyone no longer expressed doubt, although many of the senators shrugged away from King Davers's intelligence chief, but his ability to obtain information was unquestionable.

"Lord Shiros, do you know how many enemies there are?" Wesbah asked aloud again.

"According to the last intelligence received, there are about less than 4,000 people." Shilos said seriously: "It is estimated that they will land in Apulia in the near future." ”

"These lost dogs are very good at choosing the right time to attack when Alexis is leading an expedition to the mountains of Samonai, when the 4th Fleet is leaving the Adriatic Sea for Sicily, and when the defenses of the entire Apulian region are empty."