Pretakuba accentuated his tone and shouted: "Attack the merchants of Carthage by all means, restrict their trade within Dionia, and violate the agreement to quietly trade with Sardinia with trickery!" What makes us even more angry is that you even covet our silver mines, and have sent people to the Iberian Peninsula on several occasions to steal the silver nuggets that we are going to sell to Tyre!

The people of Carthage are outraged by these despicable deeds of you Ionians against Carthage, and urge that we, the Senate, take revenge on them. But in view of the friendship that has always existed between the two countries, the Senate has sent me to protest to you, and to ask you to ensure that the friendship between the two countries can be maintained only if the following are to be done! ”

Pretakuba's words made the entire Senate boil, and the senators, who had been accustomed to the respectful attitude of visiting foreign envoys for more than ten years, were shocked by the arrogance of the Carthaginians, and were even more enraged by him.

The angry rebuke and shouting of the Dionian senators immediately filled the entire hall.

Unfazed, Pretakuba turned to face the man behind the center of the room, who, though it was his first time in Turiyi, knew who the real interlocutor of the kingdom was.

After receiving the information from Aristiras in the morning, Davers was already mentally prepared, but he didn't expect the Carthaginian envoy to come so quickly.

At this moment, his expression was calm, and he said slowly: "Tell me, what does Carthage want?" ”

As soon as he spoke, the venue was much quieter.

Pretakuba was amazed at the extent to which Davers controlled the Senate, and at the same time Davers's face was not angry or happy, and gave him a sense of incomprehension, and he settled down, and said aloud again: "Carthage's request is,

First, to compensate several Carthaginian merchants who had previously been punished in Dionia, and to allow Carthaginian merchants to sell grain in Dionysia, without any restrictions on prices.

Second, cease at once any trade between your west coast towns and Sardinia and never sell any goods to them.

Thirdly, Dionya completely opened its domestic market to Carthage, allowing Carthaginian merchants to trade freely in it, without any interference;

Fourthly, no ship of Dianonia shall cross the sea south of the line of Malta-Sorus-Sardinia-Balearic Islands.

Fifth, not to interfere with any action of Rome, the ally of Carthage, and to cease hostilities with it......"

After Pretakuba said this, the room became silent.

Davers let go of his hands that had just grasped the armrests of the wooden chairs, looked at the senators whose eyes were flashing with fire, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Patriarchs of Dionia! Elites of the kingdom! Can we accept the impudent demands of the Carthaginians?! ”

"Can't !!" Angry shouts erupted in the room, nearly toppling the roof.

The guards guarding outside the hall were also startled by the movement coming from inside the Great Council Hall, and they looked at each other, all speculating on what was going on inside.

At this time, a soldier suddenly pointed to the square in front of him and said excitedly: "Quick! Look! Look! Rain...... It's rain! ”

Originally, due to the eight-month drought, the ground on Victory Square had become a little cracked, but now there are dots of black spots, and these black spots are increasing rapidly.

The people of Turiyi, who were lining up in front of the Turi Fountain to draw water, put down their clay pots and stretched their hands flat to the sky, and then their disbelief turned into ecstasy: "It's raining!! It's finally raining!! Thanks to Hades for bringing us rain!! ……”

Just as they were ecstatic, there was rolling thunder in the sky, and the sky that had been disgusting and bright suddenly darkened, and the wind suddenly blew.

The originally sparse raindrops quickly became dense, and in less than a moment it turned into a torrential downpour......

When the captain of the guard rushed into the hall, Davers suddenly stood up from his wooden chair, looked down at the Carthaginian envoy in front of him, and said word for word: "This is the answer of our Dionian Senate!" ”

Pretakuba had long expected this response from Dionia, raised his head, and said in a deep voice: "In this case, Carthage can only cancel the friendship agreement with Dionia, and I want to remind you that Rome is an ally of Carthage, and if you go to war with Rome, Carthage will definitely come to Rome's aid according to the covenant!" ”

Davers raised his eyebrows, ready to respond.

The excited voice of the captain of the guard sounded in the venue: "Your Majesty! Ladies and gentlemen! It's raining! It's raining in Turiyi! ”

When these veterans, who had always shown steady and wise wisdom in front of the people, heard this, they could not hide their excitement, and they immediately ran out of the meeting hall one after another, completely ignoring the important meeting being held.

Although it was still afternoon, the sky in Turiyi had become dark. Even though there was an eaves outside the main entrance of the council hall, the strong wind still carried a large amount of rainwater in, completely splashing the entire staircase and platform.

The thin body of the patriarchs was soon wet with the wind and rain, and the chill penetrated to the bottom of their hearts, but the patriarchs were unaware, and they cheered as much as the people, and even rushed directly into the rain curtain such as Amintas and Matonis, enjoying the heavy rain.

While the patriarchs were in ecstasy, an impassioned voice sounded in their ears: "This is a divine omen! Omen of Hades! When Syracuse invaded Dionia, Hades resurrected the Turi Fountain, and we defeated the mighty Syracuse! Today, in the face of the threat of Carthage, Hades has once again sent us the rain we desperately need, and with his protection, what else do we have to fear! Plecinus raised his arms and shouted.

His words lifted the senators, and even Cornerus, Lycias, and others, who were worried about war with Carthage, increased their confidence.

Pretakuba disagreed.

At this moment, the voice of Davers sounded in his ears: "In fact, I am glad that Carthage has canceled its friendship agreement with us, and that you are more welcome to start a war against Dionia, so that we may have the opportunity to avenge the Ionian sailors and merchants who were brutally burned with fire by you!" ”

Pretakuba turned his head to look at Davers, who had a serious face, and said proudly with confidence: "Carthage is not something that the current Dionia can defeat!" ”

A sneer appeared on Davers's face: "Just the Carthaginian citizen soldiers who were tormented by the Numibian riots? Or do you have mercenaries from the almost independent Iberian kingdom occupied by your master, Margo, who gives you confidence? ”

Pretakuba's face darkened: the Dioonians knew so much about the inside story of Carthage?!

After experiencing the excitement of the rain, the elders returned to the venue.

Then came the possible threat of war from Carthage, but none of the patriarchs had rejecting the Carthaginian emissary's proposal too firmly before regretting it.

The senators who could sit in this position were not fools, and from the harsh conditions put forward by the Carthaginian envoys, they had already deeply felt Carthage's hostility towards Dionia. As one of the most powerful states in the Western Mediterranean, it was simply impossible for Dionya to accept these humiliating terms of peace talks that would have constrained its development, let alone to stop the rescue of the Walseys for fear of the Carthaginian declaration of war. In the event of a major war, this would only dislodge many of the indigenous Italian forces that might be Dionia's aid. Since the aid to Walsey could not be canceled and was imminent, if what the Carthaginian envoy had just said was the intention of the Carthaginian Senate, and not just intimidation, war with Carthage would have come soon.

Therefore, the senators began to discuss with King Davos how to prevent war.

The first thing to be solved is the food problem. As long as the food supply is sufficient, the Dionian kingdom can gather a sufficient number of soldiers to deal with any enemy invasion, so the Minister of Agriculture, Burkos, was asked to continue to observe the weather conditions in the next few days, and if there is continuous rain in various parts of southern Italy, then the Ministry of Agriculture should take action to let the people of Dioonia replant some fast-maturing crops to reduce the pressure on food, and at the same time make careful preparations for next year's spring ploughing.

At the same time, the senators also demanded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs send an envoy to Egypt to do its utmost to establish friendly ties with the Egyptian pharaohs, hoping to obtain food aid from this country, which has the reputation of "the largest granary of the Mediterranean".

In addition, they advised King Davers: to suspend negotiations with Cautini and avoid being too tough to force the Samones to the side of Carthage in a possible upcoming war.

They also suggested that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should try to send emissaries to the various powers in the western Mediterranean in an effort to get them to side with Dionyas in the war.

To the south, on the island of Sicily, the Greek city-states that were friendly to Dionia, such as Gera, Agrigento, and Tyndareus...... It is necessary to ensure that before the arrival of the Carthaginian army, they will stand firmly with Dionia, and provide a certain amount of food supply for the Dionian army, so as to reduce the logistical pressure of the Dionian army.

Although, in the past ten years, Syracuse has suffered great losses due to repeated civil strife, but the emaciated camel is bigger than a horse, and it is still the largest Greek city-state in Sicily (except for the Sicilian city of Dionia), even if it has some discord with Dionica in recent years and rarely interacts with it, the senators still hope that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send envoys to win over Syracuse as much as possible, or at least keep it neutral.