In the Western Mediterranean War, Hasdruba's Istomal army suffered greatly in the defense of the city, and although there was only one battle in the frontal battle, the Dionian coalition led by Leotizides was defeated, but on the right flank of the battle with the real Dionian legion, Hasdruba's Phoenus infantry was beaten back, which made him have a strong interest in the Diorian army.

The Ministry of War is busy forming the Frontier Corps, and the Ministry of Finance is also starting to get busy, the new "Tax Bill" has been promulgated, and is gradually accepted by the people of the kingdom, although there are still many months before the national direct tax is levied, but the new Minister of Finance Archibides has begun to urge the tax offices in the towns and cities to estimate the income of the people under their jurisdiction this year in advance, so as to calculate the total amount of possible tax revenue according to the new tax ratio, and then according to this figure, in the formulation of a new financial distribution plan, and submitted to King Davers for reference.

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The new Immigration Act, the new Tax Collection Act, the formation of new legions, the formation of new administrative divisions...... A series of new measures are being implemented in an orderly manner, which means that the development of the kingdom has entered a new track, with more efficient governance, richer finances, and more secure military security.

It was also in this year that the war in Greece itself entered a new phase. After the Battle of Titisia, the Thebans gained prestige, and they seized the opportunity to drive out the Spartan garrisons around Thebes, gradually uniting the neighboring Piosian city-states around them, thus further strengthening their strength, and also sent troops to occupy the northern part of the Gulf of Corinth, southern Piosia, to support the Spartan city of Thisbe, so as to prevent the Spartans from landing here again, and directly threaten the security of Thebes from the south.

After receiving this news, Sparta had to send King Cleombrotus to command the army again, cross the Gulf of Corinth by boat, and help the Tishbians to repel the invading Theban army.

Just as the two sides began a new round of fighting, an emissary from the city-state of Pharsalus in Thessaly arrived in Sparta.

The messenger's name was Polydamas, and he had a high prestige in the city of Pharsalus. Whenever Pharsalus was embroiled in internal strife, the populace would unanimously agree to put the Acropolis in his charge, and entrust him with responsibility for the city-state's revenues and expenditures, and he would act according to the law and put everything in order, whether it was religious or administrative affairs. At the end of each year, he would also submit a detailed account of the city-state's finances, and if there was a shortfall, he would pay out of his own pocket to make up for it. As a result, he was not only respected by the people in Fassalus, but also throughout Thessaly.

When such a man came to Sparta, he was naturally received by the Council of Elders, who agreed to his request and convened a special meeting for him.

And at this meeting, Polydamas mentioned one thing.

Thessaly is located in the north of Central Greece, separated from Macedonian territory by high mountains to the north, including Mount Olympus, the god of Zeus, revered by the Greeks. It is bordered to the west by the mountains of Epirus, to the east by the Aegean Sea, and to the south by the Malian region, among which the Thermal Gaz Pass is located.

Geographically, Thessaly is surrounded by mountains, from which numerous streams flow down into rivers that carry the soil of the valleys and alluvial into fertile plains, thus supporting a large number of people. In addition to its agricultural development, Thessaly's many gentle slopes provided natural and high-quality pasture for horses, and the flats below provided vast open space for horses to gallop, making Thessaly famous throughout Greece for its horses and cavalry. (Note: Historically, Alexander the Great's famous war horse, Sepfaras, came from Macedonia, and most of the 5,000 cavalry he brought with him on his expedition to Persia came from Thessaly.) ）

Despite its geographical conditions, the city-states of Thessaly were so divided and war-torn that they never became a major force in the whole of Greece proper.

But this fragmentation has begun to change in recent years. Philae is the only littoral city-state in Thessaly with a thriving port trade, and it is also the richest city-state in the whole of Thessaly, as well as its own agricultural and livestock industries.

There was a citizen in the city-state of Philae named Iason, who was named by his father when he was born (Iason, the protagonist of the legend of the Golden Fleece) in the hope that he would grow up to make a difference. Iason lived up to his father's hopes, and when he grew up, he eventually became a tyrant to Philae through various means. But he was not satisfied, he took advantage of Philae's wealth, recruited 6,000 mercenaries, trained them rigorously, rewarded the soldiers who showed valorism in battle, gave good care and treatment to the wounded soldiers, and arranged a grand funeral for them if they died in battle, so the mercenaries were loyal to him and were willing to fight to the death for him.

Thessaly's cavalry was famous, and the heavy infantry was already in his new ranks, but Iason was not satisfied, because his attention to the Greek wars south of Thessaly over the years had made him aware of the importance of light shields (the Athenian general Iphitrax was good at commanding Thracian light shields), and the mountains around Thessaly were also rich in excellent light shields.

He then commanded this well-trained and valiant army, which strengthened his mercenary army by conquering the Malachi, the Donopus (a race in the mountains north of Thessaly), and the Epirus in the mountains northwest of Thessaly.

Under his rule, Philae's power grew stronger and stronger. He also took advantage of the fact that the Greek overlord Sparta was busy dealing with the wars of Thebes and Athens and was unable to look north, and successively forced several northern Thessalian city-states such as Larissa and Crannon, near Philae, to submit to him, and then he set his sights on Pharsalus.

Located in the center of the Thessaly region, Pharsalus has always been a powerful state in the region, and many of the city-states of Thessaly have taken the lead in conquering it, and they will be able to unify the entire Thessaly region more smoothly.

So Iazon led an army of tens of thousands to the south of Pharsalus.

Fasarus also hurriedly gathered the armies of the other allies to fight against the invading enemy forces.

After his first victory, Iasom did not immediately attack the city of Pharsalus, but sent an envoy into the city to persuade him to surrender, and also specifically found Polyidamas, who was the commander of the coalition forces at the time, and brought him a handwritten letter from Iason.

In the letter, Iason bluntly told Polydamas that with his powerful force, he could completely annihilate Pharsalus and his allies in one fell swoop, and the reason why he did not do so was because he hoped that the city-states of Thessaly, led by Pharsalus, would be convinced to join the Thessalian League he had established, so that they would not always be ready to plot rebellion, but would do everything in their power to protect the interests of the alliance.

He also hoped that Polydamas would do his best to help him become the Tagus of all Thessalians (the Thessalian name for the overlord of all Thessalians), and that he would also give Polydamas a generous reward for making him one under him and above all tenthousand.

In the letter, he also showed Polydamas his ambition: as long as Thessaly was under the rule of a Tagus, years of war would be quelled, with plenty of food, a large population, and well-trained mercenaries...... so that he could at any time send an army of 6,000 cavalry and more than 10,000 hoplites, and could form an alliance with the city-states of Peosia, led by Thebes, to the south, and if he could free them from the control of the Spartans, they would surely obey him; At the same time, he could control Macedonia further north, as it was here that the Athenians obtained timber for shipbuilding, which allowed him to build far more ships than the Greek city-states in the south, forming a formidable fleet...... And his real goal was not the barren lands in the south, nor the small islands in the Aegean Sea, but Persia on the vast continent in the east, since the Greek mercenaries of the time and the army of Agosilaus were able to fight in and out of Persia, and he had a more powerful army, he was fully confident that he would conquer the Persian kingdom and thus obtain unprecedented glory and wealth!

Polydamas was completely stunned by the ambition of his letter.

After Polydamas calmed down, he replied to Iason: he thought that the problems mentioned by Iason in the letter were indeed worth his consideration, but let Pharsalus and others be Spartan allies (after Sparta helped the Macedonian king defeat the Carchidian League, he increased his influence in Central and Northern Greece, and many Thessalian city-states such as Pharsalus also formed alliances with Sparta). It is immoral and unforgiving to break away from the alliance and turn to their enemies without any excuse.

Iason was quick to reply.

In the letter, he praised Polydamas as a man who kept his promises, and such a person was more trustworthy.

And he suggested that Polydamas could send an emissary to Sparta to ask Sparta for help.

At the end of the letter, he confidently said: "If the gods allow you to persuade Sparta to send an army strong enough to fight me, then I will have to wait and see what happens and accept whatever consequences of this war; But if they can't provide you with enough assistance, then you'd better do what I have asked you to do, and all of Thessaly will be united under me, a new Tagus! ”