"That's a good suggestion." Davers nodded and said, "Tapirus, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should send an envoy as soon as possible to the Gallic tribes in the mountains adjacent to the Liguria region to make friendly representations. As for the Ministry of Intelligence...... They had already launched an operation in the Gallic region beyond the mountains. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." Foreign Secretary Tapirus immediately stood up and responded.

"Anything else?" Davers then asked.

"Your Majesty!" Crotokataks coughed lightly and said: "Yesterday the preparatory team received a clear reply from Egypt, this time they will send a delegation of nearly 100 envoys, led by Pharaoh Tanib's son Jehao. ”

"Is it Jaho, who has been designated by Tanib as the next pharaoh?" Davers was slightly surprised.

"Yes, we have confirmed again and again that the Egyptian delegation is led by Vizier Jeho of Egypt."

"Your Majesty, the Pharaoh of Egypt has sent his heir to Turii to watch the Games, which will undoubtedly show the world the strength of the kingdom, and at the same time reflect the strong friendship between Dionia and Egypt!" Tapyrus said excitedly: "I suggest that the Egyptian mission should be greeted with great ceremonies in response to the importance we attach to Egypt!" ”

"This is as it should be, and your Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for arranging it." Davers did not show joy, on the contrary, he asked solemnly: "According to the Ministry of Intelligence, Tanib has been sick and bedridden for three months, and I have written to 'send the best doctor to Egypt to treat him,' but he politely refused. In such a situation, Jie Hao actually came to Turiyi in person, just for friendship? ”

The ministers were deep in thought.

At this time, Aristiras, the intelligence chief sitting at the back of the queue, stood up and said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Intelligence has found out that Jiehao's cousin Nyktanib has received the support of many Egyptian generals and monks, and has repeatedly disputed Jiehao's sole control of the country, and even claimed that he is the most suitable heir to the pharaoh, which poses a great threat to Jiehao's succession to the position of pharaoh, and we also found that this Niektanib seems to have dealings with Persia. ”

Initially, the head of the Ministry of Intelligence was not allowed to attend the Executive Council of the Kingdom, but the information obtained by the Ministry of Intelligence was often the focus of discussion at the meeting, requiring a detailed explanation from Aristiras, who was always invited to be present on an ad hoc basis.

The news he said immediately caused a heated discussion among the ministers in the main hall.

"Your Majesty, Jeho led the Egyptian mission to Turii at this critical time, apparently he had already sensed the threat of Nektanib and had to come to the kingdom in person to seek support." Auxiliary Minister Sipros said loudly: "We should not hesitate to express our support to him in this regard, so as to strengthen his confidence!" Now the kingdom and Persia are mortal enemies, and Egypt, which is adjacent to Persia, is the most important ally that the kingdom uses to contain Persia and even attack Persia in the future, and it must not be lost! ”

As soon as Sipros finished speaking, Antaoris stood up: "But it is not enough for us to support Egypt in words, Tanib has only been bedridden for a long time and has not died, but as the heir of the pharaoh and also acting for the state government, Jiehao actually came all the way to Turii for help, which shows that neither Tanib nor Jiehao can no longer rely on their own strength to remove the threat of Nektanib.

With Persian support, Nektanib should be able to start a rebellion and eventually seize the throne of Egypt! So we must take action and send our troops to Egypt as we did 5 years ago to consolidate Jayha's rule! ”

"Egypt is only an alliance of Dionia, not a subsidiary, and if you want to send an army, you must first take the initiative of Jehao, otherwise the ally will become an enemy." Sipros reminded.

"That's what diplomacy is supposed to do." "But we have to take into account that Jahhao is only a young man under 30 years old, and it is reported that he resolutely changed the decree of Pharaoh Tanib in Egypt for many years to favor monks...... Young man, often overconfident and unable to see the situation clearly, what if he can't invite us to send reinforcements in time? We have to be prepared for this beforehand! ”

Since the retirement of Lucias and Hermon, Sadorum has also been in a state of insecurity because of his old age and basic inconvenience, and the name of the chief auxiliary minister has faintly fallen on Sipros and Antaoris, so such a picture can often be seen in the executive meeting of the ministers, of course, it is usually Antaoris who takes the initiative.

At this time, Oliver stood up and said in a loud voice: "Your Majesty, since the Persian rebellion in Asia Minor was put down at the beginning of last year, the Persian army was rapidly withdrawn to the east of Mesopotamia, and at that time we all thought that the Persian king had given up his plan to conquer Egypt because of the continuous conquest of the Persians for more than three years, so that the national strength was greatly depleted.

But now it seems that the greedy Persians did not give up, but changed their strategy. They applied the methods they used to successfully quell the rebellion in Asia Minor to the Egyptians, hoping to bribe the Egyptian generals and cause civil strife in Egypt, so as to conquer Egypt more easily, which must arouse our vigilance!

This Persian king is cunning and cunning, and he began to hate us Dionya, and instigated the Greek city-states to oppose us, because Your Majesty rejected the Persian envoy's request for peace for Carthage......"

The more Oliver spoke, the more angry he became: "In the past four years, we have not only given material aid to the rebels in Asia Minor, but also allowed the Greek allies to actively accept the employment of the governors of various regions of Asia Minor and send citizens to participate in the war, which has long been regarded by Artaxerxes as the number one mortal enemy, I am afraid that this time Persia has not only taken action against Egypt, but also other conspiracies against the kingdom, we can no longer deal with it passively, but should take the initiative, and take advantage of the fact that the national strength of Persia has not been restored, send a large army to attack Persia!" ”

As soon as these words came out, many ministers were surprised: the original focus of the meeting was to discuss the holding of the games, why did they suddenly talk about waging war against Persia?!

Saidorum coughed lightly and said in a hoarse voice, "I remember...... This issue was discussed last year, and wasn't it simply rejected by everyone...... Why is this issue brought up again today? ”

"Lord Sedorum." Oliver bowed slightly in respect, but his tone remained firm: "This proposal was rejected last year because we did not anticipate the sudden rout of the rebels in Asia Minor, the Persians were able to quickly pacify the western part of the country that had been in turmoil for several years, and the kingdom was going to hold a sports meeting, so it was not approved.

But after more than a year of investigation, we have figured out that the reason for the rapid defeat of the rebels in Asia Minor was only because Artaxerxes bribed and co-opted some rebel generals and nobles of Asia Minor, and they assassinated Ariobazenis and other rebel leaders to allow the Persians to win.

However, the Persians did not establish effective rule in Asia Minor for more than a year after the rebellion was put down, and the political situation there was still relatively chaotic, which would reduce the resistance to our attack on Persia.

The Dionian Games, which will be held next month, will not only not involve most of the Kingdom's energy, but will also inspire the confidence of the people because of its success. Coupled with the fact that the kingdom had been under five years of rest, with sufficient food and supplies, a well-organized army, and complete control of the Greek Union, Thessaly was also integrated into the kingdom, so that our sphere of influence crossed the Aegean Sea eastward to the coast of Asia Minor...... With such a great strategic advantage, we should seize this great opportunity to launch an attack on Persia! ”

"Persia is not Carthage or Greece, it is a vast and populous kingdom, and even if its power has declined because of war, we Dionya are still like a wolf facing a sick cow compared to it, and it is not easy to defeat such a kingdom! Did the Ministry of Military Affairs draw up a detailed attack plan for this?! Arcistes' questioning was more like an invitation to the military secretary for further clarification.

"Absolutely!" Chief of Staff Printors took the opportunity to stand up and explained: "Your Majesty! Ladies and gentlemen! Since last year's proposal to 'attack Persia' was rejected, our military department has been further exploring how to defeat Persia, and through intelligence gathering and many simulated battlefield exercises, the military department finally drew up an offensive plan, and its general strategy is——"

Printors cleared his throat in order to make his pronunciation clearer: "Take advantage of the chaotic situation in Asia Minor, send an army of about 50,000 men to attack western Asia Minor, this army is not necessarily made up of all our Dionian citizens, the kingdom is the leader of the Greek alliance, we can mobilize the Greek allies to form an alliance under the slogan 'Vengeance against Persia', and launch an attack on western Asia Minor."

The proximity of Greece and especially the Ionian island city-states to Asia Minor made it easier for us to transport our grain. In addition, it will help us to gain the support of the Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor more quickly.

The Persian king, in the course of his previous battles against the rebels in Asia Minor, had sent a promise to the Greek city-states along the coast of Asia Minor that they would be willing to grant them more autonomy, so the city-states remained largely neutral and did not support the rebels. ”