The main meal was served with snails in sauce, apple and olive salad, and fingerwheat rice, which Habaruka and Yulia ate to their heart's content. "The Ofilenu estate is suitable for snails and poultry, with shade and streams, it is suitable for all aspects. You should not invest your money in the risky trade and lending industry, and if your wheat and snail harvest is haode, you only need to open the gates of the manor in the season, and there will naturally be caravans to buy them, and within three years you will earn ten or twenty Talent-Yulia, and your heart is obviously more impatient than your mouth. During the feast, Calabis ate and lectured.

The little widow Yulia was not so angry, not as arrogant as Adiana, and kept her head down and let the man count down.

When he had eaten and drunk, Calabis snapped his fingers, called Habaruka to him, took out a parchment roll, and quickly wrote a few lines on it with a pen and a charcoal cartridge (with a chain and a hook) hanging from his waist, and then instructed: "Will the money be paid in the donkey's luggage in three days?" As for the remuneration, I naturally won't owe it when I come back. ”

"It's not three days, it's about two days." Habaruka's eyes quickly scanned over the parchment, and he spoke confidently, and then took care of it, and went to the stable on the other side of the flower gallery.

"Hey, that's my slave." Yulia began to be dissatisfied, and now the other party's strength was like that of the male owner of the manor, which made her feel very uneasy.

"Really? But you let him do this kind of thing, and the Phoenicians are born merchants and treasurers. Lady Yulia, there is a proverb in the malls of the land of Seris - there is no merchant whose heart is not full of treachery and cunning. If you can't, let the person who does do it. It's a simple truth. Calabis said with his fingers crossed. In the next two or three days. I might want to harass your estate. ”

"Please, there's only a place to stay." Yulia put on a knitted blouse, the one covered with "iron anchor" patterns, and began to clean up the dishes.

The Oristano plain is a picturesque place, far from the coast, with green trees and shrubs, and plains with endless fields, where Calabis sits in the shade of a shady tree. Fishing in front of the pool. In the distance, on the open road, flutes and dancers are making bales of hay into human shapes in preparation for a harvest celebration. Peasants and slaves were sweating and harvesting large quantities of grain in the estates, while caravans were braving the heat and dust to buy the grain of the entire plain and transport it out of Sardinia for sale.

After all, the island of Sardinia is best known for its grain exports. Calabis in the shade of trees. I saw a few merchants dressed in the costumes of the Camperia region, shouting something in the crowd. He laughed as he eagerly settled the accounts with the bookkeepers of the manor with bags of coins, for he knew of course that these merchants were the same actors he had Habaruka hire from all over Sardinia, and that they were quite professional in their performances, and that it was no wonder that they wore masks on stage!

"The supply of wheat in Rome must be in short supply this year, so we came from Campeña to buy wheat from various estates at a price of 30% more than in previous years, hoping to sell it at a good price in Rome."

"You're on the island, so you probably don't understand the situation outside! Because of the war, it is difficult to bring in wheat from Asia Minor and Egypt this year, and all the best goods are counting on the island of Sardinia. ”

"It doesn't matter if the harvest is not finished, we can buy your wheat in advance, and the price will not change, regardless of whether it can be sold or not, and no matter what risks there are on the way."

"Etrunia, Campernia, Naples, the estates are all grown with luxury crops, and we can't buy wheat there, so you have to be considerate of us, we have to spend a lot of money just to come, not to mention the money to buy and transport wheat to Rome."

Several "caravans" went back and forth in the north and south of the island, and the manor on the whole island became lively, and the masters or stewards asked the slaves to take care of all the wheat that was harvested and not harvested, and the harvesting haode hurriedly began to process and store, and the unharvested haode sent people to "guard" it, as if they were afraid of being robbed.

On the evening of the third day, when Calabis returned to the manor with his fishing gear, the little widow leaned against the door and asked him, "What is the matter here?" Does it have anything to do with you? "Under the smoke and dust, caravans are surging like hornets everywhere, many of the manor gates are full of people after nightfall, bargaining boards are erected there, bookkeeping slaves are constantly pasting new copper chips on them, the panic and excitement of the market have spread, and the caravans and usurers all over the island have taken action, frantically snapping up wheat, even if they have not been harvested or out of the warehouse, the caravans have also offered prices to book, very similar to the nature of "futures". And the price of the fleets and manpower transportation in the various ports of Sardinia has skyrocketed, and many caravans have invested more than fifty, eighty or even double the previous price, not including the cost of transporting these grains halfway, but they are still gritting their teeth, encouraged by the illusory market in front of them—the current season is unlikely to be stormy, and as long as the grain is transported to the city of Rome, all the expenses are worth it now.

And the information fed back by many caravans in the city of Rome has indeed verified their judgment, everything is correct, and it is rumored that the Senate has begun to set up a food distribution committee, preparing to raise food in various places to deal with the chronic shortage of food in the city that comes with winter. It was Pompey who had held this position many years ago, and after exerting great efforts to eradicate the pirates along the coast, he did everything he could to buy grain from all over the country and transport it into the city of Rome to calm the high price of grain.

Seeing this crazy sight, Yulia covered her mouth in frustration and said, "I knew I shouldn't have paid off the wheat, and the wheat in the Ophilenu estate ripened earlier and the ears of wheat were fuller." ”

"Don't think about the wheat now, Habaruka has already invested you in almost every ship in Sardinia, and you will have to wait to collect the money then." Calabis patted Yulia on the shoulder, "Also, Ophilenu won't plant wheat next year." ”

“weishenme？”

"Since most of the caravans in Sardinia will be bankrupt this year, and the estates will make more money than in previous years, you will now divide your Villa into areas and hire people to cultivate them intensively, and I suggest that you breed snails, honey, poppies, and flowers, which are fast and productive, and at least enough for you to dump for a few years."

Yulia nodded, and then, with dissatisfaction, said to Calabis: "Weishenme, I want to listen to you!" ”

"Because the money you invested in the fleet is all mine!" (To be continued......)