Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Chapter 120: Marijis Business Plan (II)

It seems that the ancient Greeks were not fools, as they also knows how to protect the economy of their city-states.

“We currently have nothing in Amendolara, so we don't need to worry about lowering our tariffs. Therefore, when the surrounding city-states charges 2% then we charge 1%, when they take 20%, we take 10%…as long as we can attract them to us, then our trade will develop, and the citizens will take the initiative themselves to look for opportunities to earn money for their families.” With lacking money, Davos has made up his mind to undercut the other city-states.

“Lord Davos, I await for your decision!” Mariji was happy, but he quickly reminded, “Heraclea and Metapontum have a good relation with us and are in the same alliance, and so I believe that we can have a good negation with them, but the relationship between Thurii and us is not good, and so they might hinder the foreign merchants from transporting their goods from Thurii to store it to us, and then to transport it back to the market of Thurii to sell.”

This is really a problem! Davos rubbed his chin in embarrassment.

Originally, the Davos mercenary had a good relationship with Thurii, and Davos was also the great benefactor that has saved Thurii. However, after the mercenaries became citizens of Amendolara, in view of the animosity of the native Amendolarans to Thurii, Davos wasn't willing to take the initiative to contact the envoys of Thurii, which had also angered them after many of their visits got blocked. Amendolara, who was originally a “little brother” of Thurii, is now inexplicably arrogant, and it had dampened the self-esteem of the Thurians, and at the same time, they were also angry at the “deception” of the Davos mercenary.

As a result, the relationship between the two sides became rigid. And such stalemate is not only unfavorable to Amendolara, but also for Davos, because this will not only affect the economic diplomacy of Amendolara, but also the strategic plan of Davos and the commitments that he had made in the council.

In his plan, Amendolara should take advantage of the weakening of the Lucanians, and to invade their lands. But these days, when he calmed down and studied the map carefully, and also to personally scout the surrounding terrain, he found a big problem. On the north side of Amendolara there is Heraclea, an ally and is being backed by Taranto. In the south, there is Thurii, although their strength has been severely weakened, Davos couldn't lead his army to attack them, because Thurii and Amendolara have no hatred, and they were once allies, and they were also the one that invited them(mercenaries). This will undoubtedly arouse the dissatisfaction and vigilance of the city-states in Magna Graecia, and Amendolara's small size couldn't dare to provoke them. On the west side of Amendolara, between Amendolara and Heraclea, you can indeed reach Lucania by trekking up the river Siris, and this is the road that Vespa took when he led his people.

For this reason, Davos also went to inquire Bagul about it, only then did he find out that the west of Amendolara is a wilderness with many mountains, rivers and lakes, dense forests, with a lot of snakes and insects. The tribe of Bagul had stayed there for more than a year, and from the more than 10,000 tribesman that they have, in the end, only less than 4,000 were left. This is the reason why after they had occupied Amendolara, Vespa did not want to go back to Lucania. If they want to use the river path, going down to reach Amendolara is much better, while if they went up against the current to reach Lucania, the number of casualties caused by injuries on the road alone will be staggering, and if the Lucanians were to attack them, then the reinforcements at the back wouldn't be able to help them.

Therefore, the only way to get there is to trek the rugged mountain road westward through the plains of Syberis to Laos. Although the road is long, at least there will be fewer non-combat related casualties, and in order to pass through the plains of Syberis, they must have a good relationship with Thurii.

Davos rubbed his chin. He had planned to wait for a while for the new family of Amendolara to settle down and their hatred to gradually fade and forgotten, which will make it better when negotiating again. But now, it seems that whether it is to improve the economic and trade, or to enhance their military strength, they must solve the bottleneck of the diplomatic relations with Thurii. So Davos made up his mind, “Mariji, don't worry! This afternoon, I will hold a meeting in the council to discuss the issue of Thurii, and hope to improve the diplomatic relations with them.”

“Lord Davos, as long as you put forward a proposal, do they even dare not approve it?” Mariji wasn't flattering him, but was telling the truth. However, Davos had to take into considerations the feelings of the elders like Cornelius. After all, this is about the solidarity between the old and new citizens of Amendolara. But he didn't want to discuss it with Mariji now, and so he just laughed. After all, it will take a long time for a Persian to adapt to the political system of the Greeks.

Mariji looked at his expression and immediately stopped discussing it. Then he raised his voice and said, “Oh, lord Davos, I have another idea that I have almost forgotten to say. The medical skills of the physicians in the medical camp of our mercenaries are quite high, and when we opened a clinic in the market that we have built in Thurii, many citizens and freeman came to see the physicians, and later, more and more patients came to visit. And when we wanted to tear down the market and move to Amendolara, some of the patients have even begged us not to leave…do you think that we should also open a big clinic in Amendolara?! And to attract patients from neighboring city-states to come see the physicians, we can also allow them live and eat in Amendolara, buy goods, and increase the income of our city.”

Mariji's words really reminded Davos. Recently, he has been busy, so he had forgotten that Amendolara still have a special product, that is – medical treatment! Therefore, he excitedly said, “A clinic is too small, so we will build a large hospital!”

“Hospital?”

“The hospital doesn't only give consultation to patients, but also allow them to live in the hospital, and it is more conducive to the rehabilitation of the patients due to the physicians being able to observe their conditions and continue their treatment at the same time. And they can also conduct medical research, hold medical lectures and train young physicians…I believe that such a place will attract a lot of patients to come for treatment!” Davos explained to him in detail.

Mariji went in a daze. Although he didn't understand some of the contents, he couldn't stop himself from saying, “When I was at Persia, I have never heard of such clinic that can turn into this kind of hospital that you had just mentioned, my lord. This is really…really wonderful!”

“What I said is indeed good, but we can only do it step by step in order to reach the level that I had mentioned. Therefore, we better make some preparation first. To tell you the truth, I still owe Herpus two medical classes!” What Davos said reminded Mariji that the young man in front of him is the real leader of the medical camp, and the physicians respect him so much whenever they mention him. A young man who knows everything about military affairs, politics, commerce and medicine is definitely a gift of god! Leaving the house of Davos, Mariji felt that he had chosen the right person to follow.

While Davos is currently thinking at this moment that if they want to build Amendolara into a medical center of Greece, then can Amendolara also be turned into a huge recreational/amusement center?!

Thinking of this, Davos then immediately went to the wing room.

In the wing room, Cheiristoya is working with several freeman servants who are currently working as accountants for the bank loans. Next to her is Azune (Azune is an Egyptian slaves who was sent to the medical camp by Mersis, and while Cheiristoya was in charge of the medical camp, she found that Azune was smart and capable and so she asked Azune to follow her.) She was currently arranging work task with several male and females slaves whom Cheiristoya had just bought from Taranto.

Azune saw Davos as soon as he entered. So she immediately bowed her head and said, “My lord, welcome back.”

The freeman also saluted respectfully, while the new slaves were confused.

“Cheiristoya, have you found a leatherworker?” Asked Davos.

“Yes. But the money for the leatherworker is enough for me to buy four ~ five slaves.” Complained Cheiristoya.

“Business should be done in a long term. Regardless of the fact that a leatherworker cost a lot more money now, but later, they will earn enough money to buy tens of thousands of slaves.” Davos said half jokingly and half serious, while he didn't dare to make any intimate moves in front of everyone.

“Okay, great merchant!” Cheiristoya glance at him and said, “Our family needs a leatherworker anyway.” She then pointed to one of the slaves, “That's the one you want.”

Davos walked over, and the skinny old man bowed to him respectfully, “Master.”

“Are you a Greek?!” Davos was slightly surprised when he saw his appearance.

“Yes, master.”

“From where? What's your name? Why did you become a slave?”

“I am Tulkas, and I came from Ephesus. I became slaves because I couldn't pay my debts.” The old man said calmly.

“In a few years, as long as your craftsmanship is good, then you can save enough money to redeem yourself and become a freeman.” Promised Davos.

“My son died on the battlefield, while my wife died early, and so now, I lived alone. So if master doesn't drive me away, then I would like to stay here until the day I meet Charon…” Davos was taken a back and he could only nod helplessly, “In that case, you can rest assured that you can spend your remaining years here.” With that, he took Tulkas to the atrium and used a stick to draw a pattern on the soil where the plants were planted.

“Is this an olive?” Tulkas looked at the simple pattern on the ground and said uncertainly.

“This is a Rugby ball made of cowhide!” Said Davos with gleaming eyes.

“Rugby?!” Tulkas eyes widened.