ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1236 A more prosperous Port of Thurii
But the helmsman and lookout of each cargo ship have always maintained a high degree of concentration, and can even be said to be a little nervous, because since the establishment of the New Greek Alliance, the route from Saron Bay to Thurii has been much busier and busier than before. Well, when sailing at such a fast speed, special care must be taken to prevent collisions. Similar accidents occur every year on this route.

Just as Hesklaus and the others were enjoying the sea breeze and admiring the sea view, a sound of "Ga! Ga! Ga!" suddenly sounded on the ship.

"Does this sound like a duck quacking?" Someone looked around in confusion.

Hesklaus suddenly understood and shouted: "Lilias, did you bring your duck to the boat?!"

After a long while, Lirias came out of the cabin, holding a white duck tightly with both hands, and said timidly: "Father, I want Gaga to accompany me to Turui..."

Hesklaus shouted angrily: "Why didn't you tell me in advance——"

"Okay, okay." The friend next to him advised: "Isn't it just a duck? If the child likes it, let him take it with him. Maybe when we finish all the food, this duck can help us get to the sea. Catch fish to eat.”

"Hahaha..." In the laughter, Lillias escaped a beating and scolding, and the little white duck became a distraction for the crew during the voyage.

Even when night falls, the fleet is still sailing because they carry enough water and are not in a hurry to go ashore to replenish it.And since Dionia took control of mainland Greece, many measures have been taken to strengthen trade between Greece and Dionia in the past few years, the most important of which is to ensure the convenience of sea routes.

For example: the entire route is subdivided into more than a dozen areas, and supply points are set up at regular intervals along the coast of each area. Each area must have warships patrolling day and night to fight against pirates or search and rescue distressed crew members. Coastal towns or city-states must expand and improve their ports, especially lighthouses...

Therefore, even when sailing at night, the safety is greatly improved. Even novice boat operators will not be too nervous, because they will encounter patrol boats from time to time and see lighthouses on the distant coast from time to time, and then according to the The Dionia-Greece navigation chart in hand (the Ministry of Commerce of Dionia hired some sailors traveling between the East and West Mediterranean under the instruction of Daves, and also asked the Ministry of Military Affairs to send cartography experts. After countless attempts, After exploration and correction, a relatively detailed nautical chart was finally drawn, and then sold to the outside world. It was very popular among merchants and sailors, and demand exceeded supply. If there is not enough water, they can also follow the instructions of the lighthouse and map and try their best to reach the nearest supply point or port to the fleet...

So Heskraus and his fleet sailed day and night, circumnavigating the entire Peloponnese Peninsula without stopping to rest, and it only took them two days to reach Corfu.

After the Greek War, Dionia withdrew from its occupation of some islands, such as Zakynsu, Kefalonia, Kythera, Aegina, etc., but only one island did not give up, and that was Kercyra, The people of this small island, which was repeatedly fought over by Athens and Sparta during the Theban War, were already extremely fearful of war. Under the temptation of thoughtful people, they offered to join Dionia, and of course Davos couldn't ask for it.

Today's Corfu not only has multiple well-equipped ports, but also a military port belonging to the First Fleet, where hundreds of warships are parked for a long time and 2000 fleet infantry are stationed.

Corfu has become the first bridge for the Kingdom of Dionia to control the mainland of Greece, but for Greek merchants, it is the last resting place leading to the mainland of Dionia, and the people living on the island of Corfu have also Benefited a lot.

The crew took a rest on the island of Corkyra, and then continued to sail westward, sailed across the Adriatic Sea, and entered the Gulf of Turui (a few years ago, someone proposed in the Senate: "How can this bay in southern Italy be a kingdom subordinate? The name of a municipality in the kingdom often makes foreigners who come to the kingdom feel strange for the first time. This bay must be named after the capital of the kingdom, Turui, in order to highlight its importance and the majesty of the kingdom..." The proposal was quickly obtained Through this, the Gulf of Taranto was renamed).

In the early morning of the fourth day after setting off from the port of Piraeus, Hesklaus's fleet had arrived at the offshore coast of Thurii.

Lyrias had lived in Athens for several years and had always thought that the bustling Port of Piraeus was the largest port in the world. But when he looked at the coast of Thurii from the boat, he was shocked because he could not see it at all. Without reaching the coast, all that can be seen from south to north are ships. Those densely packed masts turn the coast of Thurii into a lush forest.

It turned out that after Dionia conquered Greece, although Greece was small in size and small in population, most of these large and small city-states relied on sea trade for their livelihoods, so the sea trade of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia suddenly turned upside down. Several times.

Especially in the capital Turui, the original capacity of the port was a bit tight, and now it is even more insufficient. After obtaining the consent of King Davers, the Ministry of Commerce, in the entire Turui region from Amendolara to Custer On the long coast, as long as a port can be built, we will seize every opportunity to build a new port.

Then the Ministry of Commerce named all the ports in the Turiyi region with numbers, and classified all imported and exported goods. Each major category of goods corresponds to a numbered port. This greatly improves management efficiency and avoids confusion. .At the same time, the Construction Supervision Department also seized the time to summon a large number of laborers and craftsmen to build two more stone bridges on the Krati River to ensure smooth north-south traffic.

Since the goods sold by Heskraus and several other Thessalian merchants were different, everyone waved goodbye here and each took a merchant ship loaded with his own goods to the corresponding port.

Port No. 5, where pottery is loaded and unloaded, is not far to the north of the mouth of the Kraty River. The reason for this arrangement is that the Ministry of Commerce considers that pottery is an indispensable commodity in people's lives, and the demand is large, and pottery is easy to break, so the port is arranged for it. It is close to the city and easy to transport.

The cargo ship enters the port, docks at the dock, and hands over the goods to the dock workers to unload the goods and transport them to the warehouse. The labor foreman accompanied Herstrauss to the office in the warehouse... This process is very similar to that of Piraeus Port, but What happens next is different.

"Dionian citizens or foreigners?" asked the clerk.

"Dionian citizen, Thessaly Peleus." Hesklaus replied, showing the clerk the iron plate of the Dionian citizen he carried with him.

The clerk checked it carefully and then asked: "Have you registered with the Ministry of Commerce and have the right to do business?"

"Yes, this is my merchant ID." Hesklaus skillfully took out another iron plate he carried with him.

The clerk checked it carefully again, and then asked: "Is this your first time doing business in Turiyi?"

"No, I have been here many times. I have my shop in the pottery market."

"In this case, I will not tell you what you should pay attention to when doing business in Turui." The clerk said seriously: "But if you are found to be lying in the future, as a citizen of Dionia, Not only will you be severely punished, but you may also be stripped of your citizenship, do you understand?!"

"understand!"

"Please confirm whether what is written on the cargo list is correct?" The clerk handed him a paper book. The type and quantity of goods carried by Hesklaus were clearly written on the opened paper, and there was a clerk at the end. (After being inspired by Davos, the craftsmen went through countless experiments and finally created paper that could be written on. It was mass-produced and sold by the Christoya Chamber of Commerce. From then on, the Holy Kingdom of Dionia no longer headache due to shortage of papyrus).

After confirming that it was correct, Heskraus also signed his name, turned over the second piece of paper, and signed his name on the back of the same content.

The clerk affixed the seal, then tore off one of the sheets, and handed it to Hesklaus, and the entire port inspection was over. It would not be like Piraeus Port, where the total value of imported goods had to be repeatedly calculated, and then let Merchants pay a 10% tax and then measure the quality of the silver coins... which is very cumbersome.

The wharf laborers transport the goods to the seaport for export, and Hesklaus can leave the port after handing over the goods list to the checkpoint for inspection.Since there is a pottery market not far outside the port, he did not let the dock workers continue to transport, and paid them on the spot.Then send someone to notify the store employees to move the pottery.

Athens Pottery Shop, this is the name of Hesklaus's pottery shop. It is simple and direct, but customers can understand it at a glance.Since he was the first pottery merchant from Athens to set up shop in Thurii (before the Greek wars, due to the trade boycott of Dionia by Athens and its maritime alliances, no Athenians did business in Dionia, so Dionysius It is almost impossible for Aonian merchants to buy Athenian pottery directly). Later Athenian merchants established pottery shops in Thurii, and it was no longer possible to take similar store names, because the "Dionian Law" stipulates that the same type of goods is not allowed There are duplicate store names.

It is said that some Athenian businessmen hated Heskraus very much, thinking that the great name "Athens Pottery" had been blasphemed by a Thessalian, but no one dared to blatantly hurt him because he was a citizen of Dionia, and There is protection from Dionia's big shots behind him.

Hercules walked into the store and saw that most of the shelves were empty. A smile suddenly appeared on his face: "It seems that business is very good during this period!"

(End of this chapter)