ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1239 Disputes of Interests
Among the merchants of Thurii, Theos had the closest contacts with officials, especially with the Ministry of War, and now he was a relative of the king.

"I don't have any inside information." Theos said seriously: "To be honest, you don't want to hear it. Your brother doesn't have any amazing achievements. It is generally difficult for a legion commander to be promoted based on his seniority. Become a veteran, but because of you, he has a great chance..."

"Me?!" Saustatus was a little confused.

Theos reminded him softly: "You have provided a lot of help to the expansion of the kingdom in the past. Take the Greek War as an example. In order to transport troops to Greece and Thessaly, you organized a large number of ships many times. Intermittently helping to transport baggage, and even in the later period, there were some difficulties in supplying military food. As the president of the Thuliyi Chamber of Commerce, you organized many merchants from the kingdom to purchase a large amount of food through loans from the kingdom, helping the Ministry of Military Affairs to tide over. Difficulty... You did something like this in the Gallic War, and the Ministry of Military Affairs will probably not forget it. If you can get the Ministry of Military Affairs to agree to push your brother to join the Senate, then there will be no problem for your brother to become a senator. "

Saustatus's eyes lit up. He knew that military senators were a very important force in the Senate. If he got the support of the Ministry of Military Affairs, this would definitely be possible.

He immediately pulled Tios to the living room in the backyard with a happy face, ready to talk with him in detail.

Due to business needs, Sostatus's house had two restaurants. One was in the front yard, used to entertain businessmen from his huge distribution network, while the living room in the backyard was used to receive important guests.

After sitting down, Theos talked to him about another matter with a serious expression: "Thosetus, are the things you did to Dickpolis excessive?"

Sostatus was not surprised. He was prepared for Tios to mention this matter, and immediately argued: "You have definitely wronged me. I don't have any grudges against Mr. Dickpolis. On the contrary, I I respect him very much. He gave me the position of president of the Turuii Chamber of Commerce on his own initiative. I am not a person who repays favors. You see, in recent years, my fleet has transported the pottery produced by his workshop to the mainland of Greece. Going to sell with Ionia, the sales volume is increasing every year, helping him open up the market, and earning a lot of money for him, if I have a grudge against him, will I do this?"

Theos pondered and said: "...But you brought pottery from Athens and sold it in Thurii. Now many officials and rich people are more willing to buy your pottery, resulting in the sales of Dickpolis pottery in Thurii. Big reduction... Sostatus, our Chamber of Commerce once had a rule that 'prohibited malicious competition among Chamber of Commerce members'. As the current president of the Chamber of Commerce, you should take the lead..."

Hearing these words, Saustatus suppressed the anger rising in his heart. He said a little rudely: "Lord Theos, I know that you and Dicopolis are good friends, but you cannot ignore the facts. He said, the price of the pottery I sell is more than twice as expensive as his pottery. How can this be called vicious competition?! And it is precisely because of considering him that the quantity of pottery I import is not too much, just in the picture Yisale, this is the biggest concession I can make, and he is still dissatisfied like this, what else does he want me to do?!"

Theos hesitated for a moment, sighed and said: "...We have been friends for decades. You are a big businessman with strong financial resources and sell so many types of goods. Why should you be separated between the two of you because of pottery? The relationship between us is so tense..."

"Theos, I have always respected you as a person, but what you said today is wrong!" Saustatus' anger was palpable: "You all expect me to sell a large amount of your goods to the Eastern Mediterranean. Go, but you are not allowed to bring the goods from the Eastern Mediterranean to the kingdom for sale. What is the reason?! If you really want to do this, then I will go see His Majesty Davos and tell him that Dickpolis and you have a strong relationship. Request that goods produced outside the kingdom not be sold in the Thurii region!”

"Eh...Eh, that's not what I meant." Theos quickly defended: "Look, since you introduced Athenian pottery to Thurii for sale, not only the upper echelons of the kingdom are willing to use it, I heard that even His Majesty wants to use it. Buying from you will inevitably create a trend. If this continues, Dickpolis's pottery sales in the kingdom will inevitably decline greatly. You also know that Dickpolis has pottery workshops in many towns in the kingdom. It will be difficult for him by then. If we continue to maintain such a large scale, we may even face bankruptcy..."

Sostatus put on a solemn face and said: "After the Greek War, His Majesty asked the Ministry of Commerce to convene a meeting with the presidents of the chambers of commerce in various towns. At the meeting, he specifically proposed that 'for Greek mainland people who will come to the kingdom to do business, Businessmen must not exclude or suppress, but should try to help as much as possible. After I finished the meeting, I specially called you to convey the message. You and Dickpolis both expressed their full support at the meeting. Do you still remember this?"

Theos nodded helplessly.

"I am also carrying out your Majesty's order!" Saustatus said confidently: "In the past few years, I have not only sold Athenian pottery in the Thurii area, but also Corinthian ironware, Greek stone, Thessalian horses, Athenian Gold and silver products... Why didn't you protest to me, Aenepias didn't protest to me... What about Dycopolis being dissatisfied with me? Because the quality of his pottery is not as good as the Athenian pottery, and he is afraid of competition!"

Theos persuaded in a gentle tone: "Over the years, Dicopolis has worked hard to improve the quality of pottery, and even improved the process of making pottery... You and I both know this, but Athenian pottery has developed several times. With a century of history and a deep heritage, it is impossible for Dickpolis's workshop to catch up in a short period of time...

His Majesty hopes to win over local Greek businessmen, and also hopes that the kingdom's market will be more diversified, increase competition, and give the people more choices. He does not want an exclusive monopoly... I understand all these, but if Athenian pottery sells in large quantities in the kingdom, it will not It will only push Dickpolis, who is still working hard, to a dead end. I think this is not what His Majesty wants to see. "

Sostatus was shocked and immediately said: "As the president of the Thurii Chamber of Commerce, of course I will not deliberately harm the interests of the members of the chamber of commerce. It has been more than two years since I started selling Athenian pottery in Thurii. They have kept their sales very low, and introduced only high-quality products at very high prices. The sale of ordinary pottery is still occupied by Dickpolis, which does not pose a great threat to him. And I have long been aware of this. I even took the initiative to discuss the matter with Dickpolis several times, but he shut me out several times and made me a joke to the people of Thurii. I believe you can't have heard of it!" Sosta Tusi put on an aggrieved look.

Theos was silent for a moment: the stalemate in the relationship between Sostatus and Dicopolis had become a joke among the people of Turii, how could he not know it.He didn't want to deal with this difficult matter, but several friends in the Chamber of Commerce asked him for help, and he didn't want to see the originally united Turiyi Chamber of Commerce continue to have disputes, so he intervened.

At this moment, he had to sincerely persuade again: "Dikpolis refused to discuss with you, which caused the problem to intensify. This is of course his fault! However, it is not without reason that he is angry with you. Of course, he understands that we can only allow us to It is impossible to sell goods to mainland Greece and not allow Greek merchants to trade on the kingdom's land. But merchants from other kingdoms will not have any objections to the introduction of fine Athenian pottery. Only you can't because of your sales. The channels are too wide!
You see, it didn’t take long for you to help Athenian pottery open up the sales channels for the upper echelons of the kingdom. Even if Dicopolis worked hard to improve the quality of his pottery, he couldn’t keep up with you selling pottery as fast as you did. You even sold pottery to The royal family——"

"Wait a minute!" Sostatus interrupted him: "Your Majesty wants to buy the Athens pottery I sell. When I mentioned the name of the pottery merchant I worked with for the first time, I guess... His Majesty already knew his fellow countryman."

"Your Majesty's fellow countryman?!"

"Yes, the name of this pottery merchant is Heskraus, who is from Peleus..." Saustatus said slowly, pretending to be trying to remember, "I remember that I went to visit my brother-in-law Hesk. Ross, this Peleus businessman I met at a banquet, the person who introduced him to me at that time was the newly appointed Thessaly intelligence chief Gorgeon..."

Now it was Theos's turn to feel nervous: Merchant Peleus...recommended by the Chief of Intelligence...The upper echelons of Thurii all know that the Kingdom's Intelligence Department mainly serves His Majesty Davos!
Theos immediately asked: "This Hesskraus is His Majesty's relative in Peleus?!"

"I don't know that." Saustatus spread his hands and shrugged: "I think even Lord Ribazo himself doesn't know, but if your Majesty doesn't know clearly, no one will know."

Tios frowned and fell into deep thought. After a while, he said seriously: "It seems that I can't blame you for this matter, but as the president of the Turiyi Chamber of Commerce, you should understand that you and If his conflict is not resolved as soon as possible, it will have a great impact on the Chamber of Commerce if it continues... Let's do this, he will come over in a while, I will convince him first, and then I will act as the mediator, and you will discuss with him, and both parties will make some concessions, and we will strive for it. What do you think about resolving this conflict tonight?"

"This is exactly what I hope." Saustatus responded with some doubts: "But will Dicopolis come today? My servant told me that he did not respond to my invitation."

(End of this chapter)