ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1266
After a long time, Davos's expression became determined: "When I defeat Persia and return in triumph, I will abdicate and you will take over and become the second king of the Holy Kingdom of Dionia!"

When Clotokatax heard this, he was shocked: "Father, you are in good spirits and good health. You have never had a serious illness. The doctor said that you can live to be a hundred years old. Why do you suddenly say that you want to abdicate?! Please stop it!" My child, I will never agree to this ridiculous idea!..."

He seemed very excited, even a little panicked, and almost knelt down in front of Davos.

Davos looked at him kindly and said comfortingly: "My child, I know you are very filial, but this idea of ​​mine is not just a whim. I have been thinking about it for a long time..."

Davos stretched out his hand again, gently pressed his son's broad shoulders, and said with emotion: "I grew from a poor mercenary to the king of a powerful kingdom in the Mediterranean. In addition to the blessing of Hades, all I relied on was hard work - —Persistence and hard work! From being afraid of fighting to personally leading soldiers to charge, from not understanding war to understanding war, from being unfamiliar with political affairs to being familiar with all aspects of the kingdom's problems... In the past 30 years, I have not dared for a moment. Relax and always remind yourself to work hard! Work hard! Otherwise, everything you have achieved before will be in vain!... Now that the political situation of the kingdom is stable and the great cause of unifying the Mediterranean is about to be completed, I have nothing to worry about!"

Davos beat his leg with his other hand and said softly: "You think I am in good health, but that is all an illusion. In the past few years, I have often been unable to eat due to stomach pain, and the joints of my shoulders and knees often hurt... these are all It's a problem left over from my previous battles. I'm getting old...not only do I have low energy, but my memory is also declining. I often fall asleep while reviewing documents, and sometimes I forget some important things..."

Clotokatax felt sad as he listened, and said eagerly with red eyes: "Father, you don't have to work as hard as before. The child has grown up, and the child can share a lot of things for you. You just need to continue to grasp the direction of progress for the kingdom! You don’t have to—”

Davos interrupted him with a smile: "Clato, I have worked hard for most of my life. I really want to live a plain and leisurely life, talking and laughing with my old friends without any worries. Go around and see Athens, Sparta, Carthage, Byzantium... Of course you have to take your two mothers with you... How could I not know for so many years that every time I go on an expedition, your mother They are all worried about me day and night! How could I not know that I was handling political affairs in the palace until late at night, and your mothers stayed up late waiting..."

Davos said emotionally: "I owe them a lot, and I want to use the short time in the rest of my life to compensate them. Clotto, will you give me this opportunity?"

"Father..." Clotokatax hesitated.

Davos smiled freely and said seriously: "The reason why I want to abdicate is because I want to set an example for our Hades Davos family. As people get older, their thoughts tend to become rigid, conservative, and stubborn. , to ordinary people this is nothing, but to a kingdom, this is not conducive to the development of the kingdom!
Let the successor ascend the throne earlier and accumulate more experience. If problems arise, the father and son can still discuss it. This will be beneficial to the entire kingdom... There has never been a long-lasting kingdom. Let the successor be more tempered and less stupid. Otherwise, our Hades Davos family may be able to persist longer..."

"Maybe this is just a naive idea of ​​mine." Davos smiled slightly again and said seriously: "Let us focus on the present. Even if Persia is defeated by us in the future and the kingdom controls the entire Mediterranean, Dai Vos will There are still many problems facing Oonia, just like what you have been worried about: how to change Dionia’s national policy of using force to establish a country and allow the kingdom to develop more steadily, and how to make the regional power that encompasses the entire Mediterranean become more and more powerful. Integrate into the Kingdom without being divided…

Also, even without Persia and Carthage as opponents, the kingdom will never have fewer enemies in the future, such as the Gauls living in the vast territory north of the Alps, and the Gauls living in the dense forests to the north of the Gauls. The more savage and fierce Germanic people... These problems all need to be faced by you, and some of them will even continue to the next generation of Chris and others, and even beyond, so don't rush and take your time..."

"Father—" Clotokatax was excited and wanted to say something else.

Davos waved his hand again to interrupt him: "Okay, we have been out long enough, it's time to go back to the banquet, don't let everyone worry! Remember, this matter must be kept strictly confidential!"

All kinds of emotions were surging in Clotokatax's heart, and in the end he could only say aggrievedly: "Yes..."

Davos stood up, opened the door to the study, and looked out at the dark night. It seemed as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his body. He said in a relaxed tone: "In the next few days, we will enjoy the sports games while waiting for news from Africa." Bar."

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The wonderful performance of the Dionysian Games on the first day ignited the passion of the players and spectators, and the following games were in full swing. For all the people in Thurii, it seemed like they were participating in a celebration every day. Cheering and cheering wildly at the edge of the arena, drinking and celebrating in restaurants after the game...

But in this festive atmosphere, ordinary people had no idea that the Egyptian envoy delegation had encountered a storm at sea, and no one knew that on the morning of the second day of the opening ceremony, King Davos sent Aristiras, the head of the Intelligence Department, to He was called to the study room of the mansion and had a confidential conversation.

On the fifth day of the competition, the individual archery finals were held at the archery venue in the west of Thurii City. The finalists were Megakides from Crete and Stasypus from the Thurii region of Dionysia.

Both sides have completed the prescribed three rounds, with a total of nine arrows, and are waiting for the referee to calculate the results.

In fact, after every round of shooting, the target shooter will bring over the round wooden board with the arrow inserted and show it to the players and the audience to show the fairness of the competition, so both the players and the audience have a general understanding of Match Results.But when the referee announced loudly: "Crete's Megakides, 86 rings; Thurii's Stasypus, 86!", there was a cry of regret in the audience, but then they cheered enthusiastically. Come on.

When the archery competition first started, there were not many spectators who came to watch the competition. More than half of the spectators came out of curiosity to watch this event that had never appeared in other sports games. Many of them even came because they could not buy it. I had no choice but to buy tickets for the archery venue to feel the real atmosphere of the sports meeting.

However, the preparatory team's ingenious setting of the archery schedule and the unique quiet but exciting competition style of archery compared to other fierce competitions gradually attracted a large number of fans, and by the time of the finals it was already hard to get a ticket. .

"The two sides are tied, so there will be an extra round!" As soon as the referee finished speaking, the audience began to cheer. Of course they are happy to have more games, and most of the audience are cheering for Stasypur. After all, Stasypur Si was a native of Thurii, and among the few who cheered for Megakides, Silitaos cheered the loudest.

Siriteos was eliminated in the [-]-meter semi-finals the day before yesterday. He didn't have much confidence in winning the championship. On the contrary, due to his eye-catching performance in the past few days, some people actually talked to him privately. Contact him and express his desire to marry his daughter to him.

But there are no citizens of Dionia among these people, and the reason is simple: most young women in Dionia have received orthodox education in Dionia schools since childhood, and most of them are knowledgeable, intelligent, and open-minded women. A handsome face and a fit body cannot completely attract them, not to mention that the trend in Dionysian society at this time is to revere heroes on the battlefield, practical and capable officials, and knowledgeable scholars, and Silitaos is not even a A citizen of Dionia is just a Greek from a barren island. The young women of Dionia are so proud that their kingdom has become the overlord of the Greek world, so they will not consider this at all.

Siriteos was jumping and shouting in the audience, but it did not have any impact on Megakides. His attention was focused on his opponent: this is an elderly citizen of Dionia. , but there is no sign of physical gain. Instead, he has a tall and well-proportioned body, short beardless hair, sharp eyes, and looks calm and capable.

Realizing that Megakides was sizing him up, the Thurii player named Stasypus also turned to smile at him, raising his hands and feet with an air of grace that made Megakides feel a little bit sad.

"The overtime begins, please prepare for both players!" The referee's shout made Megakides regain his mind. He took a game arrow from the staff beside him, put it on the bowstring, and then took a deep breath. He breathed out slowly, and the distracting thoughts in his heart were also expelled from the body with the breath. He slowly raised the bow and pulled the string. When his right arm was slightly higher than his shoulder and his left hand pulled the bow string to his ear, he All movement ceased, like a statue completely still.

The already experienced spectators held their breath at this moment, and the entire archery venue became unusually quiet.

After a while, I heard "Whoosh!... Whoosh!..." Two bow string sounds were heard one after another, and two arrows shot out quickly.

Megakides did not pay close attention to the situation of the hit, but calmly took another arrow and strung the bow again.

(End of this chapter)