ancient greece mediterranean ruler

Chapter 1270 Racing Competition ([-])

"So you declined?"

"How is it possible!" Saustatus' eyes widened: "Those officials from the Ministry of Commerce came to discuss with me under the orders of the consul! Crotocathax, that is the next king, I dare to refuse Really! In the past two days, I have been busy trying to convince those unreasonable guys in the Turiyi Chamber of Commerce. I have even talked about it, and at least I got them to make some concessions..."

"Although you have suffered some losses, I think the consul will remember you and the Ministry of Commerce still owes you such a big favor. I think it will be more beneficial to your future business!" Peibarisius said with some envy. .

"Who knows what will happen in the future? His Majesty Davos has known about me for a long time, but everything has to be developed by his own efforts." Saustatus shrugged, said something self-deprecating, and then looked at Pebarisius Si: "I envy your chamber of commerce. Unlike us, which has so many troubles, not only did its profits soar during the sports games, but it also received praise from everyone!"

"Profits have soared?!" Pebaricius shook his head: "I'm afraid you have never ridden in our Chamber of Commerce's carriage during this period. Don't you know that when the demand for carriages is extremely strong now, the fees we charge are the same as usual? It’s the same, but much more tiring than usual, especially for those athletes and VIP envoys from foreign countries, who have to wake up early and work late at night to pick up and drop off in time... These are all agreements reached by our Carriage Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Commerce in advance.”

Speaking of this, Pebarisius's expression became extremely solemn: "But as citizens of Turui and Dionia, we should contribute our own strength at this critical time, as long as the kingdom can successfully host This sports meeting is the pride of all of us!”

"That is! That is!" Saustatus responded repeatedly. He knew very well that many officers who had stayed in the regular legions for a long time, even if they retired, still spoke in this way, so he quickly changed the subject and called Come to Heskraus, and then said: "I will introduce you to a friend, Heskraus, the Peleus merchant who works with me!"

Then, he introduced Heskraus: "The person in front of you is a big man! His father is one of the founders of the Dionian Cavalry Corps, a famous hero of the kingdom! He himself was once a Dionian cavalry legion. An officer of the First Cavalry Regiment of Nia has made great military exploits, and now he is in charge of the huge Thurii Carriage Chamber of Commerce. You must obey his command when traveling in Turii!"

Hesklaus immediately bowed and saluted with respect: "Lord Pebarisius, it is my honor to know you!"

Hearing the word "Peleeus", Pebarisius's heart moved. Since the Greek War, many upper-class people in Thurii knew that King Davos was born in Peleus, Thessaly, so he hurriedly helped He lived in Hesklaus and asked with interest: "Don't listen to Sostatus's bragging. I am just a businessman like you. What do you do?"

"Heskraus and I work together in the pottery business, and the 'Athens Pottery Shop' in the Great Market of Thurii is his business." Sostatus continued: "Before this sports meeting, His Majesty also Personally send someone to the store to order pottery!”

"Has His Majesty received you?" Pebarisius looked at Heskraus, with a kind of desire in his eyes.

"No... not yet..." Hesklaus lowered his eyes guiltily.

"Although not, your great Majesty knows everything, so he sent Mr. Ribazo to personally deliver the order to the store." Saustatus interrupted again with a smile.

Pebaricius pondered for a moment and smiled: "Since you are favored by His Majesty, it means that the quality of your pottery is very good. If I have time, I will introduce members of our chamber of commerce to buy your pottery."

Hesklaus thanked him profusely.

Although Saustatus looked calm, he felt quite happy inside: in the past few days, in various arenas, he had successfully sold Hesklaus's pottery to many upper-class people in this way.

"Dad, the game is about to begin!" Lilrias' urging shout came from behind.

Amidst the noise from the surrounding audience, the three of them, like other spectators, soon saw: At the railing of the tall royal stand next to them, at some point stood King Davos wearing a golden crown, with his arms stretched out in mid-air. The right hand is holding a red cloth towel, which is extremely eye-catching.Suddenly, he let go of his right hand, and the red cloth fluttered and fell...

The 8 starting gates on the east side of the stadium bounced open simultaneously under the action of the mechanism, and 8 chariots rushed out.

The entire stadium suddenly erupted into thunderous cheers.

The 32 horses, which had been impatient for a long time, raised their hooves vigorously, the wheels spun, and the carriage rumbled forward. The eight well-equipped drivers held the reins tightly with one hand and raised the whip with the other. They shouted loudly and whipped the horses. The reason why they let the horses run hard from the beginning was mainly to grab a good position.

It should be known that the 8 starting gates are distributed in a fan shape next to each other, and their ranking has a greater impact on the starting of the car. Poor, although the Dionia Games emphasizes fair competition, it is inevitable that there will be partial gangs. This is human nature. For example, the racing cars in the Turui area on the field are arranged at the starting point closest to the central ridge In the door, depending on the relationship with the kingdom, they are: Bruti region, Po River region, West Numibia, Egypt, Thebes, Macedonia, and Cyrenaica is the outermost. After all, it Dionia and Dionia are only friendly neighbors, not allies.

So as soon as the race started, the eight cars rushed to the track at full speed, and they were quickly separated. Procris, the player from Turiyi, took the lead.

When Sobox died in the battle, Procris was only a child, but Sobox had laid a solid foundation for his family during his lifetime. His carriage shop owned more than a dozen carriages and dozens of employees. He is the president of the newly established Turui Carriage Chamber of Commerce, and is well-known throughout Dionia (the kingdom had not been established at that time, it was only an alliance, and the territory it encompassed was not large).

After his death, the eldest son Peibarisius was not very careful about running the carriage industry at first, but devoted all his enthusiasm to the cavalry, so he was promoted to captain of the first legion at a young age.Unfortunately, he was unlucky. In the Battle of Wolsey, he was injured and fell off his horse. Unfortunately, his leg bones were crushed by a horse, causing permanent disability. He had to retire, and then devoted all his energy to the carriage industry.Because he is a retired veteran and has meritorious service, coupled with his father's legacy, he has received support and help from many parties. His career has grown along with the expansion of the kingdom. Not only has the family's carriage house expanded from Turii to other towns. , and also began to get involved in the manufacture of carriages, which also gave Pebarius a lot of prestige in the carriage industry throughout the kingdom.

Compared with his elder brother who has experienced ups and downs and is smart and capable, Procris naturally pales in comparison. He has been living a carefree life under the protection of his father and brother, and has no amazing performance. Instead, he has inherited his father's hobby—like driving, and from time to time he secretly acts as a driver , driving for the people of Turiyi, and became a joke among the upper-class young people in Turiyi.

After Davos announced that he would host the Dionysian Games, Procris decided to participate in the racing competition and prove himself with the glory of the championship.To this end, he received strong support from his brother, who not only searched for horses from all over the Mediterranean that were most suitable for traffic jams, but also hired drivers who had won sports racing championships to coach him.Procris has been training unremittingly for two years just for today...

At the moment when the starting gate popped open and the carriage sprinted out, countless thoughts flashed through Procris's mind, which soon turned into a firm and high-pitched shout: "Drive! Drive!..."

A moment later, his carriage was already charging ahead. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the stadium staff standing on the platform of the center spine with buckets in their hands. His excitement cooled down a little. He immediately remembered the coach's instructions and began to move a little. Pull the reins back hard to make the equally excited horse slow down a bit. After all, this is not a short race, but seven round trips, a long race of more than fourteen miles in total, which requires continuous endurance. , you can't push hard at the beginning, but you will be unable to speed up the sprint in the second half of the race.

Just when he was controlling the speed of his horse with all his strength, a shout of "Wow!" suddenly sounded from outside him. He turned around and saw that a carriage was already chasing him. The driver was wearing a horned helmet and roared at him with bared teeth. The face is vicious.

"Damn Gauls!" Procris shouted to him not to be outdone. There was no need to worry that the other party would attack him angrily, not to mention that both parties were citizens of Dionia, and the referees repeatedly criticized the participants. Competitors in racing competitions have repeatedly emphasized: "To ensure the safety of the competition, you must not maliciously infringe or harm your opponents during the competition, otherwise you will be disqualified!"

What the Gallic players did was nothing more than a psychological tactic. Procris remained unmoved and concentrated on driving the carriage... The statue of Poseidon and the equestrian statue of King Davos on the center platform flashed past the corner of his eyes. Three pillars stood ahead, and he knew he needed to turn.

The 500-meter straight distance takes a while for a runner to complete, but for a four-horse racing car running at full speed, it only takes a few blinks of the eye.

However, turning at high speed is a great test of the driver's control ability. Procris did not dare to relax at all. He controlled the reins tightly and kept the carriage close to the center platform. The four white horses drove side by side, almost at the same time. Go around the pillars.

(End of this chapter)