Rome must fall.

Chapter 355: The Barren but Important Northern Territory
"Chief, I understand." Pigris nodded in understanding. "The Yapod people's territory is mostly mountainous, with scarce arable land, so they have no choice but to plunder. If we can trade with them, I believe we can establish a deeper connection between our two tribes."

Maximus reminded: "You should not only send people to negotiate with the Yapodes, but also send people to the territory of the Norikis to express our desire to establish friendly relations with them."

"Pigris," Capito said immediately, "You must find a way to get the Noriki to sell us iron ore! Our weapons workshop in the Ophidilla area has been built, and the iron ore provided by the Aldi people is not enough for our two workshops. If we can open up a supply channel with the Noriki people, it will solve a big problem.

The iron ore they produce is of the best quality. After it is smelted into wrought iron, there is no need for further processes such as carbon blending. It only needs to be hammered to make hard ironware.

Moreover, the Noriki tribe is relatively close to here. I heard from the craftsmen in Segestica that if we load the iron ore onto the ship in the Noriki territory and sail it down the river, we can reach Ophidilla, which is much more convenient than obtaining iron ore from the Ardei tribe. "

"One of the most important reasons why we want to make friends with the Norikis is to get their iron ore. Don't worry, Capito, our Ministry of Commerce will definitely complete this task!" Pigris responded confidently.

"Chief, now that we have defeated the Japods and occupied the territory north of Segestica, can our various departments begin to take over and manage that land?" asked Volenus.

Maximus looked at everyone and said loudly: "The war against the Yapods is over, and the takeover of the northern land can begin. You already have the experience of successfully managing here, and I believe you can integrate the northern land into our tribe more smoothly!

I heard that most of the Segestica people who fled to our place from the north are willing to join the tribe and become reserve tribe members?"

"Yes, chief." Volenus responded, "We have temporarily settled these refugee people from Segestica in the villages around Ophidilla, and have allowed the villagers to provide them with relief.

These refugees saw with their own eyes that their former tribesmen lived in good houses, got good land, and lived better than before, while they themselves lived in fear every day and were now bullied by powerful enemies, so they took the initiative to find the village chief and asked to join the tribe..."

Maximus sighed: "Our previous hard work in managing this land has not been in vain! Now Ophidilla has become a role model for other Pannonian people, which makes it easier for us to take over the land in the north!"

Volenus asked softly, "Chief, according to our previous practice, the villages in these northern territories must be occupied and settled by our old tribesmen. This is to stabilize the order of each village and guide the people of Segestica to better integrate into our tribe. Do you think we should extract one or two thousand soldiers from the first and third legions to move to the new territories in the north?"

"The soldiers of the First and Third Legions moved here from the Kupa River with great effort last year. Now you want them to move again. Aren't you afraid of causing dissatisfaction among them? You can't do this!"

Maximus strongly opposed it. He thought for a moment and said, "How about this? We will withdraw a thousand soldiers from the Second Legion from the Kupa River and have them move to the northern territory to stabilize our new territory. The Ministry of War will take the lead in this matter."

"Yes, chief," Frontinus responded immediately.

Quintus said, "Chief, although we are going to negotiate with the Yapod people and have friendly exchanges with the Noriki people, after all, the northern territory borders Noriki and Yapod. We should also have corresponding defense measures to avoid being too panicked in case of accidents. So I suggest building a fortress similar to Kupa Castle in the territory adjacent to Yapod and Noriki to protect our new territory."

"Your suggestion is very good." Maximus nodded and said, "But don't build a fortress to avoid misunderstandings between the Noriki and the Yapod people. I think... we can build a small town on the northern border of the territory. It can not only play a defensive role, but also establish a market, which will make it more convenient to trade with the other two tribes. What do you think?"

"It would be better to build a town." Volenus agreed. "There are so many things to do in Ophidalia right now, and the town governor, Cecrops, is already overwhelmed. If all the villages in the northern territory are brought under the jurisdiction of Ophidalia, his burden will be too heavy. If we want to build a town on the northern border, then we can just bring all the villages in the north under its jurisdiction, which will make management more convenient."

Maximus put his hand to his chin, lost in thought.

Volenus observed the leader's expression and continued, "I remember that the largest tribe in the northern territory of Segestica seems to be near the border, right?"

Frontinus took over the conversation and said, "Yes, that is the tribe of a Segestica leader named Zetiris. It is said that their village has high wooden walls and trenches, and is known as the northern barrier of the Segestica people. However, this time the village was breached by the Japodes, the leader died in the battle, and many of the tribesmen were also killed or injured. Now the damaged village has been recaptured by our army."

Volenus then said, "I think we can transform this village into a new town for our tribe, which will greatly save our manpower and material resources."

Cornelius asked, "Captain, since we are going to build a new town, who should be sent to serve as the governor of this town?"

Maximus said solemnly: "It is easy to build a new town, but it is not easy to equip it with enough officials. Just now Volenus said that Xicrops is too busy now. Why is he too busy?
Because he did not have enough literate and numerate officials under him, he even had to pull school students to help. This problem was not only faced by Ophidillia, but also by all our departments.

As for the selection of the chief executive of the new town and how to staff the new town with enough officials, everyone should think about it carefully when they go back. We will discuss this issue specifically at the next meeting. "

Maximus paused for a moment, then looked at the head of the Ministry of Rites and Education: "Kephisofon, I have read the new textbooks for the tribal school that you gave me the day before yesterday. The textbooks written this time are simpler and more practical, and more conducive to students' learning and mastering. That's right!
Now the main requirement of the tribe for the school is to train a large number of students who can recognize five or six hundred words, write a simple article, and perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division calculations in the shortest possible time, so that they can meet the writing and record needs of various departments, towns and villages.

Of course, the tribe also needs scholars who can write beautiful articles and engineers who can build bridges and temples. We can select students with excellent grades and talents in this area for further education and training. Of course, this will take more time and more energy, so these students have to pay more tuition fees to continue their studies. It can’t be too cheap to avoid dissatisfaction among other tribesmen..."

Kefisofon said seriously: "Chief, after you told me last time, I have figured it out. We plan to divide each school into two parts. One is the primary learning class, and we strive to make the children of the tribe basically able to read and count after two or three years of study. This textbook is compiled for them;

The other is higher-level learning, which is for a small number of children with learning talents. We do not compile textbooks for them, but will provide special lessons based on their own characteristics. They will study for a longer time and the cost will naturally be higher. It mainly depends on whether the students' parents are willing to accept it..."

Mark and Sims thought about it, nodded and said, "I think so."

Kephisophon immediately said: "Chief, our Ministry of Rites will implement new arrangements for several schools. We will ask teachers to write and copy this new textbook, and then teach students according to the knowledge in this textbook..."

"Uh..." Maximus suddenly thought: It would be too troublesome to have every teacher write and copy the textbooks. If they could be printed and copied, it would save effort and trouble, and it would be less likely to make mistakes. Then not only the teachers but also every student would have a copy, and learning would be more efficient. Now that the papermaking workshop has been expanded and the number of people has increased, the craftsmen have been repeatedly exploring and studying for two years, and the paper they produce is no longer in short supply, and the quality is getting better and better. That is printing...

Maximus tried hard to recall the knowledge about ancient printing that he had seen in his previous life, and decided to find a few craftsmen to conduct trial production first, and then promote it after it succeeded.

Thinking of this, he coughed lightly and said, "This is the business of your Ministry of Rites, just arrange it yourself."

"Chief, we are now facing a difficult problem and need your help," said Kefisophon.

"What problem?"

"There are many students in the school now, but not enough teachers, especially those with high academic qualifications. I even invited several engineers from the Ministry of Works, such as Spukara, to teach part-time in the school in their free time, but this still cannot meet the needs—"

"I've been thinking about it these days and have come up with a solution." Kephisofon said seriously, "We can send people to various city-states in Greece to invite scholars who are willing to come here to be our teachers. But I am now the head of the Ministry of Rites and Education, and I have a lot of things to do and cannot leave, so I would like to ask you, the leader, to send someone to do this!"

(End of this chapter)