Rome must fall.

Chapter 373 Pig, Horse, Donkey

Rocquetas calculated the price for him carefully and found that the iron ore he had was not enough to exchange for so many goods. But he was unwilling to reduce the quantity of items he wanted to buy. Rocquetas had to write him an IOU first so that the amount could be converted into the next ore transaction.

After the two parties finished their discussion, Locketius's men wrote the sales contract, signed it (with their fingerprints), and made three copies, and the entire bargaining transaction was completed.

For Karsipenpas and his people, this contract does not mean much. As long as the food and supplies are transported back to the tribe, the elders and tribesmen will not come to check the contract and ask about the details.

But for Rocktius, the iron ore trading ledger and every contract had to be completed carefully and kept carefully, because not only the Finance Department had to check them regularly, but even the Personnel Department would occasionally conduct spot checks.

Roctius knew that he would never break the law for the sake of corruption, but if he neglected his job and caused incomplete contracts and documents, and the Ministry of Personnel used this as an excuse to affect his promotion, it would be too late to regret it then.

After all the formalities were completed, Chalcephemus said, "I have to attend your summer festival and time is tight. I will not stay here any longer. After you have collected the wheat and cloth, give them to Omantimenes, who will be responsible for checking and leading the fleet back."

Omantimenas was one of the two Ardeans who had just followed Roctius's men in. He was a rare nobleman in the mountain tribes west of Ardea who was proficient in arithmetic, and was Chalsipoppas' right-hand man in managing the iron mines.

In the past, when Chalcipompus was busy, he had asked him to lead the fleet to trade iron ore many times. Roctius did not find it strange, so he responded: "Okay, I will hand over the goods to him."

After leaving the river port, Chalcephemus led Agatacus and others directly to the main house of Snotia. Now this was the office of the chief executive of Snotia. Chalcephemus had been here many times, so after receiving the order that "Theopompos agreed to meet", the guards at the gate immediately let him in.

Theopompos was once a noble slave of Sarapija, but was later forced to join the rebels and work with Pigris. After the establishment of the Nix tribe, he was responsible for managing the market of Snotia. Due to his outstanding work performance, he was later promoted to the chief executive of Snotia, and he has been in this position for more than three years. During this period, Snotia was stable, the people were wealthy, and the trade was prosperous. It almost became the trade center along the Kupa River and the Ardei territory. He played an important role in this.

Theopompos received Chalsipompus and his party warmly, because he knew very well that the prosperity and stability of Snotia today was inseparable from the important contributions of the Ardei people, and important figures of the Ardei tribe such as Chalsipompus and Cleobrotus were the important cornerstones for maintaining long-term friendship between the two tribes.

Upon learning that Chalsipompus was going to attend the summer festival in Ophidalia, Theopompus expressed envy. As the governor of Snotia, he had to preside over the summer festival in his town and would never be able to go to Ophidalia to watch the games and take part in the sacrifice.

After Chalsipompus asked him to issue a certificate for Agatacus and others, he asked Agatacus and others in detail with great interest about the current situation of the Adriatic pirates, and readily wrote the document and stamped it with the seal.

He then proposed to send a carriage to Chalcipompus and others to take them to Ophidalia.

Chalcyonpus did not refuse Theopompus's offer because he knew it would save time.

After everyone left, Theopompos pondered for a moment, wrote a memorial, and asked his men to send it to Ophidilla by express horse.

By the time Calcipumpas and the others came out of the courtyard, a carriage was already waiting by the roadside.

This is a horse-drawn carriage from the transport team stationed in Snowtia. It is usually responsible for transporting things to tribes or tribesmen, and of course some fees will be charged.

The carriage shed was quite spacious, and even after Chalcephemus and his party were seated, there was still some space left. Moreover, the animals pulling the carriage were no longer oxen and donkeys as before, but four horses.

The coachman waved the whip and the carriage moved slowly forward on the road in the town. After passing through the east gate and getting on the road, the carriage began to accelerate.

"Thump thump thump..." Amid the sound of horse hooves, everyone looked at the road in front of them, all a little dazed.

"You didn't expect that you could see wide roads like those in Italy here," said Carlos Pompas with a little complacency.

Unexpectedly, the driver heard this and couldn't help but interrupt: "The roads built by the Romans are not as good as ours!"

Chalsipompus responded seriously: "You are right, that is indeed the case." Agatacus and others listened to the conversation between the two. Although they were indeed surprised by the road before them, which was almost exactly the same as the avenue built by the Romans, it would be a bit too boastful to say that it was better. Out of politeness, they did not refute.

The carriage was running faster and faster on the flat and solid road, and in the end it was almost flying. Agatacus finally realized that something was wrong.

It was already morning, and there were many pedestrians on the sidewalks on both sides of the road, and many horse-drawn carriages and carts in the middle of the road, but the carriages they were riding in could move forward at a high speed without any hindrance...

Agatacus said in confusion: "Hey, the carriages coming from the front seem to be on that side of the road, and the carriages following us are on this side. Could this be...?"

"Hahaha, you figured it out pretty quickly." The driver said with a proud smile, "After this road was built, Chief Maximus personally issued a decree requiring that all people or vehicles on the road must keep to the right when going east or south, and keep to the left when going west or north.

At first, everyone was not happy about it and thought it was troublesome. They often violated the rules and were always caught and punished by the patrol team. Later, they gradually got used to it and found that this method was really good! Especially for horse-drawn carriages and carts running on the road, it was faster and more convenient, and less likely to cause accidents!

Our leader is truly the Son of God. How can his wisdom be compared to that of ordinary people like us! Let me tell you, I have been in Italy for decades. The Romans built so many roads, but I have never seen them issue such a decree to make vehicles on the road more orderly..."

Agatacus and others had nothing to say.

The carriage was running on the road, the sound of horse hooves and wheels intertwined into an exciting melody, the wind blowing in my face blew my hair and took away the hot breath on my body. On the left side of the road was the slowly flowing Kupa River, the river water was shimmering; on the right side of the road were fields of wheat, the golden ears of wheat swayed like waves, and from time to time a house appeared in the wheat waves, with several sheep tied around the house, and occasionally...

"Oh, the Nixes actually raise horses!" Dioscles exclaimed. As an Illyrian, he knew that his compatriots rarely raised horses because they were poor, did not have the conditions, and could not afford them. For them, raising horses was a luxury.

"Not only do they raise horses and sheep, they also raise a lot of pigs in those houses." The driver took over the conversation and said loudly: "The Scotisci and Pannoni are good at raising pigs. After we defeated the Segestica tribe, we seized a lot of pigs. The tribe took some of them to the market to sell, and gave the rest to the Labor Department to raise carefully, and regularly took the piglets born to the market to sell.

Pigs have a varied diet and are easy to raise. As long as they are provided with enough food, they can grow dozens of kilograms of meat in more than half a year. By then, not only will there be enough meat to eat, but also a lot of fat. Moreover, pigs can give birth to many piglets in one litter, and they also produce a lot of feces, which can provide a lot of fertilizer for the fields...

Pigs have so many benefits, so every household built a pigpen in their yard and learned how to raise pigs from the Scodischi people. As a result, the town became very smelly.

The tribe even issued a decree specifically for this purpose, prohibiting the raising of livestock in towns! As a result, everyone had to build a house in their own fields and raise pigs, cattle, and sheep in it. However, this made it convenient for the livestock to eat, and it was also convenient to use their manure to compost and fertilize the fields... Many people even lived in the house on the field during the busy farming season.

As for what you said about raising horses, actually there are not many people raising horses in the tribe. Although most of the tribesmen have planted several acres of alfalfa fields and have enough food to feed the horses, there are still not many horses in the tribe, and they are mainly concentrated in the Agricultural Department.

The Ministry of Agriculture has special people who raise horses. It is said that there are nearly a thousand horses there. Every year, some of the inferior horses are taken out and sold at the market. The initial price is quite reasonable. Everyone wants to buy them, whether they are used for plowing, carrying things, or traveling.

As a result, everyone argued and pushed the price up. It was good for them to buy a horse to raise, but it was still far from mine. I have three horses at home!"

"How come you have so many horses at home?!" Everyone in the car was surprised.

"I have been a slave since I was a child, responsible for feeding horses. When I grew up, I became a slave driver, transporting things for people. My only wish was to have my own horse in the future. Now this wish has finally come true! Although I have spent almost all my money on these horses."

The driver showed a satisfied look on his face, but then a trace of worry emerged: "Although there are still relatively few horses in our tribe, there are many donkeys. Almost every second or third family has a donkey cart. In addition, transportation by water and land is becoming more and more convenient. The number of people asking us to help them transport things is getting less and less. In a few years, when every family has a horse, maybe our transport team will be cancelled..."

"The Nix people don't need you anymore. Your transport team can transport goods for our Aldi people." Karsipenpas said.

(End of this chapter)