Chapter 94 Ports and Markets

Maximus' calm analysis of the military situation did not surprise Quintus and the others. After all, he had mentioned it before and got their approval. At this time, his words certainly attracted everyone's attention again.

Frontinus said with a slight embarrassment: "Chief, if these poor people in the south want to join us, but we always refuse to accept them, I'm afraid... it's not good."

"It's not that we won't accept them all." Maximus had already considered it: "Of course we can't let go of those who have special talents and can write and calculate. As for the others, we can recommend them to Attumus, Or Spartacus, they don’t have any restrictions in this regard, and they would like as many people to join as possible.”

"I understand and will do as you ask." Frontinus responded.

Maximus remembered something and said: "Volenus, as before, you also send your men to recruit troops with the Ministry of Military Affairs, select useful people from them, and assign them to other departments."

"Yes, chief." Volenus replied respectfully.

"Pygris, I called you here urgently this time because I want you to quickly take over the affairs of the Sarapia port, just like you did in Pompeii-"

Before Maximus finished speaking, Pygris couldn't wait to say: "No problem, I will make the port available to our army as soon as possible, and it will operate better than the Port of Pompeii!"

Maximus reminded with a solemn expression: "There are not many merchants trapped in the port by us this time. Many merchants in Sarapia had a premonition that the situation was not good after the exiles in Canossa entered the city. They arrived early You left by boat, and there were not many ships moored in the port. The difficulties you faced were greater than those in Pompeii!”

"Chief, please don't worry, I will make the port better!" Pigris said confidently.

"Very good!" Maximus showed a smile and said: "Except for Roman merchants and merchant ships, I can allow you to make a promise to other merchants. As long as their ships come to Sarapia for trade, the first one will not charge any trade. Secondly, ensure the safety of them and their goods within the control of our army, and other things... you can discuss it in detail with them and then tell me for approval. "

"But this first item alone is enough to make many businessmen tempted." Pigris said happily.

Why did Pygris say this? Because after the Marsi War, the Italian people became Roman citizens, Rome could no longer collect direct taxes from the Italian people, but it had to collect trade taxes. This tax was mainly targeted at all merchant ships entering Italian ports. According to the price of the goods carried by the ship, A 5% trade tax is levied.

There are not many real trading ports on the east coast of Italy. Many merchant ships transit through the Port of Sarapia. If Sarapia does not collect taxes, it will save them a lot of money. If the goods ashore can be transported overland to the inland towns in Italy through the territory controlled by Maxim's army without loss, that is what the merchants would be happy to see.

"This time it's not just about trading with these merchants, you have other things to do." Maximus looked at him and said slowly: "Next, we will recruit troops, and the labor force at the port will definitely be greatly reduced. The soldiers need to be trained more intensively, and I will not allow them to send troops to the port to help unload the cargo from time to time like I did in Pompeii."

"But...but if there is a lack of labor at the port, the ship will not be able to unload the cargo!"

"Don't worry." Maximus waved his hand and said: "After these port laborers join the army, they will naturally move to the military camp. Then the place where they originally lived...will relocate the Canossa people who fled here. In the past, they were used as dock laborers so that the squares in the city could be cleaned up and order could be better restored.”

"Chief, order has been restored in the city, but how can these Canossa refugees be willing to work as dock laborers?"

"They fled here and originally wanted to rely on the Sarapians, but the Sarapians are now unable to protect themselves and cannot help them at all. If a person is hungry, he is willing to do anything."

Picris was thoughtful, but then he shouted: "I'm afraid there are a lot of Canossa refugees. If they make trouble, I can't control it alone -"

"Don't worry, I will let Carminus lead his third group of soldiers to guard the port. You two are old partners. I believe that you will cooperate very well in Sarapia this time."

Pygris breathed a sigh of relief, but then he felt nervous again, because Maximus continued: "In addition, you still have a mission-"

"Huh? There's still a mission?!"

"Most of the Sarapian dignitaries we executed this time are engaged in business. Their shops are concentrated in the port. You go and take them all over and start business again."

Pygris rolled his eyes and immediately shouted: "Chief, you have assigned me so many tasks. I can't handle them all by myself. You must send me people, enough people!"

"There is no problem with this. Among the hundreds of slaves in the rich area now, there must be many slaves who run shops for these Sarapian dignitaries. Volenus, select them and give them to Pygris "

"Yes, chief."

But Pigris said unsatisfied: "Chief, I still need people, people who can help me manage the port, my real subordinates!"

Maximus teased: "Pygris, you are my commercial officer, and you should have your own subordinates, but you never mentioned it. I thought you were used to being alone."

"Chief, you have never mentioned it to me before." Pygris cried loudly.

The crowd burst into laughter.

After Maximus laughed, he said: "Okay, I will now officially tell you that you, the commercial officer, can have a staff of 5 subordinates. You can discuss with Volenus about the specific types of people you need. Once the candidates are confirmed, I will review and approve them.”

Pigris immediately expressed his dissent: "Five subordinates are too few. The port is so big, there must be many things to do, and it will be too busy at all."

Maximus's face darkened: "I can only give you so many people for the time being. When the port affairs become really heavy in the future, I will give you more people. However, considering that you are going to the port to work right now, the new subordinates may not necessarily If you can adapt, I will send a few attendants to help you for a while."

Pigris was immediately overjoyed: "This is the best, this is the best!"

"Cassius, take a few boys to help Pigris."

Cassius, who was already eager to try, immediately responded: "Yes, leader!"

"Chief, our army has completely occupied the city of Sarapia. The soldiers are distributing supplies directly. It seems there is no need for us to run shops anymore, right?" Quintus asked doubtfully.

Maximus replied: "There are thousands of Sarapians in the city. If Pigris can run the port smoothly, there will be more merchant ships coming to trade goods in the future, and there will be many sailors on the ships. Could it be that They don’t need accommodation, food, or buying some daily necessities?”

"Chief, your method is good. This way we don't need to rob these civilians, but we can still take out the gold and silver in their hands." Pigris smiled happily.

"No, you are wrong." Maximus said seriously: "I am not coveting their little money. I hope to reduce the hostility in their hearts in this way and let them know that our free Italy is not just The thugs who know how to burn, kill and loot can manage a town seriously. As long as they cooperate well, not only are their lives not in danger, but they can live a good life in this city!

Therefore, the prices of the goods sold to the Sarapians in the shops you are responsible for must be lower than before, so that they can truly feel that our occupation of this town is still beneficial to them. "

"I understand..." Pigris nodded thoughtfully.

"In addition, since we have decided to use Sarapia as the base of our team, we must manage it well. We have already learned a lot of lessons in Pompeii. As the team expands, we urgently need to strengthen military training, but we still have to recruit people every day Loading and unloading goods at the port, cleaning city streets, dumping sewage, clearing sewers, and even putting out fires and drainage...it takes a lot of our energy.

This time, we controlled the Sarapias in the city instead of driving them out. We just hope to let them do these chores, so that we can focus more on expanding our team, training our soldiers, and occupying more The place... Volenus, you are the magistrate, and it is your responsibility to manage this town and these Sarapias. "

"Ah?...Yes, chief!" Volenus had served as a farm steward for many years, but this was his first time managing a town. He was a little nervous, but at the same time he was a little excited.

"But will these Sarapias do things for us willingly?" Pygris asked.

Maximus had already considered this issue, and he replied calmly: "This time we will not provide them with free food, but as long as they are willing to work, we can give them appropriate wages. Yes. With money, they can go to the shops we run to buy food, and they can live long-term in this town under our control..."

"They are our prisoners, and we still have to give them money. Isn't this a bit -" Frontinus was a little confused.

"We gave them money, but when they bought our things, didn't they give the money back?" Maximus smiled and said, "The money is just spinning around in their hands. , all we paid was some intercepted surplus materials, but we were able to make them work for us willingly, and the whole town started to operate normally and became alive, isn't it great! ..."

Frontinus and Quintus were Roman veterans, Pigaris was a small trader, Volenus was just a domestic slave, and Capito was a Roman commoner from a good family, although they all had their own talents. , but due to their low social status, they all had limited knowledge. What Maximus said contained simple economic operating principles, which had a big impact on their thinking and made everyone fall into deep thought.

Maximus saw this and felt relieved. In fact, he knew in his heart that they would not be able to occupy the town of Sarapia for too long, but he still decided to retain the people in the city without fear of trouble and manage the town carefully, just to make the team he commanded from Gain practical experience in managing your town and prepare for the future.

Not long after Frontinus and Volenus left, Toreligo entered the hall with a group of people.

"Leader, this is the warrior who took the risk to sneak into Sarapia and led his team to seize the city gate last night. The centurion Bubius of the 100th team of my second battalion!" Tolerugo slapped hard. The shoulder of a dark, capable and fully armed soldier beside him said loudly and proudly.

Maximus looked surprised and said enthusiastically: "Bubius, I recognize you! Half a year ago, at the army meeting, you bravely exposed the scandal of Chief Cross's soldiers harassing the nurses of the medical team! This time you made a great contribution and allowed us to successfully occupy this town with almost no casualties. You are a well-deserved hero!"

Maximus praised it from the bottom of his heart, because although the two coalition forces captured Canossa in one day, his team also suffered nearly 500 casualties. If the plan to attack Sarabia failed to succeed, Maximus would have to weigh it again whether he wanted to storm the city next, and all the previously formulated battle plans would have to be overturned and restarted. Therefore, in his opinion, Bubirus's contribution was very great. This is what he Reasons why you should meet them in person.

The word "hero" has a special meaning to the Greeks and Romans, so as soon as Maximus' words came out, others present were in an uproar, while Bubius was dumbfounded and didn't know what to say.

"And you!" Maximus raised his hand, pointed at the other soldiers who sneaked into the city of Sarabia and participated in the night attack, and shouted loudly: "You are also the heroes of our free Italy and a role model for all our soldiers!"

Every soldier was stunned for a moment, and then showed an excited smile: Are we heroes too? We are heroes too! …

Suddenly someone shouted loudly: "Chief, since we are all heroes, will the women in the medical team like us?"

As soon as this strange question came out, the hall suddenly became quiet, and all the soldiers looked at Maximus with eager eyes.

Maximus looked at the young soldier who asked the question, smiled and asked: "What is your name?"

"Chief, my name is Staggs, from Asia Minor." The soldier replied respectfully.

"Staggers, it's normal for men to like women. I'm the same as you." Maximus blinked, and the soldiers burst into laughter.