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Davos gently lifted the covers and looked at the body of Cheiristoya, it has only been six months after giving birth, and she has now regained her former slender and attractive body; white skin, long and lean legs, plump and smooth breast, and firm buttocks…

Davos was unable to stop himself from reaching out and slowly stroke upwards along her lovely toes…he began to feel the heat in his body rising…

“…Ahn…Davos…let me…sleep a little longer, I’m still so sleepy…” Cheiristoya squirmed and said drowsily.

So Davos could only resist his desires and covered his wife with the quilt.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Hoh, your brother went with Androlis to Consentia.” Davos sat in his study as he listened to Aristias regarding the things that happened in Theonia and the surrounding area while he was away.

“It’s has been six days, but there is still no report.” Aristias answered truthfully.

Davos felt something from his speech, so he asked, “Are you not worried?”

Aristias was silent.

“Be at ease, the Bruttians does not have the courage to hurt our envoy! They might even be on their way back; else they may have been imprisoned by the Bruttians…” Davos earnestly reassured him and added, “After a few more days, if there is still no news, then Theonia will give a ‘threat of war’ to Bruttii and force the Bruttians to release them!”

“…thank you, milord!” Aristias said with some anxiousness and gratitude.

Davos solemnly patted him on the shoulder and said, “Theonia will never treat the brave men, who dared to risk their lives for Theonia, badly! Once your brother returns, he will immediately become an official citizen, much earlier than you! However, there is nothing for you to worry about as I will keep everything you did in mind!”

Aristias did not reply but instead saluted him with great respect.

“Anything else?” Asked Davos.

Aristias adjusted his emotion and said in a deep voice, “There is. It’s about Pollux.”

“Pollux?” Davos blinked.

“We found out that Pollux has liberated many slaves in his family, and then these liberated slaves applied to the Ministry of Agriculture to lease a lot of land with his help…” Aristias said here and looked at Davos.

Davos listened calmly. From what Aristias had said, there seems to be nothing unusual about what Pollux had done, on the contrary, Davos might even need to praise him for responding to his call in setting an example by freeing many slaves.

But Davos knew that it would never be that simple.

“These liberated slaves used a portion of the income from the land they leased to pay taxes, a portion for their own use, while most of the income they obtained went to Pollux.”

Hearing this, Davos eyes widened, “How much profit they give to Pollux?”

“I am not clear about the exact portion, but I fear that it’s not a small number. Because he had about 35 liberated slaves that applied for a total of 120,000 square meters of land.” Said Aristias as he looked at the record in his hand.

“These slaves should know about Theonia’s Act on land leasing, so why no one had reported it?” Exclaimed Davos.

“We learned that these slaves were all born slaves of Pollux’s family, and they had lived in his family for at least 20 years, so they should be very loyal to him. Secondly, through his connection to the Ministry of Agriculture, Pollux had these slaves rent fertile land. In addition to the 20% land tax and the money given to Pollux*, the remaining income, even though it is small, it is still far more than what they earn as slaves. Moreover, these farmlands were all close to each other, so the liberated slaves lived collectively in several large houses, monitored each other. There is also report that some of them have ‘their families’ living together with them, but in fact, they are probably the people sent by Pollux to supervise them…” (note: registered freeman had to pay 20% of the land tax, preparatory citizens had to pay 10%, and citizens only need to pay 1% of the land tax)

Once Aristias finished reporting, Davos’ eyes narrowed to a slit, with a cold gleam glinting in the slits, and he asked angrily, “Does Burkes know about this?”

“Judging from the signs, he should not know.” Aristias answered seriously.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Davos stared at Aristias’ face for a while and was slightly relieved. He had a good impression of Burkes, especially after Davos led the army to defeat Crotone and took over Thurii. Burkes had not only taken the initiative to cooperate and stabilise the political situation in Thurii, but he had also responded positively to the new policies that Davos promulgated. Although both he and Pollux were famous nobles in Thurii and owned many lands, he took the initiative to give up the ownership of most of his land and even freed some of his slaves…

“If it is only not…” Davos said softly, but he knew in his heart that Burkes would be dragged down due to their friendship this time.

“Is there anyone else that has done this?” Davos asked again sullenly.

“We are still investigating, but there are so many people, and we don’t have enough people…” Aristias said with difficulty.

“Make a plan for how many people you need. After I read and think that it is feasible, then I will increase your funds. This matter must be carefully investigated for me! Investigate it carefully! You should focus on all statesmen of the Senate and citizens who hold public office!” Davos’ tone was stern, as he did not expect that less than two years after Theonia’s establishment, there is corruption breeding, which made him very angry.

But as an archon, Davos also had to consider other issues, so he reminded, “The investigation must be carried out quietly, without alerting anyone, and report to me as soon as a situation arises!”

“I understand, milord!”

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Davos! Davos!…” Mersis shouted his name angrily and hurried into the living room.

Knowing that the fatty must have something to ask of him again, Davos looked at him and said, “Mersis, you need to call me by my title here.”

“Understood, milord archon.” Mersis went close to Davos, stretched both his hands forward and said, “Please remove me from my position. I could not do this job!”

“Why? You want to take some time off and travel somewhere else?” Davos first teased him, but when he saw Mersis’ serious expression, he said in surprise, “Haven’t you doing quite well in your duties?!”

“Haven’t you made Marigi bring me word to prepare rations for four legions for two months in advance, right?” Questioned Mersis.

Davos understood it not and nodded, “Yes, I was the one who told that to Marigi.”

“That’s impossible for me!” Marigi said angrily, “Four legions of at least 30,000 men would consume 30,000 kilograms of grains every day. If it is for two months, that would be 2 million kilograms! Such a huge amount of grain, not counting the price increase later, we would have to pay at least…now, the treasury simply does not have so much money. Even if we include the land tax for September and October and the usual business tax revenue, it is still would not be enough, because we still have to pay: The salaries of all public officials; The Roscianum – Krimisa road and the Krimisa – Aprustum road; The reconstruction of the marsh area in Krimisa; And Plesina’s application to build small temples of Hades in other cities such as Amendolara, Krimisa and Nerulum! Which of these projects does not cost money?! Huh! All of them costs a lot of money!”

“Alright, Mersis. I know you have tried every means to save money for Theonia, and it is indeed very hard! But if you quit, I won’t be able to find a better Chief of Finance than you in the union! Do you have the heart to watch our hard-earned union collapse just because of the lack of effective management of the treasury?” Davos quickly praised him.

“Now that the union is getting bigger and bigger, the income and expenses would naturally become a lot. In order to manage them well, it is indeed not something ordinary people could do!” Mersis, having received the praise of Davos, had immediately become energetic, and his previous foul mood had dissipated. He no longer expressed his dissatisfaction but thought about it and said, “Archon, I can at most prepare enough grain for three legions and last for one month! If you can’t accept it, then replace me!”

‘One month!’ Davos stroked his chin. In the past, when leading the army to battle, most of the battles took place near the territories of Theonia, and the scope and scale of these battles were small and ended quickly. However, this time, the purpose of this war with Bruttii is to conquer a region, which would make them an enemy of an entire race, so its degree of difficulty would greatly increase. Even if the war goes well, he predicts that the end of it will be longer than before, and two months was just his conservative estimate. But he did not expect that this would already make Theonia feel overwhelmed and unable to provide full support.

‘War is a contest of national strength!’ This saying popped into the mind of Davos, and felt helpless. He thought about the beginning of the year when Syracuse led 80,000 men to attack Carthage, and even though the war has already lasted for half a year, it is still not yet over. Theonia had risen too fast, their accumulation is insufficient, and their foundation is too thin!

“Davos, I have a solution to the problem of military supplies.” Mersis stepped forward and closely called Davos’ name and said mysteriously.

“Oh, what is it?” Davos’ heart was stirred.

“The autumn harvest is soon coming. After the autumn harvest, almost all the citizens will have enough food in their homes, so we can have each of them bring their own food rations enough to last for 20 days or even a month, which would solve the ration problem!”

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