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In the evening, Cheiristoya came to the tent of Davos and heard about what happened in the daytime. With her understanding of Davos, she said, “Do you want to annex those mercenaries?”
“I really want to help them.” Said Davos seriously.
“Really?” Cheiristoya smiled, her plump chest pressed against Davos strong chest, she raised her head and her sexy red lips were charming.
“Really.” Davos lowered his head and held her soft and moist lips, and sucked on it hard.
This kiss ignited their desires. Davos reached out his hands to hold Cheiristoya…
At this time, the voice of Martius was heard from outside, “Leader, Mersis and Mariji want to see you.”
Davos murmured and wanted to say, “No!”
Cheiristoya giggled and pinched him, and said, “Having Mersis and Mariji who contradict each other come to see you then it must definitely be important!”
Davos knew that she was right. Therefore, he reluctantly put down Cheiristoya and kissed her twice on the lips.
Cheiristoya pushed him away.
Mersis and Mariji entered the tent and saw Cheiristoya in it. They didn’t care at all, as the intimate relationship between Davos and Cheiristoya had been an open secret in the whole camp. They then immediately explained their intention to Davos.
It turned out that even during the time the soldiers began building the camp, Mersis and his men were not idle. No, It could be said that the Thurians were not idle, although the mercenaries are forbidden to enter the city of Thurii, the Greeks were famous for being good at business. As soon as they heard that there were mercenaries coming, the merchants and peddlers came running to the old city of Sybaris to see if there was any business opportunity. In addition to the food provided by Thurii, the mercenaries also needed other daily necessities, and so the two sides came to an agreement.
At the beginning of the trade, it was only one-sided. The Thurians were the sellers and the mercenaries were the buyers. However, Mersis soon found out that these Thurian merchants were interested in something in the camp. When the mercenaries were on their way back to Greece, they had not only captured women and slaves, but also robbed a large number of gold and silver wares, and some work of arts, such as wood carvings, exquisite gold statues, ivory carvings that are full of exotic tradition, and even some strange peculiar fragrance, they could use those as decorations, as souvenirs and as boasting evidence. Although throughout their way, many of the things that they had robbed such as numerous gold and silver wares and some work of arts had been lost during their continuous battles, but there are still some that have remained.
For the merchants of Thurii, who are thousands of miles away from Persia, these objects from the hinterland of Persia and some unheard races are very exotic, which made them felt that these are very novel, and they immediately realized the value of these things and expressed their intention to buy them from Mersis.
Mersis is not a fool. Of course, he couldn’t sell those at a low price. Besides, some of the items doesn’t belong to him, but had been stored by the soldiers in the supply camp for safekeeping. He thought about it and decided to first go see Mariji, because for these stuffs, only Mariji, who is also a Persian, can explain their origin, as well as the cultural meaning and values they represent.
Mariji gave him a suggestion: Why not make a market that is managed by the mercenaries and deal with Magna Graecia and perhaps collect taxes.
Taxing on a land in another countries?! Mersis thought the idea was too crazy, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of money, and so he went to look for Davos together with Mariji.
Building a market? Davos thinks that this is a good idea, not only can it meet the needs of the mercenaries, but it can also be a place to expand the influence of the mercenaries. It also helps them to understand the market situation in Magna Graecia, training the merchant teams in the mercenary, collecting intelligence and to search for talents…and so on. But from the perspective of the leader of the mercenaries, Davos, who had a huge plan on Magna Graecia certainly needs to think more comprehensively and thoroughly than Mersis.
The more he thought about it, the more he feels that this is a wonderful idea, and so he immediately nodded and said, “A market can be build. Tomorrow, I will have the soldiers build a market between the east side of the camp and the coast. Mariji is responsible for the construction of the market, but we don’t have much time, so do not make it too complex. When it’s finished, you will be responsible for its management and operation…” Mariji was excited after hearing what Davos had said.
Davos then reminded him, “My requirement is that the market can be simple, but it needs to be orderly, fair and tidy in order to expand the reputation of the market as much as possible and attract more merchants from the other city-states to trade here. As for the tax collection, you do not need to think about it, I don’t want to make the Thurians be unhappy, but you can think of other ways, such as letting our slaves help carry goods and providing cheap wastewater…and so on. And if the market is booming, then you can charge shop fees.”
Mariji nodded and said, “Leader, I didn’t expect your wisdom in business to be amazing!”
Davos smiled as these ideas had long rotting in the industrial age. But since the time he promised Mariji, this guy has entered into his state very fast. Does this guy really want to be in charge of the ministry of commerce?
Davos then faced the somewhat depressed Mersis, “Mersis, you will be incharge in our dealings with Magna Graecia.”
“Okay! Okay!” Mersis rejoiced.
“Don’t touch the valuables of the soldiers that they have left in the supply camp, unless they are willing to sell them, but you need to sign an agreement with them, in addition to a small fee for selling it…well, you can negotiate with the owner, but it’s better that it won’t exceed 1/50th of how much the item got sold. The rest should be returned to the owner, do not conceal it nor embezzle it! Mariji, you are in charge of supervising it!” Davos seriously instructed Mersis.
“Davos, you are too partial! 1/50th is too little, at least make it 1/20th! It’s not so easy for us to sell things, while also standing in the sun for half a day and the energy we would spend to convince people…” Mersis muttered his grievance.
“1/20th is too much, at least no more than 1/35th, that’s all” Davos wasn’t in the mood to debate with him, “Instead of thinking of ways to get our soldier’s money, you should think of ways to increase your trading projects and increase your financial resources!”
Hearing this, Mersis started pondering and soon a smile appeared on his chubby face, “There are some races from Persia and Armenia in the supply camp, and many of them had also learned the massage skills of the medical camp, which will absolutely be a novel experience for the men in Greece. We can then set high prices…” The exuberant voice of Mersis was then interrupted by Cheiristoya’s cough.
Talking about this kind of business in front of a woman, this guy…Davos doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, then said, “I can give you idea. The physicians in our medical camp are very skilled, and besides, there are no major injuries in our camp now. Therefore, it’s better for them to open a clinic in the market that is to build, and collect consultation fees when they go see the doctor. You can discuss about the details with Cheiristoya.” Originally, there were eight physicians in the medical camp, but two of them left when they departed Byzantium. While six of the physicians led by Herpus continued to stay in the medical camp under the strong attraction of the so-called mysterious medical knowledge that Hades had imparted, and was taught by Davos from time to time. (In fact, those are just the basic knowledge of modern medicine)
When he heard Cheiristoya’s name, Mersis, who had his eye’s shine, looked bitter.
Cheiristoya didn’t embarrassed Mersis, this fat man seemed to bully her, but Cheiristoya understood his importance to Davos. Therefore, she seriously discussed about setting up a clinic with him, and how to distribute the consultation fee and so on. But she asked Mersis to not force the women in the supply camp.
Mersis cried out injustice and said, “Most of the women in the supply camp were captured by the soldiers during our way back to Greece, and few of them were slaves in the supply camp that needs to take care of the animals and manage the goods, and only a few dozens that are really used to this will be ***… to earn money with this method.”
“I’m afraid that there will more than that.” Mariji butted in.
Note: In the time of ancient Greece and Rome, there was no percentage, but commerce was already developed, and so the merchants and even the ordinary citizens were very good in using fractions to complete contracts and transactions. However, in order to make reading conveniently, percentage will be use as much as possible from the next chapter onward.