"And regarding the issue of construction, didn't we just take all of Northern Ionia into our possession? There are nearly 40 people there, and we haven't developed this area at all, so there will be sufficient labor and development potential here, and we are not sure whether there are iron mines nearby. As supporting facilities, we can build a brick kiln factory in Chalcedon to produce refractory bricks needed for the construction of iron and steel facilities. In addition, the forests throughout Ionia can also be used by us, and these will all be high-quality charcoal."
Alcibiades marked the locations of resources and cities from all over the country on the map. Under his explanation, a grand development plan emerged. The scale of this plan was very large. It not only involved the capital of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantium, and some surrounding satellite cities, but also Chalcedon and the entire northern Ionia.
But Amyntas also has some concerns.
"If our Wang Bo places all the construction centers here, wouldn't that be a bit inappropriate? After all, His Majesty Hilde's current destiny is to concentrate all national strength to develop the Thracian region in the north. So, His Majesty Hilde will definitely pay more attention to the Thracian region."
"But as far as I know, based on the results of my personal exploration in Thrace, I can assure you that His Majesty Hilde's development plan for Thrace is not that in-depth. You know, Thrace is a large area of undeveloped forest or wasteland. It seems to be a very suitable place for further development. But in fact, due to our limited population, the development of Thrace will obviously encounter many problems. His Majesty Hilde's current plan must be to increase the population in Thrace and build cities to consolidate the local rule. It is definitely not to build this place into a place with a developed economy or even the heart of the Byzantine Kingdom."
“…I really didn’t expect that.”
Amyntas was also convinced by Alcibiades's words.
He certainly hadn't thought of that.
He originally thought that Hildreth's development of Thrace was just like what he had thought before, that is, to build the Thrace region into a place as developed as the surrounding areas of Byzantium. In fact, most people also think so, but if we follow what Alcibiades said, then there are indeed some doubts.
Whether Thrace can develop into a place as developed as Byzantium is a question mark. If you think about it carefully, you will know that it is almost impossible to build a city system as developed as Byzantium in Thrace, which lacks sufficient population, development and history. Even if Hilde really wants to promote it, it is a matter of going against the will of heaven. It is estimated that it will be difficult to see results without a hundred years.
Therefore, the possibility that Hilde will strengthen his rule over this place is the greatest.
As long as the Thracians were firmly controlled around the cities and settled in their homeland with land and villages, even the Thracians who had some opinions about the Byzantine Empire would have to lower their proud heads.
Therefore, in Alcibiades's opinion, Hilde's development of the Thrace region is limited to this. Therefore, the most important thing is how to improve the economic level of Byzantine City and even the entire Byzantine core area. In his opinion, this is what Hilde really cares about most, and everything else is empty.
The fifth tune and the eighth section both need to be developed
Alcibiades placed his hand on the Byzantine Province of the Byzantine Kingdom: "General, you and I are both from Athens. In terms of ethnicity, you and I are both Ionians. The core people of the Byzantine Kingdom are also from Ionia. Therefore, only Ionians or Greeks will stand on the same side as His Majesty Hilde and the Byzantine Kingdom. Therefore, the place with the most Greeks will become the core of the Byzantine Kingdom."
"Then there is only the Great Byzantine Province."
Amyntas agreed.
Although this is very unfair to the Thracians who joined the Byzantine Empire early on, it is indeed true, because the barriers and conflicts between ethnic groups are real, and many Byzantine Greeks cannot get along well with those Thracians.
Even so, Hilde had been promoting ethnic equality throughout Byzantium.
But the Greeks were engaged in more decent and higher-paying jobs, while the Thracians were engaged in hard labor in the city. For example, some poor people who were neither Greeks nor Thracians who drifted to the Byzantine Empire were engaged in the dirtier jobs in the city, such as cleaning excrement.
There is a kind of gap between ethnic groups that seems to be natural.
Alcibiades noticed this when he arrived in the Byzantine Empire.
It's just that he never dared to say it directly.
But he dared to say so in front of Amyntas.
So Alcibiades continued to explain:
"Yes, at least in our lifetime, the people living in this area will absolutely support your majesty. Therefore, they are definitely the most stable political force in the entire Byzantine Kingdom. Therefore, if you want to make the Byzantine Kingdom stronger, you must let these core people have the highest production capacity and the richest economy. Only in this way can the surrounding communities depend on the core communities and rely on them to live better. Therefore, it is necessary for us to make the core area of the Byzantine Kingdom stronger and richer than other places. I don't know if His Majesty Hilde has not noticed this, but I think that since His Majesty Hilde is such a famous person, he must have noticed this, so this time he asked us to expand our armaments, and there must be a reason in this regard."
Alcibiades said this not to offend Hilde.
After all, it is just random speculation about whether the monarch has ever thought of this.
It is a very rude thing to do.
Amyntas was thinking about what Alcibiades said. His mind was now full of the realities between the Byzantine Greeks and the Thracians. In fact, as a soldier, Amyntas had been very angry at the Thracians who had once been his enemies, but Thracians like Sitalces made Amyntas respect him.
Amyntas was a relatively pure soldier.
In his eyes, anyone who is loyal to the country is a good person.
So he couldn't think as far as Alcibiades.
"So, we don't know what His Majesty Hilde will do in the future to ensure that the economy of the Greater Byzantine Province can be far ahead of other regions. But since this task has been assigned to us, it means that His Majesty Hilde has begun to prepare to take action. So, General, I hope we can get this done together!"
"Ok!"
Artaminus also patted Alcibiades' shoulder heavily.
"Let's work together on this matter!"
"Of course!"
The two of them did not sleep for almost the whole night, and focused all their attention on how to carefully plan the construction of the new industrial zone. However, Hilde had never thought of Alcibiades's idea. After all, Hilde was a modern person and came from a typical multi-ethnic country. Therefore, Hilde never thought that the national issue would be a very serious problem, especially in the ancient Greek period when nationalism did not exist at all.
But even Hilde.
She also knew that the Greeks would be the main force of the Byzantine Empire.
Although the Thracians fought bravely, they were few in number and their wisdom was not advanced, which made it difficult to train them. The Fourth and Fifth Legions, which were mainly composed of Thracians, had been trained for more than a year, but they were not yet fully capable of field combat. Most of the time was wasted on the coordination between officers and soldiers. It was for this reason that the Thracians could not become the main force in the Byzantine army.
At the same time, in production and other fields, the Thracians were inferior to the Greeks. Also because of their low cultural quality, the Thracians were unable to engage in the production of more complex handicrafts. At the same time, in terms of education and agricultural production, the Thracians did not know as much about agriculture and astronomy as the Greeks. All of these required time to slowly teach these Thracians and gradually transform them into the Greek way of life.
Of course, these are all things for later.
Hilde is now busy with another thing.
That is the construction of the orphanage.
As early as when Hilde left Ionia, Hilde had already placed the construction of the orphanage in the city hall and let the alderman be in charge. Faced with the task personally issued by Hilde, the alderman certainly did not dare to slack off, and the orphanage had been built before Hilde returned.
This orphanage is located on a hill in the city of Byzantium. On the top of the hill is the famous Temple of Athena, and around the temple is an orphanage like this one, which can accommodate hundreds of children. The construction of this orphanage was also designed by Hilde herself. The entire orphanage is divided into a teaching building, a dormitory building, a square, a small open-air theater, and a cafeteria.
After Hilde came back.
The orphanage has actually started a trial run.
Hilde brought here the orphans of the fallen soldiers of the Byzantine Empire. Now there are only more than 30 children in total. These children don’t know what they are brought here for. Most of them are only four or five years old, and the oldest is only eight years old.
When I arrived at the orphanage.
Obviously, the beautiful orphanage completely attracted their attention. There was no place more beautiful than this place.
The Fifth Tune, Section 9: The Orphanage in Byzantium
Because their fathers died on the battlefield and their mothers were missing perhaps due to a lot of pressure, these children lived a miserable life for a period of time, with no clothes to wear and no food to eat.
Although Hilde later had these children properly placed in homes, that kind of depressing life was obviously not suitable for the growth of these orphans, so that's why Hilde decided to build an orphanage.
Hilde understands that feeling.
Because before.
In that world.
In a way, Hilde is also an orphan.
Her parents were no different from being dead.
Hilde had experienced the loneliness and despair while growing up, and because of this, she could feel the pain these children were going through from the bottom of her heart. Although this was all Hilde could do in ancient Greece, just doing this was already a great improvement over the people of this era, and the treatment of these children was much better than that of orphans of this era.
After arriving at the orphanage, these children will not only live on a hillside with fresh air, but will also be able to personally experience the protection and beauty of the Byzantine Empire.
Above them is the Temple of Athena, which protects the entire Byzantine city. The priestesses in the temple also serve as teachers in the orphanage, responsible for teaching these children to read and sing.
For three days out of every ten days, male military instructors will teach them various sports, such as running, javelin throwing, discus throwing, or other popular sports in the Greek world, including Pancrassin, a very popular fighting sport in ancient Greece. These military instructors will teach these children how to exercise their bodies and develop their physical potential.
In the accommodation area, the children live in warm rooms.
The food here is sufficient and nutritious. For these orphans, Hilde's standard is that they eat what the soldiers eat. The soldiers in Byzantium can eat goat cheese or dried meat. Children have a small appetite, so it is no problem to kill a sheep every day for these children.
Even in the annual celebration of Byzantium, these children would wear beautiful clothes, walk on the streets with the army, and receive cheers from everyone in Byzantium, so that they would develop a sense of self-honor from an early age, and would not feel inferior because they were orphans, but would feel a strong sense of pride because their fathers died for the country, and would also make the people of Byzantium and those soldiers realize that this was indeed an honorable act.
It was within Hilde's expectations.
These children will be under the care of the entire Byzantine Empire.
To grow healthily and healthily.
They may become different kinds of people when they leave the orphanage, but Hilde believes that they will never become people who endanger society.
Hilde came to the orphanage in person.
Of course, she also brought Sophia and Dione.
“Is this the orphanage?”
Dione looked at the Temple of Athena on the top of the mountain with curiosity, and then focused her attention on the orphanage in front of her. She didn't expect that the orphanage was built so close to the temple. Sophia walked beside Hilde and said with a smile: "This is indeed a good place. The air is fresh, and you can see most of Byzantium from here. If I could live here, I would also be willing to do so."
"Hahaha. Then should I have built my palace on the mountain?"
“That’s a bit too tiring.”
Sophia is still completely covered in the hood.
She followed Hilde with a smile, and then walked into the orphanage. When she walked through the gate, the officer and priestess in charge of the orphanage walked out quickly. The two of them saluted Hilde first, and then the priestess smiled and said, "The children are all asleep now, so Your Majesty, please be a little quiet."
"No problem at all."
Hilde calculated the time.
It was exactly noon.
So, these children should be taking naps now.
"I just came to take a look today."
"Then please feel free to visit, Your Majesty."
It seemed that the priestess was very confident in her work. Even when Hilde came over, she did not panic at all. Instead, she was very calm, which made Hilde very satisfied. So Hilde said to Sophia and Dioni: "If you two are curious, you can look around."
“Is this where I’ll be working from now on?”
Dione looked very happy.
She ran happily inside the orphanage. The flat square specially opened here was very suitable for children to run. Even a big child like Dione could run here without any problems. It was not until this time that Hilde realized that Dione was not an ordinary Greek, but a Thracian girl.
What's more, he has Apollo's blood in his body.
The love for sports is definitely greater than that of others.
"That's perfect."
Sophia was also a little moved.
“I want to work here, too.”
"That's going to have to wait until you can get your horn back." Hilde smiled and touched Sophia's hand. "Although the orphanage is built so beautifully, I really don't want anyone to be left here. If this orphanage is abandoned, it means there will be no war orphans in our country. What a peaceful life that will be."
"But this kind of thing is impossible to happen."
Sophia said with emotion:
"As long as the children here can live in a happy environment, I think that's enough. Sissi, you are really a very kind person. I guess few people can imagine this. Even in Athens, there are orphans all over the streets, but no one cares about them."
“That’s all I can do.”
Hilde shrugged with a wry smile.
"And I built this place partly for Dione. This child is not suitable to go to the battlefield with me. At the same time, she is simple-minded and not suitable to participate in too many political matters. She is just a simple, cheerful and innocent little girl, so letting her be in charge of the orphanage is obviously the best choice."
"I agree."
Looking at Dioni's cheerful expression.
Sophia was also somewhat moved.
Chapter 5, Section 10: About Your Own Responsibilities
Diony has been looking forward to this place for a long time. Ever since Hilde made this promise to Diony in Ionia, Diony has been thinking about this matter in her mind. Now that she has returned, the orphanage has been built and there are orphans living in it, so Hilde will also fulfill her promise and come here to hand over the orphanage to Diony.
This is not a joke.
Hilde didn't just give Dione the title of dean.
Just hang it up high or something like that.
Hilde is truly thinking about Diony herself.
The entire operation of this orphanage is handled by Diony. Whether it is the priestess, instructors, or other people working here, they are all managed by Diony. Not only that, what kind of education these children receive every day, what they eat and drink every day, what their daily routine should be like, including the arrangements for their extracurricular activities, Hilde will give some guidance on these matters, but the decision-making power is all in Diony's hands.
So this is not a joke, it is not to satisfy Dione and give her a title casually, this is a real issue related to the quality of life of dozens of children, so the responsibility on Dione's shoulders is actually very heavy. But it is precisely because of this responsibility that Hilde feels that it can train a person more and let her understand that only by doing something can the problem be truly solved.
It's like assigning Alcibiades to clean the toilet.
Although managing an orphanage and cleaning toilets are two different issues.
But for Hilde, these two jobs are a test and training for a person. If Diony can do this job perfectly, then for Hilde, this is a good thing, because it means that Diony can do more jobs in the future, and this child is likely to become a talented person who can be of great use.
Although Hilde will always support her.
