"If that's the case, it's pretty good."
Pericles couldn't help laughing.
"Then in my eyes now, you are also my daughter."
"If you say so, I am naturally very happy. Don't worry, as long as it is something you order, I will definitely try my best to do it!"
Seeing that Rhodes was full of fighting spirit.
Pericles felt a little relieved.
Although the current situation was bad, it was not that bad. At least Rhodes was still firmly on his side. In this way, even if Cleon became the Oracle, he would not be greatly affected. So, Pericles smiled and nodded, and then began to plan what to do next.
But what Pericles did not notice was.
A strange disease.
It began to spread quietly in Athens.
The news that Cleon had become an oracle soon reached the Byzantine Empire. More than a month later, a merchant ship from Athens brought the news to Byzantium, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It didn't take long for the news to reach Hilde's ears.
“This is very interesting.”
Hilde couldn't help laughing.
"Cleon actually became Apollo's oracle? This is amazing! Now, the Athenians are in trouble. Pericles will probably be exhausted just dealing with Cleon, not to mention dealing with the Spartans. This is not good news."
"But in this case, Athens will have one more oracle, right? With the new oracle, Athens should be as strong as the Spartans now." Alcibiades, who was standing next to Hilde, said with a smile, "When Brasidas surrounded Athens before, he didn't dare to go out of the city to fight, because Rhodes was Athens' last straw. If Rhodes was defeated by Brasidas, then Athens would really be doomed. But now, two oracles suddenly appeared in the city of Athens. Isn't it possible for the two of them to defeat Brasidas together?"
"If you think so, it sounds right, but there are still big problems. The most important point is that Rhodes and Cleon basically have no chance of working together. It is rare for the two of them not to fight directly in Athens. Therefore, Athens now has no way to integrate the power of these two."
Chapter 5 of the Seventh Tune: The Byzantine Kingdom Chamber of Commerce
With Hilde's understanding of Athens and Cleon, she knew very well that it was a pipe dream to expect Cleon to put aside his status and cooperate with Pericles. Cleon was not an easy character to deal with. She was very difficult to deal with, so difficult that it was outrageous. Moreover, her personality was very stubborn. The people of Athens all had a certain psychological shadow on this guy.
Now this guy has obtained Apollo's power and become Apollo's oracle. Hilde is not surprised. She said that the cooperation between Apollo and Creon is just a matter of course. Apollo is not a good guy either. Since the Thracian incident, Hilde has no good feelings towards Apollo, and the same is true for Creon. After all, Hilde lived in Athens, so she is quite disgusted with Creon.
And Alcibiades listened to what Hildes said.
He smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I understand."
"We don't need to worry about Athens' affairs. Let them fight among themselves... But I am a little worried about the safety of Socrates and the others. The internal struggle in Athens will definitely get worse." Hilde thought for a moment, then instructed Alcibiades, "I will write a personal letter later, and you should also write a letter. I will have someone send it to Athens and ask Socrates and the others to hide here, just in case."
"Given the teacher's personality, he will definitely not come."
Alcibiades said confidently:
"The teacher is not the kind of person who would give up Athens."
"Well, but we have to try our best. Besides, we have to extend our olive branch first. In this way, when something really bad happens in Athens, Socrates feels that he must leave this place. At that time, Socrates will at least have a way out. Do you understand? In addition, I will also send a ship to stay in the port of Athens. The purpose of this ship is to prepare for Socrates, Phidias and others."
"Your Majesty is very thoughtful."
Hearing Hilde say this.
Alcibiades was naturally quite moved.
As his teacher, Alcibiades was very aware of Socrates' stubborn temper. Therefore, Hilde was very thoughtful to leave a way out for Socrates and his friends. Alcibiades could only thank him repeatedly. So Hilde asked Alcibiades to take charge of this matter and be ready to bring his friends in Athens to the Byzantine Kingdom at any time.
For Hilde.
Now, things are changing in Athens.
Except for what happened in Athens.
What Hilde has been busy with recently is the construction of the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce.
After returning from Athens, the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce had initially taken shape. Subsequently, under Hilde's order, the state-owned workshops of the Byzantine Kingdom immediately put the Chamber of Commerce's label on their newly produced products. The Chamber of Commerce's label was very simple, a "β" symbol, representing the first letter of the city of Byzantium. Such a symbol represented that the goods had been inspected by the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce and were sold through the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce.
At this time in ancient times.
Without brand awareness, there is naturally no counterfeiting technology.
A "β" symbol is enough to give many people a headache.
On the one hand, it is to ensure the anti-counterfeiting of goods, and on the other hand, it is a special sales channel. After the Byzantine Kingdom established the Chamber of Commerce, all subsequent trade activities must be conducted through the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce. Private illegal trade will not receive any protection, and will be subject to more than three times the tariff of the Chamber of Commerce trade. Through this method, whether it is the merchants of the Byzantine Kingdom or merchants from other places, they must trade through the Chamber of Commerce.
Hilde first established the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce in the city of Byzantium.
Because 70% of the Byzantine Empire's trade.
It all comes from here.
The Byzantine Empire's most popular commodities, such as weapons, armor, bricks, pottery and other crafts, were all labeled "β" in the latest batch, and then sent to merchant ships and sold to various parts of the Greek world. At the same time, Hilde was also training merchants to give them state-owned identities and become de facto "red-top merchants". Then, these merchants were selected as representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and went to cities with large trade volumes to establish local Chamber of Commerce branches.
After the establishment of the Chamber of Commerce.
Trade suddenly became much more complicated.
The commodities of the Byzantine Kingdom were divided into three levels. One was direct sales by the Chamber of Commerce, that is, the commodities produced by merchants or workshops under the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce were then sent to the destination via the Chamber of Commerce’s own ships, and then sold through the Chamber of Commerce branches at the destination. Weapons and armor, which were national weapons, were generally sold in this way.
The second level is Chamber of Commerce procurement, that is, merchants from other countries come to the trading hall of the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce to purchase goods, and then send them back by their own ships. These goods will have the label of the Byzantine Kingdom. At the same time, merchants who trade with the Chamber of Commerce are not allowed to pass off inferior goods as good ones. The Chamber of Commerce’s people will be spread throughout the Greek world. If they find any merchant selling counterfeit or inferior goods as good ones, they will immediately attack the merchant in the name of the Chamber of Commerce and the Byzantine Kingdom.
The third level is free private trade.
Hilde passed this setting.
Keep trade firmly in the hands of the state.
However, Hilde was actually quite troubled by Cleon's matter. After all, Cleon was a brain-dead kid. He would regard the Byzantine Kingdom as a backup for Pericles. Therefore, Hilde had to be very careful with Athens, the Byzantine Kingdom's largest trading partner. If the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce wanted to establish a branch in Athens, it would be full of difficulties. Therefore, this time, Alcibiades was called over in the hope that he would handle this problem.
However, this question is naturally more difficult.
Then, a few days later.
Alcibiades packed his things and boarded a ship for Athens.
This time, the Byzantine Kingdom sent a large amount of grain to Athens as agreed. These ships will deliver the grain to Athens, then buy some goods from Athens, especially slaves, and send them back from Athens. But most importantly, these ships carry candidates for the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce to establish a branch in Athens. They will arrive in Athens and then firmly establish the branch of the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce in the Port of Piraeus in Athens.
Chapter 6 of the seventh tune: The sudden appearance of a plague
A month passed.
Alcibiades' merchant fleet successfully arrived at the port of Piraeus.
When he came here, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
The Port of Piraeus in Athens is an extremely prosperous port. It can be said to be the largest port in the entire Greek world. The commercial port of Byzantium cannot compare to it. Now, when they arrived here, the Port of Piraeus looked rather deserted. There were not many merchant ships parked at the port, and there were not many people in the bustling port market. Only some merchants were still looking around nervously, as if they were hesitating about something.
Alcibiades had lived in Athens for so many years, but this was the first time he had seen such a situation, which seemed very strange to him. Therefore, he was also somewhat vigilant, so he let the fleet dock first, and then he brought some people to the port to explore the situation.
"who are you!"
At this time, an officer stationed at the port came quickly.
Alcibiades bowed, smiled, and said:
"I am Alcibiades."
"Ah, it's... it's you? Didn't you go to the Byzantine Empire?"
"Of course. This time I came here with food sent by the Byzantine Kingdom. May I ask, what happened here? The current scene is completely different from the past. There are no people here at all. It looks very desolate..." Alcibiades looked around and asked worriedly, "Could it be that something big happened in Athens?"
"Of course!"
The officer lowered his head helplessly and said:
"There is a plague in Athens."
"……What!?"
Alcibiades was horrified.
"plague!?"
"Yes... a strange disease broke out in Athens. Those who got sick would have a high fever, their limbs would become weak, and their eyes would turn a scary red! Within a few days, people would start sneezing, become unable to speak, and their throats would become completely hoarse... After that, the patients would feel chest pain, and then vomit, and then pus would grow. Within ten days, these patients would die one by one. Now, many people in Athens have already contracted this disease!"
The officer's description was obviously very horrific.
Just by hearing this description, one can imagine what terrible thing had happened.
During the thirty days that Alcibiades was in Athens, a strange disease had indeed broken out in Athens. Now, the whole city looked very strange. The officer's panic made everyone terrified. After all, this was a disease that sounded terrible! In this case, the officer could only say: "We don't know... what happened, the disease suddenly appeared in Athens!"
"Gods above, Athens is so unfortunate!"
"Only Lord Apollo can save us now!"
The officer's words made Alcibiades pay attention.
Among all the gods, Apollo has the most powers, including cleaning and medical treatment. When people are sick, they usually offer sacrifices to Apollo and beg for the disease to go away. However, this is too coincidental. Cleon of Athens became Apollo's oracle. Then, the whole of Athens fell into the plague. In such a situation, people will definitely focus their attention on Apollo for help, so...
Is this just a coincidence?
Of course, this is just Alcibiades's doubt.
After all, if I really said that, I would definitely be beaten to death.
But the plague in Athens, that is a fact.
"So, what can we do about the plague in Athens?"
"...You are here to deliver food. Lord Cleon said that anything that is beneficial to the epidemic in Athens cannot be blocked. Therefore, you can travel freely in Athens, but please do not contact patients. After all, this is a terrible disease!" Having said that, the officer ordered the soldiers around him to prepare to escort Alcibiades and others.
"Kryon?"
Alcibiades was stunned for a moment.
"Is the current Archon Lord Cleon?"
"Not yet...just..."
The officer was obviously hesitant.
"If it's inconvenient to say, you don't have to say it."
"Well, in fact, you will know when you enter the city. Lord Pericles also contracted the disease while visiting the patient..."
The present-day Palace of Pericles.
It was like a dark cloud covering the sky.
All the soldiers in the palace had disappeared, and there were no more demonstrators outside the door. Now, the place had become extremely quiet again, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"Lord Pericles."
Rhodes walked up to Pericles holding a cup.
"Have a drink of water first."
"...No."
Pericles is now lying in bed.
He looked very bad. His skin was pale, he was sweating, his eyes were slightly closed, and he seemed to be somewhat distracted. At the same time, his exposed arms also showed blisters and pustules, which looked very creepy. This was the middle stage of the disease. Pericles had been infected for six or seven days. Now, he had survived the initial high fever stage and became weak like now...
Rhodes sat next to Pericles and was very worried about his situation.
The Oracle's own body is strong and cannot be infected by disease.
But even so, after the outbreak, Clion has been playing cowardly.
Pericles left the mansion and went to investigate the plague in Athens himself. After a few days, he suddenly developed a high fever and fell on the bed. It was clear that Pericles must have been infected... Rhodes was very sad, but she knew that this was Pericles. When the Athenians suffered, he would definitely stand up... It's just that he was not an oracle, he was just a mortal, and facing this situation, he could do nothing.
In the end, it can only be like this.
He fell on the bed, dying.
"Rhode..."
At this time, Pericles suddenly spoke:
"Sorry……"
"You have nothing to be sorry about..."
"I, I, I am not capable enough, which led to the current situation... But, what should Athens do? If I die... What should Athens and the Athenians do?" Pericles opened his eyes slightly and looked at Rhodes. "Cleon, he succeeded. I don't know if he can help Athens get through the current predicament... Maybe he can..."
Chapter 7, Section 7, Hilde's Great Gift
"Lord Pericles!"
