the best method.
Sophia returned safely.
But...how could Sophia, who was captured in the divine realm, come back so easily?
Just when Xerxes was daydreaming.
Tomyris, holding a double-pronged fork, came over from the other side.
Tomyris went to deal with the land transfer issue today. After a busy day, she was very tired. She yawned and looked carefully. She seemed to see Xerxes. So Tomyris took the initiative to come over and greeted him: "Your Majesty Xerxes, what are you doing here?"
"Think about things."
Xerxes turned his head and looked at Tomyris, who looked exhausted.
"Are you tired today?"
"Um……"
Tomyris hammered her shoulders.
"These nobles were unwilling to do so, and they often made mistakes in the accounts when they were counting the slaves. Finally, I was so angry that I handed over the slaves I had hidden. Really, my head hurts when I see those numbers on the papyrus now. Fortunately, Sissi taught everyone to use a certain number for calculation, otherwise, even Alcibiades would have been tortured to death by these numbers."
"Thanks for your hard work."
The numbers Tomyris mentioned.
In fact, they are the Arabic numerals of later generations.
Greece did not have such numbers at that time, and its own counting method was particularly troublesome. The Greek counting method, known as the "Attic numerals", was almost a nightmare for many people. The new numbers "invented" by Hilde were very direct. Ordinary civil servants only needed to learn for one day to master the meaning of different combinations of numbers. And this kind of numbers naturally greatly improved the efficiency of Hilde's civil service system.
Dealing with land and slaves is indeed a very brain-consuming task. It requires a lot of accounting and record keeping, and the fields need to be re-measured and classified according to land quality, topography and other factors. The result of this measurement surprised Tomyris. She didn't dare to imagine that the Attica region, which is mainly mountainous, actually has so many fertile fields suitable for growing grain. Although it can't be compared with the vast plains of Byzantium, the fertile fields developed in the Attica region alone are enough to feed Attica's hundreds of thousands of people.
And those were originally high-quality, fertile lands.
It is used to grow cash crops and make money.
In fact, it is quite unnecessary.
The third tune, the second section: The two returned safely
The land in Athens was used to grow cash crops.
The money earned was then used to purchase food for colonies or other city-states.
The ultimate beneficiaries are the merchants who play a key role in the commodity trading process.
Athens adopted this approach, largely to take care of the interests of merchants. After all, if Athens or Attica could carry out self-sufficient agricultural production through their own land, then naturally there would be no need for merchants, and the possibility of merchants making profits would be very small. Manufacturing processed products that can generate high added value, selling them to where they are needed, and then purchasing food at low prices, this way of production and trade will only make the ocean merchants earn a lot of money and eventually become richer and richer.
However, Hilde himself wanted to suppress businessmen.
At least the merchants of Athens.
Although the coastal merchants were retained, the end of Athens' land reform greatly reduced the possibility of these merchants making continuous profits.
In the Byzantine Kingdom, the most important place for producing products was the city of Byzantium. Various kinds of wines and fine linen were all produced around Byzantium. Handicrafts produced in cities such as Apollonia also had to be transported to Byzantium. The entire city of Byzantium was a trade node in northern Greece. If Athenian merchants wanted to make money and purchase these goods, they had to go to Byzantium. The trade in Byzantium was almost completely controlled by the Byzantine Chamber of Commerce.
However, the coastal merchants have not noticed it yet.
What is the problem.
They are still cheering for Hield.
"But, Sissi is really amazing."
At this time, Tomyris held up her fork and said with a wry smile:
"Not only was she so good at fighting, but her arrangements for these things were really flawless. I didn't understand anything at first and thought Sissi only divided the land for the sake of slaves and civilians. As a result, Alcibiades explained to me for an afternoon, and then I understood that Sissi did this for a very meaningful reason. The Byzantine Kingdom... no, the Greek Empire, did not need a second super prosperous commercial city. In order to prevent Athens from suppressing Byzantium, one of Athens' hands had to be cut off."
"It seems that you can learn a lot."
Xerxes already knew what Hilde was thinking.
"Yes, it is."
"Xixi, she is really amazing."
Xerxes turned around and looked at the Parthenon behind him.
"She was in a very bad state, so bad that she could hardly do anything, but she still gritted her teeth and persevered, and handled all the work in an orderly manner. If it were me, I would be unable to do anything in this situation."
"Yes."
Tomyris admitted it.
Even with Sophia taken away, Hilde was still able to complete the work.
And it was done so efficiently.
It’s really amazing…
In the eyes of Tomyris and the others, no matter how powerful Hilde was, she was still a woman in her early twenties, and she was also a sentimental person. However, during the time in Athens, Hilde was still the same Hilde, and there was no difference in her work style or anything else. Tomyris had also thought that Hilde didn't care about Sophia's situation at all. However, after witnessing Hilde's distracted look again, Tomyris was sure that Sophia's matter still had a great impact on her.
"Tomyris."
"Ok?"
"You are under a lot of pressure right now."
Hearing Xerxes' question, Tomyris shook her head helplessly.
"I'm fine."
"Artemis's matter..."
"Her, actually, I'm more worried about whether Sophia can come back safely. Artemis is a goddess, and the danger of her going to the gods' realm is far less than the danger we faced in the past."
Tomyris couldn't help but avoid looking.
Seems to be avoiding these things.
However, from her words, one could sense Tomyris's concerns about these things.
It was impossible for her not to care about Artemis. In fact, the relationship between the two had long since changed from a simple god and oracle to a good friend relationship. Although Tomyris and Artemis had a falling out in the end, the feelings they had over the years were still there, and Tomyris naturally couldn't completely ignore Artemis, not to mention that Artemis had already gone to the God's Realm to rescue Sophia for Hilde.
"I will definitely come back safely."
"Um……"
Tomyris nodded.
"Sophia will be fine."
"Artemis will be fine."
Seeing that Tomyris was a little stubborn, Xerxes reached out and patted Tomyris on the shoulder.
"Don't think too much."
"Ok."
Tomyris just smiled awkwardly.
However, Tomyris and Xerxes felt a familiar breath approaching quickly. Tomyris was the first to react. She stared at the dark night sky with wide eyes, with an expression of disbelief on her face. Xerxes also reacted quickly. Her heart couldn't help beating faster. The situation she had been worried about, the one that would allow Hilde to recover, had really happened, right in front of everyone's eyes.
"It's Sophia and Artemis!"
Xerxes said it all.
And Tomyris couldn't help but cover her mouth.
"Hurry, hurry up and inform Sissi..."
"hurry up!"
----------
After some chaos.
Artemis brought Sophia back to the Parthenon safely.
In order to prevent any unexpected situations, Tomyris immediately arranged guards to protect the Parthenon and prevent any suspicious people from entering the Parthenon. As soon as Artemis and Sophia arrived at the Parthenon, Xerxes and Dione hurried over to greet them.
"Sister Sophia!"
Dione pounced directly on him.
He hugged Sophia.
Sophia gently stroked Dione's head and said with a smile: "I'm sorry for making you worry."
"I thought I would never see you again..."
Dione was still a child. When she saw Sofia, she couldn't help crying because of the grievance and sadness in her heart. Xerxes felt a little sad and wanted to cry. However, Sofia didn't want to cry. For her, she felt more guilty for causing trouble to everyone than the joy of reunion. Sofia felt even more uncomfortable when she saw Dione crying for her.
Artemis said helplessly:
"This time, it's been resolved safely."
The third tune, the third section, the most familiar Sophia
"Where's Sissi!"
Xerxes didn't care about that anymore.
The most urgent thing now is to tell Hilde about this matter as soon as possible.
As for Artemis and Sophia's safe return, Hilde should have sensed it. However, Hilde did not come out to greet them as soon as Dione did, which was really puzzling. Sophia did not seem to find anything strange. She just smiled and looked into the depths of the Parthenon, and then said, "Don't worry. Sissi must know that I'm back, and she is making preparations."
"Prepare?"
"This is Sissi's stubbornness."
Sophia's words made Xerxes a little confused.
Shouldn't he just rush out happily and hug Sophia?
At this time, Hilde came out of her room. Her clothes were clean, her hair was neatly combed, and her gestures were as if she was attending a party. Hilde was resting just now, but now she was still in the best condition. In addition, she had an elegant smile on her face, without any overly intense emotions, and she did not show any special excitement when she saw Sophia.
"Sophia, that's great."
Hilde walked quickly to Sophia.
Hugging her gently.
"I thought I would never see you again."
"Sissi, it's okay. Thanks to the help of Lady Artemis, I was able to..."
"I'm glad you can come back."
Hilde's joy was beyond words, but to outsiders, it seemed as if something was missing. In this kind of reunion that was almost life and death, Hilde should not be able to control her emotions, and then she would hug Sophia and express her excitement. This was normal. Even though Hilde was the emperor and Basilius, she was still a 20-year-old woman. This kind of intense emotional expression was normal... But now, Hilde's calmness made Xerxes feel a little strange.
But Sophia seemed to have expected it.
At this time, Hilde turned around and looked at Artemis in front of her.
"Thank you, Master Artemis."
"fine……"
Artemis smiled wryly and responded:
"It was thanks to Ares that Sophia was brought out safely this time."
"Ares?"
"Yes... Ares realized Zeus's conspiracy, and then he found that he was just being used as a tool, so with his help, I successfully took Sophia away from Hera's temple. This can be considered good news... Now, the Olympian gods are not united. Ares has such an idea, and I guess other gods will also have such an opinion."
"That means Zeus won't cause me too much trouble in the short term?"
"It's hard to say, but...at least it's not bad news."
"really."
If Ares and Zeus don't stand together, then things will be interesting.
Hilde thought for a moment.
Then he said to Artemis: "Then what you are saying now is equivalent to completely betraying the Olympian gods?"
"It was like this when I fought Ares. It doesn't matter. This time when I went to rescue Sophia, Ares only discovered it, but he didn't actually expose it directly... Perhaps, after the other gods wake up, they should be able to ease the current tense relationship. I hope so." At this point, Artemis shook her head helplessly, "But my business is not important now. Sissi, you should take Sophia back to rest first. Sophia must be still in shock after this trip."
"it is good."
