Hannibal still has to fight for Hilde and what she proposed.
If it is really as Hilde said, there will be no problem dealing with the Persians.
But the main thing is that the interests of Sicily must not be given up. This is the foundation of Carthage. Even Hannibal felt that if Hilde really wanted to cooperate with Carthage, she should choose to give up some of Sicily's interests. For example, she could draw a border with Carthage and cede the west side of Sicily to Carthage in exchange for support from the Carthaginians in the Persian War. If Hilde didn't even have this awareness, then it can only be said that after destroying Persia, the next opponent would be Hannibal's Carthage.
Therefore, Hannibal had to consider Carthage.
Thinking of this, Hannibal decided to wait until tomorrow to decide.
And waited until the next day...
Hannibal got up early in the morning, washed himself carefully, and took a bath with spices purchased from foreign countries, which filled his body with pleasant perfume. Although he was a strong man who could wield swords and guns, Hannibal, as a king, still attached great importance to such external image. In particular, he planned to discuss these things with Hilde today.
We must figure out what Hilde is thinking.
Thinking of this, Hannibal's attitude became firm.
"Okay! Get ready to go!"
Hannibal put on his clothes and turned to leave his palace.
But standing at the door, Hamilcar came over with an anxious look on his face.
"His Majesty!"
"What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Your Majesty, no, something bad has happened." Hamilcar came to Hannibal quickly, and he didn't even bother to salute. "Something has happened."
"Ah? Could it be that Hilde has started to attack Carthage!?"
"N-No! It's not that bad!"
"What is that?"
"Yes, it's His Majesty Hilde. He has left the palace and is now riding an elephant through the streets of Carthage. He said he was looking for a suitable place in Carthage and buying it as a place for Greeks to do business in Carthage in the future. It's called the Greek Mansion. I just learned about this. Now, the city of Carthage is bustling. Everyone is running out!"
"What!?"
Upon hearing this.
Hannibal's expression changed.
“This, this is…”
"Your Majesty, let's chase them out now!"
"Why didn't you inform me in advance!"
"I just found out about this too!"
Hannibal glared at Hamilcar, then put on his coat and left the palace with Hamilcar.
Now, the city of Carthage is indeed much more lively than usual. The whole city of Carthage is almost boiling. The Carthaginians who didn't have time to see Queen Hilde yesterday are now coming to the streets to see this legendary woman who is called the goddess incarnate, the incarnation of Athena. At the same time, Hilde's actions on the street are indeed too ostentatious. After all, Hilde is now riding an elephant, strolling leisurely on the streets of Carthage, laughing and chatting with people around her as she moves forward.
"I think this piece of land is pretty good?"
"But the place is a bit small, isn't it?"
Sophia looked at the location of the market and said with a wry smile:
"That should be a market for ordinary people. If we buy that land, how will the local residents live?"
"Yes, then choose another place."
Hilde sat on the elephant's back, and the pavilion installed on the elephant's back was very stable. Generally speaking, if a particularly important guest came to Carthage, when riding a war elephant, a special elephant trainer was required to follow and control the elephant. However, for some unknown reason, the unruly war elephant was like a docile puppy in front of Hilde. Without the protection of the elephant trainer and the army, it walked steadily on the streets of Carthage, with its nose raised and swaying, and it was obvious that it was very happy.
Nothing makes people feel more magical than this.
When the goddess with silver hair and purple eyes appeared in front of everyone.
People around also started talking.
"As expected of Barcellus, he is really beautiful."
"Humph, what's so special about being pretty? Don't we still rely on men to fight wars?"
"Bah, shut up. Are you worthy of Queen Dido by talking like this?"
Queen Dido was the creator of Carthage. When Carthage was first established, the natives gave her a piece of cowhide and told her that the place where the cowhide was was the land of the Carthaginians. Queen Dido had the cowhide cut into thin strips and then fenced off a piece of land, which is now the inner city of Carthage. According to legend, Queen Dido was a kind, beautiful and smart queen, and all the Carthaginians admired her.
So when some people look down on Hilde.
This was refuted by the other Carthaginians.
The Greeks who came here also knew Hilde's purpose.
Many of them came from the Greek Empire, so they naturally knew what a mansion was. In order to strengthen regional identity and to more effectively transport talents from all over the country to Byzantium, Hilde established the mansion system. The mansion could not only serve as an office between internal provinces, but also as an embassy for foreign countries. If Hilde established a mansion in Carthage, then the Greeks living in Carthage would have a safe haven.
This is of great significance.
As outsiders, the Greeks were also competitors of the Carthaginians.
Not welcome in Carthage.
If it weren't for the money, these Greeks would not want to live in this place at all. It's too humiliating.
However, after the establishment of the Greek Consulate, as the official organization of the Greek Empire in Carthage, the Greek Consulate will complain to the Kingdom of Carthage about the infringement of the rights of the Greeks. At the same time, the Greek Consulate will also integrate the Greeks here. When unfriendly incidents against the Greeks occur, the Greeks in the Greek Consulate will unite and put pressure on Carthage.
As for the other Greeks.
Especially for the Syracusans.
They were helpless because of Hilde's proud behavior of walking on the Carthage Road.
When they saw the Greeks of the Greek Empire, regardless of origin and dialect, gathered together and shouted His Majesty's name, the strong sense of pride and identity made the Syracusans agree. After all, the Greek Mansion was established, which was something that the Greeks of the Greek Empire could enjoy, and the Greeks of Syracuse were probably sidelined.
The Queen Walking Around
The purpose of the Greek residence.
It is to consolidate the national unity of overseas Greeks.
Even if it requires huge investment in construction.
Hilde also felt it was necessary.
So far, most of the areas conquered by Hilde were inhabited by Greeks or areas of Greek civilization, or barbarians, such as the Scythians and the Getes. Therefore, Hilde's policies and laws in this area could be implemented smoothly. However, Hilde really did not intend to conquer Carthage, which was particularly troublesome and had no value. Compared with this, establishing a Greek embassy and consolidating diplomatic relations between the two places was the most important thing.
Of course, Hilde went out for a stroll on an elephant early in the morning.
Also for some excitement, King Hannibal.
She knew very well that Hannibal must have spent the whole day yesterday thinking about how to deal with her.
So, Hilde simply didn't play by the rules and just hung out outside.
As expected, Hilde was wandering around Carthage when Hannibal and his troops came after her. Hannibal was so surprised when he saw Hilde riding the elephant himself. After all, Hilde said that she had never ridden an elephant before, but now Hilde was very familiar with it, as if she had raised the war elephant herself.
"Your Majesty Hilde!"
Hamilcar rode his horse quickly to Hilde's front.
"You, you are too dangerous!"
"what?"
Looking at Hamilcar waving his hands below, Hilde laughed.
"It's okay! It's very obedient!"
"Your Majesty, you can't do that!"
"Don't worry!"
Hilde just couldn't listen.
Of course it was intentional.
Seeing Hilde's happy smile, Hannibal was a little dazed for a moment. After all, on this sunny day, the queen from a foreign country sat on the back of a war elephant, her long silver hair sparkling in the sunlight, and her laughter made people swallow their saliva, which was really pitiful. Soon, Hannibal shook his head, threw away some messy thoughts in his mind, and then rode to Hilde's side.
"Hilde, this is too dangerous."
"It's fine!"
Hilde stood up directly on the back of the war elephant.
"Hannibal, aren't you more dangerous?"
"Danger?"
"As I recall, it's better for war horses to stay away from war elephants."
"what!"
Just as he said this, the elephant's heavy hind legs stepped directly next to Hannibal's horse. Although it did not hurt the opponent, the huge noise and the sudden danger scared Hannibal's horse, which suddenly shuddered. This time, Hannibal almost flew off the back of the horse. After all, the Carthaginian cavalry did not have saddles and stirrups for the time being, and relied purely on the rider's own personal strength to control his stability on the horse's back. Hannibal held the saddle tightly, which prevented him from falling directly.
"Too dangerous!"
Hilde smiled and reminded:
"You should wait for me in the palace!"
"This……"
Hannibal was stunned.
He immediately looked for help to Hamilcar, who had come over out of worry about him.
But Hamilcar didn't know what to do. Even though he was a mature politician, it was the first time he had seen someone like Hilde. So Hannibal and Hamilcar stared at each other and watched Hilde ride the elephant away. They ran wildly on the roads of Carthage. And this run lasted from sunrise to sunset, until the war elephants were almost tired. Hilde was still not satisfied and returned to the palace with Sophia and Rod. Following closely behind were Hannibal and others who were also exhausted and panting.
"Finally, I'm back."
Hannibal dismounted from his horse.
My legs started to tremble.
Hamilcar's condition was even worse, he was about to faint.
As for Hilde, her goal had been achieved. She was planning to take Hannibal for a walk and then look for a suitable place to build a Greek mansion. Finally, Hilde really found a place. It was a piece of land that the Greeks bought for business. It was not far from the port and was a prime area. The local Greeks happened to be merchants from Athens and Corinth. They knew who Hilde was. That piece of land could probably be used to build a very large Greek mansion, which might be the largest single building in Carthage.
Hilde plans to talk to the businessmen tomorrow.
Of course, it is impossible to treat them unfairly.
"Hannibal! Hamilcar!" Hilde turned around and said to the two with a smile, "Thank you for your company today."
"what?"
"I'm going out this time mainly to look for a good place. I plan to buy it and build a mansion."
"Wh, what mansion?"
Hannibal was dumbfounded.
Hilde pointed to the palace and said, "It's not a good idea to talk about business at the gate of the palace."
"Ah, yes, yes, of course, let's go into the palace and rest."
Hannibal was dumbfounded.
He thought about it and thought, isn’t this my palace?
Why did Hilde have a preconceived idea?
But Hannibal didn't dare to complain or refute, so he had to follow Hilde back to the palace. After that, Hilde left first, using the excuse of taking a shower and changing clothes, and left Hannibal in her palace. Hannibal was so angry that he could only hold it in. He returned to his bedroom angrily, and then sat directly on the chair. He was so tired that he almost died. On the other side, Hamilcar also stood beside Hannibal exhausted. When His Majesty the King didn't speak, he didn't dare to speak directly.
After a while.
Hannibal finally spoke.
"Tell me, what does Hilde mean?"
"She said she wanted to build a mansion?"
"correct."
"But, the construction of the mansion doesn't require a Basilius to investigate in person." Hamilcar also found it a bit strange. "Could there be another purpose?"
"If he had any shameful purpose, he wouldn't have ridden an elephant and gone out so ostentatiously. This guy probably just wanted to show off in front of the Carthaginians and show how powerful he is... Really, if I wasn't worried about her safety today, I wouldn't have ridden a horse and followed her with people. You see, it's weird, it's hard for this war elephant to obey orders that are not its own master, but in front of Hilde, it's like it's been trained for a long time."
"Yes."
Hamilcar also found it amazing.
