If she said she liked him... Hilde felt that she was more like a kept woman, getting benefits from Xerxes and pretending to be a lover. But if she said she didn't like him, Xerxes was not a greasy man, she was a first-class Persian beauty, and, in real life, Xerxes was a standard dark-skinned person, with wheat-colored skin and a sexy body, which was too much for Hilde's sexual preferences. What's more, he was an emperor and a masochist, and he really liked Hilde. This contrast sometimes really touched Hilde. So, after thinking about it, Hilde could only say:
"I think I like it."
"...In other words, you are not doing this just to gain benefits from her?"
"All."
Hilde was very frank.
There is no need to hide such things.
"After all, Xerxes is also a beauty, so I haven't been wronged."
"...Since you think so, I'm relieved." Sophia breathed a sigh of relief. "I was worried about what kind of suffering you were enduring for the country. Now it seems that you are enjoying it."
"…Are you jealous?"
"No."
First tune, sixth section, to Philippolis
There was nothing Hilde could do about it.
This little girl...
All my thoughts were seen through, but I pretended not to know.
"Well, well, now she's gone. This is our world from now on."
"Um……"
Sophia didn't get too angry.
But he recovered quickly.
In that case, Hilde could naturally breathe a sigh of relief.
Sophia is still easy to coax.
After Xerxes left Byzantium, Hilde needed to focus all her attention on the following matters, the most important of which was to make a feint to the east and attack in the west. However, Hilde still had a lot to do. She estimated that it would take at least until this winter to formally launch military action against Ionia. Now was not the right time. Almost all of the troops that Hilde could use were needed to open up new territories in Thrace in the north.
To this end, Hilde arranged everything in the city.
He led the Royal Guards Cavalry from the city of Byzantium to the new territory.
After more than ten days of travel, Hilde, Sophia, Dione and others once again entered the territory of Thrace from Byzantium. Now the pace of advancement has been much smoother. Because the advance team has opened up the road and widened the original road, it is much more convenient to enter other provinces from the Greater Byzantine Province. Following the road, the first destination that Hilde and others wanted to reach was Philippolis on the Hebros River.
The first colonists from the Byzantine Empire have arrived here.
Philippolis was originally a city-state founded by the Greeks.
But later, due to the rise of the Thracian king, almost all the people of Philippipolis died, and this city-state with a population of thousands stood on the banks of the Hebros River, and the people living here changed from Philippipolis to Thracians. But now, the Thracians have been incorporated into the rule of the Byzantine Empire, and to some extent, they are now also regarded as part of the Greeks. After all, the Byzantine Empire is a Greek kingdom.
After the journey.
Hilde and others have arrived near Philippolis.
“It’s already getting busy.”
Hilde looked around curiously.
Now, Philippolis has become busy. A large number of Thracians have begun to actively build roads and a series of buildings. According to Hilde's request, the new city first needs to build a brick factory, otherwise it will not be able to meet the needs of urban construction. The area along the Hebros River has natural clay and a large amount of wood that can be used to make firewood, so this is a very suitable place to build a brick kiln.
"Are these Thracians?"
Sophia asked curiously.
"correct."
“They are all busy.”
"That's normal. Their lives before were very miserable. When we came, they were liberated. Now that they are liberated, they will definitely be grateful to us and willing to contribute." Hilde said helplessly as he looked at the ragged Thracians busy with various projects. "However, I still hope that they can become a part of us, instead of working out of gratitude."
"It's still difficult for them to understand now."
"It's okay, just explain it clearly."
Hilde's purpose for coming here.
The purpose is to make it clear to the Thracians what the policy of the Byzantine Empire is.
The current status of these Thracians is that of conquered people. Although they are naturally very happy now that they have been liberated, Hilde knows very well that such days will not last long. They must change from being conquered to being part of the Byzantine Kingdom. Only in this way can they be completely transformed into a force that can be used by the Byzantine Kingdom. Otherwise, many of Hilde's ideas will be useless.
"His Majesty!"
At this time, a cavalryman rode over from a distance.
"Your Majesty! I am Antiphon, the general of the province of Hebros!"
"Hello."
Hilde smiled and nodded.
"How is the situation now?"
"Now that everything is going well, Your Majesty, please follow me to Philippolis!"
"Ok."
If you go further, the small city by the river is Philippolis.
Its walls were in tatters, the lowest part of which could be climbed over, and the walls were already crumbling. It seemed that the Thracians had not tried to repair the city for so many years. After all, the Thracians were semi-nomadic and had no urban tradition, so it was fortunate that the city was not completely demolished.
Hilde's guards were stationed in an area outside the city to prevent any accidents. Hilde led a dozen people to the interior of Philippolis. Only then did Hilde see clearly what this abandoned city-state located in the core area of the Hebros River Valley looked like.
"Antiphon, are you planning to repair this city?"
"Your Majesty! Although Philippolis is in ruins, it has everything. We have discovered the Temple of Apollo, a theater, and some cities currently inhabited by Thracians. We can use the original buildings of this city to repair and rebuild them. In this way, it will only take a few months for us to build Philippolis into a brand new city with an estimated population of about 5,000 people!"
"Yeah, that's fine."
Hilde nodded with satisfaction.
Cities are the core of civilized rule.
The Thracian region is almost entirely made up of agricultural tribes. Without a core city, it is impossible to control these tribes, because the officials of the province must be concentrated in the city to issue orders and concentrate the power of the entire province in the city. At the same time, the emergence of cities will increase the possibility of commercial trade and help establish trade in the Thracian region. In this way, the Thracian region can quickly become wealthy.
A small city of 5,000 people.
In the province of Greater Byzantium, it is indeed not enough.
But now, we can't ask for so much.
Otherwise it would be too greedy.
Hilde thought about this and continued:
"So after you came here, have you ever thought about how to assist the Archon and manage the next series of events?"
"I can only protect the public security here. I have no right to inquire about the specific arrangements."
Hilde's question shows that Antiphon, as an officer, did not intervene in political affairs, and the construction of the city was still firmly in the hands of the consul, which is worthy of praise.
Chapter 7: Large-scale development of new towns
However, now is the time when the policy has just been implemented. With Hilde here, it is estimated that almost everyone will pay attention to this. It is unknown whether it will be the same after a long time. But Hilde does not need to care about these things for now. What she wants to know is what the governor of Philippolis plans to do and how to solve the problems here. These are the issues that Hilde really cares about.
And so on arrived in the city of Philippolis.
The previously abandoned Citizens' Assembly here was simply transformed into the Provincial Governor's Palace.
A man in a simple robe was talking to several officials.
When the man saw Hilde coming, he said a few words, then turned around and said to Hilde respectfully: "Your Majesty, please forgive me for not coming to meet you in person. Philippolis is too busy with affairs right now. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"It's okay, this is what you should do."
Hilde looked at the officer walking past.
Then he asked, “What are you busy with now?”
"Right now, our focus is to contact all Thracian tribes in our province and call their leaders to come here. We have been working on this for several days. It is estimated that in a few days, all the chieftains and leaders of the tribes will be able to arrive here. Of course, there is also a construction officer. He was just reporting to me about the construction of the brick factory. He said that in two days, the red bricks will be put into production, and then they can be used to build more buildings."
"very good."
Hilde nodded with satisfaction.
"Just continue like this, that's for sure."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
The man in front of him was the governor of the province of Hebros, his name was Menelaos.
Menelaos was a Milesian, born into a Milesian noble family, but not a very important one, so no one in his family served as a senator in the Milesian Senate. He had received a long education, and not only had outstanding oratory skills, but also had insights into nature, engineering, and history, and was considered an academic talent. Hilde sent Menelaos to the Hebros province, where the task was relatively light, hoping that he could display his abilities here.
so far.
Menelaos did pretty well.
"Your Majesty, the facilities in the city are currently simple. I'm afraid there is no good place for you to rest."
"It's okay. When marching and fighting, it's a good thing to have a place to shelter from the rain." Hilde looked at the Citizens' Assembly in front of him and said with a wry smile, "I really hope that Philippolis can be repaired quickly and restored to its past glory days... Although this city-state has never been glorious."
“Then we will definitely make it glorious.”
Menelaos said confidently:
"We will repair the city first, but I don't plan to repair the city walls because the city is too small. We need to rebuild the city walls... According to my statistics, the population of Hebros should be around 100,000. So for a province of 100,000 people, it shouldn't be a problem to maintain a city with a population of around 10,000. Together with the construction officer and the municipal officer, I have drafted a new blueprint for Philippolis, and plan to build a city that can accommodate 10,000 people."
"Antiphon just told me that there were five thousand people."
Hilde asked curiously:
"Didn't you tell him?"
"No, because our plan has not been approved by you, so naturally I can't tell Antiphon about it. He is quite straightforward, and I guess he will take it seriously once I say it."
"What's your plan?"
"Here, Your Majesty."
Menelaos handed the parchment to Hilde respectfully.
After opening the parchment, a detailed city plan appeared in front of Hilde. The new Philippolis planned to restore the original Citizens' Assembly into the Governor's Palace, and also restored the theater and the Temple of Apollo next to the Citizens' Assembly. But in addition to this, in Menelaos' plan, he built several large residential areas along the river, and at the same time, built a commercial port next to the Hebros River. At the same time, this port was connected to the Aegean Sea and could go directly into the Hebros River estuary in the Aegean Sea.
However, the Hebros Estuary was not Hild's territory.
Hilde thought about it and decided that it was time to annex the Hebros River Estuary area.
Then, the port and the market were connected, and several main roads ran through the city. This square plan was definitely rare in the Greek world. The core area of the city was the residential area and functional area. The east side of the city was the production area, where the blacksmith workshop and other places were built. The barracks were built on the west side of the city, and it was expected that about 2,000 soldiers would be stationed. The scale of the entire city was several times larger than the current Philippolis. Therefore, according to this plan, the original city walls had to be demolished.
"Your Majesty, what do you think?"
Menelaos was a little nervous.
And Hilde looked at it carefully and nodded.
"Great, you did a great job."
"Really! Thank you, Your Majesty!!!"
"But this is by no means a small project. You must actively mobilize the Thracians and let them participate in the construction. At the same time, the construction of cities is important, but we must also pay attention to the construction of villages and towns. We can't just have this one city in such a large province of Hebros. You also need to consider building new towns to maintain control over various places."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
strictly speaking.
A city is a walled settlement.
A town is a settlement without city walls.
In the province of Great Byzantium, there are seven or eight cities in the whole province, but outside the cities are towns. The system promoted by Hilde is that she does not allow farmers to live separately, but to live together. When farmers live together, the town has infinite possibilities. Not only does the existence of the town make the scattered farmers form a sense of belonging, but it is also easy to manage, and can be well managed in terms of taxation and civil affairs.
At the same time, the emergence of the town also brings unlimited possibilities.
If a town is near a mine, it will become a specialized mining town focused on mining.
If flax is produced in abundance here, or there is enough clay, and there is convenient transportation, it can develop into a handicraft town.
If this is an important trade node, there will naturally be a prosperous town with commerce.
To put it bluntly, the existence of the town is actually to improve the level of civilization of its residents.
