"Sending people to the Greek City-States to hire scholars as teachers is certainly no problem." Maximus first thought of the pirates led by Karsipengpas, as they were currently the most powerful channel connecting the Nix Tribe to the diterranean World.
"But in the eyes of the Greeks, our place is a barbaric and backward wasteland. Would those Greek scholars be willing to co here?" Maximus did not hold much hope for this.
"Leader, you should know that a few hundred years ago, in the eyes of the Greeks, Macedonia was also representative of barbarians. Yet Aristotle still accepted King Philip’s invitation to beco Alexander’s teacher, eventually educating Alexander into a great Conqueror!" Kefisofon said excitedly. "There will always be so Greek scholars with ideals, hoping to integrate barbarous and backward places into the world illuminated by civilization!"
"Such as you, Kefisofon!" Maximus interjected with a smile.
Kefisofon was a bit ashad; he had initially stayed in the rebel army out of necessity, but after arriving here and being entrusted with important duties, he could finally showcase his talents, and that was when he began to genuinely serve the Nix Tribe.
After slightly adjusting his emotions, he continued, "Leader, I studied on Rhodes Island for many years, t quite a few classmates, and kept in touch with so of them after returning to the City State. In the past few days, I carefully analyzed their situations and felt that a few of them might be willing to co here. So, I wrote them letters individually; the addresses are on the envelopes.
Leader, you can send soone to deliver the letters first and then send out invitations. I am sure it will succeed."
Rhodes Island... Maximus had heard of this place while in Italy. It was a well-known academic center in the diterranean region, where many Greek and Roman youths went to study. According to mories from a past life, it seed Caesar also studied there.
Seeing Maximus not speaking, Kefisofon quickly said, "Rest assured, Leader, I haven’t disclosed any of our tribe’s secrets in the letters. You can check them."
What secrets of the Nix Tribe should not be disclosed? It was, of course, the fact that this tribe was established by a rebel army of slaves, who had once fought alongside Spartacus’ forces in Italy and defeated multiple Roman armies.
"Kefisofon, you’re the Ritual Officer of the tribe, one of the tribe’s most important mbers, always diligently working for the tribesn. How could I not trust you!" Maximus said with firm conviction and sincerity, then softly asked, "What paper did you use to write these letters?"
"Of course, it’s the paper produced by the Paper Making Workshop—" Kefisofon suddenly realized his mistake and stopped speaking abruptly.
Maximus gently reminded, "Thanks to the Danu Goddess’ protection, we’ve made magical paper that other City States and nations don’t have. To avoid attracting the Romans’ attention, we should refrain from distributing this paper for now."
Kefisofon said sheepishly, "Leader, that was my oversight. I’ll rewrite the letters using papyrus instead, but this papyrus—"
"There’s still so papyrus left in the warehouse. I’ll have my subordinates deliver it to you later." Gaius interjected.
Kefisofon thanked profusely.
"Once you’ve rewritten the letters, I’ll send soone to take them to Karsipengpas and commission him to handle this matter for us," said Maximus.
"Thank you, Leader!"
"In the future, don’t ntion thanks lightly. What you’re doing is for the tribe, hoping to invite a few knowledgeable teachers to better educate the children!"
Maximus smiled encouragingly, yet he thought to himself: Before sending out these letters, it’s best to have Casius thoroughly review them to ensure there’s no information on crucial tribal secrets that might attract external forces’ attention...
This thought flashed through his mind as Maximus looked at everyone and said, "Today’s eting of the Political Affairs Hall will conclude here. After returning, according to our previous plan, start taking over the northern territories."
"Leader, our Comrce Departnt currently has a problem that urgently needs the Political Affairs Hall to discuss and resolve." Pigeris said loudly.
"What problem?"
"Our Comrce Departnt is in charge of managing the market, and most shops within the market are also under the Comrce Departnt’s control, selling goods produced by various workshops, with only a small portion being used by tribesn for bartering..."
Pigeris spoke elaborately, obviously well-prepared. "Due to the tribesn not having gold and silver coins, we initially stipulated when establishing the market to use wheat in place of gold and silver coins, and even set approximate prices for exchanging wheat for other goods.
For example, an ordinary clay bowl is eight pounds of wheat, a pair of straw shoes two pounds of wheat, a common wooden stool four pounds of wheat, a kitchen knife ten pounds of wheat...
Aside from so tribesn preferring bartering, the shops under our control strictly adhere to this regulation.
Initially, our tribe was small, with limited territory, not many tribesn ca to buy goods, and the market was built within Snowdonia and Westeni Village, making it easy for the Comrce Departnt to manage. But now the situation is different—"
Pigeris emphasized his tone, complaining, "Now the tribe’s territory has expanded several tis, and the population is nearing 200,000. These new tribesn, like the old tribesn, have gradually grown fond of the ceramics, furniture, and ironware produced by our workshops...
The market has beco extrely busy, and now the old tribesn, whose family situation has improved, also want to purchase more expensive goods like the Curved Plow, which is priced at seventy pounds of wheat! According to our statistics, more than thirty people have requested to buy it, and so also wish to purchase stone bricks to renovate their hos...
To facilitate tribesn purchasing goods more conveniently, our Comrce Departnt has not only established markets within towns but also between villages, such as the market near Lin Pass Guard Station, the market east of the Sava River close to the mountains, and the market soon to be built near the barracks by the southeast river—"
Maximus frowned slightly, "Pigeris, I’m aware of all the efforts your Comrce Departnt has made for the tribe. Just say directly what difficulties you’re facing now?"
"Yes, Leader." Pigeris spoke earnestly, "The difficulty our Comrce Departnt faces is — the number of trades in the tribe is rapidly increasing, trade volu continues to grow, but using wheat in place of gold and silver coins for purchasing goods is beginning to hinder trade developnt in the tribe, even holding it back."
"Oh!" Maximus imdiately beca alert, "Explain specifically."
"Village tribesn wanting to buy things at the market must bring enough wheat with them since most don’t have Carriages, they have to carry it themselves and walk many miles. Once at the market, they see so many goods, wanting to buy this, wanting to buy that, but finally realize they haven’t brought enough wheat...
Not only is it troubleso for tribesn to buy things, but our Comrce Departnt’s subordinates responsible for managing the market and operating the shops find it burdenso too. We’re already short-handed, and selling a single good requires repeatedly weighing the wheat to avoid penalties for receiving too little. They work from morning until night with little rest, and not many transactions are completed because half the ti is spent collecting wheat.
In two days, the wheat collected in the market is piled into small mountains and must be promptly sent to the Finance Departnt; the market doesn’t have a dedicated grain storage warehouse, and it would be troubleso if it rained.
Yet, after delivering it to the Finance Departnt, they have to spend ti weighing the wheat again; every ti, the Finance Departnt officials would complain about discrepancies between the sent wheat quantity and the records. But can they bla us?
Tribesn hand over wheat to our shops’ subordinates, who then move the wheat to the market’s temporary storage, then from the temporary storage to the Carriage, and finally to the Finance Departnt’s grain warehouse, before weighing again...at each step there’s potential for slight loss, adding up quickly to a significant discrepancy—"
"Pigeris, your Comrce Departnt finds it troubleso, and our Finance Departnt feels aggrieved too!" Gaius interrupted loudly, "Leader, every two or three days the Comrce Departnt sends a batch of wheat, and our limited staff in the Finance Departnt must carefully weigh, record, file, then store the wheat securely in the warehouse...this costs half a day each ti, aning our Finance Departnt spends half the month dealing with these things from the Comrce Departnt.
At the end of the month, we also have to distribute salaries to officials, artisans, and other personnel of the tribe, reaching thousands of people! We need to weigh, verify, sign, and record the wheat given to each person...just finishing this task takes the Finance Departnt seven or eight days.
Our Finance Departnt isn’t less busy than your Comrce Departnt; over half a month is spent dealing with wheat, affecting our ability to focus on other matters!..."
Gaius was both complaining and expressing grievances.
"Since using wheat to purchase goods has severely affected the normal operation of both the Comrce and Finance Departnts, and it’s also inconvenient for tribesn buying things...Leader, how about issuing a decree to allow tribesn to resu using gold and silver for transactions?" Capito suggested.
"That’s impossible! Whether old or new tribesn, none have gold or silver coins at ho; how could they use them for trading?!" Volenus objected.
"Without gold and silver coins, they can gradually obtain them." Capito raised his head, "Just have the Finance Departnt give departntal officials, artisans, and other personnel their salaries in gold and silver coins next month instead of wheat, and restore the use of gold and silver coins for purchasing goods...
Over ti, other tribesn will realize the benefits of using gold and silver coins and will try to obtain them from the tribe to buy goods in the market. Thus, solving the difficulties of both the Finance and Comrce Departnts."
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