Chapter 232: Senate meeting after the war (III)
The statesmen looked at each other and for a moment, they did not speak. The statesmen that were former mercenaries were proficient in land battle, but not at sea. While the Lucanian statesmen understood mountain warfare, but feared the sea. And Amendolara has neither port nor warship, and its statesmen have no experience in naval warfare. So only the statesmen of Thurii are left….
Kunogelata looked at the others and then said, “I recommend Enanilus, who used to be Thurii’s nauarch*.” (T/N: Admiral/Navarch)
The other Thurian statesmen had also expressed their agreement. Davos also recognized the talent of Enanilus in this aspect, otherwise, he would not have discussed with him about the preparation of the navy in advance. And now, the only thing they need to worry about is that the family of Enanilus owned the shipyard, and Davos was worried about his private use of public stuff. But when he thought about it, how could the shrewd and stingy Mersis be fooled.
‘Compared with the army, there are still too few people who know how to do naval warfare!’ Sighed Davos.
In the end, Enanilus became the nauarch of Theonia’s navy and excitedly said, “We, Theonia, have a strong hoplites, so I no longer need to worry about having our warships being burned down in the port before they could even depart!” It seems that the fact that the warships of Thurii were either destroyed or captured by Crotone before they could even depart has always haunted him.
“The army of Theonia has already gained its prestige. Therefore, the things I need to do is to lead the new navy to actively cooperate with the army and create greater victory for the protection of Theonia Union!” With that, all the statesmen, including Amintas, applauded at the inauguration of Enanilus with a smile on their faces.
Pollux gazed at the figure of Enanilus with a sneer on his face.
The second proposal of Davos was about the construction of the Roscianum-Krimisa-Aprustum road. As soon as the proposal came out, it was unanimously approved by all the statesmen. Because Theonia has enjoyed the benefits of having roads constructed, and even if Davos did not mention it, the other statesmen will make similar proposals. By now, the Theonians already have a huge difference in concept with the other Greeks, and they no longer think that a city-state only needs to have a convenient maritime transportation and to not even bother to consider the roads and the likes. They not only care about the access to the sea, but they now also think that building a good road is a necessary infrastructure for the development of a city-state.
However, the second proposal of Davos is not yet over, and continued, “When we were sieging Krimisa, the herald brought messages between Thurii and Krimisa every day, and they had to travel back and forth for more than 50 kilometers, which exhausted the hoses a lot, and had made some important news to not be delivered in time. I then thought of a question, with the gradual expansion of our territory, the border cities will only get farther and farther away from Thurii which is in the center of our territory, so how can we grasp the situation of the other Theonian cities in time in order for our senate to timely respond in case of some emergencies?”
Davos’ question aroused the speculation of everyone.
“Since the merchant ships, who frequently come and go, could keep track of the situation in other cities-” Marigi then suggested, “Then we can use boats for the delivery of messages, which is fast and doesn’t even need horses.”
“There are several problems in sending messages by boat. First, boats can’t navigate during storms, especially in winter. Second, this will only be applicable to cities with ports, and impossible to deliver from inland cities such as Nerulum and Aprustum. Third, during wars, messages and reports transported by ships are prone to interception due to the sea being too big to be fully defended, and the army can’t always march along the coastline, so how can emergency orders and messages be delivered from the ship to the commanders in time?”
When Davos pointed out the disadvantages of using ships to deliver messages, Marigi became unable to respond for a while, and had embarrassedly said, “Milord, I haven’t thought about it yet.”
“It seems that we still have to go by land. We are now building roads to connect the cities of Theonia, so we can use mules and horses to deliver the messages more quickly and conveniently than before.” Said Cornelius.
“You are right about us needing to rely mainly on land, and then be supplemented by the sea. I think that what we should do now is to arrange a special personnel to be responsible for the delivery of messages and the daily matters of the city, so I propose for the union to set up a post office.” Said Davos with confidence.
‘Post office?!’ Everyone felt unfamiliar with the words that Davos had just spoken. It’s obvious that Davos had made it himself.
“The main function of the post office is to receive letters and parcels from the people of Theonia and then deliver them to the recipients….” Davos gesture with his hands and explained patiently, “We will first set up post offices in every city, then equipped them with personnel who will receive and deliver the letters every day. At the same time, we will set up post stations every 20 kilometers on the main road, which will also have personnel staying there. There will be a simple lodging and also extra horses in the post station, so when a messenger arrives at the post stations, he can go in and have rest, drink water and then continue his work…in this way, while the post office usually serve the public, every day the news from the other cities will be gathered to the senate through it, which will allow us to understand the situation in the territory of Theonia. And during wartime, the heralds of the military can use each post station through the main road to replenish their water, change horses and quickly deliver the military orders….”
“This is a wonderful idea!” Kunogelata kept on praising, “Pos…if the post office is established, it will not only help the army and the people, but also strengthen the contact between the people of various cities, and the cities of Theonia will become closer! I think that…in the future, we can also set up post offices in our allies to strengthen our exchanges with them.” As a statesman who was a former archon, Kunogelata immediately understood the bright future brought by the establishment of the post office to Theonia Union.
“I hope that the post office can be established as soon as possible! When I get to Krimisa, I won’t have to worry too much about my children!” Scambras said happily.
“But I constantly hear you say that ‘they are not obedient and that you don’t want to live with them’, isn’t that right?” Asked Stromboli.
Scambras raised his head and siad, “Those people that have no children shouldn’t speak.”
This had almost provoked Stromboli to quarrel with him, and made everyone laugh, then persuaded them to stop fighting.
Mersis then stood up with a bitter face, “Lord archon, regarding the building of a post office and post station. How much does the treasury have to spend on constructing them, the salaries of the civil servants and the cost of raising horses?”
Even without the explanation of Davos, Marigi immediately said, “Mersis, do you still not understand?! The post office will charge the delivery of their letters and parcels. There is also lodging in the post stations, so we could also charge the people that want to stay there. Mersis, I don’t know how you became the financial officer!”
Marigi seized the opportunity to make fun of Mersis.
Mersis didn’t pay him attention, and had instead eagerly asked Davos, “Is there a fee for the delivery? How much?”
Davos nodded, “The main purpose for setting up a post office was to deliver information and make it convenient for the public, so we can’t make it too expensive. Therefore, I think an obol for a letter will do. While the price for the delivery of packages will depend on its size and weight, Marigi and the person that will be in charge of the post office will be the one discussing it.”
“One letter, one obol. I think the public will be happy to accept this price. But I am afraid the post office will be very busy in the future.” Laughed Cornelius, “Because after we allocate the land this time, many citizen’s shares of land will be in different cities, and this post office will be really needed to send messages in order to strengthen the management of the land.”
The words of Cornelius have resonated with the many statesmen, not only the ordinary citizens got lands allocated to them, but also the statesmen. Therefore, they all agreed with the proposal of Davos.
After Mersis calculates the income of the post office, he found that the income was considerable and immediately asked, “Will the income of the post office be turned over to the treasury?”
“After deducting the salaries of the personnel and the various costs, the remaining income will naturally be handed over to the treasury.” The words of Davos had made Mersis smile, “In addition, I propose to set up a Road Bureau, which will be responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance and management of the roadside facilities of all the roads in the union.”
The proposal of Davos was also approved by the statesmen who enjoyed the benefit of the road, and they also knew that after a road is built, it will need long-term maintenance, otherwise it will become dilapidated in just a few years.
“Then we will have to charge for the use of the road in the future.” Mersis looked at Davos with glistening eyes.
“Free.” Davos uttered a word.
“Building roads to connect the city will costs us at least more than 10 Tarants* and the subsequent maintenance will also cost us additional expenses, so couldn’t we charge even a little?” Asked Mersis. (this does not include the cost of the land use, because the land that will be used for the road is planned in advance before the land is distributed to the citizens and it belongs to the union, so there is no need to spend money. Otherwise, the cost will be more than doubled when the price of the land is included.)
“The roads are different from the postal service. If we were to charge a fee, most of the people can just not use the road that we have built, which won’t even affect their travels. On the contrary, the road that we built painstakingly to serve the people, will only end up with just a few people using it, which is contrary to our purpose of building the road.” Explained Davos seriously.
“Milord is right! We, the people of Theonia Union can enjoy a comfortable and smooth road! Can enjoy high technology, but low cost medical care! We can enjoy the convenient….postal service! Our citizens can be allocated a land as long as they serve! As long as our citizens pass the test, they will be able to hold public office and get paid!…Theonia has created so much happiness for the people. Can Athens, the most prosperous city-state in Greece, do this?” Plesinas passionately said.