Chapter 156: The Thua Union in the eyes of the foreigners (I)
Chapter 156: The Thua Union in the eyes of the foreigners (I)
Mersis looked at Davos timidly, and said, “I…I also had given them a share of rations and supplies that…that we distribute to the citizens of the Thua Union every day…”
Then he hurriedly explained, “All of these are recorded, so you can check it.”
Davos calmly asked, “These rations and supplies can be counted as money?”
“Of course.…”
“You see, you are already aware of the difficulty of those low-ranking civil servants, even before our proposal is passed, since you are already paying them.”
The statesmen burst into laughter.
Mersis was unable to talk back.
Davos struck while the iron is hot and said, “Your clerks are the slaves that you have given back their freedom and had followed us since our time in Persia. Now that the 《Land Leasing Law》is about to be publicize, it is certain that a large number of preparatory citizens will go to Burkes to apply to rent a land, while your clerks can only contribute silently to the city-state. A year later, what do you think they will think if all the other preparatory citizens have food, clothing and are rich, while they can only live on your charity? What would their families think? Will they still feel that it is an honor to work as a civil servant?”
“We can later just employ…official citizens.” Said Mersis with a low voice.
“So, what you meant is that we should just employ the citizens to work as a low-ranking civil servant in the Union?! Is it because the land of the citizens is already being taken care of by their slaves, and so they can work without worries, right?”
Mersis nodded.
Davos then asked Cornelius, “The families of ordinary citizens in our union, generally only have one slaves, right? And they will also need to lead the slave to work, right?”
“Yes, Lord Archon. There are also some families that don’t even have slaves.” Replied Cornelius.
“If the citizens go to work for the Union, then the labor force in their home will be reduced by half, and their family’s income will also be reduced, right?! And in the long run, working as a civil servant will become a burden to them! And the reason our Union can function normally is because of the, scribes under Raphias, the firemen, guards, jailers, jurors under Cornelius, the water patrol and the market officer under Marigi…the hard work that these lower rank civil servants contributed! We cannot just let the horses run and not let them eat grass. We should not only make them feel that it is an honor to serve the city-state, but also a kind of welfare, which will allow them to go home with money every day and make their families be happy as well. Only in this way can more and better citizens be willing to contribute to the city! Of course, all of you here, will not get any salary, as we should not allow money to corrode the dignity of our Senate!” The words of Davos resonated with everyone.
“That’s right!”
“Excellent!”
The statesmen straightened their chests and agreed.
Davos patted the shoulder of Mersis, who was a bit depress, and said to him, “And paying the salaries of civil servants will also help you get more taxes.”
“Really?!!” Mersis raised his head abruptly.
Davos looked around and saw that Kunogelata was also surprised, and so he said in a loud voice, “When a citizen has money in his hand, he will have the desire to buy things, a bronze pot, a pottery pot, a pot of olive oil, a set of tables and chairs…even more luxurious stuffs such as wine, spices…when citizens have money to buy things, the market will also be prosperous, and you will receive more tax…”
Mersis then said, “But most of the money will be earned by outsiders.”
“That is currently the case. But once our products will be produced…let’s have Marigi explain the situation.”
Marigi stood up and said excitedly, “As of yesterday, there has been a pottery workshop, olive oil workshop, masonry workshop, milling shop, two carpentry shops, a paint shop and a stone carving shop in the market of Thurii. At the same time, there is also a large winery being planned, which is about to start.”
“That’s the winery of Ariphes, whose family has been famous throughout Magna Graecia for decades!” Kunogelata interjected, then pointed to an old man.
“Thanks to the loan from the bank of Cheiristoya, my family can now rebuild the vineyard and winery!” Ariphes nodded his thanks to Davos, and the people of the Union now know who the real owner is behind the bank that has contributed so much to the reconstruction of Thurii.
“We should impose high taxes on the same types of foreign goods to protect our Union’s emerging business.” Kunogelata suggested.
“You are right!” Nodded Davos, “In fact, our commercial officer, Marigi, is already currently preparing to implement some new measures in the market of Thurii. If it is the same commodity, we should levy low taxes on our merchants and high taxes on foreign merchants. And the commodities that we currently need and cannot produce for the time being, we will still use low taxes in order to encourage them to actively transport these commodities to Thurii to sell. For very important commodities, we can produce them, but we must not compete with foreign merchants for the time being and will give them subsidies. For foreign luxury goods, in view of the limited money in the pockets of the citizens, we would need to levy heavy taxes on them for the time being, so that the citizens will not easily yield to temptation. In this way, we can guide them to buy our own commodities. Only in this way, can our own business prosper!”
Everyone nodded their approval.
Davos once more said it out loud, “Gentlemen, we must understand that the silver coins in the treasury that are not in use, is not money, but are just a pile of metals. Only when it flows, can it generate huge profits, so that our citizens can live a better life, our commerce and trade prosper more, and at the same time, will make our treasury be more abundant!”
“Agree! Agree!…” Some of them even clapped their hands.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tios, a Corinthian merchant, wandered through the noisy and crowded market of Thurii, and saw the excited people of Thurii talking to each other excitedly, “The Thua Union has announced the 《Civil Service Law》, any citizens of the Thua Union can apply for public office, they will start from the bottom and if they perform well, they can take up higher positions. The Union even intends to pay these civil servants 1 to 4 obols a day…”
‘OMZBy Zeus, the Thua Union wants to copy Athens?! Are they as rich as Athens?!’ Tios did not want to listen to the citizens of the Thua Union. Although he thinks that the Union will not be able to be as successful as the Athenians, he was still jealous.
As an ordinary citizen of Corinth, although Tios is very rich, he could only serve as a bottom-level official, because only nobles could serve as members of the City Council (Corinth use a noble system), and so he had chosen to join the merchant world. The reason why he came to Thurii this time is because of the relations between Corinth and Sparta is currently tense, and a war might erupt at any time. Therefore, he needed to reserve food for emergencies.
200 years ago, the trade in Corinth have developed. Weapons, pottery and other commodities were sold to the coastal city-states in the Mediterranean and had made them rich. Later, Athens have caught up and competed with Corinth in all aspects of trades, especially in the pottery industry which the Corinthians was proud of, which has given Corinth a heavy blow that they have never recovered. Now, the trades of Corinth are not as good as it used to be, but it is still a great city-state on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, and is still rich. As a city-state not rich in grain, Corinth had always bought food from foreign city-states, and their grain was generally imported from the black sea. But now, the fleet of Sparta sails across the Aegean Sea, and so, in order to prevent any accidents, Tios had chosen to come to the western Mediterranean.
Sicily was his first choice. Unfortunately, the price of grain in Sicily, which is famous for their abundant wheat, has risen recently. He heard that Syracuse was buying food on a large scale, and it seems that there will be something important that will happen in Sicily. When Tios felt this, he was hesitating whether to go to Carthage. But just then, he heard that Thurii was in the process of reconstruction and is in urgent need of a large number of supplies, and the tariff was very low.
Tios became greatly interested and asked about the food situation of Thurii, who knew that the Sybaris plain is famous for its rich wine, wheat, livestock and beeswax during the period of Thurii’s “Grain harvest”. And so, he decided to change his destination to Thurii. (By the end of the summer, the wheat harvest in Amendolara was abundant, while the wheat in Thurii was forcibly harvested by the Crotonians in advance, and in the end, all of it fell into the hands of Davos. Therefore, the Thua Union has abundant food. Besides meeting the rations of the people, there is still enough surplus of food to sell.)
When his merchant ship finally squeezed into the port, he went to the dock and found the so-called “market management office”. When he saw the market officer, he complained, “Your ports need to be expanded. It’s too small! And it had wasted a lot of my time!”
The market officer politely replied, “Yes, you are right. We will also expand the port. I apologize for the difficulties that this temporary port has caused you! Is there anything that I can do for you?”
The apologies of the officer have dispelled most of Tios’ resentment. He had wanted to go to the market first, but the attitude of the market officer has won his favor, so he said his request directly.
The officer immediately checked the transaction log of the day and introduced him to a seller. In fact, Nicobulos, the seller is under the agricultural officer, Burkes, who is responsible for the sale of agricultural products of Amendolara.
After seeing the samples and negotiating the price, Tios has decided to buy five ships worth of wheat.
However, Nicobulos has told him that a 5 ships worth of wheat is a lot, and there is not so much stock in the market. And so, it will need to be deploy in Amendolara and be delivered tomorrow.
So Tios expressed his understanding.
Out of apoloy, Nicobulos then told him, ‘The inns in the port area is currently full, so you’d better go to Amendolara, where there is an inn in the special business area. The accommodation is comfortable, cheap and quiet.’