Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece

Daphes just nodded his head and said that he knew, then turned to look at Xenophon, and said with satisfaction: "As a guest, you can become a Spartan messenger. It seems that Xenophon you are in Sparta. It's really a good life!"

He patted Xenophon again on the shoulder, turned to his throne, and asked, "What is the reason you came to Dionysia as a messenger this time? Renew the contract for a friendly agreement? I remember it is still several years away. Just expire."

Gershurus opened his mouth to say that Xenophon hurriedly stopped him, and then said with a tone: "Since the war between Thebes and Sparta, it has lasted for several years, whether it is against Peloponnese or Both China and Greece have caused great damage. In order to restore peace to Greece, Sparta decided to negotiate with Thebes and Athens.

But the two sides have been fighting each other over the years, with a lot of casualties and deep hatred. It is not easy to negotiate and succeed, so it is best to find a powerful country to convince the two sides to sit down and negotiate—"

"So Sparta chose to come to us Dionysia." Daveus, who had returned to the throne, leaned forward and interjected with interest: "It seems that our two-year friendship has not been in vain! "

Xenophon and Gesulus both looked embarrassed.

Xenophon coughed dryly and whispered, "Uh... that... Sparta did consider inviting Dionia as a mediator, but despite its strength, Dionysia has no influence on the mainland of Greece. It’s hard to deter the unruly Thebes and Athens. But Sparta also found out that Athens and Thebes successively sent envoys to Persia...

You also know that the last Corinth War ended in a truce to reach a contract, and Persia played a big role in it.In order not to allow Persia to turn to support the enemy, Sparta had to also send envoys to Persia—"

"Dionia has no influence on the mainland of Greece. Isn't this because we strictly abide by the friendly agreement signed with Sparta! Although it is so close to the mainland of Greece, we have been in Dionysia for more than 10 years. Without interfering with the political situation in Greece, Sparta now complains that we have no influence on Dionysia in Greece!" Anta Oris, one of the auxiliary ministers, could not help but interjected and complained: "Instead, Sparta is in During the agreement, some things were secretly done in the Western Mediterranean, which added some trouble to Dionysia!"

"I also have a question. I would like to ask the Spartan messenger. As we all know, Sparta has been supported by Persia in recent years, so there will be the signing of the "king contract", and it will become the leader of the Greek city-states again, this time Spartan wants to stop the peace talks, shouldn’t he seek Persian support first? How could he think of our Dionysia first, and let the angels of Athens and Thebes take the lead?” Another assistant The Minister of State Cipros followed his own questions and tried to puncture certain lies in Xenophon's words.

Faced with the questions of the Dionysian ministers, although Xenophon had been prepared before, it was a bit nervous at the moment: "This... Dionysian performance of its promises is very respectful to the Spartans!... and because You have defeated Carthage and become more powerful...and...and very close to Peloponnese, so Sparta did first think of asking for Dionysia for help, but the reality is -"

"Well, no need to explain the extra explanation. Since Sparta has decided to seek support from Persia, why did you send you to Dionysia? Did Persia reject Sparta's request?" Davers seemed to laugh. Asked.

Xenophon came into contact with Davos's deep eyes, and there was a faint illusion. It seemed that the King of Dionysia had known the whole story, and suddenly he was blessed to the soul, and he didn't make much excuses. He said directly: "Persia Promised to give Sparta support, but asked Sparta to cut off friendly exchanges with Dionia, otherwise they will turn to support Athens and Thebes, let Sparta taste unprecedented failure! So Sparta Sending me here as a messenger is just to talk to Dionia... to end the friendly agreement that has lasted for more than 10 years..."

Xenophon's words immediately caused a lot of commotion in the hall.

"In order to gain the support of Persia, Sparta will not hesitate to cut off friendly exchanges with our Dionysian, aren't we afraid of offending our Dionysian and triggering a new war?!" Military Secretary Alexis asked sharply.

Gusyrus, who had been silent before, couldn’t help but say aloud: “When he was about to leave, King Agsilaus once told me that this time it was really a necessity to end the friendly agreement with Dionia, until the truce was signed. After that, our Spartan will resume contact with Dionia and re-sign a new friendly agreement, please rest assured!"

He didn’t say that. It’s okay. After that, the whole hall looks like a fryer. Even the haka, who is usually gentle, said in a cold voice: "What does Sparta mean? Do we look at Dionysia? Is it so good to bully! If you want to ruin the contract, you can ruin it, if you want to renew it! You must know that this is the Western Mediterranean, Dionysia is the only king here, any city-state and force are rushing to attach to Dionysia, And proud to join the Dionysian League!

With the current strength of Dionysia, few other cities have signed reciprocal agreements.Since you Spartans do not feel the value of this friendly agreement, after this agreement is torn down, you Spartans will deeply feel the kind not felt in the Corinth and Thebes wars Terrible stress!"

After Gaixulus finished speaking, Xenophon knew that it was going to be bad. Seeing that Gaxrus had wanted to refute, hurry up to stop him, and subconsciously cast a begging look on Davos.

"Okay." Daveus raised his hand and suppressed the anger of the heavy minister. He said in a straightforward manner: "We Dionysians regard the promise as life. Once the agreement is signed, no matter what happens in the future, it will be fulfilled. Agreement. But perhaps for Sparta, the agreement was signed for tearing. The Peloponnesian War achieved a truce, but the Corinth War broke out within a few years. The King’s peace treaty was signed shortly before it broke out again. In the Thebes War, which was not the first time Sparta broke the agreement and provoked the war. Therefore, we have already prepared for the cancellation of this friendly agreement by Sparta. Cancel it, but cancel it, but it is easy to cancel. It’s difficult to regain it. It’s difficult to know that many Tarantums and Carthages still regret this.”

Xenophon was shocked when he heard the meaningful words from Daveus.

Daphus emphasized the tone and asked, one word at a time: "I now officially ask you Xenophon, Sparta is sure to cancel this friendly agreement?!"

Xenophon replied quickly: "Yes! In order to reach a truce as soon as possible and restore peace, Sparta is also forced. But I can guarantee that although the agreement is canceled, Sparta will still maintain peace with Dionysia!"

"This is Sparta alone." Daveus smiled slightly: "Now it seems that the Persian king has a deep grudge against us Dionysia. But for your part, Xenophon, we Dionys Ya will not go to Sparta for trouble this time!"

Xenophon was overjoyed and said immediately, "Thank you, Your Majesty! The Spartans will keep your goodwill in mind and are willing to maintain peace with Dionysia at all times, and will not be at the mercy of the Persians!"

Daveus blinked disapprovingly, holding the back of his chair with both hands, and said with a smile: "Now that the business is done, let's talk about private affairs. Tonight I will hold a banquet for you in the royal palace, and I will invite some Friends of mercenaries who fought side by side in Persia participated in that parting.

Having successfully completed the task given by Sparta, Xenophon is now in a relaxed mood, and immediately said: "I am very happy to participate in this dinner, and have a drink with my former comrades, to make up for the regrets of the year."

Daveus smiled and looked at Alexis and the Minister of Commerce Mariji: "Tonight's banquet is indispensable for both of you, I will first invite you."

Alexis and Mariji quickly expressed their willingness to participate.

When Xenophon and Gesuluth withdrew from the palace, Anta Oris, who had already been unable to suppress it, immediately asked: "Your Majesty, shall we forget about Sparta's wanton tearing of the agreement?!"

"So what do you want?" Daveus looked at him and asked calmly, "Declare war on Sparta?"

"At least there should be a way to punish them for such rude behavior, otherwise it will make other city-states think that we are weak and can be bullied!" Antaoris tone is still tough.

Daveus looked at him, and then looked at the other ministers with different looks. He pondered: "Just punishment will not cause much damage to Sparta, but will cause them to be vigilant. The Persians want to be mediators. , To reunite the Greek cities in the endless war, I am afraid that they want to cause trouble for us Dionysia...The Spartans want to become the leader of the Greek city-state through the support of Persia... they all want to It’s great, but I think things may not be as smooth as they thought..."

"What does your majesty mean?" Ciplos moved.

Daveus did not respond directly, but smiled slightly: "All we need to do now is to pay close attention to the development of the war situation in Greece and wait for the favorable opportunity to come."

……………………………………

Considering that some former mercenary veterans are still serving in the field, the dinner was not held that evening, but was postponed to two days later.During these two days, Daphes specially sent someone to accompany Xenophon and toured most of the Turiri region to give him a deeper understanding of the situation of the Kingdom of Dionysia.