“Lord Burkes, thank you for your explanation!” Asistes then continued, “In fact, if lord Kreru goes to investigate Irna carefully, you would find that we only cut down trees that grow on the plain and not the trees in the mountain area.
Why did we only cut down the trees on the plain? While the Samnites occupied Irnsa, they did not reclaim the land, which resulted in the forest extending to the sea. So if we don't cut down the trees and clear the wasteland, there will be no arable land in Ina, resulting in us being unable to feed the growing population just by relying on animal husbandry alone. And if we were to buy grain somewhere else, the price would be high, significantly affecting people's lives. And if there is a lot of spare arable land in other parts of the kingdom, would they still be willing to live in Irna?! Thus to maintain Irna's presence, the kingdom must pay a high price, which is not worth it!
Apart from those, the city of Irna is directly adjacent to the Sorrentum peninsula, with its towns mostly in the south, which was only a few dozen kilometres from Poseidonia. So if no road connects it through the land, transportation from the port would be inconvenient. Besides, we would also need to cut down those trees to construct the roads. But more importantly-”
Asistes looked around and said deeply, “Although the Samnites had become our allies because of their disastrous defeat to us in that war ten years ago, we still can't let down our guards. Recently, I heard the Caudini's in the north have started attacking the Campanian League again. And since Irna is in a faraway land from the kingdom's centre, it is necessary to ensure convenient transportation that would allow our legion to arrive in time in case of accidents. Moreover, our legion soldiers are better at exerting their strength on flat land, while the Samnites are good at fighting in the mountains and forest. Thus cutting down the trees on the plain is also to protect Irna…”
After Asistes finished, the statesmen began discussing it with each other as a messenger from Naples had informed Thurii of the Caudini's attack on the Campanian League a few days ago. Even though the statesmen didn't think the Samnites would dare to break their agreement and declare war on the kingdom, they were still satisfied with Asistes' proactive approach, which made Kreru unable to say anything.
Davos, on the other hand, nodded slightly at the sight of Asistes growth after so many years of training.
But then, Marigi stood up and asked politely, “Lord Asistes, I have a question, but this naturally is not within the scope of your work. Still, I wanted to consult you about it. With your six-year experience in Irna, I hope you can give me some suggestions on how to break Carthage's trade monopoly over Sardinia and Corsica?”
A commotion suddenly arose in the Senate hall as this question was truly beyond his scope.
But seeing Marigi's eager gaze, Asistes looked at Davos, who was nodding at him.
Seeing that, Asistes knew he couldn't refuse this question. So after pondering for a while, Asistes said, “I remember a provision in the agreement we signed with Carthage that ‘Theonian merchant ships are not allowed to go to the southern Iberian Peninsula, Sardinia and Corsica for trade…’ So the best and only way to change Carthage's monopoly on trade with these two large islands and obtain large quantities of precious metals is to rework our agreement with Carthage.
However, I think that would be basically impossible as the trade between the southern Iberian Peninsula and the two islands is the most important trade market that supported Carthage's prosperity, so the Carthaginians will definitely not give it up. A hundred years ago, Carthage had even initiated two naval battles and won them because the Magna Graecians coveted Sardinia. Thus if we have no intention of tearing up our agreement with Carthage and going to war with them, it is best not to provoke them.”
After Asistes' warning, the people shook their heads in disappointment as this answer was no different from the answers of other statesmen.
But suddenly, Asistes change the subject, “However… Although Carthage had an agreement with us and had similar requirements for the Phoenicians in Sardinia and Corsica, they couldn't produce everything the Phoenicians in these two islands needed, no matter how good Carthage's products were. For example, I heard the Sardinians preferred the pottery of Athens to those of Carthage, so the Carthaginians would buy Athenian pottery and resell them to the Sardinians at a higher price. Moreover, since they would need to transport the products from Carthage to Sardinia and Cornia, the distance would be relatively long and would naturally lead to an increase in transportation costs, which would then lead to the products' price increase. But if we were to send the same kind of products they needed at a better price in Irna, Poseidonia and Pyxous, I believe we could attract the Phoenician merchants from both islands to buy them.
Currently, we could even occasionally see them in Irna's market. But after we do that, I believe we can attract more people to come. Still, even if we succeed, we would not be able to make a massive-scale trade, especially in precious metals. After all, the Phoenicians on these islands heavily depend on Carthage, so they are unlikely to do anything that would damage Carthage's interests too much…”
“Thank you for your answer.” Marigi then sat down with a smile on his face as Asistes' suggestion had confirmed his thoughts.
After that, several statesmen asked questions that Asistes smoothly answered. With his mercenary background, his marriage to the Lucanians and his uncle Antonios was one of the leaders of the statesmen from Sicily, Asistes’ connections with several large groups of statesmen made the other statesmen not get on his wrong side and put obstacles during his evaluation.
Seeing the questioning portion about to end, Asistes wanted to relax. But suddenly, he heard a familiar voice, “I have a question to ask you.”
Asistes became so nervous that he quickly turned around and said respectfully, “Your majesty, may I ask what it is?!”
The statesmen also pricked up their ears.
Davos then asked, “What do the Campanians think about the Romans?”
‘Romans?’ A few statesmen felt this name unfamiliar.
After hearing that, Antonios became relieved at confirming Davos wasn't deliberately targeting Asistes.
Although he had argued with his nephew last night, Asistes' words woke him up. Thus in today's meeting, he began paying attention to Davos' every move while also trying to avoid suspicion by not questioning Asistes.
“Your majesty, the Campanians would rarely talk about the Latin city-states in the north during my contacts with them. After all, there is also Volsci and other Latin city-states between Rome and Campania. In addition, Rome didn’t develop their maritime trade, so it only had a few trade exchanges with Campania. From that, we could infer that they don't know much about this city-state and do not attach much importance to them. However…whenever they occasionally mentioned Rome, they always added the words ‘barbaric’ and ‘aggressive’, so I feel that the Campanians looked down and feared Rome. But that may be because the Romans had defeated the Celts who invaded and captured many Etruscan and Latin city-states during the third year of the kingdom (390 B.C.)….” Asistes who ruled Irnsa for six years had never interacted with the Romans. But three years ago, Davos invited Asistes to a banquet after getting elected as the praetor of Irna for the second time and mentioned Rome while sending him off, which aroused Asistes’ interest. Thus he was fully prepared to answer this question.
And the reason Davos asked this question was that he was curious about the Campanians' attitude towards the Romans. In his previous life's history, the Campanians decided to seek help from Rome after suffering the Samnites' invasion because there were no other forces around them other than Rome that could help them. In fact, they might have thought the same thing in their mind as the present Campanians, but the only difference is that they had a bigger backer now. And with Theonia's help, the Samnites didn't dare invade them again, so they should not submit to the Romans… Davos was currently lost in his thoughts, but his face remained calm while nodding at Asistes.
After Davos asked his question, no one followed with another question.
The rotating speaker, Cornelius, then asked Asistes to return to his seat.
The next step was for the five statesmen of the Kingdom's Civil Servant Management Committee to rate Asistes' performance based on his three years of rule in Irna. And Asistes' performance was rated as ‘good’, but this score wasn't made public. And after King Davos' evaluation, the Committee would file it as an important credential for Asistes' new appointment in the future.
“The next article on the agenda…” Cornelius loudly said, “Electing Irna's new praetor.”
He then turned around and asked, “Your majesty, do you have someone in mind?”
That wasn't Cornelius' flattery to Davos. Rather, it was the practice of the Senate to confirm whether the king already had someone in mind when selecting a senior officer. If there were, they would discuss it and appoint him if they think he is suitable. But if the majority believe that the king's candidate isn't qualified, the king could also change his candidate.
Even though that was the privilege as the king of Theonia, Davos rarely uses it because he knows that people will hate him if he benefits alone. Besides, he can privately notify Marigi and others to achieve the same result, so why should he do it in the open?
“I don't have a candidate.” Davos tapped his fingers on the armrest. He then said thoughtfully, “However, the requirements to become the praetor of Irna are different from those of other cities. As the northernmost city of the kingdom, the successor would need to continue dealing with our relations with Campania and Samnites and increase their favourability to the kingdom. At the same time, they also need to continue developing Irna into a hub of maritime trade between the kingdom and north-central Italia.
What's more, with the complex origin of the people of Irna, conflicts and disputes are not rare due to different customs and habits, which tests the successors' governing ability. Thus I hoped that the statesman who applies to be the candidate and the statesman who you elect should carefully consider those before making a decision!”
Davos' words made the statesmen ponder deeply.
