Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 189: Disputes of interests

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Among these merchants in Turíy, Tios had the closest contacts with officials, especially with the Ministry of Military Affairs, and now he has become a relative of the king.

"I don't have any inside information." Teos said seriously: "To tell the truth, don't be unwilling to listen. Your brother has no amazing record. The army commander who advances according to his seniority is like him. It is generally difficult to become a veteran, but because of you, he has a great chance..."

"Me?!" Sostatus was puzzled.

Tios reminded him softly: "You used to provide great help for the expansion of the kingdom. Take the Greek War as an example. You organized a large number of ships to transport troops to Greece and Thessaly. , And continued to help transport the luggage, and even in the later stages of the supply of military rations, it was a little difficult. As the chairman of the Turiyi Chamber of Commerce, you also organized many businessmen in the kingdom to purchase a large amount of food by way of loans to the kingdom to help the Ministry of Military Affairs. Overcoming the difficulties...You did something like this in the Gaul War, and the Ministry of Military Affairs should not forget it. If you can get the Ministry of Military Affairs to agree to push your brother into the Senate, there is absolutely no problem with your brother becoming a senator. ."

Sostatus' eyes lit up. He knew that the military elders were a very important force in the Senate, and if they were supported by the Ministry of Military Affairs, this would definitely be possible.

He immediately took Tios with a smile of joy to the living room in the backyard, ready to talk to him in detail.

Due to business needs, Sostatus’ house has two restaurants, one in the front yard to entertain the businessmen in his huge distribution network, but the living room in the back yard is used to receive important guests.

After sitting down, Tios talked to him about another thing with a serious expression: "Sostatus, have you done these things to Dickpolis too much?"

Sostatos was not surprised. He was prepared for Tios to bring up this matter. He immediately argued: "You absolutely wronged me. I have no grudges against Master Dickpolis. On the contrary, I respect him very much. He took the initiative to give me the position of President of the Turiya Chamber of Commerce. I went to sell in Greece and Ionia, and the sales volume increased every year. It helped him open up the market and made a lot of money for him. If I had a grudge against him, would I do this?"

Theos groaned and said: "...but you brought the pottery from Athens again and sold it in Turei. Now many officials and wealthy people are more willing to buy your pottery. As a result, the pottery of Dickpolis is in Turri. Iraq’s sales have dropped drastically... Sostatus, our chamber of commerce once stipulated that “malicious competition among chamber members is prohibited”. As the current president of the chamber of commerce, you should take the lead. "

Hearing these words, Sostatus suppressed the anger that rose in his heart. He said unceremoniously, "Master Tios, I know you and Dickpolis are good friends, but you can't ignore it. Actually speaking for him, the price of the pottery I sell is more than twice as expensive as his pottery. How can this be called vicious competition?! And it is precisely because of him that I do not import too many pottery, but In Turye sales, this is the biggest concession I can make, so he still feels dissatisfied, what else does he want me to do?!"

Theos hesitated for a moment, then sighed and said: "...We have been friends for decades, and you are a big businessman with strong financial resources, distributing so many kinds of goods, so why bother with pottery? The relationship between the two is so stiff..."

"Tios, I have always respected you as a person, but what you said today is not right!" Sostatus's anger was overwhelming: "You all look forward to me selling your goods in large quantities. Going to the Eastern Mediterranean, but I am not allowed to bring the goods of the Eastern Mediterranean to the Kingdom for sale. What is the reason?! If you really want to do this, then I will go to see Your Majesty Daves and tell him, Dikpolis And you strongly request not to sell goods produced outside of the kingdom in the Turiyi area!"

"Eh... eh, I didn't mean that." Theos quickly argued: "Look, since you introduced the Athenian pottery to Turíy for sale, not only the upper echelons of the kingdom are willing to use it, but I heard that even Your Majesty will also buy from you. This will inevitably lead to a trend. If this goes on, the sales volume of Dickpolis’ pottery in the kingdom will inevitably decline greatly. You also know that Dickpolis has pottery workshops in many towns in the kingdom. It is difficult for him to maintain such a large scale, and may even face bankruptcy..."

Sostatus put on a solemn face and said: "After the Greek War, Your Majesty once asked the Ministry of Commerce to convene the presidents of chambers of commerce in various towns and cities for a meeting. The local Greek businessmen must not exclude and suppress, but try to help. After I finished the meeting, I specially called you to communicate. Both you and Dickpolis expressed their full support at the meeting. Do you remember this matter? Right?"

Tios nodded helplessly.

"I am also carrying out your majesty's order!" Sostatus said confidently: "In the past few years, I have not only sold Athens pottery in the Turíy area, but also Corinthian iron, Greek stone, and Thessaly. Horses, Athens gold and silver products...Why didn't you protest to me, Inipias didn't protest to me...Is Dickpolis dissatisfied with me? Because his pottery is not as good as Athens pottery, he is afraid of competition!"

Tios persuaded in a gentle tone: "In these years, Dickpolis has been working hard to improve the quality of pottery, and even improved the process of making ceramics... You and I all know these, but Athens pottery has been It has been developed for hundreds of years, and the background is very deep. It is impossible for Dickpolis’ workshop to surpass it in a short time...

His Majesty hopes to win over the local Greek merchants, and also hopes that the kingdom’s market will be more diversified, and competition will increase, so that the people have more choices, and do not want to have an exclusive monopoly... I understand all of these, but if there are a large number of Athens pottery in the kingdom Best-selling, but it will only push Dickpolis, who is still working hard, to a dead end. I think this is not what your majesty wants to see. "

Sostatus was stunned, and immediately said: "As the president of the Turiy Chamber of Commerce, of course, I will not deliberately harm the interests of the members of the Chamber of Commerce. I have been selling Athens pottery in Turiy for more than two years. , Has always suppressed its sales very low. The imported products are all high-quality goods and the prices are high. The business of ordinary pottery is still occupied by Dickpolis, and it does not pose a big threat to him. And I have long ago Aware of this problem, he took the initiative to discuss the matter with Dick Boris several times, but he turned me away several times and made me a joke of the people of Turei. I believe you have never heard it!" Sostatus put on an aggrieved look.

Theos was silent for a moment: Sostatus and Dikberis’s stalemate had become a joke among the people of Turíy, how could he not know. He didn't want to care about this tricky thing. Several friends in the Persevering Chamber of Commerce asked him one after another, and he didn't want to see that the originally united Turiyi Chamber of Commerce continued to dispute so far, so he intervened.

At this moment, he had to once again sincerely persuade: "Dickpolis refused to discuss with you, causing the problem to intensify. This is of course his fault! However, there is no reason why he is angry with you. Of course he understands that It is impossible to allow us to take the goods to the mainland of Greece for sale, and it is impossible to not allow the local Greek merchants to buy and sell on the kingdom's land, but other kingdoms merchants will import fine pottery from Athens, he will not have any opinions, only you can not, because Your sales channels are too wide!

Look, in a short time, you helped Athens pottery open up the upper-level sales channels of the kingdom. Even if Dick Boris was desperately improving the quality of his pottery, he couldn’t keep up with your pottery sales, and you even sold it. The pottery was sold to the royal family—"

"Wait a minute!" Sostatus interrupted him: "Your Majesty wants to buy the Athens pottery I sell. It is not recommended by me. It was the court director Ribazo who took the initiative to find me, and he treated me again and again. Exhort, I mentioned the name of the pottery merchant I worked with several times, I guess... Your Majesty has known his fellow countryman a long time ago."

"Your Majesty's fellow townsman?!"

"Yes, this pottery merchant is Hesklaus, who is from Peleus..." Sostatus said slowly, as if trying to remember, "I remember when I visited me. Her brother-in-law Hiros, the Peleus businessman I met at a banquet, introduced him to me at the time, but the new Thessaly Intelligence Director Gorgion..."

This time it is Tios' turn to feel nervous: Merchant Peleus...recommendation of the chief intelligence officer...the upper class of Turye knows that the Kingdom Intelligence Department is mainly for His Majesty Daves!

Tios asked immediately: "This... Hesklaus is your Majesty’s relative in Peleus?!"

"I don't know this." Sostatus spread his hands and shrugged: "I don't think even Master Ribazzo himself knows, but no one knows if your Majesty doesn't know it."

Tios frowned and fell into contemplation. After a while, he said solemnly: "It seems that you can’t blame you for this matter, but as the president of the Turíy Chamber of Commerce, you should Understand that if the conflict between you and him is not resolved as soon as possible, the impact on the Chamber of Commerce will be too great if it continues...Let’s do it, he will come over for a while, I will persuade him, and then I will act as a mediator, you will discuss with him, and both parties will make some concessions. , Let’s try to resolve this contradiction tonight, what do you think?"

"This is exactly what I wanted." Sostatus responded with some confusion: "But is Dickpolis coming today? My servant told me that he did not respond to my invitation."