Chapter 3 Mysterious Tripod (Part 2)
ps: Today I will make up for yesterday’s debt, third update.
The interior of each dock is actually similar to a semi-open house structure, connected in sequence. Ships have dedicated and numbered channels entering the sea to facilitate entry and exit and for personnel to board and repair. The entire channel and human-shaped passage are supported by colonnade marks. The highest of the colonnades is twelve Roman feet and the lowest is seven Roman feet. Cross-section Has a slope shape. Each shipyard is assigned a dedicated shipbuilder (director) and a large number of shipwrights. After receiving the task, the shipbuilder must go to the Fleet Foundation under Lepidus to withdraw a sum of funds for construction, and at the entrance of the front channel , there is a bronze tablet erected on it, with the names of the shipbuilder and shipwright engraved on it in turn. This is used as a basis for payment of wages, and of course also for holding people accountable.
As for the oarsmen, they did not participate in the construction of the ship. They lived together on the island of Chio, providing food, vegetables and entertainment activities, and had independent temple buildings. Lepidus exempted these people from taxes on the condition that they provide for the past. Lanny's fleet was commissioned.
Qi'o Island, amidst the sea water and smoke, is being surrounded by ships carrying stone and wood. This is a huge public project. Lepidus will not hope to spend huge sums of money to hire people to complete it, so The entire male population of Cyrene, except for those who had to farm, went to build this naval fortress and renovate the city of Barka at the expense of rationing wheat and wine. As for the revived fortress of Barka over there, Lepidus deliberately demolished most of the city walls in the remaining four districts in order to prevent the recalcitrants from having the opportunity to riot and resist again.
About autumn a thousand colonists from Italy arrived in comfortable ships specially provided by Cyrene. Arrive at the harbor. At this time, the surface engineering of Qi'o Island had just been completed. When they just landed on the land, they were guided to the city of Timgad by the enthusiastic locals and entered the neatly arranged buildings. Here, there are gymnasiums, amphitheaters, large and small temples, and squares. The Egyptian-style obelisk is engraved with the name of "Father of the City" Ambrose, after they entered the local Curia Assembly through a combination of asset registration and drawing of lots. It was found that more than half of the seats were occupied by local "rich people", but these colonists did not care at all, because they had a natural advantage over these natives when they returned to Roman politics in the future.
In the past few days when the colonists arrived, Lepidus happened to come into contact with an incredible treasure. This was found by Hebrida and his soldiers in the old site of the meeting hall. It is commonly known as the "Tripod of God". Legend has it that this bronze tripod It was the ancient Greek heroes who were building the "Argo". It was moved on the deck when preparing for an expedition to the Black Sea, but it encountered a northerly wind during the voyage. After drifting for nine days and nine nights, they actually arrived at the coast of Cyrenaica, Libya (please allow Lepidus to make a Hyogo-Kita expression). Then when they landed, these people received a prophecy from God. As long as they had this tripod, they could sail in Cyrenaica. A hundred Greek cities were built, so the locals secretly hid the tripod out of fear, and it has been passed down to this day. It seems to be a national treasure of the Kingdom of Cyrene.
But when Lepidus saw the true appearance, he couldn't help laughing, and then he was ecstatic. This tripod was not a single thing, but a complete set of distillation equipment. Later, Hebrida next to him shouted, "There is only one in the world." The alchemists of Judea could control this thing."
"What is the purpose of these alchemists?" Lebida asked curiously.
"I heard that a warlock wrote some books, claiming that all sea water is composed of mercury, and then he can turn this mercury into gold through this set of tripods. Even the entire ocean can get gold. This is also the support for a hundred The foundation on which the city was built," Petheneus said beside him.
Lepidus shook his head. It was too difficult to find the correct words in the words of these sorcerers, but the "tripod" equipment in front of him was really complete in the classical era. There were three-arm flasks, sand bath vessels, water bath vessels, and distillation heads. It completely belongs to the type where the technology tree is not correct. So he coughed twice and said to Hybrida and Sabocaimus, "Immediately renovate the old site of the meeting hall into a library in Cyrene. Don't worry about collecting books for now. First, get them from Rhodes Island, Alexandria and Milli both recruit alchemists, and the prices and salaries are easy to negotiate. "
"Are you going to turn the sea into gold? I think the only specialty in Cyrene is sea water." Anthony next to him joked, and Lepidus also smiled, of course not! After detailed investigation, he discovered that the Kingdom of Cyrene had another valuable asset that had been ignored by many people, and that was the excellent madder. In the understanding of civilized people at that time, this kind of madder was just a medicinal herb for treating illnesses, but When Lepidus passed through the Kingdom of Sammones, he discovered that for the glory of "hybridization", local women would crush this plant and smear purple red on their clothes to show off. The implication is that this plant can replace Expensive Phoenician purple dye (produced from shellfish) and silk shipped from the Seris Empire. Due to technical confidentiality barriers, most of them were plain colors when they arrived in Rome and Athens, and the ladies still wore them poorly. It's great, then as long as we can plant this precious crop unique to Cyrene on a large scale and undertake the printing and dyeing work of silk, it will be a much larger "treasure" than directly occupying several gold mines!
Then they walked out of the old site of the synagogue. At this time, the sky was filled with leaden clouds, and an ominous tornado came with cold raindrops. Soldiers and residents on the street took shelter in the temple or under the open arcades on the street. Lepidus felt his heart beating wildly. He turned his head and saw a familiar figure who was not tall, who was quickly passing through the rain curtain and stood twenty Roman feet away from him, holding an exquisite box in his hand.
"Habaruka! Why are you here? Where are your family members?" Lepidus asked in astonishment and anxiety.
The other party replied that his family was fine, but... Then he took out the letter from the box, "It happened a month ago. After I got the news from Kelly, I immediately rushed here by boat and feet."
Lepidus roughly guessed what the letter was about, and hurriedly spread the letter in the rain. There were only a few words written by the Lord, and they were a little crooked, not like the handwriting of Tuna before. His handwriting in his prime was so clear and neat, just like his thinking, and the content on it was easy to recognize, "Carabis, Marcus's adopted son, I'm sorry, I think I still need a child who will cover me with a wax mask in front of the bed."
The recipient rolled up the letter with anxiety and trembling, and slowly put it back into Habaluka's box, then turned around and wiped the rain, and said to Sabo and Peteneus, "I want to go back to Rome, now."
"But you are still an exile, and it is extremely unwise to go back." Sabo said worriedly. (To be continued...)