He really couldn't imagine that Hilde, who was exiled by Athens, would actually want to form an alliance with Athens.
"The Ionian League is part of the Delian League. If we occupy the Ionian League without saying hello, the consequences will be unimaginable. We will directly offend the Delian League... However, if we join the Delian League and become the helper of the Athenians in their fight against the Spartans, I believe Pericles will be happy to see the Ionian League, which has not contributed much in this war, being eaten by us..."
"..."
Now, they finally know.
Why did Hilde hide this matter?
It turns out that this kind of thing is really not something that can be casually told to others.
"This is just a guideline for now, but when you return to your jobs, you must keep this in mind. On the surface, we are preparing to fight the Scythians to the death, but our target is the south!"
Chapter 1, Section 4: The Greek version of the county system
What Hilde needs to do is to make a feint to the east and attack in the west.
"If we reveal our intentions too early, the Ionians may realize that something is wrong and they may unite to fight against us. Therefore, we must not let them discover our intentions. In addition, we must seize the opportunity to sow discord between them."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"That's all I have to say today. I will contact you to arrange specific things to do at the appropriate time."
Hilde looked around and said to Sitalses:
"Sitarses, you stay here, the others can go out."
"……Yes."
Amyntas glanced at Sitalces, then stood up and left.
And Sitalses also stood up and bowed his head respectfully.
"His Majesty!"
"Sitalses, I have witnessed your loyalty and bravery. You are well aware of the situation in Thrace. It is in a state of chaos, and I need a military director who can help me deal with Thrace affairs. After much thought, I have decided that you are the person I trust the most. During this special period, I want you to be fully responsible for the military defense, military training, and a series of construction work in the Upper Thrace Province."
"His Majesty……"
Sitalses fell to his knees with a thud.
"Can I, can I really do this?"
"Of course, I think you will be fine."
Hilde patted Sitalses' head gently.
"But you have to understand one thing. The military power of the Byzantine Kingdom belongs to me. You know this very well. The military construction of various places is also the responsibility of the Byzantine City. However, because the land area is expanding rapidly, I must give you the responsibility of military construction in the border areas. This is a great power. If someone with ulterior motives obtains this power, he can even establish himself as king. This is why I am so cautious."
"His Majesty!"
Sitalses slammed his fist on the ground.
"I, Sitalses, will never let your majesty down!"
"That's good."
Hilde handed a document written on parchment to Sitalses.
"This is a letter of appointment."
"Yes!"
Sitalses took the letter of appointment and opened it to take a look.
The commission was written in standard Greek based on the Attic dialect, and also in Ionic and Thracian, expressing the same meaning. That is, Sitalces was appointed as the general of the Upper Thrace province, in charge of military affairs. Of course, Sitalces had no economic and political rights, and even the food and supplies of the army had to rely on the governor's office of the Upper Thrace province and the Byzantine Kingdom's royal government.
To put it bluntly, even if Sitalses wanted to rebel.
That is also very difficult.
"The North is in your hands."
"Your Majesty, don't worry!"
Before dealing with the Ionians, I must digest the area of Thrace carefully.
First and foremost, Hilde must reform her own government.
The Byzantine Kingdom was no longer a small kingdom in a corner, but a huge country with a larger territory than the Macedonian Kingdom. It was a rare Greek kingdom in the whole east. Therefore, the original political system with city-states as the core was no longer applicable at this time. The first thing Hilde did was to completely reform the country's administrative divisions into a provincial system. Below the provinces were smaller administrative divisions, namely states.
In ancient Greek.
The word "state" is actually closer to "tribe".
However, Hilde used this word deliberately, rather than focusing on the city.
The purpose was to break the Greek habit of city-states as the main body, because a kingdom based on city-states was not conducive to concentrating domestic forces on major events, and also ignored farmers and agricultural production, which was very detrimental to the healthy development of the kingdom. Therefore, the state, an administrative division, came into being. It was centered on a major city and included the surrounding rural areas, giving equal importance to the development of cities and rural areas, while the provincial government was located in the most important city in the province.
For example, the Greater Byzantine Province.
Thanks to the efforts of Heard and other officials.
After reasonable division according to population, land, resources, etc.
The Byzantine State with Byzantium as the core, the Selimbria State with Selimbria as the core, the Perinthos State with Perinthos as the core, and the Samos State on Samos Island were also established. Each state was responsible for the production and construction of the surrounding areas, and the governor of each state was in charge of the provincial governor's office. Both the governor and the state governor were appointed by the royal government, that is, Hilde himself, and sent adjutants to supervise and impeach.
At the same time, Hilde also used the mysterious power from the East to divide the government agencies in various places into different levels. For example, under the province, the highest leader of the province is the provincial governor, also known as the governor. The person responsible for supervision and checking the financial operation of the local government is the inspector, the person responsible for religious affairs is the priest, the person responsible for judicial affairs is the judicial officer, and the officials responsible for local defense and military facility construction, if they are below the province, are called generals, and their status is equivalent to the commander-in-chief of a legion. If they are below the state, they are called battalion commanders, and their status is equivalent to the commander of a legion brigade.
Hilde even set up inspectors to inspect the operation of local governments.
Under such a strict administrative structure.
Although a bit bloated.
But what is guaranteed is the efficient operation of the country and the absolute rule of the king.
After all, no one in the Byzantine Kingdom knew that Hilde was constantly strengthening the dictatorship of the Byzantine Kingdom, and now, she had directly applied the county system of the East. Hilde was very confident that after confirming the advantages of the system, the Byzantine Kingdom would inevitably become a solid block under such circumstances.
soon.
The newly established province is ready to start operating.
The consul and general appointed by Hilde have already set off to their destination to take up their posts.
The Third Legion under Hilde also followed Sitalses to the province of Upper Thrace. As the general of the province of Upper Thrace, Sitalses's task was very heavy. Not only was he responsible for the construction of the Fourth Legion, but he also needed to lead the army to reclaim wasteland in Upper Thrace, build roads, establish outposts, strongholds and military stations, and build state-owned workshops to produce weapons and equipment in Upper Thrace. He also had to work with the local Thracians to bring down the tribe of Adlicia.
Build it into a city.
(When I wrote the article yesterday, I wrote Ionia as Ionia. I apologize to everyone here.)
The first tune, the fifth verse, bids farewell to the Queen of Persia
Now, the Byzantine Kingdom’s main task is.
First you have to build cities and strongholds.
Adlicia, capital of the province of Upper Thrace.
Philippopolis, capital of the province of Hebros.
Hildene, capital of the province of Donauwies.
and the capital of the Black Sea province, Odysseus.
Some of these four cities were Thracian tribes, some were abandoned Greek city-states, and Hildeneia was a city that had to be rebuilt. These four cities were the foundation. With these four cities as the core, roads had to be built, and bridges had to be built where rivers met. All of this would take a lot of time and manpower. Therefore, Hildene was not in a hurry to build the Thracian region, and could only wait and come slowly... although this was the top priority.
After Hilde finishes these things.
It was also time for the Persian Queen Xerxes to leave.
Hilde personally took her to the port.
"I really miss you."
Xerxes looked at Hilde with a smile, reached out his hand and gently stroked Hilde's cheek.
"time flies."
"Your Majesty, I know you are reluctant to leave, but you should be more reluctant to leave the Persian Empire, not me. If you are not here, the Persian Empire will be leaderless. Aren't you afraid of potential risks?" Hilde said with a smile. Her meaning was already very clear. "Of course, I hope Your Majesty can give me enough help in the next operation... You see, this is okay?"
"No problem at all."
Xerxes also smiled in response.
"I will lend you a hand."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Xerxes' help was crucial to Hilde's future actions.
You know, the common enemy of the Ionians is the Persians in the east. So, Hilde is secretly in cahoots with the Persians. On the surface, Hilde is a rising star in the Greek world, and will help the Ionians deal with the Persians. But in fact, Xerxes will help Hilde, forge some evidence, provoke conflicts within the alliance, and finally divide and rule. When the Ionian alliance is disintegrated, facing the Persian army, they have to rely on the Byzantine Kingdom.
by that time.
Hilde can call herself the leader of Ionia.
Then he took command of the Ionian army.
As for those city-states, as long as the army is under control, the rest can be easily solved.
Annexing Ionia in this way would not only not cause too much loss, but also would not put pressure on Athens and the Delian League. At the same time, Hilde also returned the favor by going to Athens as an envoy to help Athens deal with Sparta. In this way, Hilde could also annex Sparta's colonies nearby. In the process of annexation, "protecting" a few Athenian colonies was a matter of course. As long as there was money and food, the Athenians would not say anything.
"Well, your majesty."
Hilde watched Xerxes board the ship.
"I hope you will still be as beautiful as before when I see you next time."
"Hilde..."
Xerxes stood on the deck and looked down at Hilde.
"You have to remember, you will always be mine, you can't escape!"
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Indeed, there is no escape at the moment.
Since Hilde boarded the pirate ship of the Persian Empire, she has been unable to get off the ship. The fundamental reason is that Hilde herself is now unable to fight against Xerxes, and her own national strength cannot compete with the Persian Empire. You know, although the modern historical community has never given a specific number for the population of the Persian Empire, according to documents and calculations, the total population of the Persian Empire is about million, while Hilde now has only 700,000 people...
What’s more, the other party’s emperor.
Xerxes.
He is also a demigod, and at the same time a man who is deeply in love but has a very clear mind about national affairs.
Hilde couldn't defeat such a being even if he risked his life.
To fight the Persian Empire, Hilde would rather be the enemy of the entire Greek world and concentrate all her strength on the westward expedition. The possibility of winning is greater than fighting the Persians. So, now that Xerxes wants Hilde to do something, Hilde can only compromise. This is not weakness, it is just what Hilde must do. She took other people's money, people, various benefits, and slept with other people's emperors. No matter what, it is really unacceptable if she does not obey.
Soon, Xerxes' ships set sail.
Hilde waved goodbye to Xerxes on the shore.
"Sissi..."
At this time, Sophia walked behind Hilde with some fear.
"Ok?"
"Xixi... have you been very hard-working during this period?"
"Ah... to some extent." Hilde sighed helplessly, "After all, I have to deal with official business during the day and deal with her at night. My body can't handle it."
"Um……"
Sophia lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking.
Hilde probably understood.
After all, Sophia was his lover. Seeing him and Xerxes lingering together every day, she would definitely be very unhappy. Therefore, Hilde could only hug her and said, "Don't worry, at least she didn't make any more excessive demands. Just doing this can get back everything we have now, which is already worth it."
"Sissi."
At this time, Sophia raised her head.
"Do you like Xerxes?"
"what?"
"Let me ask you, do you like her?"
This question confused Hilde.
