After discussing the formation of the new Towns; Futurus or Vindicta, Elpis and Eruthros, Hatshepsut left them to begin her arrangements. She would go and create the Towns, taking Umako with her to outline the laws, and Lu Ji to record those that arrived. The selected Mayor's would also be warned in advance and asked to meet with them so they could learn the basic day to day tasks. She wouldn't depart until Dom and Shang Yang had agreed with the San, but she would get everything ready to move fast once that had hopefully been agreed. Dom felt like the San had little choice with the current growing situation, especially now that their whole army was currently encamped with Tomoe's Southern Tiger Army.
Before she left she had explained which buildings they had claimed and where she wanted to place them, Futurus or Vindicta would become a Military Hub, whilst Elpis would become a fishing and farming Town with a Naval presence. Eruthros would also become a Military and Naval Hub, but would also be built up with Trade and future growth westwards in mind.
"Was there anything else?" Dom asked Shang Yang and Xun Yu as he sat with them. Shang Yang nodded whilst Xun Yu brought out the parchment he had been looking at earlier.
"We have finished questioning the captured Captains Laomedon and Antigonus. We also were able to get some basic confirmation from some of the other captives that seemed to be more in the fear section than those in the drug reliance section." Xun Yu began, "They are Cilician Pirates, originally from the late Roman Republic Era. We were able to gather this based on how they answered questions around the key leaders of the relevant states, with confirmation from our Legionaries who were doing the questioning. Their King is a former Roman Captain called Clodius. Clodius and his crew were a key part of the Cilician Pirates raiding, where they were a key part of Slave gathering for the larger Empires around them."
"So they have always been raiders?" Dom asked Xun Yu with a raised eyebrow.
"That is correct, the Slave Trade was a large part of their legitimate business when they were still in their original home. They were actually retreating with a small fleet when they were caught in a storm and arrived to our south a few years ago. Since then they have continued to raid and have either absorbed or enslaved all of those around them. They had originally been aiming southwards, but aimed north due to clashes with other strong neighbours." Xun Yu explained, "Laomedon and Antigonus were part of Clodius's larger group and whilst they weren't in his closest inner circle, they were trusted enough to have their own ships in his fleet. I do believe their worries about their families, but they are definitely not the upstanding people they made themselves out to be."
"So you wouldn't recommend a rescue mission?" Dom asked Xun Yu, already feeling it was a bad idea.
"We need to learn more about Papaver and can use it as one of our targets, they are also seasoned Captains and Gan Ning was once a Pirate. However, I wouldn't risk our men for them." Xun Yu stated bluntly, before continuing. "Papaver's forces do seem to be as big as quoted as close to twenty five thousand, or now twenty one thousand. They do also have a very small fleet of around four Trireme amongst their large Transport Ship navy. It seems they do not have the knowledge or skill to build their own ships and those that are gathered have been bought or stole. The Trireme are under the direct command of their King and his four most trusted men."
"And the other Prisoners?" Dom asked him. Whilst Laomedon and Antigonus had been forthcoming, the others were in a very different position.
"Some of them deserve leniency as they had little choice in their situation. The main theme from our conversations was that there would be a very welcoming populace if we could destroy Papaver and liberate them from their current stewardship. However, it's a big feat that we are not yet ready for." Xun Yu explained with a slight thrown, as Shang Yang began talking.
"Whilst increasing our population is important, those in Papaver are in a very different situation to those we have gained so far. Bringing them in would cause disruption due to both their large numbers, but also from the fear and opioid usage that seems prevalent within their growing Kingdom." Shang Yang explained. "You could very well look to them as an enemy or ally that needs to be kept at arms length. I am not overly comfortable with their existence to our south."
"They are an ideal target for our future growth, but for now we need to be many times larger than them to be able to absorb them without causing internal damage." Xun Yu agreed, "However, I will speak with Crassus on his return, as we can still act unaware of their transgressions on our south and create trade ties. This could be another route for your Slave purchases. Who knows, we may even be able to purchase the families of Laomedon and Antigonus if their situation is to be as bad as they lead us to believe."
"I am doubtful, I expect this Clodius will keep his upper layer secure so that they will continue to support him. If he mistreats the families of his loyal captains, then he risks taking Papaver over an edge that he may not be able to control." Dom put forwards as a counter argument. "The one thing that he relies on is the loyalty of his Captains."
"Many a King or Emperor has set their expectations higher than their capability." Xun Yu replied, with a nod of agreement from Shang Yang. "They start as a man and soon think themselves a god."
"An example being the last King of the Shang Dynasty, King Zhou of Shang. An intelligent and well balanced ruler who fell for lust and greed." Shang Yang put forwards, "The Legionaries mention some of their own emperors, whilst Lucius has mentioned the last Kings of Rome. There are many tales and Clodius of Papaver could be another."
"Subterfuge!" Dom exclaimed, realising that both of his Heroes were talking around something, a solution for their southern neighbour, without actually saying it. He had tuned out slightly whilst they spoke and realised the solution himself. "Papaver is too big for us to absorb. Also, whilst we have the Military strength growing, it would be a huge waste of life to fight against them with little to gain. However, it can cause it's own downfall and become less of a risk to us if it implodes on it's own."
"Meritamen and Lady Xu are already preparing plans for our Subterfuge department with Crassus. This will not be an overnight victory, but a long term goal to destabilise the south." Shang Yang nodded with a prideful look on his face as Dom had realised what they were leaning towards. "They are our competitor and we will definitely have to fight against them in the future as we explore and expand, there are too many resources that we need to grow that they can be avoided."
"I will leave that to them for now then, we'll need to expand our naval presence in the south and explore further, to see if there are other locations or allies in between." Dom put forwards, "I'll speak with Zhou Yu, but I suspect that is something they are already discussing."
"I would expect so, Gan Ning has been sending messengers asking for reinforcements, whilst also chasing Himilco on the next batch of Trireme's." Xun Yu laughed, "Hopefully Mycale goes as planned. We also need to continue expanding our Military so that if they return better prepared, then we are also better prepared."
"The Battle of Mycale couldn't have come at a better time for us." Shang Yang agreed at the thought of recruitment opportunities.
...
Dom had left his two Senior Officials and headed back to the palace, the day was quickly passing as he had logged in late and he felt like he hadn't achieved much except for talking. He was excited for the growth in the south, but felt that if they had just stayed in the northern half then they would be much more stable already but unaware of the dangers that were beyond them.
His belly rumbled as he arrived at the Palace, so he requested some food and sat alone in the large hall whilst he ate. Both of his wives were absent and Dom had planned to meet the San leaders tomorrow. Centurion Banas had been requested to join them as she, whilst on a smaller scale, had merged in to Riverside when it was a much smaller town. For Dom, the Horse Archers were his most powerful force on an open battlefield, and the San had seen some of them in action. He felt that if the San could see how important they were since they had integrated, then it may be another way to persuade them to merge.
He also wanted to finalise the two approaches for the upcoming Battle of Mycale. The first approach was that the System would only recognise all residents as part of Dom's Kingdom and he could only take the Bellona. Where as the second was to lend Andrew a ship as part of his and Kai Merchant and Mercenary Guild. They would then be able to take both the Bellona and the Sibylla that were currently undergoing refits in the Shipyard.
Dom wanted to gather all of the Heroes that would be going in both situations, as well as all of the relevant Centurions, as well as the key figures who had knowledge of that time. He quickly called for one of the Palace Staff and requested some Parchment as he wrote down a list for himself. He needed Thucydides present, as well as senior Spartans and Hoplites who would be joining them, he also needed Centurion Cato and Centurion Elon who would be captaining both ships. He would also invite Centurions Alexander, Philip, Octavian and Septimius along.
He knew he needed Archers and decided to add Centurion Balius of the Balearic Slingers and Centurion Meng Ai of the Wudang Archers. He also invited Centurion Hector, his former Guard and now leader of the Titanaconda unit. He didn't intend to take them all with him, but he expected parts of each unit would be involved. He also needed Heroes, he needed Subutai, Xun You and Zhou Yu as usual for the meeting, especially the latter. He also needed Artemisia, Gan Ning, Ling Tong and Sun Ce as some or all of them would attend with him.
Dom was sure that some of his other Heroes would attend the meeting, but he had no need to take the majority on such a chaotic battle. There was enough taking place across the wider Kingdom that he couldn't afford to leave areas unattended, especially the North at Tongpai Lake and the South at the San Border.
After writing down his list, he asked the Palace Staff to have this sent to Xun You who could issue orders for those that weren't around, a fast horse or ship should reach any of them within the day and have them back for a meeting on the last day before he logged out.
He soon finished eating and was joined by Sun Shangxiang who had spent the day training with Huang Zhong and Centurion Pullo. She had realised after the recent battle, that whilst she was an exceptional fighter, she didn't have the skills yet to command or compete against the other Heroes. Her Female Guard were also currently undergoing training and she spoke to Dom at lengths about the different things she had been learning.
Dom soon discovered that Meritamen wouldn't be returning tonight and would be staying with Lady Xu in Jia, the two having began to create a strange friendship across time. Meritamen was much younger than most of his Heroes, yet her intelligence rivalled a lot of her older peers. Lady Xu was similarly intelligent, and they both had a lot of plans in place on the more hidden sides of the Kingdom.
After finishing talking with Sun Shangxiang, they both headed to Dom's room to rest for the night. Dom was quite fond of his second wife, but whilst nothing stopped him, part of him was wary of her joining Meritamen's current condition.