But it always gives people a murderous feeling. After hearing this, the Athenians were a little at a loss. "Then I'll be leaving first, everyone. I hope to hear good news from you." After Hilde finished speaking, she ignored the Citizens Assembly and turned around to walk outside. Soon, Hilde's personal guards rushed in and moved Hilde's throne out. The negotiation process of the Citizens Assembly did not even last an hour. Hilde's series of words and vigorous attitude made them at a loss for words. After Hilde left, Pericles said helplessly: "I want to know what you think about this matter. What do you think should be done about it?" "It won't do us any harm if the Byzantine Kingdom joins the Delian League. I don't think we need to worry too much about it. If they want to come, then let them come. As Hilde said just now, Athens is a peaceful and hospitable city-state. Since the queen of the Byzantine Kingdom has come in person, I think we also need to express our attitude." At this time, an older man stood up and looked at the door of the Citizens' Assembly very seriously. "This is the first time I've seen this, but it doesn't matter... Archon, I think we must seize this opportunity. If the Byzantine Kingdom is really as powerful as Hilde said, then for us, this will be an important turning point in our ability to defeat the Peloponnesian League. Even if Hilde lied, she is still an oracle. The most important thing is that Hilde is the oracle of Lady Athena." The popular king of the seventh tune, the third verse "I believe that the people of Athens will definitely welcome the arrival of the oracle. If the oracle of Lady Athena stands on the opposite side of us, what will the people in the city think? I think everyone should know it in their hearts."
"yes……" "If Lady Athena's Oracle becomes our enemy, that would be too..." for them. There was no way they could accept that Athena was on the opposite side of them. After all, Athena is the patron saint of Athens, and the oracle of the patron saint actually went against the city-state. They really could not accept this kind of thing. Heard them say that. Pericles could only shake his head helplessly. "I know what you are thinking, but I still hope that you can go back and think carefully for two days. The day after tomorrow, we will gather at the Citizens' Assembly and vote on this matter collectively." Pericles was now completely helpless. He did not want to agree to Hilde's request, but it seemed that he had no reason to refuse it. So the only thing Pericles could do was to delay the time for the time being, so that those who had the right to vote in the Citizens' Assembly could go back and calm down, and avoid voting for Hilde in a fit of rage. but…… Even if that really happened. It seems there is no other way. For the first time, Pericles felt such a strong sense of defeat. In the face of absolute strength, it seemed that he really had no way to resist. Hilde's words were too tempting. Athens, including all the Athenians, seemed to have no way to resist this temptation. So even if they were asked to go back and calm down for a while, the result the day after tomorrow would definitely be a high vote to pass Hilde's request. Pericles even wished that time could stand still. Or figure it out. What is Hilde's purpose? Only then would they ask to join the Delian League. After Hilde made her speech at the Citizens' Assembly, she left happily. However, she did not return to the mansion immediately, but planned to walk around the streets of Athens. Of course, the most important thing was that Hilde wanted to show her face in front of the Athenians. After all, Athens was a democratic city-state, and its public opinion was very important. Therefore, if she wanted to gain the support of Athens and make the Athenians agree to Hilde's request, she had to make the Athenians impressed and friendly.
because of this. Only Hilde would stroll up and down the street. The Athenians on the street looked at Hilde with great curiosity, especially those Athenians who did not join in the fun and watch Hilde in the morning. They actually did not expect that Hilde would appear in the downtown area of Athens. "Your Majesty, isn't it a bit dangerous for you to do this?" "Danger? Where is the danger?" Hilde walked happily in the market. The vendors around stopped their work after seeing Hilde. They felt as if the gods had come to this place. Some of them even couldn't control their emotions and knelt on the ground to worship Hilde. Because the rumors in Athens during this period said that Hilde was the oracle of Lady Athena, so as Athenians, they naturally couldn't control their admiration for Hilde. Ordinary Athenians still attached great importance to religious beliefs. Because they were poor, they cared more about the temporary pleasure that religion brought them. So it's for this reason. When they were able to see with their own eyes the oracle of the god they worshipped, they naturally had no way of concealing their inner excitement. After all, Rhodes was the oracle of Poseidon, and Poseidon was not strictly speaking the patron god of Greece. He was only the patron god of seafarers and fishermen. The ordinary people gathered in Athens, many of them were farmers or merchants, and they did not have the habit of believing in Poseidon. But they were all Athenians, and Athenians almost without exception believed in Athena. There was even a kind of worship of Athena by the entire city-state. So when Hilde showed up. It caused a sensation immediately. "Don't worry. I've said it before. No one in Athens can hurt me. And you see, they seem to like seeing me very much. So, take this opportunity to have a good contact with the dear people of Athens. This will be more beneficial for our future work." Hearing what Hilde said, the guards didn't know how to refute... After all, Hilde had always been a rather willful person, and they felt that they would not be able to stop Hilde, so they could only let Hilde continue to be so willful. At this time, Hilde walked in front of a shop selling pottery, then stopped and looked carefully at the pottery on the ground. "You, do you need it?" The businessman was so nervous that he stuttered. "If you need, I can take you..." "That's not necessary. I still have the money to buy pottery... But why are there bricks in your pottery shop?" Hilde looked at the bricks piled aside and asked curiously, "Where did you get these bricks from? Who is buying them?" "I bought these in Piraeus. The merchant told me that this is a magical stone from the East, just like marble. I saw that the color of this stone is quite special, and it is square and very regular, so I bought it." Knew it. The businessman was cheated. In the Byzantine Empire, although the manufacture of bricks was kept secret and private individuals were not allowed to manufacture bricks, the price of bricks was not high. Bricks flowing out of the brick kilns in the Byzantine Empire were generally supplied to the market in large quantities for civilians to build houses. The price... Generally, to build a house, especially a better house, it would be enough to buy bricks worth more than a dozen drachmas, and these bricks in front of me... "How much did you pay for these?" "It cost fifty drachmas." "Do you know how much this costs over here?" "do not know……" "In our country, one drachma can buy two carts of this stuff. If you are willing to spend ten drachmas, you can buy enough bricks to pile up into a mountain. This stuff is used to build houses in our country. It is very, very cheap, much cheaper than marble. You have been cheated." Hilde smiled and picked up a brick. "By the way, I'll tell you that this thing was invented by me."
The best way to make money in the fourth section of the seventh chapter In a sense, it was really invented by Hilde. Although the Persians and the ancient Babylonians had mastered the technology of making bricks, the quality of bricks at that time was very poor, and there was a big gap between them and the improved bricks invented by Hilde. So Hilde was fully confident in saying this, and the merchant was already dumbfounded. He spent so much money to buy bricks, but they turned out to be so worthless, and Hilde even said it. The businessman was stunned for a long time. "Next time, don't just buy something you don't understand." "Yes...I, I understand." The businessman has pain in his heart. But I have to bear it alone. And Hilde took a turn at the market. I found that there were many strange things from the Byzantine Kingdom for sale here. It turned out that some things from my own country were still very popular in Athens. Although Hilde had never actively contacted Athens, merchants connected the Byzantine Kingdom with other city-states in the world through merchant ships. Therefore, in the distant city of Athens, you can find goods from the Byzantine Kingdom. Invisibly, the two places are already connected. “There are so many products here.” Hilde said with some emotion: "Did you know that many of the goods you sell come from the Byzantine Empire?" "No, I don't know." The businessmen are also very honest. They were all stall owners. They were not responsible for going out to sea to purchase goods. All they had to do was go to the port to purchase goods brought in by merchant ships. The Byzantine Empire was not well-known in Athens, so many things from the Byzantine Empire had to be sold under other names. For example, pottery from the Byzantine Kingdom had to be said to be Minoan pottery, and ironware from the Byzantine Kingdom had to be said to be from Persia or Babylon. This is the brand effect. The quality of goods in the Byzantine Empire was actually very good. But there is no brand effect. Hilde looked around before discovering the problem. If you plan to make money in the future, obviously, this problem cannot be ignored. If the Byzantine Kingdom wants to make money through trade and more good products, it must create a brand. Let everyone know that the goods from the Byzantine Kingdom are all good goods. So, Hilde had a lot of new ideas in her mind. She thought about it and thought of many new ways. So Hilde immediately took people back to the mansion. After Hilde returned to the mansion. He immediately found some papyrus and began to write furiously. This is what Hilde thought about the goods of the Byzantine Empire. First of all, the reputation of the Byzantine Kingdom must be improved, so advertising is necessary. This trip to Athens is the best advertising opportunity. People in Athens will definitely know more about the Byzantine Kingdom, so this can completely increase the popularity of the Byzantine Kingdom in the minds of the Athenians. Everyone knows about the Byzantine Kingdom, so naturally they will be interested in the products produced by the Byzantine Kingdom... The quality of products from the Byzantine Empire was not a problem. Hilde is still confident about this. Since the product quality is guaranteed.
So, as long as the brand effect is created, there will be sales. In addition, Hilde also found that in the Greek world, commercial trade was a spontaneous act of merchants. Because of this, there were many uncertainties in the trade between merchants. If you want to open up the market quickly, you must rely on an organization to make systematic arrangements. So Hilde thought of the Chamber of Commerce. In the Byzantine Kingdom, merchants did not form a chamber of commerce, so this gave Hilde an opportunity. Hilde intends to establish a chamber of commerce with a national background. Membership of this chamber of commerce is voluntary or optional. However, only after joining the Chamber of Commerce can one be qualified to operate the trade and transportation of some national materials. Therefore, this should be enough to attract many merchants to participate. After gathering the merchants together, Hilde can issue orders to the merchants of the Byzantine Kingdom through the Chamber of Commerce. In this way, the merchants have a clear command and can have their own plans and goals when selling goods. If the strength of the merchants is gathered together, the previous problems can be effectively solved. This also applies to brand effects. Hilde can definitely build a brand. But it requires the cooperation of merchants. Gather all the merchants together, and then ship out good goods in large quantities. Soon, the goods of the Byzantine Kingdom became popular products, and Hilde felt that it was possible to use some more high-end content. For example, a piece of pottery was made by priests from the Temple of Athena in Byzantium, and it was used to worship gods. The high-end quality was suddenly different. For the devout and wealthy, with such a legendary effect, the goods were obviously easier to sell. Like a weapon, it can be said that this spear once pierced the body of the Thracian king. The sword is dripping with Hilde's blood. Once these things are told to others, no one can verify their authenticity. A fool would definitely buy it with great pleasure. The more Hilde thought about it, the clearer it became that there was a new way to make money. In this era, people still didn't know what a trade surplus or a trade deficit was. The reason Athens was so powerful was actually because its trade surplus was very large. What Hilde had to do was to turn Athens' trade surplus into his own trade surplus and increase his country's wealth. There was no risk in this matter, and there was no need to worry about any moral factors. Make money legally. Do business rationally. Any questions? Because there were no problems, Hilde felt that this was completely feasible. So Hilde wrote down all her thoughts on papyrus. Sophia and the others were a little puzzled. As soon as Hilde came back, he ran back to his room and buried his head in writing and thinking, which made Sophia and the others think that something bad had happened today. In the end, Hilde drafted a specific plan for the construction of the Chamber of Commerce and business and trade, and decided to start preparing for this matter after returning to Byzantium... Such a happy decision! Hilde was very satisfied. Chapter 7, Section 5, The Secret to Making Money Hild had never thought that the future Byzantine Kingdom could make more money by nationalizing commercial activities. This was a perfect choice. At the same time, because there was no such behavior in the entire Greek world, it was good enough for most city-states to ensure that taxes were collected on time in the commercial sector, not to mention other things. Therefore, Hilde's actions can be said to have created an opportunity. Through this method, the commercial resources of the Byzantine Kingdom can be effectively integrated. After that, the sales of goods and a series of trade behaviors of the Byzantine Kingdom will be guided by the state. Although this situation may make the country's business somewhat rigid, when facing bigger problems, because of the existence of state institutions, it can effectively bring together scattered merchants and improve the resistance of the country's business to attacks. At the same time, the most important thing is that when competing with other countries in business, the Byzantine Kingdom will have greater competitiveness because merchants can unite together. This will also be quickly reflected in the subsequent trade with Athens. The Athenians completely ignored the merchants, because the core of Athens' interests was basically merchants. The agricultural nobles of Athens were now weak, and those who were active in Athens' politics were basically commercial slave owners who made their fortunes through business. It is for this reason that these new slave owners absolutely did not allow the Athenian government to interfere with their trade and were absolute advocates of free trade. It is also because of this that once they face the commercial trade competition of the Byzantine Kingdom, they can only fight alone, and they can neither let Athens integrate them nor want to. However, commercial wars are completely inhumane.
Once goods from the Byzantine Empire poured in. Byzantine merchants seized many advantageous locations. Athens, a city-state that rose up through commerce, was bound to face a fact: it was gradually squeezed out by others in its business. Of course, this matter was certainly not something that could be accomplished overnight. Now Hilde had to give Athens some face, otherwise, how could she use the Delian League as a springboard to annex Ionia? Therefore, although Hilde spent some time to sort out all his thoughts, when he really faced this problem, Hilde calmed down a little. He felt that he should not be so anxious for the time being. It would not be too late to consider this matter after the matter of joining the Delian League was settled.