Augustus Road

For dinner, one plate was snails in sauce, the other was apple-olive salad, and hand-cooked wheat rice. Habaruka and Yulia ate happily. "Ofilenu Manor is suitable for raising snails and poultry. It has tree shades and streams. It is suitable in all aspects. You should not invest money in the risky trade and lending industry. If your wheat and snail harvests are good, by the season Just open the gate of the manor, and a caravan will naturally come to buy it, and you can earn ten to twenty talents in less than three years - Yulia, your heart is obviously more impatient than your mouth. " During the dinner, Karabis taught him a lesson while eating.

The little widow Yulia was not that bad-tempered, and not as arrogant as Adiana. She lowered her head and allowed the man to scold her.

After drinking and eating, Karabis snapped his fingers, called Habaruka in front of him, took out the parchment, and quickly used the pen and charcoal cartridge hanging on his waist (the pen and charcoal cartridge had a chain and hook). Di wrote a few lines on it, and then said: "The money is in the luggage on the donkey's back. Can it be done within three days? Regarding the remuneration, I will naturally not be in debt when I come back."

"It doesn't take three days, maybe two days will be enough." Habaruka quickly scanned the parchment with his eyes and said with confidence. Then he kept the thing and walked to the stables on the other side of the flower gallery.

"Hey, that's my slave." Yulia began to be dissatisfied. Now the other party was as powerful as the master of the manor, which made her feel very uneasy.

"Really? But you let him do things like spearing fish. Phoenicians are born businessmen and financers. Ms. Yulia, there is this proverb in the shopping malls of Seris Country - No businessman's If you are not full of deceit and cunning, let someone else do it. It is very simple." Calabis crossed his fingers and said, "In the next two or three days, I may have to disturb your manor. ”

"Excuse me, there is only a place to stay here." Yulia put on a knitted blouse, the kind with "anchor" patterns all over it, and started to put away the dishes.

The plain of Oristano is a picturesque place. It is far away from the coast. The mountains are full of green trees and shrubs. The plains are fields as far as the eye can see. Calabis is sitting in the shade of a tree. , fishing comfortably in front of Wangshuitan. In the distance, on the empty road, performers playing flutes and dancing were making bundles of hay into ** shapes, preparing for a harvest festival. Farmers and slaves are sweating profusely in the manor, harvesting large quantities of grain, while caravans are also braving the heat wave and wind and dust, preparing to purchase the grain output of the entire plain and transport it out of Sardinia.

After all, Sardinia is most famous for its grain exports. Under the shade of the trees, Calabis saw several merchants wearing the characteristic costumes of the Campania region, shouting something in the crowd, and eagerly using bags of coins to settle accounts with the bookkeepers in the manor. , he laughed, because of course he knew that these merchants were the actors he hired Habaruka from all over Sardinia. They performed quite professionally, no wonder they all wore masks when they went on stage!

"The supply of wheat in Rome is definitely in short supply this year, so we came from Campania to buy wheat from estates in various places at a price that is 30% higher than in previous years, hoping to sell it at a good price in Rome."

"You are on the island, so you probably don't quite understand the situation outside! Because of the war, it is difficult to transport wheat from Asia Minor and Egypt this year, so we have to rely on Sardinia for the best goods."

"It doesn't matter if the harvest is not finished. We can buy your wheat in advance. No matter whether it is sold or not, and no matter what risks there are along the way, the price will never change."

"In Etrunia, Campania, and Naples, all the estates grow luxury crops. We can't buy wheat at all there. You have to be considerate of us. We spent a lot of money just to come here, let alone money to buy and transport wheat to Rome.”

Several "caravans" were going back and forth from north to south on the island, and the manor on the entire island became lively. The masters or stewards asked the slaves to take care of all the harvested and unharvested wheat, and started to harvest the wheat in a hurry. Processing and storage, the unharvested ones are sent to extra personnel to "guard", as if they are afraid of being robbed.

On the evening of the third day, when Calabis returned to the manor with his fishing gear, the little widow was leaning in front of the door and asked him: "What's going on here? Does it have anything to do with you?" Under the smoke, there were everywhere. Caravans swarmed like wasps, and many manor gates were bustling with people after nightfall. Bargaining boards were erected there, and accounting slaves continued to paste new copper chips on them. Panic and excitement in the market had spread, and the whole country The island's caravans and loan sharks all took action, frantically buying wheat. Even if it was not harvested or shipped out of the warehouse, the caravans would set a price to reserve it, which was very similar to a "futures" property. The prices of fleets and human transportation in various ports on Sardinia have soared. Many caravans have invested more than 50%, 80% or even double of the previous price, not including the mid-way transportation of these grains. However, they are still gritting their teeth and are encouraged by the illusory market in front of them - the possibility of storms is unlikely in the current season. As long as the grain is transported to the city of Rome, all the current expenditures will be worthwhile.

The information fed back by many caravans in Rome did verify their judgment. Everything was correct. It was said that the Senate had set up a food distribution committee to collect food from all over the country to deal with the chronic food shortage in the city during the winter. Many years ago, Pompey held this position. After he spent a lot of effort to eliminate the pirates along the coast, he tried his best to buy food from all over the country and transport it to Rome, which calmed the high grain prices.

Looking at this crazy scene, Yulia covered her mouth in annoyance and said, "I should have known that I shouldn't have used wheat to pay off my debts. The wheat in the Orphelenu Manor matures earlier and has more luxuriant ears."

"Don't think about wheat now. Habaluka has helped you invest in shares of almost every ship in Sardinia. You can just wait to collect the money when the time comes." Karabis patted Yulia's shoulder, "Also, Orphelenu should not grow wheat next year."

"Why?"

"Because most of the caravans in Sardinia will go bankrupt this year, and the manor will earn more money than in previous years. You should now divide your Vera into regions and hire people to cultivate it carefully. I suggest that you cultivate snails, bees, poppies, and flowers. These things are fast and high-yielding, and at least enough for you to dump for a few years."

Yulia nodded, and then said to Karabis with dissatisfaction: "Why should I listen to you!"

"Because the money you invested in the fleet is all mine!" (To be continued.)