I was a priest in the city-state era

During this era, the areas of ancient Greece were barren and minerals were scarce.

However, the natural environment in Greece allowed the ancient Greeks to not only plant olive trees to obtain liquid gold - olive oil, but also use seawater to obtain white gold - table salt.

Salt is not only a condiment for cooking and seasoning, it can also be used to pickle food to extend its shelf life.

In human history, because salt is difficult to obtain, the value of salt is very precious. The price of salt can even reach the point where one pound of salt can be exchanged for one pound of gold.

Before precious metals became the common currency of mankind, salt was as hard currency as food.

Even in the Roman Empire more than a thousand years later, people would use salt as wages and rewards for soldiers, and use one hundred kilograms of salt to buy one hundred kilograms of slaves.

Thirty-six hundred years ago now, salt was more valuable than olive oil.

Seeing Aries' confused expression, Roy said with the same confusion.

"Aries, you don't know what salt is? Salt is the salty white particles."

After hearing Roy's explanation, Aries immediately said suddenly.

"So the priest is talking about white stones! Could it be that in the hometown of the priest, you call that kind of white stone salt?"

"White stone——"

People of this era actually regard salt as white stone.

Roy finally understood why in ancient legends, the sea goddess's salt power was regarded as the petrification power.

Because there is no word for salt in this era, people in this era can only describe the power of saltation as the power of petrification.

"Aries! The white stone you are talking about should be the salt I am talking about. Now I am going to teach you how to dry salt. As long as you follow my instructions, you can dry the seawater into a large amount of salt."

Aries said with wide eyes in shock.

"Master Priest, can you really make salt like paper and cement? White stone-salt is a gift from the sea to us, because we can only pick up some salt blocks on the seashore. Although salt can be used for seasoning , but we all collect and store salt, because when food is scarce, we can exchange salt with Phoenician merchants for more food than olive oil.”

Of course Roy knew that people living in coastal areas in this era could only pick up some naturally formed salt blocks on the beach.

Therefore, being able to make salt by yourself completely subverts Aries' outlook and cognition.

"Aries! Since you know how precious salt is, you should know that the method of making salt cannot be exposed. I want fifty of you to mark a salt drying field that no one is allowed to approach, and then I will teach you how to dry salt. You must patrol and protect the salt drying field day and night, and you must not let anyone see the secret of our salt drying.”

Aries nodded heavily, and then asked Roy again.

"Master Priest, can seawater really turn into salt? Salt is a white stone and seawater is water. Why does seawater turn into stone?"

Looking at Aries who was like a curious baby, Roy could only say impatiently.

"Seawater can turn into salt because the great goddess Metis uses her divine power to help us."

"In other words, it is the divine power of the goddess Metis that turns seawater into salt."

"That's right!"

Seeing that Aries was no longer curious, Roy said with a sigh of relief.

"Before I teach you how to dry salt, you must first move these 50,000 kilograms of grain back to the Acropolis."

"I obey your orders!"

After Aries said loudly, he took the lead in lifting a bag of grain.

After the fifty teenagers who followed Roy moved 50,000 kilograms of grain back to the warehouse in the Acropolis, Roy took them to find a beach suitable for salting.

Seawater sun salting requires the selection of large flat seaside tidal flats to build salt fields in areas with a mild climate and sufficient sunlight.

Salt pans are generally divided into two parts - evaporation ponds and crystallization ponds.

First, seawater is introduced into the evaporation pond, and the water is evaporated to a certain extent by sunlight. Then it is poured into the crystallization pond and continues to be exposed to the sun. The seawater will become a saturated solution of salt, and the salt will gradually precipitate out when exposed to the sun again.

Roy found a beach suitable for salting based on the principle of seawater salting, and then dug evaporation ponds and crystallization ponds with Aries and others.

After digging a trench to introduce seawater into the evaporation pond, Roy said to Aries and the others.

"Comrades! You are my trusted followers, so I will give you the task of protecting the salt drying field. You must patrol the salt drying field day and night and not let anyone discover the secret of our salt drying. In return for you, I Each of you will be rewarded with ten pounds of salt.”

Hearing Roy's words, the fifty teenagers were excited.

Because one pound of salt is equivalent to at least ten pounds of olive oil and fifty pounds of grain, and ten pounds of salt is equivalent to one hundred pounds of olive oil and five hundred pounds of grain.

As long as he guards the salt drying field for a few days and completes the salt drying, he will be rewarded with five hundred kilograms of grain. Priest Roy is indeed the most generous person in the world.

"Priest, please rest assured, we will guard the salt drying field non-stop."

"We won't let anyone near the salt fields."

"If anyone wants to forcefully approach the priest's salt drying field, we will definitely kill him."

Hearing the promises from his followers, Roy nodded with satisfaction and said.

"Now that Chief Pandion is away, I am the supreme ruler of the city of Athens, so you don't need to have any scruples. Even if the minor leaders of the city of Athens want to break into the salt drying field, you can kill them first and then tell me. I guarantee you that Not only will you not be punished, but you will also be rewarded by me. And I will not only reward you once, but I will give you salt as a reward every month.”

Every month, they can get salt equivalent to 500 kilograms of grain as a reward——

Aries and others were stunned for a moment, and then shouted loudly.

"Long live the priest!"

"I will always be loyal to the great priest Roy."

"I will offer my sister to the priest."

After Roy returned to the Acropolis alone, he stood on the edge of the Acropolis and looked down at the entire city of Athens. Roy couldn't help frowning.

If Roy is the supreme ruler of Athens now, Roy can arrange some people to become salt workers.

But now, in order to prevent others from mastering the method of drying salt from seawater, Roy can only let his followers dry salt secretly.

"It seems that I must find an opportunity to seize the ruling power of Athens as soon as possible. Only when I become the king of Athens can I let go and develop Athens with all my strength. After all, even if Pandion becomes my father-in-law, I don't want to work hard to make wedding clothes for others."

Pandion has a solid authority as the leader of the Athens tribe for 20 years. Even if Roy is a priest who holds the divine power, he cannot use the divine power to overthrow Pandion's rule.

So the only way for Roy to overthrow Pandion's rule was to seize Athens by force.

"I am not only a real hero now [a hundred men are equal], but I also have 350 soldiers. As long as I secretly transport 250 Phoenicians from Eubia, I will have 600 soldiers. I will give Perseus's eldest sister to Captain Pallas as his wife. As long as Captain Pallas and his men remain neutral, I will have more than 50% chance of capturing Athens."

At this time, Pallas did not know that because he accepted the princess Roy gave him, Roy had planned to make him betray Pandion.