I was a priest in the city-state era

"What is iron?"

After listening to Roy's words, Harmonia blinked her beautiful big blue eyes and said curiously.

"I know that copper is bronze, and our Theban tribe has some bronze weapons and bronze tripods for cooking, but this is the first time I have heard of iron."

Well--

Forgetting that in this era, except for the Hittite Empire on the Asia Minor Peninsula, which mastered the technology of smelting iron, people in other regions not only had not seen iron, but had not even heard of iron, Roy explained with some embarrassment.

"Priest of Harmonia, iron is also called black iron. It is a metal with the same properties as bronze. Bronze can be made into weapons, as well as bronze tripods for cooking and other bronze objects. Black iron can also be made into Weapons and iron tools such as iron pots for cooking and iron plows for plowing are also sharper and stronger than bronze weapons. Iron pots made of black iron are also more useful than bronze tripods. , the iron plow, a farm tool made of black iron, can double the harvest. "

"Black iron can not only make iron weapons that are sharper and stronger than bronze weapons, but it can also be made into agricultural tools to increase food harvests?"

Harmonia's eyes widened in surprise and she looked at Roy in disbelief.

"Priest Roy, is the black iron you mentioned so magical? And in the territory of our Thebes tribe, there are iron mines for making black iron?"

In this era, abundant food harvests represented the ability to feed a larger population, and powerful weapons represented the ability to use force to protect the safety of tribes.

Seeing Harmonia's reaction, Roy nodded and said.

"Priest Harmonia, my description of black iron is true. There are indeed iron ores in the territory of Thebes tribe. But I don't have the technology to smelt iron now, so I can only help the Thebes tribe first." Mining copper ores to smelt bronze.”

The Thebes tribe has treasures such as iron ore but cannot mine and use it. Harmonia first showed a disappointed expression, and then said with a smile again.

"Priest Roy, the bronze weapons and bronze tripods of our Thebes tribe are now obtained with a lot of food. If you can help us mine copper ore and smelt bronze, let our Thebes tribe be able to make valuable products on our own." I am very satisfied with the expensive bronze utensils, but I have a question for you. Even we Thebans don’t know where there are copper ore ore in Thebes. They come from the far east. Foreigner, why do you know where there are copper and iron mines in Thebes?”

"Because I have the blessing from Metis, the goddess of wisdom!"

Faced with unanswerable questions, Roy could only use the goddess Metis as a shield.

"The blessing of the goddess Metis has given me wisdom beyond human beings, so I know many things that current humans don't know."

Seeing that Harmonia did not doubt her answer, Roy then changed the subject.

"Priest of Harmonia! If you want to mine copper ore and smelt bronze, I hope you can hand over Cadmus' men, the Phoenician prisoners, to me. In fact, I have no skills in smelting black iron. , and we don’t have the technology to smelt bronze. If we want to smelt bronze, we must rely on those Phoenician captives.”

"Those Phoenician captives had the technology to smelt bronze?"

"The Phoenician region has entered a bronze civilization. Among the more than two hundred captives we captured, at least one or two will be able to smelt bronze. As long as we let the Phoenicians teach the Thebans the technology of smelting bronze, we will You can mine a large amount of copper ore and make a large number of bronze weapons and various bronze utensils.”

After Roy finished speaking, Harmonia stood up eagerly and said.

"Priest Roy, let's go see those Phoenician captives now and let those who master bronze technology among them become our craftsmen. Although they are invaders and captives, I will treat the craftsmen as my own people, and even Give them houses and women."

Roy followed Harmonia to the place where the captives were held, and saw about two hundred and fifty Phoenician captives being held by the Thebans in five smelly sheepfolds.

There was so little space in the sheepfold that the Phoenician prisoners could not even lie down on the ground to sleep, so they all looked listless.

Seeing the miserable conditions of the Phoenician prisoners, Roy had no doubt that if they were imprisoned for a long time, many of them would be tortured to death by the harsh environment.

Seeing Loy and Harmonia, some of the Phoenician captives showed hatred in their eyes. Most of the Phoenician captives had numb expressions and dull eyes, as if they were prepared to wait for death.

"Phoenicians!"

Harmonia said loudly in as gentle a voice as possible.

"You are enemies who have invaded the territory of our Theban tribe. Now you have become prisoners. Do you know what your fate will be? Although we will not kill you, we will sell you as slaves. Now I want to Give you a chance to save yourselves. Are there any craftsmen among you who can smelt bronze?"

After Harmonia finished speaking, the Phoenician captives acted as if they had not heard her. No one responded to Harmonia.

The opportunity to survive was right in front of them, but these Phoenicians were unwilling to seize it——

Seeing Harmonia frowning, Roy took the initiative and said.

"Priest Harmonia, why don't you let me convince these Phoenicians. But I hope you can leave for a while and let me communicate with these Phoenicians alone."

"Can!"

After Harmonia nodded in agreement, she turned and walked towards a big tree a hundred meters away.

After Harmonia left, Loy climbed over a wooden fence into a smelly sheepfold, and then spoke to the Phoenicians in the sheepfold.

"Fearful Phoenicians, I sympathize with your plight. You left your hometown and came to the Thebes area, just wanting a new home. But the goddess of fate did not favor you and made you become the local Thebes. captive."

"Why do you pretend to sympathize with us?"

A Phoenician immediately said dissatisfied.

"If you hadn't helped the Thebans kill our leader Cadmus, we would never have lost the war, let alone become prisoners of the Thebans."

The Phoenicians were no fools.

Of course they knew they were being held captive, and Roy was at least half to blame.

Even Roy felt like he was pretending to be compassionate.

"I admit that I helped the Thebans, but I don't think my behavior was wrong. Our Athenian tribe is the neighbor of the Theban tribe, and you Phoenicians are foreign invaders. The Thebans and I share the same enemy. What's wrong? The fact that you have become a prisoner cannot be changed, and now I really want to help you."

Roy said with a serious expression.

"As long as you are willing to obey my arrangements, I can help all of you get rid of your status as captives, and I can also give you a new home. If any of you are willing to become my followers, I can guarantee that those who follow me can have I can’t guarantee that you will be rich and wealthy with your own fields, houses, women and children, but I can guarantee that you will have enough food and clothing.”

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