Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece Chapter 1037: The Kingdom Assembly During Wartime (3)

What intrigued Publius even more was the Minister of Finance's detailed breakdown of the treasury's annual expenditures. He explained exactly how much money went toward the salaries of kingdom officials, how much was spent on public buildings, how much funded the kingdom's schools, how much was allocated for military rations, and how much was poured into manufacturing armaments...

Up on the podium, Mersis rattled off these figures with intimate familiarity. Down in the audience, Publius listened in amazement. Drawing on his own wealth of administrative experience, he realized from the minister's presentation that the Kingdom of Daunia's management and allocation of its treasury were extraordinarily precise.

The scene that followed astonished him even more.

After Mersis finished his presentation, a few Senators and town delegates raised questions regarding specific expenditures. Despite his impatient expression, Mersis thoroughly clarified each point. He only returned to his seat once there were no more questions.

Publius let out a long breath. Even as a mere spectator, he felt a bit tense. It dawned on him that holding power in the Kingdom of Daunia was no easy feat. While the Roman Senate had its own forms of supervision and questioning, it was never this detailed and specific. This level of scrutiny demanded exceptional management skills from the presiding officials, along with a strict avoidance of the backroom deals so common in other city-states. Mersis had successfully concluded his report this time, but if any of his answers had failed to satisfy the assembly, he certainly would not have been let off so easily...

Publius recalled Tibullus mentioning the assembly of the tribunes scheduled for the following day. A warning rang in his mind:

Next to step into the center of the hall was Bulcos, the Minister of Agriculture, and his speech was far more uplifting.

First, he announced that after enduring a drought, the entire kingdom's agriculture had yielded a bumper harvest last September. This greatly alleviated the severe shortage of military rations and pulled the citizens out from the shadow of the disaster. Bulcos then brought up how the assimilation of the Campanian plains and more than half of the Latium region into the kingdom had added xxx mu of fertile, flat land. A total of xxx mu had been distributed to the citizens who migrated there, leaving xxx mu remaining. He went on to detail the measures the Ministry of Agriculture's officials had taken to help the new migrants efficiently utilize their allotted plots...

Furthermore, he mentioned that although the Syracuse Region, Sardinia, and Western Sicily had not yet been completely pacified, the Ministry of Agriculture had already begun planning the land distribution in those three areas...

The Ministry of Agriculture had long anticipated this, so Bulcos answered with ease.

Although Bulcos's mention of the Latium land distribution brought a wave of bitterness to Publius, he couldn't help but marvel at how the leadership of the Kingdom of Daunia genuinely took the initiative to allocate land for every single citizen.

Next to take the stage was Marigi, the Minister of Commerce. Publius studied this Persian man and his distinct appearance with curiosity.

Marigi's opening remarks were exactly as expected. The war had dealt a massive blow to the kingdom's commerce; over the past year, the number of merchant ships passing through the various port cities had visibly decreased, and markets everywhere had grown sluggish. Everyone had seen this with their own eyes, so they were not surprised by the commercial decline.

Marigi then pointed out that the acquisition of the Latium region, the entire Island of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia had greatly expanded the Kingdom of Daunia's trade circle in the western Mediterranean, allowing them to break into the precious metals trade. This would inevitably lead to even greater commercial development for the kingdom after the war. Moreover, the kingdom's alliance with Egypt had deepened and tightened trade between the two nations, which would take their commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean to the next level...

Of course, Marigi only gave a general overview here. He would go into further detail before the end of the assembly, when the kingdom's various departments presented their prospects for the coming year.

Even so, a few town delegates from merchant backgrounds eagerly raised questions regarding their own interests, and Marigi provided them with satisfactory answers.

The next to step up was Raphias, the Minister of the Census. During the war, the Census Department had been just as busy. Whether citizens or registered freemen were drafted for battle or as laborers for transport, whether they earned merit or received punishment—all of this had to be meticulously recorded. Given the sheer number of participants, this was an enormously complex and exhausting task. Thus, the Census Department boasted more public officials than any other department, employing numerous scribes, clerks, and archivists. These detailed citizen records provided a reliable reference for the other departments, allowing them to barely meet Davos's demand that, for every citizen, "merit must be rewarded, and faults must be punished."

From Raphias's report, the assembly learned that Daionian casualties in this war were not limited to soldiers on the battlefield; they also included ordinary citizens. This encompassed the Dauni region invaded by the Samnites, the Plain of Catania devastated by the Carthaginians, and the Apulia region attacked by the landing remnant forces.

Therefore, the casualty figures Raphias provided were significantly higher than those given by the Ministry of Military Affairs. Yet, the newly tallied total population of the kingdom was actually slightly higher than the previous year's. What was the reason? It was due to the added populations of the newly annexed regions. The City of Rome alone brought over 50,000 people to Daionia, and the surrendered population of Syracuse was also substantial. Furthermore, with the surrender of city-states like Veii, Caisrela, Alalia, and Sant'Ibinia, the newly added population exceeded 100,000.

Additionally, the number of state slaves under the Census Department's Slave Administration Office had multiplied several times over the past year. Romans, Latins, Syracusans, Carthaginians, Phoenicians... whole families had become slaves of the Kingdom of Daunia, greatly easing the kingdom's labor shortage this year.

At the same time, this placed immense pressure on the Census Department's management of the slaves. Raphias made no attempt to hide the several riots caused by slaves and the resulting casualties among Census Department officials. In truth, recounting this was a preemptive move to smooth the way for the proposal he would submit to the Kingdom Assembly in the coming days: to increase the Census Department's official quota and establish additional slave guard units.

Publius listened to Raphias's account with the utmost seriousness, as this concerned his Roman compatriots who had been enslaved. After Raphias finished, Publius asked his very first question, inquiring about the current situation of the Roman slaves and whether there was any possibility of them earning their freedom in the future.

Considering that Publius had only just joined the kingdom, Raphias took the time to explain the kingdom's management regulations for state slaves in detail: slaves were provided with simple but clean accommodations and were guaranteed two meals a day. Those performing heavy manual labor received three meals, and occasionally, they were even given meat. If they fell ill, specialized doctors were responsible for their treatment. Those with families would not be separated. As long as they diligently completed their tasks and did not antagonize the management staff, they could not be arbitrarily beaten or scolded. Furthermore, unions between male and female slaves were not prohibited... Slaves who performed well in their first year would begin receiving a small monthly wage in their second year. If they continued to perform well, they could be placed on a watchlist starting in their third year, eventually earning their freedom at the Festival of Hades...

Raphias also specifically emphasized that, out of reverence for Hades, and because quite a few officials in the Slave Administration Office were former slaves themselves, coupled with random inspections by the Ministry of Inspection, the management of state slaves was strictly carried out in accordance with the law. The slaves actually lived decently. In contrast, the kingdom could only conduct regular monthly checks on private slaves, making their living conditions somewhat worse in comparison...

Upon hearing this, the guilt weighing on Publius's heart lightened somewhat. He actually knew that these Roman slaves were housed in the slave camp North of the City of Rome, right by the river Tiro. Yet, the thought of visiting them had never crossed his mind—because doing so would only earn him curses, not gratitude.

The next to take the stage was Heraclides the Younger, the Minister of Construction. Since the kingdom had funneled its treasury revenues into the war effort, the construction and maintenance of domestic public buildings had ground to a halt. But that did not mean Heraclides the Younger had nothing to say.

The reconstruction of the old urban area of Rome was a focal point. Although Publius had personally experienced the reconstruction process while in Rome, taking in the comprehensive plan for the entire city's overhaul from a planner's perspective was a completely different experience for him, so he listened intently.

Additionally, Heraclides the Younger mentioned that with these new territories absorbed into the kingdom, road construction for them was already in the planning stages. Once the spring planting was finished, the Department of Construction would organize labor and prepare funds to extend the kingdom's main roads into these territories as quickly as possible. This would facilitate easier travel between the new lands and the kingdom's old territories, significantly aiding the kingdom's governance over them.

The minister who took the stage next not only struck fear into the town delegates but also frequently made the Senators quail. He was Sesta, the Minister of Inspection.

As this prominent minister—who had penalized countless officials and was hailed by the citizens as the "Rhadamanthus in the sunlight"—stood in the center of the hall, the entire assembly grew noticeably quieter. Perhaps his years of inspection work had cultivated a cold, stern, and chilling aura about him.

However, in his summary of the previous year's inspection work, the truth was that far fewer kingdom officials had been disciplined by the Ministry of Inspection compared to past years. A major reason for this was the war. Due to this massive conflict, the entire kingdom was in a state of emergency mobilization. Committing an offense at such a time would invite doubled punishments, so very few dared to throw themselves at the spearpoint during this critical juncture.