14. The Letters
January the 25th Adaneus used his lattice to generate the crystals for the day. Thanking Magec for the gifts, and looking at the city before him. The rising sun had a few worshippers looking at it praising it. Although the city had many followers within, he noted the lack of a priestly class.
“Adaneus, we need priests, missionaries to Helios.”
“Yes we do,” Adaneus said, “but first I need to sell some cinnamon and cardamon.”
940 litrai of cardamon and cinnamon were sold expanding the coffers to 26,100 solidi, they spent 1000 solidi to purchase paper, 25,100 solidi now in the reserves, as they got scribes to write on parchment and paper, messages that would be distributed to the local villages and hopefully the neighbouring cities.
To the monotheists, monotheism defeats itself!
The Monotheists claim one god is all powerful and they claim it is all good,
and yet evil exists and god has not destroyed satan!
Helios comes in peace and we do not tax the citizens of Bari, join us and live in the Roman Western Republic!
The Norman lords, the Pope, the Romans of the East. They plunder you to finance their evil designs.
We will make your life easier not harder. You may practice whatever religion you choose, but know this the illogic of any monotheism let alone Christianity will be exposed!
Perhaps it was wordy, but there were a few scrawls written on parchment and on imported paper, Arab merchants were happy to sell the paper, and Adaneus was happy to learn the process to make it, for with it, he could expand his state and derail the Christian neighbours around him. The parchment and paper was procured with a bunch of scribes.
“We will need people to tell the messages in some places, but perhaps the literate can read to the illiterate,” Adaneus said, “this reminds me, it would not be a bad idea to teach our people how to read for accounting purposes.”
“Education?” Butros said, “that is a good idea.”
“We must make the city able to read what it is we are writing, otherwise every pamphlet is effectively pointless, I mean we can send people but they can get killed,” Adaneus said.
“Right, yes, how much do you want to dedicate to it?”
“1000 solidi,” Adaneus said.
24,100 solidi in the state coffers, with basic reading and writing materials being organised across the city, in the meantime, the city procured bolt shooters on the sea walls and the land walls, it had risen to at least 500, the catapults and ballistae inspected to make sure the ropes worked and the mechanisms could function if Guiscard returned.
“Make sure the ammunition is prepared!” Kwame shouted at them, “are you going to teach people reading and writing skills?”
“It seems necessary, otherwise they won’t even know what’s going on, I have another idea for winning the countryside over,” Adaneus said, “get me the scribes, this is expensive but we will do it.”
Lord Helios gifts you oxen, cows, chickens and will give you the land under your feet. Accept the first three as a measure of our generosity.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
We will gift you ploughs if you accept the offer of Helios and the gods as true.
“Bold,” Kwame said, “are you going to buy chickens and oxen?”
“Yes, put out an order among the merchants for animals.”
Kwame and Butros did, Butros eyed Adaneus with a stern look.
“Those fools will accept your gifts, but what do you think Guiscard is going to do? He’s going to steal from them and use that wealth to attack us.”
“That might be true actually,” Adaneus said, “we will have to make sure they are armed and armoured, not just fed.”
“Again do you understand that 9 times out of 10 they are just going to get killed?” Butros insisted, severely frustrated in his explanations, “march an army take the land and then do whatever the hell you want with these peasants, do not sacrifice them with these gifts.”
Butros was waving his hands around to emphasise the point, Kwame clasping his lips together in a bemused look.
“Is it really so bad?” Kwame asked.
“Of course, what do you want me to say Kwame? Imagine how the Normans lust for wealth, they are going to devour those people, Normans are plunderers, this I know from what I’ve heard of them, don’t make it easier for them.”
“Still I want to win the peasants hearts and minds, we still don’t have enough bolt shooters for a mobile army, and fortifying the entire city and having a mobile army would be costly,” Adaneus thought aloud, “damn it, we collect more money I guess.”
Adaneus thought about his strategy, coming into a brick wall of not having enough manpower and that Butros had a point, he could help the peasants, but the Normans would likely steal from the peasants he helped, granted he thought about it, if they did indeed steal from those peasants they would be loyal to him then them, he would win people if nothing else. He waited the whole day, and then stomped his leg.
“Butros, we can at least get chickens for the peasants don’t you think?”
“Chickens, probably is cheap enough the Normans wouldn’t run away with it I guess,” Butros said, “still I worry Adaneus.”
Over the course of a day he spent 400 solidi to distribute dozens of chickens to local villagers in local villages. He bought oxen and cows likewise, spending some 800 solidi on a mere fraction of animals.
Giving chickens to local villagers in local villagers, was well received, peasants having amazed reactions.
“This is for me?” One peasant said, “for what?”
“The Republic of the West wishes for you to understand that they have your best wishes at heart,” a priest said.
“A gift?” The peasant translated.
“A gift,” the man said, “for Helios, for the gods.”
“Devil worshippers?” The peasant said with fear, doing a cross.
“Monotheism is false,” the messenger said, “the logic of it defeats itself, an all good god would not create a devil to begin with, and an all powerful one could destroy it. That’s as much as I can say before someone reports me. Enjoy the eggs, look after the chickens.”
“I will,” the peasant said looking at the messenger.
This process was repeated in a few villages, and in some the villagers were angry, but in most they were receptive enough to listen. The tales of Bari growing wealth had many villagers at least curious, with some villagers coming into the city to trade, and saw the spice market wealth in the city streets.
January 26th came around, and peasants came into the bustling markets, Adaneus sold cloves in the markets and black pepper, some 940 litrai of both netting some 5000 solidi that Adaneus added to the state treasury. 29,400 solidi would be enough to administer a small state, and Adaneus used it to his advantage, preaching to the locals.
“We will make sure every peasant in the countryside has an improved life! We have great plans for Italy! Join us! The monotheists have enforced misery, their words are falsehoods, we are devils? They believe their god created the devil! We will help the peasantry of Italy, and we will make this land richer than ever!”
“We will teach literacy and arithmetic!” Kwame intervened
“By Helios!” A bunch of people shouted in reply.
Adaneus penned a letter to the garrison of Monopoli, gathering a ship with a few sailors with bolt shooters.
“What are you planning Adaneus?” Butros asked.
“We need to make Monopoli part of the Western Roman Republic,” Adaneus said, “we can and we should.”
“Gifts to the peasantry is one thing, but I still worry about the Normans stealing from the peasants,” Butros warned.
“I will effectively coup the city of Monopoli, we will ask little from them, they will be happy to have the coin I am sure, 5000 solidi for their loyalty.”
“But that’s one day selling of spices?” Butros said.
“I can always sell more, the peasants loyalty matter to me, they will have ungovernable areas if they keep terrorising them.”
“Hmm probably,” Butros said, “just be careful.”
“We can always arm them with crossbows if need be.”
“I hope you know what you are doing,” Butros warned.
A stern face looked at Adaneus who merely shrugged in return.
