Douluo: The Adventures of King Skin

“Our Lady of Nintel, the goddess of form/works in the darkness in the womb/brings kings to life, crowns them with righteousness/brings masters to life, places the crown on his head/it is all in her hands.”

——Sumerian epic "Enki and Nimach"

The daily wage of a heavy infantryman is about half a drachma, or 15 drachmas a month. In Athens, for example, in Pyrrhus's workshop, workers who did repetitive work without nutrition earned about the same amount. .

But this half a drachma per day is just the maintenance fee for the garrison. The soldiers' rations are actually included in it, but the proportion is not large. When marching in the field, this salary will be doubled, and when attacking a city, the salary will be doubled. Or you may need to add more when rushing into camp.

Calculated in this way, after one year, excluding the winter camp vacation, in almost ten months, I can save almost 100 drachmas with a basic salary.Theoretically speaking, a veteran who has been in the army for ten years can save 1000 drachmas, which is only one-sixth of a talent, if he has not fought a single battle.

This was possible during the few peaceful times in ancient Greece, but this is the age of the Diadochi.

In order to ensure the loyalty of these rebellious veterans, the successors had to compete to improve the treatment of soldiers.The salary has basically doubled, frequent combat operations, rewards from time to time, and trophies obtained on the battlefield - but these veterans often will not confiscate all the enemy's private bags out of tacit understanding - the last big thing is looting Cities and temples.

This was the final situation. Cassander's Athenian front retreated all the way towards Thermopylae, but the speed was excruciatingly slow. Of the mighty team of more than 1 people, only more than 6000 are regular soldiers, and the rest are followers and servants of these grassroots soldiers - these people will act as light infantry during war, but their biggest task is to help during the march. Their master carries the money!

Large pieces of cast silver, small pieces of gold, some valuable handicrafts - maybe slaves, and the most valuable are various exquisite gems, which are carried by veterans personally, inlaid in scabbards and stuffed in belts. In the mezzanine of...

Anyone who knows something about the history of the successors fighting each other, seeing this calm and leisurely marching pace in the critical situation of the front and rear tigers, will think of the hardships that Eumenes encountered 12 years ago, and conclude that Such conclusion:

Once Dmitry's siege is completed, this beleaguered army will never resist. Instead, it will immediately use force to force its commander to surrender in order to preserve its property.

It was for the same reason that the pursuers took their time equally.They avoid any unnecessary casualties and just wait for the opportunity to come and take their own share.

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Eight slaves pushed the winch, driving the belt above; the belt in turn drove a copper flywheel filled with lead next to it; the connecting rod below the flywheel passed through a cylinder fixed on the beam, and then a rapidly rotating horizontal beam was poked out from the bottom. The grinding wheel on the horizontal branch is connected to the cylinder through a belt, and under the action of the two forces, the planetary motion begins again and again.

The master craftsman in charge of the workshop waved his hand, and the large bronze mirror fixed on the horizontal rail was pushed over, and soon came into contact with the grinding wheel, making a harsh and powerful chirp.

Workers standing on the beams kept adding oil into the cylinder, while workers on the ground kept sprinkling water to cool down the bronze mirrors.

After a lot of work, the worker pushed the bronze mirror along the track to escape from the grinding wheel, passed through the door and entered the fine grinding workshop, where there was another similar machine...

In the warehouse on the other side of the workshop, Pyrrhus had been negotiating with dozens of merchants and merchant ship owners from various city-states, led by Athens, for a long time.

They were marveling at a bronze mirror as tall as one person.

The image reflected above is so clear and accurate, as if it is not a mirror, but a door. Of course, existing metal mirrors can also achieve similar effects, but that requires skilled craftsmen, and often can only be achieved with a slap. If the impact is larger, distortion will inevitably occur.

Such a large bronze mirror would not have been able to be so flat or so efficient without the twin-axis lathe that Pyrrhus invented in a flash of inspiration.

At this time, several workers came in pushing another steaming cart.Use a fine linen cloth to wipe away the remaining water stains, and you will find another large bronze mirror that is equally clear and accurate.

Pyrrhus placed two bronze mirrors facing each other and asked the guests to walk through them one by one.

So everyone saw an unforgettable sight

——The corridor seems to be endless, leading to the invisible dark depths, and there are countless selves in it!

Then just for a short while, another new bronze mirror was pushed in. It was still a little hot to the touch. That was the heat caused by mechanical processing...

Exquisite products that go beyond common sense, unimaginably fast production speed, and low prices.

No one could refute what Pyrrhus said to them:

Such inexpensive and high-quality crafts would soon spread throughout the Hellenistic world - middle-class families would buy at least one, and princes, nobles and temples would use it to decorate all their walls!

And if these lucky people want to make a huge profit from it, the only way is to put down a deposit of at least 10 talents before sunrise tomorrow, so that they can still enjoy the market monopoly for at least half a year!

So the whole city of Athens was in a state of panic...

**

Looking at the silver piled up throughout the room, everyone fell into a daze.They were all shocked by Pyrrhus' ability to make money.Metilas accidentally said such stupid words as "Do we still need to fight?" Hippias scalped him several times.

Everyone was immersed in the ocean of joy, except Pyrrhus who felt his heart bleeding.

If he hadn't been so anxious for money, he would have made this windfall himself!

But now, excluding the necessary money for labor and materials, all that is available is a mere four hundred talents.A full calculation is equivalent to a year's military salary for six thousand troops. If he wants to hire pirates and transport ships, the cost will be even tighter...

It is said that when Demetrius first landed in Athens, his father Antigonus gave him [-] talents of entrepreneurial capital.Pyrrhus' eyes ached with jealousy when he thought about this.

Alas, it can only be said that people's greed is never-ending.

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Now that we have decided to seize the opportunity to start a fight in Thessaly, all we need is people, money, soldiers, and hope.

In terms of fame, with the help of the 'Triple Laurel' and the 'Bronze Ball Experiment', Pyrrhus can be said to have made a name for himself throughout the Mediterranean; now Zenas has set out for Thessaly to win more for him. substantial support.

In terms of military strength, he can rely on mercenaries in the early stage, and Hippias has already contacted 3000 people; if he can obtain a base area, he can then find a way to organize a force that truly belongs to him; in addition, he also recruited from Democharles Two thousand swords were given there on credit—curved-edged bronze swords that we would later call the Scimitar of Corpis.

In terms of money, for the time being, I just have the four hundred talents on hand.

Only in terms of talent, we are still short of resources.

The people Pyrrhus trusted included Hippias, Achilles and more than a dozen people. There were also people studying military affairs at the Lyceum Academy, but the matter was rushed and only a few were fooled, which was not enough to even form a staff team.

After much deliberation, Pyrrhus could only try his luck among the mercenaries to see if he could find some relatively reliable individuals...