Everyone thought about it and shook their heads. Athens may be the richest, but it cannot provide so many benefits to its citizens. As a city-state with a long history, too many vested interest groups, deep-rooted legal systems, and traditional ideas make it impossible for it to do all that the emerging city-state alliance Dionia has done. Although, among the Greek city-states, it has already taken good care of the civilians.

"Can Persia, a powerful country in the Mediterranean, do this?" Plessinus asked loudly again.

Everyone shook their heads directly: Persia, that is a dictatorial country where the nobles exploit the civilians and the Persians exploit other races.

"Then Dionia is the Elysian Paradise of the Greek city-states! I believe that after the Greeks know the rights enjoyed by our citizens, they will definitely flock to Dionia more actively!" Plessinus said affirmatively.

"Plesinus's guess seems correct. Even before the war with Crotone, the number of freemen in the port of Thurii had been growing... and after the war, we fulfilled our promise and even allocated land to prospective citizens. More immigrants will surely flock to Dionia. We must be prepared to accommodate them." Kunogorata took over, giving everyone a heads-up.

Everyone was delighted but also a little worried.

"Now, please allow me to add another right for Dionysian citizens," Davos continued. "I noticed that everyone seemed a little worried when they heard Kunogorata say 'more immigrants will come to Dionysia.' What are they worried about? I think they're more worried about the Dionysian Alliance's difficulty in maintaining good urban order! They're worried that with so many immigrants, most of whom are civilians and uneducated, once they become Dionysian citizens, the overall quality of our citizens will decline! It will decline sharply!—"

"Lord Davos is right!" Thurii elder Masisakus immediately stood up and shouted in criticism. "We're already seeing signs of this happening in Thurii, especially at the port. The new immigrants, speaking with all sorts of accents, are rude and uncultured, prone to cursing, fighting, and brawling. I've heard the port patrols deal with dozens of conflicts a day. Is that true, Kunogorata?"

Kunogorata shook his head and earnestly corrected him. "It's not that serious. Freedmen who want to successfully become Alliance citizens dare not break the law. Statistics show no more than five incidents a day, and most are resolved on their own before the patrols arrive."

Masisakus, feeling self-deprecating, muttered, "Three or four conflicts a day isn't a small number..."

Polyxes glanced at Masisakus, his eyes flickering.

Davos smiled and said, "Precisely because of these problems, my next proposal is to establish a school in Thurii. All Dionysian citizens, for a small fee, can enroll their children in school to learn literacy, arithmetic, painting, music, and athletics..."

A school?! Everyone pondered this novel term. At that time, the Academy of Athens had not yet been established. Greek education primarily relied on wealthy nobles and the wealthy hiring private tutors or purchasing learned slaves to educate their children, or renowned scholars opening private schools, charging hefty tuitions, and recruiting students. The city-state funding a single school to collectively educate its citizens' children was unheard of. But the senators were intrigued, and most felt it would help address the low cultural literacy of Dionysia's citizens. So, they all started asking questions.

Davos was incredibly familiar with schools. Combining his past life's experience with the current reality, he answered their questions with ease.

For example, Amyntas asked, "What if citizens also want to go to school?"

Davers's response was, "Establish a special class for adults in the school, with a different curriculum and teaching methods than for children, to facilitate and quickly eliminate illiteracy."

For example, Kunogorata asked, "Children of different ages and previous levels of education, how can we ensure that they all benefit and improve in school?"

Davers's response was, "Establish three levels of education: elementary, intermediate, and advanced. Children who have never learned anything will enter the elementary class and begin to learn to recognize words, count, and read... Children who already know how to read and have a basic understanding of arithmetic will enter the intermediate class and learn how to construct sentences, write articles, and perform complex calculations... The advanced class focuses on mastering rhetoric, public speaking, debate, and calculating large amounts of complex data... This is to prepare for the cultivation of high-level Alliance talent such as lawyers, accountants, and mid-level officials..." The senators expressed satisfaction with

Davos

's detailed explanation. Even Kunogorata, who rarely praised others in public, couldn't help but exclaim, "Sir Archon, I now truly believe you have the gods' blessing. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come up with so many brilliant ideas and a comprehensive implementation plan!"

Kunogorata's words were echoed by the senators.

Davos smiled and continued, "I propose that Ansitanos be appointed director of this school."

"Agreed!" The senators agreed. The most learned person in the Senate was undoubtedly Ansitanos, a former disciple of Herodotus. Of course, some believed that Davos, rumored to be illiterate but possessing a mysterious presence due to his divine inspiration from Hades, possessed a profound knowledge that was difficult to estimate.

"Ah? I..." Ansitanos, who was sitting in the back row, daydreaming, was awakened and hurriedly shook his head to refuse. "I can't, I don't have time! The Athenian Thucydides has completed his 'History of the Peloponnesian War' and is said to have been well received by the Athenians, and I haven't even started writing my 'History of the Great Greece' yet?!"

At the repeated requests of the elders, even Davos made a promise with everyone: all the elders would do their best to contribute information for his work, and if he wanted to interview someone, they would do their best to cooperate...

Ansitanos reluctantly accepted, but he immediately began to complain: "My lords, it's not that I don't want to manage the school. You must know that the Dionysian League, just counting the city of Thurii, has thousands of children of Dionysian citizens! And as you just said, Archon, you want them to learn Greek writing, arithmetic, painting, music, and so on. How many teachers will that require?! The Dionysian League simply can't find so many teachers to teach the children!"

After he said this, everyone immediately realized that this was indeed a problem. But Davos had obviously considered this long ago. He said calmly, "The Dionysian Alliance doesn't have enough teachers, but other city-states do. We're in urgent need of pine needles, and we can significantly reduce the tariff specifically for it to encourage Cyrenaic merchants to ship large quantities of it to the port of Thurii for sale. Since we lack teachers, we can certainly formulate a preferential law for them to encourage outstanding foreign scholars to actively come to Dionysia... Is that right?"

The elders seemed to be thinking deeply, and Ansitanos asked anxiously, "What kind of law?"

"My proposal is... all foreigners who come to Dionysia to work as teachers, even if they are slaves, will immediately obtain Dionysian citizenship! But the prerequisite is that they must first pass the assessment of our Senate's specialized agency to confirm that they have the ability to serve as teachers... Well... this assessment can be led by you, Ansitanos. But once they have citizenship and become teachers in the Alliance School, they must devote their lives to teaching children knowledge. If they change careers midway, their citizenship will be immediately revoked and they will be expelled! In addition, Alliance citizenship only applies to the teacher himself, and his children cannot inherit it unless they also engage in the profession of teaching..."

Everyone was moved by Davos' proposal.

Ansitanos, who had initially been unconcerned about being a school administrator, now spoke excitedly, "Since Lords Plessinus and Kunogorata believed that all Greeks envied Dionysian citizens and wanted to become Dionysian citizens, I believe the shortage of teachers in Dionysia will soon change!... I remember there was a previous alliance bill specifically for doctors, and now a proposal has been drafted to benefit teachers. My lords, doctors and teachers are two sacred professions besides priests of the gods. One heals the body, and the other elevates the mind. I thank the Archon for his foresight! I also hope to have your support! The Dionysian Senate has fully demonstrated its respect for knowledge! It will make our alliance not only prosperous in trade and strong in military, but also glorious in culture! The Dionysian Alliance will become a great alliance of city-states!!"

......

The meeting continued until dusk, and two people still expressed their intentions. The senators had no choice but to have the guards light candles and continue.

The first to speak was Skombras, who apologized, "I'm sorry to have delayed everyone's return home for dinner. I've just consulted Lord Davos, Capus, Hieronymus, and the others, and I've learned that there's a large swamp north of Crimisa. It floods especially during the spring rains, and the swamp expands outward, impacting road traffic and encroaching on farmland... I was wondering if we could invest a large amount of labor to fill the swamp and build a dam for the Lacoeli River. This would not only ensure the safety of the territory and prevent the outbreak of disease, but also create a large area of ​​fertile land!..."

"You've just been elected as the governor of Crimisa, and you're already implementing your administration before you even take office!" Protesilaus joked with a smile.

"What? Do you have a problem?!" Skombras glared at Amendolara, the junior he had watched grow up.

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