Antonios hurriedly turned the page, and saw that three names had been circled by Daverst, all three of whom he was familiar with, the first was his brother-in-law Paphgrise, and the other two were also the children and relatives of Naxos and Katanai senators who were very familiar with him, although they were all the lowest officers to be promoted, the detachment leader (the squad leader was not included in the ranks of officers, and the commander of the regiment could be appointed directly), and at this moment he knew that these three people might not meet the requirements for promotion.

He didn't know too well how the other two fared in the training camp, but he knew exactly what his brother-in-law was, and when he was in Turiyi, Paphogris was punished by the team officers for being late for military training many times, and he also reported to him upwards, and after his severe criticism, he barely performed better. To be honest, when Paphogris was driven back to Naxos by Laodisien, Antonios was also relieved in his heart, he didn't expect this fool to return to his hometown and cause even more trouble!

"Your Majesty...... Your Majesty, I'm really ...... I really don't know what Pavlegres is on this list, with what I know about him, his abilities...... Not enough to hold the post of detachment leader. Antonios stammered, regretting in his heart why he had made such a big mistake by not checking the list more carefully in the first place!

"What you say is quite pertinent, but as the military minister of the kingdom, it is unqualified to say such a thing." Davers stared at him, his voice soft, but his tone heavy: "Look at this again." ”

As he spoke, he handed Antonios another letter, which was written by the current commander of the Eighth Army, Leotizides. In the letter, he recounted the military training of the Eighth Army, and gave a special introduction to the military training performance of the three Pavlegres mentioned by Davers, and the words "late, not serious in training, and ...... with the instructor" met Anton Ríos's eyes and made his heart tremble.

Leotizides! Antonios remembers this man well: he performed well in the First Legion, was promoted to captain in just a few years, and in the Battle of Brindisi that year, King Puchetti led the only remaining elite troops to counterattack to the death, most of the companies of the Dionian Legion scattered in formation and began to pursue the route, only Leotizides still had the strength to control the formation of his brigade, and blocked the passage of the Pucetti to Davers's Chinese army in time, buying precious time for the arrival and encirclement of other troops, So he made a deep impression on Davers.

After the resignation of the commander of the Eighth Legion, when the first captain of the First Legion, Quetsus, refused to take office, Davers personally ordered Leotizides, who was then the third captain of the First Legion, to take over, making him the only infantry commander in the Kingdom of Dionya who was not a former mercenary, and the youngest commander.

This man was not smiling, did not like to socialize with other people, treated military training harshly and seriously, and would beat and scold soldiers when angry, and some people in the army nicknamed him "madman".

Antonios believed the situation described in his letter, but what kind of identity Davers was, and he wrote a letter to Leotizides, who was far away in Sicily, about the military training performance of these nobodies, which in itself shocked Antonios.

"Your Majesty, I ...... I failed to manage the Ministry of War, there was such a big mistake, I beg ...... Ask Your Majesty to punish! Antonios bowed his head and confessed in fear.

"You deserve to be punished." Davers' eyes were slightly cold: "Your brother-in-law killed five or six female slaves in a row, and his methods were cruel, such a person can still be promoted to captain!" I see that when the news spreads, I am afraid that the senators of the Senate will mass up to impeach you, and the tribunes will protest! You......" Davers sighed, as if worried about him.

Antonios was in a cold sweat, his body bent lower, and he said in a snort: "Your Majesty, I ...... I request my resignation as Minister of War......"

After a while, he heard Davers's regretful voice: "Okay...... In this case, you resign from the post of Minister of War on the grounds of illness, and do not go to the Senate for the time being, and avoid this period of time...... Also, you don't have to look around for someone about your brother-in-law's affairs, the court will give him a fair ruling. ”

"Yes......" Antonios replied in a low voice, feeling a little relieved in his heart, but more than that, he was disappointed.

Davos put down the roster and the letter, and then asked softly: "Antonios, you have been in Sicily for many years, and your wife is Sicilian, you should know more about Sicilians, can you tell me why they are also senators, most of the senators in other places have their homes in Turiyi, even if they own land in other towns, they mainly use it as a place to increase their income, and occasionally bring their families to live, but the Sicilian senators buy as much land as possible in Sicily, and use it as another home, Why do you let some of your family members live there for a long time, and even make extensive friends with public officials in the local area, so as to increase your family's prestige in the local area? ”

Although Davers's tone was calm, Antonios felt Davers's suppressed anger from this flat tone, and he became more and more frightened, racking his brains to think hard, causing him to sweat again: "Your Majesty, I think these Sicilian senators and our great Greek senators are ...... The environment is different, so the performance is different......"

"Oh, tell me about it." Davers raised his eyebrows slightly.

Antonios thought for a while before he said cautiously: "Your Majesty, due to the destruction of Naxos and the city of Katanai by Syracuse, their people lost their homes and were forced to go into exile, in order to survive, they had to build settlements in the mountains, elect a leader, and lead them to defend against the invading Sikers, and from time to time the Syracuse organization came to eliminate their mercenaries, as well as the wild beasts in the mountains, they died a lot, and their lives were also very hard, These will only make them miss their fallen hometown even more, so after regaining the lost land, they cherish the land of their hometown very much.

The leaders of the exiles eventually became the Dionian senators, and during the years of their exile they became the pillars of the Sicilian exiles, who sought out any problems they had, and who still maintained these habits after joining the Dionics......

Moreover, most of these senators were of aristocratic origin, and before Naxos and Catane were destroyed, they all served as generals and councilors of the city-states, unlike the senators of Great Greece, before the rise of our Dionian Kingdom, the Tarantum League, the Turiyi League, the Crotone League, the Lochri League, and the Ligim League were basically stable and formed a balance. But in Sicily, apart from Syracuse and Carthage, the generals and councilors of the other city-states need to constantly make a choice according to the changing situation on the island, whether to unite with other city-states against these two powerful states? Or is it attached to one of these two powerful states...... Therefore, they had to maintain friendly relations with their neighbors, as well as with the Syracuse and Carthaginians, which is why they liked to hold frequent banquets, give gifts, and form factions. ”

"You understand very well, it seems that there are still advantages to marrying a Sicilian woman." Davers said meaningfully, and then said in an accentuated tone: "These bad habits of the Sicilians have been learned by some of our patriarchs, and they have a very bad influence! It was the plain of Catania that was incorporated into the Kingdom of Dionia, not that Dionya became part of their Sicily, and that anyone had to strictly abide by the laws of Dionia! It seems that ten years have passed, and they have not realized it yet! ”

Hearing this last sentence, Antonios became more and more frightened and did not dare to answer.

"Antonios, my old friend, although you call yourself sick and rest at home, you must not overeat and hurt your body! Now that the Daunis have been defeated in the River Ofanoto, it won't be long before their territory is conquered by us, and there are still many tricky things to deal with a capable senator like you! Davers's words of encouragement lifted the spirits of the frustrated Antonios, and he hurriedly responded: "Your Majesty, I am always ready for your summons!" ”

Davers watched him leave the office, the expression on his face slowly turned cold, although he knew very well that the approach of these Sicilian senators led by Laodisien was only to let his son have a better development in the future, so he would start the idea of the army, although becoming an officer of the legion, he did not have any rights in daily social life, but he had a very great advantage and was a priority when serving as a prince of the kingdom, or running for local councillors and tribunes. And in everyday life, their identity will also be respected by the people.

But Davers was furious at their disrupting of the army. Since the establishment of Dionia, he has always firmly controlled the army that laid the foundation of his power, and the other senators have no intervention at all, the appointment and dismissal of officers are all decided by him, and the formulation of military law is mainly decided by him, which may be discussed with the main generals, but never by the vote of the Senate, so the army is completely a closed system. But unexpectedly, after more than ten years, bad signs also began to appear, and the personnel of the Ministry of Military Affairs may have been bribed by these Sicilian senators, or perhaps in order to curry favor with Antonios, so they violated the regulations and included the unqualified Paphgres and others in the list of promotions.

It was only because of the Naxos case that Davers happened to have the officer promotion roster still on his desk, so he checked the promotion list of the Eighth Army by the way, so are there any other officers who have been promoted without qualifications? Davers didn't dare to think about it.