When Cleisthenes' letter reached Botaitia, Xia Zhe himself returned to the new capital by carriage.
After returning to the palace, Xia Zhe went to the sand table that night to check the locations of the hearts of each king.
Just as expected.
The halo representing the Heart of the Black King has moved from Tino Island to Botaitia.
This further confirmed Xia Zhe's judgment and provided clues for his subsequent operations.
A few days later, Xia Zhe was overjoyed when he received a letter from Cleisthenes.
It’s like someone brings you a pillow just when you want to sleep. Athens now needs my help, so the fifth heart of the king has been found.
He immediately wrote back to Achilles, asking to meet Cleisthenes in person in Eretria to discuss the terms of the halt.
Then, without waiting for a reply from Achilles, he decided to take the sea fortress and head towards the Euboean Islands.
Seeing the king so tired and unaware of the fatigue from the journey, everyone was very moved by his diligence and hard work.
Ajax volunteered to accompany as a guard.
Ina also gave constant instructions and sent all the newly equipped navy ships to escort.
Stoby's fleet, unprecedented in history, boasted over a hundred ironclad ships. They marched southward, heading straight for the port of Eretria.
When Cleisthenes heard that King Stobi had decided to go south in person and meet with him at the port of Eubia, he was quite excited.
He knew in his heart that this was Athens' only chance.
Even if it requires taking a risk to get to Stoby Barracks, it's worth it.
At least, there was not much hatred between the Tenebrook and the Stobi, unlike Sparta.
If there was a chance for reconciliation to relieve Athens' crisis, reconciliation with Stobius would be more likely.
The new archon of Athens readily agreed to come to Eubia for talks, which surprised Achilles and others.
They originally thought that the king's request was too excessive and Cleisthenes would definitely not agree.
After all, Eretria is now a port belonging to Stobi.
Athens was the largest country in Greece. How could its archon go to the enemy camp and negotiate with a knife at his neck?
This is too cheap! It's too unsafe!
When the king's reply was first received, few people thought that the Athenian archon would accept it.
Everyone thought that this was probably just a strategy of retreat by the king, a disguised request for a decisive battle with Athens.
But now think about it.
The king is more aware of Athens’ predicament!
The famous Cleisthenes would never have agreed to such humiliating negotiations if he had not been forced into a corner by internal pressure.
When the day of negotiation comes, Stobi will definitely gain huge benefits!
A few days later, Cleisthenes arrived at the Stobi military camp as promised.
Xia Zhe arrived early the day before with Ajax and Lillian.
Achilles had meticulously arranged the venue. From the height and size of the chairs to their placement, every detail highlighted Stoica's dominance over Athens.
Although Cleisthenes was dissatisfied, he had no choice but to acquiesce in order to buy Athens some breathing time.
Without much formality, both the host and the guest quickly got to the point.
As the initiator of the peace negotiations, Cleisthenes spoke first.
"Although the Athenian League is dead in name only, the strength of our Athenian nation still exists! These days, the five million elite heavy infantry led by Sparta have tried their best but failed to break through our Athenian defense line! If we negotiate and reach some kind of agreement, it will definitely be beneficial to the future development of Stobius." Cleisthenes said with full energy.
Without any further ado, Cleisthenes directly put forward his diplomatic ideas.
He hoped to turn enemies into friends, and for Stoica and Athens to form an alliance to deal with Sparta, which was beginning to grow stronger in the south!
There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests.
As long as Stobi agreed to cooperate, Athens was willing to recognize Stobi's control over the Thessalian region, and even the occupied Boeotia and its surrounding countries.
And give 20% of the profits from maritime trade to Stoby for free!
Such generous terms excited the high priest and Lillian! Even the Prime Minister and Ajax were a little tempted!
This is Athens!
For more than a thousand years, it has been the undisputed overlord among the Greek city-states!
The overlord personally acknowledged Stoby's ownership of a large area of land territory, and gave Stoby 20% of the most lucrative maritime trade proceeds for free.
The conditions are so good, there is no reason to refuse!
However, after hearing this, the real strategists were not satisfied.
The first to raise objections is Odysseus.
Odysseus believes that international recognition, such an empty thing, has no practical meaning to Stoica.
When city-states compete for supremacy, strength is of course the most important thing.
Whether Athens recognized it or not, Stobi had already occupied those places.
If Athens is unhappy, it can just send troops to seize it. There is no need to use such a hollow thing as a bargaining chip.
These words made Cleisthenes blush.
Before he could organize his words and figure out how to explain himself, Alexander had already spoken.
Alexander objected to the proposal of a share of the trade.
Alexander believed that Athens had a near monopoly on Aegean trade and that the profits were indeed enormous.
It is certainly a good thing that Athens is willing to share these with Stoica.
However, first of all, the Athenian military strength must still be sufficient to protect these shipping routes!
Now Athens is obviously in decline, and whether it will still have this ability in the future is a huge question mark!
If the Athenian navy became incapable, Stobius could completely rely on himself to control part of the Aegean Sea routes and obtain trade profits.
There is no need for Athens to give it as a gift.
Moreover, even if Athens was willing to give it, the trade profits would be in the future, and there would be no real money to be seen at the moment.
There is no way Stoby would accept using future events as bargaining chips!
Alexander's words were much more serious than Odysseus's, and Cleisthenes' heart tightened when he heard them.
The reason for venturing to the Stobi military camp was that Athens was facing tremendous pressure of national destruction.
Earlier, Cristhenes was able to remain calm and chat happily, but he predicted that Stobi had no strategic talent.
Now he realized that he was completely wrong.
"Is that all? If that's all, you should go back and prepare for war! Cooperating with the now powerful Peloponnesian League is obviously more cost-effective than cooperating with Athens! We'll see you on the battlefield!"
Someone spoke coldly, it was Achilles.
As the supreme commander of Stobi's main army, and also responsible for the leadership of three million continental mercenaries, Achilles' words carried considerable weight.
Hearing him say this, Cleisthenes could no longer hold back.
In desperation, he could only humble himself and speak to Xia Zhe almost pleadingly.
"Your Majesty King Stobius! What I just proposed is only Athens' preliminary plan. If you feel that the conditions are not ideal, you can of course put forward your own requirements. It does not mean that what I proposed is all. We can still talk! We can still talk!" said Cleisthenes.
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