Rome Must Perish-Chapter 311 - 191: Food Supply and Education

"Hmm." Maximus nodded approvingly: "Yulitimos, I know as well, is indeed a very capable carpenter! Does anyone have any other recommendations?"

No one else responded,

After all, Volenus had served as the administrative officer of the rebel army and had registered most of the people who joined the team, evaluating their capabilities. Capito had served as the head of the Supply Camp and managed a large team of engineers and craftsmen. It could be said that these two had most of the knowledgeable and capable talents of the rebel army under their command.

Although the kitchens of Acronis and the Female Camp of Karina had many people, their cultural quality was much lower. The army did have a few suitable candidates, but they were all senior officers, whom Flanitnus was reluctant to part with.

Gaius now regretted: If he had worked earnestly in the rebel army before, he could have discovered some talents, recommended them to the leader, gained favor, and would have been more beneficial for his future development in the tribe.

Maximus waited for a while, seeing that indeed no one else had any recommendations, he said: "If we let Yulitimos be the City Lord of Westeni, it would waste his most skilled talents. I think it’s better to let him be the head of the shipbuilding workshop, lead other shipwrights, and help the tribe produce better and more ships... Hmm, so let’s let Sicropus serve as the City Lord of Vestini, what does everyone think?"

Capito and Volenus agreed, and with no other objections, the appointment was decided.

With the matters concerning the development of agriculture, industry, commerce, and military of the Nix Tribe settled, Maximus slightly relaxed and asked: "Does anyone have any other suggestions?"

Gaius couldn’t wait to speak loudly: "Leader, we in the Finance Department now have an important issue that concerns the survival of the whole tribe, and that is a food shortage! Originally, when Volenus handed over the supplies to me, our current food supply was quite sufficient for the original 15,000 people in the team.

But after we captured Snowdonia and Westeni, over ten thousand joined the tribe, making the food supply somewhat tight. Fortunately, we urgently planted a lot of beans and vegetables on the lands around Snowdonia, and their growth is good. I estimated based on their maximum yield that it could barely sustain us until June of next year.

But later, five to six thousand Skodisqi slaves came from Brochi, and soon a thousand Segestica prisoners will return from the Alde Tribe, increasing the tribe’s population by another fifth. And they are all strong laborers, so even if we ate all the grain we planted, it would only last until the end of February next year, and then the tribe would have nothing to eat!"

His words caused a stir in the hall, and everyone felt the tension.

Maximus seemed calm, having already understood that food security was the primary issue for the tribe. Thus, he calmly asked: "Gaius, you are the Chief Officer of the Finance Department, do you have any solutions to address the tribe’s food shortage?"

"Yes!" Gaius confidently spoke loudly: "There are many deer and wild boars here, we can organize hunting teams to carry out the hunting to acquire food; I see there are many fish in the Kupa River and the Kolana River, and they are quite large, we can organize the tribesmen to carry out fishing, which can also increase our food reserves;

We have 152 sheep in our tribe, including 33 female sheep, appoint someone to carefully raise them to produce as much milk as possible to make cheese; we also have some poultry, and we can appoint someone to raise them, they eat the fish and shrimps from the river and bugs from the fields and can grow well without consuming our food and can lay eggs daily, increasing our food reserves...

While acquiring food, the tribe must also strengthen control over food, strictly monitoring daily consumption to avoid unnecessary waste. In addition to our efforts, we can also buy grain from our allies, the Aldeans. I remember we had previously requested this from them and got consent, but later we captured the Segestica people’s village and acquired abundant materials, so we didn’t buy grain from the Aldeans. Now it’s time to resume this plan..."

Gaius spoke logically, clearly showing he had meticulously prepared, which slightly surprised Maximus: because some of his proposals went beyond what Maximus had initially thought, proving that this old fellow indeed had capabilities.

"Gaius has thought thoroughly, and if these plans can be implemented, I think our food shortage problem can be resolved!" Maximus first praised Gaius’ diligence, then comforted the others, and continued: "About raising poultry and livestock, Volenus, your Agricultural Department must take responsibility.

Flanitnus, have your Military Department select soldiers skilled in hunting to form teams for hunting beasts. Pigeris, go to the leader Budocaribas tomorrow to discuss grain purchasing. Controlling food consumption strictly is the responsibility of the Finance Department, and Gaius, you will take charge...

Oh, yes, about fishing, it remains the responsibility of the Agricultural Department. However, fishing is best done with nets, Capito, does your Weaving Team have the ability to weave some nets quickly..."

After every task was assigned, the worries about food among the people dissipated.