Chapter 330: 325: Kicking the Ball

"Kick it! Kick it harder! Heh what are you doing!" 

"Ah, comon! I betted my lunch money for this!" 

"Run! Run! Run don't let him get a chance to get you number thirteen!" 

"Don't stop! Yes don't stop! Bypass him! Block him! Yes that's the way man!" 

"Oh, Holy Santa Maria what is this! What is the Datori indietro and Datori innanzi doing! Do they have eyes?" 

In a crowed corner from the port of Constantine in Thessaloniki a game of harpustum, a ball game is going on between two groups of sailors. The game of harpustum was used to be played in the era of Pagan Rome which had been revived a few years back in Northern Italia, specifically in those prosperous cities of Florencia, Venezia, Genoa and Milano. This game is then brought over the seas to various Latin colonies spreading the fashioned sport around and is eventually introduced to the lands under Antonius bringing in a totally new kind of recreational exercise for the people. 

Antonius is too with his fellow sailors watching this match cheering and whistling. Though he is not here just to watch the match alone, he is here to wait for some one's return, that is his old friend Abdullah, being rushed back from progressing his work with the local population of Erdek. 

It has been almost half a year since Abdullah has seen his old friend. Several months ago, there has been some problems on the Peninsula of Erdek going on. Apparently there are some minute misunderstandings between the original population inhabiting on the peninsula and the new immigrants that has just arrived two years ago. There has been arguments and conflicts between the two groups of people regarding on the sharing of water supplies, agriculture lands, pastures, housings and other kind of complicated stuff. Though all of these are still minor conflicts that can be solved through economical and social reforms, the most critical problem of all these is still the problem of the centuries – the church and the religion.

But we are not going to talk about it, lets leave it aside first.

Abdullah had already stepped his foot on the busy port of Thessaloniki half an hour ago, but it is only that he got intercepted by an old colleague Fisnik, who is trying to convince him in to some thing.

"You see, Master Abdullah, you must realise that there are all sorts of benefit for the admiral advancing east wards in to Anatolia… First, he can eradicate the threat of Zaganos even before he can become a threat, secondly, we can successfully put those affluent cities along the coasts of Anatolia which is said to be flowing with milk and honey in to our domain, and thirdly…"

"Did you think of all of these by yourself? Or did some people think it for you?" Abraham stopped walking and interrupted.

Fisnik is caught by surprise halting his speech for a few seconds and hurriedly nodded his head continuously. "Aye, I thought of all of these by myself."

"With no outside helpers?" Abdullah turned around staring in to the young man's eyes.

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Fisnik dared not look in to the later's eyes and turned his sight some where else nodding again. "Aye, definitely with out outside help."

"Ah come on, young boy." Abdullah decided to stop wasting his time here with Fisnik and asked back in a straight forward tone. "tell me, Fisnik, how much bribe did you receive this time? And who gave you the bribe? Why do they want you to convince Antonius in to expanding east wards?"

"…" A line of cold sweat began flowing down Fisnik's rugged cheeks.

"Don't try to lie to me young man." Abdullah continued staring in to the eyes of this man before him who is much taller than him. "Do not try to lie to me, trust me a man of my age can easily see through all of these trick from you young man."

"What are you talking about Master Abdullah." Fisnik made a nervous smile. "Those are all my own ideas! Never mind Master Abdullah, I shall bother you no more since the admiral is still expecting you, I still got some urgent stuff to do… Please excuse me."

Abdullah watched at the back of Fisnik as he ran away from the bustling harbour in to the crowd of commuters vanishing behind a line wagons and shook his head. He knows that this young man definitely had accepted a bribe from some unknown folks to try to tilt the admiral's decision making process in order to suite their own benefits, but who can they be? And what can these crooks gain from manipulating the strategic policy making of the army?

Abdullah knows that these people will not only bribe Fisnik, there must be a list of people whom they have or attempted to bribe, but after thinking for a short while Abdullah threw these messy thoughts away from his head knowing that with out a single trace of clue it is worthless using his efforts and brain power on these things, and further more those pricks who accepted the bribes are definitely going to surface out from the deep waters one by one.

"Abdullah! I am here!" Seeing the familiar figure coming Antonius got down the stage and waved with both arms. Seeing his old friend and long missed boss Abdullah too laughed picking up his pace forward giving Antonius a tight hug. This scene just looked like a reunion between a pair of good old friends, if one ignores the surrounding environment they are in currently which is full of athletes, fans, sailors and gamblers roaring and cheering with the ongoing match.

"How is it?" Antonius gave Abdullah a strong pat on the side of his arms. "It seems like more than half a year in Erdek never changed your body shape my friend! Enjoyed a good life over there?"

"Indeed, I bet that if you have went there yourself, you would have gained some weight too!" Abdullah joked back. "Let me tell you some thing, the coast of Anatolia is literally flowing with gold through its robust channels of commerce and economy. If we want to expand our sources of troops, we must get the whole of Rumelia, if we want a secured line of defence, we must get Bulgaria, but if we want to control the trade of Aegean and gain a stable and lucrative source of tax revenue, we must at least get the coast of Anatolia, that place will be our economic power house for the century"

Even considering the fact that Erdek is relatively isolated from the other stations, there are still an unstoppable amount of passing by merchants and traders docking or stopping in the peninsula to sell or stock their wares. The direct impact of this rapid trade expansion following the period of peace in the straits and Sea of Marmara is that thousands of people started flushing in to the Peninsula, and in five years' time two cities are founded by these merchants around the towns of Artàke and Kordelyo, and although this brought the long wished prosperity on the island, it too brought in the huss and hustles which started those minor conflicts in the local population.

Before this the local population have already been living with one another side by side for years enabling them to work together with different ethnic groups coping in the current social and political geography. There has even been a trend of friendship evolving and cross marriages between different groups despite their difference in various areas making them get mixed together proudly proclaiming themselves as 'the people of Erdek' instead of this and that. However, the sudden flushing in of immigrants and merchants broke this progress by a sudden.

While, prosperity comes with a price, and another part of the problem is that the local governance put in by Antonius ever since he captured this Peninsula is far weaker than the previous Ottoman government which got chased away. The governor Antonius placed here is previously a captain in Antonius' fleet who is considered one of the top notch candidate with a basic ability to read and write, but that is it, he only got the basic ability to read and write, nothing else, and with this he surpassed almost every other candidate in the election which made him the governor.

With such a governor people cannot expect too much more for the governing team he led, no one knows mathematics, no one knows social science, no one knows the local's language, and no one can make a proper plan of how to develop the infrastructure and economic projects. All of these is why Abdullah and Fahim is suddenly activated to go to the Peninsula themselves to have a look and rebuild a proper government system with the locals involved to curb all potential chaos from erupting in the future. Antonius definitely does not want his own back yard to start burning when he embarks on another expedition with his troops.

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