The most relaxed was Temagolas. He not only took advantage of the opportunity to go on a mission to reach an agreement with the Spartan envoy in some aspects, completed the instructions of Calistratus to him before leaving, but also gained considerable wealth. This time, his initial gains will increase his influence among the Athenian people.

Who knew that things went against their wishes. Shortly after returning to Athens, Temagolas was reported by the people, saying, "He accepted bribes in Persia, betrayed the secrets of Athens, and betrayed the city-state..." In addition, there were many rumors in Athens, mainly saying, "He behaved in Babylon, and was not as good as Perot Pidas of Thebes. He was despised by the Persians, and was simply disgraced by the Athenians."

Not long after, the Athenian government tried to try his best to defend himself and hired a good lawyer, but most citizens in the jury believed that he was guilty and eventually he was sentenced to death.

After Luticli returned to Sparta, the tough demands made by the Persians also caused great trouble in Sparta.

Agsilous, who has always been concerned about Dionia, strongly opposed it. He reminded loudly: "After Dionia defeated Carthage, its national strength became stronger and posed a great threat to our Sparta. Fortunately, there was a friendly agreement, and this kingdom has always advocated keeping its promises, so even if we did something bad to it during the agreement, it still maintained a peaceful state of Sparta.

But now we have to take the initiative to cancel the agreement, which just gives the other party a justification that once Dionia sends troops to intervene in this war, it will inevitably bring disaster to the Spartan army that is working hard to deal with Thebes!"

Another Spartan king, Cliombrotus, stood up and firmly supported the satisfaction of the Persians' demands. His reasons were equally sufficient: "This war lasted until now, and we Sparta was a little difficult to continue. If Dionia cut off contact, we would not get the support of Persia. If the Persian king turned to support our enemy Thebes as he said, then Sparta would face great danger of being defeated. If the friendly agreement with Dionia was cancelled and we would get the full support of Persia, then we would not only end the war soon, but also become the overlord of Greece again, just like the Corinthian War.

By then, even if Dionia declares war on us, we can summon the forces of the entire Greek to fight against it. What's more, from the fact that Persia is so eager to threaten us to cut off contact with Dionia this time, the King of Persia is hostile to Dionia, and he will definitely support us in full fighting with Dionia. We can defeat the Dionians in this favorable situation and completely solve this hidden danger that has always worried us."

"It is said that Dionia sent 100,000 troops in the war with Carthage. Peloponnese was separated from Dionia by a narrow Adriatic Sea. Once the friendly agreement was lifted, Dionia really declared war on us Sparta. These 100,000 troops were likely to land on Peloponnese. How should we deal with it then?" Teacher Agsi asked with a serious expression.

Today, Cliombrotus has long lost the fear and immatureness he had when he was rushed to the throne. He replied calmly: "Don't forget that Dionysius also led an army of 100,000 to attack the Carthaginians in western Sicily. But in fact, we all know that only tens of thousands of mercenaries who are truly combat-capable. Do you dare to say that the 100,000 troops of Dionysia are all elite? I don't think so.

On the contrary, after we re-contract with the Greek city-states, if Dionya really dares to send troops to land in Peloponnese, we can call on the Greek city-states to resist the invasion of Dionya, an outsider, and form a large army with the help of the Persians and defeat it. This will not only completely solve Sparta's long-standing concerns, but also re-enhance Sparta's influence in Greece."

Agsilous frowned and reminded: "Since the establishment of Dionia, they have never suffered any failure in the wars they have experienced. Even if their army is not all elite, their combat effectiveness is absolutely not weak. Moreover, they are from the army of the same country. Even if we can call on various city-states to form a large army, this time the army will definitely be inferior to them and is not conducive to command--"

"Respected Agsilous!" Cliombrotus suddenly sneered: "In recent years, we Sparta have not commanded the coalition forces of other city-states to fight against the enemy, and win more than lose less. This is the talent that our Spartan generals must have! More than 10 years ago, you even commanded the Asian Minor to fight against Persia. Why do you say that we are wrong now?

Before Agsilous responded, Cliombrotus looked around, suddenly raised his voice, and said loudly: "The so-called Dionys army won every battle because they did not meet us Sparta! Remember what the King of Dionys said before the first signing of a friendly agreement with Dionys! He peeked at us on the west coast of the Adriatic Sea like a poisonous snake, making us worried and dare not slacken. Now it may be time to solve this problem! Dear wise elders and inspectors, whether Sparta can overcome this difficulty depends on your decision!"

Agsilous looked at Cliombrotus who was passionately giving a speech in the center of the venue. For some reason, the scene of his own eloquent defeating his nephew Leotizides through eloquence and seizing the throne more than 20 years ago.

Now that he is old, weak, sick and disabled, is he really not even brave enough?...Agsilus hesitated: breaking diplomatic relations with Dionia and offending Dionia may lead to war; but constantly communicating will offend Persia and it will turn to support Thebes. The current war will not only not stop, but will also become more difficult... This is a dilemma.

Agsilous opened his mouth and finally did not refute.

Then these 30 Spartan elders (including the two kings) voted on the issue of "whether to cancel the friendly agreement with Dionia." The Spartan nobles over 60 years old may have rich life experience, but most of them are conservative and seek safety in everything. Although Dionia is closer to Peloponnese, she has never entered the Greek land. On the contrary, Persia, which is thousands of miles away, has always exerted influence on Greece. Whether it is the Peloponnese War or the Corinthian War, Persia has greatly helped Sparta, and these elders are undoubtedly witnesses of these wars and have deep feelings.

But the final voting result was 20:20. In fact, Agsilaus' influence played a great role in it. Compared with Cliombrotus, who has not performed well in military affairs so far, many elders are more willing to believe in Agsilaus' wise and prestigious.

Now, the final decision has fallen on the five inspectors.

The Spartan escorts had great power. They could review and supervise the kings and elders internally, and were responsible for diplomacy and supervision of the troops on the expedition. However, they were selected from ordinary civilians. These civilians received arduous military training since childhood and continued to fight after adulthood. They did not leave collective life until they were 30 years old. Except for their proficiency in military skills, most people did not know much about politics, diplomacy and other aspects. There were not many citizens like Kelithops who were knowledgeable and politically wise, so Sparta has always been tough on the outside world in recent years. Only when they suffered heavy setbacks would they choose to retreat.

However, the five ombuds selected this year chose all without exception - breaking diplomatic relations with Dionia. The reason is very simple: the years of war with Thebes did not make any obvious progress, but the country was increasingly difficult, the soldiers were constantly injured, the people were suffering, and the war-weariness was very serious. The choice of the ombudsmen reflected the public opinion at this time. The Spartans were eager to stop the war and restore peace. As for the possible consequences of this, Dionia, a stronger enemy, they would not consider it so far.

This result did not disappoint Agsilous, but instead made him feel relieved: Since the gods had made a choice for Sparta, he didn't need to worry about anything anymore.

When Cliombrotus saw Agsilous standing up again, he couldn't help but say with smugness: "Now the resolution to break off diplomatic relations with Dionia has been passed, and even if you want to refute it, it will be useless."

Agsilous ignored him and looked around and said, "Even if we decide to break off diplomatic relations with Dionia, we should send a talkative messenger to explain to the King of Dionia in a tactful way why we must not keep communicating. If we have enough sincerity, we will not infuriate the Dionians and declare war on us at the critical moment of our peace talks with Thebes."

"I said that Sparta was not afraid of the battle of Dionia, and he could take advantage of this good opportunity to solve this big problem!" Cliombrotus reminded him dissatisfiedly.

"King Agsilous said it makes sense. It would be best if he could reach a peace agreement with Thebes and Athens and temporarily avoid Dionia from provoking war." Not only most of the elders agreed with this, but even the inspectors had no objection, but they felt a headache for the candidates on missions.

Because from the only examples of dealing with Dionya in the past, the King of Dionya was not a good person, so sending an envoy whom he knew and good at diplomacy to Turie would definitely have a much better effect, but both Kerithops and Phoebidas had been killed in battle one after another, and the rest of the Spartans were completely unfamiliar with Dionya.
Chapter completed!