Having an organization compared to working alone offers the significant advantage of obtaining special support and greatly enhancing various work efficiencies in many tasks. For instance, during the search for Marie Antoinette's wealth, Liang En assigned a series of tasks to his subordinates, who would search several locations and confirm whether the treasures were present.
Of course, this didn't mean he would delegate all the work, as he was very interested in this treasure hunt himself and naturally wanted to join the search.
According to Liang En's plan, the treasure located near Marseille, France, should be the most valuable part of the entire batch, so he decided to personally inspect it. The reason Marie chose Marseille as a hiding place was simple: at that time, there was an English intervention fleet around Marseille, making it a potential escape destination for Marie.
Due to the availability of enough ships in that area, Marie hid approximately two wagonloads of wealth there. When she was recaptured after a failed escape, the person she sent managed to approach her through some means and informed her that all tasks had been completed.
Therefore, in Liang En's eyes, the possibility of this treasure still existing was the highest among the batch, which is why he chose to personally take action.
"Would you like to join me in this search, or stay home and rest?" After making up his mind, Liang En asked Joan of Arc, who was quietly reading beside him.
"Of course, I'll go with you. I feel quite well and can definitely handle a new long journey," Joan nodded.
"I've always heard that Marseille is a bustling city in southern France and a great place for traveling. I hope to take this opportunity to tour around," she added.
"Of course, that's no problem," Liang En nodded, "We can travel first and start the search after we’ve had enough fun since our schedule isn't tight."
Compared to other work, Liang En's job required a lot of time and energy in exploration. According to him, it wouldn't be too late to sit in an office every day when he got older and couldn't move around much.
So, the next day, they boarded a plane again, this time heading to the largest port city in southern France.
Marseille is a port city with a long history. Archaeological evidence shows that humans have lived in the Marseille area for nearly 30,000 years. The cave paintings in Cosquer Cave near Morgiou Bay date back to 27,000 to 19,000 years ago. Excavations at the train station also unearthed Neolithic brick houses from around 6000 BCE.
The recent excavation of the site near the train station had even invited Liang En, but he had to decline as he was busy excavating the ruins on Crete Island at the time.
Since Liang En became famous, he received invitations of this kind almost every month, but he usually had his own things to do, so he politely declined most of them.
Interestingly, France's oldest city is not the capital Paris, nor the birthplace of the British royal family, Normandy, but Marseille, established as a trade port by the Greeks from Phocaea in 600 BCE.
Like most ancient cities, the exact date and background of Marseille's establishment are unclear, but according to legend, Protis, a Phocaean seeking new trade settlements, first arrived here during ancient Greece.
For the Greek city-states, expansion and colonization were essential due to the poor land and rugged terrain in Greece, which limited the local carrying capacity.
In the event of a famine, if they couldn't find another way out, they could only wait for death at home. In such cases, each Greek city-state would organize colonization efforts overseas.
According to records, once colonization began, everyone in the city-state participated in a draw. Those selected would board ships with food, seeds, and tools, and after a final sacrifice, leave the city-state with the statue of the city-state's patron god.
By regulation, once colonists left, they could not return. Anyone who returned would be stripped of citizenship at best or executed at worst.
These colonies, scattered like dandelion seeds, eventually formed a system known as the Greek world around the Mediterranean, especially on its northern shores.
Unlike a unified country, this Greek world was very loose. The new city-states established by the colonists were equal to the original city-states, sharing only a common mainstream culture and gods.
This is why these city-states were gradually annexed by Rome and Carthage as they rose to power. Compared to centralized states, these city-states were too weak.
Not every colonial expedition succeeded in establishing a new colony, as founding a new city required meeting many conditions.
For instance, Marseille Port was such a case. According to legend, Protis, the Phocaean, discovered the Mediterranean's Lacydon cave, which had fresh springs and was protected by two rocky headlands, making it ideal for ships.
Protis was invited by the local Ligurian tribal chief for marriage and successfully defeated other suitors to marry the chief's daughter, Gyptis.
At the banquet, Gyptis offered Protis a cup of wine, clearly expressing her wish. After they married, they moved to the hills north of Lacydon; this settlement grew into Marseille.
This city was the first Hellenized port in the western Mediterranean and the first city in France (the Gauls had only tribes, not cities). However, it faced opposition from Etruscans, Carthaginians, and Celts from the start.
The western Mediterranean was their trade zone, and the Greeks' entry threatened their monopoly.
With just over a thousand people and relying on trade for survival, the small city-state couldn't face these three groups alone. So, they chose the rising Roman Republic as an ally.
Rome promised to assist Marseille if it was attacked, and after the Punic Wars, the city maintained its independence by trading Roman goods and wine for goods and slaves from Gaul, keeping this status for centuries until it sided with the wrong faction during the Roman civil war and was annexed by Rome.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city became the most important port of the Frankish Kingdom, and later the most significant port in Mediterranean France. To this day, it remains one of the most prosperous cities in France.
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