Compared with the previous lakeside town with a permanent population of only two to three thousand people, today's Heron Town is much more lively.
A large town stretching for more than a league began to form, with stone bunkers scattered around the town. Thousands of built wooden huts were filled with poor people whose homes had been destroyed by the war, most of them old people and children.
In the area slightly north, more wooden houses of the same style are being built, and countless landless farmers are working there.
The nobles in Harrenhal have promised that as long as they go to work every day, the farmers will have bread and pumpkin porridge to eat, and they can also eat porridge with shredded meat or stew every few days.
The elderly and children who can't work don't have to worry about starvation. The soldiers of the River King will provide two meals of wheat porridge every day, and the growing children can also get a small fish and two steamed buns every day.
As soon as there were more people, various "idle people" gathered around, including bards, vendors pushing carts, stepdaughters who still showed off their figure in light clothes when the weather got colder, monks and nuns in brown robes, people from the Eastern Continent.
Rich businessmen and their guards even had a circus perform here, but because they really didn't make any money, they stayed for a few days and left.
After obtaining the permission of the nobles and the two bachelors who presided over the construction of the town, dozens of taverns, restaurants, grain stores, wooden hotels, hook bars and other shops were built in the new town. In order to distinguish it, the original Heron Town
That little place is called Old Town.
This deformed society relies on massive amounts of food to sustain itself. Every day, at least fifty cartloads of food are transported from the Rutte family fiefdom in the north.
The food comes from Essos, and the trade route from Pentos to Maidenpool has been opened. In order to reduce the freight as much as possible, the wealthy merchants and captains of Pentos only send the goods to Maidenpool, and most of the remaining route is carried by William.
·The fleet and convoy relay organized by Earl Mouton.
But not all the food will stay here. Liumu City on the east side of Shenyan Lake and Yalan City on the southwest, as well as the Hedong area further to the west, are more affected by the war. The local villages are also in urgent need of food, so some food
He got on the boat again and was transported to the south by lake transport. Then he went ashore and entered the homes of starving farmers.
Harrenhal, the Forge Hall of the Keep.
A fat businessman wearing a loose yellow brocade robe, with a beard dyed yellow and oiled and forked, was lying on a chair, discussing a large business deal with Miss Sansa Stark, who represented the King of the River.
"The currency we recognize is the old gold dragon coins. The new gold dragon coins and the gold in your hands will not be accepted for the time being."
Yanina Jaskis, one of the governors of Pentos, smoothed his beautiful beard and pretended to be casual.
As one of the most powerful grain merchants in the entire Free Trade City-state, he also heard that the Hejian people were purchasing large amounts of grain, so he immediately came over to discuss possible long-term cooperation.
Sansa, wearing a tight-fitting purple robe, sat on the main seat and looked helplessly at the unusually fat businessman.
She previously swore that Willis Mandler was the second fattest person she had ever seen in the world. The first was Willis's father, Wyman Mandler, and Wendell Mandler, who was said to be equally bloated, was ranked third.
Bit.
But in front of the Governor of Pentos, Willis and his son became slimmer.
The bucket-shaped Governor of Yanina needs four sturdy men to carry it to move it.
Sansa, who has gradually grown into a great beauty, said: "I just found out what the new gold dragon coins are today. My lord, they are also gold, why don't you accept them?"
Just a few minutes ago, a businessman from the continent of Essos had just explained to the noble lady of Westeros the types of gold dragon coins in the western continent.
This makes Sansa feel very embarrassed. Living here, she doesn't know that the former finance minister Baelish Petyr has done so many tricks.
Previously, because King Robert owed three million gold dragons to Lord Tywin of the Westerlands, and the Iron Throne's rate of spending money did not stop, the Westerlands began to reduce the amount of gold handed over to the mint outside King's Landing.
In order to ensure that the royal family still has money, Lord Baelish, who has many tricks, began to mint new gold dragon coins in order to enrich his own personal pockets.
The new coins are basically the same as the old coins, except for the gold content.
The gold content of old coins is about 80%, which is considered sufficient gold and can be circulated in most free trade city-states.
The gold content of new coins is only about 30%, and the amount flowing into the market is not large, but it is already disrupting order.
It is worth mentioning that beggars on the continent of Westeros have the ability to identify the face value by touching coins with their eyes closed, but commoners do not need the new gold dragon coins. The nobles who do need them can do so in addition to going to the capital to have fun.
There is basically no need to spend money on your own territory, so there is not much response to the Chancellor of Finance's new policy.
On the contrary, it was the wealthy businessmen of the Eastern Continent, with their money flowing freely, who discovered Littlefinger's tricks first.
Because the new Golden Dragon coins are produced in different batches, the gold content is also different. After being cheated several times, wealthy businessmen in Pantos and other places began to resist using the new Golden Dragon coins for large transactions.
In the past, when the merchants of Maidenpool City and the Eastern Continent made transactions, they often used money raised by the nobles of the Riverlands. These golden dragons that had been lying in the castle for tens or hundreds of years were naturally old gold dragon coins, so there was no such thing.
Something happened.
"Since you don't recognize the new gold dragon coins, why don't you even recognize the gold dug out outside the Golden Teeth? Is it possible that the gold can be counterfeited?" Sansa asked.
Governor Yanina struggled to raise his swollen right hand and shook it slowly, "That's not necessarily true. Who knows what you might do."
Miss Stark was left speechless by this fat and unruly businessman, so she could only rub her eyebrows with her fingers as tender as white onions.
If Arthur was here, the fat man wouldn't dare to pester him like this, Sansa thought to herself.
She didn't like her lover's behavior of hitting people very much before, but now she has changed her mind.
Throw the hammer down and see who dares to bark.
Perhaps they were connected, but just when Sansa was thinking of her lover, the King of the River led several nobles into the Hall of Hundreds of Furnaces.
"Looks like a great guest."
Arthur strode towards the main steps and nodded as he passed the fat man and his servants.
"This is His Majesty the King of Hejian. Please forgive me for being rude. This body does not allow me to salute you."
Yanina stretched her neck as a salute.
The King of the River landed on the main seat that Sansa had given up, grabbed her waist, and kissed her hard.
"It's disgusting, there are so many people!" Miss Stark struggled to break away and covered the kissed lips with the back of her hand.
Although her whole face turned red in embarrassment, she did not run out immediately because she wanted to introduce the situation to Arthur.
Sansa made it clear in a few words the origin and appeal of Yanina Jaskis.
The King of Hejian nodded, "I guess Governor Yanina wants to make another deal with us, right?"
A wealthy businessman who is so fat must have come all the way, so he must be making huge profits.
What Arthur could think of was that in addition to grain trading, gold should also be one of the goals of the Governor of Pentos.
The gold mines in the Free Trade City-state region are far less rich than the reserves under the name of the Lannister family, so the gold dragon coins of Westeros overflowed into the western continent. In Pentos, Myr, Volantis and other places, gold dragon coins even
Can circulate freely like local gold coins.
"If you are wise enough to see my purpose at a glance, I will not spare the circle. May I ask if the King of Hejian has any thoughts about selling slaves?"
Yanina revealed his greatest purpose.
Near him, several great nobles such as Karel Vance, Tristan Legge, and Matus Rowan were eyeing the Governor of Pentos with vigilance. The subjects were considered one of the core assets of the nobles.
Whether it was before Aegon's Conquest, during the Targaryen dynasty, or during Robert's reign, selling one's own subjects was a mortal sin.
Jorah Mormont, Earl of Bear Island, was sentenced to death by Eddard Stark for selling poachers.
The custom of strictly prohibiting human trafficking for thousands of years has basically eliminated the existence of slaves in Westeros and ensured that the people of the territory will not be poached by slave traders from the east.
You know, near Volantis in the east is the largest slave-holding area in the world. It is said that every freedman there has at least three slaves. Freedmen with status do not travel without their feet touching the ground and have to be carried or sat on elephants.
car.
The entire Volantis maintains more than 100,000 slave soldiers all year round, and these slave soldiers are naturally composed of strong slaves who have been sold.
Pentos, which is not far from King's Landing, although nominally bans slaves, there are still many in private.
"I will never allow slave trading in my kingdom. Any slave trader who appears in the River Kingdom will receive a greeting from my giant hammer." Arthur first expressed his attitude, "You have heard of my giant hammer.
Do you have a hammer?"
The giant hammer and sword of the River King are already symbols, and any businessman who has done a little research on the situation in Westeros will know this.
Yanina nodded hurriedly, and the fat on her neck swayed with waves.
"In that case, I won't mention this issue. We can discuss food and gold..."
He didn't expect this young and handsome king to have such a tough attitude.
"But I have a question." Arthur interrupted, "Why do you suddenly want to run to Westeros to trade slaves? Have you ignored thousands of years of tradition?"
Yanina looked at the King of the River in surprise, "Don't you know what big thing happened?"
"What's the big deal?"
Arthur was confused by him. Was there any important information that he had ignored?
Tristan and other nobles also shook their heads, indicating that they were unclear.
Seeing that the King of Hejian and these nobles really didn't understand, Yanina began to explain it to them.
It turns out that the dragon mother has already started her great cause of liberating slaves, the cities of Astapor and Yunkai have been conquered by Daenerys, and Meereen is also in danger.
This put the entire trade in Slaver's Bay on pause, leaving the slave-holding areas without a source of slaves.
"The entire Volantis is eagerly waiting for the arrival of fresh slaves. I estimate that the market for at least hundreds of thousands of old gold dragon coins is vacant every month. People with ideas, such as the cheese seller, have already started to take action.
Soon, Your Majesty will hear about the mercenaries of the Golden Company robbing the peasants of the Stormlands."
King Hejian was keenly aware of the information revealed by the fat businessman.
The cheesemonger naturally refers to Illyrio, another governor of Pentos. He made his fortune by selling cheese, so he was given this nickname contemptuously by some opponents.
According to Yanina, Illyrio supported Aegon VI and paid sky-high salaries to the Golden Company, and then the motive for landing this mercenary group in the Stormlands was the slave trade.
"Is there any evidence for what you said?" Arthur asked.
Originally, it was nonsense for the Golden Company to support the restoration of "Aegon VI".
The founder of the world's most powerful mercenary group is Han Tie. He supports the Black Fire family, so the Golden Group has always supported Black Fire.
The Targaryens are red dragons, and the Blackfire family is their branch, and their hatred lasted for several generations until the Battle of the Nine Copper Kings, when the last Blackfire member, "Vicious" Maris, was killed by Barristan Selmy.
Jazz kills.
"There is no evidence, but you will understand later. By the way, the Faceless Men got together with Illyrio, Jon Connington and others. They formed a loose alliance to restore slavery and Valery
Leah tradition.”
The fat businessman said with difficulty.
Although Arthur and the nobles were surprised by this statement, they chose not to believe it.
After all, the Faceless Men are a belief born from the rebellion of slaves, and are inherently opposed to slavery.
But it is clear that there is a conflict between the Sea King of Braavos and the House of Black and White where the Faceless Men reside.
Arya Stark's swordsmanship teacher "Water Dancer" was appointed as the chief swordsman by Aquaman because of his observation ability far beyond ordinary people, which can see through the disguise of the Faceless Men.
"We should continue to discuss gold and food."
Arthur brought the topic back.
After a period of time, after the back and forth between the two sides, a treaty was finally reached that satisfied both Yanina and the King of Hejian.
The gold dug out from the gold mine must be purified to more than 80% before it can be traded with this governor, and it does not need to be cast into the style of gold dragon coins. Correspondingly, Yanina can ensure that his food is continuously transported to Maiden Spring City, and the price is the same as the price of the governor.
The continent of Soth remains consistent.
"I was originally going to compete with my peers for the right to operate the Pentos Mint, so I need this unformed gold."
After the deal is concluded, the communication between the two parties becomes much more pleasant.
After sending Yanina away, Arthur began to arrange the war for the next period of time.
Lothor Frey took five hundred men to Raventree City, and managed the castle and territory with his brother Jamos.
Marquis Aenys took the remaining 4,000 people from his family and 1,000 people from Maiden Fountain, and crossed the Trident River north, stationed along the Green Fork River, and guarded the direction of the valley.
The remaining 9,000 soldiers and nearly 10,000 prisoners, servants, etc. stayed at Harrenhal, strengthening and renovating the city walls while guarding against attacks from King's Landing.
After arranging the matters at hand, Arthur took the most distinguished prisoner of this battle, Duke Mace Tyrell, to visit Alduin, who was already 1.5 meters long and had a wingspan of nearly 5 meters.
