Salt-Gold-Power

276AC

The salty, cold Ironborn Bay sea breeze was now steeped in the scorching scent of gold and power. Pike's docks had never been so bustling; merchant ship masts from across the Seven Kingdoms and even the Narrow Sea stood like a forest, their sails obscuring the sky. The dull thuds of ship planks hitting stone quays, sailors' shouts, merchants' haggling, and the crisp clinking of gold and silver coins intertwined into an unprecedented symphony of wealth, belonging to House Greyjoy. The air was filled with the aroma of spices, whale oil, iron rust, and a new, heart-pounding scent—the smell of gold.

In just one year, the once-empty harbor had completely transformed.

And within the vast study of Pike's core fortress, overlooking the busy port and the deep Sea Stone Hall, a silent storm had long since settled. Corlen Greyjoy, the King of the Sea Stones, like an ancient reef receding into the eye of a storm, personally placed two heavy seals, symbols of the core of power, on the wide black stone desk. One bore a roaring sea monster surrounded by salt crystal patterns, the other a blood-stained battle axe entwined with chains.

"Take them," Corlen's voice was deep, carrying a complex mix of relief from a burden lifted and the weight of entrusting the future. His gaze, like the deep sea, fell upon his youngest son across the desk. "The Gift of Salt, the Old Way of the Sea. The future course of the Iron Islands rests with you."

Across the desk sat Euron Greyjoy, only six years old. His deep, dark green sea monster robe already fit him perfectly, accentuating his upright posture like a young fir tree. He didn't immediately reach for the two seals, which would drive any lord to madness. He merely nodded slightly, his mismatched eyes calm and unruffled, as if he were receiving two ordinary stones. That composure, far beyond his years, caused the withered fingers of the old maester, Craigon, who stood attentively by in the corner, to unconsciously tighten his necklace again. It also caused Lysa, silent as the deep sea, to show a flicker of imperceptible light in her emerald eyes.

A year ago, when this five-year-old child proposed the "Platinum Sand" strategy amidst a storm of doubt, no one believed him. "Then give me a year, and let me try!" Now, with irrefutable results, he had turned all voices into submission and awe.

Salt Power as the foundation, invisible Chains.

The divine aura of "Platinum Sand" had not made Euron drunk on illusory gifts. He was as clear as a blade on a reef, forging Divine Grace into the coldest Commercial Scepter and Rule Chains.

Any lord or trading company wishing to purchase "Platinum Sand" must first buy several times their quota of Pike Common Sea Salt! "Binding Anchor." This was his first iron rule. This common sea salt, though preliminarily processed and far superior to the bitter coarse salt of other islands, was still grayish-white and cheap. The binding, like a heavy anchor, inextricably linked the buyers of "Platinum Sand" with Pike's most basic and largest salt production. Earl Giemond Boterly of Saltcliffe had once attempted to resist. He owned the largest salt flats in the Iron Islands; how could he tolerate the dumping of Pike's coarse salt? He sinisterly hoarded his own coarse salt and refused to buy Pike's salt. The result? Not only did he lose the qualification to purchase "Platinum Sand," but he also lost the channels to exchange "Platinum Sand" for continental gold and grain. He watched helplessly as Saltcliffe's warehouses filled with unsaleable, bitter coarse salt, his wealth slipping through his fingers like sand. The resentment of the salt workers and the straits of his lands eventually forced him to lower his proud head. The binding ensured that Pike's salt fields would never be unsaleable, and it tightly linked the economic lifelines of all the islands to Pike, ensuring shared prosperity and shared ruin.

The second iron rule was to build a strict price barrier. The rough, grayish-white sea salt flowed at low prices to the common folk's hearths and fish barrels of the Iron Islands, sustaining the most basic livelihoods. "Platinum Sand," however, was marketed as a luxury item solely for kings, wealthy merchants, and holy orders. The snow-white, crystalline salt grains were packed into specially made small crystal bottles or exquisitely carved wooden boxes, each imprinted with the holy symbol of the Drowned God and the Greyjoy kraken. Every grain seemed to condense divine grace and the essence of the sea. Euron intended to make Platinum Sand a luxury item, something that looked too expensive to eat, something only those of noble status and great wealth could consume.

The price? Ten times that of coarse salt was just the starting point! In King's Landing, in Oldtown, in Braavos, a small bottle of "Platinum Sand" was worth its weight in silver! This was naked wealth harvesting, using the halo of faith and absolute quality monopoly to reap astonishing profits from the tables of the Seven Kingdoms' nobility, the treasuries of Dorne's princes, and the ledgers of Braavos' Iron Bank. The flow of gold, like a tamed tide, poured ceaselessly into Pike's treasury.

Subsequently, Euron seized the opportunity to establish the Ice and Fire Trading Company (its tentacles had already quietly extended to major ports on both sides of the Narrow Sea), announcing to all potential buyers: wishing to purchase the Iron Islands' "Platinum Sand"? You may! But you must simultaneously purchase salt produced in the Iron Islands! Whether it's Pike's "Gift Salt" or the coarse salt from other islands, as long as it's produced in the Iron Islands! Any attempt to purchase salt from other sources to replace Iron salt will result in permanent revocation of "Platinum Sand" purchasing qualifications! Monopoly allows for pricing; it is the most profitable method! This was Euron's third iron rule: Blade of Monopoly.

These three directives, like swords hanging overhead, forced all merchants and lords coveting "Platinum Sand" to fix their purchasing gaze firmly on the Iron Islands. This not only consolidated Pike's absolute pricing power over Iron salt but also bound the salt production of the entire archipelago to the Greyjoy war chariot, greatly enhancing the bargaining power and overall value of all Iron salt. The coarse salt of Saltcliffe, simply by virtue of being "produced in the Iron Islands," saw its price rise. Earl Giemond, despite his mixed feelings, genuinely benefited, and his will to resist quietly dissolved in the face of real gold.

Old Way New Rules, a sharp blade in hand.

The other power granted by King Corlen—the distribution of "Old Way New Rules" Raid Permissions—was wielded by Euron like a precise surgical scalpel. He divided the "Old Way New Rules" into different grades of sea areas and routes, issuing "Raid Permits" of varying value based on each island's loyalty, contributions (especially the enforcement of salt tax and bundled sales policies), and past "discipline" in raids (strictly prohibiting touching ships of the Seven Kingdoms). Loyal islands with significant contributions, like Dunstan Drumm of Great Wyk, who was closely tied through marriage and refined salt quotas, often received "Golden Routes" leading to merchant ships laden with spices and silks or slave ships. Those who wavered or were lax in their execution, like Baelon of Blacktyde Isle, who had once outwardly complied but inwardly resisted, might only receive peripheral routes with high risk and low reward, or even be relegated to harassing poor fishing villages. The distribution of permits was issued through Euron, as only he knew the route information brought by all his spies.

This information, like invisible reins, directed the raiding power of the Iron Islands, transforming its destructive force into a tool for targeted wealth acquisition, and firmly serving Pike's overall strategy. A portion of the plunder was required to be handed over to Pike as a "Management Fee." Simultaneously, the Ice and Fire Trading Company became the largest transshipment point for fencing stolen goods and resupplying, collecting money with one hand and selling goods with the other, bringing the flow of black gold under control.

A Song of Ice and Fire, a black and white symphony. The banner of the "Ice and Fire Trading Company," one side a kraken formed of ice, the other a battle axe entwined with flames, had become a new force to be reckoned with on both sides of the Narrow Sea.

On the surface, it conducted "legitimate" business: transporting salt (especially the bundled common salt), ironware, and salted fish from the Iron Islands to the mainland in exchange for grain, timber, cloth, and luxury goods; then transporting mainland goods back to the islands for distribution. Its true profit core, however, lay hidden beneath the currents: efficiently distributing the "spoils of war" plundered by the various islands—from fine gold ingots from Braavos to sunset red wine from Dorne, from lace from Myr to ivory from the Summer Isles; simultaneously providing the Ironborn fleet with precise intelligence (partly from "eyes" controlled by poison and Ironborn blades), safe supply ports, and much-needed repairs and armaments. With one hand, it laundered black gold; with the other, it supplied the blades, weaving a vast web of both economics and violence. In just one year, the wealth it accumulated, according to the trembling parchment calculations of the old maester Craigon under dim candlelight, far exceeded the combined plunder and trade income of House Greyjoy over the past decade! Gold coins, as if summoned by magic, flooded the once-empty cellars and vaults of Pike.

King Corlen stood before the study's massive stone window, gazing at the spectacular sight of a thousand sails on the port, at the mountains of cargo boxes piled below the castle, and listening to the faint clinking of gold coins. His rough fingers unconsciously caressed the cold stone windowsill. The five-year-old son who had proposed a shocking salt strategy in the storm-tossed council hall a year ago now sat like a rock at the center of the power chessboard. He had silenced faith with the "Drowned God's Gift," shackled the economy with the anchor chains of bundled sales, built walls of wealth with monopoly barriers, and grasped the reins of violence with precise plunder distribution. He conducted the black and white symphony with the Ice and Fire Trading Company. Every step was precise, ruthless, and effective. Doubts had long since shattered into foam on the waves before the surging gold and absolute control.

Many lords even proposed: making Euron his heir!