"Who else could there be? The first choice is, of course, Titus·Peake!"
Robert I held the wine glass and looked at his adoptive father and Hand of the King with a matter-of-fact expression.
"Titus helped us win so many battles, and even defeated more with less, easily defeating the Southern Border Army.
Now Highgarden and Lord Mace have all been captured by him, and all the Reach people have chosen to surrender. If he doesn't take this position, who is qualified?"
Yes - who is qualified to compete with him?
After all, Titus is one of his own, especially as a member of the alliance, he also took the initiative to give up his position as Small Council----
However, from Jon Hand of the King's true intention, he is not willing to further expand Titus·Peake's military power.
This is not because Jon·Arryn has any objections to the young Starpike Earl, but from Hand of the King's point of view, he does not want such a trouble-making person to be too active.
In his opinion, Seven Kingdoms's major wars have come to an end, and the next theme should be "peace".
They have Dorne's Princess Elia and Lewyn princes in hand - although they are both guaranteed by someone - in fact, they can easily reach a consensus with Sunspear's Martell -
Let the southernmost Dorne land of Westeros return to the rule of Iron Throne.
In this way, Seven Kingdoms will be at peace, and the throne of his adopted son Robert will also be stable.
But Dornish doesn't make trouble in the morning or in the evening, but he chose this juncture to make it particularly eye-catching.
With Robert's character, he definitely couldn't bear this tone. Because most of the places where things happened are Stormlands's border territories.
And really let Titus·Peake be the "Guardian of Dornish Marches" - this person's temper is not much better than that of Robert I.
Jon is afraid that as soon as this "guardian" is established, he will choose to take the initiative----
During their previous interactions, he had heard a famous saying from the now-famous black Earl:
Strong people know how to attack at the right time, while weak people only defend blindly.
Jon is afraid that the war will rekindle, people's hearts will be uncertain, and then some unexpected changes will occur.
In addition, the speed of expansion of Starpike's forces really made everyone raise their eyebrows--it's not bad, House Peake is not without strong enemies.
However.
In Westeros, even the king himself may not be able to do whatever he wants, let alone he is just Hand of the King?
As Robert said, if even Titus cannot sit in this position, then no one is qualified.
It's interesting to say, Robert·Baila Theon and Mace·Tyrell are like two sides of the same coin, one is capable but not thoughtful, the other is thoughtful but not capable----
Robert doesn't have as many worries as his Hand of the King. He thinks that with the strength of their alliance, even if they have another battle with Dorne, why not?
His injuries recovered quickly, and maybe he could still make it in time for the final battle!
Fortunately, he didn't let Jon know this deep thought in his heart, otherwise, the old Jon might have immediately switched from Hand of the King to the Eyrie's adoptive father state and angrily criticized the adopted son's game mentality.
Dorne's territory is not large, and it is not known for its population, productivity, or affluence. It is indeed one of Seven Kingdoms's most worthy of attention.
It is the only area Westeros that has not been conquered by "conqueror" Aegon's Conquest. In fact, Aegon I lost an adult dragon there, plus one of his wives.
In addition to the young and vigorous "Young Dragon" Daeron·Targaryen I and his equally young and vigorous partner "Oakfist" Alyn·Velaryon, they had made great achievements there, but they also ended in a miserable ending----
Most of the Targaryen kings who came to Iron Throne in the past relied on marriage to incorporate Dorne into the territory of the kingdom--that's all, in name only.
Dornish, with the tradition of Rhoynar as its main culture, seems difficult to be truly "conquered" by the outside world. The experience of successfully "slaying the dragon" has also given them the bragging rights and spiritual beliefs to resist power.
Therefore, Jon Hand of the King is not very optimistic about the outcome of the war with Dorne, and has various worries, fearing that the new kingdom will fall into a quagmire----
Westeros's king's power is not infinite, nor is it fixed.
History is proof.
When the Targaryen royal family still owned the magic dragon, the great nobles from Westeros all over the world were all keen on marrying House Targaryen, and they rushed to collect money, power, and resources from Red Keep.
Just to get a little closer to the dragon.
Targaryen was dismissive at the time, it was all based on his own temper, he was very proud.
The support for Targaryen from big nobles everywhere has actually been declining as time goes by.
The only thing that maintains House Targaryen's appearance is that they have eliminated many turmoils in a row, including "Blackfyre Rebellion" five times.
Everyone who dared to challenge their status failed.
After more than two hundred and eighty years, the dukes who were once "kings" seem to have gradually become accustomed to accepting Wulong Targaryen"
"Dominion" destiny.
It's this year.
This inertia was broken by Robert I and the five alliances of deer, wolf, eagle, fish and star.
It is true that Robert successfully "usurped" Iron Throne, but this is undoubtedly the result of another heavy fall in Seven Kingdoms's royal power after the magic dragon disappeared.
If there are another five alliances that strongly rebel in the future, can Iron Throne of the Theon family of Baila be able to cope with it alone?
I'm afraid that at some point, some people will follow my example----
I don't know what Aegon I was thinking at the time. Although there was an opportunity to annex Riverlands, it only retained the direct jurisdiction of Crownlands.
If there were dragons, of course everything would be easy. Losing the dragon queen would be quite embarrassing - even though the population here is quite large due to the existence of the capital, it is not enough for one to seven.
And it's not just a matter of numbers, Targaryen also has huge financial loopholes.
Iron Throne The so-called "taxation" is not very "systematic".
Outside of the directly-administered territory, sources are actually quite limited.
Except for Crownlands, apart from the fact that Riverlands and Stormlands are relatively close and have a relatively close relationship, the "taxes" of other jurisdictions are only collected from four of the five major cities.
Gulltown in the east, Lannisport in Westerlands, Oldtown in the south, White Harbor in the North.
To put it bluntly, what is actually collected is only the import and export duties and part of the commercial taxes in each region. How much you can actually receive depends on the degree of obedience of the local lords and the influence of Iron Throne there.
As for overseas Iron Islands and Dorne opposite Red Mountains, they are completely exempt from tax.
Ironborn and Dornish never paid taxes to Iron Throne.
If the Wang family didn't have the exclusive right to mint the kingdom's currency, little Crownlands wouldn't be able to be the "master" of Seven Kingdoms.
After becoming the first Hand of the King of the new dynasty, the pressure on Jon·Arryn was much greater than when he was the Duke of the Eyrie. If it were not for the sake of his adopted son, as well as his own pride and sense of responsibility, he would have given up his career long ago.
Back to Vale of Arryn, why not enjoy happiness with his young wife in his arms?
It's the same thing that Marshal Ti did in Storm's End.
The same is true of rewards based on merit.
With all kinds of worries, Jon Hand of the King still obeyed the young king's will and awarded the title of "Dornish Marches Guardian" to the young commander who defeated the southern army, captured the enemy chief alive, forced the Reach to surrender, and recovered Storm's End.
Titus·Peake has since been officially granted the title of guardian, and has become the sixth "guardian" to be widely recognized throughout the kingdom.
The only ones in front of him were the King's "Guardian of the Whole Territory" and the four Dukes' Guardians of the East, West, South and North.
The concept and system of guardianship are of extremely military nature and have nothing to do with suzerainty. However, they also belong to the highest military commanders in each key region to defend against any internal unrest or external invasion that occurs in the region.
This system was established to clarify the command authority of the military and avoid the possibility of disputes over the distribution of power.
Many families with a long history will add the title of "guardian" to their lord titles.
For example:
House Fowler's "Prince's Pass Guardian", House Yronwood's "Warden of the Stone Road", House Manderly's "White Knife River Guardian", and the temporary "Desert Guardian", etc.
Also includes:
House Tyrell's "Dornish Marches Guardian" and House Caron's "Dornish Marches Commander".
But they were all self-appointed by the local family, without the written approval of Iron Throne, and no one else would recognize them outside his family's territory.
Now, Titus officially has the title of "Dornish Marches Guardian".
From now on, Tyrell of Highgarden and Caron of Nightsong will no longer be able to privately claim military dominance over the Dornish Marches district. The inflatable fish of the Tyrell family, holding their nominal title of "Warden of the South", cried and fainted in the prisoner camp again.
Yes, Titus's version of "Dornish Marches Guardian" is very, very powerful. It is the wartime administrator of the cities on the border between the Reach and Stormlands.
This is not only because he has essentially "unified" Dornish Marches on the Reach's side, but also because of the special status of His Majesty Robert I.
Robert is very powerful.
He not only possesses the dual bloodline of Baila Theon and Targaryen, but also possesses dual identities. He is the original Duke of Storm's End, the Lord of Stormlands, and the king of Seven Kingdoms.
The decrees promulgated by it naturally have dual effects.
Whether it is to defend Dorne militarily, or to suppress Tyrell, the former royalist party of Highgarden, politically, black Earl has indeed gained a big piece of cake from King's Landing, and has the possibility of going further and expanding its sphere of influence.
Stormlands's four frontier lords can ignore Tyrell's "Dornish Marches Guardians", and even Stonehelm's Shi Wenjia during non-war times There is no need to give face to the "Dornish Marches Commander" Caron family, but they must listen to the decrees from Robert·Baila Theon.
- This is their Duke, this is their King.
In the post-Tarly era, there are now five Dornish Marches lord-level nobles left: The Reach Peake is the only one, and Stormlands accounts for four of them.
Nightsong, Harvest Hall, Blackhaven and Stonehelm, who have been attracted by Starpike Earl, including the large and small knight groups on Dornish Marches, will all obey the former's orders in the military.
This is not comparable to a temporary joint army like the "Southern Expeditionary Army", but a real war authority.
After learning the good news from Maester Cressen of Storm's End, Titus, who was about to step down from the post of "Commander-in-Chief", felt that his control over Dornish Marches had greatly increased.
The Wuxun families from both places are all in my possession----
"War Red":