Jaehaerys doesn't dare, Viserys doesn't dare either.
They are afraid of being known as "tyrants", afraid that history books will record them as "cruel", "bloodthirsty" and "unjust". They are afraid that the great nobles who also own land and armies will become frightened after seeing the fate of Dorne, and will unite against Iron Throne.
They are like a swordsman who holds a sharp sword but dare not swing it down. The blade hangs over the opponent's head but refuses to drop. The longer they wait, the more sore their arm holding the sword becomes. When they can no longer hold on, the sword becomes a ridiculous prop in the eyes of the opponent.
Redd feels that their kindness is a bit excessive and even a bit cowardly.
Let the great nobles have their own territory, their own army, their own laws and rules, collect their own taxes and spend their own money, fight wars when they want, and marry whomever they want. Iron Throne has almost no substantive control rights except for collecting a symbolic and pitiful tax every year.
Those nobles were nominally the king's subjects, but in fact they were out-and-out local emperors in their respective territories.
They own granaries, treasury, castles, and armies, and they have the final say on all affairs in their territory. Whether Iron Throne's orders can be implemented in their territory depends entirely on their willingness to cooperate.
Think about it for a moment, if he is one of the great nobles, he has land, an army, wealth, and people, and everything is in his hands, why would he willingly serve as a courtier to the man sitting on the Iron Throne far away?
Isn't it good to be the boss yourself? Why do you have to have a living ancestor on your head, send people to send tributes during festivals, and send your own children to serve as cannon fodder when there is a need to fight?
The reason why those great nobles have not lifted the table and become independent is simply because House Targaryen still has dragons.
Those behemoths that can spit fire in the sky are Iron Throne's most solid and irreplaceable support. They are the only reason why all the nobles still dare not cross the line after tossing and turning in the dead of night and weighing repeatedly.
Without dragons, the loose political structure established by House Targaryen over the past few hundred years would not be able to survive for long.
Redd Thinking of this, he couldn't help but shook his head slightly.
House Targaryen has ruled this continent for hundreds of years, but has never thought of making real changes in the system.
Generation after generation, those kings sat on Iron Throne, wearing crowns and holding scepters, enjoying the glory of worship from all people, but they never seriously thought about how to truly unify this continent into a whole.
They were satisfied with superficial surrender and symbolic allegiance, with the gifts and blessings sent by the lords during major festivals, and with playing the role of mediator between major families, but they never thought of concentrating those scattered powers into the hands of Iron Throne.
In the Valyrian Freehold period, a highly centralized parliamentary system was implemented.
All wealth, army, magic and Demon Dragon are controlled in the hands of forty members of House Targaryen.
Although there will be fights and strife among those families, the core of the entire system is highly centralized.
Power is not scattered in anyone's hands, its flow is clearly visible, and the ownership of every coin, every sword, and every dragon is clearly marked on the drawing.
And Redd himself is now using a similar system. His army is firmly in his own hands. The generals he has given power and status to--Douglas, Marcus, Theora and others--if one day they disobey or have second thoughts, he can take back the power and wealth in their hands at any time and replace them with someone else.
No one is irreplaceable, and no one's power is born to him.
Those positions, those territories, and those armies were all given by him, and he can take them back at any time, just like when he handed them over.
He was lost in thought when there was a knock on the door.
The sound is not loud, but it is very clear in this quiet room.
He knocked on the door very carefully, as if tapping his knuckles twice on the door panel, with a tentative and uncertain rhythm.
There was about a breath of time between the two knocks, as if the person knocking on the door was hesitating whether to knock a second time.
Redd turned around from the window and his eyes fell on the dark oak door.
His brows moved slightly, not because he was annoyed by being interrupted from thinking, but because the knock on the door sounded too soft.
It didn't sound like the knock on the door of a waiter bringing tea, or the knock of a guard coming to deliver a message, nor did it sound like Messalia's somewhat casual and intimate knock.
It was more like a child's hesitation when he is not sure whether he should disturb others.
He walked to the door, pulled the latch, and opened the door.
The figure outside the door made him slightly startled.
It was a little girl, about a few years old, with House Targaryen's signature silver-gold hair, which glowed with a soft and bright luster in the afternoon sun.
Her hair was not carefully tied into a bun or braided like ordinary noble girls, but was hung loosely on her shoulders, with a few strands of hair hanging down the side of her face, swaying gently in the breeze.
She was wearing a light-colored skirt with a few gray stains on the skirt, as if she had just sat or squatted in an unclean place.
She was barefoot and stepped on the stone floor of the corridor. Her toes were slightly curled and seemed a little cold.
The daughter of Helaena. Alicent, the sister of Aegon II, and the second child of Queen Alicent.
Redd is impressed by this face.
At last night's dinner, she sat at the long table and used a silver fork to poke the grilled fish on the plate into fine powder. Her eyes were wandering, as if she was looking at something that no one else could see.
She rarely speaks and is as quiet as a plant planted in a corner. It can grow on its own without anyone watering it.
She doesn't have Aegon's activeness and publicity, nor does Aemon's stubbornness and unwillingness to admit defeat. She is more like a piece of Leaf falling on the water, floating along the current and stopping wherever it goes, without fighting or grabbing.
But now, she was standing at the door of Redd, barefoot, hands folded in front of her, head slightly lowered, as if looking at her toes.
Her breathing was so light that if Redd wasn't only two steps away from her, it would be almost impossible to hear it.
She stood there, not shouting anxiously or looking around, just waiting quietly, as if she was sure that he would open the door, as if time was another thing to her.
She should be watched. A princess of her age should always be accompanied by maids, wet nurses, and tutors. No matter where she goes, there will be a group of people watching over her.
How did she get here alone? Where are the maids responsible for taking care of her?
What about the guards who were supposed to be on duty in the corridor? Didn't they see a little princess walking barefoot inside Red Keep?