Dragonstone is the foundation of his business, and it is also where all the wealth he has accumulated over the years is stored - 30% of the gold, silver, gems, spices and works of art collected from the nine Free Citiess are stored in Seventy percent of Dragonstone Castle's underground treasure house is hidden in Dragonpit deep in Dragonmont, guarded by Sheepstealer and Grey Ghost on the outside, and protected inside by reinforced rock walls and numerous mechanisms.
Every stone, every wind outlet, and every mountain road that has been repeatedly trodden on this island has become a familiar texture that he can walk through with his eyes closed during his years of operation.
His fingers stopped on the document, turned to a new page, and glanced at the line of entries about military deployment: Dragonstone Castle regular army of one thousand people, slave army of nine thousand people, one hundred battleships, Aegon and Cannibal two adult Demon Dragon resident Dragonstone.
These numbers and nouns had already formed a clear picture in his mind - the neat queues of ships moored at the pier, the order of the sentry's footsteps on the Dragonstone Castle city wall when they changed defenses at night, and the dirt road at the entrance of Dragonmont that had been stepped on countless times.
He closed the deployment book, pushed it to the other side of the table, and leaned towards Mesalia's fingertips that were almost touching the edge of the page. "There is no problem with this one, stamp it and file it."
Mesalia was standing at the other end of the desk, and she reached out and took the booklet as soon as he finished speaking.
She did not open it immediately to check, but first placed it on top of several folded documents at hand. Her movements were smooth and neat, like someone who had done similar handovers countless times.
Redd raised his head and looked at her. "Have the supplies that King Viserys promised to provide arrived?"
Without a moment's hesitation, Mesalia opened another volume of documents, pulled out a neatly folded piece of parchment, flattened it on the table and turned to him.
There are neat and detailed handwriting on the paper, and the items are listed clearly one after another. From the ration of grain and bacon to the quantity of spare canvas and cables, there are clear numbers. At the end, there are stamped King's Landing's receipt and delivery stamp and Dragonstone warehouse's warehousing stamp.
Her voice was smooth and clear. "This is the list of supplies delivered last month and this month. They have all been put into storage and have been checked according to the monthly quota.
Next month's supplies are expected to be delivered before the agreed date, unless there is a storm in Blackwater Bay or there is any news of temporary detention at Velaryon - but based on the current intelligence, the latter is unlikely."
Redd looked down at the list, his eyes slowly sliding from the first line to the last line, confirming that each item was marked "Received" and signed by the person who checked it.
The amount of supplies has been reduced compared to when he first requested it from Viserys, and it was replenished after several rounds of sawing. The amount now in place is enough for the army and fleet on Dragonstone to operate normally for more than three months, without any gaps that require temporary supplies.
"Deliver it on time every month. Don't let the people on the island think that they will be short of food and clothing after I leave." Redd did not raise his head, and stopped tapping his fingers on the table. "That road has been paved once, and I don't want it to be cut off in the first month after I leave."
"I will verify the supplies on the list month by month." Mesalia put the list back on the file shelf on the table. "As long as the monthly ship leaves on time and docks on time, there will be no problems."
Redd closed the deployment book in his hand and pushed it to the table. "After I leave, Dragonstone will leave all the big and small matters to you.
Keep an eye on the fleet side. Although the entire Narrow Sea is already the territory of our Dragon King fleet, the Driftmark fleet of House Velaryon - even if it has suffered heavy losses - is not something that can be completely ignored.
A few ships and an experienced captain can sometimes block the passage of an entire channel in a narrow place. This matter cannot be left to be dealt with later."
"I will pay attention to it." Mesalia nodded slightly and put the deployment booklet just now into the file rack on the table.
"There are also the remaining fleets of the Three Cities Alliance," Redd continued, "They were not completely wiped out. Some of them escaped when they retreated.
If those people gather together and find an opportunity, they may not stay peacefully in the corner of the sunken ship.
Especially after they know that I have left Narrow Sea, there is no guarantee that no one will take advantage of me."
His tone changed from calm to a more restrained one, as steady as pressing the edge of the paper with his fingertips, "You have to be more careful in this regard. The number of manpower and dragons left behind is limited. Try to keep the danger out of the island as much as possible."
Mesalia nodded and put the things he mentioned into corresponding places in her heart, like putting several volumes of maps into different shelves.
Then she turned sideways and pulled out a relatively new piece of parchment from the bottom layer of the pile of documents at the corner of the table. The edge of the paper still had new marks from being folded. She unfolded it on the table and pressed the upper edge of the paper with her fingertips.
She paused slightly as her eyes glanced across the paper, as if she was deciding which weight to use to introduce the next piece of news, "There is one more thing.
After our fleet obtained the right to pass freely in Blackwater Bay, more than one merchant and captain have taken the initiative to approach.
Many of them had previously experienced restrictions on the passage of the channel from the House Velaryon side. Now that they saw that our flags allowed unobstructed passage, they took advantage of the situation and changed directions."
Mesalia paused, as if giving Redd a chance to listen.
The sunlight slid across the edge of the paper on the table, illuminating a series of numbers on the paper that had not yet been read out.
"Several contacts from chambers of commerce have already communicated through intermediaries and are willing to offer more flexible terms on terminal rental and storage fees than before.
These close ties can bring a lot of practical benefits, but at the same time, it also makes our relationship with House Velaryon a little tighter, especially the navigation rights in Blackwater Bay's sea area - they originally monopolized several deep-water routes at the throat, and now those merchant ships have chosen our escort route, which is equivalent to adding another line to our name in the Velaryon family's account book."
Redd's fingers stopped on the edge of the table.
His eyes did not leave the table, but he had already placed that piece of information in a specific position in his mind - together with the current situation of Driftmark, and stacked with its only two remaining Dragonrider.
"House Velaryon is no longer what it used to be.
Now Driftmark only has two women left to support the scene. If they didn't both have adult Demon Dragon, which can barely be regarded as decent combat power, their names would not need to appear in my deployment discussion."
He raised his eyes and looked at Mesalia, "Just do what you want, don't push them too hard."
People who have lost their way to live tend to do irrational things - I don't want to be chased by two adult Demon Dragons for half a month before setting off."