The Eyrie.
AC 275. Six years remained before Robert launched the War of the Usurper!
Late May.
As the most defensible castle in the Vale, the Eyrie had only ever been conquered in the distant days of Aegon's Conquest, when Drogon brought a dragon against it.
To reach the Eyrie from the Kingsroad, one first had to pass through the Bloody Gate. It stood in a narrow valley flanked by cliffs dozens of meters high. A few hundred longbowmen could hold the passage securely!
Then came a valley basin crisscrossed by rivers, with lush forests and fertile soil. This valley was known as the Vale of Arryn!
Of course, it had belonged to House Royce long ago, dating back thousands of years to the Andal Invasion of the First Men and the Children of the Forest!
By now, few commoners knew that House Royce was an ancient house carrying the bronze bloodline of the First Men! Most nobles knew the power contained within that bloodline! Once they reached adulthood, the children of House Royce possessed abilities above the noble average!
That was another purpose of marriage alliances: introducing superior bloodlines into one's own lineage!
After traveling north through the Vale of Arryn,
one could see the Eyrie standing amid four steep, elevated cliffs. It had taken several generations of House Arryn to finish building it!
Beneath the center of the Eyrie was empty space, and its great hall contained a famous opening: the Moon Door! It was hundreds of meters above the ground! Anyone who jumped through the Moon Door had absolutely no chance of survival!
The Eyrie was a natural stronghold! It was extremely difficult to conquer!
To storm the Eyrie, several fortresses had to be dealt with first!
The first was the Gates of the Moon, at the foot of the mountain!
Then came a long mountain road, along which attackers had to breach Stone, Snow, and Sky!
Snow and Sky stood at either end of the Moon Bridge, the only road leading to the Eyrie atop the heights!
Easy to defend, difficult to attack!
At that moment, the escort troops of the various lords of the Kingdom of the Vale were camped outside Snow.
They had all come to attend the oath-taking ceremony for the heir to the Vale-Jon Arryn! After swearing their oaths, the lords would owe the heir to the Vale their loyalty, at least on the surface!
Of course, nobles who lived farther away still needed several days to reach the Eyrie. Among them was Earl Yalun, who had come alone with five hundred troops.
Nobles could not possibly take all their heirs along when they traveled. That would be extremely dangerous.
In fact, only Jon's trusted followers might bring their heirs to the ceremony!
If an heir and a lord were killed together, internal strife might break out within their territory!
Internal conflicts over titles were legal in the kingdom of Westeros!
Outside powers would intervene! In the end, everything would be a mess, the successor would pay a price, and the family's bloodline would dwindle!
Meanwhile, Gulltown had also entered the harvest season.
It was a very lively day at Gull Manor. Nobles great and small from throughout the territory had been invited to the lord's large conference room for the lords' council on the last day of May.
As for the territory's factions, Gulltown currently consisted of two: the original noble faction formed by Gulltown's local minor nobles,
and the emerging noble faction that Su Qin had gradually assembled!
After all, he held actual possession of the Barony of Gull, the legitimate title of [Baron of Gull], and a [strong claim] to the territory. He could draw on popular support and had established and controlled the largest armed force! As such, Su Qin had already secured most of the control over Gulltown, the baronial domain of Gull Territory!
The old noble faction had two leaders, represented by Intelligence Minister Kelun and Right Minister of Finance Telang.
Kelun represented the local merchants!
Telang represented the local landowning nobility!
The new noble faction was led by Su Qin. Captain of the Guard Aila, Master of Works Gery, and Downton and his subordinates formed important parts of the emerging nobility.
The greatest taboo for a newly appointed official was immediately weakening the old nobility and aggressively installing his own faction! He could easily get burned by his own fire!
Su Qin's yearlong tax exemption did not merely apply to the smallholders, middle peasants, and wealthy farmers on Lord Su Qin's fief. He had even waived commercial taxes and, most importantly, port revenues!
This was how he won people's support. But as more and more refugees entered the territory and their faith changed to the Qilin Faith (Divine Dragon Faith), the foundation of Su Qin's rule-the outsiders-had become evenly matched with the local faction! They had even begun to gain the upper hand!
The other three domains in Gull Territory were Augustus Castle, Aite Keep, and Keir Keep!
Although they were only small villages, their local nobles' titles had no legal protection, and their economies were poor, Su Qin had been considering how to bring all three domains back under his direct administration!
Meanwhile, in the medium-sized library on the second floor of Gull Manor's main keep, the census of residents who were not nobles' serfs had been completed. The commoners' addresses and population information had all been recorded and stored, and the household registration boxes alone occupied more than half a bookshelf!
It counted as a rudimentary household registry! It was extremely crude, without even official seals of certification!
There were certainly nobles hiding unregistered residents. Nothing could be done about that; countless capable people throughout history had failed to solve the problem!
He could hardly wipe out all the nobles in one sweeping purge!
That method was actually quite effective, but the risks were also great!
In the end, the investigation identified three thousand households across the four domains that did not belong to the minor nobles.
But Su Qin only held taxation rights over Gulltown's seven hundred native households and five hundred refugee households! Those twelve hundred households!
Recruiting three hundred guards was already pushing the limit!
The remaining uncounted small farmers and hunters were actually people secretly cultivating Su Qin's land and secretly hunting deer in his Redwood Forest.
Gull Manor, the castle.
The large conference room on the first floor was now packed. Two rows of benches had been placed along the north and south sides, and everyone was enthusiastically discussing the harvest!
Today was an important summer work conference!
Nearly three months had passed since Su Qin became lord in March!
It was also harvest time. The year was AC 275, and Su Qin still knew that roughly twenty years remained before the plot officially began.
But momentum was already building toward the War of the Usurper, and the Free Cities had also split into several factions! Gulltown was vulnerable to pirate attacks! Preparations had to be made for the outbreak of war!
In fact, six years remained before the War of the Usurper!
Many dramatic stories would unfold over those six years! It was as though something was guiding the kingdom's internal conflicts toward eruption!
Inside the conference room,
Su Qin looked at the nobles on either side, great and small, old and new. The old nobles did not actually dare defy him either. The rights Su Qin had given them were enough for them to accept his rule.
Su Qin lightly tapped the table, and the nobles discussing matters among themselves fell silent.
Su Qin nodded and began chairing the meeting!
Looking at the ministers and minor nobles, Su Qin said, "The final meeting of the summer will now officially begin. I need to review our summer work with everyone and lay out the work arrangements for autumn!"
The four ministers at the conference table also handled the table balls-a form of entertainment equipment-as they listened to Su Qin speak.
Su Qin also glanced at the minor nobles on either side, who were listening attentively.
"Let's begin with an awards ceremony!"
It was an effective way to win people over!
"Over the course of the summer, we accomplished several very important things!"
"First, we successfully completed a census of the territory's ordinary residents and refugees. More than twelve hundred households have settled in Gulltown. Telang, the dozen or so civil officials under him, and their support staff deserve great credit. They will now receive a total reward of thirty gold coins. I hope they will continue to complete the work required of them next quarter."
Thirty gold coins was a tremendous sum! Enough to feed a hundred people for an entire year!
Telang stood and accepted the small cloth bag of gold coins.
"Of course, from now on, any official who makes no major mistakes during a quarter will receive an additional month's salary as a bonus, along with his subordinates!"
Work hard and receive a bonus! Fail to work hard and receive no money! Crude, but effective!
Telang raised his head and looked at the nobles, great and small, watching him. As he looked up, they broke into enthusiastic applause!
Telang felt immensely satisfied. This was something he had never experienced under the previous lord! Respect and a sense of honor!
Even his young mistress in the red-light alley no longer teased him so much about being a mere village head! His first wife had tacitly accepted the mistress's existence, and his eldest son's mercenary company was flourishing. Everything was going smoothly!
The minor nobles also treated him as their leader, and the salary the lord paid was five times what it had been!
What choice was there to make? It was obvious. He believed there would be even more in the future!
At this meeting, he had to make his own position and that of the local nobility clear!
And so Tron Augustus said solemnly:
"I, Right Minister of Finance Telang, shall uphold my oath and serve the Baron of Gull loyally!"
At present, most of the old nobles' loyalty had reached over 85. Although it did not match that of trusted followers such as Luke and Gery, they could still be used!
Su Qin nodded. Telang's clear declaration would send an unmistakable message to the minor nobles around him.
Su Qin had the final say in the territory! That was power!
Once Kerry finished recording everything, Su Qin continued, "Good. Now for the guards. Commander Aila."
Aila immediately stood. He was very curious about what reward Su Qin would give their guard unit!
"Under Captain Aila's leadership, three hundred militia-paid five silver a month-have completed their training as spearmen with respectable fighting ability. The twenty guards-paid one gold a month-have also made no mistakes in defending the castle! Here are one hundred and seventy gold coins, covering one month's pay and bonuses. I am proud of their loyalty!"
Aila accepted the bag of gold coins and watched the people around him look at him with admiration and envy. He was also greeted with applause and cheers, and he quite enjoyed it!
"The guards and soldiers swear to defend Gulltown and Gull Manor to the death!"
Su Qin nodded.
Looking at the satisfied crowd and the nobles great and small who would benefit after the meeting, all whispering among themselves with pleased expressions, Su Qin nodded.
"Of course, this is to let everyone know that your new lord is not a stingy man. From now on, if you perform well each quarter, you will all receive an extra month's salary as a bonus. If you perform poorly, that bonus will be canceled!"
Everyone looked at Su Qin and nodded, silently telling themselves to continue carrying out their duties carefully.
He admonished the nobles about the second matter: doing everything possible to ensure the harvest.
They also discussed some other matters!
Finally, after informing the nobles that the lord would purchase the farmers' surplus grain and telling them to rein themselves in,
Su Qin left with his people.
The question was, where had all this money come from?
This was how it had happened...
Su Qin had kept only two antibiotic pills for himself and given the other three to Delia to find buyers and sell! He had exchanged them for money in advance, bringing back a great deal of money! Three thousand gold in all!
Who knew information spread so quickly in this world! The great nobles had long since obtained intelligence about the medicine!
Together with the remaining three hundred and fifty gold, he had a fortune of three thousand three hundred and fifty gold!
The two large smithies had a full complement of forty workers. Summoning those forty craftsmen and paying their wages had cost six hundred and sixty gold coins in total.
The intelligence agency's one hundred personnel had been paid one hundred gold coins!
The finance staff's bonuses and wages came to sixty gold!
The military personnel's bonuses and wages came to three hundred and forty gold!
Altogether, that cost one thousand one hundred and sixty gold!
His private treasury had two thousand two hundred gold left!
Speaking of the medicine,
behind the scenes, antibiotics had actually been driven up to the astronomical price of two thousand five hundred gold coins per pill!
A medicine capable of treating chronic ailments that had persisted for over a decade had already made a name for itself!
Great nobles valued their lives, and the medicine was scarce, so naturally the price was high! Of course, no one knew where the medicine came from! Except those three merchants!
Their fate, however, was lamentable!
Many coveted the gold from the auction and sought the source of the medicine! Unfortunately, on the very night the merchants finished their auction in Pentos, they were assassinated in a brothel by a group of unidentified people!
As a result, no one knew where the medicine had come from!
How could anyone hold an auction so openly! And at such a high price! They were courting death!
In the end, the three new pills Su Qin gave Delia were secretly purchased by a senior member of the Iron Bank. They sold for seven thousand gold coins, of which Su Qin received three thousand!
That was actually quite good!
House Runestone had put in considerable effort to ensure Su Qin safely received that enormous fortune of three thousand gold!
A marriage alliance was one thing, but having House Runestone sell goods on his behalf so he could safely profit? The division of the proceeds had to be agreed upon!
Those were two separate matters!
Who would dare cross the Narrow Sea escorting nearly ten thousand gold coins back from Pentos without the fleets of several nobles with real power protecting them!
In fact, House Royce ultimately took two thousand gold out of the seven thousand five hundred!
Su Qin took three thousand gold!
The nobles who helped transport the gold received two thousand gold!
The rest went to the sailors!
Everyone profited!
Everyone was very happy!
The only unhappy ones were the three pitiful merchants! Their gold had vanished before they could even warm it in their hands!
Such was the fate of wealth without power: disaster was inevitable!
The merchants' several thousand gold coins had all entered someone's private treasury!
Delia Royce's!
She told herself that those three merchants had long since been assassinated by [Golden Tailor (organization)]!
Maintaining an intelligence organization across the Seven Kingdoms was quite expensive!
After all these dealings, House Royce had gained seven thousand gold coins!
Seven thousand gold for nothing! She was ecstatic!