Dominate the Game of Thrones with Mount and Blade

"The Andals will never allow anyone to plunder our people."

"Kill them!"

"The losers of Westeros want to come back to fight for territory?"

The news from Volantis did not excite the nobles. Their reaction to the Golden Group was beyond Arthur's expectations.

But it is understandable that neither the Andals nor the Seven Gods culture allow slaves to exist.

What's more, most of the officers of the Golden Group are landless nobles, illegitimate children, and members of rebellious families in Westeros. The orthodox in the West Continent are naturally extremely hostile.

"Quiet!" After stopping the vassal's noise again, Arthur I announced: "After we expel the Ironborn and capture the West, most families will send troops to the Stormlands to completely eliminate the Golden Group, a group of losers, and then take the Stepstones into our hands."

The Stepstones are a series of islands located in the Narrow Sea, from the east of Dorne to the disputed land. Only two islands in the archipelago have names: Bloodstone Island and Grey Gallows Island. Tyrosh, one of the free trade cities, is also located there.

"If Volantis dares to interfere in our internal affairs, the Targaryen family will lead all the armored soldiers of the western continent to capture the disputed land and fight all the way to the mouth of the Rhoyne River, so that all the slaves of Volantis will lose their shackles and regain their personal freedom."

Volantis is the strongest free trade city-state. In the "Bloody Century" (100 years before the Conquest) after the fall of the Valyrian Freehold, the city-state ruled by the Tiger Party launched a war to recover the Freehold, attacking three city-states including Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr at the same time, and occupied Lys Island and Myr for two generations.

Later, due to the intervention of Storm King Argilac Durrandon, the Targaryen family of Dragonstone, the sea overlord Braavos, Tyrosh, Pentos and other forces, as well as the rebellion in Lys and Myr, Volantis withdrew from the two city-states and has been ruled by the moderate Elephant Party ever since.

In one sentence, Volantis is the only true overlord in the southwest of Essos, and a tough guy who can fight against the four surrounding city-states alone.

If the Golden Company only supported Aegon VI, Arthur would not find a reason to send troops to the Stepstones, and the nobles of the Western Continent would not have to fight with the wealthy merchants of Volantis.

But if the forces of the Eastern Continent intervened in the Stormlands and took the peasants away as slaves, the lords and family heads would not tolerate it.

The king's statement greatly inspired the lords who firmly abolished slavery. Many nobles such as Matus Rowan and Clermont Piper expressed their support for the royal family's policy of sending troops on the spot.

Since the trade between Pentos and Maidenpool is still continuing, Arthur I ordered Earl William Mooton to continue to pay attention to various news from the Eastern Continent, especially to see whether the governor of Volantis has issued an order to expand the army.

The third news, "Myr's request for help", is somewhat related to the second news.

The city-state is located on the west coast of Essos, protected by a huge and calm bay - the Myr Sea - and a section of the Valyrian Road extends from Myr.

Trade is the economic lifeline of Myr, and its handicrafts are world-famous, producing lace, carpets, glass, glasses and green mead, as well as various processed products. One of the inventions produced in Myr is the telescope, and the carpets and lace produced here are very expensive. Myr is collectively ruled by a governor's council, and the governors are mainly local wealthy businessmen and nobles.

The Golden Company originally served as a city guard for Myr, but was later bought by Illyrio for a large price and fought for Aegon VI.

Most of the nine free trade cities do not have their own army, such as Qohor, which relies on its own mercenaries and the Unsullied Legion to resist the attack of the Dothraki in the east.

Another example is Myr, who has established contracts with famous mercenary groups such as the Second Sons, the Windblown, the Long Lance, the Ravenstorm, and the Golden Company for many years, so that the mercenaries can guard against attacks from Volantis and nomadic peoples.

After Captain Harry Strickland broke the contract, Myr's military strength was much weaker than before.

The civil war between Tyrosh and Lys was about to break out, and both wanted to win over Myr as a potential ally.

Unfortunately, when the news of the Golden Company's breach of contract spread, a newly rising Khal Pono came with his kalasa (a large tribe of Dothraki) to collect money.

Pono was the khal of Khal Drogo, the horse king, Daenerys's first husband, who is now dead. The khal was the commander of the kas (a small group under the kalasa).

After the horse king died, Pono gathered about 30,000 Dothraki people and became the new khal, and brought his kalasa to the source area of ​​the Saelhor River, preparing to blackmail a free trade city-state.

The Seheru River is one of the tributaries of the Rhoyne River. If Pono Khal goes south, it is the town of Seheru, an important town in Volantis, and if he goes west, it is the territory of Myr.

Therefore, the wealthy merchants and nobles of Myr sent a letter of help to the surrounding major forces. If nothing unexpected happens, a group of envoys will arrive in King's Landing soon, asking the nobles of Westeros to send soldiers to help resist the centaurs or slave soldiers of Volantis.

"We will see about this later. If necessary, we can send soldiers. The salary offered by the wealthy merchants of Myr will not disappoint us." Arthur concluded.

Although Myr also trades slaves, in general, its relationship with the West Continent is pretty good.

And it is easier to ask for a god than to send him away when it comes to stationing troops.

Arthur himself also has ideas about big fat sheep such as Pentos and Myr.

Capturing any medium-sized free trade city-state would be enough to solve the food crisis in the Riverlands, King's Landing, and King's Landing, and give the king the wealth to build a large standing army.

Due to the feudal fiefdom system in Westeros, it is quite difficult to centralize power. Even if you want to establish a larger royal territory, many lords and nobles will resist it.

But Essos is different. Once it is conquered, it can be directly regarded as the direct territory of the royal family and troops can be stationed there for a long time.

The fourth news, "Pantos's Shaking", is also related to the golden regiment.

Due to the influence of Pentos' northern neighbor Braavos, slaves are not allowed in the city-state.

But in the mansions and courtyards of governors and wealthy merchants, there were many men and women who were called servants but were actually slaves.

Due to Daenerys' disruption, the slave trade in the entire world has been greatly affected. The slave markets in Volantis, Myr and other places are only 10% of their previous size.

And one of the governors of Pentos, Illyrio, had set an example for his peers.

If the cheesemongers and the peasants robbed by the Golden Company in the Stormlands proved popular with the free folk of Volantis, at least three Pentos governors would join the slave trade.

They will most likely send their own guards and mercenaries into the Stormlands to participate in slave hunting, and they will also undertake some combat tasks assigned by Aegon VI and the Golden Company.

"Yanina Jaskis said that if Illyrio succeeds, he will also participate in the slave trade, but the food trade with Maidenpool will not stop." Earl William Mouton said.

Arthur sat up straight and scolded:

"If he dares to come to the Storm Land, I will fight against Pantos. I am not used to the problems of these merchants."

Due to the fierce movement, the king's pure gold crown was a little biased.

Queen Sansa stretched out her hand to straighten her husband's crown.

After Arthur glanced at her, he continued to say to the ministers: "Slave traders are our enemies. After joining us in the Reach, food is not a big problem for the time being."

The Seven Kingdoms and the Targaryen dynasty combined have not allowed Essos in the east to come to the western continent to snatch slaves for thousands of years. Even the Valyrian Free Fortress at its peak failed to do so.

If a few big businessmen had done this in Arthur's hands, then he wouldn't have to be the king and would have jumped into the God's Eye Lake as soon as possible.

The nobles were very satisfied with Arthur I's attitude, and they expressed that they would obey the king's order to counter the forces of the Eastern Continent.

In the following period, the relationship between the vassals and the king was not very harmonious.

Someone raised the issue of discussing the members of the Royal Council, and Duke Mace Tyrell continued, announcing on the spot that he was the first choice for the King's Hand.

"Looking at the Seven Kingdoms, can your Majesty still find a great noble like me who is good at governance, rich in strategy, full of martial virtue, and loyal to the Targaryen family? With my intelligence and wisdom, I will definitely make the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms Everyone is satisfied, and the common people in the countryside and towns praise the wisdom of His Majesty Arthur I..."

The inflatable fish not only boasted, but also praised the future king's son-in-law.

Arthur had no objection to his self-recommendation.

Mace is a very mediocre Duke, and his subordinates Randyll Tarly, Matus Rowan and others are much better than him.

But it was precisely because of his mediocrity that Arthur dared to let him be prime minister.

If it were a shrewd noble from the river bend, the king might not be able to play the game successfully.

With Arthur's ability, he could just hold the Duke of Metz in his hands.

It was decided that Lord Tyrell would become prime minister, but the river nobles had a new proposal.

"Your Majesty, we are the ones who supported you first. No matter what, the Hejian people should at least have two seats in the imperial council, right?"

shouted a bold river knight.

Clermont Piper, Aenys Frey, William Mouton and other great nobles agreed.

The big thing that gave Arthur a headache finally came.

By convention, there are usually seven seats in the Royal Council: the Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice, the Lord of the Sea, the Lord of the Exchequer, the Chief of Intelligence, the Captain of the Kingsguard, and the Grand Maester.

The last three seats have special status, and the power of appointment and removal of bachelors is in the hands of the cardinals of the city, and the king cannot intervene yet.

In other words, there are only four seats available, and the King's Hand has been given to the Duke of Metz.

The Redwin fleet occupied Dragonstone Island. Among the forces loyal to Arthur, Earl Paxter Redwin had a strong naval force.

The position of Sea Secretary has also been confirmed.

As for Chancellor of the Exchequer, Arthur is prepared to appoint the calculating Tyrion Lannister.

Although Arthur had promised the little devil to be his Hand of the King a long time ago, the situation was very different between that time and now, and Tyrion himself was still in Pentos, so he did not have to abide by this promise. .

The king is planning to let Lord Randyll Tarly serve as the vacant minister of justice. This is also the beginning of his efforts to win over and support the Tarly family.

His Corner Tomb is not far from the south of High Court, which is perfect for a battle with the Rose Family after strengthening it.

The king asked: "Does any of you want to be the intelligence chief?"

After all, the only positions left for the people of the Riverside are Captain of the Kingsguard and Chief of Intelligence.

But the captain of the Kingsguard is related to the personal safety of the royal family. Arthur is prepared to select carefully and not to rush.

The governors of the Hejian family looked at each other, and they were not very willing to do the job of intelligence chief, which had a very bad reputation.

"Your Majesty, the Commander of King's Landing City Guards has also been in the Royal Council. This is a good position." Sansa reminded in a low voice.

When she was in King's Landing, Queen Mother Cersei had asked the commander of the King's Landing Garrison, Janos Sterling, to attend the royal meeting, and Queen Stark had some impression of this.

Arthur also remembered this, so he announced to the vassals: "The commander of the King's Landing Garrison can also be a river noble, you can nominate one!"

These special exchange seats in the royal meeting are to win the support of the base, and Arthur is going to let them decide who will take the position internally.

What the king did not expect was that the heads of the families elected an earl with average family strength, and he was not here yet.

Earl Clermont Piper nominated Tristan Laeg, and then several dragon party families also supported him.

Arthur thought about it, but it was reasonable.

The forces in the east of the river, such as the Red City and the City of Travel, were once loyal to the Tully family. They supported Arthur for various reasons before, and they were not the same as the dragon party family.

But Tristan Legg and Clermont Piper of Willowwood City contacted the major earls and facilitated the establishment of the River Kingdom earlier.

The Legg family is also a dragon party family, so the two groups of people unanimously agreed to let him represent the river nobles and enter the imperial meeting.

As for the Frey family, the strongest in the Three Rivers region, they were collectively ignored by this group of people.

"That is Earl Tristan Legg as the commander of the King's Landing garrison." Arthur I announced.

After hearing this appointment, the bald Aenys Frey was so angry that he jumped up and down, "Your Majesty, our Frey family swore to you much earlier than this group of people, right? In..."

He thought that his strongest family in the river would secure a seat in the imperial meeting, but he didn't expect that no earl would nominate.

"Marquis Frey will serve as Minister of War."

Seeing that the angry bald man was about to shake out some things in the past, Arthur hurriedly said a position.

"Minister of War, what is that?" The Duke of Mace, who was standing at the forefront of the crowd, asked in confusion.

With his knowledge, he couldn't even remember that there were such members in the Royal Council.

Most of the nobles also whispered to discuss whether the king's appointment was in line with tradition.

Arthur had no choice but to explain to this group of old stubborn people: "In the next few years, there will be several major wars in the entire kingdom, but I don't have a clone to command the battles in various battlefields, so it is necessary to set up a minister of war to help the king fight."

"The power and responsibility of Marquis Inis is to coordinate the families of various regions and prepare for war. If necessary, he can also command a certain army on behalf of the king..."

Arthur spoke intermittently, supplementing the job division made up a few minutes ago.

This temporary Royal Council did not satisfy the king. The appointment of members and positions was full of compromises and exchanges.

But there was no way. In addition to the dragon, Arthur's own direct military strength and territory were not strong.

That was the only way.

But fortunately, the notorious position of intelligence chief can be selected by the king himself, and Arthur is ready to do something about it.

Moreover, the Hightower family did not express their attitude. He wanted to use this as an excuse to force the lord of Oldtown to make a concession in the appointment of the Grand Maester.

The cunning and loyal Lannister Pycelle must be replaced, and the simple-minded Qyburn can be promoted.