The king on the Great Wall

The prime minister in black and the priests in red looked at each other, and did not speak first.The bald old man and the elegant witch stared deeply at Iger for a moment, confirmed that his face was identical to that of the Lord of Light in the flames, and felt that his body was surging like a huge wave and carried a trace of the familiar Red God breath , no longer having any doubts, slowly lowered his body, and knelt down on the spot.

"The most loyal servant of the King of Light, send your greetings to Your Excellency the Proxy."

The hands, knees and head are on the ground together, in an incomparably authentic five-body prostration, and the supreme respect of devout believers to the gods they worship is beyond words at this moment.Although Igger was a little uncomfortable kneeling when they met, it was at least much better than the questioning and fault-finding he had been worried about before. If he is prepared, it will really give him a headache.

It is much easier to maintain a shelf properly than to be brainless. Iger sighed, and did not help him kindly or hurriedly. Instead, he accepted the obeisance with his chest up and his belly in a big grin, and then he said calmly with his hands behind his back: "Get up!" , My lord priests, I am the spokesperson of the world chosen by Ms. Rhelo, and my duty is to serve her ideal goals. Speaking of which, I should be half-brothers with you. After such a great gift, there is no need to do it again. If the Red God This rule has existed in the church for a long time, and my suggestion is to abolish it as soon as possible... Now, let's go into the room and discuss it in detail."

The four red robes agreed one after another, followed them into the room and sat down one by one.

The high-level priests are the highest level in the entire Red God Cult ecology, but judging from their positions and spontaneous seating order, there are still differences between the four people who are theoretically equal: the bald old man is absolutely There is no suspense in the first place, the "diplomat" of the Red God Cult Jinvara is next, and the high-level priests without special status like Melisandre and Marquilo are the last, and there seems to be no order between them.

Thinking about it this way, probably "high priest" is a rank, while "high priest" and "chief priestess" are positions. All four of them are high priests only means that the administrative level in the church is the same, but on this basis, the high positions The first two are naturally ranked above the last two, which are just "front-line clerks".

This is a system that has been practiced for thousands of years. Of course, Iger would not want to challenge it just because he has a closer relationship with Melisandre. After turning this corner in his head, he took the lead in provoking the topic .

"I fully understand the purpose of your trip here, but before starting the dialogue between the servants of the King of Light, please allow me to fulfill the responsibilities and obligations of the ordinary position--please, Mr. Benero and Jinwala, two priests, Give me a brief account of the changes in the situation across the Narrow Sea, especially Volantis, and the dynamics of foreign policy over the past two years."

Benello nodded, obviously understanding why Iger would care about this news: "This point, I want Ms. Jinvara to explain to you, it will be more detailed and targeted."

"Then let me introduce it to the agent." This is indeed within her scope of responsibility, the chief diplomat of the Red God Sect sat up straight, and said with a smile on the corner of his mouth, "My lord did not specify the specific time period, but I rashly guessed that what you were interested in was what happened to Volantis after the Queen won the Battle of Meereen...and to tell the story, I think it starts with Volantis deciding to go to war with the Mother of Dragons."

……

Volantis was one of the first military outposts of Valyria's westward expansion. It has been the most powerful free trade city-state since ancient times. Heir and beacon of the world, orthodox leader of humanity.But on how to conquer the world, the city-states have been arguing for hundreds of years first-the Tiger Party favors force, while the Elephant Party supports trade.At first, the war faction had the upper hand, but after continuous foreign wars that cost people and money but failed to obtain enough practical benefits, Volantis not only failed to become the master of the world, even the original government was overthrown by the war-weary people led by the Elephant Party.

For centuries after that, most of Volantene's ruling power was held in the hands of the Doves-the Elephant Party, and the Tiger Party could only hold at most one of the three major consul seats, and sometimes none... …until Daenerys made a big news out of nowhere in Slaver’s Bay.

As the "Breaker of Shackles", she angrily issued a declaration of abolition of slavery, which made countless beneficiaries of slavery panic. Under the butterfly effect, she succeeded in regaining the hawks who had been suppressed for hundreds of years in a city-state half a world away. With enough support, he successfully won the two consul seats, and organized a huge fleet to expedition to Meereen.

In the brand-new weather, the Tiger Party members decided to show their might, but what they waited for was the news that the Volantis fleet suffered a crushing defeat: the three hundred warships that went to Meereen to attack Daenerys not only failed to complete the task, but also failed to complete the mission. Transformed into the Targaryen Navy, in the next two years, "helping tanks to abuse" and rampaging for the mother of dragons... This blow made the Tiger Party lose face just after taking a breath, and in the ensuing political situation During the change, he lost another seat without any suspense, and was beaten back to his original shape.

"It is true that Volantis is dominated by the Elephant Party, but 'anti-war' does not mean that it is friendly to Her Majesty the Queen. Both tigers and elephants are slave owners. They just tend to solve problems and disagree with the enemy's thinking... ...The three consuls unanimously promote an organization called 'city-state union', the only leader of the Tiger Party naturally hopes to organize this military alliance to destroy the Mother of Dragons, and the two leaders of the Elephant Party are Hope to rely on this alliance to put pressure on the queen to abandon slavery and pay reasonable war reparations to Volantis..."

The defeated side demanded war reparations from the victorious side, and the brain circuits of these slave owners were extremely clear, but this kind of almost arrogant thinking actually showed the strength of Volantis from the side—the vitality and heritage of this city-state Still, there is indeed still a battle... No, it will take hundreds of rounds to fight any enemy, not to mention that it still has a large number of allies of slave owners with the same class attributes who can be recruited scattered across the sea.

If the existence of the Queen's two dragons, the Land Grant Army and the artillery unit that Iger is building is excluded, Volantis indeed has a little more cards than the Queen.

But here comes the question, why not count the cards that the Queen does have?

Iger smiled slightly and didn't comment much, but asked him the question he was most concerned about casually: "If you evaluate the progress of the formation of this 'city consortium' with ten points, what score would you give?"

"Two points, three points at most." Probably out of habit, Jinwala gave Iger a little shock with her charming eyes, "The three consuls have already started to prepare for related affairs, and they have indeed received the approval of the Zhucheng-states." Response and support, but there has not been any formal high-level meeting of the Ninetowns or the signing of an agreement. At the same time, the Scarlet Temple is not completely sitting on the sidelines, but is obstructing everything that threatens Rahe What happened to Ms. Luo's chosen one... In fact, there are still some territorial disputes among the nine major city-states, and it is impossible for them to completely twist into one and unify the outside world until the end of the world."

The general situation is basically the same as Iger's judgment. Illyrio is indeed just bluffing. Iger let go of his slightly raised heart and casually admired the beauty of Jinvarana and Melisandre: Witches are really a group of wonderful people— —It can not only accumulate the maturity, intellectuality and self-confidence brought by the years, but also leave no traces of time on the body. If it is not for the chest, there is also a standard ruby ​​necklace of the same style...

The same priestess, the one in front of her not only looks more stable and elegant, but also speaks more logically and logically than the other one. Why can she sit in the Red Temple and hold an important position while Melisandre has to travel overseas? On business, the answer is obvious.

"Here, I have to apologize to Lord Proctor." The supreme priest Benello, who had been invisible for a while, suddenly went online again, "It stands to reason that the King of Light has elected an official human representative for the first time since the creation of the world, the Great Red God All the high-ranking priests in the temple should come to see them in order to meet the etiquette, but right now the Scarlet Temple is struggling with the Volantis authorities in various fields, relying on the extensive advantages of slaves and civilian believers to barely survive the collapse, It is really impossible to leave all the high-ranking priests and leave an empty rear..."

"Oh? Why is that."

According to what the old man said, there are more high-ranking priests in the Great Red Temple, but I don't know how many, what is the ratio of male to female?

Heh, I will ask for a roster later, this is a powerful force on the mysterious side, and its role in some aspects is far from being replaced by artillery.

"The mother of dragons was able to almost completely surrender the Volantis fleet in Meereen. The existence of the dragon and her army's victory in the land battle are of course the main reasons, but the Volantis fleet can still escape at least. The reason why they didn't disperse in a crowd but completely surrendered was that the slave oarsmen and sailors of the lower ranks of the Lord of Light's believers in the uprising contributed a lot. Long before the war started, my church had always opposed and resisted the attack on Meereen At the same time, he also used the convenience of preaching and various ceremonies to place and train manpower within the army, so as to prepare conditions for the possibility of an uprising that may be combined internally and externally in the future." Jinwala took over The words of the boss explained like beans pouring down a bamboo tube, "This move is in response to the order given by R'hllor in the fire. Of course, I will not ask for credit or reward from Her Majesty the Queen, but the pawns buried in the Volantis fleet uprising The fact that it came in handy in advance, while allowing the Mother of Dragons to obtain a huge fleet, also completely exposed the relative positions of the Red God Cult and the slave owners, causing the Great Red Temple to suffer from the Volantene authorities recently. All-round suppression and advance. The three consuls of the Tiger and Elephant parties rarely cooperated with each other, and worked in unison to purify the religious attributes within the Volantis army, exclude the followers of the Red God, and make donations, taxes, material supplies, etc. All kinds of hands and feet... The Great Temple has become an isolated island in the great city-state of Volantisino, and it is in danger."

"Usually when we are in trouble, we will seek help and guidance from the Lord of Light through flame divination, but now the Lord of Light no longer responds to our calls and requests..." Benello complained with a sad expression. The priestess came here on purpose. Apart from seeing the Lord Proctor to witness the miracle, she also came to ask for help. She also asked the Lord Proctor to convey the plight of the church to His Majesty Rhelo, and asked him to remember the things we have served faithfully for many years. For the sake of it, send down the oracle and help again!"

Seven points are true and three points are false, but there is no malice.

It is probably true that the ruling authorities of Volantis want to destroy the Red God Sect. After all, no one can tolerate the existence of collaborating forces inside. It is possible to organize a huge mission of dozens of people to go out openly?As for asking him to convey the news to R'hllor... Most of the time, he just wanted to use his words to swindle out some information without daring to question the authenticity of his identity.

Iger wasn't angry, and he didn't intend to expose it. Maybe the people in front of him were indeed a few human beings who had lived for tens or hundreds of years, but they were not his enemies when he was a genuine agent of the Red God.

"For such a trivial matter, why bother Ms. Rhelo? She has pointed out a clear direction for me and assigned a clear task. I also have a bold idea on how to complete the sacred mission on my shoulders. The next thing we are going to talk about is this matter..." Iger said slowly and leisurely, "If the plan can be implemented smoothly, whether it is the desperate situation of the Red Temple or the Queen's lack of control over the Seven Kingdoms, it will all be solved. Synchronization can be easily solved, and it will no longer be a problem that bothers us!"

-

Chapter 636 Religious Affairs

"Ms. R'hllor asked me to integrate the power of all mankind for her so that she can more easily deal with the next attack of her old enemy; Her Majesty the Queen hopes to use external forces to suppress the local Seven Gods, to realize that both the royal power and religious power are in hand, and the Vigil Stroll's control has been improved to a higher level... After thinking about it, I suddenly found that these two goals can be achieved through the same thing - to help the Red God Cult expand and develop." The collective attention of the four high-ranking priests in the room Under the ceremony, Iger revealed the answer word by word, clearly and calmly: "The queen will make the Red God religion the state religion of the Targaryen dynasty. I know this is within everyone's expectations, but what I want to tell the priests here is ——Becoming the state religion is just the beginning. Our ultimate goal is to expand the faith of the Lord of Light to the whole world with the rebirth and rise of the Valyrian Empire, making it the largest and only official religion in the entire world. I want to Wherever people go, where flames can rise, there must be a statue totem of R'hllor, and praises and prayers to the Vulcan crown!"

"In order to achieve this ultimate goal, I have thought about the means and the way to control the enemy, and have formulated a series of clear timetables. This great holy war will start from the land under our feet-annexation of the Seven Gods, and the maintenance Turning Stroll into the foundation and stronghold of the Red God Sect is our small goal in the first stage. To achieve this, I need the help of a sufficient number of religious personnel, especially high-ranking priests..."

"Please forgive me for interrupting, Your Excellency the Executor." The Supreme Priest Benello said, with a tone of respect that was neither humble nor overbearing, "I have no doubts about your determination to manifest the prestige of the Red God and your ability to achieve your goals, but... You didn't seem to say how to solve the dilemma that the Great Red Temple is facing at the moment."

Um?Iger's train of thought was briefly interrupted, and it took him two seconds to come back to his senses: After R'hllor "offline invisibility" went to sleep, the high-ranking priests lost the ability to communicate with him through flames and watch various events. The ability of sight, and this also means that the Supreme Priest in front of him has never seen the scene where gunpowder tore apart city walls and battleships.Therefore, when my thinking has jumped to the fourth, fifth and even higher floors, the old man in front of me is still hesitating on the steps from the first floor to the second floor.

He needs to pull the other party to follow his train of thought.

Is that right?

Turning his mind slightly, he denied the idea.

The Queen's Hand is really busy with everything. He doesn't have the spare time and energy to explain every aspect of the plan to a magic stick, and the kneeling of Benello and Jinvara before entering the door makes this explanation even more unnecessary. no longer exists.

That kneeling unreservedly recognized the identity of the spokesperson of Agra Helo, and handed over all the old status and prestige of Benello as the supreme priest, holding this supreme authority, with his omnipotent How can you not make the most of your personality and way of doing things?

He is God's spokesperson in the world - the real one.All the resources, believers, and priests of the Red God Sect in the mortal world are just tools bestowed on him by the lady who is not a god but is better than a god.

The acting agent only issues orders without explanation!

"Ms. R'hllor gave me a way to borrow the power of nature in a dream. It is a weapon called 'Gunpowder'. If the Lord of Light has not explained its existence to you, it means that He thinks you are not You don’t need to know that much. You just need to remember one thing—it’s powerful enough to defeat any enemy that destroys me and the queen in the mortal world.” Iger was talking nonsense—using God as a shield , It’s much simpler than explaining the reaction equation of gunpowder and the principle of firing a cannon to a magic stick, “So, let me tell you what will happen next: the Queen’s Army will launch the final battle to unify the Seven Kingdoms next month , to end the war in one to two months. After that, the warships of the Westeros Navy will arrive at the port of Volantis to show the consuls of Volantis the true nature of 'gunpowder' Miracle. At that time, I need the armed "Holy Fire Hand" of the Great Red Temple to cooperate from the inside and outside, so that we can take the city by sea and land. After eliminating the core families of the Tiger and Elephant parties, the Red Temple and the remaining surrendered families will unite rule Volantis together."

Iger shrugged, "This is the way to resolve the crisis of the Great Red Temple. Don't question the scene that R'hllor has shown me. The dragon flag of Targaryen flying over the city of King's Landing is the most powerful proof. In the Great Red God After the crisis in the temple is resolved, I ask the church to organize in an orderly manner, carry out training as soon as possible and let the trainee pastors or priests graduate and become regulars, prepare the manpower I need, and I will give you six months."

"In these six months, I will use a two-pronged operation in Westeros, starting from the top and bottom at the same time, to disintegrate and destroy the Seven Gods once and for all. The specific method is: the upper level, I will lead the army to take Old Town, Let the archbishop and the archbishops all be replaced, and replace them with softies that I can control; at the bottom, I will launch a "religious revolution" in the name of defending the purity of the Seven Gods, and attack the grassroots priests all over Westeros. They conduct property and moral investigation and liquidation. I believe that there is no saint in this world. Even if there is one, you can pour a bucket of dung on his head and pollute him...Using the lack of piety as an excuse and using the power of the mob,' Zongge 'It will destroy the backbone of the Seven Gods in one fell swoop, eliminating its core resilience and resistance. When a large number of Red Gods have finished their training and set foot on the land of Westeros by boat, the Seven Gods will already be like a river bend Like the aristocrats of the land, they were beaten to the ground limply and slaughtered, and what you have to do is to pick up the ready-made spoils, settle in the ruined Seven Kingdoms religious field, and replace it with the Seven Gods. "

Iger's undoubted conviction sounded arrogant, but in the eyes of the high-ranking priests, he looked like a spokesperson for the gods. In the silence that was carefully recollected, Jinwala raised his hand and signaled: "I have a question, the representative Your Excellency, did Ms. Ragelo give you the weapon of 'Gunpowder' while also giving you the ability to change and manipulate other people's minds? If not, then even if you can disintegrate the existing power that destroys the Seven Gods, it will not There is no way for us to easily replace it. The inertia of human concepts is extremely strong, and the belief in the Lord of Light has no foundation in Westeros. If you rashly force the followers of the Seven Gods to convert to the Red God, it will not be effective within three to five years... and This process will inevitably lead to resistance and chaos. Can the queen tolerate this level of social turmoil? Will she be forced to bow to the people due to reality? How do you plan to solve this problem?"

"Good question." The chief diplomat's political sensitivity is completely different from Melisandre's.Iger glanced at Jinwala with some appreciation, "The purpose of replacing the high-level personnel of the Seven Gods is to make the Vatican leaderless and unable to concentrate their strength; to launch the 'Zongge' is to strike first, and interrupting it in advance may become a disaster." Resisting the bones of those people, crushing the clergy by drastic measures, and stifling the threat of counterattack by the annexed objects... Until this series of operations is completed, the queen will not publicly announce that the Red God religion will be the state religion."

This problem is completely different from resolving the siege of the Great Red Temple, and it really needs to be explained clearly to these high-ranking priests, "During those six months, I will work with the newly appointed Holy See of the Seven Gods and everyone to re-edit the "Seven Stars Bible" ". The new version will remove the title of "Seven Stars" and directly name it "Holy Book", and one of the most critical changes is that it will claim that the Seven Gods are just seven different forms of R'hllor, representing The seven different fields and virtues that the only true god values. That’s why—the small goal of the first stage I mentioned before is to 'annex' rather than 'destroy' the religion of the Seven Gods!"

The saying that the seven gods are just the seven forms of the only god is actually mentioned and emphasized in the "Seven Stars Bible" itself. A slight change will fundamentally subvert the independence and exclusivity of the Seven Gods, so that the dove can easily occupy the magpie's nest and accept all his believers and legal status without major changes in concepts and behavior habits. , and even eliminated the possibility of the revival of the annexed religion in the long run—using the enemy's logic to kill the enemy, what a trick!

A look of astonishment flashed in Jinvarana's already beautiful dark eyes. She realized that although this plan was unimaginable, it would only be possible to realize it with the unsuspecting cooperation and support of the royal power and the religious power. Iger, who has the two identities of "Prime Minister" and "Rhloh spokesperson", happens to be the best candidate for the implementer!

The chief priestess was very moved, but the supreme priest raised objections: "The strategy is a good strategy, but in this way, wouldn't it mean that a large number of heretics who have never had any understanding or faith in R'hllor have mixed into our church? ?Successful planning of the Seven Gods has certainly become history, but can this new religion that survives be called the Red God? Speaking of it, is it the Red God that swallows the Seven Gods, or the Seven Gods that swallows the Red God? , I am afraid it is difficult to draw a definite conclusion!"

The old priest's concern was correct, and it was the same reason as "a country is easy to obtain but hard to govern". It is certainly more difficult than forcing the people of Westeros to complete the transformation of the religions of the Seven Kingdoms in this way. Converting to paganism and other gods is relatively low, but it will cause the purity and unity of the Red God religion to be greatly polluted...

But having said that, does Iger care about the purity of the Red God Cult?

He does not accept the surrender and peace talks of the River Bend, and hopes to maintain a certain degree of purity of the beneficiary group, because he is worried that there will be a large force in the new dynasty that will hinder the implementation of the Queen's reform decree... But the Red God Sect and this are not the same code thing.

He wanted to replace the Religion of the Seven Gods with the R'hllor belief, but because he didn't want the religious power in the kingdom to be secretly controlled by people other than himself, and he also needed a more enlightened one that would not hinder him from carrying out various reforms or behind the scenes. Secretly claiming that Daenerys is a "product of chaos" organization groups control the grassroots to strengthen social stability.

This Protestantism, which is about to merge the Red God and the Seven Gods, is just a ruling tool.Unity, piety or purity... These qualities are definitely good for a country, civilization or regime, but they are just the opposite for a religion-tools, easy to use and easy to use, too powerful or have their own positions and Ideas are troublesome!

……

"Your Excellency Benello, are you the agent, or am I the agent?"

Iger was merciless, and the mighty spirit on his body seemed to intensify and magnify with his anger.

"I respect your belief and persistence as a devout believer with senior qualifications, but which one is more important between the 'purity of the Red God Religion' you imagined and the orders of the Red God himself? Ms. Rhelo is now What is needed is as many servants and servants as possible, not a small group of fanatics! Do you want to, as the Supreme Priest, decide what Ms. R'hllor should need and what she can get?"

The bald old man was intimidated by these two words of reprimand, and realized that he was talking to the spokesperson of the King of Light. He hurriedly left his seat in horror, and pretended to kneel down to ask for forgiveness, but Igger stopped drinking hindered.

"Sit down!" Iger glared at him impatiently, "There has never been another agent who can demonstrate and tell me what an agent should be like. But I bear the mission and tasks delegated by R'hllor , shoulders are sore from the weight of the supreme responsibility, and I really don’t have the strength to discuss the direction of progress with everyone who has ideas... So I think we should set some rules today.”

He glanced around the people present, and suddenly realized that the real existence of R'hllor is really a great thing.Not to mention anything else, at least he would never dare to talk to the nobles and princes in this tone and way.

"That is—when I need your suggestions and opinions, you can speak enthusiastically, but when I give clear instructions and assign certain tasks, in the name of R'hllor, what I need is complete obedience, And 100% execution, I think, this should not be too much to ask, right?"

-

Chapter 637 A Dangerous Race

The temperature has finally risen to the point where even the dullest people begin to feel warm. In the narrow and crowded streets of King’s Landing, in the sewers, in the shadows of the corners where there is no sunlight all day long, the dirty winter ice begins to melt, accompanied by wet shoes. What came from the mud was the long-lost "Breath of King's Landing".

The stench that filled the air was unsettling, but Illyrio faced other troubles that were far bigger and more dangerous than the smell of the air.

First of all, the identity of the murderer who poisoned Varys and Petyr is still in the fog: Illyrio knows almost nothing about the details of the whole incident except that it can be confirmed that it is by no means Mizedan... Someone who has the motive to do it There are too many: the slave owners of the river bend, the western region, and even the city-states can't get any clues just by guessing, but if they want to check... it's even worse: he can't check.

One is not dare.

Mizedan is a warrior, and he resolutely fulfilled the agreement in this incident: When a situation occurs that may threaten or expose the person behind the scenes, he will cut off the information chain at all costs to prevent things from getting worse.Although there is no accurate information for Illyrio to know what happened in Winterfell that forced Mizedan to commit suicide and bear the name of the murderer, but since the person is dead, Illyrio can at least be sure of the "insurance mechanism" It worked, and there was no danger of the fire burning itself.

At least temporarily.

It is aggrieved not being able to avenge your partner, but giving up sunk costs can at least make the loss certain.The queen has lost two of her staff members, and this society is definitely trying its best to track down the murderer. As the governor of Pentos, a suspected "outsider", Ruomao rashly intervenes in the investigation and approaches the center of the vortex, even if it is just to ask about this matter. The things you ask may also arouse Daenerys' suspicion, causing trouble to the upper body, and making the development of the matter uncontrollable!

Uncontrollable, in Illyrio's philosophy of life, is equivalent to danger!

Second, it cannot.

Varys had already arranged a back-and-forth plan in the event of an accident, to ensure that his companion could still take over his resources in Westeros in the event of an accident, and stop losses as much as possible.Those countless informants and little birds, even if only half of the success of the reorganization was recovered, they are still a very powerful intelligence organization.

It's just that it has more important tasks than avenging its former master.

Meeting the queen but not getting the expected result, Illyrio realized that the westward expedition of the Targaryen dynasty was unstoppable.After returning to the hotel, he immediately began to look for ways to save his son.

If you can't solve the problem, then solve the person who caused the problem-this kind of thinking that ordinary people will think is a joke and won't take it seriously, but it is indeed one of the options for the superiors who can mobilize resources.As a scheming and decisive killer, this is the first thing he thought of after he failed in deception: Assassinating Daenerys is the most once-and-for-all solution, and killing her radical black-clothed prime minister can also kill her in a very short time. To a great extent ease the crisis of little Aegon.Regrettably, after Varys and Petyr were assassinated and died, the level of security martial law around these two targets was both raised to a heinous level.Under the circumstances that the Unsullied could not be bought, and the Land-Grant Army could not infiltrate in advance, this most conceivable plan was also the first to be ruled out.

The second plan is to lobby the northern, river, western, and Dorne forces around the queen to disintegrate the military logistics system of the queen's group and make the war unsustainable.As one of the rulers of Pentos, political means are his forte, and he should have come at his fingertips, but after a short investigation and visit, he found that the northern border and the river have been broken by Iger, and the interior has also been dismantled into Several small groups not only lost the courage to resist but also lost the cohesion to advance and retreat together as a single force; Dorne was firmly tied to the chariot with unknown details but apparently quite generous benefits and promises of victory, and had no will at all Negotiating other conditions with any third-party forces, he couldn't even meet Prince Oberyn or Princess Arianne; as for the western border, Duke Tywin was driven to the Great Wall after his prestige was destroyed, and the command of the Lannister army Temporarily captured in the hands of the queen, the new head of the family, Tyrion Lannister, is on his way to King's Landing to take the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, and he can't even see him...

Although it is difficult to intervene, it does not mean that the target is monolithic. With the right method, even a solid stone can be cracked. However, no matter how delicate the trick is, it takes time to brew and take effect. Far water cannot save near fire. Well, this imminent western expedition cannot be stopped by any means.

Facing obstacles and setbacks one after another, Illyrio finally turned his attention to the last way: Since the enemy is temporarily unstoppable and difficult to weaken, then... try to strengthen the allies, namely the Golden Group, the Reach and the "anti-Dragon Mother" forces of the nine trading city-states. Isn't it good to fight?

Whether it is the complete deterrence of the northern border and the river, or the complete victory of the several battles surrounding King's Landing, or Tywin Lannister's obedient kneeling, or even the Queen's army's full confidence in the westward expedition to the river bay, it's hard to get to the bottom of it. The bottom line seems to all come from a new long-range weapon called the "cannon" that the Land Grant Army has acquired.

Of course, he couldn't persuade the queen to give up this useful and powerful new weapon, but if he could steal the secret of its principle and provide it to his allies, so that the anti-Dragon Mother forces could imitate the same kind, wouldn't it be able to offset it to a certain extent? The absolute superiority of Daenerys' army, and the use of peer-to-peer deterrence, have made peace talks and truces possible again, and bought buffer time for the first two paths that cannot be realized in the short term?

The weapons that have been used on the battlefield cannot be hidden again. Based on the various information from the little birds, and summarizing and analyzing the flow and concentration of steel, charcoal, and manpower around King's Landing, Illyrio can easily judge: In the Night Watchman Industrial Park, which has just undergone a large-scale expansion and transformation, this weapon is undergoing a new round of improvement and production increase.

Through unstinting investment in security, the queen may be able to protect herself and the prime minister tightly, but there are many people in the industrial park, and there are not a thousand or eight hundred people who can get in touch with new weapon construction. Ou didn't believe that they could protect and monitor so many participants one by one according to the highest standard.As long as a gap can be opened in this arsenal, whether it is stealing information or buying technicians, the goal of stealing the secrets of new weapons can be achieved.

The strategy is determined, and it only needs to be implemented, but as soon as the task is assigned, Illyrio receives a lot of bad news: the night watchman arsenal implements closed management, and the core technicians who master the secrets and their families all live and board in the industrial park. Under special circumstances, they don’t go out at all, and all the eyeliners can contact are peripheral workers who are responsible for rough work; at the same time, the entire city of King’s Landing has also begun to rectify and manage the city to gather refugees, register homeless people, and raise orphans. Many "little birds" were arrested in a daze and sent to orphanages for intensive care and education, which made it more difficult for the secret service operations; in addition, the exchange of information between the two sides of the narrow sea resumed as navigation began. The queen will soon discover that the city-state alliance that opposes her is not as strong and powerful as she said...

The above bad news can only make the wealthy businessman slightly troubled and distressed, but the following one made his fat body tremble and break out in cold sweat: According to the reports from the subordinates and crew who accompanied him from Pentos, they Generally questioned and investigated by Queen's soldiers or staff.

"What did you ask?"

"They held a very delicate portrait and asked us if we knew or had seen the person painted on it. Listening to the conversation, it seemed that they were the murderers who poisoned and killed the Queen's two ministers."

He can guess without asking for details, those people are investigating Mizidan!The investigation itself is normal, but how did it find out about myself as a guest?In the end, the queen's people were investigating all over the city without letting anyone go, so they inevitably found their own people, or...

Illyrio's sense of self-protection has always been strong, and ordinary subordinates don't know his relationship with Mizidan.What scares him is not the incident itself, but the danger signal behind the incident: it is very likely that someone is staring at him, and the person who comes is not good.

What's even more frightening is that this time, it's me who is in the open, and the enemy is in the dark!

No one can understand how difficult it is to "defend against thieves for a thousand days" better than a thief. If someone insists on making trouble for him, even if Yone Zedan really has nothing to do with him, the opponent will probably be able to forge evidence of the connection.Smelling danger, Illyrio's hairs stood on end all over his body, and his instinct of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages made him wish to board the ship and return to Pentos immediately... But his love for his children, his aversion to losing money and planning failures made him Bite the bullet and make a decision: stay and start a dangerous race against hidden enemies and time!

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Chapter 638

Nearly a month after Duke Tywin "voluntarily" put on black clothes and went north to the Great Wall, the new head of the lion family and guardian of the west - the little devil Tyrion Lannister, appointed by the queen, drove along the golden road to the Great Wall in a carriage. Outside the Lion's Gate, I returned to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms after many years.

His close friend and recommender, the Queen's Hand who got the news, rushed to the gate of the city to greet him in person.

"Ai... Oh no, my lord Prime Minister!" Tyrion jumped out of the carriage immediately after hearing the situation from the coachman, and spoke first while moving his stiff body, "I'm ashamed, I'm a little man who speaks lightly and has limited abilities , despite my strong opposition, I still failed to persuade my old man to give up sending troops, and I have to ask for your forgiveness!" The new Duke of Casterly Rock City and the incoming former Chancellor of the Exchequer still felt a little dreamy until now, for fear of this The dream will wake up if you are not careful, "But I know that your land-grant army is brave and difficult, so I don't worry about you at all. I am afraid that if you are not careful, you will become my father-killing enemy. I can't give it to you with peace of mind. You work."

"You bastard, you're still glib." Iger rolled his eyes at him, and said angrily, "Is war a joke? As compensation for the fright that Her Majesty was frightened by sending troops from the West to King's Landing, the Lannister family bought an extra 100 Wan Jinlong's Targaryen bonds,"

"One million more?" Tyrion opened his eyes wide and raised his voice, "Seven gods, do you take the eggs from the hen by cutting open the belly of the hen? Go home and go down to the mine to dig gold, goodbye!"

Killing chickens to get eggs is not enough, but cutting leeks... is often uprooted. Iger sneered in his heart, and shook his head with a smile: "Okay, no kidding, do you have any girls in the car?"

"No—wait, so what if there is?" Tyrion replied with a bewildered shrug, "Although I'm close to you, I'm not close enough to want to be a 'fellow fellow' with you."

"What a mess... I just think that we are all considered personalities now, and we shouldn't stand at the gate of the city and talk about national affairs." Iger, who received a negative answer, walked towards Tyrion's carriage and opened the door with confidence. Drilling into the curtain, he said, "Since there is no one inside, let's get in the car, and we will talk while driving."

There was a faint smell of alcohol in the carriage. Tyrion obviously drank to relieve his boredom on the road, but seeing that he was not drunk, it can be considered that his self-control has improved.After both of them got into the car and sat down firmly, the carriage was restarted under the leadership of the prime minister's guards. Amid the slight shaking and the regular sound of the wheels rolling over the stone slabs, Iger put away his smile and changed his color: "Okay, we will There are plenty of opportunities and time for chatting together, so let’s stop chatting for now. The queen will formally appoint you later, and in two days I have to lead the army to the River Bend. Before that, I have to seize all the limited time , to talk to you about your future job content.

"So formal? What else can the chancellor do, isn't it 'counting coppers'?" Tyrion laughed, pretending to be relaxed for two seconds, and then suddenly realized that—using the former king and robber Robert Barra Theon's joke about this position is not appropriate to make a joke about the imperial court, so he pretended nothing happened and became serious, "Okay, stop being clever—Master Prime Minister, please explain your work."

"For the Chancellors of the Exchequer you know or have heard of, their job is probably 'counting pennies,' but you are different. Your Excellency was the first Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Second Targaryen Dynasty, and you may even have the opportunity to Be... the second prime minister after me." Iger continued to speak slowly after drawing a cake with ease, "What you are facing is a new kingdom that has been devastated by wars and winters, waiting to be rebuilt. The land of Nuoda is devastated and needs to recuperate urgently. However, we serve a queen who is active and has a lot of ideas. She is thinking about how to do great things day and night. You know, money is needed to do great things, and the king’s money cannot be saved by himself Earning can only come from collecting money from the people, 'for the well-being of the people' and 'establishing a great cause', these are two contradictory points that are difficult to reconcile. .”

"Don't you already have a solution—Targaryen bonds." Tyrion followed Iger's words, "Speaking of which, the first buyer of the Night Watchman bonds was Lannister, the owner of the Targaryen bonds. The first buyer is Lannister, you see my family will support you more."

Lannister is by no means the first family to receive bonds from the Targaryen Kingdom, but unlike other meritorious princes of the Seven Kingdoms, the latter only received bonds as rewards. In the previous secret agreement outside the Golden Tooth City, they first took out real money—purchasing Long Family Bonds.

This move is not only a show of loyalty, it binds the interests of the new dynasty and the richest man in Westeros, and it also instantly alleviates the huge cash shortage of the Queen's power - after all, small rewards and supplies for middle and low-level nobles and low-level soldiers It is impossible to use bonds for all the piecemeal expenditures.That's not promoting bonds, it's creating panic.

"I remember this love." Iger nodded with a chuckle, groped in the carriage, and quickly found the wine bottle and cup, "But if you think that Targaryen bonds are just like bonds of the night watchman, they are just a 'fuck' Money’s expedient measure, an emergency measure to collect the first pot of gold, that would be a big mistake. Remember, the financial hegemony I said outside the Golden Tooth City? What is financial hegemony?”

He poured out some wine, raised his head and gulped it down. After moistening his throat, he continued calmly: "Occupying an absolute dominant position in the transnational financial system and arbitrarily putting one's will and ideas above other countries will benefit oneself." The rules are forced to be implemented throughout the known world, and the whole world pays seigniorage to itself invisibly... This is called financial hegemony! Compared with this ultimate goal, the Iron Bank is the creditor of the whole world, allowing the whole world to work and pay back Its interest is just child's play. And Targaryen bonds are the sharp sword to achieve this ultimate goal!"