The king on the Great Wall

"If I were asked to predict based on my vision, I think the potential of gunpowder weapons is far more than that, but my current point of view is: at least at this stage, its greatest power is not in killing, but in deterrence and intimidation! The shock is enough to make the soldiers' legs weak, and the horses and war elephants become chaotic and out of control! It is enough to make the cavalry troops completely useless, and make the [-] troops have to retreat in a hurry in the face of the [-] land-grant troops!"

"As long as our troops can adapt to the rumbling explosions, we won't be unable to charge before the battle. Even if we don't need infantry, we can only rely on cavalry to charge forward, direct with our eyes closed, and fight without thinking, and we won't be defeated!" He raised his voice. Gao, said impassionedly, even his own blood became a little hot, "So I think the first priority we face next is not how to throw gunpowder on the enemy's head, but to use it first. On one's own!"

"Gather the army in the east of High Court, surround the gunpowder blending field and the experiment site... do nothing, be decisive - use half of the gunpowder production to let the whole army listen and adapt, this battle will never be defeated again reason!"

-

Chapter 659

After several rounds of detailed discussions and deliberations, the nobles of the River Bend first reached a consensus that "they cannot win by fighting with firearms".At the same time, most people agree that cavalry units capable of launching a rapid charge can effectively restrain, or at least considerably neutralize, the seemingly devastating power of gunpowder weapons.On this basis, a whole set of strategies against the Queen's Western Expedition came into being, which can be summarized as follows.

One, mobilize the entire river bay to carry out the collection of nitrate, sulfur, and gunpowder deployment, which goes without saying.

Second, under the premise of preparing for the overall war, the maximum pressure on the cavalry assembly and mobilization: the river bend with a large area but not sparsely populated has a large number of excellent horse farms, and the number of horses and cavalry has always been stable than the other six countries. Coupled with the location in the south, even after the baptism of winter, they can still gather a considerable number of horses. It is estimated that if everything goes well, they can gather about [-] cavalry troops—more than half of the main force of the Western Expedition led by Iger Well, if so many cavalry, even men and horses, can listen to thunder without being shocked and encounter artillery, they will definitely be a huge force that can determine the outcome of a war.

Third, the above preparatory work requires a lot of time. After the votes of the princes of the Reach, the minority obeyed the majority and forcibly reached a "consensus": a certain space in exchange for time.In addition to leaving some mobile troops to harass and prevent the enemy's rapid advance, the entire river bend force in the direction of the queen's westward march, that is, the river bend people along the Rose Avenue were evacuated—the wealthy class could run away and bring valuables. The gold and silver retreated westward and backward, resolutely not giving a chance to catch the hostages; the castle couldn't bear the bomb anyway, so they just left an empty city and closed the gates for the butler to guard; At the same time, strive to not be capitalized by the enemy.

If the loss of property in the early stage caused by the policy of non-resistance will be paid by the entire river bend - the specific method is: after the war, first liquidate the lords of the old town of Haitar who refused to respond to the call to fight, and then confiscate their property to supply the eastern front lords If there are still deficiencies, the rest will be borne by all the Lords of the Bend.

The above is the fixed plan, and the following is the supplementary content that was judged to be valuable after discussion by individuals after individual proposals:

Fourth, Gaoting, as the theoretical capital of the River Bend, must not be given up as a price in exchange for time. Otherwise, if the "strategic retreat" is carried out endlessly, it is very likely that the morale will collapse as soon as it is withdrawn, and it will not be reversed. Therefore, if conditions permit Under the circumstances, the decisive battle location should be chosen in the area from Gaoting to Fruit Wine Hall, with the political center of the River Bend behind it, or success or failure.

Fifth, "Raging Fire" is the painful memory and history of humiliation of all Hewan people. Contemporary researchers believe that if the battle did not take place on a sunny autumn day in a dry field with mature crops, the dragon No matter how powerful Flame is, it will not retreat more than 5 coalition troops. Even if the King of the River Bend will still be defeated, he will not be wiped out. Even if Aegon's conquest will still be completed... it will definitely be delayed for more than half a year.

Although they now have anti-aircraft weapons such as the Dragon Hunting Crossbow, and it is spring time that there are no dry fields and mature crops to be ignited...but they should still learn from past failures: since the enemy has absolute Given the superiority of gunpowder weapons, the decisive battle should be controlled not only geographically, but also in terms of time: if the decisive battle can be carried out in time for a spring rain, not only the moisture of the rain can slightly offset the possibility of dragon flames. The damage caused by the penetration of moisture can also greatly reduce the power and reliability of gunpowder weapons, truly suppressing the enemy's advantage to a minimum!

……

The people of River Bend confidently formulated their attack strategy, and started the final mobilization in full swing. Thousands of miles away to the northeast, across the Narrow Sea, in a room on the second floor of the headquarters of the Braavos Iron Bank , another discussion is going on, also related to Queen Daenerys' regime.

As the most powerful and special of the free trade city-states, Braavosi's political system is also quite different from any of the others: the "Sea King" elected through a set of mysterious and complicated rituals is in charge of the administration and army, It is the nominal supreme ruler of Braavos. The "Grand Council" that only some citizens can participate in controls the legislation, while the "Grand Court" is responsible for the judiciary... Overall, it is a top-heavy separation of powers.

But what most people will never know is: on top of this seemingly reasonable and stable triangular mechanism, there is a mysterious organization that faintly overrides it and hides like a shadow-the Key Watcher Association.

***

[Iron Bank has 23 founders, each of whom has a key to open the huge underground vault of the bank, and they jointly manage and share the huge wealth of Iron Bank, and they are the keykeepers.Their descendants, that is, the caretaker family. 】

This is the information about the "Keykeeper" that anyone in the known world can learn from official channels.

However, the underground treasury of the Iron Bank has already been strengthened several times and is no longer controlled by those 23 keys, and the "key keeper" has gradually evolved from a position and title to a legend as the world changes.Today, when you walk down the street and come across a man in a drab taupe coat claiming to be a key-keeper, half the chance is that you’ve encountered a scammer trying to sell you “the key of his ancestors,” and the other half is It means that this person has the blood of the founder of Iron Bank.

But it should be noted that even the latter situation does not explain anything in itself: there are thousands of direct descendants of the Kanshao people's family, and the number of direct descendants is even more innumerable.The ancestors are also rich, and the descendants of the keykeepers who are well mixed may still work in institutions such as the Iron Bank, the Palace of the King of the Sea, and the Palace of Truth—this part probably won’t hang out on the street, while the other part is not well mixed. Maybe it's just a well-off family, ordinary people are even worse.

But the "Guide of Spoon Watchers" is a completely different kind of existence.

Initially, as the name suggests, the Keywatchers Council was a meeting held by the 23 Keywatchers, but as the Iron Bank gradually developed into the core industry and economic pillar of Braavos, the rulers of the city-state hoped to make the country’s lifeblood Into the control...and fought with the watchmen for this.The struggle ended with the Iron Bank having a slight upper hand, but the two sides made a compromise and ended. The first-generation caretakers finally decided to turn the internal meeting into an organization, a club, and recruit leaders from other industries in Braavos to join it ——At the price of the promise that "the activities of the Iron Bank will be given priority to the overall interests of Braavos", some of the shares and decision-making rights of the Latte Bank were exchanged for becoming a member of the rulers.

This organization is the embryonic form of the "Key Watchers Association": a club formed by a group of real ruling classes to delineate decision-makers, a tool to ensure the proper distribution of benefits and avoid mutual internal friction so as to give foreign enemies an opportunity .

After completing the magnificent transformation, the members of the Watchmen, the smartest people in Braavosi, quickly realized that it was foolish for a city-state's real power to be named under the name of a bank, so they decisively began to hide their visible identities. gradually retreated into the background, leaving only the invisible power to remotely control the Great Council and the Great Court... and every time a "Sea King" was elected, a gentle internal wrestling was carried out to determine the final candidate, and through this, it could be called a "representative" or a "representative" People who are said to be "puppets" rule the entire city-state until they are finally perfected into today's mature version-a shadow government that seems to not exist, but is actually everywhere.

***

But today, the "Key Watchers Club", a super club that secretly manipulates the entire free trade city-state and even the entire known world financial system, is engaged in a fierce debate, with two topics.

[-]. Do you accept the repayment plan proposed by Queen Daenerys' Chancellor of the Exchequer, Duke Tyrion Lannister, to accept "Targaryen Bonds" as hereditary repayment of debts owed to the snatchers?

[-]. If the answer to [-] is no, do you accept the invitation to join the "City-State Federation" and become a member of the Anti-Dragon Mother Alliance?

-

Chapter 660 Heavyweights

Everyone knows that the so-called "Targaryen bonds" are just a piece of paper, which cannot be compared with the real money lent by the Iron Bank. There should be no dispute about "accepting or not".

However, they really gave too much.

With interest and interest, the debt owed by the former snatchers to the Iron Bank has accumulated to more than 230 million gold dragons with principal and interest. Considering that the Baratheon dynasty is rebellious rather than former in the eyes of the Targaryen family, Dan Neris is "taking back" rather than "taking over" the regime. She has sufficient legal and moral arguments to refuse to inherit the debt. Whether it is the Iron Bank or the Key Watchmen Association behind it, they have done enough psychological construction and are ready to accept It must be lost.

They discounted the expected recovery amount, adjusted it to 180 million gold dragons, and used a public relations budget of 30 gold dragons to "deal" with Petyr, Varys, and Iger, the queen's staff—that is, Bravo The people in power in Sri Lanka have already made the expectation that this loan can only recover 150 million yuan... Although it is a big loss, it is at least much better than losing everything.

But even this plan, which has reached the bottom line, was still slapped back by the Dragon Queen mercilessly. It was her nephew—the doubtful Aegon Targaryen who readily agreed to the price , They didn't even ask them to spend public relations funds.

The only fly in the ointment is that—Iron Bank has to find ways to support him to sit on the Iron Throne first.

The Spoon Watchers are still planning plans, mobilizing resources, and trying to match the two Targaryens to push Aegon on the throne, but the queen has won two victories by the Blackwater River and King's Landing in a row. The posture of swallowing mountains and rivers with anger.But at a time when the entire known world, including Braavos, was at a loss as to how to stop and slow down its momentum, very abruptly... the queen, who had already broken with the free trade city-state system, appeared in front of the imperial court. After the introduction of the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, the diplomatic style changed drastically, and the policy suddenly became rational and moderate.

Tyrion Lannister took the initiative to send an envoy to express his willingness to inherit the debts of the Baratheon dynasty.

Not part of it, but all of it—even the capital with interest, a copper plate is not bad.The Westeros envoys even traveled up and down the entire city-state, sowing tens of thousands of gold coins and countless promises, attracting a large number of powerful people and letting them be in Braavos. At the decision-making meeting, speak well for the new Queen's regime, and get the creditors to agree-accept the debtors and then pay back the money! ?

There is only one condition: all debts are converted into "Targaryen bonds", and the subsequent repayment and interest calculation will be carried out according to the established rules of the bond.

……

When things go wrong, there must be demons. The list of members of the Keykeeper Club is not hereditary and fixed, but may and did change slowly with the rise and fall of the family. The drop from 23 to [-] is proof.And this system also means that there are few fools in the ruling class of Braavos, and each member must be an elite who can be selected by a large family who has carefully educated and selected the best.

How could such a group of people fail to see the obvious fact that "230 million bonds issued by others are definitely not worth 150 million cash"?

Of course not!

However, firstly—they have already realized that they will not be able to get back the money, and the money delivered to their door is purely for nothing, a windfall; secondly—the observers and spies sent by Braavos to King’s Landing All the Nets sent Braavos information about the incredible power of the firearms.

"Targaryen Bonds" can be used to purchase gunpowder weapons!This temptation is so huge that it is unbelievable that everyone can smell the conspiracy, but there are still quite a few members who firmly support this deal, and incidentally firmly oppose going to war with the Dragon Queen...

This debate on Westeros' policy has been fierce for more than ten days, and its scope has spread from the secret "Key Watchman's Council" to the management of the Iron Bank and even down to the entire Braavos government and opposition.At the most exaggerated time, the total proportion of the pro-queen faction + peace faction was close to half of the total number of decision-makers, although this proportion occurred in the "Night Watchman Armory Leak Incident" and "Linhemen Massacre", and the Pentos diplomatic ambassador was killed King's Landing, which is said to be gunpowder formula and blueprints of thermal weapon production technology, has also dropped significantly after they flowed out to Braavos, but the rejection party has never been able to form suppression to the extent stipulated in the statute, that is, the keykeeper will never Can achieve most of the consensus on the "strategy against Westeros".

The inability to reach an agreement is undoubtedly the situation most feared by a group decision-making system such as the Kansas Council, and decisions involving national destiny have a characteristic: a bad decision is better than no decision.So Braavos has always had an unspoken rule: when the key watchers can reach all or most of the consensus, Aquaman will implement the former's decision, and when they can't... Aquaman will make decisions based on his own judgment.

In a word, it is: when the watchers have a consensus—implement it, and when the watchers have disagreements—make up their own minds.

And this is also an important reason why Neptune seems to be a puppet, but in fact he is still a real ruler.

Unfortunately, the current Neptune King Ferrego Antalion is an old man who is indecisive. He has been seriously ill for a while, and he really doesn't have the physical strength and spirit to make bold and decisive decisions in the short term.Braavos' visible and shadowed institutions of government are both dysfunctional!

Just as the whole of Braavos was immersed in hesitation and doubt about its own camp and goals, the members of the Watchman Council suddenly received a notice to hold another internal meeting.

In the dull conference room, depressing whispers interweave into a buzzing background sound, and the communication is not frequent—the two factions have had enough discussions and debates, and they have nothing to say to the dissidents. To put it bluntly, the reason why I am still willing to attend this boring meeting that is likely to end in vain is all because the person who convened this meeting is a legendary former member of the Spoon Watchers, a person whom everyone does not know. An old man who dares not give face.

……

After waiting for half an hour, the reinforced wooden door slowly opened to both sides with creaking sounds, and a luxurious and exquisite wheelchair entered the room smoothly and steadily under the push of two beautiful girls, and the master finally appeared.

Gordon Gallonier, former member of the Spooners, one of the longest-serving presidents in the organization's history.How old is his qualifications?There are so many dignitaries present who jointly control the fate of Braavos, the oldest are his sons, and some even call him grandpa... Even the current Sea King Ferrego Antarion saw him, Everyone has to respectfully greet "Uncle".What's interesting is that he is obviously ten years older than Ferrego Antalion, but his body is much tougher than the latter's. Looking at his straight back and sharp eyes even though he is sitting in a wheelchair, Just know that his sword is not old!

What achievements has this person achieved?

In a word: During his reign, he led the Key Watchmen, commanded the Iron Bank and various departments of the city-state, and used all means, whether explicit or covert, civil or military, to repel several very powerful rising star banks from other free trade city-states Challenged by the challenge, knocked them down from the same level that followed him, re-established itself as an unshakable financial center, and made Braavos, which was almost in decline at that time, great again!

In the ancient times of the Celestial Dynasty, this is the proper "Lord of ZTE"!

The status and prestige of Gordon Gallonier in Braavos is no less than that of Tywin Lannister in the West or within the Lannister family. The difference between the two is: Lonier did not go against the grain to centralize power, and then he was severely slapped in the face by a young man who appeared suddenly when he was approaching retirement, and then rushed to the Great Wall.He voluntarily resigned from his position as the chairman of the Watchman Association after he became famous, and gave up his seat to the younger generation in the clan, leaving the center of power to enjoy his old age. reason).

And this series of reasons also lead to: as an old man who is obviously no longer a member, he was able to convene the Watchmen's Council again in his own name. Dare to put one more.

The current chairman of the Spoonkeepers Association stood up and moved his first seat to the side to make room for Gordon's wheelchair. The old man with white hair and wrinkled face nodded to him as thanks, and wobbled all the way to the wheelchair. After being pushed to the front of the table, he clasped his hands and shook his head helplessly and sat up straight, opening his mouth with an astonishing word.

"The older generation has stabilized the country again. I thought that no matter how stupid you are, it will be no problem to guard the generation."

"Who would have thought that the stupidity of some people is far beyond my imagination!"

-

Chapter 661

stupid?

Who are you talking about!

The dignitaries from all walks of life in the house were slightly angry, but no one responded: not to mention that Mr. Deng has not made it clear which side he is scolding, even if he is pointing at someone's nose and calling names, with this The seniority and fame of any living person in the house or even in the whole Braavos can only be secretly hated, and cannot be contradicted in public.

"All of you present here are the top elites of Braavosi, the powerful and powerful. There are some truths that don't need to be repeated, but now it seems that I have to repeat the same old tune and talk nonsense." The old man said with a heartbroken expression and tone, " What is the prosperity and abundance of Braavos, the ease and enjoyment of us people?"

"Because we are the economic and commercial center of the known world." Afraid of the embarrassment of the cold, a few seconds later, the current president who had moved his seat to the second seat replied in a low voice - no need for quick wit, this is the decision-making level of Braavos The consensus, the basic knowledge points, are known to members of the Watchmen Council and even ordinary Braavos citizens.

"Yes, but have you guys thought deeply about how we became an 'economic and commercial center'?" The old man praised and continued to ask, "Can anyone tell?"

A group of people with an average age of 40 turned into dolls.

The old man's move was to emphasize his qualifications and show off his seniority, but no one dared to say that he relied on his old age to sell his old age, and there was a complete silence, and no one answered.

It's not that everyone can't answer, as the real power class, even if you don't say everyone...at least nine out of ten have thought about this question and have their own answers.However, this kind of question itself does not have a standard answer. Right now, if the answer is correct in class, Xiao Honghua will take it, let alone the old man who wants to take the initiative to speak.

……

"Is it because this city-state has a long history and a special status?" As if dissatisfied that no one answered, Gallonier stared and began to ask himself a one-man show, "No, on the contrary, Braavos is in Not only is she the youngest among the trading city-states, but she is also the only 'illegitimate daughter' who does not have the blood and inheritance of the Valyrian Freedom Fortress, so she should be at the bottom in terms of seniority."

"Do we have minerals, crops, and products that other city-states or kingdoms do not have?" The old man took a breath, and then continued, "Indeed, our territorial waters are rich in fish and shellfish, and the islands are covered by dense forests. There are also iron, tin, lead, rocks, and various minerals within the land of China... It is no exaggeration to describe it as a land of rich products. Unfortunately, these resources... are not high in terms of value; in terms of quantity , it was sufficient only when the city was built, and it is not even enough for our own use today; as for the type, it is a conventional resource that can also be produced elsewhere, and there is nothing rare; not to mention, the slave trade with the highest profit and the most popular is our Strictly prohibited. The current status of city-state trade is: apart from a small amount of high-quality swords, high-quality armor and warships, and dark purple pigments that can only be produced by local sea snails, Braavos does not have any other large-scale pure export commodities. The annual trade The deficit is so large that it needs to be calculated in millions of gold coins!"

There are not many wealthy businessmen or officials in charge of trade. Fortunately, these are not secrets. In the slightly loose silence, everyone waited for the old man's turning point.

"Then, could it be that the geographical location of Braavos is particularly superior, and the trade between the north and the south and the east and the west cannot be bypassed?" In the expectant eyes, Gordon's desire to rise and fall has not yet ended, "That's not right, When it comes to the core node of the east-west route, Volantis is well-deserved; and when looking at the north-south shipping in the narrow sea, Pentos is the midpoint; Advantages... If you have to list one advantage, it is probably that we are the free trade city-state closest to the northern border of Westeros. Ships sailing from the Narrow Sea to Iban and Loras must also turn to the Trembling Sea. Resting and resupplying in our port."

After a lot of self-deprecation, the old man's words finally turned to the topic.

"A city-state that is so useless is one of the places with the most developed commerce, the largest trade throughput, and the most concentrated wealth in the entire known world. Only Volantis can compare with us. When we talk about 'per capita', we What's the reason for taking the absolute lead?"

This question is also of the divergent type, but unlike before, after listening to the seemingly inexplicable but clear-cut analysis of Chase above—people with keen intuition began to understand the position of the old man.

Immediately there was a voice from the main combat faction.

"Because we have an iron vault!"

No one dared to speak just now because they couldn't figure out where the old man's butt was sitting, and they were afraid of being slapped in the face if he answered rashly. Now, the hawks know: the helper and the backbone are here!

"The interest income from money lending accounted for half of Braavos' total income last year, and the Iron Bank's share accounted for more than half of the total. Without the Iron Bank contributing nearly one-third of the net inflow of wealth, Braavos would not be able to Competing with the larger Volantis, there is no doubt about it!"

That's right, this is also one of the consensus, but why does it feel like the topic is getting further and further away?

Although the Zhuhe faction faintly sensed that the old man was here to help the other party, they couldn't figure out his train of thought and plan for a while, so naturally they couldn't even come up with a way to deal with it.

"That's right, we have an iron treasury!" The old man nodded, but he still didn't give up. "That's the problem. The interest on the iron treasury only accounts for less than one-third of the city-state's net income. Even if this one-third is removed, The remaining two-thirds are still at the top of the list of free trade city-states, second only to Volantis and Pentos, and still maintain a certain lead over Tyrosh, Rhys, and Myr. Still in the first echelon... Who can tell, is there any problem with this inference?"

The deadly frozen atmosphere melted just now, and the lord and the faction whispered about countermeasures, while the hawks who already had the upper hand started another round of speeches with great energy and confidence. They had a hunch: this battle lasted more than a dozen years Today's debate is finally going to come to fruition under the hammer of the older generation!

"Of course there is a problem!"

The president, who had been silent for a long time, answered decisively as the representative of the main combat faction.

One of the many iron principles of this organization is that the members of the Watchmen are completely equal to each other.The so-called chairman only plays a coordinating and organizing role, and does not have any authority to force members to accept their own views or directly formulate policies. This principle is the cornerstone of the stability and sustainability of the watchman association system, but at some point It also tends to reduce the efficiency of decision-making, which is really loved and hated.

As the current chairman, he has been aggrieved for a long time.

"The problem with this sentence is that it illogically assumes that the wealth of a city-state is determined by the ostensible total income of various industries. But the fact is that precisely because the Iron Bank is in... The new word from Stroh is... what is it, it means gold circulation?"

"finance."

"That's right! It is precisely because of the Iron Bank's supremacy in the financial field that other areas of Braavos have also been exposed to its glory!" He stood up excitedly, "I can immediately think of an example: Currency! Because Braavos is the financial center of the world, the official currency minted by the city-state also has the function of being similar to the "world currency". In the process of the Braavosians using the currency minted by their own city-state to lend money to the world, The mint of the city-state collects seigniorage from all over the world! This tax is first entered into the pocket of the mint, and then enters circulation through redistribution. In the end, this revenue, which is not clearly recorded in any account, actually surplus to every A Braavosian!"

"It doesn't stop there! The financial status of the Iron Bank not only allows the Mint to have invisible taxes, but this influence also makes merchants from Braavos and even shipping and trading companies half a class higher than their counterparts." Another eagle The customs officials sent by the government followed suit, "Braavosi moneylenders, merchants and captains must carry the widely recognized and popular Braavosi currency when they go anywhere in the world, and they carry their own iron coins on their backs." The aura of credit backed by the treasury, it is for this reason that the success rate of Braavosi people in doing business with the outside world is naturally higher than that of people in other places-this is why our city-state does not have a particularly superior geographical location, but It is still the fundamental reason for the development of shipping trade!"

"So, if the Iron Bank suddenly collapses, what Braavos will lose is not only the interest income of this bank, but the entire economic system will collapse from the bottom up. We simply cannot Keeping the remaining two-thirds of the wealth and income under the premise of breaking away from the Iron Bank, pessimistically estimated that even one-tenth cannot be guaranteed, and Braavos will quickly become a city-state as poor as Loras. Yes: We have a much larger population than Loras. A precipitous drop in living standards would cause devastating social upheaval, with so many people here..."

"Don't talk nonsense." Gordon Gallonier controlled the direction of the discussion in time, "Thank you for the examples from these friends. The reason why I went around so much is actually to say , The Iron Bank is not just a bank, it is the economic lifeline and cornerstone of the entire Braavos! Its real value is not the gold and silver in the treasury, but the influence in people's hearts, relying on the world's Everyone recognizes the credit of the Iron Bank, because everyone believes in the determination and ability of the Braavos to defend this position!"

Gallonier knocked heavily on the table.

"And now, there are two people on the other side of the narrow sea who want to shake all this, and we have not even been able to reach a consensus on resistance. I am a little puzzled as to whether those peacemakers are stupid or bad. I can't figure it out!"

-

Chapter 662

Stupid or bad?

The hat is a bit big, and coming from a respected old-timer makes it even more lethal.The main combat faction in the house suddenly became angry, while the main peace faction fell silent. It was not until a long time later that the dove faction regained their breath and launched a counterattack with their necks stuck.

"It takes several weeks for messages to go back and forth between the two sides of the Narrow Sea, but the advance speed of the Night Watchman and the Queen is as fast as the sky. Our conventional operation of 'supporting the opposition to contain it' has completely lost the time and space to perform—— Twice in a row, our agent has just been selected and ready to start funding, and he has already been defeated on the battlefield. According to intelligence, the reason is that the Land Grant Army has a powerful new weapon in their hands: its firing time The sound is as loud as thunder, the range can cross the Blackwater River, and the power is enough to penetrate the wooden city gates... The Night Watchman even flexibly equipped it on board the ship in the decisive battle with the Iron Fleet. With just a dozen gates, it helped Tanger The Lian fleet defeated Baratheon's Royal Fleet and the new Iron Fleet of the 'Crow's Eye' at the same time. At the moment, the arsenal outside King's Landing is fully producing this new weapon. Braavos scholars and think tanks analyzed and evaluated Judgment, our fleet can't match it at all-this, we didn't make it up!"

"It's not made up, that's right, it's just true to the old saying-everything is bad." Gordon sneered, "Braavos has been peaceful for too long, these scholars and so-called analysts have pedantic, The brain circuit is single, so it's understandable that you can't turn a corner, but how can there be such a voice among the elites of the Spoon Watchers in this room? When I, Braavos, only consider the military when deciding foreign policy Can we beat Valyria when the city-state was first established? 170 years ago, Viserys II Targaryen married the daughter of Rogar Bank, and the latter brought Lys and Wei When the strength of the two countries of Stroll challenged the status of the Iron Bank, could we have fought against the joint efforts of these two countries? Could it be that every time we compare the combat effectiveness of the army and see that there is a high probability that we cannot beat it, we will surrender and surrender the financial status of the Iron Bank? Give it up?!"

"boom!"

With a sudden bang, he slammed the table down: "Yes, we may not be able to defeat the Queen and her night watchmen, eunuchs, barbarians from outside the Great Wall, and the motley fleet with artillery. However, confrontation is never only War is a way...not to mention: even if only war is considered, at least at this moment, we still have the other eight free trade city-states and the river bend, the head of the seven countries, in the same camp. Now we just 'may' not be able to fight, and it will take a while Time, when the queen pacifies the river and then conquers the valley, integrates the resources of Westeros, defeats Volantis' anti-dragon mother alliance, eliminates all potential allies, and finally pushes Braavos to the door. How to accept the move? This battle, either not to fight, or to fight early, to fight immediately!"

Suppressing the heated debate atmosphere, Gordon changed the subject.

"However, don't think that just saying 'no fight' means that I'm still undecided. Regarding the topic of whether to fight or not, I have to brainwash some people in this room today! A dangerous Thought trends are gradually growing and spreading in Braavos, corroding the lifeblood of this city-state—short-sightedness! There is nothing wrong with weighing the pros and cons when making decisions, but there is nothing wrong with the 'pros' and 'cons' in it. Just look at the present?" Gordon scolded in a tone of hatred for iron and steel, "to give the simplest example-when we find that the cost of recovering a debt exceeds the debt itself, we can decisively give up the recovery Is this debt?"