Take the ride to dominate the game

Chapter 154 Cersei's Wisdom

After agreeing on the details, Arthur didn't waste any time, and directly led a team of 50 soldiers on a large merchant ship and headed eastward along Crab Bay.

Arianne was going to take her two cousins ​​and the Dorne guards with her, but the King of the Rivers only agreed to take her alone, so she joined this strange team with the Duke of Mace and others.

……

In the bay not far from the shore, a large ship was heading east at full speed. In the cabin, dozens of oarsmen were desperately circling back and forth to ensure that they arrived at the destination within the time limit set by the employer.

deck bow.

"I think you should follow the example of your ancestors and set up your own seven imperial guards."

Duke Mace, who was leaning on the wall of the ship, suggested.

Arthur pointed to Alduin who was flying in the sky, "This is my Kingsguard."

There are still six dragon eggs hidden in Harrenhal, and when Alduin is big enough to continuously spew dragon flames, Arthur will hatch the dragon again.

"But dragons can't live close to you, nor can they protect the royal family, and knights with high moral character don't have this problem."

Arianne also stood behind King Hejian at some point, and she also supported the establishment of the Kingsguard.

"And I think you haven't set up royal guards yet. This is very bad for your family. They don't have astonishing combat power like you."

The Duke of Mace nagged for a long time, trying to persuade the River King to establish a complete guard system like the Targaryen kings.

Arianne also agreed with the middle-aged duke.

By convention, the royal family living in the Red Keep has three tiers of standing guards: the Kingsguard, the Royal Guard, and the King's Landing Garrison in Gold Robes.

Since the Targaryen Dynasty was first established, the Dragon family had a top-level killer like a giant dragon in their hands, so they did not establish a huge standing royal army.

During the blood dragon dance period, most of the dragons died, but the rule of the dragon family was still very stable, so they continued the elegant government of the previous dynasty and did not carry out reforms.

After entering the dynasty of Robert I, the three territories directly under the Lu family were distributed by the king to his two younger brothers, so it was still the same as the previous dynasty.

Even the number of royal guards has been greatly reduced, only keeping around 500 people, which is barely enough to stand guard at key positions for the huge Red Castle.

By convention, the former Prime Minister also has his own guard, so that's why when the King's Landing coup, Renly said that if he found 100 people, he would be able to take down Cersei's mother and son.

The premise of these is that the royal territory is small, and the king's direct territories cannot provide enough taxes.

After careful consideration, Arthur gave his own statement:

"In terms of the Royal Guard and the Royal Guard, I will remain consistent with the previous dynasty, but I will make a big reform on the point that the king is directly under the army."

In this regard, he agrees with Emperor Qiao.

It is necessary to expand the territory directly under the royal family, and at the same time create a super-large royal collar, so that more earl-level nobles can skip the title of the king and directly serve the king.

As for the money for raising soldiers, in addition to the seigniorage, the taxes of the territories directly under the royal family, and the customs duties of the five major cities, Arthur is also planning to start the royal family industry, and learn from the free trade city-states on the other side of the narrow sea to earn money to support the standing army by doing business.

He told the two of his thoughts, but only got the support of Arianne.

It's no wonder that although the Duke of Metz is mediocre, he can still understand some things.

The king's leadership has already damaged the interests of the seven lords. If the king builds a large royal army, the status of the lord's family will be lowered.

"With all due respect, your actions are not in line with the ancestral laws of the Targaryens..." Duke Metz persisted.

"The law of the ancestors is for change." Arthur interrupted the inflatable fish, "Before you formally pledge your allegiance to me, don't dictate my thoughts."

Daenerys has lost her fertility after a blood magic ritual.And Jon Snow will be killed by the Night Watchman brothers according to the plot, and then the King of Light will resurrect him.

After Xue Nuo became the "Fire Ghost", he was also unable to bond with women and give birth to children.In addition, one of the illegitimate sons of the Mad King also has no descendants, so the Targaryen bloodline is extinct.

This means that dragons can only be tamed by humans in this generation, and there will be no dragons to fight for humans after that.

Therefore, in order for Arthur's dynasty to last forever, the forces directly under the Iron Throne and the kingship must have the strength to overwhelm the other seven realms.

Several people were not chatting smoothly, so the conversation ended hastily.

Afterwards, Arthur and Princess Dorne returned to the cabin and began to stick to the great cause.

During the period of time when the two met, Arthur deeply realized the true meaning of the four names Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhen, and Cao Shuang.

……

Junlin City, the residence of the Rose family.

The Queen of Thorns has arrived in King's Landing, and is currently exchanging her views on the situation with her grandchildren.

The butler hurried into the hall and announced, "His Majesty the Regent Queen Mother Cersei has come in person and will enter the door immediately."

Mrs. Olenna muttered, "What is she doing here?" before asking the steward, "How many people did she bring, the king and nobles, did they come with her?"

The steward replied honestly: "Only a sedan chair, dozens of Lannister soldiers, plus one Kingsguard, no one else followed."

Margaery and her grandmother looked at each other, "It's so strange..."

The Queen of Thorns waved her hand lightly, "It's not surprising, since I've already arrived in King's Landing, I have to fight this one, Garland, Loras, and you, go to the door to meet them. I'll sit here and wait."

The three listened to their grandmother's words, followed the housekeeper and most of the servants to the door.

The Queen of Thorns, on the other hand, was sitting on the rattan chair, thinking carefully about how to deal with the next situation.

"...As soon as I heard that Mrs. Olenna had arrived in King's Landing, I ordered someone to prepare the sedan chair and left the Red Castle to see her. The journey was bumpy. Is the lady still in good health?"

Although Cersei hadn't entered the hall yet, her voice had reached the Queen of Thorns' ears.

Before Margaret had time to answer, the Queen Mother had already walked in quickly.

Olenna did not get up to salute the Queen Mother because of her old age.

Cersei smiled lightly and said, "It's just a courtesy, Madam doesn't have to abide by it."

The two brothers Garland and Loras, who followed in, looked at each other, wondering how Cersei was so polite today.

After a few people exchanged pleasantries, they finally took their seats.

"The journey went well. Did you meet bandits or Stannis' rebels?"

Cersei initiated the conversation.

The Queen of Thorns didn't know what kind of attention the queen mother was playing, so she roughly spoke according to the actual situation.

"We took the road to the west. We went up the Mande River from the Bitter Bridge, and then went down the Blackwater River. We didn't encounter many soldiers from the Stormlands."

Cersei smiled and said: "That's good. The old lady is already old, and I have been worried about your journey for a long time. Sometimes when I go to the church, I will pray for you."

The Queen of Thorns remained calm, "There is no Archbishop or Archbishop listening to your prayers in the Baelor Cathedral right now."

Although she is in High Court, she is very familiar with the situation in the entire continent.

In order to ensure the uniqueness of his own king, Stannis took the new archbishop and all the archbishops away, which left the Great Sept of Baelor empty.

"There are still a lot of monks. A bunch of monks who claim to be sparrows are now presiding over the religious affairs in the Great Cathedral of Baylor. As the regent queen mother, I reluctantly agree to let them, who are not bishops, use the largest church in the Seven Realms."

She was uncharacteristically elegant and gentle today, and when talking with several people in Rose's family, she had a bright smile on her face.

Although Margaery, the Knight of Flowers and others were not used to this kind of situation, they thought that someone might be pointing the queen to let the Lion family and the Rose family establish a good relationship, and the young people gradually accepted this scene.

After the Queen of Thorns and Cersei chatted back and forth for a long time, they finally got to the point.

"Since the Tyrell family is the most loyal ally of the Iron Throne, the relationship between our two families should be closer. I propose that Lady Olenna and Margaery move into Maegor's Mansion in the Red Keep, and Garland use financial As the minister's family members, they also live in the Red Castle."

All the members of the Imperial Council have their own residences in the Red Fort. The largest is the Prime Minister's Tower, which sometimes becomes a place to discuss military affairs.

She smiled again and looked at the Knight of Flowers, "As for Ser Loras, in the White Sword Tower of the Kingsguard, a room big enough for you has been prepared, presumably it can hold your flowers."

Living in the Red Castle is considered a symbol of aristocratic status.

All nobles who can enter the imperial council and live in the Red Castle have at least the title of Earl.

For example, Varys, the chief of intelligence, although he is a eunuch, he also has the title of earl.Grand Maester Pai Sear is another count, his bachelor status cannot have the title of nobility.

When Little Rose Margaery heard this, she was about to agree, and then thanked the Queen Mother, but saw her grandmother waving her hand gently.

"It's not urgent. We haven't married yet, and we don't have the status to live in Maegor's Mansion."

The Queen of Thorns keeps her grandchildren safe.

There was a hint of apology on Cersei's bright face, "Could it be that I didn't take good care of you guys enough, so Lady Olenna is upset?"

Before the Queen of Thorns could reply, Cersei explained again:
"It's my fault that I didn't make it clear. I didn't let Garland and others live in a few days ago because I was worried that Stannis would leave some killers behind, which would put the lives of distinguished guests in danger. You see, my dear brother Tyrion, As well as Lord Varys, the intelligence chief of the Kingdom, was taken away by the hateful killer. I sent many people to search the whole city of King’s Landing, but they couldn’t find them. But it’s different now, I sent loyal The soldiers have already cleaned up the entire Red Castle, even the maiden’s quarters, stables and gardens have been thoroughly cleaned up, Madam can move in with confidence.”

The Queen of Thorns picked up a small snack with rose patterns on it, took a bite and said:
"That's not what I want to say. King Tommen has not yet accepted the allegiance of the loyal servants of the Reach. My son, the Duke of Mace, is still in the hands of the Dragonbringers. I heard that your brother is also there, and Margaery and Tommen The marriage contract of the first life was not concluded under the witness of the family governors, shall we do these things first?"

The Red Keep is full of red robes of the Lannisters, and the Queen of Thorns would not dare to move in at this time.

Although Cersei was annoyed at why the Rose family didn't take the bait, she was as gentle and considerate as ever.

"Ma'am is very true." She pondered for a moment, "After a period of recuperation, my son has been able to see all the loyal ministers. I think we can set a date. In the throne room, my son Tommen will formally meet with the people from the Reach. The house governors meet and make a marriage contract at the same time."

Having said that, she smiled slightly at Margaery, "My relationship with you will become very close."

"As for the Duke of Mace, and my useless younger brother, I have already discussed with the loyal servant of the kingdom, Duke Petyr Baelish. The army of the valley will enter the riverland, and the army of Lord Randyll Tarly That army is enough to force the puppet King Arthur to reach a new agreement with us. First replace the Kingdom’s finance minister, and then discuss how to suppress the rebellion. His Majesty Tommen has always put the lives of his loyal ministers first. Please do this rest assured."

Biting her snack, the Queen of Thorns pondered what Cersei had said.

Since the king is willing to meet people and formally conclude the covenant in the throne room, Tommen's identity should be undoubtedly.

And her younger brother James is also in the hands of the dragon bearer, so there is no need to worry about Mace's safety.

After thinking about it, Olenna, the head of the Rose family, already had an idea.

"Okay, you decide the place, and the people of the Riverbend will decide the time, how about it? Besides, since His Majesty Tommen accepts the allegiance of our knights, when the people of the Riverbend enter the throne room, they must be fully armed and enter with swords." , in order to draw his sword and perform the ceremony of allegiance."

Cersei was still so considerate, "No problem, everything is according to Madam."

The Queen of Thorns took insurance again, "My legs and feet are not very convenient, so when Tommen and Margaery conclude their marriage contract, I will have to go there in a carriage. At that time, from here to the throne room, all the way We need soldiers from House Tyrell."

Cersei hesitated for a moment, but still agreed, "The Tyrell family is the closest ally of the Iron Throne, so our relationship can go further. To show sincerity, on the day Tommen and Margaery made their engagement, everything was decided by You have the final say, as many soldiers of Hewan can come in as they want. After we make the sacred oath, everything will be easy."

The Queen of Thorns was very satisfied with this statement.

The two sides chatted for a long time, and then the Queen Mother took the guards and left.

After Cersei was gone, the Queen of Thorns complained about her grandsons and granddaughters.

"It's all you guys who say fake Tommen's rumors, which makes me mistakenly think..."

Margaery immediately went to her grandmother, and said affectionately: "This is all Stannis' conspiracy. He can even tell the rumor that his nephew was born of incest. It is not impossible to spread such a lie again. .”

Garland and Loras were also very satisfied with Cersei's performance today, and the Lannisters finally paid proper attention to their allies.

……

Red Keep, Maegor's Tower.

Cersei, who had been pretending for a long time, finally gave up her disguise. She told Marin Tran, the Kingsguard:

"Go and fetch Ser Adam Marbrand. I have some business to consult with him."

The tall and burly Marin Tran nodded and saluted, then turned and left.

Soon, Adam, wearing the lion's black ring armor, walked into the queen mother's room.

"Under the throne room, there is a vault with dragon skulls hidden there. You can hide a lot of people there. Go and get familiar with it first, and then choose the five most elite 200-man teams among the Lannister soldiers..."

After Kevan left, the main force of the Lion Family was temporarily in charge of Sir Adam.

Although he is loyal to the lion family, but the more he listens, the more wrong he becomes.

"Your Majesty, isn't this crazy?"

Cersei glared at him, and said coldly: "Only the soldiers of the River Bend are useful to us, and the rest are food-wasting bins. That's how we do it."

PS: Ask for a recommendation ticket and ask for a monthly ticket.

(End of this chapter)