The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Elves

Chapter 294 Supporting the Great Wall
"Lord Petyr, may I ask whether our treasury has enough money to support the Great Wall?"

Facing the inquiry from the King's Hand, the Chancellor of the Exchequer at this time—Petyr Baelish was slightly taken aback, then couldn't help but sneered and said:
"Respected Lord Ayrin, you are not ignorant of the state treasury's current debt situation. Maybe our treasury is not as rich as the night watchmen!"

Littlefinger's joke obviously failed to ease the atmosphere, except for Renly who covered his mouth and laughed heartlessly, everyone's faces were full of sadness.

Because they knew that Littlefinger's words were true, and King's Landing was indeed poorer than the Night's Watch in a certain sense!

Although the living conditions of the night watchmen are very difficult, they are provided with supplies from the major kingdoms every year as usual, so there is no shortage of food and weapons.

It is precisely because there is no need to worry about logistical supplies that the night watchman can still obtain some golden dragons by selling animal skins and wildling trophies every year to improve food.

But King's Landing is different:

The treasury has been in a state of deficit for almost as long as Robert Baratheon has been king.

In addition, King Robert is a man of great success. He not only often holds competitions with huge bounties in King's Landing, but also never asks about the specific situation of the treasury.

Today, the national treasury has owed a huge debt of more than 600 million golden dragons. Even if the entire king's collar is sold, it will not be able to raise this much money!

Old Jon obviously knew about the emptiness of the national treasury, so he could only sigh secretly, and then asked the grand maester next to him who had been resting with his eyes closed:

"Grand Maester Pycelle, do you think those savages chose to invade the Great Wall at this point in time, do we have any way to deal with it... Grand Maester Pycelle?"

However, Grand Maester Pycelle was silent like a late old man at this time, as if he hadn't recovered from Old Jon's question.

Call ~
The looming grunt came into the hall, and Stannis, who was sitting next to Pycelle, couldn't help but frowned slightly, then reached out and patted Pycelle's shoulder and said:

"Master Paicell, this is the imperial meeting, please be more serious."

"Huh? Sorry, it seems that I am too old to accidentally fall asleep in the meeting."

Looking at Grand Maester Pycelle, who seemed to have just woken up from a dream, Old Jon could only shake his head helplessly, and then repeated the question he had just asked.

After all, Pycelle was nine years older than even old Jon, so the Grand Maester's faux pas didn't bother the King's Hand.

However, everyone present didn't know that the reason why this 80-year-old university scholar was so tired just now was because he was reminiscing about the young prostitute who was sent to his room last night.

In fact, this bachelor is the real master of pretending to be confused!
Pycelle stood up from his seat with a hunched posture, his slightly swaying body made everyone present have no doubt that he might fall to the ground at any moment.

Seeing that all the people present were looking at him, Pai Xier slowly stroked the gray beard on his chin, and started his acting skills:

"The savages are a group of humans living south of the Great Wall. The Impassable Wall separated them from Westeros, freeing them from any moral and legal constraints..."

The boring words like a monk chanting scriptures came out of Pai Sear's mouth, and the content was almost all derived from the information that everyone already knew.

Seeing this, Old Jon interrupted Pycelle's reading from the script with some dissatisfaction, but continued to ask:
"Needless to say these well-known information, what I want to know more now is your analysis of the reason why the savages went south this time!"

"The reason...maybe it's because the long winter is coming, and those savages choose to go south to plunder because of the pressure of survival?"

After listening to Pycelle's speech, Old Jon couldn't help but squeeze the cane next to him, obviously quite dissatisfied with Pycelle's unnutritive speech.

He also knows that the savages are likely to go south because of the pressure of survival, but he hopes that Pycelle can give some advice on how to deal with it!

"What else do you want to say? If you have any good suggestions, please come forward as soon as possible?"

Seeing Pycelle trembling and returning to his seat, Old Jon could only give up seeking the Grand Maester's advice, and instead set his expectant eyes on the other ministers.

Seeing that everyone seemed to be unable to come up with any good solutions, Stannis, who was in charge of the Royal Navy, stood up and suggested:
"Why don't I call up the army of the king's land and Dragonstone Island, and then transport them to the East Watch of the Great Wall through the Royal Navy's fleet to support the Night's Watch?"

Hearing Stannis' suggestion, Old Jon's eyes brightened up, and then he took over the conversation and continued:

"This suggestion is good. The Royal Navy can go to Seagull Town in the valley to replenish, and at the same time, it can also get the cavalry from the valley to join."

As the Duke of the Eagle's Nest City and the guardian of the East, Old Jon is also qualified to mobilize the nobles of the valley, not to mention that there is also a branch of the Arryn family in Seagull Town, which can completely obey the orders of Old Jon.

And if this plan is successful, then the armies of the kingdom, Dragonstone, the Valley, and the North will unite for a long time, greatly strengthening Robert's ruling power!

After all, the Baratheon family is just a young family that has just sat on the Iron Throne for less than 30 years, and its ruling power is not strong.

The decades-long winter is coming, and if Robert can successfully establish his prestige before then, at least the country will be able to survive the long winter in peace.

Everyone here is basically a human being, so they immediately understood the importance of Old Jon's plan, and started to think about it.

The Minister of Finance, Littlefinger, who had been standing beside him, quietly stood in the shadow of the stone pillars in the hall, his bright and clear eyes like a fox kept turning, thinking about something.

"Since this is the case, then I will also add icing on the cake and send [-] hoplites from Storm's End to King's Landing to meet up and go to the Great Wall together."

Lord Renly of Storm's End obviously understood Old Jon's plan, so he decisively chose to devote most of the elite in his territory to this expedition, with a smile on his face.

After all, although the relationship with his brother King Robert is not very good, he is also a member of the Baratheon family after all.

As long as it can make the Baratheon family's rule over the Iron Throne more stable, then he doesn't mind sending troops to support his brother.

And Old Jon also showed a chrysanthemum-like smile on his wrinkled face, obviously very satisfied with the result.

Now they have gathered the support of the Northern Territory, the Valley, the Kingdom, Dragonstone Island and the Stormlands, which will greatly strengthen the cohesion of the Kingdom.

Coupled with the fact that the Tully family of the Riverlands is married to the North and the Valley, it can be said that most of the Westeros continent is already considered a friend of the Baratheon family!
Thinking of this, Old Jon stood up excitedly from his seat, then raised his glass with some joy and said:

"Great, as long as our Westeros continent can unite, let alone hundreds of thousands of wildlings, even the legendary White Walkers will not be feared."

After saying that, Old Jon raised his glass to respect the ministers around him, and then drank the wine in the glass in one gulp.

He seems to have seen the future, Westeros will get out of the shadow of being once ruled by the Targaryen family, and move towards a brighter future!
Unfortunately, not everyone is happy with this alliance:

"Although I don't want to spoil your drinking pleasure, I still have a question I want to raise first, that is, the treasury no longer has so many golden dragons to support this expedition."

The thin figure of Littlefinger stepped out of the shadows, and the fake smile on his face made Old Jon feel uncomfortable and disgusted.

However, Petyr didn't seem to notice Old Jon's unfriendly gaze, but sat on the seat and raised his legs and continued:
"Don't forget that we still owe 300 million gold dragons to Duke Tywin Lannister of the Western Territory, and the Iron Bank's 300 million gold dragon debt is about to expire. Who knows what they will do?"

Hearing the banter in Petyr's words, Varys, who had always been at odds with him, couldn't help but put his hands into his sleeves, and then asked curiously:

"Your Excellency Petyr, if I remember correctly, the tax money from the king's land should have entered the treasury last month, so it shouldn't be impossible to afford the money, right?"

After all, this is not an era of war. The income from the ports of Wangling and Junlin City is enough to bring 10,000+ golden dragons to the national treasury every year, which is more than enough to cover the interest on loans.

As long as the national treasury can spend tens of thousands of golden dragons as logistics expenses, plus the volunteers of the valley and the stormlands, there is no reason for the Iron Treasury to be so hostile to the Iron Throne?

However, Petyr soon gave everyone present a big 'surprise':
"I don't think all the ministers present here know yet. His Majesty the King is planning to hold a competition next month, and it is expected to cost more than [-] gold dragons!"

"what?!"

Hearing this shocking news, not to mention the old Jon and Stannis who were dedicated to the country, even the unruly Renly and the transparent Pycelle were frightened.

Varys took his hands out of his sleeves in surprise, touched his bald head with some anxiety and murmured:

"Gods above, is this all predestined?"

"This is nonsense! Does that bastard Robert really want to have the whole country buried with him for his child's play!"

Even Stannis, who was always calm, lost his composure, and stood up from his chair with a face of resentment, not even noticing that he himself cursed the king loudly.

However, at this moment, several knights in white robes were escorting a fat man past the imperial meeting, when they heard Stannis curse.

Not long after, a rough voice came from the hall of the Iron Throne. Even though they were far apart, everyone could feel the smell of alcohol:
"Watch your manners, young Stannis, I am your brother, but I am also your king!"

"Then my dear brother king, may I ask why you are planning to hold some kind of tournament with great fanfare when your kingdom is about to be destroyed?"

Seeing the fat figure walk into the hall of the imperial meeting, Renly looked at Stannis with a gloomy face beside him teasingly, and then got up to greet him:

"Good morning, brother, I wonder how you have gained from hunting this time?"

"Haha, it seems that I was lucky this time. I met a brown bear that was just about to go into hibernation. You should follow me to hunt black bears like a real man, instead of making some cosmetics in the castle!"

Hearing this, Renly's face darkened like that of Stannis next to him, and then he rolled his eyes and went back to the chair.

And King Robert, who smelled of alcohol, entered the hall under the protection of several Kingsguards, and then he laughed and asked the silent crowd:
"Why is the imperial meeting suddenly held, and the atmosphere is still so gloomy, could it be that the beggar king of the Targaryen family is calling?"

Looking at King Robert who offended the two duke brothers at the same time, Old Jon secretly sighed, then stood up and said:
"I'm afraid the situation is worse than that. Your Majesty, hundreds of thousands of wildling troops are preparing to attack the Great Wall. Ned has issued a mobilization order to go north to assist the Night Watch."

Hearing Ned's name and what his adoptive father had just said, Robert patted his forehead hard, trying to regain consciousness in his fat-filled brain.

Old Jon sat patiently in the chair, waiting for Robert to come back to his senses.

He knew that Robert was actually quite a smart ruler, it was just that his long life without threats had drained his drive.

Robert is like a fine piece of fine steel, although it may rust due to being left for too long, as long as it is cared for carefully, it will be the strongest material.

After a while, Robert's originally cloudy eyes showed a gleam, and then he touched his chin and said:

"Well~ Ned is not a guy who will mess around. It seems that there is indeed some threat in the north of the Great Wall."

Seeing that Robert had regained his sobriety, Old Jon confessed all his previous plans in the imperial meeting, and then persuaded:

"Give up your tournaments for the time being, just to help Ned, this time you must send troops to support him!"

"Don't worry, Ned is my good brother in this life, how could I put him in danger for my own momentary pleasure?"

Looking at his adoptive father's face full of anxiety, Robert's fat-wrapped face showed a trace of tenderness, and then said to his two younger brothers:

"Please, my dear brothers, please pay attention to safety on the road, I will welcome you at Castle Black!"

Hearing this, Renly, who was still a little sullen, immediately stood up, patted his chest confidently and assured:
"Don't worry brother, we promise... wait, what do you mean welcome us at Castle Black?"

Hearing Renly's unbelievable question, everyone present also reacted quickly, and looked at the fat king with a thick back and a waist in shock.

I saw that Robert was looking at his swollen belly like a pregnant woman with some distress, and then he complained to the captain of the Kingsguard, Barristan:

"I've gained a lot of weight over the years, maybe it's time to find a blacksmith to make a new pair of armor and a warhammer for myself."

"Robert! Are you going to the Wall with the fleet?"

"You want me to slowly gather troops with you? Are you kidding me? Ned is fighting hard on the Great Wall now. How could I watch him fight alone without being indifferent!"

(End of this chapter)