Me and countless me.

Chapter 609 The Interlude of Ice and Fire
With the surrender of the Westeros, Li Ke finally returned to his loyal King's Landing. Looking at the city walls, which were considered magnificent for this era, the slums in the distance, and the mountains of excrement and seas of urine outside the city, he couldn't help but cover his nose.

Because a pungent smell was rapidly entering his nostrils in the wind, and even the fragrance of flower petals was of no use.

But he was all too familiar with that smell. Medieval cities were all like this; without toilets, people had no choice but to defecate in the streets. Pentos was a little better, as the excrement could be dumped into the sea in coastal areas.

However, things were different in King's Landing. Many poor people couldn't afford to dispose of these things, so they simply collapsed in the streets. Li Ke could only bring his head close to his two dragons, take a deep breath from their chests, and then muster the courage to speak.

"King's Landing, I'm back."

After saying his first words, Li Ke issued his first order upon arriving in King's Landing.

"Get the first batch of cement made by the dwarves delivered here to build underground sewers and public toilets!!"

After saying this, Li Ke sat back in his carriage, showing no interest in looking at the scene he had seen in his childhood.

However, Daenerys, who came to greet her, was not like that. Although she had been there for a long time, when she saw the traces of King's Landing, she couldn't help but recall everything from her hazy memories, and she couldn't help but stroke Li Ke's arm, wanting to lean on him.

However, it was impossible. The two tall dragon mothers guarded Li Ke on both sides, preventing her from getting close.

Daenerys couldn't help but chuckle, then took out her official documents.

"Your Majesty, the Iron Treasury has sent us a document for negotiation, saying that you only need to return a symbolic gold coin to the Iron Treasury, and they will fully support your empire."

But Daenerys couldn't help but laugh as she read this, completely baffled as to how the Iron Bank dared to speak to Li Ke like that.

Will FamilyMart continuously sell its products on store shelves?

"a bunch of idiots……"

Li Ke closed his eyes. He was completely too lazy to care about the Iron Treasury, but he was also very clear that even if he wiped out the Iron Treasury, there would inevitably be other speculators who wanted to control money and commerce.

Moreover, now that he has established a new Westeros Empire, he naturally needs to use new money.

So after thinking for a moment, he waved his hand, tapped his forehead with his finger, and used magic to extract his knowledge about paper money, then sent it into Jaina's mind, causing the Kul Tiran princess to momentarily lose her senses.

"To hell with the Iron Bank, Jaina. Take some dwarves and get me some paper money. Also, Daenerys, tell my soldiers and officers that their wages can be exchanged for supplies, gold, and the new paper money. However, if they choose to receive the paper money, they will receive an additional 10% of their wages for a year. Also, use the wealth of the Westeros nobles to open a bank that allows unlimited exchange between gold and my newly issued paper money."

Li Ke casually issued his orders. Although modern anti-counterfeiting banknotes with the most advanced anti-counterfeiting measures are not yet available, the technology of this era does not require such high-tech anti-counterfeiting banknotes. With enough good paper, a sufficiently complex printing press, and chemical inks, 100% anti-counterfeiting measures can be easily achieved.

As for whether Jaina understands it or not, the memories he just transferred contain a complete history of paper money development and a technology tree. With magic and enough funds, Jaina could create the first version of paper money within a week.

Yes, he wanted to take back the right to mint coins and give the people of the Iron Treasury one last chance. If they came here and exchanged all their property for his paper money, Li Ke could tolerate these people doing business in his kingdom.

It's just that it won't have its current status anymore, and every transaction will be taxed.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Jaina quickly accepted the order, but didn't rush to leave. After all, it was really easy for her, because her magic was now much more powerful in this world.

After all, the iron and stone in this world wouldn't be polished into powder and used as explosives, and there are various high-concentration energies that interfere with her magic. The power of her, Kael'thas's, and Vashj's spells has increased significantly.

In particular, time-related magic has become exceptionally easy to use; compared to Azeroth, the side effects are negligible.

It's just about making money. She can easily use magic to shape the iron in this world, and then the dwarves can add power and engraving plates to create a printing press for anti-counterfeiting. If Li Ke allows it, and gives her magical control over the Moon Well, she can even add some small magic to the machine when it makes banknotes, making them completely impossible to counterfeit.

Even a week felt like too long to her.

"Iron Vault is going to go crazy now."

Daenerys chuckled. She could see that Li Ke was going to take control of the economic power that the Iron Treasury had held for centuries, but she felt that this was only right, because only such a ruler could replace her as the true emperor of this world.

Li Ke chuckled and remained silent, watching as his other Night Elf "Old Cake," Maiev, led a group of Night Elf hunters to silently eliminate potential hiding places for assassins, causing Li Ke's shop account to occasionally increase by ten or twenty gold coins.

Yes, there are still people who are hostile to him. After all, the nobles of Westeros have been entrenched in this land for so long, it's impossible for them not to have some die-hard loyalists. So Maiev, who has been secretly protecting Li Ke and investigating crimes in Li Ke's territory, has started to get busy.

Soon, the carriage arrived at the palace. Countless palace maids and entertainers, who were also eunuchs, knelt on both sides of the road. Li Ke didn't even look at them, but instead looked at the very center of the palace, where the iron throne was located.

"Let's go, let me see that so-called Iron Throne."

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Ke sensed something was wrong, and even Alexstrasza and Ysera frowned.

“Master, there’s a very bad feeling here, it’s like a curse, but also like a blessing… except now it’s haunted by vengeful spirits and is beginning to move towards a complete curse.”

Alexstrasza expressed her feelings and prepared to destroy it with her dragon breath. Li Ke also sensed the curse, so he ignored Alexstrasza's warning and pushed open the door to the throne room, immediately seeing the Iron Throne.

The Iron Throne still stood there silently, but everyone, from Li Ke to the heroes of Azeroth around him, and even the palace maids and entertainers who had no magic, could feel that the chair was now filled with some kind of power.

A kind of allure was drawing everyone present in. In a daze, it seemed as if countless phantoms appeared near the chair, constantly arguing and fighting over it, or sitting on it, coldly watching Li Ke and the others.

But upon closer inspection, the chair was still made of countless sharp blades, cold and lifeless, devoid of any ghosts or spirits.

But the whispers of those ghosts continued to tell some story.

However, Li Ke saw very clearly that this chair had become the chair of the ruler of this planet, because countless people felt that the power represented by this chair was supreme, and the chair thus possessed this kind of magic.

Ordinary people really can't control this chair. Either you have to make most of the country happy and live in peace and prosperity, or you have to be strong enough to firmly believe that every decision you make is correct. Otherwise, you will inevitably be devoured by this chair and people will think that you are not worthy of being called king.

"This chair..."

Daenerys instinctively grabbed Li Ke's arm. Although she felt attracted, fear followed immediately. When she looked at the chair, she actually had the idea of ​​fighting Li Ke!

This chair is terrifying!

So she practically shouted it out.

"...This chair has been destroyed by the evil spirit! Our Divine Emperor has no need for this chair!"

But Li Ke grabbed Daenerys's arm to calm her down, and then looked at the chair.

"Ha, so the lives of tens of thousands of people, the centuries-long thirst for power among the people of Westeros, and the magical bloodline of the Targaryen royal family—did they ultimately cause this chair to change like this?"

After Li Ke finished speaking, he slowly stepped forward, spreading his willpower. After all, it was just a chair filled with the expectations of all living beings. Even if it was destroyed, the magic of the chair would still fall beneath his feet. To eliminate this magic, he needed to eliminate all the Westeros who considered it the supreme throne. Only then would the magic of the chair disappear.

Therefore, dodging will only make it more ferocious, while directly confronting it will cause the chair's magic to collapse.

Golden light began to dye Li Ke's armor gold, a manifestation of Li Ke's willpower from the Middle-earth. However, when Li Ke stepped before the Iron Throne, the Iron Throne underwent a new change!
The Iron Throne, which was originally almost black, was stained with a golden color, turning from black iron into gold. Countless sharp blades quickly softened and began to become harmless.

Li Ke's mind also flashed across the faces of Westeros's subjects, and he felt their prayers for a happy life, as well as the sounds of their voices whenever they mentioned him, the 'God-King'.

Yes, after the Iron Throne was suppressed by Li Ke's willpower, it began to serve Li Ke. As long as it was within his sphere of influence, as long as he was sitting in that chair, he could see where anyone was and sense their thoughts and emotions whenever they mentioned his name!

But as Li Ke looked at the now magnificent and harmless golden throne, only one thought came to his mind.

"Can you actually sit on this thing?"

Despite his confusion, he still moved his noble, god-emperor-like backside onto the throne that had now become a golden throne!
At that very moment, golden light shot into the sky, reaching the heavens. All the Westeros felt a tremor in their hearts and saw before them Li Ke, dressed in golden armor and sitting on a golden throne!
And they didn't need anyone to tell them; they knew perfectly well that this was Li Ke, their God Emperor!
But to Li Ke's relief, the Four Gods and the unlucky psionic energy still didn't exist in this world, and a cesspool that would continuously spew out demons didn't suddenly appear under his buttocks.

"Finally, some good news."

Li Ke said this, and began to issue orders to rule the empire.

A week later, Li Ke's currency began to be issued. Although it was backed by Li Ke, most people chose gold and goods as their wages, while only a small number of people chose paper money for the sake of the 10% profit.

Half of them saw this as an act of loyalty to Li Ke, a quarter of them collected Li Ke's coins as exquisite paintings, and only a quarter of them chose to exchange them directly for gold at the bank!

And when they actually exchanged the gold, the whole of Westeros was in an uproar.

Li Ke's officials gradually began to use paper money, and as officials started using paper money, the general public also began to use it. Moreover, because it was easy to carry, as Li Ke's banks began to expand, paper money gradually became more widespread.

When Li Ke demanded that commercial taxes be paid in paper money, paper money was completely integrated into society.

Then the Iron Treasury got really angry.

“Useless! A bunch of useless trash! Why are there so many useless trash in Westeros! Baratheon is useless, Lannister is useless! They are all useless! Useless! Why couldn’t they kill that demon named Li Ke!”

One of the Iron Treasury's leaders roared madly because their Iron Treasury had lost its right to mint coins!

Although the right to mint coins is nominally in the hands of the King of Westeros, it is actually in their Iron Treasury. After all, the gold coins will eventually end up in their hands, and since they are isolated overseas, it is impossible for them not to tamper with the gold coins.

Now, Li Ke is supplying food in almost unlimited quantities, and with the gold of the Westeros nobles as a backing, he is forcefully pushing forward his own goods.
Li Ke did not need their merchant guilds, nor did he allow them to enter the ports they could normally easily access under the name of the Iron Treasury. The original independent city-states were also quietly destroyed and then incorporated into Li Ke's empire.

What's most hateful is that Li Ke directly forgave everyone's debts to the Iron Treasury in his own name, and stated that if the Iron Treasury dared to collect taxes from his subjects, they would all be killed!
With this series of combined blows, the Iron Treasury lost its commerce, usury, and most importantly, its right to mint coins. The merchant ships that used to support their livelihood and purchase various grains could no longer buy anything. It can be said that they have been completely driven to the brink of despair!
"Organize an army! Buy people over and overthrow this tyrant!"

He roared hysterically, while other Iron Bank members were either equally angry or unusually calm.

Some wanted to surrender, some wanted to hold on, but in the end, one of the councilors spoke up.

“We have another way. The Seven Gods once gave me a divine message. They made a deal with the King of the White Walkers. If we bring enough resources to help the King of the White Walkers, we can defeat Li Ke…”

He explained the Seven Gods' plan to everyone: to use slaves as a blood sacrifice for the White Walker King in the North, in order to increase the White Walker King's power, strengthen his ice magic, and combine the power of all gods and demons to deal with Li Ke.

As a result of the vote, almost everyone in the Iron Bank chose this path.

Then, almost the next morning, Li Ke received a letter of denunciation from all the Iron Bank members, learning of the plan.

then--

"Alexstrasza, you and Tyrande should go."

Li Ke issued the order.

That afternoon.

With the arrival of the White Walkers, most of the gods of Westeros died.

That very night, after being beaten to his knees by Alexstrasza and Tyrande, who had come wagging their tails to claim credit for their merits, Li Ke returned to his loyal Black Mist space once again!
(End of this chapter)