Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 60: Astapor
After a few days of tense sailing on the summer sea, the merchant ship entered the Gulf of Sorrow.

One morning, the navigator saw a fleet of merchant ships similar to theirs sailing in the opposite direction from the sea. Grolet guessed that they were slave ships coming out of Slave Bay.

Seeing these slave ships from afar, Captain Grole felt for the first time that these ships were extremely familiar.

The appearance of this fleet meant that they were about to reach their destination, and they might not have to worry about encountering the vicious pirates that had frightened them for days. After crossing paths with them from a distance, Grolai ordered the fleet to return to their original distance and ordered an extra dish for everyone at lunch that day.

Grolai even sent someone to invite Viserys to the captain's room and said, "Sir, we are about to arrive at Slaver's Bay. Do you want to go to Meereen or Astapor?"

It is not difficult to guess Viserys' purpose. He borrowed money in Myr and Tyrosh - theoretically, no one except Viserys and his party knew how much he had borrowed. So there was only one purpose for him to come to Slaver's Bay.

Purchase slave armies.

He could buy slave fighters at the fighting arena in Meereen, and Unsullied at Astapor, so he wouldn't go to Yunkai to buy a bed slave.

Viserys gave him his answer: "Astapor."

Grolai was in a good mood: "My Lord, I dare say that you came to Astapor because you must have heard the story of the three thousand warriors defending Qohor."

More than four hundred years ago, the Dothraki first rode from the east, looting and burning every town along the way. The khal who led them was called Temo, and his khalasar was not small, at least 50,000 people, half of whom were warriors with braided bells.

When the people of Qohor learned of the Dothraki's approach, they began to strengthen the city walls, doubled the number of soldiers, and hired two mercenary groups, the Bright Banner and the Second Sons. As the news became increasingly grim, they hurried to buy another 3,000 Unsullied from Astapor, but it was almost too late.

The Unsullied marched a long way to Qohor, seeing the smoke and dust and hearing the noise of battle in the distance.

By the time they reached the city, the sun had set, and crows and wolves were feasting on the bodies of the heavy riders of Qohor, while the Bright Banner and the Second Sons had already fled, as sellswords would do when they were outnumbered and hopeless. As night fell, the Dothraki did not fight again, but retreated to their camp to drink, dance, and revel all night, preparing to break through the city gates the next day and plunder at will.

But at dawn, when Turmer and his bloodriders led the khalasar out of the camp, they found that 3,000 Unsullied had lined up in front of the city gate, with the black goat banner of Qohor flying above their heads. The Dothraki were cavalrymen, and they did not take this small group of 3,000 Unsullied seriously.

Then the Dothraki attacked, and the Unsullied held their shields tight, their spears low, and stood still, unfazed by the desperate charge of twenty thousand bell-ringing, roaring warriors.

Eighteen times the Dothraki charged, but before the shields and spears they fell like waves against rocks. Three times Khal Temo sent out his horse archers, who circled the enemy and rained arrows down upon the three thousand warriors, but the Unsullied held their shields above their heads and refused to yield. In the end, only six hundred of them remained... but more than twelve thousand Dothraki had fallen, including Khal Temo, his three bloodriders, all his khals, and all his sons. Three days later, at dawn, the new khal led the survivors in a solemn procession to the city gates, and one by one, each cut off his braid and threw it at the feet of the three thousand warriors.

From that day on, the garrison of Qohor was composed entirely of Unsullied, and each of them carried a lock of Human hair dangling from his spear.

It is difficult to say whether the story is exaggerated, but an army that is fearless, loyal, and can be sent to fill ditches and die without any psychological burden is exactly what Viserys needs right now. He does not trust the mercenaries, and building an army requires a base, which he does not have time for.

Viserys said bluntly, "I have heard of the Unsullied. This is why I have come."

-

As they got closer to Astapor, Dany learned of Viserys's plan. She felt uneasy. Even in the distant Free Cities, she often heard about the slave markets in the slavery cities of Yunkai, Meereen, and Astapor, which were growing like pustules. The related stories were terrifying.

But is it really the right thing to do to buy slave troops here to fight in the war?
"Budge is the Unsullied," Viserys told her. "When there is nothing left, we need soldiers who are absolutely loyal. Imagine a hundred Butches serving us instead of a hundred Jorahs."

This is something Daenerys cannot refute.

But she still didn't understand: "But what can a hundred Butches do?"

Viserys planned to buy one or two hundred Unsullied depending on the situation.

Because he had no money to buy more, nor could he afford to raise more. The money borrowed in Tyrosh seemed to be filled with several large boxes, but in fact, the actual loan contract clearly stated that there were only 60,000 gold coins, 30,000 Myr gold coins, and 30,000 Lys gold coins. Viserys needed to pay back 80,000 gold coins in one year.

Ten thousand Tyroshi copper coins and two thousand kilograms of lemons were given as gifts.

And there is no doubt that this money is not enough for Viserys to buy the eight thousand Unsullied that Daenerys exchanged for her dragon in the original book.

In fact, after listening to Viserys's talk about building an army on his own with the Unsullied as the framework, Lord Tyrosh only planned to lend Viserys 30,000 based on the estimated price. But when Viserys finished talking to him and was ready to leave, he agreed to lend him another 30,000.

The Tyrosh Grand Lord told him. The price of an Unsullied varies from 200 to 400 gold coins, depending on the situation, and changes according to the training cost and the number of formations. Compared with the Unsullied, the Grand Lord recommended him to buy slave fighters. Buying Unsullied, the same money can buy at least slave fighters.

A child in the slave market is only worth one silver coin. The Tyrosh Grand Lord believes that it is difficult for a hundred Unsullied to bring out the advantages of an organized legion of Unsullied.

But Viserys values ​​loyalty, not numbers.

Speaking of which, Viserys had no intention of violating business ethics to defraud the Unsullied army as Daenerys did in the original book, and then raising the banner of anti-slavery to attack these seemingly evil and backward slave city-states.

Slavery is undoubtedly a backward and evil system, but it is deeply rooted in the continent of Essos. To eradicate this system, it is not a matter of setting a fire in Slave Bay or attacking a few cities.

Personal dependence has been a big problem since ancient times. To destroy a backward system of personal dependence, it is necessary to promote another system that can effectively replace it. Change has always been the most difficult. Even if the equally backward feudal system is used to abolish slavery, it will take at least a generation on this continent to complete this transformation, and the backlash will be very strong.

He was only here to buy the Unsullied. Viserys had made up his mind from the beginning to treat this trip as a business act and follow business logic.

"A hundred Butches can do a lot, Dany," Viserys answered Daenerys' question. "It means we would have a hundred loyal guards who are fearless and loyal, and a hundred swords. Now we only have the two of us, a sword and a dagger."

Dany was convinced by him.

The merchant ship arrived safely in Astapor at noon that day.

It is an old city, Daenerys thought as she stepped off the ship, but not as great as it once was, not even close to Tyrosh or Pentos or Lys.

Accompanied and led by Captain Grole and several strong sailors, Viserys and Dany followed them into Astapor and contacted the Good Master who sold the Unsullied - the slave traders here called themselves the Good Master.

They waited for the 'merchants' to be displayed by a red-brick fountain in Pride Square in the center of the city.

The water of this fountain smells like sulfur, and in the center of the fountain is a huge bronze harpy statue, twenty feet tall.

The Three Cities of Slaver's Bay claim to be descendants of the ancient Ghis Empire that once ruled this land.

The Ghis Empire was defeated by the rising Valyrian nation five thousand years ago and completely turned into historical dust. Its pyramids, streets and buildings were turned to ashes by dragon flames, and every inch of its land was covered with salt, sulfur and dead bones.

But the three cities of Slaver Bay still claim to be the descendants of the Ghis Empire. They built the pyramids of the Ghis Empire in the city-states, used the totem of the harpy of the Ghis Empire, and followed the slavery system of the Ghis Empire. But they do not speak Ghiscarri, but Old Valyria, which is the language used by the Valyrian conquerors who destroyed the Ghis Empire.

While waiting, Viserys observed the strange statue of the harpy with interest, wondering if such a magical creature really existed.

"The goods are here," the slave trader Krazny Mo Nakroz shouted to the slave girl who was acting as an interpreter. "Tell him that the bronze statue in the square is not for sale. Let him see the goods. I bet even this purple-eyed foreigner from the Land of the Sunset can see how excellent my goods are."

The slave trader's High Valyrian was distorted by Ghis characteristically thick guttural sounds, and was mixed with slave trader jargon. Viserys could basically understand it, but he still hired Captain Grole to translate for him, and similarly, the slave trader also had a slave girl beside him to translate the Common Language for him.

The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard all around the huge square. These footsteps came from the feet of a thousand Unsullied, as if they were one person.

About how to speculate the price of the Unsullied.

In the novel, the price of the Unsullied is not clearly stated. It is only described indirectly by the fact that Daenerys intends to exchange three merchant ships full of goods (mainly spices) for them, and the good master says that she can only exchange for one thousand.

Then this is the only way to derive it.

Assuming that the carrying capacity of the three ships is similar to that of merchant ships in the 16th to 18th centuries, it would be around 300 tons, but rowing boats are relatively small, so Daenerys had about 200 to 300 tons of goods at the time.

而16-18世纪货物价格大致如上图。上面的单价是16-18世纪的荷兰盾(第三列单位是荷兰盾/公斤)，我们假设1000荷兰盾和冰火世界1金币相当，取可以简单计算的100-200金币/吨。

So the price range for buying one thousand Unsullied is about 20 to 60 gold coins.

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(End of this chapter)