Game of Thrones: The Road to Pirate King

On the table, several parchment scrolls brought by ravens lay scattered, containing messages from King's Landing recorded in the maester's neat handwriting. Some were from several years ago, others more recent, and Euron slowly organized the intelligence sent by the ravens according to the timeline.

The Rebellion of Duskwood: Aerys II is imprisoned, and Barristan Selmi single-handedly rescues him. The king is released, but suffers a severe emotional trauma.

Follow-up: The Mad King (the term was euphemistically described in the maester's report as "His Majesty is troubled") developed serious doubts about Tywin Lannister's loyalty, believing that his deliberate delay in the rescue was a sign of malice. A rift had formed between the two.

Addendum: The letter also mentions that, in response to "ubiquitous conspiracies and betrayals," His Majesty Aerys II recruited a eunuch named Varys from Rhys across the Narrow Sea and appointed him as Chief of Intelligence. This man, known for his cunning and treacherous methods and nicknamed "The Spider," has begun to weave a vast intelligence network covering the court and even the Seven Kingdoms, and enjoys the deep trust of the Mad King.

Latest: The Mad King rejected Tywin Lannister's proposal for Prince Rhaegar to marry Cersei Lannister, instead announcing that the prince would be engaged to Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. Meanwhile, the Mad King repeatedly and publicly mocked Tywin in court, referring to him as a "squire king," inflicting severe humiliation.

"History... hasn't changed, that's good news!" Euron murmured silently to himself, his fingertips tracing the name "Aerys II" on the parchment. The shadow of Duskwood had already loomed over the Dragon King in 273 AC, and the humiliation of being rejected in 275 AC arrived as expected. Tywin Lannister, the Warden of the Westerlands, whose emblem was the golden lion and whose power was immense, must now be filled with chilling venom.

270AC: Euron Greyjoy is born.

273AC: The Duskwood Rebellion. The Mad King is imprisoned, but Barristan rescues him. The Mad King suspects Tywin, and a rift develops.

275AC: The Mad King rejects Prince Rhaegar's proposal to marry Cersei Lannister, instead announcing that the prince will be engaged to Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. He insults Tywin by calling him "the Squire King." The rift deepens.

281AC: The Mad King forcibly recruits Jaime into the Kingsguard. He strips Tywin Lannister of his heir. The rift is irreparable.

282AC: Rhaegar "kidnaps" Lyanna Stark. The Mad King brutally murders Rickard and Brandon Stark. The War of the Usurpers breaks out!

283AC: The Battle of the Trident (Rhaegal dies). The Mad King buries wildfire to burn the city. Jaime kills the King. Robert becomes king.

Euron wrote the message in Chinese on parchment, tapping lightly on 283AC with his fingers. Lisa, standing behind him, looked at the unfamiliar characters Euron had written with curiosity.

"275 AC - 283 AC, eight years... eight more years..." Euron murmured, his young chest pounding with the anxiety and excitement of a grown-up warlord. The War of the Usurpers! Westeros will be plunged into unprecedented chaos and bloodshed! This will be a golden opportunity for the Iron Islands to break free of the chains of the Barrens and let the name of the Drowned God resound throughout the Seven Kingdoms! But the prerequisite is that the Iron Islands must have enough power to seize this opportunity, rather than be overthrown in the storm.

My current problem is: how can I maximize the strength of the Iron Islands by making the most of the eight golden years from 275 AC to 282 AC?

Charles Kettering once said, "A problem is half solved when it is clearly stated." Euron sighed, analyzing the current situation of the Iron Islands, listing each problem on parchment.

The Iron Islands possess: a strong naval tradition and culture – the worship of the Drowned God, the "Ancient Way" spirit: a deeply ingrained culture of plunder, and warriors (Ironborn) renowned for their bravery, ruthlessness, and fearlessness. The Drowned God faith imbues plunder with a sacredness, and the Ironborn possess superb seafaring skills: generations have made their living from the sea, boasting the finest sailors and navigators (familiar with the Narrow Sea and the Sunset Sea), adept at navigating rough seas. A longship fleet: possessing a large number of longships suitable for plunder, fast, shallow-draft, and maneuverable, capable of penetrating shoals and rivers.

The Iron Islands are geographically isolated: situated in the sea west of Westeros, surrounded by treacherous waters, they are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Invading them would be extremely costly, yielding nothing but stones and salt. Historically, there has never been an external invasion of the Iron Islands. Secondly, the Iron Islands are surrounded by numerous reefs: the islands are surrounded by hidden reefs, forming a natural defensive line, making it extremely easy for those unfamiliar with the sea routes to run aground and sink.

The Iron Islands' natural resources consist of only three: iron ore, salt, and fish. Iron ore: Especially abundant on Great Wake Island, which forms the basis of weapons, tools, and some trade. Salt: Salt production is an important industry and traded commodity (although less valuable than gold). Fisheries: Provide a basic food source (fish, seaweed).

The warriors of the Iron Islands are martial, with men generally receiving combat training. They are known for their fierce and valiant nature, making them highly effective in boarding actions and close-quarters combat. Moreover, their warriors possess a fearless spirit unmatched by the other six nations: their belief in the drowning god makes them less afraid of death than soldiers on the mainland.

However, the Iron Islands also lacked many other things, which gave Euron a major headache.

Farmland is scarce: the land is barren and stony, with a harsh climate, unsuitable for large-scale agriculture. 90% of their food supply relies on imports or plunder. So—without food, what will they eat?

Insufficient forest resources: The lack of high-quality timber restricts the development of the shipbuilding industry. Shipbuilding timber is heavily reliant on imports or plunder. So—without wood, how can ships be built?

There is iron ore, but—there are no blacksmiths to turn the iron ore into equipment and weapons.

Limited population: The total population of the archipelago is far less than that of any major kingdom on the mainland. Limited manpower makes it impossible to support large-scale land wars or long-term occupation—the small population base makes it even more unsuitable for a protracted war.

Internal disunity: The main islands (Pike, Great Wake, Old Wake, Harlow, etc.) are ruled by different families (Greyjoy, Drummer, Stonehouse, Harlow, etc.), and although nominally subservient to the "King of Seastone" (Greyjoy), competition and internal strife exist. The "Old Path" emphasizes individual bravery and plunder, resulting in low cohesion—a lack of unity!

Lack of administrative management: The seven islands are scattered, so there is a lack of efficient bureaucratic systems for taxation, logistics, intelligence, etc. - disorganization.

Due to its remote geographical location, it has a weaker ability to proactively obtain core intelligence from the mainland (such as court politics and large-scale military mobilizations), making it easy for mainland forces to overlook it or for it to be left behind by information gaps—leading to a lack of information and an inability to seize the initiative.

The crackling fire in the fireplace reflected Euron Greyjoy's contemplative, heterochromatic eyes. Finally, and most importantly, everything that followed required the leadership and decision-making of his father, the King of the Iron Islands. How to persuade his father was the biggest challenge.

Coron Greyjoy, the ruler of the Iron Islands, had a vision that wasn't without merit. The Iron Islands needed change, needed to shed their inescapable poverty and isolation. His goal—to integrate into the Seven Kingdoms, end the bloody "Ancient Road," and embrace peace and prosperity—sounded so bright and righteous.

However, the problem is that the father wants to achieve instant success.

"Liberate all the slaves on the island?" Euron sighed silently, his fingertips tapping unconsciously on the cold stone table. The thought itself was filled with the light of benevolence, but reality was a cruel reef. The iron mines of Pike Island, the volcanic mines of Great Wake Island, the salt flats of Salt Hill Island… the arduous labor that sustained the fragile lifeline of the Iron Islands was now mostly on the shoulders of slaves. If they were liberated, who would wield the heavy pickaxe? Who would toil in the scorching salt flats? Did his father expect those Ironborn lords, accustomed to "paying iron money" and piloting longships, to immediately roll up their sleeves and go down into the mines to dig for salt? The economy would collapse in an instant, more thoroughly than any storm.

"Completely abandon the Old Roads?" This is tantamount to cutting into the very foundation. Euron acknowledged that the Old Roads were barbaric, unsustainable, and one of the root causes of the Iron Islands' poverty. But his father seemed to have forgotten, or rather underestimated, what "paying iron money" meant to the vast majority of Ironborn families. It was not merely a way of life, but a part of the "honor" and faith ingrained in their blood. Abruptly severing this economic umbilical cord that had sustained them for millennia was tantamount to draining eighty percent of the Iron Islands' lifeblood. Where would the captains and sailors, who had lost their targets for plunder and their "legitimate" source of income, direct their anger and confusion? Probably not at the Lannister gold mines, but at Pyke City itself.

"Invite the Seven Gods' monks to the island? Spread the Seven Gods' faith?" Euron was a man without faith, or rather, a man who believed in all gods, regardless of which one it was, as long as they brought him benefits. The faith in the Drowned Gods had taken root in this land soaked in saltwater for thousands of years! It shaped the souls of the Ironborn, their maxims, their way of life, and even their unique understanding of death. Did Father really think that a few monks in silk robes, holding the Seven Star Bible, reciting a few prayers on the rocks, could make those Drowned priests, who had just baptized newborns with the icy seawater, bow down in submission? Could they make the Ironborn, accustomed to fighting in the waves and seeking glory in plunder, turn to the Father and the Mother in devout prayer? This was simply a fantasy! Moreover, even if the Ironborn did change their faith, so what? The deep-rooted prejudices of Westeros would see this as a hypocritical performance, a clumsy disguise of a savage pirate's lair. Would the nobles of King's Landing, the knights of the Reach, and the lords of the North suddenly open their arms and regard the Ironborn as devout brothers just because the Iron Islands have come to believe in the Seven Gods? No, they would only laugh, or become even more wary—warnable that these "iron sea monsters in sheep's clothing" are up to some new trick.

Opening the ports was one of the few truly brilliant ideas in Father's plan. The Iron Islands needed external connections and the lifeblood of trade. However, prejudice was a mountain more towering and colder than Kuroshio Island! On the cognitive map of all merchants in the Seven Kingdoms, the words "Iron Islands" were always marked as "pirate's lair," "dangerous waters," and "one-way trips." Father opened the ports and erected lighthouses, but which merchant ship laden with cargo dared to gamble its life and fortune on the "goodwill" of the Ironborn? Who could guarantee that their ship wouldn't be "paid iron money" at night? Who could believe that those sharp-eyed Ironborn with scarred faces on the docks wouldn't brandish their axes at any moment? Without the foundation of trust, even the best port is just an empty berth, listening to the futile crashing of the waves.

The father was too hasty. He saw the alluring light of the finish line, but ignored the thorny, turbulent path beneath his feet. He tried to smash the shackles of a thousand years with a heavy hammer, but he didn't consider that when that hammer fell, it might first shatter the very rock he was standing on. Reform requires the patience of peeling back layers, the precision of surgery, and the wisdom of slowly boiling a frog in water.

Euron's gaze fell upon the somber sea outside the window. True change should be like the tide eroding a reef, slow and steady. It shouldn't capsize the entire ship all at once, but rather subtly adjust the angle of the sails, carefully replace the rotten wood on the keel, and patiently carve out new tributaries along the course. It requires time, strategy, and step-by-step proof that the new path can indeed bring more abundant "salt and iron" than the "old road." It requires using tangible benefits and greater power to persuade, to divide, and ultimately to replace those stubborn reefs.

The father wanted to reach the destination directly, but Euron saw a long journey that required careful planning and meticulous steps. What the Iron Islands, this dilapidated ship, needed was not a catastrophic storm, but a skilled navigator who knew how to use the tides and winds to carefully guide it away from the treacherous shoals known as the "Ancient Way."