Take the ride to dominate the game

Chapter 105 Food Crisis
"Mr. Big Sparrow, please come here." Arthur shouted to the gray-robed monk who was busy among the wounded soldiers.

Servant Meidan got Arthur's instruction and brought a rattan chair under the steps in front of the main seat.

In the distance, the called High Sparrow asked a young monk beside him to take over his bandaging work, and then walked over slowly.

On the way he came, there were five or six strong monks following him, and Arthur didn't seem very relieved.

"Is there anything wrong, Mr. Arthur?"

The big sparrow didn't take a seat, but pulled the wicker chair away with one hand, and stood talking to Arthur.

"I think we need to clarify our positions." The lord of the Moulin Rouge pointed to the monks and then to himself.

"Since Jaehaerys I, the Church of the Seven Gods has not allowed the establishment of armed religious orders. Any act of force is the responsibility of nobles and knights like us. Now you are actively preaching and attracting many young monks. Attempting to reorganize the Order's armed forces is not sanctioned by the laws of the Iron Throne."

More than 200 years ago, during the reign of Aenys I of the Targaryen Dynasty, after the Church of the Seven Gods believed that the king was incest, an armed uprising broke out; then Maegor I continued to suppress the church's armed forces, but with little effect; Jaehaerys I At that time, the Iron Throne and the church reached a reconciliation, the church was protected by the king, the armed church was disbanded, and the right to judge the church was handed over to the king and nobles.

Arthur pointed to the monks in the Hundred Furnace Hall, "I hope these monks are only responsible for appeasing the civilians and helping to treat the wounded soldiers, and they are not allowed to do any extravagant things."

The big sparrow took off the sleeves on his arms, "Mr. Arthur, I think there must be some misunderstanding between us."

"I do intend to reorganize the church's armed forces, but it's not aimed at responsible nobles like you, but to guard against demons who massacre civilians and monks. They are often soldiers from the western region."

"As far as I know, His Majesty Joffrey I not only failed to undertake the obligation to protect monks and commoners, but even connived at his grandfather Lord Tywin leading tens of thousands of soldiers from the West to launch wars and create human tragedies in the riverlands. Since the king failed to fulfill his obligations first, I don't think we need to continue to abide by the agreement made more than 200 years ago."

"Innocent civilians and gentle monks and nuns were killed wantonly by villains. Under such circumstances, I think it is what we should do to form an armed religious order and maintain the order of the riverland with responsible nobles like you. "

Arthur first corrected a statement, "Joffrey is not necessarily the real king. According to the inheritance law, Stannis is Robert's first heir."

"So the king's failure to fulfill his obligations is just an excuse for you. Of the three kings already in existence, two of them have defined Tywin's attack on the river land as illegal."

"I don't care what you plan, in the place I control, you are not allowed to form an armed sect."

The big sparrow still had the same smile on his face, "Master Arthur, in fact, we have no conflict. You are here to protect the civilians in the riverlands, and so am I. We can reach an agreement..."

"Arthur, you are hiding here, making it easy for us to find."

The High Sparrow was interrupted by a hurried sound and a series of footsteps.

Arthur turned his head and saw that it was Patrick, King Lightning, Bill, Hayley and several members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.

"I'm discussing something with Mr. Big Sparrow, and I'm not hiding from you. What's the matter?" He stood up and asked.

"The civilians who entered the city recently basically didn't bring any food, so we gave them porridge, but now, we don't have much food." Bill introduced.

The mercenaries of King's Landing City under him are responsible for maintaining the order of the Widow's Tower and the Ghost Tower, so they are naturally most familiar with the situation of the civilians.

Hai Li, who was in charge of Arthur's logistics, curtseyed, and said generously: "Most of our food is brought from your territory, the Moulin Rouge. It is mainly for the soldiers of the new army, but we provide wheat for the refugees. After porridge, it’s not enough.”

Bill said again: "The civilians who entered the city later saw that the civilians who entered the city before had food, so many people ran to buy food, but those who had food did not sell it. As a result, conflicts arose between the two sides. In just these two days, there have been five There were six fights."

"I think it's better to adopt my previous proposal, to collect taxes for civilians who have taken refuge, to collect food for those who have food, and to collect money for those who have no food. Serve porridge." Hayley wanted Arthur to collect taxes again.

Patrick obviously agreed with Haley's opinion very much. He laughed and applauded, "This is what a logistics supervisor looks like. Arthur, you have to be hard-hearted and collect taxes for all civilians who have taken refuge in the city, so that we can get through this Second difficulty."

From their words, Arthur figured out this inconspicuous but fatal crisis.

Most of the civilians in the advanced city are farmers who left during the plundering of the Magic Mountain, so they brought their own food prepared to survive the long winter, so they don't have to worry about starvation.

Many of the civilians who took refuge in Harrenhal later left home after Tywin led the army to invade. Many of their food was forcibly confiscated by the Western Territory Army, so they only brought daily necessities, not food. many.

The food problem of the latter group of people is temporarily solved by the free porridge organized by Haili, but the food brought from the Moulin Rouge is not very much, and it cannot be provided for a long time.

The landlord He'an's family didn't have much food reserves, so they couldn't help on this issue.

"This is indeed a big problem." Arthur looked at the figures of several people illuminated by the light of the torch, and said with his chin resting.

At this time, the big sparrow, who had been listening for a long time, suddenly stepped forward, calmly but firmly said:

"Mr. Arthur, isn't this the best opportunity for us to cooperate?"

"The relationship between the monks and the civilians has always been good. We can persuade the civilians who have excess food to hand over part of the food to fill the stomachs of the soldiers and those who have no food."

Count Berry, the lightning king who came with him, had a different opinion: "The food is the property of the common people. We can't take the food from them. I propose to buy it, so that both parties will be more decent."

Everyone had their own opinions and suggestions, and began to persuade each other.

The space around the main seat suddenly became noisy.

"Okay." Arthur waved his hand violently, making everyone stop talking to themselves.

Patrick said: "Arthur, are you really going to tax? Great!"

"It's better to buy it." The Lightning King insisted on his point of view.

"I don't take any of your suggestions." Arthur shook his head, "I have better ideas."

"Since it is already a state of war, feeding everyone has become a big problem, so I decided to collect all the food in the castle and distribute it uniformly."

"The people who work and the soldiers who protect the civilians eat better, and the people who don't work eat less. The goal is very clear, that is, to make everyone full and able to eat."

The Hejian land is already in chaos. Even if there are golden dragons and silver deer, they may not be able to buy food.

In order to ensure the normal operation of this small society in Harrenhal and allow everyone to eat, Arthur's idea may be the most direct and effective.

Patrick, Lightning King Berri, Hayley and others looked at Arthur in surprise.

They didn't expect that Arthur, who was always gentle, could propose such a strong approach.

However, they did not raise any objections. With Harrenhal already having more than 2 civilians and a large number of asylum civilians in the future, this may be the best solution to the problem.

Arthur looked at the big sparrow and other monks: "And you, the monks have to be responsible for appeasing the civilians who have been expropriated. Don't come to an agreement with me. If you make small moves, I will drive you out. Then you can go wherever you want to form I have nothing to do with the armed sect anyway."

It was indeed not Arthur's purpose to drive the monks out of the castle, he just wanted to scare the group of people.

After all, another wild dog under Duke Tywin as famous as the Magic Mountain, Amory Lodge, led a lot of Western light cavalry around Harrenhal.

Now when a team of less than a few dozen people went out, they could be followed by Rocky immediately, and all of them would be killed.

What was even more frightening was that Rocky would cut off the dead man's head, insert it into a spear, and stand in front of the two gates for everyone in Harrenhal to see.

A young monk was about to refute, but was stopped by the big sparrow.

"Mr. Arthur, on behalf of the monks in the castle, I accept your proposal. Comforting the common people and taking care of the wounded soldiers will be our only jobs, as long as the nobles can ensure that every commoner can have food."

The High Sparrow said so.

Arthur nodded. This great god is indeed the actual leader of the monks here. As long as they don't make small moves, they can still accept their existence.

After all, all the armed forces are in the hands of the Hejian nobles. Even if the monks form an armed religious order, they cannot defeat professional soldiers.

In the following time, everyone present discussed Arthur's proposal in detail. On every detail of collecting food, they repeatedly deliberated, trying their best to get the food without arousing the resentment of the common people.

Of course, some compensation will also be given to the civilians who have been collected food.

……

Heron Town, the tent of the commander of the Western Territory Army.

On the candle holders, a dozen scented candles from the Wakeley family in the valley are providing light and exuding a pleasant aroma.

This is a very expensive candle, which is sold well in the Seven Kingdoms and the continent of Essos across the Narrow Sea, and is usually only given to the guardians of the monarchs, the governors of Pentos, the great masters of the Slave Bay, etc. Strong bigwigs.

It is not uncommon for this kind of candle to appear in a magnificent and majestic castle, but it is really staggering to appear in a tent for marching and fighting.

No one could afford such a luxury, save the rich and imposing Governor of the Lannisters.

Right now, the Governor of the Lion Family is no longer imposing.

He lay on the soft couch in the middle of the big tent, looking at his nephew Dafeng with majestic eyes.

After a long time, Duke Tywin spit out a sentence:

"A reckless man, a few river nobles, and a dilapidated castle guarded by hundreds of veterans, you have nothing to do."

Davon, with blond hair and regular features, hugged his lion-shaped helmet and explained to his uncle with embarrassment:
"Actually, Harrenhal is not dilapidated. It is still the largest man-made castle in the Seven Kingdoms. Moreover, there are tens of thousands of civilians in the castle. They were also mobilized to defend the city wall, which temporarily disrupted our siege plan. But Please rest assured, uncle, I will definitely take Harrenhal within a few days."

Duke Tywin glanced at him, then turned to look at the sheepskin map hanging beside him.

"Harrenhal doesn't have to be taken. How's the battle going on Kevan's side? What about Edmure in Riverrun and little Robb in Moat Calim?"

Dafeng rolled his eyes, recalled the military newspapers about these two places, and then answered his uncle:

"After learning that Uncle Kevan led his army north, Robb of Carlin Bay went south with all his might, arrived at the Twins before Uncle Kevan, and won the support of Lord Walder Frey. The two armies are now in the south of the Twins. The confrontation on the plain, the great war is about to break out, and the opportunity to make Uncle Kai Feng famous in one battle is not far away."

"When Robb arrived at Cailin Bay, there were 8000 people. The Manderly family of White Harbor provided 500 people, most of them were infantry. Most of the world-famous White Harbor cavalry were left by Earl Wyman. In his own territory. With the support of the Frey family, Robb's army has reached...well, twenty-three thousand three hundred."

Davon was about to continue talking, when Tywin suddenly asked:

"What was Old Frey's offer to Robb?"

Walder Frey's second son, Ammon Frey, married Tywin's sister, so Ammon was very fawning on the Lannister family.

Even if Old Frey decided to go all-out with the Fish and Wolves, some information could still reach the Lannisters.

"Well, Robb is marrying a granddaughter or great-granddaughter of Old Frey, and Edmure is marrying a daughter or granddaughter of Old Frey, and Arya, Lord Eddard's second daughter, is to marry one of Old Frey's grandsons. "

Dafeng counted on his fingers, and there were only three.

This is not very important information, and it is very difficult for him to recall it.

"It's lucky that Old Frey can figure out two duchesses at once." Tywin said coldly.

Davon knew that his uncle looked down on Walder Frey very much, so he hurriedly said:
"But he was shrewd and made a wrong bet this time. We have two armies, and Robb is unlikely to defeat us. When we finish fighting the usurper in the south, we will take care of this old thing."

Tywin looked at the map, "Where is Sir Adam?"

Davon is much more familiar with this line, and he replied fluently: "Adam is hunting down Earl Tristan Legge of Willow City on the east side of God's Eye Lake. The two earls of Claremont Piper in Pink City are in the bag, and we have settled more than half of the seven earldoms on the south bank of the Red Fork River."

He stepped forward and pointed out the locations of Liumu City, Luxi City and Hongpin City.

"These three earldoms, their lords are already under our control, and the property knights and minor nobles in the territories have almost died in battle, enough for us to reward the soldiers who have made great achievements in this battle."

Tywin didn't deny it, his eyes moved up slightly, "How is Earl Harroway's town?"

The small town of Earl Harroway is the operation hub of the entire Trident River Basin. The land road going south and north passes through there, and the water and land traveling east and west also pass there.

The town is on the south bank of the Trident River, and on the other side is the famous Ruby Beach, where the former King Robert beat Prince Rhaegar to death with a hammer.

"For the time being, the Hejian Land is not guarded by heavy soldiers, so I don't care about it." Dafeng replied honestly.

The Governor of the Lannister family thought for a while, and said: "The large troops are temporarily stationed here, and at the same time they surround Harrenhal until my waist injury is almost healed. You first send someone to occupy the small house of Earl Harroway." Town, that Rocky is still able to work, let him go."

"No problem at all." Davon replied, "I will give Sir Amory Lodge four and five hundred cavalrymen. These men are enough to defeat all the nearby riverside troops on the plain."

"For Harrenhal, we implement the strategy of besieging and not attacking. Anyway, there are tens of thousands of mouths in the castle, and the last ones who can't stand it must be the river nobles who have no food."

Tywin nodded in approval of his nephew's proposal, then waved him out.

It's late at night, and the wounded West Warden needs to rest.

(End of this chapter)