The Heavens: The Magical World Begins with The Lord of the Rings

Chapter 286 Stannis Baratheon
Apart from this dilapidated fishing village and the castle where the lord lived, the entire Dragonstone Island had only the military port where the Royal Fleet was moored, and the Royal Fleet also belonged to King Robert in name.

This also means that what Stannis "harvested" after the War of the Snatchers was just a 300-year-old castle from the Targaryen family and a small fishing village.

The meager catches of the fishermen on the island alone can provide the Duke of Dragonstone with almost zero tax revenue.This is even difficult for an ordinary knight to support, let alone a majestic Duke of the Seven Kingdoms.Based on this, one can imagine how difficult the life of the Stannis family on Dragonstone Island is.

Although Stannis served as Lord of the Sea in the Royal Council, all the princes of the Strait are theoretically under his rule.But the problem is that not all the "vassals of the Strait" in this Strait Sea will obey his orders from Stannis.

The coastal lords with a little bit of strength will choose to pledge allegiance to the big lords on land.For example, the Tath family on the island of Tath, their allegiance is the Duke of Storm's End in the Stormlands; and the Grafson family of Seagull Town in the valley, their allegiance is now the Duke of the Eagle's Nest in the Vale of Arryn, That is Gao Yuan himself.

Therefore, those who are really ruled by him, Stannis, are just small island owners scattered along the coast of the Strait.The total population of these sporadic islands may not exceed 3.So how is it possible to provide Stannis with a considerable amount of troops, taxes and resources?
Even the troops serving on the Royal Fleet and the funding for support were provided by the King and the Imperial Council.With Stannis' current taxes and resources, it is simply not enough to support such a huge fleet.

After the Reaver's War, Robert empowered Stannis to build a Royal Navy to conquer the last Targaryen stronghold and stronghold - Dragonstone.

When Stannis led the Royal Navy to break through Dragonstone Island, Robert sealed the deserted island to Stannis, but handed over the richer original family fief, Storm's End, to their underage children at the time. Third brother - Renly Baratheon.

According to Bronze Jorn, Robert Baratheon was disheartened after losing his beloved Lyanna Stark, and planned to never marry for life and pass his throne to his younger brother Stannis.

If the rumors are true, then Robert may have no problem making the heir to the throne Duke of Dragonstone in accordance with the Targaryen tradition.

But the actual situation is that under Jon Arryn's strong persuasion and arrangement, Robert later married Cersei of the Lannister family.And after the two got married, they also gave birth to the heirs of the Baratheon family with higher priority, two princes, Joffrey and Tommen.

Originally, Stannis was brooding over Robert's entrustment of himself to Dragonstone.When Robert's "son" Joffrey was born, the Duke of Dragonstone, who knew he could not inherit the throne, made no secret of his dissatisfaction with Robert.

Since then, Stannis has asked his brother for his rights to the Stormlands more than once.From the perspective of the succession order of Storm's End, this is undoubtedly a reasonable and reasonable appeal.Robert, the eldest son of the Baratheon family, became king, and the Duke of Storm's End should be succeeded by his second son, Stannis.

But Robert ignored his reasonable appeals, even though he still appointed Stannis as the Minister of the Sea in the Royal Council, and handed over all the large and powerful royal fleet to him to manage, but this Still considered an insult by Stannis.

During the War of the Reavers, Renly Baratheon, who was only five years old and had no merit at all, eventually became the heir of Storm's End and the Baratheon family, and ruled the family's traditional territory, the Stormlands.

On the other hand, Stannis is known for his stubbornness and perseverance.He was still underage during the Reaver's War, but he led the family's vassals to defend Storm's End, and held back the main force of the King's Party, the Highgarden army, for a year.And at the end of the war, he also led the newly established Royal Navy to conquer Dragonstone Island, the last stronghold of the Targaryen family.

When it comes to his contribution to the victory of that war, I am afraid that he is not inferior to Ed Stark who led the army to sweep the royalist party.But what did Stannis end up with?Not only did he lose the family domain of Storm's End that he should have inherited, but he was also "assigned" by Robert to this stupid Dragonstone Island.

Although Stannis has served his brother's loyal servants unmatched, Robert has not paid him enough to match his merits.Not only was Robert not grateful that he withstood Tyrell's siege of Storm's End under extremely difficult conditions, and held back the main army of the Royalist Party for a year.

Instead, he thanked Ed Stark for leading his troops to break the siege of Storm's End.

Robert doesn't even take credit for his capture of Dragonstone, instead blaming him for letting go of the two remnants of House Targaryen - Viserys and Daenerys.Even though Stannis's new battleship had just been built, and the two Targaryens had fled long before he stormed Dragonstone.

While Stannis has done his due diligence in helping Jon Arryn rule the kingdom, these efforts have been ignored by the king himself.So no matter how broad-minded and loyal a person is, I'm afraid they will inevitably have complaints and intolerance.

The sailboat carrying Gao Yuan and others docked slowly in the port full of warships. Before they got off the boat and set foot on the land of Dragonstone Island, there were already people waiting for them at the pier.

Gao Yuan was not surprised by this, presumably the letter he sent from the city of King's Landing through the raven had already been delivered to Lord Stannis here, so he sent someone to wait at the port early to welcome them and his party people.

"Welcome to Dragonstone Island, Lord Gao Yuan!" The person in charge of welcoming Gao Yuan came towards him, his footsteps were slightly heavy, and every time he landed, there would be a creaking sound on the decayed wooden pier.

The visitor's physique is quite thin, and his appearance is quite mediocre. His humble background makes him have a very different temperament from Bronze Jorn, who was born in a noble family.

A green cloak that has been eroded by seawater and salt is hanging from his shoulders, and its original color has faded due to long-term sun exposure.

Under the cloak were two brown linen tunics and trousers that matched his brown eyes and hair.There is also a worn-out small leather pouch hung by a belt around his neck.His beard was covered with white silk, and a leather glove was worn on his disabled left hand, which seemed to be half shorter than ordinary people.

The visitor stopped in front of Gao Yuan and stretched out his left hand to him. Looking at the other party and his own left hand, Gao Yuan noticed that the last knuckles of the four fingers of the other party's left hand had been amputated.Seeing this, he immediately knew the identity of the person in front of him. It was the onion knight who rescued Duke Stannis by smuggling food during the siege of Storm's End—Ser Davos Seaworth.

"My lords, I thought you would come earlier, my lords." Sir Davos saluted him simply, "I forgot to introduce myself to my lords, I am Sir Davos from House Seaworth in Cape Wrath , my Lord Stannis sent me to the docks to meet your lords."

"Nice to meet you, Sir Davos!" Gao Yuan graciously reached out and held the other's disabled left hand, "Our ship suddenly encountered a strange Gulf Stream last night, so we were delayed on the road. Since History Lord Tanis is already waiting for us in the castle, so Sir Davos, please lead us."

"Please come with me, Lord Gaoyuan!" Sir Davos nodded towards the crowd, and then walked in front to lead Gaoyuan and the others to Stannis' castle.

"I didn't expect you, my lord, to encounter the dangerous Gulf Stream in Blackwater Bay. I don't know whether you are lucky or unlucky, my lord. You must know that this is not a shipwreck bay full of Gulfstreams. Gulfstreams are very rare in this Blackwater Bay. Many people go to sea. I'm afraid you'll never meet a fisherman or sailor here once in your life." Ser Davos struck up a conversation with them on the way to the castle.

It was said that Davos "Shortfinger" was the best sailor at night, and before Lord Stannis knighted him, he was the most notorious and most cunning smuggler in the Seven Kingdoms.He was even able to send food into the besieged Storm's End under the heavy blockade of the Highgarden army.

"Sir Davos, you must have encountered the Gulfstream many times at sea, right?" Bronze John asked after Gao Yuan.

"Before following Lord Stannis to Dragonstone Island, I was active in the sea of ​​Shipwreck Bay. I think no one on this continent knows better than me the Gulf Stream that rages under the calm sea of ​​Shipwreck Bay. Ser Davos turned his head and told him, "You may as well tell your lord that I had been smuggling around Shipwreck Cove until then, but since Lord Stannis chopped off the last knuckles of the four fingers of my left hand , I have changed careers and stopped smuggling.”

"Sir Davos, Lord Stannis cut off four of your last knuckles. Why don't you resent him, but continue to stay by his side and do things for him?" Sir Anda, the youngest among them, said. asked.

But when he was halfway there, he realized that he shouldn't be driving Ser Davos's relationship with his lords in front of him.

"Resentment? How is this possible!" Sir Davos showed the leather bag hanging on his chest to everyone, "I regard this left hand that has lost the last knuckle as my medal of honor, and I regard them as a gift that can protect the family. lucky charm."

"And Lord Stannis has done me a great favor by doing this. Four fingers are missing and it saves me a lot of time to trim my nails."

Under the leadership of Sir Davos, Gao Yuan and others soon came to the gate of the castle on Dragonstone Island.The castle of Dragonstone Island is made of black stone, and its towers are carved in the shape of dragons. It is rumored that this castle was built by advanced Valyrian stonework technology.This technology has now been lost in the Doomsday, making this place unique among the many castles in Westeros.

Entering the castle, they walked slowly along the promenade. Through a row of tall arched windows, the wide field of vision allowed Gao Yuan to have a panoramic view of the outer courtyard of the castle, the fishing village below, the crowded naval port and the military camp.

Under the command of the captain, the archers in the yard bent their bows and set arrows at the archery target in unison to shoot. The whizzing sound of tail feathers piercing the air was like the flapping of seabirds that Gao Yuan heard when he was on the beach.On the passage of the city wall, serious-looking guards are patrolling alternately.

Sir Davos climbed up the spiral staircase of the "Stone Drum Tower", followed closely by Gao Yuan and others who visited the castle for the first time.The Stone Drum Tower is the main castle of Dragonstone Island. Every night when a storm comes, there will be thunderous and drum-like rumbling echoes inside its ancient walls, hence the name Stone Drum Tower.

According to the onion knight, Lord Stannis was waiting for them at the Round Table on the Drum Tower.But to get there, they had to go through a long corridor, pass through the black iron gate guarded by gargoyles, pass through the middle and inner city walls, and then climb up the stairs to get there.

When they finally came to the door of the round table hall at the top, Bronze Jorn and others kept complaining behind Gao Yuan that this castle was really unfriendly to weak and invading enemies.The castle is full of narrow corridors and steep steps. Since they stepped into the gate of the castle, they have climbed at least a thousand steps.

"Lord Duke Gao Yuan, my lord invites you in." Ser Davos, who had just entered the round table hall and reported to Stannis, came to Gao Yuan and told him politely.Then he looked at Bronze Yon and the others who followed Gao Yuan, "Other adults, please wait outside the door. My family said that he only wants to talk to Lord Gao Yuan."

"Sir Davos, what does your lord mean?" Earl Jorn frowned and asked a step forward.

"I'm sorry, Lord Yonne." Davos apologized sincerely to him.

Gao Yuan turned his head and gave Bronze Jorn a reassuring look, and then told the people who followed him: "You wait here. Lord Stannis has no malice towards me."

Ser Davos walked into Lord Stannis Baratheon's hall with Gao Yuan pushing the door. The hall was a wide circular room with walls made of black stone, and there were no other special or gorgeous decorations on the surrounding walls.There are four tall narrow windows in the hall, facing the southeast, northwest and four directions respectively.

A huge wooden table was placed in the center of the hall, on which was carved an extremely detailed map of Westeros, hence the name of the round table hall.During the war of conquest, Aegon the Conqueror used it to formulate a battle plan to conquer the entire continent.

The length of the "map table" is more than 16 meters, the widest part is about half of the length, and the narrowest part is only about one meter.Aegon the Conqueror carved vivid bays and peninsulas according to the topography of Westeros, and no part of the table was straight.

The desktop depicts the seven kingdoms of that era in great detail, all the mountains, rivers, towns, fortresses, lakes and forests of the seven kingdoms. It can be seen on this desktop at a glance, with the glossy luster of nearly 300 years of accumulation.

There was only one seat in the entire hall, and the position of the seat was carefully designed, and it was placed neatly at the location of Dragonstone Island in the sea outside Westeros, so that you could have a panoramic view of everything on the table.

The person Gao Yuan was looking for on this trip was sitting on that seat. The Duke of Dragonstone was wearing a tight leather vest and brown thick wool trousers.Just as Sir Davos Gao Yuan entered the hall, he raised his head and looked at Gao Yuan behind the Onion Knight.

Although this was Gaoyuan's first meeting with Stannis, he had already heard too many people talk about him, the unsmiling younger brother of King Robert.

Stannis was as broad-shouldered and strong-boned as his king brother.When he raised his head, his face was tense and stiff like a wax man. After long-term exposure to the scorching sun, his skin had become dark, rough and as hard as iron.

"Stubborn and gritty" is the most commonly used word to describe Stannis, and his character lives up to the name.Although Stannis is only 35 years old now, only a tuft of fine black hair remains on the top of his bald head.

After the fine dark hair surrounds his ears, people with high emotional intelligence may call it a shadow like a crown, while people with low emotional intelligence like Gao Yuan will say that he is bald at a young age, and he has a Mediterranean at a young age. sailing capital.

Under a pair of thick eyebrows, his eyes are like two wounds, and the dark blue is like the ocean in the night.No matter how funny the jester was, with someone as unsmiling as Stannis, it would be useless to try his best.

It was a face that was born with frowns, scowls and stern words. It seemed that he had long forgotten how to show smiles and kindness to others, but anyone who saw his face was terrified.

"I think you are Gao Yuan who stole Jon Arryn's family territory and title, right?" Stannis said without any emotion. The Duke of Dragonstone had a grudge against him.

"It's my first meeting, Lord Stannis, it's an honor to meet you!" Gao Yuan greeted him politely, "I'm just temporarily acting as the young Duke Robert, exercising the rights of the Guardian of the East and the Duke of the Eagle's Nest City."

"Temporary. Stealing. Is there any difference between the two?" Stannis said with a look of disdain, "My brother has always been good at crossing rivers and tearing down bridges. Jon Arryn served him as Prime Minister for 14 years. It can be said that he has dedicated himself to death."

"And Jon Arryn was killed just over two months ago, and he couldn't wait to find two people to replace him. One Stark took his position as Prime Minister, and the other One has stolen his family's title and position of Guardian of the East."

"Lord Stannis, I don't agree with what you say!" Gao Yuan walked to the "map table" and carefully looked at the topography of the Vale of Arryn 300 years ago, "At least in my opinion, I'm afraid there is no one now It can take the place of Lord Jon Arryn in the king's heart."

"Maybe I don't quite agree with you, Lord Stannis, but I think we agree on at least one thing!"

Stannis Baratheon seemed to be frowning forever: "Duke High, I think this is only the first time the two of us have met, and I can't think of any agreement between myself and you."

"I think, at least on the matter that Jon Arryn was murdered, we have reached an agreement, haven't we?" Gao Yuan raised his head and smiled.

"This is a good thing, at least we haven't reached the point where we have nothing to talk about." Gao Yuan looked into his eyes, "Not long ago, Lord Ed and I had found out the truth behind the murder of Jon Arryn." fierce."

The Duke of Stannis showed disdain when he heard the words, he thought he already knew who the real culprit was: "This only proves that you and Stark are not so stupid that there is no cure, I have already"

"I'm afraid the truth is not what you think, Lord Stannis." Gao Yuan interrupted him, "Jon Arryn did not die at the hands of the sister and brother of the Lannister family, the real murderer was actually someone else. others"

(End of this chapter)