Game of Thrones: Royal Game

Chapter 312 A Fair Gamble
The elephant car came all the way to the port area and stopped in front of a four-story hotel surrounded by piers and inns in Fishmongers Square.

"The Merchant's House is the best tavern and the largest inn in Volantis. Let's wait for news here," said Manius. "Don't worry, our people will soon send your friend bring them."

What Ian said before was an old friend, but Manius seemed to understand that he had become a friend.

After getting off the elephant cart, Ian and Daeron followed Marnius into the merchant's house.

"Its hall is larger than the halls of most castles in Westeros." Daeron couldn't help sighing as he looked at the magnificent dome of the hall on the first floor.

Ian didn't look at those things, but focused on people.

It seems that people from all over the world gather here. There are merchants from Westeros, Braavos and the city-state of the Three Daughters, the furry Ibans who seem to have not fully evolved, and the pale-skinned Qarth navigators. , blacks from the Summer Isles wearing feather cloaks, and even people wearing wooden lacquer masks appeared, and it was unknown if they were Shadowbinders from Asshai.

Finding a relatively spacious place to sit down, Marnius asked the waiter for a jug of good wine and some delicacies, and when he was about to continue asking Duke Koulu for information about the Ian Dragon King, he suddenly heard a shout .

Several people looked towards the source of the sound, only to realize that someone had set up a conscription table in the corner of the hall, a few lazy mercenaries were shouting, and a swallowtail flag decorated with blue and white stripes was blowing in the wind beside them. swing.

"They're from the Windblown Brigade," said Marnius, who is a qualified guide, and immediately told the origin of the other party, "They are recruiting here, and then they will go to Slaver's Bay to accept your master's employment. "

"It's impossible for them to arrive before the decisive battle." Ian, who had found Drogo's main force through the Falcon near Hessie, commented.

"They didn't intend to fight the Dothraki at all. They were planning to go after the battle. Don't you know the conditions released by your master? His recruitment order for the mercenary group has no time limit."

"Then they are really smart enough." Ian chuckled.

I really didn't set a time limit for the employment, because after defeating Drogo, I would immediately start preparing for the next war against Volantis.Hiring all these mercenary groups entrenched in Volantis, even if they will not bring any improvement to the combat effectiveness of their own army, at least it will prevent Volantis from recruiting these mercenaries to supplement the source of troops.

Conquering Volantis is by no means an easy task. Even though Volantis has declined to such an extent that patriotic scholars such as Marnius feel heartbroken, it is still the overlord of the Summer Sea.

Considering that after the unification of Slaves Bay and Raza, I need to spend a lot of time dealing with the complicated internal affairs of the new empire and reorganizing and training the new army. Moreover, Slaves Bay needs to travel nearly two months by sea route from Volantis, and by land. It takes half a year to go.

If Ian wants to conquer Volantis through military means, it will take two and a half years in the smoothest case, and by then the long night will soon fall.
If the Long Night only appeared in the north of Westeros in the early days, then Ian will have about a year or two to prepare for fighting the Night King.If the Long Night had fallen on Westeros and Essos at the same time, then Ian would have just finished his conquest of Volantis and could be drawn into a war with the White Walkers.

That's why Ian sent Koulu's body to Volantis in advance. It's not that he really expected to make Volantis submit to him with a word of mouth, but he only needed to be able to pry Volantis. Some of these important families in the Sihei wall stand on his side, and with the help of Benero, the chief priest of R'hllor, the Lord of Light in Volantis, he is sure to eat Varan within a year or even half a year. Tees, complete the puzzle of your own New Valyrian Empire.

"The commander of the Windblown Corps is a Pentosian named 'Ragged Prince'," Manius continued, "When he was young, he was chosen by the governors of Pentos as the prince After the prince was smeared on the neck. At that time, the 23-year-old prince in rags fled Pentos overnight and joined a mercenary group in the disputed land. Later, he also established a mercenary group. Now he is over 60 age."

"Not long ago he claimed at a banquet that your master Ian stole Ma Wang's." Marnius suddenly paused, he obviously realized that he almost said a terrible word, and coughed quickly Twice, "Mawang's fiancée," he changed into his own words, "It's only natural for him to go to Slaver's Bay to ask Ian for some compensation."

"Another delusional person who dreams of looting Slave Bay after we are defeated." Ian sneered.

"Do you know that the ships going to Slaver's Bay are all going to loot the three cities of Slave's Bay?"

"Is this some kind of secret?"

"Then why didn't you remind your master and let him refuse these ships to enter the port?" Marnius asked immediately, he didn't understand why someone knew the danger and let them approach.

"They're here to do business, and we have no reason to keep business people out."

"Uh, you mean you're going to rely on them to sell tens of thousands of slaves after you win the war?"

"No, none of the slaves can carry them away," Ian smiled and shook his head, "Of course, your family's boat can, and I can promise you on behalf of my master that you will return with a full load this time.

As for other ships, the time they docked in the major ports of Slave Bay is enough for them to run out of supplies. Food is what we plan to sell to them.Because our army, captives, and a large number of Lazarimites affected by the war frantically gathered near Meereen, the price of food in Meereen will rise to an outrageous height, almost equivalent to gold. "

"This..." Marnius was shocked. "This is too crazy. Most of the ships can't even buy enough supplies to allow them to sail to the next port!"

"If you can't afford it, it's easy to deal with. Just use a boat to exchange it."

"This is too much!" Marnius shook his head, expressing his unacceptability. "At least half of the ships currently in Slaver's Bay belong to Volantis!"

"Is it too much? If the Dothraki win, they will sack our city. If we win, they will buy the Dothraki we captured and the slaves of the unsubjugated tribes in the Lazar area, blood anyway Earning. Isn’t that too much? Can there be such a good thing in the world?” Ian stretched out a finger and shook it, “That’s not how the game is played, either they rob us or we rob them, that’s fair, isn’t it? ?”

"This"

"Do you want to defend them? I'd be happy to hear the opinions of the chief disciple of the greatest jurist of Volantis, Parachiro Valeros." Ian sat upright, assuming a teachable posture.

"I" Marnius opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't express his objection.

The law of Volantis is the civil law based on slavery, the justice it pursues is the justice of the strong, and the fairness is the fairness of the strong.The plan that Duke Koulu just spoke of took advantage of the loopholes in the laws of Volantis, and did not violate most of its principles.

If anything, their manipulation of food prices constituted fraud at best.But in the case where the captains of Volantis themselves went to Slaver's Bay with the purpose of looting Meereen and other cities, there are a lot of precedents in the court cases of Volantis that they don't have to be honest with the robbers.

"Perhaps... I can't criticize your actions too much," Manius admitted first, and then said, "But have you ever thought that the detainment of hundreds of Volantis ships will greatly anger Wa? Lantis, does this run counter to your master's original intention of gaining the loyalty of Volantis? Or are you planning to use these ships to threaten Volantis? I can tell you clearly that it is impossible to make up It works!"

"After what happened, what will Volantis do?" Ian did not answer Manius, but asked a new question.

"Send an envoy to visit your master, condemn his behavior, and ask him to return the ship." Manius was completely accustomed to Ian's way of speaking, so he didn't struggle and answered his question directly.

"What if my master refuses? Will you start a war against Slaver's Bay?" Ian asked confidently.

This is of course impossible!Marnius roared in his heart.

Volantene's army has already lost its combat effectiveness, and its structure is bloated. It is okay to fight defensive warfare, and travel thousands of leagues to conduct expeditions?Do not make jokes!
As for the Volantis navy, they do have the ability to go on an expedition to Slaver's Bay, but Volantis needs the unanimous consent of the three consuls before declaring war.Dofas Pannymeen of the Elephant Party is an outright war-weary person. In addition, he did not participate in the slave trade. This time, none of the ships going to Slave Bay belonged to him. He would definitely not agree to declare war on Slave Bay. things.

Even if the bourgeoisie of Volantis, who lost their sea-going ships, were determined to let Dofas Pannymeen lose the election in the next election and replace him with a Tiger Party consul, it would be two years later.By then, the Gith Fleet, which has digested the sea ships it ate this time and turned them into military power, may not necessarily fear the Volantis Fleet.

Looking up at Duke Kolu, Marnius didn't say what he thought just now, which was a shame to Volantis and another example of Volantis' decline.

"No, right? Because of the opposition of the Consul Dofas Pannymeen." Ian helped Marnius say.

"Hmm." Marnius made a nasal sound.

"Afterwards, the Consul of Dofas Pennymeen will cause public anger. There are too many Volantenes affected by this matter, and all of them are property owners with voting rights." Yi En continued.

"No, what exactly are you trying to say?" Marnius finally realized that something was wrong. According to his understanding of the Duke of Koulu after spending half a day with him, what this guy just said The whole circle is probably not just chatting.

"What I want to say is that if the shipowners of Volantis have completely lost hope of getting their ships back because the consul of Dophas Pennymeen opposed the declaration of war, and the mood is depressed. A Volanti The hero Si suddenly went to Slave Bay and helped them get back all the ships, so how will this hero be treated?"

"There is no doubt that he will be elected as the next consul." Manius swallowed and clenched his fists.

(End of this chapter)