iron throne of ice and fire

Chapter 479 Bloodline 2
After a pause, Green continued, "Within seven days, Kleber's 20,000 soldiers will enter King's Landing. I hope you can protect this king's city."

Sir Damien nodded in acceptance of the order, flicked his golden cloak, turned around and strode away with the other gold cloak captains, leaving behind the embarrassed gold cloak commander-in-chief, Humphrey Waters.

Green's eyes swept across the crowd, and his voice rang out again: "Everyone, in addition to the 20,000 soldiers transferred into the city, I will also station 80,000 troops outside King's Landing. If a rebellion occurs in the city, my army will crush all traitors with the force of thunder."

This time, Prime Minister Harris was the first to stand up and respond: "You are indeed the pillar of the kingdom, Your Highness the Regent, please accept my respect."

As the Prime Minister saluted solemnly, Pycelle also stood up tremblingly and said respectfully, "The rats in the sewers of King's Landing will be terrified and will never dare to offend your majesty."

He suddenly raised his voice: "Long live Regent Green!"

Prime Minister Harris glanced at the old scholar with hatred and shouted, "Long live Regent Green!"

Finance Minister Giles said: "Ahem, long live the Regent."

Count Matus: “…”

Green smiled faintly, raised his hand and pressed it, motioning them to sit down.

At this moment, Humphrey Weishui, who was several beats behind, shouted: "Long live the Regent!"

Everyone: "..."

Green looked gently at the golden-robed commander-in-chief standing not far away and said, "Sir Humphrey Waters."

Hearing Green's call, Humphrey, with a red face, immediately stepped forward and saluted.

Glancing at him, Green spoke slowly, "At a time when people were in panic, Grand Maester Pycelle promoted you to the commander-in-chief of the King's Landing garrison. I think you must be very outstanding."

Sir Humphrey ignored the look that Pycelle was giving him, looked at Green eagerly, and said, "Your Highness, I am at your disposal!"

Green smiled and nodded, saying, "Very good. You have great courage, but... as a good knight loyal to the kingdom, you must shoulder the safety of the entire Seven Kingdoms."

In the face of Humphrey's puzzled expression, Green continued, "I will give you a task. The Night's Watch on the Wall has been warning the lords of the Seven Kingdoms that they have discovered the whereabouts of the White Walkers... Whether it is true or just an exaggeration, as knights protecting the kingdom, we need to go to the Wall to investigate the truth. Sir, are you willing to accept this important task?"

Let him go to the Great Wall?
While Sir Humphrey was still feeling uneasy and conflicted, Lord Matus spoke for the first time: "Grimm... King Taker, as far as I know, Stannis Baratheon and his army are stationed at the Wall. Sir Humphrey Waters may be in danger on this trip."

Gyles bowed and said, "Ahem... Stannis calls himself the legitimate king of the Seven Kingdoms. He will regard everyone else... ahem... as traitors."

Prime Minister Harris rolled his eyes slightly and said, "If the guy who claims to be the legitimate king hurts innocent people, it will be the biggest joke in the Seven Kingdoms."

Pycelle's maester's necklace jingled softly. "Stannis is a ruthless man, but there is a touch of justice in his character."

Green motioned for everyone to be quiet, then looked at Humphrey: "Please tell me, what is your decision, sir?"

Humphrey paused, gritted his teeth, and said, "Your Highness, I am willing to go to the Wall to investigate the truth about the White Walkers."

"very good."

Green nodded slightly in satisfaction, "Don't worry, Stannis. You are my messenger. If anyone threatens you, I will regard it as a declaration of war against the Crabbe family."

He smiled and said, "Do a good job. Land, castle, honor... My reward will be generous enough. The ministers present here are all witnesses."

"As ordered!"

After Sir Humphrey left, the royal meeting quickly moved on to the next topic.

"Minister of the Navy, I heard that the Royal Fleet...is not doing well. I need to know the specific situation."

The Royal Fleet had long been one of the biggest jokes in King's Landing. Earl Matus moved his lips and chose to speak the truth: "After the defection of the former commander-in-chief of the Royal Fleet, Oren Weir, now... all that is left are 52 small boats that can only be used for guarding the Blackwater River dock, and more than 2,000 sailors without ships."

After thinking about it, he did not mention the giant ships of the royal fleet that were "detained" by Davos Seaworth in Mermaid Harbor.

"I see."

Green took a sip of wine from his glass, thought for a moment, and said, "I will transfer ships from Crabbe's Mermaid Harbor Fleet and Dragonstone Fleet to assist the royal fleet in defending the Blackwater Bay in King's Landing."

Assistance again?

Thinking of Cersei's will, Lord Matus paused, put his right hand on his chest, and said, "Your Highness, the Regent, the weak royal fleet is in urgent need of an outstanding new commander-in-chief. May I invite Lord Davos Seaworth to serve as the commander-in-chief of the royal fleet? Please forgive my presumptuousness."

Their eyes met for a moment, and Green nodded slowly: "I'll make the arrangements. I'd like to thank you for your invitation, Count Matus, on his behalf."

…………

Outside the Red Fort gate.

Green's steward came up to the captains of the gold cloaks who were about to mount their horses and called out, "Sir Damien."

"Lord Leighton?"

Seeing Leighton's figure, Sir Damien let go of the reins and walked over.

The two familiar people walked to a deserted place in tacit understanding. Sir Damien spoke first: "But Lord Green has any instructions?"

Leighton nodded and said, "Ser Jaime is gathering the red guards of House Lannister. Their target is the Great Sept of Baelor."

Ser Damien's eyes flashed with shock. "Are they seeking revenge for the Lannister Queen?"

Leighton nodded again: "If nothing unexpected happens, we will hear the roar of a lion tonight."

Sir Damien said solemnly, "Accident?"

Leiden moved a little closer, and he couldn't help but lower his voice: "Of course, no accidents can happen. The red robe must enter the Great Sept of Baelor smoothly."

Sir Damien's Adam's apple rolled, and after a pause, he lowered his voice: "Lord Leighton, this is likely to cause a large-scale riot. The High Sparrow has tens of thousands of sparrows." Leighton's expression was calm: "You just need to make sure no one hinders Sir Jaime's actions, and leave the rest to Crab. Don't forget, Lord Green's 100,000 troops are on their way to King's Landing. What the rebels will ultimately achieve is our honor."

Sir Damien licked his lips and said, "Please tell Lord Green that the Gort family will always be loyal to Crabbe until death!"

…………

Throne room, royal meeting.

After the waiter brought the second glass of wine, Green's voice rang out: "Grand Maester Pycelle."

The corners of his lips curved slightly. "In view of your contribution to stabilizing the situation when Queen Cersei was trapped in the Great Sept of Baelor, I hope that you will also serve as the Regent's Advisor to assist me in governing the Seven Kingdoms."

The elderly Pycelle suddenly straightened his back and said in a slightly excited voice, "Thank you for the trust of the Regent. This is a great honor for me."

"I'm looking forward to your performance. Please take a seat."

After a pause, Green turned his gaze to the Chancellor of the Exchequer: "Earl Giles, I need to know the status of the royal treasury."

Cough…cough…cough…

After Green finished speaking, Earl Giles began to cough continuously.

Leaning back in his chair, Green waited patiently for Giles' coughing to stop, while the others followed suit to "watch".

Cough, cough, cough. Giles' cough became more and more severe, and people were worried that he would spit out blood the next moment, but... seeing that the Regent was in high spirits, no one expressed concern.

When the waiter brought Green a third glass of wine, Giles' cough began to gradually improve.

After waiting for a while, seeing that Earl Giles was about to return to normal, Green's voice came over: "How much money is left in the royal treasury? You can answer slowly, Earl Rossby."

After coughing a few times, Earl Gales, with a flushed face, trembled and stood up, and squeezed out a hoarse voice: "Your Highness, I dare not hide it. The royal treasury is only left with millions of gold royals of debt."

Prime Minister Harris glanced at Green, who was sitting in the main seat, and said, "As far as I know, the 'prostitutes' guild tax' and 'city gate tax' formulated by the former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Tyrion) have added huge income to the royal treasury! Lord Rosby, you are now telling His Royal Highness the Regent that there is not even a copper coin in the royal treasury?!"

Advisor Pycelle frowned and said, "Queen Mother Cersei is kind enough to you, but this is no reason for you to offend the majesty of the Regent. The rule of the kingdom is inseparable from finance, and the most important quality of a finance minister is honesty."

Prime Minister Harris echoed, "Yes, your answer makes me doubt whether you can serve the Regent."

Earl Matus looked at the finance minister who was about to vomit blood in anxiety and said, "Your Highness the Regent, Prime Minister, Grand Maester, as far as I know... the royal treasury spent at least one million gold royals for the engagement ceremony of His Majesty Tommen and Lady Margaery, as well as the construction of new ships for the royal fleet."

Grand Maester Pycelle glanced at the silent Regent, then looked at Earl Matus beside him: "What you are referring to are things that happened two months ago. We are not discussing the past. If the royal treasury is empty, then the funeral of Queen Mother Lannister..."

Cough, cough, cough. This time it was Pycelle who coughed. He almost forgot... Queen Cersei had not really passed away yet.

In the silence, Green's voice broke the silence: "Earl Giles, please tell me more."

Earl Gales's cloudy eyes were filled with tears. He paused and said, "The total cost of the engagement ceremony is 770,000 gold dragons, and the investment in the royal fleet is 420,000 gold dragons. These expenses almost drained away the new income of the royal treasury. The reconstruction and repair of King's Gate and Mudgate, the daily needs of the court, the salary of the King's Landing garrison, and... the biggest problem facing the royal treasury now is the foreign debt of more than 6 million gold dragons (a total of more than 7 million, of which Cersei forgave more than 1 million of the church's debts on the condition that the church would be allowed to arm itself)."

After a pause, he continued, "Specifically: Lannister owes 128 million (Chapters 135 and ), the Iron Bank owes million, Tyrell owes , and Tyrosh Merchants owes . Among them, the Iron Bank is full of distrust of the Royal Treasury, and representatives of the Iron Bank visit me almost every day."

"I probably understand."

Green tapped his fingers on the armrest while thinking, and then said, "Earl Gales, everyone, the income and expenditure of the royal treasury are directly related to the stability of the kingdom, and the royal family's credit cannot collapse."

He knocked on the handrail again and stopped. He seemed to have made a difficult decision: "I will arrange for Steward Roselle of Kleber Trading Company to assist the Minister of Finance in managing the royal treasury, so as to reduce the financial pressure of the kingdom as soon as possible."

Assistance again? First the city defense, then the finances... Count Matus frowned even more.

Earl Giles glanced at the silent ministers, bowed slightly, and said, "As you command, thank you for your support, Your Highness."

Green took a sip of Summer Red and said, "Next topic. There are two vacancies in the seven seats of the Imperial Council, namely the Minister of Justice and the Chief of Intelligence."

He glanced at everyone present and curled his lips: "Everyone, you can recommend suitable candidates to me for reference. I believe in your fairness."

Obviously, this was a piece of cake that the Regent threw to the "well-behaved" ministers of the royal court.

The people who can be trusted are not of high enough status, and those who are of high enough status cannot be trusted. Grand Maester Pycelle almost became incontinent because of his anxiety.

Prime Minister Harris is a new player at the Red Keep table. He has not yet found reliable allies or trained reliable people of his own... But he does not want to miss this rare opportunity, and he is considering whether to recommend his eldest son.

Earl Giles opened his mouth, then pursed his lips and sat quietly in the chair, dozing off.

Earl Matus clenched his fists under the table. According to Duke Green's "arrangement", he had a premonition that the Tyrell family, which had made many contributions to the kingdom... or the entire River Reach, would only have one seat left in the royal council.

His gaze shifted towards the main seat. As the royal minister representing the River Reach, he could no longer "tolerate" this.

And...there is something even more important.

"Your Highness the Regent."

Hearing Matus' voice, Green looked over. He nodded his chin and said in a friendly tone, "Please speak."

After a pause, Lord Matus's face was tense. He said, "The last will and testament added by Queen Mother Lannister violates the Tyrell-Lannister alliance. On behalf of the Tyrell family and the lords of the Reach, I am here to lodge a formal protest to you."

Green rubbed his temple and said, "Earl Matus, there are no secrets in the Red Castle. Tomorrow... or perhaps tonight, this news will spread throughout King's Landing."

He sighed slightly: "As the regent, and as the ministers of the King's Council, we are all witnesses to Cersei's will."

He looked directly at Matus. "Please tell me, how can we deal with this situation without violating our honor? Obviously, ignoring it is not a good solution."

Lord Matus met Green's gaze and responded, "Yes, we cannot ignore the Queen Regent's dying words, but we also cannot ignore the Tyrell-Lannister alliance."

(End of this chapter)