The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 173: The Queen Mother's Folly and the Dwarf's Clever Plan (8k)

"Your Highness, you must not do this! This is really too... radical. If you do this, all the hard work of His Majesty Robert over the past decade will be wiped out!"

Grand Maester Pycelle's eyes widened. This old man who usually dozed off was now surprisingly energetic - because he was so shocked by Cersei's words that the tiredness in his old body disappeared without a trace.

The few people who were still in the imperial meeting had similar attitudes. Maryweiss looked incredulous, and even the dead eunuch who always had a sweet smile on his face showed an expression of disbelief.

This performance satisfied Cersei, and she began to think that the people in front of her were all fools. Her decision could directly reverse the current bad situation in King's Landing and stabilize Xiao Qiao's throne. These people actually reacted like this! She began to doubt whether these people were loyal to the Iron Throne.

"Shut up, what do you mean by reduced to ashes? I said it won't happen, and it won't happen. Pycelle, follow my orders immediately and send out the messenger raven. If you don't do this, you don't have to stay in your current position."

Cersei's tone was full of threat, which successfully forced the old maester to lower his head, with a hurt expression in his eyes.

As for the finance minister and the eunuch who had tried to persuade her before, they also lowered their heads under her gaze.

She has tamed the Small Council, Cersei thought smugly. She wondered why Robert would not attend the Small Council, why it would be so easy to make these useless bastards bow their heads, but he chose not to do so.

Indeed, Westeros should be ruled by her. Under her rule, Westeros will surely reach its peak and become better.

Now, she was going to see Joff. After going through so many storms, Joff must have been scared, but he couldn't go on like that. He was the heir to the Iron Throne and he had to take responsibility for inheriting the throne. Facing so many challengers, he had to show his image as a king instead of hiding behind his skirt.

With this thought in mind, Cersei left the small council. The three people left in the meeting looked at each other, not knowing what to say. They could see from each other's eyes that there were words that were inconvenient to say. Even Varys, who was the best at smoothing over awkward atmospheres, didn't know what to say.

In the end, they could only sigh together, lamenting that they had such a queen dowager, and then go on to carry out the queen dowager's orders - and by the way, bring this news to others.

Cersei made the King's Council so panic-stricken with her three orders. One was to order the Church of the Seven to immediately return to the Sept of Baelor and disband the assembled believers. Another was to announce a major reduction in the King's Landing civil service group, directly laying off 70% of the staff. The Red Keep was where the royal family lived, and there was no need for so many people, and it was too expensive to support these people. Another was to let all the eastern garrisons return to King's Landing to defend the capital.

The first order did not cause much resentment. However, the subjective initiative shown by the Church of the Seven, which had always served as a rubber stamp for all parties, during this turmoil caused many people to feel uneasy. They gathered a large number of believers, centered on the Great Sept of Baelor, and established an area under the jurisdiction of the church in the name of self-protection - this had never happened in the history of King's Landing.

Therefore, the main opinion of everyone is that it is too inappropriate to do so now. At present, King's Landing still needs the Archbishop to maintain stability as much as possible. It is too hasty to take action against the Church of the Seven Gods now. It is not appropriate to make enemies now.

But Cersei doesn't care about all that. She is extremely displeased with the church's activeness. She wants to let the church know who is the ruler of King's Landing.

If everyone thought Cersei's first order was reasonable but too hasty, then the second and third ones really made it difficult for the three ministers to hold back.

First, the second one. In Cersei's opinion, the work done by five civil servants can be done by one person. It is a waste of money to keep five people. She doesn't know what Robert is thinking to keep so many idle people. She now has to prepare for Joff's coronation ceremony and must find a way to get more money.

The reason for the opposition of the Royal Council is very simple. The Iron Throne has now built such a complex and huge system, which has actually been incorporated into the lives of the people of Westeros.

But now Cersei is going to make such a drastic reduction in the brain of this huge system. As a result, the entire system will be out of control, and the Iron Throne's control over various parts of Westeros will decline drastically.

But Cersei said she didn't care. She didn't think anything would happen without this civil service group. It would just go back to the old days. How much damage could this cause to the Iron Throne? And someone in the Citadel told her that there were too many Easterners in the civil service of King's Landing. These Easterners were not loyal at all. They should all be replaced by Westeros maesters. Cersei was also quite interested in returning to the old times.

Faced with the Queen Mother's words, the three people in the imperial meeting were choked. They really didn't know how to respond to the Queen Mother's fallacy.

As for the third one, this one really made everyone present unable to hold back. Cersei ordered all the Iron Throne's garrisons in the east to return to King's Landing to help the kingdom suppress the rebellion in the capital and defend King's Landing to face the rebels who were gathering troops.

Yes, rebels. There are rebels outside King's Landing.

After learning what happened in King's Landing, Robb Stark, the son of Eddard Stark, immediately sent a letter of reprimand to King's Landing, asking the Iron Throne why it arrested his father; Stannis Baratheon assembled the royal fleet scattered across the Narrow Sea in Tyrosh, across the Narrow Sea, and put on an attitude of self-reliance; as for Renly Baratheon, who fled back to Storm's End, he assembled the army of the Stormlands and frequently met with the Duke of the River Reach. It is said that they have already negotiated a marriage - because the army of the River Reach has begun to assemble.

There is no doubt that these forces threaten the Iron Throne today, not to mention that many parts of King's Landing are still occupied by "rebels" and the loyal city guards have not yet taken them down.

Although Tywin Lannister has mobilized his troops and tried his best to rush to King's Landing, it will still take some time to arrive, and who knows if her father will be intercepted by Tully's army on the way. Cersei is now extremely uneasy and she urgently needs military force to defend the safety of the Red Castle.

At the beginning, Cersei planned to let the kingship lords lead their troops into King's Landing to defend the capital, but due to the arrest of Dontos Hollard, the attitude of the kingship lords became ambiguous. They held heavy troops but kept them in place, and ignored the orders of the Red Keep.

Since the princes of the royal domain could not be relied upon, she thought of the power of the Iron Throne in the East. She had also received news that Mace Tyrell had transferred Randyll Tarly and the troops stationed in the River Bay from Lys. This gave Cersei inspiration and made her think of drawing strength from the East.

As long as they are all transferred to King's Landing, the safety of King's Landing can naturally be guaranteed, especially the Estuary Army, which is the most loyal force to the Iron Throne.

As for the counterattack of the Free Cities, that was not even within Cersei's consideration. In her opinion, since Robert could easily defeat these city-states, then she could too. Even if the current concession allowed the power of the Free Cities to make a comeback, so what? When the civil war in Westeros was resolved, the army of Westeros would once again sweep across the East, and still under her leadership.

In response, the Royal Conference directly expressed that it could not accept this order. This order was simply too outrageous. As important ministers who had worked for the Iron Throne for a long time, the three of them were aware of the actual situation on the front line and understood how terrible the consequences of doing so would be. Even the Iron Throne might be destroyed.

However, when Cersei threatened to dismiss them and called on the Lannister knights to prepare for war, the important officials kept their mouths shut. They had no military power and could only kneel down in the face of the queen mother's threat.

Soon, dozens of ravens flew away from the tower of the Red Castle, carrying news that was enough to shock the whole of Westeros in all directions.

However, the first place where these news spread was King's Landing. Faced with these news, the civil servants in King's Landing were the first to explode. They had never expected that they would be suddenly kicked out. These people naturally resisted at the first time, but the gold cloaks would only answer with sticks. Then, not long after, many civil servants received letters of dismissal and were dismissed.

And along with the expulsion, many people were arrested by the scholars of the Citadel wearing golden robes. These people had one thing in common, that is, they all had educational experience in the Academy.

As for those who have not been fired, the situation is not good either. All the work of those who have been fired is now on their shoulders. The huge workload makes these people breathless, but they have to work hard because the Queen Mother said that if they don't do a good job, they can just leave.

Who would dare to leave? It is not easy to be in Junlin. If you lose this job, you will immediately fall into the level of the poor.

The next thing to react was the Church, whose attitude towards the Red Keep's order was "this is a chaotic order" and they ignored it. This made Cersei so angry that she immediately ordered the city guards to arrest the High Septon.

In the past, the Iron Throne would not have been hindered from doing such things, because the High Septon was just the Iron Throne's chamber pot, a coronation ceremonial item, nothing more.

But now, after the miracle of the Seven Gods and the expedition in the name of the Seven Gods, the authority of the Church of the Seven Gods has expanded unprecedentedly, and this church is no longer the joke it used to be.

The church also made great efforts in the replanning of King's Landing, which enabled them to gain the support of residents near the Great Sept. of Baelor.

The gold-robed men who were sent to capture the archbishop knew that it was a tough job, but they had to do it because of the commander's order, and they set out reluctantly. As a result, they were attacked by ambushed believers on the way and were forced to flee in embarrassment.

This defeat not only caused Genos to be scolded, but also further worsened the situation in King's Landing. Seeing that even the church joined the battle with the capital garrison, others naturally became more confident.

In this way, the war in King's Landing began to get more out of control, and the capital of Westeros truly became a city of war.

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Since the construction of Harrenhal, no family that occupied this place had a good ending, but due to its superior location, there are always families willing to take over. Therefore, no matter how notorious this castle is, there are always fools who are willing to take it over, even at the risk of the extinction of their family, just to satisfy the feeling of being a great noble.

However, the He'an family that rules here now is quite smart. After acquiring land in the East that is no less than that in the West, Lady He'an decided to move to the warmer East. She took away all the subjects and knights who were loyal to the He'an family.

In this way, the once fertile and rich God's Eye Lake became much more desolate. Now in Harrenhal, the Hean family only has a few gatekeepers left, and these gatekeepers are unwilling to live in this cursed castle, so Harrenhal has become more and more desolate.

In the East, Lady Hean felt deeply the inconvenience of remote rule. Most of the output of Harrenhal had to be consumed on the way here, so she sold the land in exchange for the gold and silver that she needed more so as to develop new territories in the East.

And the buyer was the Lannister family of Casterly Rock.

The Tullys of Riverrun were naturally dissatisfied with this. The Lannisters actually purchased the land under the rule of the Duke of Riverland and turned the Duke of Riverland's legal territory into the westerly territory. This was an insult to the Tully family.

Lord Tywin's response was simple: if you have money you can buy it, but if you don't have money don't complain. It is completely reasonable for him to spend money to buy the land. This made Hoster Tully so angry that his old face was distorted.

The lawsuit between the two parties was soon brought to the king. Our good Robert had no intention of intervening in such troublesome matters. He simply said that he didn't care, and Tully didn't have the courage to do anything to the Lannisters, so the status quo continued in this awkward way. Harrenhal was still regarded as the jurisdiction of the Duke of Riverland, but it was the Westerlands that actually controlled it.

Moreover, the Westerly Territory intends to expand further. The same is true for the Guberk family and the Riverlands family in the nearby Lake Port. They participated in the expedition earlier and won a lot of land in the East. The income from the East has exceeded that of the West. They are inclined to completely abandon the land in the West and manage the East wholeheartedly. For this reason, Tully and Lannister are talking to Guberk.

Therefore, after the turmoil in King's Landing, the administrator of Casterly Rock in Harrenhal immediately summoned the knights and farmers in the territory, but not for fighting, but to level the land in preparation for the arrival of the Lannister army - and the Lannister army did come. The Lannister army did not directly enter Harrenhal, which made many soldiers feel relieved. Since the miracle of the Seven Gods appeared in the world, people have become more and more afraid of ghosts and gods.

After recalling the ins and outs of the Lannister army at Harrenhal, and walking in the disciplined Lannister camp, "Little Devil" Tyrion Lannister felt a sense of joy from the bottom of his heart. After experiencing the troubles in the Vale, seeing his father's army filled his heart with indescribable comfort.

The Lannister soldiers were also looking at him. These barbarians who seemed to have walked out of the painting were beyond the expectations of many people. However, most people were mainly looking at the barbarians behind the little devil, looking at the tall barbarian behind him, whose height formed a sharp contrast with Tyrion's shortness.

These people were friends Tyrion brought from the mountain clans. After escaping from the Tully sisters in the Eyrie, he relied on his words to get these allies without capital. For the weapons and equipment he promised, the barbarians followed him to the plain they talked about.

It was also the first time that the Mountain Clan had seen so many people. Even an entire clan in the mountains was far less numerous than the large army in front of them. Moreover, they also saw moving giant beasts, which made the Mountain Clan exclaim in surprise - this made Tyrion very happy. The more surprised they were, the easier it would be for him to manipulate these people.

Tyrion really intended to give the mountain clans weapons and equipment, and a lot of them. When he was in the valley, these barbarians took him through the Mountains of the Moon, and let him see the scene in the Mountains of the Moon: all the mountain clans were in a state of overcrowding.

Whenever they arrived at a mountain clan, when those famous clan raiders reported back, a large number of clan men would immediately come out to join his team. This made Tyrion very curious, so every time he arrived at a tribe, he would have a good chat with the locals to understand the situation and the status of each clan.

Finally, after collecting enough information, he pieced together a complete picture:

The prosperous trade on both sides of the narrow sea also affected the barbarians in the mountains. The Grafson family of Seagull Town ignored the ban of Eagle's Nest City and exported food, salt and other necessities of life to the mountain clans in exchange for the wealth in the mountains: precious wood, precious spices, ferocious animals, and even expensive gems... The mountain clans paid these things that were of little value to them in exchange for vital food and tools.

With the acquisition of these foods and tools, the living environment of the mountain people was improved, and the land that was originally difficult to cultivate was now reclaimed. The increase in food also caused the population of the mountain clans to grow rapidly, and children who should have died survived.

More importantly, many people who should have died did not die. The mountain clans that had become wealthy during the previous winter had few deaths. This was unprecedented.

You know, winter has always been a population suppressant for the Alpine clans. Every time winter comes, the Alpine clans will die in droves, and some clans will even disappear as a result, and the entire Alpine clan will be half-dead.

Their technology has also improved. In the past, the mountain clans had great difficulty even making iron, but now they can at least make some iron tools normally - although the quality is still poor compared to those in the peaceful lands, they can be used as tools.

The prosperity of the Mountains of the Moon was in stark contrast to the decline of the Vale. The Vale was filled with the most devout Andals, and therefore they were quite enthusiastic about the expedition. These knights could not stay at home for a few years and had to return to the East to continue the war.

The cost of their war was naturally borne entirely by the people. After all, not every war could be fought without losses, which caused many people to complain.

This also further promoted the loss of population, as these people either went up the mountains to join the mountain clans or went to live in the Andes holy land in the east.

The Eyrie had seen what Seagulltown did. According to the Eyrie's principles, such behavior would undoubtedly be dealt with severely. However, Jon Arryn had been in charge of both sides of the Narrow Sea in King's Landing for a long time and had no power to care about the affairs of the Vale. In addition, trade with the mountain clans did greatly reduce the frequency of attacks by clan raiders, which led to more merchants going to the Vale of Arryn. Therefore, in the end, the Eyrie acquiesced in Seagulltown's behavior, and more and more nobles and merchants joined in the trade with the mountain clans, exchanging food for precious mountain wealth on the plains.

The nobles and merchants in the valley knew clearly what kind of wealth lay in the Bright Moon Mountains. They had longed for these things for a long time, and now that they had the opportunity, they naturally wanted to get a piece of the pie in this trade.

Even though the mountain clans had opened up many new valleys, the settlements in the Mingyue Mountains were still overcrowded.

If it had continued like this, the hatred between the clan warriors and the valley knights that had lasted for thousands of years might have been resolved. But at this time, something happened that directly became the fuse for the unrest of the mountain clans. That was the Seagull Town Merchant Group that significantly raised the price of supplies.

In the past, two skins could be exchanged for food or salt, but now five skins are needed. One piece of wood could be exchanged for a tool, but now three are needed. This is the plains plundering the wealth of the mountains, and they are fearless. There are so many people in the mountains, and they survive by importing food and salt from them.

The price increase of the Seagull Town Merchant Group naturally attracted others to join in. In this way, the Gaoshan Clan fell into a crazy tide of exploitation. They had to desperately exploit the resources in the mountains and forests, and even go to more dangerous places to find supplies, and even pay the price of their lives for this.

Faced with such a grim prospect, the Gaoshan Clan decided to pick up their old business of plundering, and the roads between the Mingyue Mountains were filled with hundreds of war gangs patrolling, looking for anything to plunder.

It was also because of this that Catherine Tully's journey into the mountains almost killed everyone along the way. The number of mountain clans that rushed out far exceeded Mrs. Tully's expectations. If a team of Vale Knights had not arrived in time, they would have been doomed.

Tyrion remembered the night when the Mountain Clans rushed out from behind bushes and rock hills that were originally thought to be uninhabited. Javelins and slingstones whistled in his ears. No matter how many they killed, more Mountain Clans would soon come to replace the dead.

He was fighting on the front line with an axe in his hand. All his followers were dead, and the "rangers" who were mobilized by Catelyn Tully's impassioned speech were almost killed or wounded. At the moment when they thought they were going to die, the Knights of the Vale arrived like heavenly soldiers, and then just like when they came, the mountain clans quickly disappeared into the darkness, and only the corpses on the ground could prove their presence.

It was also under such circumstances that Tyrion, who escaped from the Eyrie, took the initiative to find the Mountain Clan and persuaded them - this was his only choice after being thrown out of the Bloody Gate alone.

After putting the picture together, Tyrion's clever little head immediately thought of how the situation would develop:

Now the Alpine Clan is enjoying plundering merchants, but soon the merchants will no longer come to trade with them, and the Alpine Clan will still be in trouble. If the Alpine Clan wants to change this situation, the only choice is to plunder the valley on a large scale.

There are two advantages to plundering the valley. The first is that the valley is rich, and the resources snatched from the valley can greatly alleviate the resource shortage in the Mingyue Mountains. The second is that no matter whether you win or lose, many people will die. If more people die, there will naturally be fewer mouths to feed - this is what the Gaoshan clan did in the past.

Tyrion analyzed that from the clan raiders' fearless attitude towards death, the frequent conflicts with the Knights of the Vale over the past thousand years were ultimately a means for the mountain clans to control the population.

After realizing that the Mountain Clan would inevitably start a war with the Vale, Tyrion realized that if these barbarians were provided with weapons and equipment, they would definitely be able to achieve better results, and the Vale would be deeply trapped in this trouble and unable to extricate itself, unable to participate in the great conflict that was about to break out in Westeros - he learned everything that was happening outside through the channels of the Mountain Clan.

From what Tyrion had seen, the Mountain Clan were very short of weapons and equipment. Even the most famous raiders were armed with old things from who knows when, weapons made from farm tools, and inferior weapons made by the Mountain Clan themselves over the years. The best thing they wore was scale armor made of rotten iron pieces.

Seagull Town imports all kinds of goods into the mountains, but there are no weapons or equipment at all - the people in the valley have a good idea of ​​what they cannot import.

This made Tyrion feel that these people were both smart and stupid. They knew that they could not import weapons and equipment into the Moon Mountains, but they still provided food, causing the population of the mountain clans to explode. They also exploited the mountain clans after the population explosion. Could it be that if they did not import weapons, they could prevent the mountain clans from going down the mountain in the face of exploitation, oppression and population pressure?
Having figured out the interests involved, Tyrion immediately asked Shagga - the big guy - to take him to meet the most powerful chiefs of the mountain clans. Then, using his status as the son of a great noble from the plains, Tyrion guaranteed the chiefs weapons and equipment - this gave the little devil an extremely generous reward, and the number of mountain clans obeying him directly exceeded 800.

It seemed that because he, a half-man, had successfully convinced the chiefs, the mountain clans who were summoned by his words maintained a high respect for Tyrion. It was the first time that Tyrion experienced the feeling of being surrounded by a group of people, the feeling of being surrounded by an army that could be considered to be his own, and he found that he was so adapted to it and liked this feeling so much.

"Father, I'm back." After asking the warriors of the Mountain Clan to stand outside and telling them to wait for him, Tyrion walked into Tywin's tent.

Tywin was communicating with several westerly officers. When he saw his dwarf son coming in, he waved his hand to signal them to leave and looked at his son. "Tyrion, I heard you were dead."

"I am not dead." Tyrion sat down opposite Tywin without any hesitation. "I brought you an army."

"Eight hundred barbarians. I admit, I didn't expect that." This surprised Tyrion. He had been prepared for his father to suppress him. "These barbarians you brought came to my armorer to ask for weapons as soon as they arrived. Tell me, what debt do you owe me to get these people?"

"Lord Tywin, this is not a debt I owe you. I have brought you a way to reduce the valley to ashes." Seeing that his father had no intention of refutation, Tyrion confidently told him everything he had seen in the Mountains of the Moon and the plan he had thought of.

Lord Tywin listened quietly, remaining calm the entire time, only raising his eyebrows slightly a few times. This made Tyrion a little excited, because it meant that Lord Tywin was surprised, which was something that would never happen under normal circumstances.

"Your observations and judgments on the Mountains of the Moon are very interesting, Tyrion. It seems that I have underestimated you." There was still a sense of suppression in Tywin's words, but it made Tyrion feel enjoyable. It was difficult for him to get such words.

"I will send word to contact your barbarian friends, but Tyrion, don't think about that right now. Look at this."

After saying that, the Duke handed Tyrion a letter. The letter was made of very good material. Although it was not signed, it could be seen from the handwriting that this person was proficient in writing.

Tyrion continued to read, and his mood became worse and worse, but he still tried his best to control himself. Unfortunately, he couldn't help but blurt out a sentence in the end:

"What the hell is Cersei doing!"

What Tyrion had just seen was a record of Cersei's series of orders in King's Landing. The smart dwarf understood almost immediately what Cersei's actions meant.

"Your sister is so stupid." Tywin showed no mercy to his daughter, but he did not lose his temper. However, Tyrion understood that his father must have been angry, otherwise he would not be so calm. Cersei saw that even her father would find it difficult to remain calm. "What she is doing now is pushing the entire country into the abyss. If this continues, our family will be finished."

"So, my lord, what do you need from me?" Tyrion knew that Lord Tywin would not say anything without a purpose.

"I want you to take your barbarians to King's Landing before my main force, control your sister, tell her not to do stupid things again, and protect Stark for me. I originally thought that your sister would never be stupid enough to attack Stark, but now I have changed my mind."

As Tywin spoke, he became more and more angry, which showed how passive the Lannisters were because of what happened in King's Landing. He then explained why Tyrion had to go first. "I have too many infantry here, and it will take a long time for me to reach King's Landing. I must ensure that Cersei will not do anything more outrageous before I arrive in King's Landing."

"Yes, father." Tyrion bowed slightly exaggeratedly, feeling somewhat happy in his heart. Although he understood that Tywin was using him as a cannon fodder to test him to a large extent, Tyrion was still very happy because he had always longed for this kind of opportunity, an opportunity to prove himself.

(End of this chapter)