The Glory of the Seven Gods of Ice and Fire

Chapter 76 The Second Expeditionary Force

Since the beginning of the expedition, Seagull Town has experienced many psychological changes.

At first, the people of Pious Seagull Town believed that the expedition was necessary, but their reason told them that the chance of success in challenging Braavos' maritime hegemony was too low, so they could only gamble on avoiding the Purple Sail Fleet.

Even after the Seven Gods personally performed miracles and let the light shine on Seagull Town, many people were still not optimistic about the prospect of the expedition. After the fanaticism, the businessmen and people in Seagull Town who were not optimistic about it were still Quite a few.

However, as losers in the Usurper's War, the people of Seagull Town, who have lost a lot of rights and interests, also understand that the expedition is also a way of life that they can try. If they do not seize this way of life, the city will inevitably fall into depression - and they have not seen the expeditionary force. The blessing of the Seven Gods? Maybe it will succeed.

The Grifson family understood this even more, so the young Earl Gerald chose to go into battle himself.

In the uneasy mood of the people of Seagull Town, Count Gerald returned with his fleet. He brought news of the successful landing of the expeditionary force. But what made people more irritated was that the Seven Gods created a storm and allowed the expeditionary force to cross the sea. information.

This undoubtedly stopped the mouths of all those who were worried about crossing the sea, and many onlookers followed suit and boarded the Seagull Town fleet to head to the East to win wealth and glory.

Next, with the news of victory, a steady stream of loot, and the arrival of returnees from the east with their pockets full of gold and silver, all voices of doubt in Seagull Town about the expedition were instantly suppressed. Moreover, what Seagull Town gained was not just superficial wealth. The fleet brought back many oriental products, and the merchants of Seagull Town immediately transported them to various parts of Westeros to earn the price difference.

Seagull Town's efforts have been rewarded 300%. Now Seagull Town makes a lot of money from the Narrow Sea trade, expeditioner transportation and peddling of loot. The expeditioners who arrived from all over Westeros are even more There was an endless stream.

The most profitable among them are the various instruments of the Seven Gods transported from the east. In the eyes of the people of Westeros, the Eastern Anders is the place where the Seven Gods once walked, and the various instruments of the Seven Gods there must be richer. The power of the seven gods.

This prosperous trade took to the next level after the defeat of the Braavos fleet in the Battle of Sheephorn. Without the threat of the Purple Sail Fleet, more captains bravely set sail and headed to the east to fill up specialties and transport them back to the west for sale.

All parties in the Andals have also benefited greatly from trade. In the past, if they wanted to trade with their relatives in the west, they had to go through the hands of Pentos and Braavos, and these two city-states severely benefited from the Andals. By peeling off a layer of skin, the Andals can't make much at all, and in many cases they have to chip in to make money.

With the news of the expeditionary force's victory, Westeros was undoubtedly aroused with fierce reactions. For many mercenaries and knights, the opportunity to found a thousand-year family in the east seemed to be right in front of them, and even if they had already stood The thousand-year-old family also saw the opportunity to create a branch family and settle their descendants.

During the expedition, everyone in Seagull Town gained benefits. Vendors had to sell goods to people from all over Westeros every day, and they had no worries about sales; workers had endless work to do every day, and various docks In order to seize the labor force, the wages offered are higher and higher; as for hotels and pubs, they are full day and night.

Ever since he was a child, Count Gerald liked to stand on the highest place in Seagull Town. The feeling of the city right at his feet always made him so addicted. At that time, he seemed to be in control of everything, even if he really became the Earl of Seagull Town. , taking everything in his hands, he still retains this habit.

"Frey spent a lot of money this time. It seems that after reaping the benefits, he can't help but want to continue eating." In Grafson Castle, Earl Gerald Griffson, who had returned from another voyage, looked at said the camp outside the city wall.

As the owner of the privilege of trade with the East, Seagull Town has gained too much from it. Now Seagull Town is the town that supports Hugo the most in Westeros. For them, there is no end to the kindness of God's Favorite. It wasn't over yet, so Seagull Town then provided money and people to join Hugo's army. When Hugo declared his rule in Andas, they were also the first Westeros force to recognize it.

However, due to the fact that Pentos and Braavos have deliberately blocked the requirements of Andas and Westeros, these things cannot be transported at all. In many cases, they are still priceless. Now that the road has been opened, These things came naturally.

As a young man whose father died and inherited the title of earl in a time of crisis, Gerald faced great pressure. Even though he was the only son of the old earl and his position as earl was unshakable, he did not want to become People call it waste, and they don’t want the prosperous city created by their ancestors to collapse.

Now every monastery in Andas that makes stone tools is working overtime. They didn't expect that this thing could be so profitable in the West, but no matter how busy they are, the output can't increase because stone tools are not that easy to make. Not many experienced people know how to do it.

Therefore, the second expeditionary force began to gather. Seagull Town, as the place where the first expeditionary force crossed the sea, naturally chose to gather here. Now, outside the city walls of Seagull Town, there are flags of noble families, and With them came the army and the people.

When the Usurper War was defeated, many people thought that Seagull Town would live a hard life for a period of time, but now the expected depression did not appear. Instead, the city became more prosperous, and had it not been for the Eastern Expeditionary Force's failure to capture What a good port, which greatly limits the transportation of goods. This kind of prosperity can be taken to the next level.

Count Gerald's complexion is much better now than before the expedition. After all, how could it be bad? The pressure on Seagull Town has finally been lifted, and the future looks so bright and clear. There is no doubt in Seagull Town about Count Gerald, and the businessmen all obey the count obediently.

Among them, the most popular ones are various stone utensils from the Eastern Seven Gods. This tradition of using stone by the Eastern Seven Gods was not contradicted in Westeros, but was quickly accepted. A piece made of Andas marble The name can make many people spend money, and among the many stone utensils, the most popular one is the stone cup - because Hugo, the God's Favored One, has such a cup that can cure diseases.

In the eyes of outsiders, as the heir to the wealthy Grafson family, Earl Gerald should be able to enjoy life without any worries. However, the pressure on the Earl was never low, and he did not want to rest on his ancestor's legacy.

When the Earl thought of his decision to join the expeditionary force, he couldn't help but feel proud, and a smile appeared on his face. The servants who served the Earl would always say that the Earl smiled more now than the old Earl did before his death until the expedition.

Frey's twin tower flags could be seen everywhere Count Gerald saw. The Frey family brought out three thousand soldiers this time, which was the majority of their family's strength. They also launched a war with the princes from all over Westeros. Due to the marriage relationship, almost 2,000 soldiers were borrowed from various princes. Counting the mercenaries and mercenary knights gathered, the Frey family's strength reached 6,000 - not counting those who followed this army. A large number of people—in this expeditionary force now, Frey is undoubtedly the most powerful.

Speaking of which, when this army started to move, it scared the old fish of the Tully family to death. Although Riverrun was very aware of Frey's power and had been wary of the Twins for many years, when Frey started Even though he had the strength, he still frightened Tully. Laoyu urgently gathered Tully's army to supervise Frey all the way, and also summoned the river princes - but few people paid attention to Tully and the river princes who lent troops to Frey. , more than those who responded to the old fish. Frey didn't pay any attention to Tully's supervisors. Old Frey seemed to have anticipated this situation. He asked his son Aenys to bring Hoster a letter. No one knew the content of the letter. Only the news came out that after reading the letter, Old Fish was so angry that he tore up the letter. After that, the Riverrun army retreated.

Grafson was also a little tempted by Frey's aggressive move to increase his leverage and acquire land in the East. If he had children in the future, he would have to arrange property for them. The land in the East was very suitable. Opportunities were everywhere there. .

However, he does not need to go to the east to fight for his life. As Hugo's old ally, Hugo took the initiative to give a piece of land before Grafson made the request. The industry of this land is comparable to that of Westeros. A relatively poor earl.

Moreover, Hugo also promised that as his territory expanded, he would leave a share for the Grafson family. All the Grafson family had to pay was for the people they sent to be loyal to Hugo. This was really not a small price to pay. .

After seeing Frey's army, Count Gerald's eyes fell on the camp second only to Frey. The peasant flag flying on that camp was indeed a bit sensitive in today's Westeros, because It belongs to the Darry family.

The Darry family is a riverland noble from Darry City. The Darry family was originally more powerful in the Trident River area, and later moved to the southern edge of the Trident River. The family history can be traced back to the Andals defeating the First Men and occupying Westeros. era.

After surrendering to the Dragon King, the Darry family became loyal to the Targaryen family, firmly supporting the Targaryen dynasty, and firmly siding with the Dragon King in many civil wars.

The Usurper's War was no exception. As a family with the Kingsguard and the Headmaster of the Red Keep, they enjoyed a high status in the Targaryen dynasty at that time. When the old fish was still watching from the wall of Riverrun, the Darry family and many The princes from Hejian joined the Dragon King's army.

They also paid a price for this. Now Lord Raymond Darry, the lord of the Darry family, lost three family members, including his own son, in the war to defend the Dragon King. The fall of the Targaryen family caused the Darry family to lose half of their fiefdom and the majority of their land. Some wealth and almost all power.

And it was such a family that brought out a total of 4,000 people for this expedition, but most of them were farmers in the territory of the Darry family, but these farmers had all changed into mail armor and long swords, and those who came with the Darry family Civilians are also the most numerous in each team.

Obviously, the Darry family has taken out the last of the family's belongings and seems to be planning to put everything on the line and gamble on making a comeback in the East.

However, the attributes of the Darry family as loyal servants of the Dragon King are really eye-catching. Earl Gerald felt very uneasy when he thought of this. Although the Grafson family also sided with the Targaryens in the Usurper War, compared to Darry, Compared with the loyal servants of the Dragon King for generations, the purity is still too low - if not for the high purity, their family would not have been punished so severely.

However, the Iron Throne did not speak on this anyway, and it was hard for him to say anything. Count Gerald thought that from the Iron Throne's point of view, it would be better for such a dishonest guy to use all his power in the East than to cause trouble in Westeros. , but whenever he thought of Darry's attributes, he was still very uneasy.

Earl Jero struggled for a while and turned his thoughts to the third largest family in the expeditionary force. However, it was not appropriate to call it a family. To be precise, it was a group called the Northern Group.

The people in the north successfully resettled a large number of surplus people through this expedition. As the news spread back to the north, the princes in the north were very excited. Unlike the south, people in the north really starved to death on a large scale in winter. , every winter, northerners go overseas or to the south to find a way to survive.

Even in summer, the crisis consciousness of the people in the north has never decreased, so as the channel to the east was opened, the princes in the north also became active, sending some of the excess people under their rule to the east, and some clans further north also moved. got up.

There were some northern princes who simply quit and joined the expedition, the most important of which were two, Mandalay and Bolton.

Count Gerald was not surprised by Mandalay's joining, and the Griefson family and the Mandalay family were also quite familiar with each other. As the shield of the church, the Mandalay family was also well-known in the seven countries for their piety to the Seven Gods. The town’s shrine never lacks donations.

But Bolton, to be honest, Count Gerald was just puzzled. He had no idea why this family in the Dreadfort, which was famous for skinning people, was involved in this matter.

And when he saw the Earl of Bolton, he subconsciously felt scared. When he was stared at by the Earl's colorless eyes, Jero felt as if he had been stripped naked by that man and was thinking about how to skin him.

Although in the following exchange, Earl Bolton explained that his family had abolished skinning for many years, Earl Gerald would still feel scared. Earl Gerald was only glad that he did not show this emotion at least.

Among the Northerners, the Bolton family sent out two thousand soldiers. Their strength was the largest among all the Northern forces. This gave Bolton unquestionable leadership, and Bolton seemed to have a stronghold in the Northern Territory. A special kind of prestige - Earl Gerald is not from the North, and he doesn't know much about it.

After these three, the remaining forces have nothing to talk about, but generally speaking, the number of professional soldiers among them is much larger than that of the last expeditionary force.

Therefore, Count Gerald is very optimistic about the future of the expeditionary force. Currently, the three have formed an organizational meeting, but they do not plan to cross the sea immediately. They are still issuing calls to all parts of Westeros to summon soldiers - Therefore, the count was a little anxious. He knew the situation Dongfang Hugo was facing, but no matter how anxious he was, the decision-making power was not with him.

(End of this chapter)