Eagle of the Valley of Ice and Fire

Chapter 49: Pressure from the Iron Bank
The throne room of the Red Keep welcomed its king, Robert Baratheon, who rarely sat on the Iron Throne on the high platform.There are many important ministers standing in both rows of the throne room. What is different from usual is that the throne room is now missing many people from the king's land and even the royal territory who should come to petition. The noble women and Free Trade City officials who usually come to witness trials and decisions are also absent. Not here.

Eddard Stark, Hand of the King, was sitting on a special seat under the high platform of the Iron Throne. Renly Baratheon, the Minister of Justice, leaned against the towering pillars of the throne room. He was not as serious as everyone thought, looking askance. Looking at the ministers who are also standing.

Since Petyr, the finance minister, was sentenced to death, the seat of the royal council has been vacant, so these financial decisions have been temporarily made by the King's Hand Ed, but he has never dealt with such complicated financial accounting books, even if there is a university Spycelle's help was of no avail. They were completely helpless in the face of the huge royal debts, especially the debt owed to Lannister in the West, which amounted to millions of gold dragons. The rich treasury left by Mad King Aerys had already been exhausted. Bo was squandered.

Eddard and Pycelle could only stare at each other, and financial decisions were often made hastily between Eddard's complaints to King Robert and Pycelle's frequent nodding in confusion.

The prize money for the tourney was actually collected and distributed after Attis's golden robe was lifted off his little finger and left in King's Landing's property. This method of drinking doves to quench thirst was ultimately no match for time.

Barristan, captain of the Kingsguard, stood under the high platform of the Iron Throne, separated from Eddard on either side.

Varys was still wearing silk robes, looking at King Robert on the high platform with a look of concern for the country and the people.

The envoys of Braavos were wearing black robes and holding thick account books in their hands. The Iron Bank had been paying attention to the financial changes in Westeros early on. First, there was a purge of the Seagull Town customs, and then there were the important ministers. Lord Chancellor Petyr Baelish, the liaison between the Iron Bank and the Iron Throne, was sentenced to death by beheading.

Faced with political changes that may affect debt repayment, the Iron Bank eagerly sent an envoy to visit King Robert, and the intention was obvious.

"Dear Your Majesty, Dear Hand of the King, on behalf of the Iron Bank of Braavos, I would like to express my sincerest greetings to you." The black-clothed messenger from the Iron Bank greeted politely.

"Rise up, messenger from the Iron Bank," Robert responded solemnly. "With all due respect, may I ask for the messenger's name?"

"Nahor Demitis." The messenger spoke fluent Westeros common tongue, listened carefully, and even had the accent of the valley.

Robert raised his eyebrows slightly, "Where did you learn Common Language? In my impression, the envoys from the Eastern Continent all spoke Common Language with a weird accent." Robert was referring to the Targaryen family he heard about when he was a child. The usual Valyrian accent, and the official language of Braavos happens to be Valyrian.

Nahor glanced at Attis Arryn, who had the blue falcon iron pattern printed on the front of his breastplate, and replied respectfully: "Speaking of which, this has some fate with the valley under your majesty."

Robert became interested, "Tell me, did you learn Common Tongue in the Vale? Where did you learn it?"

"Seagull Town, a beautiful port in the valley." Naho said humbly and politely, looking at Attis, "Seagull Town under your governance is so orderly that everyone in Braavos admires it." Naho said exaggeratedly.

Attis nodded slightly, "This is due to the joint governance of my father and the vassals of Seagull Town. I really got some credit."

"Hahahahaha!" Robert laughed. "You can tell the purpose of coming, Raiho." Robert stuttered, but he did not remember the name of the envoy.

"Naho Demitis." Naho reminded him immediately.

"Okay," Robert said, "Naho, you can tell the purpose of the Iron Bank's coming." He probably knew the reason why the Iron Bank sent the envoy here, but there were still some years before the Iron Throne's debt was repaid, and he still had some Time to prepare.

Naho cleared his throat gently, took a step forward, smiled at the Kingsguard in front of the Iron Throne, and then said to Robert: "There are some things in Westeros that have made the Iron Bank a little uneasy in recent days. We are afraid The funding that helped King Robert build his country will not be repaid as it should be."

"What are you worried about?" Robert asked knowingly. He coughed lightly and sat as close to the edge of the Iron Throne as possible, with his hands hanging on both sides of the Iron Throne.

Naho said: "Of course it is the absence of the Finance Minister. Your Majesty the King, this is an important position. Without this position, it will be difficult for the Iron Bank to settle down."

"The Chancellor of the Exchequer is a royal seat, and both ability and status need to be valued. It cannot be selected overnight. This Nahor envoy." Renly replied, and he looked at Nahor.

Naho shook his head, "I believe that what King Robert values ​​most is ability. The former finance minister has close ties with the Iron Bank. I heard that he is not from a noble family. King Robert's career has eclipsed the sun and the moon. What he needs is It costs a lot, and I hope the Iron Throne can quickly demonstrate its financial ability to continue its business." He looked at King Robert.

"It is only natural that debts must be repaid, and the Iron Throne will guarantee his credibility to you." Prime Minister Eddard Stark finally spoke, he said to Nahor.

Robert spread his hands, "Have you seen, Braavos man, the Lord Eddard in front of you is the most trustworthy person in the Seven Kingdoms? You can rest assured that we will eliminate the doubts of the Iron Bank."

Nahor nodded with satisfaction, "I believe in the credibility of the Iron Throne, and I also believe in the honor of your Prime Minister. The hundreds of years of friendly exchanges between the Iron Throne and the Iron Bank can prove this." He bowed to King Robert, Continuing, "I think we'll have to talk about some specific financial debts next, Your Majesty."

"Seven hells," Robert said softly, and his voice could only be heard by himself. "I still have kingdom affairs to deal with. If you want to discuss these, just talk to someone who is good at these numbers." Robert stood up and left. After getting off the platform, Barristan immediately followed.

Eddard Stark watched helplessly as his king left the throne room. He looked at the envoy from Braavos and said, "Robert, cough, the king still has important things to do. You talk to me." Bar."

The Prime Minister pointed at Varys and Pycelle, "Lord Varys, Grand Maester Pycelle, please stay and chat with me and this messenger of Na."

Pycelle nodded tremblingly as usual, and Varys approached the messenger with a smile on his face, "No problem at all, my dear Prime Minister."

Attis left the throne room silently with Renly. The blue sky was in sharp contrast to the gloom in the throne room.Renly breathed a sigh of relief and stretched his limbs.

"More than [-] troops from the West have gathered in the Golden Tooth City. The same goes for the Tully family, which has gathered over [-] troops nearby. If the two families do not reconcile, I am afraid that the kingdom will soon face war." Renly said, "And the Iron Bank is at this time Go to King's Landing and put pressure on the Iron Throne, there's no way to avoid debt."

"Lannister?" Attis knew Renly was referring to this.

"The City of Casterly Rock has always been connected with the Iron Bank, and even part of the output of the gold mine is stored underground in the Iron Bank. If the Iron Bank comes here at this time, I guess it has something to do with Lannister." Renly showed a smile, he Look at Attis.

Attis knew that Renly was testing him. Originally, the Arryn family and the Tully family were closely connected and inseparable. However, an accusation from Riverrun brought the relationship between the two families to a freezing point. He learned about the Arryn family's attitude towards the Lannister. Quite necessary for Renly.

"Maybe it's related," Attis said, not looking at Renly, "but just like the 'Iron Bank cannot be defaulted', the Iron Throne cannot be coerced." Attis chuckled and bid farewell to Renly.

Renly looked at Attis's back, smiled thoughtfully, and left the courtyard outside the throne room.

"Bleeding Gate, kill Tully! Roast all the trout in the Trident River and eat it!"

"Who can tolerate such a false accusation? Our lord is the Arryn family, the most honorable family in the Seven Kingdoms. The Tully family dares to make such a false accusation. Do you really think that the Vale Cavalry will only cower in the Blood Gate?"

"Grilled trout! Grilled trout!"

The knights of the valley gathered around the Arryn family's courtyard in King's Landing. Robert Royce and Wilma Royce were surrounded in the middle. Robert looked helplessly at the people around him, while Wilma was infected by the atmosphere. , joining the chorus of shouts of "Grilled trout!"

The knight's attendants dispersed into a group, Attis Arryn walked into the courtyard, and he looked at the knights in the canyon.

"Master Attis," Xiufu wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I'm sorry, the knights of the valley nobles are very..." "Duke Attis!"

Attis turned to look and saw that he was a very active knight from the Lindley family in Snakewood City, and he was also one of the few knights in the valley participating in the Prime Minister's Tournament.

"Ser Lymon," said Attis.

Lemon Lindley saluted him, "The accusations of Riverrun are already known to everyone in King's Landing!" He shook his gauntlet angrily, "We have all been reviewed by you in Runestone City, and after you pacify After the Longbow Hall rebellion and the annihilation of the mountain clans that penetrated deep into the Arryn Valley, this matter concerns your honor, Duke, and the honor of the entire valley, and the Tully family must be punished!"

"Grilled trout!" the indignant Canyon Knights behind Sir Lemon shouted.

Attis calmly looked at the agitated and indignant knights. As expected, the Red Castle had no secrets.
"Lord Tywin Lannister has led an army to punish Riverrun for us. We should appeal to King Robert of the Iron Throne to join this war, cross the Trident, and ravage the riverlands with the iron hooves of the Vale Cavalry. Fields!" Since Michelle Redford ended the tourney and was defeated by Loras Tyrell, the "Knight of Flowers", he has often come to the Arryn family's house to show his goodwill to himself and the Royce family. After hearing that his lord was insulted, he also came here and said to Attis.

"That's right! The Tullys are trout, and you, Duke Attis, are the falcon! The eagle of the valley snatched away the trout. The Seven Gods have arranged it this way. It is only natural that we punish the Tullys!" Sir Lemon said with added jealousy, referring to the Seven Gods. Moved out.

Attis looked at the knights of the valley who came around, the noble knights from various castles, and even their attendants were also from the great nobles of the valley. I believe that it won’t be long before King’s Landing’s accusation is known to all the seven countries. The valley is young and vigorous. There are many aristocratic young men who want to make contributions and become model knights. The martial atmosphere is very strong in the valley, whether it is the direct confrontation with the mountain clans all year round or the boundary friction caused by the blurred territorial boundaries due to the rugged terrain of the valley. The people on this land are constantly experiencing themselves.

Even the ordinary residents of the valley, the firm belief of the Seven Gods takes root here. Becoming a knight is the dream of almost every boy who is new to knowledge. There are even rare female knights in historical myths, but they only exist in myths. Among them, people call them female knights, but it is actually unknown whether they have received the formal process of knighthood.

Therefore, I am afraid that there are not a few people in the valley who hold this kind of tit-for-tat view, and it is even the mainstream. Attis has to face this voice carefully.

"The Tullys must be punished," Attis said, eliciting cheers from the knights, "but," he paused, "Duke Hoster, who has a deep friendship with us in the Vale, is currently ill in bed. This accusation was probably made by his heir Edmure Tully." Sir Lymon and the knights behind him frowned, they only wanted to teach the Tully family a lesson, and did not go down to the details of the person.

"Although I don't know where this baseless accusation comes from, I will definitely go to the Iron Throne. Whether it is directly leading troops to severely punish the Riverlands, or other measures, King Robert is my father's adopted son, and he will definitely Give us a fair sentence," Attis said to the knights of the valley.

Sir Lymon frowned. He was not sure if this was a good countermeasure, but it was a legal channel to notify the Iron Throne before sending troops.

"The Tully family knows that the slander is coming to the Iron Throne, not to mention that in our valley, if the behavior is illegal, can the Seven Gods agree to the knights' actions?" Attis said, and he patted the breastplate of the leader, Sir Lemon.

"The seven gods testify," Robert put his hand on his chest, "the laws of the kingdom are the laws of the seven gods, and we must abide by them."

"That's right." Weimar looked at Attis and Robert's statement and decisively chose to respond, "We are not like the shameless members of the Tully family."

The knights either shook their heads regretfully, or silently recited "In the name of the warrior", or said nothing.

Attis knew that this would not convince the proud knights of the canyon under his command, but he did not say anything more. He just told the knights to be calm, and then asked Robert to hold a banquet in the house to entertain these people who were loyal to the Arryn family and loyal to the Arryn family. Knight of the Vale.

"I'm afraid the kingdom's finances." Varys said pessimistically. At this time, the envoy from the Iron Bank of Braavos had left the throne room. The task he received was to travel to all the ports of the Seven Kingdoms, record and inspect, and investigate the situation of the Iron Bank. The team also took on the task of conducting an economic inspection of Braavos, and they had already led a group to visit King's Landing Port.

"Alas, it turns out that this time it was all Littlefinger coughing. With all due respect, we must admit the economic talent of the sinner Petyr. I am afraid that the Seven Kingdoms will not be able to match him." Pycelle shook his head and said regretfully.

Ed rubbed his temples, "No one can break the laws of the kingdom, not even the Chancellor, no matter how capable he is. Such conspirators are not worthy of living in Westeros." He frowned and said seriously.

Pycelle straightened his posture, "I think since the Iron Bank requires the Iron Throne to appoint a competent Chancellor of the Treasury immediately." He glanced at Ed.

"But it doesn't matter," Ed said.

"A competent Chancellor of the Exchequer, the richest castle in the Seven Kingdoms, I think Casterly Rock." Pycelle glanced at Ed again.

"Lord Tywin is indeed a good choice," Varys agreed, "for the position of Lord Chancellor."

Ed frowned and asked, "Does the kingdom still owe Tywin and the Lannister hundreds of thousands of golden dragons?"

"Three million." Pycelle said ruthlessly.

Ed protected his head with both hands, "Seven levels of hell!"

"But I'm afraid." Varys looked at Pycelle with a smile, "Lord Tywin, there is no one richer than him in the Seven Kingdoms, and he is fully qualified to be the Minister of Finance." He turned to Ed, "But now the West and the River There are armies confronting each other in the land. Does this mean that the Iron Throne expresses its support for the West? This matter must be discussed with King Robert."

Pycelle shook his head, "There is no need for the Iron Throne to express its position. Lord Tywin's beloved son Tyrion is still imprisoned in Riverrun. It makes perfect sense for the army to confront Lord Tywin this time, and there is no need to say anything at all."

"Love?" Wallis smiled, "That's the deep love between father and son."

Pycelle narrowed his eyes and was about to answer, but was stopped by Ed.

"No more words," Ed waved his hand and said, "The Minister of Finance has been put here in advance. Reconciling the conflicts between the West and the Riverlands is the top priority now. Robert and I have discussed and decided on the choice of Minister of Finance. I will be here first today. here."

After hearing this, Pycelle and Varys stood up and left.

After they left, Eddard let out a long sigh in the throne room. There were too many things to deal with recently, whether it was the Tully family's secret accusation, or the pressure from the Iron Bank, including the confrontation between the Westerlands and the Riverlands. , all gave him a huge headache, and he kept thinking about how he would deal with these things if Jon Arryn were to deal with them.

Ed misses the castle of Winterfell again, the boundless wilderness of the North, the snow that is about to enter winter, and the underground bugs that have emerged. He feels very cute now.

He looked around the walls of the throne room. There were no weirwoods here. The old gods were not here.
Eddard stood up. He wanted to wipe the Stark family's Valyrian steel sword "Ice" with clean water before making the next move. In Winterfell, the sound of the gurgling stream made him immersed in In his ethereal thinking, the surrounding woods allowed him to listen to the voices of the old gods, and the thousand-year-old soil beneath his feet allowed him to be guided by his ancestors sleeping underground.

But here, there are only troubles that keep popping up, and the impurity of the power of everything. The little finger he originally placed his trust in among the royal ministers is a conspirator. Pycelle is groggy and always seems to be trying to save Lannis. When the special family spoke, even though Wallis, the eunuch, said he did not trust him at all, he had to admit that he always needed the guidance of the Minister of Intelligence when making decisions.

Here, only returning to the Hand's Tower and seeing Arya, who was as dirty as usual, could remind him of a moment in Winterfell, but Sansa seemed to be clinging to the queen's side, God!

He sighed heavily again. His wife was still in Riverrun. She did not obey his orders and returned to Winterfell to gather the vassals and strengthen the defense of Cailin Bay.
"Damn it!" Ed thought about how his King Robert was wandering around in that brothel or tavern again, and he became even more distressed and angry. Trouble came one after another, but these were not things that Running Wolf could handle.

Ed stood up and left the throne room.




　Five thousand words chapter, one update today

　　
　
(End of this chapter)