Chapter 150: Yanina Jiasijisi

Harrentown.

Compared to the small lakeside town that previously had a permanent population of only two or three thousand, the current Harrentown is much livelier.

A large town stretching over a league has begun to take shape, with stone blockhouses scattered around its perimeter. Thousands of completed wooden huts are packed with poor souls whose homes were destroyed by the war; most of them are elderly and children. In an area slightly further north, more wooden huts of the same style are being built, where countless displaced farmers are working.

The nobles in Harrenhal have promised that as long as the farmers go to work every day, they will have bread and pumpkin porridge to eat, and every few days they can have porridge or stew with shredded meat.

The elderly and children who cannot work do not need to worry about starving; the soldiers of the Riverlands King provide two meals of wheat porridge every day, and growing children can also receive a small fish and two steamed buns daily.

As the population grew, all sorts of "idlers" gathered as well: bards, peddlers pushing small carts, stepdaughters wearing thin clothes to show off their figures despite the cooling weather, monks and nuns in brown robes, wealthy merchants from the Eastern Continent and their guards, and even a circus that came to perform but slipped away after a few days because they really didn't make any money.

After obtaining permission from the nobles and the two Maesters overseeing the construction of the town, dozens of taverns, restaurants, grain shops, wooden inns, and brothels sprang up in the new town—to distinguish them, the original small area of Harrentown is called Old Town.

This deformed society is maintained by massive amounts of grain; at least fifty carts of grain are transported from the Root family's fiefdom in the north every day.

The grain comes from Essos, and the trade route from Pentos to Maidenpool has been opened. To minimize shipping costs as much as possible, the wealthy merchants and ship captains of Pentos only deliver the goods to Maidenpool, and the remaining majority of the journey is relayed by fleets and convoys organized by Lord William Mooton.

However, not all the grain stays here; Willow Wood on the east side of the Gods Eye, Yalan Cheng to the southwest, and the Hedong Diqu further west are more affected by the war, and the local villages are also in urgent need of food, so some of the grain is loaded onto boats again, transported south via the lake, and then brought ashore to enter the homes of starving farmers.

Harrenhal, the main castle, Hall of a Hundred Hearths.

A fat Jiu Jutan wearing a loose yellow silk robe, with his beard also dyed yellow, oiled, and forked, is lying on a chair, discussing a large business order with Miss Sansa Stark, who represents the Riverlands King.

"The currency we accept is the old Gold Dragon, we do not currently accept the new Gold Dragon or the gold in your hands."

Yanina Jiasijisi, one of the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu of Pentos, stroked his beautiful beard and said, pretending to be indifferent.

As one of the most powerful grain merchants in the entire Free Cities region, he had also heard that the Riverlanders were purchasing large quantities of grain, so he immediately ran over to discuss a possible long-term partnership.

Sansa, wearing a tight purple robe, sat in the main seat, looking helplessly at this exceptionally fat merchant.

Previously, she had sworn that Wylis Manderly was the second fattest person she had ever seen, the first being Wylis's father, Wyman Manderly, and it was said that the equally bloated Wendel Manderly could be ranked third.

But in front of this Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu of Pentos, the three Manderlys had actually become slim.

The barrel-shaped Yanina Jiasijisi required four burly men to carry him in order to move.

Sansa, who had gradually grown into a great beauty, said: "I only learned today what the new Gold Dragon is. My lord, it is all gold, why won't you accept it?"

Just a few minutes ago, the merchant from the continent of Essos had just explained the types of Gold Dragons on the Western Continent to the noble lady of Westeros.

This made Sansa feel very ashamed; living here, she actually didn't know that the former Master of Coin, Littlefinger, had come up with so many tricks.

Previously, because King Robert owed Taiwen Laoye of the Westerlands three million Gold Dragons, and the Iron Throne's spending speed had not stopped, the Westerlands began to reduce the amount of gold handed over to the mints outside King's Landing.

Lord Littlefinger, who had many tricks up his sleeve, began to mint new Gold Dragons to ensure the royal family still had money to use, while also enriching his own pockets.

The new coins and the old coins were basically identical, except for the gold content.

The gold content of the old coins was about eighty percent, considered pure gold, and could circulate in most Free Cities.

The gold content of the new coins was only about thirty percent; the amount flowing into the market was not large, but it was already disrupting order.

It is worth mentioning that beggars on the continent of Westeros have the ability to identify the denomination by touching the coin with their eyes closed, but the common people have no use for the new Gold Dragons, and the nobles who do have use for them, apart from going to the capital to have fun, basically do not need to spend money in their own territories, so the response to the Master of Coin's new policy was not significant.

Instead, it was the wealthy merchants from the Eastern Continent, where money flows like water, who first discovered Littlefinger's tricks.

Because the production batches of the new Gold Dragons were different, the gold content also varied. After being cheated several times, the wealthy merchants and Jiu Jutan in places like Pentos began to boycott using new Gold Dragons for large transactions.

Previously, when merchants from Maidenpool and the Eastern Continent conducted transactions, they often used money pooled together by the nobles of the Riverlands; these Gold Dragons that had been lying in castles for decades or centuries were naturally old Gold Dragons, so this issue did not exist.

"Since you don't recognize the new Gold Dragons, why don't you even recognize the gold dug out from outside Golden Tooth? Could it be that gold can be faked?" Sansa asked.

Yanina Jiasijisi lifted his swollen, fat right hand with difficulty and shook it slowly, "That's not necessarily true, who knows what tricks you might be playing."

Miss Stark was left speechless by this unreasonable fat merchant and had to rub her brow with her fingers, which were as delicate as white scallions.

If Arthur were here, this fat man wouldn't dare to pester her like this, Sansa thought to herself.

She didn't like her Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Qinglang's habit of hammering people very much in the past, but now she had changed her mind.

One swing of the hammer, and let's see who dares to bark.

Perhaps it was a meeting of minds; just as Sansa thought of her Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Qinglang, the Riverlands King walked into the Hall of a Hundred Hearths with several great nobles.

"Looks like an extraordinary guest."

Arthur strode toward the steps of the main seat and nodded as he passed the fat man and his servants.

"This must be His Majesty the Riverlands King; please forgive my rudeness, this body does not allow me to bow to you."

Yanina stretched his neck as a salute.

The Riverlands King sat down on the main seat that Sansa had vacated and pulled her slender waist over, kissing her hard.

"Disgusting, there are so many people here!" Miss Stark struggled to break free, covering her kissed lips with the back of her hand.

Although she blushed all over from shyness, she did not run out immediately because she needed to explain the situation to Arthur.

Sansa explained the background and demands of Yanina Jiasijisi in a few words.

The Riverlands King nodded, "I guess Yanina Jiasijisi also wants to reach another deal with us?"

A Jiu Jutan as fat as this would not travel thousands of miles here unless there was a huge profit to be made.

What Arthur could think of, besides the grain trade, was that gold should also be one of the goals of this Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu of Pentos.

The gold mines in the Free Cities region are far less rich in reserves than those under the name of House Lannister, so the Gold Dragons of Westeros overflowed the Western Continent; in Pentos, Myr, Volantis, and other places, Gold Dragons can even circulate as freely as local gold coins.

"As wise as you are, you saw through my purpose at a glance. I won't beat around the bush: does the Riverlands King have any intention of selling slaves?"

Yanina stated his biggest goal.

Near him, several great nobles such as Karel Vance, Tristan Rivers, and Mathis Rowan stared vigilantly at this Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu of Pentos. The smallfolk are considered one of the core assets of the nobles; whether before Aegon the Conqueror, during the rule of the Targaryen Dynasty, or when Robert was on the throne, selling smallfolk was a great crime.

Jorah Mormont, the Lord of Bear Island, was sentenced to death by Eddard Stark for selling poachers.

The custom of strictly prohibiting the sale of people for thousands of years has basically eliminated the existence of slaves in Westeros and ensured that the smallfolk are not poached by slave traders from the east.

You must know that near Volantis in the east is the largest slave-holding area in the whole world, where it is said that every free person has at least three slaves, and free people of status do not even touch the ground when they go out, having to be carried by others or riding in a Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Xiangche.

The entire Volantis maintains over one hundred thousand Jiu Nulvbing all year round, and these Jiu Nulvbing are naturally composed of strong slaves who have been sold.

Pentos, which is not far from King's Landing, although it officially prohibits slaves, still has quite a few in private.

"I absolutely do not allow the sale of slaves in my kingdom; any slave trader who appears in the Riverlands Kingdom will receive the greeting of my giant hammer." Arthur first stated his attitude, "Have you heard of my giant hammer?"

The Riverlands King's giant hammer and Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Dadao are already considered his trademarks, and any merchant who has studied the situation in Westeros even a little bit knows this.

Yanina nodded hurriedly, the fat on his neck rippling in a wave as he did so.

"Since that is the case, I shall not bring up that matter; we can discuss grain and Gold Dragon coins..."

He had not expected this young and handsome king to have such a firm attitude.

"But I have a question," Arthur interrupted him, "why have you suddenly decided to come to Westeros to trade slaves? Have you ignored a tradition of thousands of years?"

Yanina looked at the Riverlands King in surprise, "Do you not yet know what great event has occurred?"

"What great event?"

Arthur was left completely bewildered; could there be some important intelligence he had ignored?

Tristan and the other nobles also shook their heads, indicating they were unaware.

Seeing that the Riverlands King and these nobles truly did not understand, Yanina began to explain it to them.

It turned out that Daenerys had already begun her great cause of liberating slaves; the cities of Astapor and Yunkai had already been conquered by Daenerys Targaryen, and Meereen was also in precarious danger.

This caused the trade of the entire Slaver's Bay to press the pause button, leaving the slave-holding regions without a source of slaves.

"All of Volantis is thirsting for the arrival of fresh slaves; I estimate that there is a market vacancy of at least several hundred thousand Gold Dragon coins per month. Those with ideas, such as that cheese-monger, have already begun to act. Before long, Your Majesty will hear of the Golden Company mercenaries plundering the farmers of the Stormlands on a massive scale."

The Riverlands King keenly sensed the information revealed by this fat merchant.

The cheese-monger naturally referred to another Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu of Pentos, Illyrio, who had started out by selling cheese and was therefore contemptuously given this nickname by some rivals.

According to Yanina's account, Illyrio supported Aegon VI and paid the sky-high salary of the Golden Company, and the motive for having this mercenary company land in the Stormlands was because of the slave trade.

"Do you have any evidence for what you say?" Arthur asked.

It was already a far-fetched thing for the Golden Company to support the restoration of "Aegon VI".

The founder of this strongest mercenary company in the world was Bittersteel, who supported the Jiu Blackfyre Jiazu, so the Golden Company had always championed the Blackfyre cause.

The Targaryen family were the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Honglong, while the Jiu Blackfyre Jiazu were their branch, and the hatred had continued for several generations until the War of the Ninepenny Kings, when the last member of the Blackfyre line, "the Fierce" Malisi, was killed by Ser Barristan Selmy.

"No evidence, but you will understand in the future. By the way, the Faceless Men have gotten mixed up with Illyrio, Jiong Enkelindun, and others; they have formed a loose alliance to restore Jiu Nulvzhi and the traditions of Valyria."

The fat merchant said with effort.

Although Arthur and the various nobles were surprised by this claim, they chose not to believe it.

After all, the Faceless Men were born from the faith of slave resistance and were naturally opposed to slavery.

But it was very clear that there was a conflict between the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Haiwang of Braavos and the House of Black and White where the Faceless Men resided.

Arya Stark's sword instructor, the "Water Dancer", was appointed as the chief swordsman by the Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Haiwang precisely because his observational skills far exceeded those of ordinary people, which could see through the disguises of the Faceless Men.

"Let us continue to discuss the matter of Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Jinzi and grain."

Arthur pulled the topic back.

In the time that followed, through the back-and-forth tug-of-war between the two sides, a treaty was finally reached that satisfied both Yanina and the Riverlands King.

The Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Jinzi dug out of the gold mines had to be refined to over eighty percent purity before it could be traded with this Jiu Jiu Jiu Jiu Zongdu, and it did not need to be minted into the style of Gold Dragon coins; in return, Yanina could guarantee that his grain would be shipped to Maidenpool continuously, and the price would remain consistent with that of Essos.

"I was already prepared to compete with my peers for the operating rights of the Pentos mint, so I need this unshaped gold."

After the Trade was reached, communication between the two sides became much more pleasant.

After sending Yanina away, Arthur began to arrange the military affairs for the coming period.

Luo Su Fo Lei took five hundred men to Raventree Hall to manage the castle and the territory with his younger brother Jiemosi.

Marquess Innes took the remaining four thousand men of his own house and one thousand men from Maidenpool to head north, cross the Trident, and garrison along the banks of the Green Fork to guard against the direction of The Vale.

The remaining nine thousand soldiers and nearly ten thousand captives, laborers, and servants remained at Harrenhal to reinforce and renovate the city walls while guarding against an attack from the direction of King's Landing.

After arranging the matters at hand, Arthur took the most noble captive of this battle, Duke Mace Tyrell, to visit Alduin, who had already reached a length of 1.5 meters and a wingspan of nearly five meters.

(End of this chapter)