Chapter 173: A Terrible Small Council Meeting

"The Andals will never allow anyone to forcibly seize our subjects."

"Kill them!"

"Losers from Westeros, still wanting to run back and fight for territory?"

The news from Volantis did not excite the nobles, but their reaction to the Golden Company was beyond Arthur's expectations.

However, it was understandable; whether it was the Andals or the Faith of the Seven, neither would ever allow the existence of slavery.

Furthermore, most of the Golden Company's officers were landless nobles, bastards, and members of traitorous houses from Westeros, so the legitimate lords on the Western Continent naturally viewed them with extreme hostility.

"Quiet!" After silencing the vassals' clamor again, Arthur I announced: "Once we have expelled the Ironborn and conquered the Westerlands, most houses must send troops to the Stormlands to completely wipe out this pack of losers, the Golden Company, and then secure the Stepstones in our hands."

The Stepstones are a series of islands located in the Narrow Sea, stretching from the eastern part of Dorne to the Disputed Lands. Only two islands in the chain have names: Bloodstone and Grey Gallows. Tyrosh, one of the Free Cities, is also located there.

"If Volantis dares to interfere in our internal affairs, House Targaryen will lead all the armored soldiers of the Western Continent to conquer the Disputed Lands, fighting all the way to the mouth of the Rhoyne, so that all the slaves of Volantis may lose their shackles and regain their personal freedom."

Volantis is the foremost Free City. During the "Century of Blood" (100 years before the Conquest Era) after the fall of the Valyrian Freehold, the city, then controlled by the Tiger Party, launched a war to restore the Freehold, simultaneously attacking the three cities of Lys, Tyrosh, and Myr, and occupying the island of Lys and Myr for two generations.

Later, due to the intervention of forces such as the Storm King Argilac Durrandon, House Targaryen of Dragonstone, the maritime hegemon Braavos, Tyrosh, and Pentos, as well as rebellions in Lys and Myr, Volantis withdrew from the two cities and has been governed by the moderate Elephant Party ever since.

To summarize Volantis in one sentence: the only true hegemon of southwestern Essos, a tough character capable of holding off four surrounding cities alone.

If the Golden Company were only supporting Aegon VI, Arthur would truly find no reason to send troops to the Stepstones, and the nobles of the Western Continent would have no need to clash with the wealthy merchants of Volantis.

But if forces from the Eastern Continent intervene in the Stormlands and snatch away farmers to be slaves, the lords and Jiaodu cannot tolerate it.

The King's stance greatly encouraged the lords who were firm abolitionists, and several great lords, such as Mathis Rowan and Clement Piper, expressed their support for the royal policy of sending troops on the spot.

Since trade between Pentos and Maidenpool was still ongoing, Arthur I ordered Lord William Mooton to continue monitoring various news from the Eastern Continent, especially watching for any decrees from the Magisters of Volantis regarding military expansion.

The third piece of news, "The Plea for Help from Myr," is somewhat related to the second.

The city is situated on the west coast of the continent of Essos, protected by a vast and calm bay—the Myr Sea—with a Valyrian Road extending out from Myr.

Trade is the economic lifeline of Myr, and its craftsmanship is world-renowned, producing lace, carpets, glass, lenses, and green nectar, as well as various processed finished goods. One of the inventions produced by Myr is the telescope, and the carpets and lace produced here are extremely expensive. Myr is collectively ruled by a Governor Council, and the governors are mainly composed of local wealthy merchants and nobles.

The Golden Company was originally serving as the city garrison for Myr, but was later bought over by Illyrio at a high price to fight for Aegon VI.

Among the nine Free Cities, most do not have their own armies; for example, Norvos relies on its own mercenaries and the Unsullied to resist the invasions of the Dothraki from the east.

Take Myr, for instance; it has long-term contracts with famous mercenary companies like the Second Sons, the Windblown, the Longlance, the Raven's Teeth, and the Golden Company, letting mercenaries guard against attacks from Volantis and nomadic peoples.

And after Captain Harry Strickland broke the contract, Myr's military strength was not what it used to be.

Civil war between Tyrosh and Lys is about to break out, and both want to win over Myr as a potential ally.

Unfortunately, as news of the Golden Company's breach of contract spread, a newly risen Khal Pono arrived with his khalasar (a large tribe of Dothraki) to plunder.

Khal Pono was once a ko to Khal Drogo—Daenerys Targaryen's first husband, now deceased—and a ko is a commander of a khas (a small group under a khalasar).

After the Khal died, Pono gathered about thirty thousand Dothraki and became a new Khal, bringing his khalasar to the headwaters of the Sarnor River, preparing to extort one of the Free Cities.

The Sarnor River is one of the tributaries of the Rhoyne. If Khal Pono marches south, he reaches the stronghold of Volantis, Saihelu Zhen; if he marches west, he reaches the territory of Myr.

Therefore, the wealthy merchants and nobles of Myr have sent out pleas for help to the major surrounding powers. If nothing goes wrong, an envoy delegation will arrive in King's Landing soon, requesting the nobles of Westeros to send soldiers to help defend against the horse lords or the slave soldiers of Volantis.

"We shall see when the time comes. If necessary, we can send soldiers; the pay offered by the wealthy merchants of Myr will not disappoint us," Arthur concluded.

Although Myr also trades in slaves, generally speaking, its relationship with the Western Continent is not bad.

Moreover, regarding the stationing of troops, it is easy to invite a god but hard to send one away.

Arthur himself also has ideas about fat sheep like Pentos and Myr.

Conquering any medium-sized Free City would be enough to solve the food crisis in the Riverlands, the Crownlands, and King's Landing, and provide the King with the wealth to build a massive standing army.

Due to the feudal system of fiefdoms in Westeros, centralization is quite difficult; even creating a slightly larger Crownland would be resisted by many suzerains and great nobles.

But Essos is different; once conquered, it can be directly treated as the royal family's personal domain, and troops can be sent to be stationed there long-term.

The fourth piece of news, "The Wavering of Pentos," is also related to the Golden Company, that persistent nuisance.

Because of the influence of Pentos's northern neighbor, Braavos, the city does not allow the existence of slaves.

But in the mansions and courtyards of the governors and wealthy merchants, there are many men and women who are servants in name but slaves in reality.

Due to Daenerys Targaryen's interference, the slave trade across the world has been greatly affected, and the slave markets in places like Volantis and Myr are only at one-tenth of their former scale.

And one of the governors of Pentos, Illyrio, has already set an example for his peers.

If the farmers snatched away by the Cheese Monger and the Golden Company in the Stormlands are well-received by the free folk of Volantis, then at least three Pentoshi governors will join the slave-trading business.

They are highly likely to send their own guards and mercenaries into the Stormlands to participate in slave-catching, while also undertaking some combat missions issued by Aegon VI and the Golden Company.

"Yanina Jiasijisi stated that if Illyrio succeeds, he will also participate in slave trading, but the grain trade with Maidenpool will not stop," said Lord William Mooton.

Arthur sat up straight and rebuked:

"If he dares to come to the Stormlands, I dare to fight all the way to Pentos. I won't indulge these merchants' bad habits."

Due to the sudden movement, the King's solid gold crown tilted slightly.

Queen Sansa reached out to straighten the crown for her husband.

After glancing at her, Arthur continued to the courtiers: "Those who trade in slaves are our enemies. After the Reach joins us, food will not be a big problem for the time being."

The Seven Kingdoms and the Targaryen Dynasty combined have not let Essos in the east come to the Western Continent to snatch slaves for thousands of years; not even the Valyrian Freehold at its peak managed to do so.

If a few big merchants managed to do this under Arthur's watch, then he might as well not be King and jump into the Gods Eye sooner rather than later.

The nobles were very satisfied with Arthur I's attitude, and they indicated they would obey the royal decree regarding countering the forces of the Eastern Continent.

For the next period of time, the relationship between the vassals and the King was not very harmonious.

Someone proposed discussing the issue of the Small Council members, and Duke Mace Tyrell took up the thread, announcing on the spot that he was the first choice for Hand of the King.

"Looking across the Seven Kingdoms, can Your Majesty find another great lord like me who is skilled in governance, full of strategy, abundant in martial virtue, and loyal to House Targaryen? With my intelligence and wisdom, I will surely satisfy the nobles throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and make the commoners in the countryside and towns praise the wisdom of His Majesty Arthur I..."

Lord Inflated Fish not only boasted about himself but also took the opportunity to praise his future son-in-law, the King.

Regarding his self-recommendation, Arthur actually had no objections.

Mace is a very mediocre Duke; his subordinates like Randyll Tarly and Mathis Rowan are far better than him.

But it is precisely because he is mediocre that Arthur dares to rest easy letting him be Prime Minister.

If it were a shrewd lord from the Reach, the King might not be able to handle it.

With Arthur's ability, he could just barely keep Duke Mace under his thumb.

It was settled that Lord Tyrell would be Hand of the King, but the Riverlands nobles had a new proposal.

"Your Grace, we were the ones who first supported your claim; in any case, the Riverlanders should at least have two seats on the Small Council, right?"

A bold Riverlands Knight shouted aloud.

Great lords like Clement Piper, Innes Frey, and William Mooton spoke up in agreement.

The major issue that gave Arthur a headache had finally arrived.

By tradition, the Small Council usually had seven seats: Hand of the King, Master of Laws, Master of Ships, Master of Coin, Master of Whisperers, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Grand Maester.

The latter three seats held special status, and the power to appoint or dismiss the Grand Maester lay with the Conclave at the Citadel, which the King could not interfere with.

That is to say, there were only four seats available to give out, and the Hand of the King had already been given to Duke Mace.

Furthermore, the Redwyne Fleet occupied Dragonstone, and among the forces loyal to Arthur, only Lord Paxter Redwyne possessed powerful naval strength.

The seat for Master of Ships was also decided.

As for Master of Coin, Arthur intended to have the calculating Tyrion Lannister fill the role.

Although a long time ago, Arthur had promised to make the Imp his Hand of the King, the situation then was vastly different from now, and since Tyrion himself was still in Pentos, there was no need to strictly adhere to that.

For the vacant Master of Laws, the King intended to have Lord Randyll Tarly serve, which was also the beginning of his wooing and supporting the Tarly Jia.

His seat at Horn Hill was not far south of Highgarden, making it just right to strengthen them to compete against the Tyrell.

The King asked, "Does anyone among you wish to be Master of Whisperers?"

Calculating back and forth, the only positions left for the Riverlanders were Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Master of Whisperers, and others.

But the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard concerned the personal safety of the royal family, so Arthur prepared to select carefully and was in no rush.

The Jiaodu of the Riverlands looked at one another, none of them willing to take on the job of Master of Whisperers, which had a terrible reputation.

"Your Grace, the Commander of the City Watch has also served on the Small Council before; that is a good position, isn't it?" Sansa whispered a reminder from the side.

When she was in King's Landing, Queen Regent Cersei had allowed the Commander of the King's Landing City Watch, Janos Slynt, to join the Small Council, and Queen Stark had some impression of this.

Arthur also recalled this matter, so he announced to his vassals: "The Commander of the King's Landing City Watch can also be held by a Riverlands noble; you all choose one!"

These Small Council seats with special exchanges were to win the support of his base, and Arthur was prepared to let them decide internally who would take the position.

To the King's surprise, the Jiaodu chose a count of average family strength, and the person was not even present.

Count Clement Piper nominated Tristan Rivers, and subsequently, several Dragon Party families also supported this person.

Arthur gave it a second thought, and it was within reason.

Forces like Pinkmaiden and Wayfarer's Rest in the Hedong Diqu had once been loyal subjects of the Tully, and because of various factors, they had supported Arthur; they were not of the same path as the Dragon Party families.

But Tristan Rivers of Willow Wood and Clement Piper had worked together to contact the various counts, facilitating the earlier establishment of the He Jian Wang Guo.

The Lygge family was also a Dragon Party family, so both groups unanimously agreed to let him serve as the representative of the Riverlands nobles to enter the Small Council.

As for the strongest family in the Sanhe region, the Frey, they were collectively ignored by this group.

"Then Count Tristan Rivers shall serve as Commander of the King's Landing City Watch," Arthur I announced.

Upon hearing this appointment, the bald Innes Frey jumped with rage, "Your Grace, our Frey family swore oaths to you much earlier than this group, right? At..."

Having turned red from his bald head down to his neck, he had assumed that his own family, the strongest in the Riverlands, would securely land a seat on the Small Council, never expecting that not a single count would nominate him.

"Folei Marquess will serve as War Minister."

Seeing the angry bald man about to spill certain things from the past, Arthur hurriedly blurted out a position.

"War Minister, what is that?" Duke Mace, standing at the very front of the crowd, asked in confusion.

With his knowledge, he actually could not recall such a member on the Small Council.

Most of the nobles also whispered to discuss whether the King's appointment conformed to tradition.

Arthur, helpless, explained to these stubborn old men: "In the coming years, the entire kingdom will see several great wars, but I cannot be in two places at once to command battles on every front, so it is necessary to establish a War Minister to fight for the King."

"The duties of Folei Marquess are to coordinate the families of each realm and prepare for war. When necessary, he may also represent the King in commanding a certain army..."

Arthur's intermittent speech supplemented the job description for this position he had invented just minutes ago.

This hastily assembled Small Council did not satisfy the King; the appointments of members and positions were filled with compromises and exchanges.

But there was no other way; aside from having dragons, Arthur's own direct military strength and territory were not strong.

It could only be this way.

But fortunately, the notorious position of Master of Whisperers could be filled by the King's own choice, and Arthur prepared to pull some strings there.

Moreover, the Hightower family had not yet declared their stance, and he thought of using this as a reason to force the lord of Oldtown to make a concession regarding the appointment of the Grand Maester.

The cunning Pycelle, who was loyal to the Lannister, must be replaced, and the simple-minded Qyburn could be brought up.

(End of chapter)