Chapter 207: Master of Coin

The Myrish gift arrived quite timely; when Stannis retreated south, he not only scraped together the remaining gold in the treasury but also took away five Most Devout and the newly appointed "Middle-Aged Man" High Septon, as well as most of the valuables belonging to the Faith in the Great Sept of Baelor.

In other words, even if Arthur I wanted to "borrow" some money from the Faith to save the day, there was no way to do so; the Great Sept of Baelor was left only with Sparrow septons so poor they had nothing but their brown robes.

For some time now, royal expenditures have been made on credit whenever possible, and when credit was not an option, House Tyrell's money was used to cover the costs; in any case, everyone knew the royal family had obtained several large gold mines in the Westerlands, so there would certainly be no shortage of money in the future.

"One hundred thousand old Gold Dragons—I believe the projects for building wells and sewers, as well as repairing the city walls, can begin."

After letting out a hiccup, the Master of Coin Tyrion Lannister waved his small hand and said.

Although he was the Master of Coin, the King had given him many unrelated tasks.

The other members of the Small Council expressed their agreement; the missing section of the wall on the west side of King's Landing made them feel quite uneasy when they slept.

The King's focus, however, was elsewhere: "Have the three mints outside the city been started? Have the new mint masters arrived?"

All old Gold Dragons passing through royal hands had to be turned into new Gold Dragons with lower gold content.

Tyrion Lannister spread his hands, "Your Grace, you also know that the only person among my predecessors who knew how to do the job was Petyr Baelish, and I don't even know where his ledgers are. As Master of Coin, the only thing I can do is take inventory of the four storehouses, which are cleaner than a face; I can't even assemble a Steward of the Four Storehouses or a Royal Accountant."

The Four Storehouses is the collective name for all warehouses under the royal name, managed by the Steward of the Four Storehouses, who reports to both the King and the Master of Coin.

The Master of Coin is responsible for overseeing a large number of officials, including the Steward of the Four Storehouses, the Royal Accountant, the Royal Measurer, the heads of the three mints, the Harbor Master, tax farmers, customs officers, wool agents, road toll collectors, the Master of Ships, and wine agents, but after the two major factions of Stannis and the Lannisters successively took over King's Landing, these minor officials either died or fled, and many could not be found, which made Tyrion Lannister's work difficult to carry out.

Arthur gestured for Tyrion Lannister, who was pouring wine, to pour him a glass as well: "Baelish's ledgers are easy to find; on the north side of Rhaenys Hill, between the Old Gate and the Dragon Gate, there is a brothel owned by Shataya. All of Littlefinger's unimportant things should be there."

Shataya is a tall, dark-skinned Summer Islander; on the surface, this brothel is run by her, but in reality, it is owned by Littlefinger.

The King thought for a moment and ordered: "Like this, after the meeting ends, Duke Tyrion Lannister take some men to search Shataya's brothel. Move anything you think is valuable to the treasury; don't leave a single copper for Littlefinger. I will have Podrick Payne follow you."

In any case, Baelish cannot leave the Vale; his assets in King's Landing are lambs without the ability to resist, so it would be a waste not to slaughter them.

"As you wish!" Tyrion Lannister raised his glass and downed it in one go.

Then he requested: "Your Grace, the blacksmiths on Iron Street have forged some armor suitable for mass production. When will you go to choose?"

According to the compensation agreement with the Westerlands, all families in the Westerlands with iron mines must manufacture the iron armor requested by the royal family in their workshops, totaling ten thousand sets.

"Let's make it tonight; have them delivered to the Red Keep. King's Landing is not safe, and one must guard against the little tricks of hostile forces."

Arthur thought about his schedule and decided to inspect them tonight.

"The Master of Coin must be diligent and restore the kingdom's financial system to operation as soon as possible," urged Paxter, who wore the Hand of the King badge on his chest.

Arthur looked at this Lord of the Arbor and felt that his talent for winemaking and shipbuilding was far greater than his talent for governing the country.

Therefore, during the southern expedition, he should be given the task of reorganizing the remaining royal fleet.

But since the matter of the Master of Coin had just been discussed, Arthur felt it was better to keep pressuring Tyrion Lannister so that this drunkard would truly devote his energy to work.

"The three mints outside the city must be built as soon as possible, and then all the old coins in our hands must be minted into new coins, with my bust printed on them."

"I want to appoint Hayley of Harrenhal as the Royal Accountant; she has been following me for over a year, and both her character and ability are good, so she is just right to be in charge of this area."

Regardless of ability, in this turbulent transitional period, it is better to ensure that key positions are held by one's own people.

"The Steward of the Four Storehouses and the head of the mints will be Patrick Mallister; he is currently in charge of another matter, and once Duke Tyrion Lannister gets the mints running again, he will be in place."

Mace Tyrell may have been killed by an assassin who slipped in through the secret passages of the Red Keep, and these passages were known at least to Varys and his little birds; therefore, after returning from the Westerlands, Arthur ordered Patrick to lead craftsmen to secretly fill in the passages on a small scale.

The secret passage system of the Red Keep was built during the reign of Maegor Targaryen I; at that time, the King was guarding against the "Poor Fellows," the "Sons of the Warrior," and other ubiquitous armed groups of the Faith, and the passages were built so the royal family could escape at any time.

But since their construction, the passages have been used as many times as the Kingsguard have protected the King; they might as well be filled in solid.

So Arthur secretly ordered Patrick to do this.

Coincidentally, Patrick is a man with both ability and loyalty, most suitable for these inconspicuous but vital tasks.

"As you command, Your Grace. With this batch of gold coins, I will get the financial system running as soon as possible."

"You should also have people start mining those gold mines in the Westerlands as soon as possible. All the rules are the same as before, only the recipient of the tribute has changed from the Lannisters of Casterly Rock to the Targaryens of King's Landing. By the way, do you have a suitable candidate to be responsible for supervising and managing the mining work?"

Facing the King's inquiry, Tyrion Lannister rarely used his brain: "Your Grace, I recommend Lady Alysanne Leford; her family used to be in charge of the gold mines at Golden Tooth and has rich experience in this area."

Arthur thought for a moment; this lady is married to Bernard Brune and is currently spending her honeymoon in Golden Tooth.

Choosing her is not impossible; Bernard Brune has loyalty to the Targaryens, so use him to supervise Alysanne Leford, while Alysanne Leford supervises and manages the major gold mines in the Westerlands.

The King nodded in agreement, and then arranged tasks for the Hand of the King, Paxter.

"You stay behind in King's Landing; in addition to normally presiding over the Small Council and coordinating resources from all sides to support the war in the Stormlands, Lord Redwyne and the soon-to-arrive Baelor Hightower must also be responsible for reorganizing the royal fleet. Although there are not many of those large warships left, perhaps every one reorganized is money saved."

Of the staggering bills Robert squandered, at least one or two million Gold Dragons were spent on the reconstruction of the royal fleet; the current Arthur does not have extra money to vigorously develop maritime power and can only hope to salvage some usable warships from the scrap heap.

Fortunately, both Paxter and Baelor Hightower have good talents in naval administration, so there is no need to worry about this aspect.

The matters to be resolved today seemed to have been discussed, and several members of the Small Council were preparing to stand up and leave, but the King and the Hand suddenly spoke at the same time.

Paxter, of course, would not speak before the King; he apologized awkwardly and then let the King speak first.

Arthur I pointed to the War Minister Innes: "I know your House Frey currently has only a thousand or so men near King's Landing. Before the remaining soldiers arrive at the capital, you take this troop and drive all the Sparrow septons in the Great Sept of Baelor to the Stormlands."

After the Great War in the Westerlands was completed, the Reachmen's army marched south and returned to their own territories to rest; part of the Riverlands Army followed the King to the Crownlands, while another part of the soldiers returned home with the wounded and the rewards they had obtained.

Folei Marquess used the excuse that his family's army had been exhausted by the war with the Westerlanders to send most of the soldiers back to the territory of The Crossing, bringing only twelve hundred or so men to the Crownlands.

Innes was obviously a bit reluctant: "Your Grace, storming the Great Sept of Baelor is not a dignified matter."

During the Dance of the Dragons, even though the Jiaodu of House Frey died for the Blacks and the army of The Twins fought in every battle in the Riverlands and the Reach without missing a single large-scale fight, when choosing the seven regents for Aegon III, Lady Sabitha Frey did not obtain the position of regent.

It can be said that Innes obtaining a seat on the Small Council was one of the most glorious moments in the six-hundred-year history of House Frey, and it was also a period he regarded as the most important for enhancing the family's image.

And although the power of the Faith of the Seven is waning, it still has influence in terms of public opinion; Innes did not want to add another black mark to his family's reputation because of this.

"That group of Sparrow septons occupying your brother's Great Sept is a dignified matter? You must understand that the current High Septon is still your fourth brother, Septon Lucan. To put it another way, isn't it just the Sparrow septons occupying your brother's Sept?"

The secular name Lucion Frey has been abandoned; his current code name is "Middle-Aged Man."

Arthur's intention in using the outdated address of Septon Lucan was to stir up Innes's possessiveness.

But the bald man was clearly very rational: "Your Grace, Lucan is only the High Septon's secular identity; he is not my brother now."

"Then, in the name of the High Septon 'Middle-Aged Man,' I order the Frey soldiers to drive out the septons occupying the Great Sept of Baelor."

Arthur gave a firm order.

Thanks to several capable kings of the Targaryen Dynasty, the authority of royal power in certain aspects has been generally recognized by the nobility and the public.

For example, appointing the High Septon or the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch—positions that should have been elected within the corresponding organizations.

There was a king named Baelor Targaryen who even appointed an illiterate stonemason and an eight-year-old boy as High Septon, and the nobles did not have much of an opinion on this.

In such an atmosphere, with the High Septon absent, the King could truly issue orders in the name of the High Septon.

Innes felt helpless; after bowing deeply, he left the council chamber to carry out this matter.

An order issued by the King in the name of the High Septon was not something he could easily refuse.

Once Arthur I finished his instructions, Paxter finally spoke, "Your Grace, lately I have deeply felt that wine is the item most consumed by the nobles of King's Landing. Wine that can replace beverages must be cheap, otherwise it cannot be supplied in large quantities. Some of my family members have the ability to brew, so why not let our Redwyne winemakers set up a winery for the royal family to ensure that the Red Keep's wine supply is always timely."

Although the Arbor sells wine, his family's golden wine has always been the most high-end wine in the entire world, with the lowest price being ten Gold Dragons per barrel, which is not suitable for drinking as a beverage.

In reality, the nobles and wealthy merchants of King's Landing consume large quantities of hot apple cider and ale produced in the Riverlands and the Crownlands, some sweet wine produced in the Westerlands and the Reach, as well as Summerwine from Dorne.

The price of ale and apple cider can sometimes be as low as three or four Silver Stags per barrel, which can indeed be drunk as a daily beverage.

Regardless of the King's attitude toward this proposal, at the very least, the wine-loving Tyrion and Prince Oberyn agreed with this point.

Arthur certainly would not object; the skill of the winemakers from the Arbor would not be low.

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)