Chapter 276

"Gentlemen, long time no see!" The Regent Prince entered the council chamber, with the help of his attendants he untied his sword bag, then slung it onto the chief seat, and lazily reclined on his own designated seat.

Prime Minister Mei Si Ti Li Er saw him enter the hall, straightened his back; while others were watching him, he instead directed his gaze forward, perhaps because the hand-shaped insignia on his chest gave him strength, making him look like a proud carved rooster.

What a pity, his family's crest is a golden rose, not Shi Wei Fo's blue rooster.

"Sir, we were still sitting here together yesterday to discuss affairs."

"Grand Scholar, your memory is impressive." The Regent Prince teased, "Truly delightful and congratulatory; I hope you live to a hundred and continue serving the kingdom for twenty years."

After the Empress Dowager was "assassinated", his spirits improved greatly; seeing this mental state, the other young scholars do not know how much longer they must wait.

"Your Highness the Regent Prince, you are praising me too much……"

"Yesterday, how many sparrow heads did we receive again, and how many gold dragons did we spend again?" Jamu found his slow words really irritating, seizing the slight pause in his speech to interject; for a moment he felt proud of his timing, perhaps this interruption was not as rude as the Regent Prince and the Empress Dowager.

"Sir Jamu," an aged voice spoke, "Yesterday we spent thirteen hundred gold dragons on bounties, alas, the heads of peasant gatherings and warriors' sons keep coming, most of them from Ta Li Bo Jue's soldiers, which is fine. To be honest, of those sent by others we can only identify a portion, confirming the deceased deserved death, but for the rest we are powerless; I suspect many are innocent civilians…… We do not know how to distinguish them, nor how to protect the innocent, this is truly regrettable."

In this hall, those who dare call him "Jamu" can be counted on one hand—damn, actually just extending one finger is enough, that being this person, the Minister of Finance or the Treasurer, Haris. As the father-in-law of his uncle Kai Feng Lan Ni Si Te, he is considered someone of high prestige, but this is not seen as a merit in the eyes of Queen Cersei the Empress Dowager; his elder sister has always disliked the elderly, and even more dislikes respecting others.

Kaifeng Lannister - Kaifeng Lannister

"This is truly difficult……" the Grand Scholar said slowly, "If we all agreed, it would undoubtedly encourage some to slaughter innocents wantonly, but if we veto too many, it would dampen people's enthusiasm. I suppose, back then King Mei Ge……"

"I am certainly not King Mei Ge," this time he had to directly interrupt him, for King Mei Ge's suggestion was too dangerous, and the parties involved have been dead for hundreds of years, that ferocious group also collapsed hundreds of years ago, and the possible Mei Ge with milk and zeal that could arise lately has already been killed by him, "I not only lost one hand, but also lost a dragon named Beileli'en; how could I learn from such an enlightened ruler."

"But no matter what, as long as there are bounties, this kind of problem will always arise! Grand Scholar, you are absolutely right, it is indeed thorny." The King's Hand spoke.

King's Hand - King's Hand

Damn, if Mei Si Ti Li Er would be a bit humble and give his position to Ta Li Bo Jue, perhaps he would feel much more at ease.

"I neither wish to encourage their enthusiasm nor to protect any civilians—those who pick up a hoe in the fields are farmers, those who pick up swords may be members of the poor folk assemblies—I only care whether anyone is cheating us out of gold dragons, Lan Ni Si Te and Ti Li Er——" The former he believes is true, but the latter he is uncertain about, yet he feels that adding this surname can express courtesy and solidarity. Who knows, now the Iron Throne most needs unity——"Generosity is generosity, but damn it, every bit cheated will show how foolish we are. Those who are confirmed to have killed innocents and come to claim the bounty should not be spared; take their heads and put them on the spikes—you simply cannot encourage such people's enthusiasm. As for those who cannot be distinguished, give them two lashes and let them go; those who want to claim gold dragons but let us prove they are lazy." Duke Tai Wen, who toward his lazy sons and subordinates has never been stingy with whips, and whose efforts at literacy have proven the effectiveness of whips in curing laziness, need not say these things to the senior ministers, for "The most important thing is that suppressing rebel commoners is the army's duty; handing responsibility to gold dragons is the foolish act of free-trade city-states, and moreover we must admit that our new archbishop has done well, reducing rebellions and banditry sparked by madmen by a great deal, right?"

"If that's the case, then we shall do just that." Shi Wei Fo Bo Jue nodded.

"Esteemed ministers, how about we vote by a show of hands on the proposal just made? Those without a right hand can raise their left hand, okay!" Jamu's eyes swept over the attendees.

Duke Tywin - Duke Tywin

"Sir, the proposal is to behead the deceivers and whip the fools." Lan Dao Ta Li adult explained sideways. Afterwards, the Duke of Ti Li Er suddenly understood.

Jamu felt that with such people, one must not say too much, otherwise he cannot discern the main point; perhaps letting his charming daughter serve as the King's Hand would be better. Damn, he just happens to be missing a hand, a more useful hand.

At this moment, everyone rested their hands, casually glanced left and right. Everyone raised their hands.

Sir Humphrey Mainwater - Sir Humphrey Mainwater

City Guard Commander - City Guard Commander

Captain of the City Defense Heng Fu Li Wei Shui did not attend; he thought participating in the meeting was too boring, preferring to spend his time patrolling the streets, and believed this was the better way to safeguard the Iron Throne's security.

Sir Loras Tyrell - Sir Loras Tyrell

As for the commander of the Royal Iron Guard, Lord Loras Tyrell, during a recent period while sweeping the vassal territories of Dragonstone Island he was suddenly attacked by Stannis, losing troops and land; he is currently leading the royal navy in drills between Ashford and Crab Island to wash away his shame. Regarding this idea, Jaime neither agreed nor disagreed, but he found himself increasingly fond of such young people, to the point that Tommen's request for him to return to teach him martial arts was also rejected by him.

As for the Minister of the Sea, Lord Paxter Redwyne, he and his ship don't know where they are drifting in the sea, and now, from the Fair Isle in the west to the Stepstones on this side of the Narrow Sea, there seems to be no peaceful place; wanting to let his fleet sail across half the summer sea to pose a threat to Stannis or the pretender Aegon holding Storm's End, we don't know how long we must wait.

And those heavyweights who did not attend have obviously entrusted their votes to someone they trust.

"Please have Lord Tyrell, Lord Swyft, and Lord Hother Umber carry out this order subsequently—I will personally remind Lord Umber." Jaime had no interest in this game, but he had no choice but to play.

He knew this matter had nothing to do with noble dignity or lives, nor did it require them to spend money; it could naturally be passed quickly— the only cost would be to pick up a knife and chop a few more hated heads— he doubted whether other matters could be handled just as swiftly.

In fact, for most matters directly related to these nobles' interests, he must first consult with these— no, at least beforehand with Duke Tyrell or occasionally Earl Tyrell— before they can be brought to the table for a vote; otherwise you would find those trivial matters impossible to move forward here.

Maester Wyman is currently quickly recording the contents of the vote at this meeting; frankly, he feels that a single maester is utterly insufficient for such a tiresome meeting— at least a team of maesters is needed to take notes alongside, in order to keep up with their pace.

But this is good; if enough maesters attended, perhaps Robert wouldn't have constantly spouted nonsense back then, and Littlefinger wouldn't have spoken so much hot air. Oh, Littlefinger, I hope he lives happily in the Vale, and I also hope his martial talent is as excellent as his financial skill.

"Lord Jaime," Earl Swyft at this moment reached out and touched the small ball on the seat, whereupon everyone turned their gaze back to him. "Since we've first brought up the matter of money, I think we must rally our spirits. According to the current rate of deficit, at least two hundred thousand gold dragons must be provided each month to cover the Iron Throne's shortfall, most of which needs to go toward repaying the loan from the Iron Bank. Moreover, it is obvious that we have too many enemies; I hope the Iron Throne can make certain financial reserves in advance to face any war that might come at any time— what do you think, my lord?"

This old man perhaps still thinks the regent's position should belong to his uncle Kevan, and even now he refuses to call him "Prince Regent." Hah, if his son-in-law Kevan were to serve as Prince Regent, I don't know whether he could persuade the duchess of Casterly Rock to fork over real gold to fix this broken chair.

Wind's Rest Fortress - Wind's Rest Fortress

"My lord, which war do you mean that could come at any time?" The Prince Regent, already inured to war, would be utterly unable to cope unless he had a hundred daughters and a hundred sons to satisfy the various families that need to be linked and allied; otherwise he could not manage it— "Nowadays the Seven Kingdoms are perfectly peaceful!"

"I don't understand this, but I think it's mainly that impostor occupying Storm's End. Although he took Storm's End from Stannis's hands, Storm's End after all belongs to the Baratheon family, and being occupied by an impostor is truly a disgrace to the Iron Throne."

What relation does Bailaxien have with him? "I really wish Shitanisi would also think like you, damn it, he didn't say, now only he still has the surname Bailaxien, right?"