Chapter 87

Sir, the lad Lin Spai Bo from Hejian has returned, Melon said to Jamie, who was still lost in thought, "That lad is completely unharmed, not a scratch on him. Sir, abandoning the knight one serves is no good follower."

Jamie heard that lad Lu was still alive, finally he showed a smile; this counts as one of the few good news.

"He didn't abandon me; I had him help me draw the wolves away, and it seems he did well." Jamie stood up, no longer lost in thought, "Let him return to continue his duties, damn it, the remaining servants can't even tie their armor and cloaks properly!"

"My lord, did you also encounter the wolf pack?" Petrupleng exclaimed in surprise.

"Not only the wolf pack, but also ice-field wolves, damn it, those wolves are bigger than a calf." Jamie recalled that life-and-death struggle. The ice-field wolves initially were full of hatred, relentless, but in an instant they seemed to lose all interest in him; Jamie could only consider himself lucky, otherwise he might now be a pile of wolf dung nourishing the Hejian land, "All the wounds on my body were left by that beast! Ha, anyway this isn't the first time I've encountered ice-field wolves."

"How could there be ice-field wolves in Hejian..." Tados Liford still wanted to hear more about the ice-field wolves, but the ice-field wolves gave him only bitterness; he really didn't want to continue.

"Clemens scholar," Jamie called out, he is the assistant of Grand Scholar Percy, kept by the Grand Scholar at his side to attend to him at all times; in the Grand Scholar's words, scholars can help the Regent write and convey orders, "Draft a document, in the king's name, release a raven to Sir Loras, promoting him to commander of the Imperial Forest Iron Guard."

Several young nobles from the West heard this and smiled; Petrupleng was overjoyed, as if it were him, not Loras, who had been appointed commander of the Imperial Forest Iron Guard.

"My lord, you should have done this long ago!" Tados chuckled.

"Who says no." Melon interjected.

Mervin Sassefield stood aside, arms crossed, smirking, making Jamie want to grab the wine pot on the table and smash it at him.

Damn it, I also want to learn Cersei to splash wine on people?

"If you have any objections, damn it, I could also promote you to the Imperial Forest Iron Guard; even the commander position could be considered, anyway there are quite a few vacancies now!" Jamie looked dissatisfied at Mervin.

He is the nephew of the Earl of Sassefield Castle, a green arrow emblem stretches across his entire cloak. He at least commands a thirty-man mounted archer unit of Redfort; if he truly came into conflict with the Great Sparrow, this would be a very important force.

"Haha, my lord, that won't do, I still have a wife to satisfy in the West." He stroked his big beard and smiled silently.

Mervin's words are always few.

"My lord, this, this..." Clemens scholar was like a mute, seeming not yet to grasp what this meant.

"If you doubt my orders, I can have the Grand Scholar replace you with someone more attentive," Jamie said bluntly, then turned to another scholar, "Veman scholar, please draft a document, in the capacity of Duke of Triumph Rock City, appoint Damien Lannister as the new Warden of the West, and in my name, conscript troops in the West, train the soldiers, march to the capital, and order that the commander of the Triumph Rock City Guard, Vellar, lead the force."

"Yes, Your Highness." Veman scholar was much cleverer than Clemens, and didn't say any more nonsense.

"You lot have nothing left to say now, do you?" Jamie said angrily to the nearby western nobles.

"What opinions could we have?" Tados laughed, "Winter has come, damn it, how could women be leaders?" Seeing Jamie's anger flare, he quickly waved his hands, "Hey hey, I'm just saying what I think; in war, you always need men, women wouldn't understand."

Who do you think defeated me?

Jamie suppressed the urge to retort. This feeling made him extremely uncomfortable.

Damn it! Am I really fit to be a Regent?

"My lord, how should we arrange your uncle Kaifeng Lannister?" Melon asked.

Kaifeng is a real hassle.

Duke Tywin has rewarded him plenty over the years; if he wishes, he can easily raise at least a thousand troops; if he wishes to go to Darui City in Hejian to guard his son's territory, let him go, hoping the she-wolf hasn't swept Darui City clean again.

"He wishes to be my father's shadow, because my father is tall enough. Damn it, in his view, I, a one-handed oathbreaker, cannot eclipse him." Jamie sighed, "Veman scholar, also send a letter to Triumph Rock City, saying the Regent invites him to the capital to serve as advisor."

He will take this as an insult, or sneer, or yell angrily, or stare grimly and stay silent, but this is the only thing Jamie can give him.

"The current Imperial Council already has four seats taken by the Tyrells!" Tados said in a low voice, "As far as I know, the Imperial Council only has seven members, right?"

"Let me see, the King's Hand, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Minister of Justice, Commander of the Imperial Forest Iron Guard," Petrupleng exclaimed, "Oh dear, this damn thing isn't already a small court, is it?"

"Sir, can you guarantee the remaining three are ours?" Melon interjected, seeing Jamie nod slowly, then continued, "Ah, if I may say, their side has four, all healthy and vigorous, while our side has three, all old and feeble, Lord Kaifeng—even if he came, ah, I doubt he'd come—is also an old man; you don't mind my saying that, sir?"

What's there to mind, there's also a crippled Lannister!

"Who says the Imperial Council can only have seven?" Jamie hated the number seven, "Since Humfry Waters has become commander of the Capital Guard, let's also bring him into the Council of Elders; that also sets a precedent, first split the Minister of Justice's duties, the Capital Guard forces must at least be in our hands, Edstark is just too stupid to understand this."

"Wenda scholar," Jamie ordered, "Please draft a document, inviting the Prince of Dorne to participate in the Imperial Council, or permitting him to send representatives to participate in the Imperial Council." Now it's four versus four, plus a Dornish person, and moreover we have the Regent; the Lannisters are not weak.

"Humfry Waters is a good choice," Melon sneered, "But what would we need Dornish people for? If another Dornish person dies in the capital, that would be troublesome."

"Then they need to come first." Jamie had no patience to explain. The kingdom is now shattered, yet expenditures remain high; if we don't appease the Dornish, this country is doomed.

"Also, strip Osmond Kettleblack of his white robe." Jamie decided.

"Now the Imperial Forest Iron Guard only has five left!" Melon said, "The remaining two, sir, how do you plan to assign them?"

Arrange slowly.

"No rush for now," Jamie said, "At least we need to observe first."

Look at the current Imperial Forest Iron Guard; besides the Hundred Flowers Knight, is there anything worth seeing?

Jamie stood up anxiously. If the church's affairs truly cannot be properly handled, then the only recourse is to hunt down every sparrow and every poor people's gathering, every son of warriors, in the West, the South, and the capital, etc.

Dealing with these people, as long as one is sane, any lord will support it; this might actually be his main opportunity to unite the nation's strength, namely the chance for all great and small lords.

"Mulin scholar," Jamie ordered, "Draft an order, instructing Humfry Waters to open all city gates, but strictly forbid refugees from entering the capital; at the same time, have him oversee the construction of catapults, at least two, to be completed by tomorrow morning."

If the Great Sparrow doesn't understand words, then we can only give him a little color.

Winter has come, no plague anticipated.

"Catapults?" Petrupleng exclaimed in surprise, "Are we going to storm the great cathedral?"

"Of course." Jamie turned to Calvin scholar, "Scholar, please draft a document, in the name of Tommen King, ordering the church to limit the faithful and the high patriarch from vacating the great cathedral tomorrow, the reason being the great cathedral is an asset of the Iron Throne, which can no longer be freely occupied by the church; moreover, the cathedral is a holy place, and must not allow the church to admit refugee ruffians to pollute and poison it. Warn him, if he refuses to move out, the Iron Throne will seize the assets by force, and he bears the consequences."

Furthermore, post notices, offering to sell to all faiths at a base price of three million gold dragons; whether it's Braavos's Black and White House or Volantis's Red Temple or the Faith of the Seven, the highest bidder wins. Make three copies of the notice, send one to the Iron Treasury representative, one to the Merchants' Guild, and post one at the harbor.

Upon saying this, the whole room was shocked.

"My lord, the Faith of the Seven is the state religion." Calvin reminded softly.

"Damn it, this is purely business," Jamie snapped, "What does it have to do with faith?" Jamie turned back to Clemens scholar, "Clemens scholar, please continue to draft a decree in the name of King Tommen, posting notices, saying the kingdom's finances are strained, the realm's rise and fall, lords, church, knights, and even ordinary folk all bear responsibility; the church not only bears responsibility but also has special responsibility, so the church's trade earnings and endowed assets must not enjoy special treatment, they should be taxed uniformly, initially set at one in ten, we say the young king favors the Seven, thus we set a favorable tax of one in eleven. Other religious groups are taxed uniformly at twelve in a hundred."

"My lord, twelve in a hundred is rather low compared to this!" Calvin whispered, "Could we adjust it to fifteen in a hundred?"

"Sure. Just as you say." Jamie didn't want to bother with these appeasing suggestions.

"Veman scholar," Jamie called to him again, "Draft a decree in the name of King Tommen, on the grounds that the Great Sparrow once used violence to threaten the high patriarch election, declare the previous high patriarch election invalid, ask the high patriarch of the Oldtown Starry Hall, Orzi, to announce to the faithful a reorganization of the high patriarch election, and also confirm that the Oldtown Starry Hall is the permanent seat of the Faith of the Seven."

Jamie paced to the door, turned back and continued, "Copy the decree three times; one sent to Highgarden, informing them that the Great Sparrow's kidnapping of the queen is absurd, ask them to support the re-election and the relocation of the seat; another sent to Lord Hightower, likewise informing them of the aforementioned absurdity, and requesting they supervise the church not to organize 'poor people's gatherings' nor 'sons of warriors'." He felt a bit hesitant, but still gave the order, "The last copy sent to Gulltown, and please have Lord Gullford inform the valley lords that the Iron Throne's orders concerning the Faith of the Seven. First prepare it, then after tomorrow, according to my instructions, decide whether to send it."

"Your Highness Regent," Mervin Sassefield finally couldn't hold back, anxiously inquiring, while speaking and also glancing at the other officers nearby, "You, are you really going to come?"

"It can be real, it can be fake," Jamie said harshly, "If he is sensible, it's fake; if he is not sensible, it's true."

"If he is not sensible," Melon asked, "Do we really have to fight these mud-legs? Our manpower is not many."

"So, what do you think I'm doing by taking off my white robe and summoning the Western Border troops?" Zhan Mu scrutinized him. "If he dares insult my sister, I'll hang him from the Holy Hall Tower."