Chapter 20: The Kingdom
Robert was not a good king, a fact that few in the Seven Kingdoms, inside or outside the court, would deny. However, despite his extravagant lifestyle filled with wine, women, and wealth, he was clear about one thing, he did not like or trust the Lannister family. His former good Hand, his foster father, was gone, and he had no desire to manage affairs, only seeking pleasure. He couldn't let the entire country fall into the hands of the queen's family.
The center of power in the kingdom needed balance.
So, he remembered his good brother, Eddard Stark, whom he had neglected in the North.
But inviting the Warden of the North to King's Landing to serve as Hand was not a simple matter.
This story is long, and Westeros operates under a typical yet slightly bizarre feudal system: on the surface, the king is similar to the ancient Zhou emperors of China, and the various dukes are like feudal lords. The problem is among the great houses that currently control the regions of Westeros, none, except for Robert's own, were enfeoffed or supported by the ruler on the Iron Throne.
The war in which he destroyed the Targaryen dynasty and took the Iron Throne is called the "War of the Usurper" precisely for this reason: the Baratheons did not truly change dynasties; they simply replaced the dragon family on the throne. The kingdom remained as it was after Aegon's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms.
The Starks of the North, the Lannisters of the West, the Arryns of the Vale, and the Martells of Dorne need no further explanation. They were already rulers with royal titles in their respective domains before Aegon's conquest, recognized by their vassals and with the power to rule. After being conquered, they only gave up their previous titles and acknowledged the Targaryens as kings, continuing to live as usual within their territories.
The Tullys of the Riverlands, the Tyrells of the Reach, and the Greyjoys of the Iron Islands were only able to "upgrade" and replace the former rulers as the new owners of their lands because they surrendered quickly enough.
Only the Baratheon family rose to the upper class because the founder, Orys Baratheon, followed Aegon and achieved great merits during the conquest war. Even he had to take over the Stormlands by occupying the Storm King's castle, marrying his daughter, and adopting his banners, sigil, and words to stabilize his rule.
From a modern perspective, Aegon's conquest cannot be compared to Qin Shi Huang's feat of unifying China and establishing a centralized authority. Aegon merely won every key battle with dragons as his trump card, at most intimidating the Seven Kingdoms, but he lacked the energy and appropriate administrative system to manage and integrate the kingdoms, so he had to settle for having them acknowledge his rule.
However, it was not that Aegon was not ambitious, but rather he was helpless: due to the special climate and environment, the ice and fire world's technology was backward, the population sparse, and transportation underdeveloped, making it impossible to maintain a sufficient standing army. If the king's orders could not be executed swiftly, the royal government would find it difficult to remain strong, and centralization would be hard to achieve.
For these reasons, "eradicating the roots" is a rare concept in this world: even if the original rulers were completely exterminated, the victors would still have to choose a local to fill their position. Even if the noble class were eliminated and officials appointed for centralized rule, the distant and independent nature of the territories would quickly turn bureaucrats into warlords, leading to local separatism and insincere obedience to the king.
Anyone attempting to change the status quo would face terrifying resistance. This is probably the most vivid example of "backward productive forces constraining the development of the superstructure."
Three hundred years had passed, and the family occupying the Iron Throne had changed from the Targaryens to the Baratheons. As the youngest of the eight great houses, with insufficient depth and an unstable foundation, Robert, who lacked both the support of any emerging loyal families after the War of the Usurper and the trump card of dragons. sat on the Iron Throne ruling over seven families that were older and more deeply rooted than his own. Without the strength or means to address this unwieldy situation, the once mighty warrior found being king quite unpleasant, which explained his constant indulgence in drinking and hunting.
This was another true reflection of the saying "easy to win the empire, hard to keep it." For the stability of his rule, Robert had to marry the daughter of the Lannister family he disliked, keep his foster father, Duke Arryn, in King's Landing as Hand, and add to that the marital ties and camaraderie from fighting alongside the Stark and Tully families, forming a massive noble alliance of five families. Only then could he force the remaining Tyrell, Martell, and Greyjoy families to submit as they had to the Targaryens for centuries.
All this talk was just to explain one thing: the person sitting on the Iron Throne only had the title of king and was actually on the same level as the other seven families in terms of status and power. Control over the Seven Kingdoms was entirely determined by strength and skill: if you had the upper hand, you were the ruler of the realm, the king of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm; once you weakened, you would immediately be reduced to just another great noble, equally susceptible to plunder and invasion.
Robert couldn't simply issue an edict to pull Eddard Stark, the de facto ruler of the North, out of his comfortable nest and drag him to King's Landing to clean up his mess. Moreover, their relationship was more like brothers than monarch and subject, so both emotionally and logically, he had to make the trip himself. Not only that, he also wanted to take the opportunity to form a marital alliance and strengthen ties, ensuring that the great alliance of stag, wolf, lion, eagle, and fish continued even after his death, seeking eternal rule for the Baratheons like the other seven families.
Although Robert was a negligent king, born into a noble family, his basic skills in power play and strategic vision were not lacking at all. So. he came, and he would stay for a while.
Whether it was Gared and Will, fellow Night's Watch rangers with whom he was close, or the higher-ranking Waymar Royce, Benjen Stark, and even Lord Commander Mormont, or the king, queen, and a host of Baratheons, Starks, and Lannisters he met upon arriving at Winterfell, they all looked different from the images Aeg had seen on screen before his transmigration. This made him realize: he had transmigrated into a real world, not a TV series.
Fortunately, the recorded history, the plot development up to this point, and the personalities and temperaments of the characters he had encountered were still largely similar to the story he knew, which was a huge advantage. With a little preparation, he could easily "talk to humans in human language, and to ghosts in ghost language," interacting with each character he remembered in a targeted manner.
Speaking of which, the two people who came to his room tonight were undoubtedly key characters: without any plot analysis, just looking at the data, Tyrion Lannister and Jon Snow dominated the first and second places in terms of the amount of character development in the original text and the number of lines and scenes in the show, even Daenerys Targaryen had to settle for third place.
If heroes were judged by their presence, calling these two the protagonists would not be an exaggeration. Because of this, Aeg had seen countless analyses of their growth, mental journey, and personality traits online before his transmigration. As the saying goes, "the onlooker sees the most". Aeg's understanding of the two "protagonists" might even be more thorough than their own.
The evidence of White Walkers did not deter the bastard; instead, it inadvertently led Jon to decide earlier to join the Night's Watch, a small accident, but no big deal, Aeg had no intention of interfering. The boy who had not yet donned the black cloak was currently just a minor character, but the dwarf nicknamed "The Imp" had already gained influence through his noble birth and wisdom. Now, Aeg had received a promise of help from him, and although it was just a verbal agreement, based on his understanding of Tyrion's character, Aeg decided to trust him boldly.
But things were not so simple. Tyrion was not the king, nor was he the head of his own family with real power. He was just a noble's son, and everything he had came from his powerful and wealthy father, Lord Tywin. Although theoretically a candidate for the Lannister inheritance, he was actually excluded from the power core. His claim to help Aeg leave the Wall did not guarantee success.
In addition, according to the original plot development, the dwarf himself couldn't leave the North smoothly to return to King's Landing or the Westerlands.
So, before really accepting Tyrion's help, Aeg might have to worry about the other party first.