Chapter 226: Heresy
"You said you understood." Varys chuckled, "Now that she's your niece, you can't understand?"
"It was you who took the initiative to send Misella to the marriage alliance, and it would not be bad for you if Misella became his woman."
Tyrion fell silent. What Varys said was indeed right, but he still felt uncomfortable. He had married Myrcella to Dorne for the sake of the family.
Now that Misella was kidnapped, this made him feel a little guilty, as if he had sold Misella for his own personal gain.
Seeing this, Varys comforted her, "Don't feel too guilty. It's not your fault that Myrcella was captured by Jack. No one expected it to be such a coincidence."
"It's useless to say anything now. All you have to do is become Jack's right-hand man. Daenerys has dragons, and that short-haired woman is the legitimate heir to the Iron Islands. If Myrcella doesn't want to be bullied, she can only rely on you, her family."
Tyrion took a deep breath. Varys was right. Myrcella was of both Baratheon and Lannister blood. No matter which type, she was an enemy of the Targaryen family.
Even if Daenerys didn't target Myrcella, she would have no confidence without the support of her family and could only hope for the favor of a man.
Isn't his sister who wants to kill him at any time a ready example?
If Cersei's last name wasn't Lannister, Robert would have kicked Cersei aside long ago.
Varys' voice suddenly became strange and inexplicable. He spoke slowly:
"After all this, do you think the Iron Throne still has hope of victory?
Reclaiming wasteland, building roads, repairing city walls, winning the hearts of the people, reducing taxes, weakening the nobility, and many other changes that we cannot see.
The North is growing stronger day by day, while the nobles in the South are scheming against each other.
If the southern nobles lose, what do you think will happen to the Lannister family?
If you still want to save your family, you have to bind yourself to Jack's team, and you have to be the most important one in the team. "
Varys knows Tyrion very well. He knows that even if his family members don't like Tyrion, Tyrion still values the honor of his family.
It was precisely because of this that Varys decided to take Tyrion to Jack.
In this way, Tyrion is like a nail buried in Jack's side.
The more Jack relied on the nail, the more damage it caused.
This is indeed the case. In the original drama, after Tyrion followed Daenerys, he was fine in the early days, but once he arrived in Westeros, he made a lot of stupid moves and even made the ridiculous decision to kidnap a White Walker to show Cersei.
Soon it was noon. The weather in the north was not hot, and even snow had begun to fall in the newly added land.
The venue is large enough to accommodate more than 10,000 people, and five arenas have been built. There will be an audition at the beginning, and then 256 people will be selected to start competing for the ranking.
As the bell rang, the first martial arts competition in the Northern Province officially began.
Jack came to the front of the platform and raised his right hand, and the scene instantly became quiet.
"I'm glad that you all can come to watch this tournament. I extend a warm welcome to all the citizens of the Northern Province who have come."
The maid then brought a tray with three glasses of wine on it.
"I have prepared three glasses of wine for this. Everyone, please raise your glasses."
"For the first glass of wine, let us toast to the summer that brings us life."
"The second cup is for everyone who has worked hard to build the Northern Province."
"The third cup, let us toast to the great Atlantis Deep Sea Empire. Long live the empire!"
"Long live the Empire!"
"Long live the Empire!"
With someone taking the lead, the voices of the crowd were like a tsunami.
Jack smiled with satisfaction when he saw this. People's emotions are easily affected by the people and environment around them, especially when there are water armies.
The navy was naturally arranged by Jack. After all, the main purpose of this tournament was to enhance cohesion, improve Jack's own prestige, and show off his muscles to the northern nobles.
If the show suddenly becomes a flop, it will be a big blow to Jack's reputation.
"I declare that the martial arts tournament officially begins!"
In this bustling place, Tyrion and Varys were both silent.
After a moment, Varys spoke first, his voice was a little strange, "Lord Tyrion, what do you think?"
Tyrion remained silent for several minutes before answering.
"He is very good at winning people's hearts. I don't know how to evaluate him. He seems to value civilians very much. But isn't he afraid of the rebellion of the nobles in the North?"
Tyrion's words were full of doubts. In his opinion, the nobles were the foundation of rule. A king needed the nobles to fight for him and manage the country for him.
So Tyrion felt that Jack's behavior was a bit "heretical".
Getting close to the common people would undoubtedly make the nobles unhappy. Who would fight for him and govern his territory?
When the time came to go to war with the southern nobles, the nobles would pretend to obey him but secretly disobey him, or even rebel directly. How could Jack fight against the 100,000 or 200,000 southern troops? Would he
rely on those farmers who knew nothing?
However, the opening ceremony of the tourney soon interrupted Tyrion's thoughts.
The opening ceremony was the grand military parade prepared by Jack.
The first to appear was the Unsullied. Their neat and orderly formations and the sound of their goose-stepping showed how powerful this army was.
This is a team of 500 people, divided into five square formations.
When the first phalanx reached the stand where Jack was, the commander gave an order and the Unsullied looked in Jack's direction in unison, and the spears in their hands changed direction with a clatter.
"Long live the Empire, long live the Sea King!"
"Long live the Empire, long live the Sea King!"
"Long live the Empire, long live the Sea King!"
Jack stood up, clenched his right fist and placed it on his left chest, then shouted loudly: "Long live the Empire!"
Behind Jack, Clark immediately straightened his upper body, spread his dozens of meter long wings, and roared throughout the entire tournament venue.
Jack taught them how to march in step. The Unsullied, who already had strong military discipline, could master the majestic marching with just a little training.
Next came the Son of Winter. To be honest, I didn't know what to make of the civilians who came to join in the fun.
Although it is much better than previous armies, after seeing the Unsullied's formation, it can only be said to be mediocre.
However, the Sons of Winter have many types of troops, covering almost all the types of troops they can think of.
There were both light and heavy infantry, as well as various soldiers armed with strange weapons, crossbowmen and slingers, but there were no cavalry.
But then the cavalry appeared, the Scarlet Dragon Knights led by Hecarim.
The Scarlet Dragon Knights were built on the basis of the Red Dragon Knights. All members were armored, with 500 heavy cavalry and 1,500 light cavalry.
Fifty heavy cavalrymen and one hundred and fifty light cavalrymen, all wearing red chain mail, exuding a powerful aura.
The navy did not participate in this parade. Asha still had 5,000 navy stationed on the Rocky Coast to guard against the Iron Islands.
The entire northern army has a total of 20 to 50 million people.
They are 5,000 Sons of Winter, 5,000 Unsullied, 5,000 Iron Fleet, 5,000 White Harbor Fleet, 2,000 Knights of the Scarlet Dragon, and 3,000 noble conscripts.
Of course, noble levies can be ignored.
However, even without counting the three thousand noble levies, the military force had already surpassed that of Robb Stark's reign.
According to news from the south, the bells of King's Landing rang again.
If nothing unexpected happens, the bell ringing in King's Landing this time should be for Tywin.
Once the tournament is over and Jack has completely dismantled the power of the nobles, it will be time to take action against the Riverlands.
(End of this chapter)