In the middle of the night, the fourth floor of Burning King Tower.
Arthur, Tristan Legg, William Mouton, and Lyman Darry gathered around a small table to discuss the affairs of these families.
The grand meeting of the nobles during the day came to an end. Under the strong advocacy of Clement Piper and others, some lords agreed to establish a Bracken as the king of the river.
There are also some nobles who advocate that the title of "Dragon Holder" is the Guardian of the Seven Realms and the King of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhoynar, and then march to King's Landing to regain the Iron Throne.
In this regard, Arthur said that he should be more stable first, work hard to reorganize the river army, and wait until the dragon Alduin grows up.
Since the ancestors invaded the Western Continent, there have been six river kingdoms established by the river people themselves, namely: Fisher Dynasty, Blackwood Dynasty, Bracken Dynasty, Mulder Dynasty, Fairmen Dynasty, Teague Dynasty wait
Among them, although Blackwood came from the Wolfwood area in the north, he only became king after establishing a foothold in the Riverlands, so he was also considered the Riverlanders' own dynasty.
The last rivermen dynasty was brought to an end by the Storm King Alain Durrandon III. He married the daughter of the then lord of Raventree and then defeated the last five of the Teague dynasty at Twin Peaks on the north bank of the Red Fork. A king.
To commemorate the end of the Teague dynasty, the battle is also known as the War of the Six Kings, although several Teague kings only reigned for a few minutes.
Since then, the Riverlands have been ruled by others, first the Stormlanders, then the Ironborn of the Iron Islands, and then the Targaryen dynasty established by King Aegon I.
The Stark family in the north also surrendered to the Dragon family, but after Robb established himself in Riverrun, he chose to restore the ancient title of King of the North.
Therefore, Arthur's title of King of the River did not come out of thin air, it has historical basis.
Including the support of the two earls such as Vance, Piper, and Mallister, as well as the most powerful Marquis Aenys Frey, there is no objection to this for the time being.
Only a few Dragon Party families had more in-depth ideas, so after the Grand Council, Arthur personally discussed their demands with these families.
"If you can restore your surname to Targaryen and prepare to take back the Iron Throne, Female Spring can provide more support." William Mouton's point of view has always been clear.
According to him, if Arthur's title had always been King of the Rivers, his support for the new Bracken dynasty would be equal to his support for House Tully, the North and the Kings of the Three Rivers.
In the early days of the War of the Five Kings, Maidenpool only provided 500 soldiers to help guard the town's ferry on the Trident River. After that, it did not provide any soldiers, money or food to the Fish and Wolf Alliance.
"I already have a dragon, and Earl William is too stingy." Arthur looked at the timid lord of Maidenpool.
According to his assumptions, the Mouton family would have to make great efforts.
Although the territory of Maidenpool was lost to Robert, it did not weaken its position as a trade hub in Crab Bay. The taxes collected by the Moutons from the port and Maidenpool were enough to support an earl. .
Therefore, the number of retired soldiers in Nuive Spring City has not decreased with the reduction of the territory, and has remained at around 2,000.
Moreover, so far, the war has basically not affected that area, and it is rare for the people to even flee.
The current Mouton family's financial resources, military strength and potential strength can rank among the top three in the entire Riverlands.
"If I promise to attack King's Landing within two years and restore the long list of kings guarding the Seven Realms, can you fully preside over me from now on?"
Arthur gave a more unreal goal.
Let's first defraud the soldiers, money and food. Who knows what the situation on the mainland will be like in two years' time?
William Mouton looked at this face that was as handsome as the Targaryens and nodded in agreement.
"In this case, you will have the full loyalty of Maidenpool and the Mouton family."
Lyman Darry, Raymond's son also made his own request:
"We in Darry City and the original territory are also absolute supporters of Targaryen. As long as you restore our territory, a steady stream of Darry City soldiers will join your army."
Arthur thought for a while and said: "The most I can do is restore your title of earl. The original territory of Darry City will temporarily belong to the small nobles who were rewarded by Robert."
The fiefdoms of families like Root near the crossing of the Trident River were the original territory of Darui City.
This group of people also supports the new King of the River. If Arthur reduces the fiefdom for no reason, I am afraid that the hearts of the people will slip through his fingers before he can grasp it.
Moreover, although the Hejian people are less capable in combat, their demands on the monarch are extremely high.
The Fairmen dynasty in the history of the Riverlands was due to the fact that its founder, Benedick, was fair and righteous, and the world called him "Just" Dick. This was how he won over the Brackens, Blackwoods, the Two Vans and other families. With his support, he unified the Riverlands and expanded the territory of the River Kingdom to its largest extent, reaching the Neck in the north, Nvwenquan in the east, Golden Teeth in the west, and the Blackwater River in the south.
It is worth mentioning that places such as Duskdale City, Rosby City and the mouth of the Blackwater River in the royal territory were included in the territory of the River Kingdom during the Fairmen Dynasty.
With such an example ahead of him, if Arthur did something unfair, a group of families might rebel.
Anyway, there are many kings now, and the nobles have enough loyal objects.
Lyman Darry was obviously unhappy. He was still a fourteen-year-old child, and he couldn't hide his happiness and anger very well.
At Arthur's signal, William Mouton, who had a gentler personality, comforted little Darry with a few words.
Tristan solved it easily. He promised that everything in his territory could be handed over to the King of the River.
As long as Arthur helps him take back his family castle and territory from the remaining Western soldiers.
Currently, most of the Western Border Army has withdrawn from Xihejian, but one to two hundred soldiers are still stationed in some of the more important castles.
Travel's Rest City was close to Riverrun City, so it was recaptured by the combined forces of the Fish and Wolf, while Willowwood City was still in the hands of the Westerners.
"This is not a problem. With the soldiers of the Frey family and the Mouton family here, all the castles in the south of the river will be recovered."
After the decisive battle outside Casterly Rock, only about 10,000 of the main force of the Lion family was left. They still had to deal with Stannis in King's Landing, and were temporarily unable to launch a new round of attack on the Riverlands.
Although Erlu gained territory such as the Stormlands, Dragonstone Island, and King's Landing City, the River Reach Army also attacked Storm's End Castle, leaving Dragonstone Island without many resources. The dispute between the party and the rear party made Stannis even more troubled.
Therefore, he has no intention of conquering other "false kings", not to mention that Duskendale is closer to King's Landing. If Erlu wants to attack, he must attack Cersei and Tommen first.
The problem of the Dragon Party family was basically solved. After Arthur asked them to leave, he recruited Aenys Frey, Simon Frey, Merry Frey and others.
He has to deal with this greedy family.
Innis, who swaggered in, returned to his original honest appearance as soon as he saw Arthur. After bowing first, he sat down properly.
The reason why Marquis New Frey did this is very simple. The King of the River is wearing plate armor and the giant hammer is also at hand.
After letting Podrick close the door, Arthur took the lead and asked, "What's going on with Rosso and Golden Tooth City?"
According to the news from the raven, the cripple Rosso led a thousand Frey soldiers to the Golden Tooth City with a high profile and prepared to reopen the gold mine.
Olifa, the acting city lord left behind by Arthur, was kidnapped by his brothers again.
The last time he was kidnapped was because he still wanted to follow the Young Wolf Lord after Robb regretted his marriage.
The bald man stared at the small table without speaking, and Arthur was sure that his peripheral vision was always staring at the giant hammer.
Meili, the youngest member of the Frey family, was more honest and answered this question.
"Rosso said that the Golden Tooth City has also entered the rule of the Riverlands, and Earl Leo Leford has died. Basically all members of the Leford family have been wiped out. Only Lady Alexa is left in the enemy camp, so according to the According to the inheritance law, his wife Leona Leford has the right to inherit the Golden Teeth City, so..."
Arthur flicked Inis's bald head hard with his right index finger, causing the area where the bullet was hit to become red and swollen immediately.
"What is our agreement?"
Marquis Frey covered his bald head and nervously defended: "Your Majesty, our oath did not include the Golden Tooth City, and Rosso's actions are also in compliance with the law..."
"In compliance with the law? Don't think that you are completely safe with the oath of protection. Gold can be produced in Golden Teeth City, and gold can buy food. The Riverlands are in short supply of food now, and I need to use food to win the hearts and minds of the people. You If you don't understand the truth behind this, I will use all the wealth in Twin River City to help the starving farmers."
Arthur pointed at Aenys' nose and shouted.
Stonehedge is his largest direct territory now, but his loyalty is not very high. The territory at Moulin Rouge is too small. Harrenhal nominally belongs to Lady River and will belong to Sansa in the future, so he has to consider direct territory. thing.
Coincidentally, Golden Tooth City is now ownerless.
So the King of Hejian wanted to turn the fortress and the nearby gold mine into his own direct territory.
Simon Frey hurriedly smoothed things over, "Your Majesty, we understand the rules. Rosso is just helping you to garrison the castle and resist the attacks of the Westerners. He has no other ideas."
This is Old Walder's seventh son. His mother is Alyssa from Crakehall in the West.
Like many people with the blood of Krech, Simon is extremely tall and strong, even compared to his sixth brother Hosteen.
Arthur changed to a more soothing tone: "Golden Tooth City will be one of my direct territories in the future. You should give up the idea of taking it there as soon as possible. I will send other people to take over Golden Tooth City. Rosso's men will go to the east for me." Come fight on the front line. And your butts are not wiped clean, Black Walder ran out."
Black Walder is the great-grandson of Old Walder, the grandson of Stevron, and the second son of Lyman Frey.
This is a non-marriage person who loves to applaud his cousins. During the incident at the North Fort of Twin River City, he was fooling around with his cousins in a mill somewhere, so he escaped the disaster.
After realizing that something was wrong, Black Wald fled on the spot and was now roughly in the area between the Green Fork River and the Blue Fork River. He also gathered a mini army of dozens of people and prepared to counterattack the Twins.
According to the law of inheritance, he is the only remaining eldest son in the line and is indeed the legal lord of Twins City.
"That's a clown. Aegon the Bloody has gone after him. To the outside world, we will say that Aegon became a bandit, but in fact he is the killer of His Majesty and our Frey family. Anyway, he loves killing the most."
Simon introduced his nephew like this.
Arthur nodded, "He'd better handle it."
Both sides knew very well that "Aegon the Blood" also had a mission to completely eliminate Blackwood from Raventree City.
Bald-headed Inis fawned and said: "No problem at all, because I offended you on the issue of Golden Tooth City, so I will give you a small gift."
"Little gift, what is that?" Arthur asked curiously.
"You will know in two days. Anyway, it will be beneficial to your rule." Simon replied.
This half-brother of Hosteen has his brother's recklessness, but not his stupidity.
He is also a Frey who needs to be vigilant, Arthur secretly marked.
After thinking for a while, Arthur said the last problem that the Frey family needs to deal with:
"The grain you sell to the northerners must be consistent with the market price in peacetime, and the river toll should be based on the usual price. The extra money earned should be returned."
Robert Glover, Herman Tallhart and others once led 2,300 northern soldiers to the north to recapture the Cailin Bay, but because White Harbor was fighting with the Little Skinner for the city of Horwood, there was no reinforcement from the north.
The three towers of Cailin Bay are to prevent attacks from the south, west and east.
Although the number of ironmen is small, the northern army has no way to deal with it. They can only be stationed in the south of Cailin Bay and wait for the White Harbor cavalry to go south.
The army was very food-intensive, so Herman Tallhart and others bought food from the nearest Twins.
At that time, old Walder was still in charge, so he sold food to the northerners at five times the usual price.
Although Greatjon, Maegor Mormont, Owen Norrey and others took a group of northern soldiers home and had several carts of gold in their hands, if the Freys charged a higher toll and paid off the money for the high-priced food, the northerners would probably not have much money left.
"Your Majesty, this is beyond the scope of our agreement." Aenys did not explicitly refuse, but did not want to execute it.
Arthur thought for a while and said, "You execute it first. I know that the strength of the Freys is far more than 4,000 soldiers. Take some time and we will discuss a new agreement. When you provide no less than 6,000 troops, I will also give you the rewards you deserve."
The Twins were not affected by the war at all, and the territories at the river crossings were all fertile and fertile. The Freys could still squeeze out some soldiers.
"Should we make it clear before we do anything?" Innis was very conflicted now. He wanted to reject the request of the River King, but he was afraid that the giant hammer would hit him.
"I will give you an offer that you cannot refuse. Let's deal with the military rations and the river crossing fee first. I still have to deal with the affairs of King's Landing and Duskdale. You can leave first!"
Arthur waved his hand and asked the people to leave.
Then, Jason Mallister and his son Patrick were called.
The latter got eighty carts of food from the Reach and took out Arthur's 10,000 gold dragons in Highgarden.
Although the Rose family has now surrendered to Tommen and the Lion family, Arthur does not want to withdraw all the remaining gold dragons.
If the Duke of Mace refuses to give these gold dragon coins in the future, this will be a perfect reason for Highgarden to change its owner.
Many families in the Reach have the bloodline of the original River King's gardener family, but the Tyrell family, the steward family, does not.
Therefore, some nobles of the Reach have always had ideas about Highgarden, such as the Florent family of Brightwater. One of their family heads married the daughter of the last Reach King, so the inheritance right of Highgarden ranks first among all the nobles of the Reach.
But Aegon I let the Rose family, who offered Highgarden, get the huge white castle.
This is the unstable factor within the Reach.
If you can dig a few holes in it, you may really be able to dig down the whole corner.
The strong Lord Jason and his nymphomaniac son walked in.
Arthur motioned for them to sit down.
The Lord followed the etiquette, but his son sat down carelessly.
This made Jason scold his son, but Arthur waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.
"Lord Jason was called here because of Dorne."
The owner of Sealand City touched his beard and asked in confusion: "Do we Mallisters have any relationship with Dorne?"
Indeed, the two places are not related at all, one is north of the west coast of Westeros, and the other is in the southernmost part.
"That's why I sent you to Sunspear and Water Gardens because there's no relationship."
Arthur thought for a moment and added, "Take the head of Amory Lorch and the rotten head of the Mountain. These two are the main culprits who killed Princess Elia. This will help us gain the friendship of Prince Oberyn."
Dorne is different from the other six realms in that their leaders are honored as princes or princesses, and the brothers and sisters of the leaders share the same title.
Therefore, the brother of Prince Doran, the actual leader of Dorne, Oberyn the Red Viper, also has the title of prince.
"Praise my dragon again, saying how fast Alduin has grown. Now he is one meter long and has a wingspan of four or five meters. This will make Prince Doran support us."
Although Dorne has the smallest population among the seven kingdoms, the Martell family is also a great help because the Dornish people are extremely united.
What's more, Targaryen has been operating for hundreds of years and has a very good relationship with the Martell family.
These two points alone were not enough for Dorne to send troops to contain the Reach, so Arthur threw out his trump card: "Tell the two princes that if Dorne sends troops to the Reach, I will cede Nightsong to Dorne forever."
The 60,000 troops of the Reach are outside Storm's End. If nothing unexpected happens, in the next period of time, these 60,000 troops of the Reach will go north and join the army of the Lion Family to attack Stannis and the "rebellious" forces in the Riverlands.
This gives the Dornishmen an opportunity.
The significance of Nightsong is equivalent to the significance of the Golden Tooth to the Rivermen.
With the Golden Tooth, the Riverlands can guard the exit of the mountains and slow down the attack of the Westerlands in the valley paths.
With Nightsong, the Dornish no longer have to defend Prince's Pass, and they have a direct geographical advantage, which allows them to attack and defend the Riverbend and Stormwind.
Lord Jason silently recited the conditions and nodded in agreement.
Patrick's mission was much simpler. He was sent to take over the Golden Tooth and let the greedy Cripple Rosso come to the east.