This answer surprised Arthur. Stannis believed in the Lord of Light, which was different from the Seven Gods that the common people believed in, so he asked why.
"Because he burned the fat archbishop, the whole kingdom is starving. Those monks are still so fat. They must have eaten the wheat we should eat."
"What's your opinion?" Arthur asked the others.
"I don't see any good ones."
"Say less than a few words, and something could easily happen."
"Whoever keeps me fed is a good king."
Everyone made a bunch of random remarks, and basically had no positive comments about the current king.
Mad King Aerys II and careless Robert actually received unprecedented praise.
As for Arthur's King of the River, their evaluation is similar to that of the Tullys.
This hit him so hard that he didn't even bother to take a few bites of the potato stewed chicken cooked by the shopkeeper.
Two of Lyman's guards gave the uneaten meal to the group, and the four left.
"In the final analysis, after the wealthy knights and lower-level lords died in battle, the peasants lost control, so they dared to speak like this. You can entrust some knights with meritorious deeds to come over and take care of these villagers."
Lyman Darry said after walking away from the door.
This big boy is not stupid. He can see that his king is in a bad mood, so he comforts him in his own way.
"Maintaining order is secondary. The key is that the farmers really don't have much to eat." Arthur walked towards Pod and the others. "The gold mine in Golden Tooth City must be reopened. Use gold to buy it from Pantos and other places. Bring a lot of food and distribute it to the farmers in Hedong who are short of food."
The King of the River already had an idea. When he arrived at Stone Hall Town, he planned to send ravens to Patrick, who was in charge of Golden Teeth City, and William Mouton, the lord of Maidenpool City, to speed up the matter.
As long as there is enough food, farmers can easily settle down and order in the countryside can be restored.
…
After half a day's march, Arthur and Desmond led their troops to their destination in the evening.
The church of Stone Hall Town is located on a small hill. There is a short but solid gray stone manor halfway up the hill. Surrounding the two is the town itself.
It was here that soldiers of the Four Alliances defeated Lord Jon Connington, the Hand of the King, sixteen years ago. Because the monks rang the bells to warn the common people of the war, the battle was called the Battle of the Bells. service.
After Robert came to power, Knight Wilbert became the lord of this place. When Adam Marbrand led his army to hunt down the nobles of the Riverlands east of the river and around the lake, the knight was killed by the lion soldiers. His three sons followed the young man. The Wolf Lord went to the Western Region, and they should all have died in the battle.
Seven thousand people under Arthur's name have taken control here, the Frey family has provided three thousand people, two thousand people have come from the new army in Harrenhal, one thousand people from Maiden Spring have followed the new army, and More than a thousand people were gathered together by lords at all levels in Huzhou and other places.
There is very bad news waiting for the King of the River.
In the living room of the manor, Inis, Dickon and other leading generals reported to Arthur the battle situation of the king's territory.
"The dwarfs deceived everyone. Stannis spent two days and one night with 10,000 troops, destroying Duskendale into ruins, but did not get Tommen. Now he has led his army back to King's Landing, preparing to fight the Lion Flower. The coalition forces are going to fight hard," Bald Inis said.
The lame Rosseau completed the details, "The little devil took all the courtiers, Queen Cersei, the Kingsguard and the gold cloaks to make people think that Tommen was there, but in fact he had been captured by the cunning Lannis. Sent to a place no one knows about."
Arthur thought for a while and said: "It's not necessarily a trick. The little devil just sent Tommen out because he had no other choice. Were Myrcella, Cersei, the little devil, Littlefinger and others captured? "
"Before Duskendale was besieged, Littlefinger took Princess Myrcella by sea, probably to the Vale or Dorne to seek an alliance. Queen Cersei, the little devil, the remaining courtiers, the Kingsguard and others All of them have been captured. The Lion Army and the Riverside Army will arrive at King's Landing immediately. Stannis should not dare to kill these high-ranking prisoners," Rosso said.
"I'm not sure. Erlu has a very stubborn character, but he can still listen to the Onion Knight's persuasion." Arthur asked someone to spread the map on the table.
Since adding a point to his intelligence, he felt that his brain had become more flexible.
"The Lionflower family will definitely confront Stannis near King's Landing. They may send some troops to attack us. It doesn't take too many. Ten thousand Riverbend soldiers can make us walk around without food. They may also send people to attack us." The assassination of Alduin at Harrenhal. Without dragons, my kingdom is more fragile and more comical than Robb's short-lived kingdom."
"The advantage lies with him, not with me!"
Everyone present knew that the king of the Deer family was inherited from Robert, and Robert took his royal title from Targaryen.
So in theory, the two deer kings should have joined forces to kill Arthur, the "dragon family" with dragons, but fortunately, the geographical location of Stannis and Tommen prevented this from happening.
Just like in the early days of the War of Five Kings, the army of the West March that supported Joffrey was supposed to fight against Stannis and Renly who had claims to the Iron Throne, but under the leadership of Tywin, they forced themselves to fight to suppress the river first. During the "counter-rebellion war" with the North, if it weren't for Erlu's magical operation, the Lannisters would never have the strength and chance to defeat the anti-Lions forces.
In the previous battle, Stannis allowed Tywin and the Westerlands to achieve the greatest results. Now he has attracted the Lionflower Alliance by attacking Duskendale, earning a little living space for the Riverlands.
"So we should quickly resolve the battle here, and then go to the royal territory to kill Tommen who is still hiding in the castle. This is the biggest chance of a comeback."
The cripple Rosso had a very good mind, and he suggested to the King of Hejian.
The biggest link between the lion and the flower union is Tommen. Without the king supported by the lion family and the queen position it can provide, it will be much easier to separate the two families.
"That's for sure, but we can take other measures." Arthur pointed to Harrenburg, "The two hundred or so Qohor mercenaries of Lockholt are still there. They took the gold and also It's time to get started. Send a raven to deliver a message and ask Locke to take people to the north of the king's territory to find and capture Tommen. The job is done. I will give him ten thousand gold dragons and other gold. In addition, since Locke left, let The two gates of Harrenhal were sealed tightly, and no one was allowed in or out."
The mines outside Golden Teeth City can provide a lot of gold, so Arthur's monetary rewards suddenly became generous.
Rosso remembered these two points. After writing the letter and sealing it with Arthur's sword and horse crest with hot wax, he summoned the maester who served the Wilbert family and ordered him to send it to Harrenhal by raven.
"What's going on in Dorne and the Vale?"
Arthur looked around and felt that only these two places were still a bit suspenseful.
Dickon, who led troops to participate in a field battle for the first time, answered this question: "There is no movement at all in Dorne. They have not even gathered troops near the Bone Road and Prince's Pass. It seems that they do not intend to help us."
The Tully family's territory is on the edge of the Dorne Territory, so they naturally understand where the Dornish people are marching from.
"We should be careful about the Vale." Dickon pointed out the Blood Gate to Arthur. "The Arryn family participated in the Usurper's War before. The Stark family and the Lannister family did not help each other in the fight, but they can deal with dragons. Not necessarily for you."
Arthur had the opposite opinion. He shook his right index finger and said:
"Young people are still too young and must learn to analyze specific situations. When the Eagle family sent troops, it was because the Mad King wanted the heads of Robert and Eddard, and Eagle's nephew was also killed, so the Vale Cavalry soldiers were bleeding. "
"What now? The person in charge is Lady Lysa. She only listened to Littlefinger's words. Myrcella was probably taken to the valley by Littlefinger. The situation on the mainland is still unclear. Littlefinger, a conspirator, is unlikely to take sides in the short term. In addition, Not all the princes in the upper valley listen to Lysa, so Littlefinger will manage relationships in the valley until he completely controls it. "
Petyr Baelish is a businessman who can influence Seagull Town, but he cannot influence powerful nobles in the valley such as Royce, Grafson, and Corbray.
The second-largest figure in the valley, Bronze Jon, had participated in the Usurper War, and he had always wanted to save Ed and fight for the Young Wolf Lord, so it was possible that there would be an anti-Tommen and anti-Arthur force there.
But under Lysa's rule, the Riverlands' northeastern neighbors are unlikely to participate in the current war.
Arthur was disappointed that there were no reinforcements from Dorne, so he looked north.
"How is the battle in Cailin Bay?"
Bald-headed Aenys said: "Lord Leech still seeks stability as always. After Little Skin and Theon persuaded the Ironborn to surrender, Calyn Bay temporarily fell into the hands of the Bolton family, and then White Harbor's army and Glover and the Great Jon The joint commanded by others The army launched attacks from the north and south. After a fierce battle, the Bolton army retreated north to the territory of Wild Tomb Tun. The Wolf family coalition forces captured three towers and withdrew to the territory of White Harbor. Now the two armies are separated by Confrontation along the King's Road."
The causeway surrounded by the three towers of Carlin Bay is the only way to go south and north. The east and west sides are the shallowest waist-deep swamps. Only the Necks led by the Reed family know how to find shortcuts in the swamps.
But the Neckmen were hidden in a vast swamp, and even Robb didn't find them when he went south. It was impossible for others to lead the way.
Therefore, the Yankees had no choice but to break through Carlin Bay to return home.
"It seems that there is no foreign aid, so we have to do it ourselves. Where is the Western Army led by my uncle?" Arthur asked.
This uncle, of course, refers to Janos Bracken, who was appointed as the Warden of the River by Tommen and is coming to quell the rebellion on the orders of Lord Tywin, Hand of the King.
Dickon, Inis and others introduced the situation of this western army to Arthur.
Directly south of Stone Hall Town, there is a tributary of the Blackwater River. The seven thousand troops led by Genos are stationed on the flat area on the other side of the river.
"The whole camp is still quite chaotic. It seems that they are all new recruits, but some experienced knights are playing their part. The enemy's garrison is chosen very cleverly. If we want to attack them, we must first cross the river, and the river is the closest The skyrocketed, and there were no ships or bridges, so we had no choice but to stalemate," Dicken said.
Marquis Inis, whose walking posture gradually returned to normal, suggested: "Let's confront them for a while, wait until we build a boat, and then cross the river to fight them."
Several Riverlands nobles agreed with this prudent approach.
Arthur looked at the terrain and said, "They can be defeated without a battle. Where are the nearby river lords? Gather the farmers, find a suitable location, and block the river with mud overnight. We can set off in a day or two. Went to the east to fight in the royal territory."
Stone Hall Town is built on hills, but the people from the West are stationed on the lower riverside, which creates a new way of playing.
Several wealthy knights were ordered to go out to gather the farmers. Before leaving, Arthur added his own reward. Each farmer who participated in blocking the river would receive twenty kilograms of wheat.
…
Western Region, Casterly Rock City.
Lord Tywin, who was lying on a special movable soft bed, was listening to the maester's report.
Next to him, the anxious Ser Jaime stared intently at the maester's mouth, as if he could know the whereabouts of his sister Cersei, son Tommen and others.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Tommen had not fallen into Stannis's hands, but his heart swelled when the maester said that the queen mother and her courtiers had been captured.
"Then where did Tommen go?"
He already knew that Cersei was captured, so he temporarily stopped thinking about what would happen to his sister, and instead asked about his son Tommen who might still survive.
Maester Claren replied respectfully: "Since most of the Kingsguard were captured, His Majesty Tommen should have been secretly sent away by Lord Tyrion. I tend to be sent to a small castle in the north of the king's territory, and it is said that The mercenary beside Lord Tyrion is also missing, so there should be only one mercenary and one or two Kingsguard protecting His Majesty."
Since most of the people in Duskendale were captured, Casterly Rock didn't know where their king was finally sent.
James suddenly became anxious, "Doesn't that mean Tommen is in danger now? No, I have to protect him."
An army of 70,000 lions and 20,000 servants are about to arrive at the city, so the life of the high-ranking prisoner Cersei can be saved, but Tommen, who is living in the countryside of the royal territory, is in great danger.
Joffrey's strange death was enough for Jaime to blame himself, and now he would never allow Tommen to leave him too.
"Calm down." After learning that Tommen had not fallen into Stannis's hands, Tywin stopped paying attention to the situation in King's Landing. "Three months ago, our situation was much worse than this. Now we have nearly 80,000 troops. With it in hand, what are you afraid of?"
Now the Lion Flower family has an army of 70,000 people near King's Landing. As long as they are not commanded by a fool, they can always defeat the Erlu and then go to the Riverlands to crush the Dragon Holders.
"Let Kevan send a large number of men to find His Majesty. At the same time, attack King's Landing and let the knights in the Reach do some work and fight on the city wall. If Kevan still has the energy, send people to capture Harrenhal The dragon inside has been assassinated, and without the dragon, the comic kingdom of the dragon-bearers will be disbanded immediately," Tywin ordered to the maester.
Maester Krelen noted these points and went out to see the raven off.
"No, I have to perform the duties of the Kingsguard to find and protect Tommen." Maybe it was a heart-to-heart connection between father and son, and James felt a little panicked.
"You are not allowed to go anywhere. Remember, you are no longer the Kingsguard." Tywin stared at his son, "My health has been getting worse and worse recently. I am staying here to prepare to inherit Casterly Rock City and the West."
Sir James knew that his father was very strong, so he did not refute on the spot and left silently.
He knew how to escape the servants and guards and escape from Casterly Rock.
One son was gone, and he had to protect his second son.