Game of Thrones: The Red Dragon Lord.

Chapter 53 Hassan Returns
Hassan nodded slightly in agreement. After a moment's silence, he suddenly said to Davos, "Can you hand over the pirates you captured earlier to me? Anyway, if you take them back, you will only be hanged by Lord Stannis."

After hearing this, Davos thought for a moment and said, "You can take some back, and I need to give the rest to Lord Stannis. The name of the cruel "Gavin" has long spread across the Strait, but compared to Lord Stannis, those pirates are lucky to be in Lord Gavin's hands."

Hassan quickly joked, "Lord Gavin doesn't like the title these pirates gave him. I saw with my own eyes the process of him reorganizing those pirates. Those pirates were wild and difficult to tame, and they even rioted and ran away. If Lord Gavin didn't use some means, it would be difficult to control them."

Davos nodded slightly and said, "Lord Stannis does appreciate Lord Gavin's work in opening up the Stepstones, but he still has some complaints about the reorganization of the pirates. Lord Stannis believes that he should be hanged according to the law."

Hassan took a sip of wine and responded, "This is in line with Lord Stannis's way of doing things. We have no choice but to recruit pirates. We only have a small number of people to recruit, and we need to train them after they get on board. After all, these pirates are skilled sailors and can be used right away."

The two of them chatted back and forth, talking about the situation at sea, their respective experiences, and their future plans. Time passed unknowingly, and the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

"We have been chatting for a long time and it is already night." Davos said while looking out the window.

Hassan stood up and stretched. "Yes, time flies. I have enjoyed talking with you today, but I should go back to my ship."

Davos also stood up and said, "We'll meet again another day. Be careful on your journey."

Hassan smiled and nodded, then turned and walked out of the captain's room and disappeared into the night.

Hassan came this time because of Petyr's visit more than half a year ago. Not long after Petyr left the Stepstones and returned to King's Landing, Gavin received news from Petyr.

With his extraordinary eloquence, Petyr successfully persuaded the usually stubborn Stannis to speak up for Gawen at the royal meeting.

In return, Gavin gave him a large sum of gold royals without hesitation to purchase the so-called dragon bones.

Then Gawen sent his confidant, Fleet Admiral Hassan, to lead a fleet of thirty warships to Dragonstone to follow Stannis's command.

Under Stannis' orders, Hassan aided the royal fleet in clearing most of the trade routes in the Sound from pirates and smugglers.

The two sides agreed that the captured ships and prisoners would belong to each other. In addition, in order to express his sincerity in supporting the kingdom, Gawen generously donated 100,000 gold dragons to Stannis's royal fleet.

After the fleet set out, Stannis sent his man Davos Seaworth to accompany Hassan.

It was only during the operation to clear out pirates and smuggling ships that Hassan and Davos got along quite well.

During the conversation, Hassan learned that Davos was once a smuggler, but was knighted by Stannis because he successfully smuggled a shipload of onions and salted fish for Storm's End.

Davos also learned that Hassan was just a hired captain before, and after being rescued by Gavin, he was promoted all the way to fleet commander. The two people who came from the same low-class background seemed to have found each other's soulmates, got along very well, and gradually became good friends who could talk about anything.

After the two led their teams back to Dragonstone, Stannis was very satisfied with the clearing operation and allowed Hassan to lead the fleet back to the Stepstones.

The afterglow of the setting sun sprinkled on the vast sea, dyeing the waves with a layer of golden color. The sea breeze blew gently, bringing a salty breath. Hassan led the fleet and finally arrived at the Bloodstone Island after a month of sailing.

The port was bustling with people coming and going, shouting and calling out. Workers were busy loading and unloading cargo, and the masts of the ships looked like a forest of spears.

When Hassan's fleet appeared in people's sight, the entire port was instantly in a frenzy.

The ship approached the shore, the sailors skillfully tied the ropes, and the prisoners were driven off the ship. They looked exhausted and huddled together in a mess. The soldiers in charge of the handover shouted loudly and tried to maintain order.

Hassan stood at the bow, his eyes scanning the chaotic scene with a slightly frowned brow. After the ship and the prisoners were initially arranged, he hurriedly jumped off the boat and rushed towards the city lord's mansion.

Along the way, the streets were filled with the smell of sea water and fish, and the hawkers' cries were heard one after another. Hassan didn't care about these. He only wanted to report the results of the battle to Lord Gavin as soon as possible.

After rushing to the city lord's mansion and seeing Gavin, Hassan bowed and said, "Lord Gavin, this cooperation with Stannis is temporarily over. Lord Stannis asked me to thank you on his behalf." As he said that, Hassan handed over a letter from Stannis.

Gavin took the letter, opened it and quickly read it, then looked up and asked, "You went to Dragonstone. What do you think of the current strength of the Royal Fleet?"

Hassan thought for a moment and replied, "Although the Royal Fleet claims to have more than a hundred ships, I see that at least thirty of them are seriously aging and have not been maintained for a long time. In addition, there are insufficient personnel, and less than half of the ships can be operated. Many of the ships are captured Ironborn longships. There are not many real sailing warships."

Then, Hassan took the initiative to say: "Sir, in this naval battle, I also found that the captains in the fleet are not very good."

Gavin said helplessly: "That can't be helped. Most of the original pirate captains have been dealt with by me. The remaining ones are low-level sailors. It is inevitable that some of them are unqualified when they are promoted temporarily."

Then, Gavin said to Hassan: "I plan to open a naval school to train captains, first mates, boatswains and other personnel in turn. What do you think of this idea?"

Hassan responded, "My lord, this is a good idea. When I was young, I served as a sailor in the Purple Fleet of Braavos for two years. The Purple Fleet has a similar organization that specializes in training these personnel. We can hire some people from there at a high price to teach the captains of our fleet?"

Gavin nodded and said, "Okay, you can do this. As for the problem of insufficient manpower, I have an idea. Can we buy some from Slave Bay and let them train some sailor skills?"

Hassan said, "Sir, many of the jobs on the ship are repetitive and mechanical. I think the slaves can do it."

(End of this chapter)