Dominate the Game of Thrones with Mount and Blade

Chapter 201 Minister of Finance

The great gift from the Myrs came quite timely. When Stannis retreated southward, he not only looted the remaining gold in the treasury, but also took away five archbishops and the new "middle-aged" archbishop. As well as most of the valuable things belonging to the church in the Great Sept of Baelor.

In other words, even if Arthur I wanted to "borrow" some money from the church for emergency relief, there was nothing he could do. The only poor people left in the Great Cathedral of Baelor were the sparrow monks in brown robes.

In recent times, the royal family's expenses have been paid on credit if they can, and those that cannot be paid on credit are paid with the money of the Tyrell family. Anyway, everyone knows that the royal family has obtained several large gold mines in the Western Region, and will never be short of money in the future.

"One hundred thousand old gold dragon coins, I think the construction of wells and sewers, and the repair of the city wall can begin."

Finance Minister Tyrion burped and waved his little hands.

Although he was the Minister of Finance, the king gave him many unrelated tasks.

The other members of the Royal Council agreed with this. The lack of a section of wall on the west side of King's Landing made them feel like they could not sleep well.

The king's focus was on another aspect, "Have the three mints outside the city been opened? Have the new mint directors been in place?"

All old gold dragon coins that passed through the hands of the royal family had to be turned into new gold dragon coins with reduced gold content.

The little devil spread his hands, "Your Majesty, you also know that the only person among my predecessors who can do anything is Petyr Baelish. I don't even know where his bills are. As the Minister of Finance, the only thing I can do is I can’t even count the four treasury managers and royal accountants who are cleaner than their faces.”

Siku is the general name for all warehouses under the royal family, and is under the responsibility of the general manager of Siku, who reports to the king and the finance minister at the same time.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer was responsible for supervising a large number of officials, including the treasuries, the royal accountants, the royal measurers, the heads of the three mints, the harbormaster, the tax collectors, the customs officers, the wool agents, the road toll collectors, the shipmasters, and the wine merchants. Agents, etc., but after the two major forces of Stannis and Lannister took over King's Landing, these small officials died and fled, and many of them could not be found, which made it difficult for Tyrion to start his work.

Arthur motioned for Tyrion, who was pouring the wine, to give him a drink, "Baelish's bill is easy to find. There is a Shattaya's on the north side of Rhaenys Hills in front of the Old City Gate and the Dragon Gate. Ke Yuan, where should all the unimportant things of Little Finger be.”

Shattaya is a tall, dark-skinned Summer Islander. On the surface, she runs this planning institute, but in fact it is Littlefinger.

The king thought for a moment and then ordered: "In this way, after the meeting, Duke Tyrion will take people to search Shattaya's plan. Anything you think is valuable will be moved to the treasury for me. Not even a copper coin." Don't leave it to Littlefinger, I'll let Podrick Payne follow you."

Anyway, Baelish can't leave the valley. His property in King's Landing is the defenseless lambs.

"As you wish!" Tyrion raised his glass and took a long drink.

Then he asked for instructions: "Your Majesty, the blacksmiths on Steel Street have created some armor suitable for mass production. When will you go and select it?"

According to the compensation agreement in the Western Territory, all families with iron ore mines in the Western Territory have to make the iron armor required by the royal family in their workshops, totaling 10,000 sets.

"Let's just send them to the Red Keep tonight. King's Landing is not safe, and we have to guard against some small tricks of the hostile forces."

Arthur thought about the itinerary and decided to accept it tonight.

"The Minister of Finance needs to get some refreshments and get the kingdom's financial system back up and running as soon as possible." Paxter, who was wearing the King's Hand badge on his chest, warned.

Arthur looked at the lord of Qingting Island and felt that his talents in brewing and shipbuilding were far greater than his talents in governing the country.

Therefore, during the Southern Expedition, he should be given the task of rectifying the few remaining royal fleets.

But when the matter of the Finance Minister happened to be discussed, Arthur felt that it was better to force Tyrion first so that the drunkard could really devote his energy to work.

"The three mints outside the city must be built immediately, and then all the old coins we have on hand must be minted into new coins with my bust printed on them."

"I want to appoint Hayley of Harrenhal as the royal accountant. She has been with me more than a year ago. She has good character and ability, and she is just in charge of this area of ​​work."

No matter what your abilities are, in this turbulent transition period, it is best to ensure that key positions are yours.

"The director of the Fourth Treasury and the person in charge of the mint is Patrick Mallister. He is currently in charge of another matter. He will be in place when Duke Tyrion gets the mint running again."

The Duke of Metz may have been killed by a murderer who slipped in through the tunnel of the Red Castle, and this tunnel was at least known to Varys and his little birds, so after returning from the West, Arthur ordered Patrick to lead Craftsmen secretly filled the tunnel on a small scale.

The tunnel system of the Red Keep was first built during the period of Maegor I Targaryen. At that time, the king was on guard against the ubiquitous church forces such as the "Poor Gathering" and the "Fighter's Sons". The tunnels were built so that the royal family could escape at any time.

But the tunnels, which have been used as often as the Kingsguard protecting the king since they were built, might as well have been filled with porcelain.

So Arthur secretly asked Patrick to do this.

Coincidentally, Patrick is a man who is capable and loyal, and is best suited to do these inconspicuous but vital little things.

"Yes, Your Majesty, with these gold coins, I will make the financial system run as quickly as possible."

"You also have those gold mines in the West be mined as quickly as possible. All the rules are the same as before, except that the target of surrender has changed from the Lannister in Casterly Rock to the Targaryen in King's Landing. By the way, do you have the right skills? Who should be responsible for supervising and managing the mining of these gold mines?”

Facing the king's inquiry, Tyrion rarely used his brain, "Your Majesty, I recommend Lady Alexa Lefford. Her family used to be in charge of the gold mines in Golden Teeth City and she has rich experience in this field."

Arthur thought for a while. This lady was married to Bernard Brun and was currently spending her honeymoon in Golden Tooth City.

It's not impossible to choose her. Benard Brun is loyal to the Targaryens. He uses him to supervise Alexa Levford, and Alexa Levford oversees and manages the major gold mines in the West. .

The king nodded in agreement, and then assigned tasks to Paxter, Hand of the King.

"You stay in King's Landing. In addition to presiding over the normal royal meeting and arranging all resources to support the war in Stormlands, Lord Redwyne and Baelor Hightower, who is about to arrive, will also be responsible for rectifying the royal fleet. Although those remaining ships from the war There aren’t many of them, and maybe one can be reorganized to save money on one.”

Among the astonishing bills that Robert squandered, at least one or two million gold dragon coins were spent on the reconstruction of the royal fleet. At present, Arthur does not have the extra money to vigorously develop maritime power, and can only hope to survive in the rags. Pick out some warships that are still usable.

Fortunately, Paxter and Baelor Hightower are both good at shipping, so there is no need to worry about this aspect.

The matters to be resolved today seemed to have been discussed, and several members of the Royal Council were ready to stand up and leave, but the king and the prime minister suddenly spoke out at the same time.

Of course, Paxter would not speak before the king. He apologized awkwardly and let the king speak first.

King Arthur I pointed at the Minister of War Aenys, "I know that your Frey family currently has only more than a thousand people near King's Landing. Before the remaining soldiers arrive in the capital, you take this group of people to the Great Sept of Baelor. All the sparrow monks rushed to the storm land."

After the battle in the Western Territory was completed, the Hebian army marched south and returned to their own territory to rest. Part of the Hebang army followed the king to the royal territory, while another part of the soldiers returned home with the wounded and the rewards they received.

Marquis Frey used the excuse that his army had been weakened by the battle with the Westerners, so he sent most of the soldiers back to the river crossing territory, and only brought more than 1,200 people to the king's territory.

Aenys was obviously a little reluctant, "Your Majesty, storming the Great Temple of Baelor is not a decent thing."

During the Dance of the Dragons, even if Lord Frey died fighting for the Black Party, the armies of the Twins were fully engaged in the battlefields of the Riverlands and the Reach. You would not miss a major battle. You can select it for Aegon III. During the time of the Seven Regents, Lady Sabitha Frey was not granted regent status either.

It can be said that Aenys's obtaining a seat on the Royal Council is one of the most glorious moments in the Frey family's six-hundred-year history, and it is also an important period that he regards as the most important period to enhance the family's image.

Although the power of the Church of the Seven Gods has declined, it still has influence in public opinion. Inis does not want to add another black mark to his family's reputation because of this.

"It's a decent thing for those sparrow monks to occupy your brother's church. You have to understand that the current archbishop is still your fourth brother, Brother Lu Chen. In other words, isn't it just that the sparrow monks occupied your brother's church? Tang?"

The secular name of Luchen Frey has been abandoned, and his current code name is "Middle-aged Man".

Arthur's intention in using the outdated name of Brother Luchen was to arouse Inis' possessive desire.

But the bald head was obviously very rational, "Your Majesty, Lu Chen only has a secular status as archbishop, he is not my brother now."

"Then, in the name of the middle-aged Archbishop, I order the Frey soldiers to drive out the monks occupying the Great Cathedral of Baylor."

Arthur ordered forcefully.

Thanks to the successful kings of the Targaryen dynasty, the authority of certain aspects of royal power has been generally recognized by the nobles and the people.

For example, the appointment of the Archbishop and the appointment of the Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watch should have been positions corresponding to internal elections within the organization.

A king named Baelor Targaryen even appointed an illiterate stonemason and an eight-year-old boy as highbishop, and the nobles did not have much objection to this.

In this atmosphere, with the Archbishop absent, the king could really give orders in the name of the Archbishop.

Inis was helpless. After nodding deeply and saluting, he left the conference hall to carry out this matter.

The king's order in the name of the archbishop was not something he could easily refuse.

After Arthur I finished instructing Paxter, he spoke, "Your Majesty, during the recent period, I deeply feel that wine is the most consumed thing by the nobles of King's Landing. The wine that can replace drinks must be cheap, otherwise it cannot be supplied in large quantities. I Some people in the family have the ability to make wine, so we might as well let the winemaker of the Redwin family set up a winery for the royal family to ensure that the wine of the Red Castle is always supplied in time. "

Although Qingting Island sells wine, its gold wine has always been the most high-end wine in the world. The lowest price is only ten gold dragon coins per barrel, which is not suitable for drinking.

In fact, the nobles and wealthy merchants of King's Landing drink a lot of hot cider and ale produced in the Riverlands and the Crown Lands, some of the mulled wine produced in the Westerlands and the Reach, and the summer red of Dorne.

Sometimes the price of beer and cider can be as low as three or four silver deer per barrel, which can indeed be used as daily drinks.

Regardless of the king's attitude towards this proposal, at least Tyrion and Prince Oberyn, who love drinking, agree with this.

Arthur certainly would not object, as the brewers on the Arbor are not low in level.

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