The elephant cart came all the way to the port area and stopped in front of a four-story hotel in Fishmonger's Square surrounded by piers and inns.

"The Merchant's House is the best tavern and the largest inn in Volantis. Let's wait for the news here," Manius introduced. "Don't worry, our people will bring your friend soon." Bring them."

Ian was talking about old friends before, but Manius seemed to understand and became a friend.

After getting off the elephant cart, Ian and Darren followed Manius into the merchant's house.

"Its hall is larger than the halls of most castles in Westeros." Darren couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the magnificent dome of the hall on the first floor.

Ian did not look at those things, but focused on the people.

It seems that people from all over the world have gathered here, including merchants from Westeros, Braavos and the Three Daughters city-state, Ibben people who are furry and look like they are not fully evolved, and pale-skinned Qarthen navigators. , black people from the Summer Islands wearing feather cloaks, and even people wearing wooden lacquer masks appear. I don’t know if they are Shadowbinders from Asshai.

After finding a relatively spacious seat to sit down, Manius asked the waiter for a bottle of good wine and some delicious food. When he was about to continue to inquire about the information about the Ian Dragon King from Duke Kulu, he suddenly heard a shout. .

Several people looked towards the source of the sound, only to realize that someone had set up a recruitment table in the corner of the hall. A few lazy mercenaries were shouting, and a swallow-tailed flag decorated with blue and white stripes was blowing in the wind beside them. swing.

"Those are the people from the Wind Blowing Group," Manius was truly a qualified guide, and he immediately told the other party's origin, "They are here to replenish their ranks, and then they will head to Slaver's Bay to accept your master's employment. "

"They couldn't have arrived before the decisive battle." Ian, who had discovered Drogo's main force close to Hussey through the falcon, commented.

"They have no intention of fighting the Dothraki at all. They are just preparing to go there after the war. Don't you know the conditions for your master's release? His recruitment order for the mercenary group has no time limit."

"Then they are really smart." Ian chuckled.

He did not set a time limit for hiring, because after defeating Drogo, he would immediately start preparing for the next war against Volantis. Hire all these mercenary groups entrenched in Volantis, even if they will not bring any improvement to the combat effectiveness of their own army, at least it will prevent Volantis from recruiting these mercenaries to replenish its army.

Conquering Volantis is by no means an easy task. Even though Volantis has declined to the point that it makes patriotic scholars like Manius heartbroken, it is still the overlord of the Summer Sea.

Considering that after unifying Slaver's Bay and Raza, he would need to spend a lot of time dealing with the complex internal affairs of the new empire and reorganizing and training the new army. Moreover, Slaver's Bay would need to travel nearly two months from Volantis by sea, and by land. It takes less than half a year to go.

If Ian wants to conquer Volantis through military means, under the best circumstances, it will have to be two and a half years later, and by then the long night will be coming.

If the Long Night only appeared in the north of Westeros in the early days, then Ian would still have about a year or two to prepare against the Night King. If the Long Night falls in Westeros and Essos at the same time, then Ian may have just completed the conquest of Volantis and will be involved in the war with the White Walker army.

That's why Ian sent Koru's body to Volantis in advance. It's not that he really expected that he could make Volantis surrender to him with his words, but he only needed to be able to pry Volantis into submission. With some of these important families within the Black Wall siding with him, and with the help of Benero, the Lord of Light's chief priest in Volantis, R'hllor, he would be sure to devour Varan within a year or even half a year. Tis, complete the puzzle of his new Valyrian empire.

"The commander of the Wind Blowing Regiment is a Pentos man named 'The Tattered Prince'," Manius continued to introduce. "When he was young, this man was elected as the prince by the governors of Pentos in the previous term. After the prince was wiped on his neck, the tattered prince, who was only 23 years old at the time, fled Pentos overnight and went to join a mercenary group in the disputed land. Later, he also established a mercenary group himself. Now he is over 60 age."

"Not long ago, he claimed at a banquet that it was your master Ian who stole the horse king's." Manius suddenly paused. He obviously realized that he almost said an outrageous word and coughed quickly. Twice, "The horse king's fiancée," he said in his own words, "so it is natural for him to go to Slaver's Bay to seek compensation from Ian."

"Another paranoid dreamer who dreams of sacking Slaver's Bay after we are defeated." Ian sneered.

"Did you know that the ships going to Slaver's Bay were all going to sack the three cities of Slaver's Bay?"

"Is this some kind of secret?"

"Then why don't you remind your master and ask him to refuse these ships to enter the port?" Manius asked immediately. He didn't understand why someone would let them get close if they knew there was danger.

"They are here to do business, and there is no reason for us to shut out businessmen."

"Um, you're saying that after you win the war, you'll still have to rely on them to sell those tens of thousands of slaves?"

"No, none of the slaves can carry them away," Ian smiled and shook his head, "Of course, your boat can, and I can promise you on behalf of my master that you will return home with a full load this time.

As for the other ships, the time they docked in the major ports of Slaver's Bay is enough for them to consume all their supplies. Food is what we plan to sell to them. Because our troops, prisoners, and a large number of Lazarim affected by the war have all gathered crazily near Meereen, the price of food in Meereen will rise to an outrageous height, almost equal to the price of gold. "

"This" Manius was shocked. "This is so crazy. Most ships can't even buy enough supplies to sail to the next port!"

"If you can't afford it, it's easy to deal with it. Just exchange it for a boat."

"This is too much!" Manius shook his head and said it was unacceptable. "At least half of the ships currently in Slaver's Bay belong to Volantis!"

"Is it too much? If the Dothraki win, they will sack our city. If we win, they will purchase the Dothraki we captured and the slaves from the unsubordinated tribes in the Raza area. There will be blood everywhere. Earn. Isn't this too much? How can such a good thing happen in the world?" Ian stretched out a finger and shook it. "That's not how gambling works. Either they rob us or we rob them. This is only fair, isn't it? ?”

"this"

"Do you want to defend them? I would be happy to hear the opinions of the chief disciple of Volantis' greatest jurist, Palachiro Valeros." Ian sat upright, assuming a teachable posture.

"I" Manius opened his mouth, but in the end he did not express any objection.

Volantis's law is a civil law based on slavery. The justice it pursues is justice for the strong, and fairness is fairness for the strong. The plan Lord Korlu just mentioned took advantage of the loopholes of Volantis law and did not violate most of its principles.

If it must be said, at most, their manipulation of food prices constitutes fraud. But since the captains of Volantis went to Slaver's Bay with the purpose of looting Meereen and other cities, there were a lot of precedents in Volantis' court cases that did not require being honest with bandits.

"Maybe I can't blame you too much for what you did," Manius admitted first, and then said, "But have you ever thought that seizing hundreds of Volantis ships will greatly anger Volantis? Lantis, does this run counter to your master's original intention of gaining the allegiance of Volantis? Or do you plan to use these ships to threaten Volantis? I can tell you clearly that this is impossible to do. Effective!"

"What will Volantis do after what happens?" Ian did not answer Manius, but asked a new question.

"Send an envoy to visit your master, condemn his behavior, and ask him to return the ship." Manius was completely accustomed to Ian's way of speaking, so he did not hesitate and answered his question directly.

"What if my master refuses? Will you go to war against Slaver's Bay because of this?" Ian asked confidently.

Of course this is impossible! Manius roared in his heart.

Volantis's army has long lost its combat effectiveness, and its structure is bloated. It is okay to fight a defensive war, but travel thousands of leagues to carry out an expedition? Do not make jokes!

As for the Volantis navy, they have the ability to expedition to Slaver's Bay, but Volantis needs the unanimous consent of the three consuls before it can declare war. Dophas Pennimyen of the Elephant Party is a complete war-wearer. In addition, he has not participated in the slave trade. None of the ships going to Slaver Bay this time are his. He will definitely not agree to declare war on Slaver Bay. things.

Even if the Volantis property owners who lost their ships were determined to let Dophas Panymion lose the election in the next election and replace them with a Tiger Party consul, that would only be two years later. By then, the Gith fleet, which has digested the ships it ate this time and converted them into military power, may not necessarily be afraid of the Volantis fleet.

Looking up at Duke Korlu, Manius did not say what he had just thought. This was Volantis' shame and another example of Volantis's decline.

"No, right? Because of the opposition of Archon Dophas Panymion." Ian said for Manius.

"Hmm." Manius made a nasal sound.

"Then Archon Dophas Panymeon will cause public outrage. There are too many Volantis people affected by this incident, and all of them are property owners with voting rights." En continued.

"No, what exactly do you want to say?" Manius finally realized that something was wrong. According to his understanding of the Duke of Kolu through just half a day of getting along with him, the guy had just carried the I'm afraid the whole circle is not just chatting.

"What I want to say is that if the shipowners of Volantis have completely lost hope of getting their ships back because Archon Dophas Panymion opposed the declaration of war, and their mood is in a downturn. A Volantis The hero suddenly went to Slaver's Bay as an envoy and helped them get all the ships back, so how will this hero be treated?"

"There is no doubt that he will be selected as the next consul." Manius swallowed and clenched his palms into fists.

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