The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain continued: "My lords, I propose that the dukes, marquises, and earls of Qarth shall not possess more than two hundred personal guards and one hundred warhorses. Other titles shall not exceed a company of one hundred men and fifty warhorses. Wealthy merchants and captains in the city shall not have more than twenty mercenary guards and ten warhorses. My lords, does anyone have any objections?"

Hundreds of nobles and wealthy merchants remained silent.

The Mountain said: "Since none of you lords have any objections, it shall be executed. The royal family and all lords are requested to streamline their family guards and warhorses within three days. After three days... a city-wide population registration will be conducted..."

The nobles of Qarth exchanged uneasy glances, hearing about population registration for the first time.

Missandei stepped forward and said: "My lords, in three days, King Hoen and the Undying, Queen Daenerys and scholars, and priests will form a team to divide the entire city into eight districts. Each district will be assigned five hundred soldiers, a general, a scholar, and a priest to conduct population registration. Whether they are foreigners or locals, nobles or mercenaries, servants, their families, relatives, friends, parents, occupations, personalities, heights, weights, skills, and professions will all be registered in detail and then compiled by the royal family for better management of Qarth's population."

A sense of unease spread among the nobles like a contagious disease. This way, the nobles would have no secrets. The relationships between nobles would also be exposed because discrepancies would be revealed through cross-comparison of different statements. If the statements of the two parties differed, or if the statements of servants and members of the same family differed, many secrets would be revealed.

This feeling was like being stripped naked in the street...

The nobles and wealthy merchants looked at each other, and a sense of resistance began to spread through eye contact...

The new masked elder of the Sorrowful Men stood up from the crowd and said slowly, "May I ask if population registration will also be conducted for the Scorpion Court?"

A warlock also stood up from the crowd: "Your Majesty Hoen, Your Majesty Gregor, Queen Daenerys, may I ask if you will also conduct population registration for the warlocks of the House of the Undying?"

Daenerys said calmly: "Master, what is your meaning?"

"We are the children of the gods."

"Everyone in the world is a child of the gods."

"The House of the Undying is a unique place. Ordinary people who enter can easily lose their souls and be unable to escape. We are also powerless against the spaces controlled by the Warlock Gods. Please understand, Your Majesty."

The Mountain and King Hoen exchanged glances. The Mountain said, "Scorpion Court and the House of the Undying are places where the will of the gods is manifested, so population registration will not be conducted there for now."

The Sorrowful Men elder and the Undying warlock were not very satisfied with the Mountain's words. The Mountain said that population registration would not be conducted for now, foreshadowing future personnel registration. This showed that the new king still hoped to grasp the number of Sorrowful Men and Undying warlocks.

The Mountain sat high and could see clearly. He saw the expressions of the Sorrowful Men elder and the Undying warlock and said, "We will record the number of personnel in the Scorpion Court and the House of the Undying with the consent of your elders. If your elders refuse, I will respect that."

Only then did the Sorrowful Men elder and the Undying warlock sit down.

None of the hundreds of nobles stood up to raise objections. None of them had the confidence of the Sorrowful Men and the House of the Undying.

The Sorrowful Men and the House of the Undying were also not to be trifled with. In the past, nobles had to request the protection of the Sorrowful Men and the shelter of the House of the Undying.

However, although the nobles dared to be angry but dared not speak out, they began to whisper to each other.

The Mountain glanced at King Hoen, and King Hoen stood up: "My lords, I want to announce a new measure for Qarth: the establishment of noble schools and commoner schools. The teachers in the schools will be maesters from the Citadel of Oldtown in Westeros." The whispering voices immediately became quiet.

"Maesters are the cultural teachers of Westeros. They are proficient in architecture, manufacturing, mysticism, medicine, animal husbandry, mechanics, planting, mathematics, navigation, astronomy, geography, history, and languages..."

"Your Majesty, can they ride horses and shoot arrows?"

"They know everything except martial arts. Westeros' unique communication system is the raven, which was researched and cultivated by the maesters. The raven's only natural enemy in the sky is the eagle. The raven is different from the crow. It is a rare bird of prey, but at the same time, it is loyal to its master. No matter how far away it is, as long as the raven is not caught by its natural enemy, the eagle, it will definitely deliver the letter to the designated place."

"Your Majesty, how does the raven know the address the master said?" a noble couldn't help but ask.

"The maester will tell it the address. It can communicate with the maester, which is a unique secret technique of the maesters."

"Do ravens also know how to read, otherwise how would it know so many places?"

"The maesters will train them. The white ravens among the ravens, each one can speak. They are responsible for sending the most urgent and important messages. Not every raven has to learn all the places, but each raven will only deliver messages to a fixed number of places."

"Your Majesty, I accept the ravens."

"Ravens, maesters, and schools will be forcibly promoted, whether you accept it or not," King Hoen announced.

The nobles booed. They dared not boo the Mountain, but they dared to boo King Hoen. The king's position in Qarth was not an absolute authority. In the city, the Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the Ancient Guild of Spicers, the Sorrowful Men, and the House of the Undying, these places and the important figures who controlled these organizations, had actual power equal to the king in many matters. The only thing the king was superior in was political power, administrative power, and the support of the people.

The Qartheen respect for the king's authority was very different from the king's authority in other places. Actual power was generally controlled by the Thirteen and others. However, after twelve of the Thirteen were killed, the organization disintegrated, and the power naturally ceased to exist. In addition, with the deaths of the two commanders and core generals of the Tourmaline Brotherhood, the power was concentrated and returned to the royal family. After the head of the Ancient Guild of Spicers was hung on the city wall, the Ancient Guild of Spicers' power system and influence collapsed overnight.

But even so, the Qartheen did not have absolute reverence for royal power. Here, in many actual decisions, the king only had nominal power. It was not until the Mountain came that Qarth fell into an unprecedented crisis and faced the threat of being slaughtered. Then, everything changed dramatically.

The Mountain still had many government clauses to announce. The most important thing was to promote 'Clegane paper money', unify units of measurement, and unify currency issuance, but he decided to take it step by step.

Although Qarth's military power had been completely controlled, the promotion of government affairs could not be rushed. If it caused the whole city to change its mind, it would be counterproductive.

A noble stood up and said, "Your Majesty Hoen, when will we be able to leave the city freely and trade freely?"

"Once the population registration is completed, you lords can leave the city and trade at any time. As long as you do not violate the law, you are absolutely free to do anything, just like before."

A young noble stood up, his eyes shining brightly, his features handsome, his skin as white as milk, with blond hair and blue eyes: "Your Majesty Gregor, I heard rumors that you invented a bow and arrow that can be inserted into the waist..."

Young people were more martial and more interested in new things.

"Yes." The Mountain noticed that it was a young man who cared about new things and new weapons, which made him realize that changing the Qartheen's thinking should start with this younger generation.

"Can Your Majesty show us the real thing?"

"What's your name, young man?"

"Pylat Vella."

"Pylat, stay after the meeting."

"Is Your Majesty going to show me the new bow and arrow?" The young man's face was full of expectation.

"Yes, I will show you, and I will also let you try it out."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The young man's face flushed with excitement.

Half an hour later, the Mountain's first political affairs meeting ended, and the young Marquis Pylat Vella stayed behind.

King Hoen said: "Your Majesty Gregor, I have already prepared the East Palace. Please move in today with Your Majesty and your courtiers and guards."

The Mountain had also prepared to move into the palace early. The Hoen royal palace was divided into the East and West Palaces. The Mountain wanted the East Palace and reserved the West Palace for the Hoen royal family.

The East Palace was twice the size of the West Palace and occupied the main road in and out of the palace.

"Okay, Missandei, tell the soldiers to move our things into the East Palace."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Asha, Jorah, you are responsible for leading the Dothraki cavalry camp into the East Barracks and allocating camps and stables for them."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Grey Worm, Missandei, you are responsible for leading five hundred Unsullied to take over the guards in all parts of the East Palace. All the guards at the palace gate will be replaced by our Unsullied warriors."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Quaithe, how long will it take for them to arrive in Qarth?"

"They will arrive tonight, Your Majesty," Quaithe said, standing in the Mountain's shadow. Her voice was very soft, as if she did not want to be heard by the people around her, but the Mountain did not hide it.

Who would be coming tonight?

Daenerys, Arianne, and Jon knew.

…………

Marquis Pylat Vella, standing beside the Mountain, watched the Mountain issue one order after another, and the courtiers and generals took their orders one by one. He had the illusion of standing beside a god.

Such a burly, mighty, and unparalleled martial king also possessed remarkable political wisdom, both civil and military, which impressed him.

*

A little more than half an hour later, the Mountain entered his huge palace.

The hall was more than three times larger than the King's Hall in Maegor's Holdfast. The spaciousness of the bedroom was almost as large as the royal reception room in Maegor's Holdfast, ten times the size of the bedroom in Maegor's Holdfast. All the carpets, curtains, wall decorations, and reliefs were lifelike, as if they were all new.

In order to welcome the Mountain into the palace, King Hoen ordered his servants to prepare everything and replace any items and decorations that looked a little old.

Various gold, pearl, and jade decorations were everywhere, and the curtain hooks were pure gold with amber pendants. The armrests of the huge wooden chairs were inlaid with a circle of rubies, and other tables, beds, and chairs were decorated with the most luxurious decorations.

Everything needed for daily life was available. All that was needed was for people to come in, and everything would be ready. In this regard, King Hoen carefully arranged everything to ensure that the Mountain and his courtiers and generals would not lack any living items after moving into the palace.

Daenerys's and Arianne's rooms were also filled with extreme luxury in every space, and every place was full of wealth and glory.

The generals' residences and the guards' residences were all extremely wealthy, making people want to enjoy the glory and warmth as soon as they moved in, and no longer think about the battlefields. If a group of beautiful women poured in again, then the iron-blooded generals would all fall into a gentle village, linger and never return, and enjoy extravagance.

*

The backyard had a training ground exclusively for the king.

The Mountain led his courtiers and generals to the training ground.

The training ground was a wide lawn with a circular horse track for galloping. In the center of the lawn was a leather man for practicing slashing, and three archery targets stood in the distance.

There was a door in the surrounding wall that connected to the rear army camp of the close guards.

"Pylat Vella, go and move the chair from my reception room," the Mountain said.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Soon, the sandalwood gemstone wooden chair from the reception room was moved out by Pylat Vella. The chair was very heavy, but the young marquis was strong and able to move it.

A large piece of ice-green jade was inlaid on the back of the chair. The jade was as large as a plate and was priceless in the eyes of ordinary people. But in the Hoen royal family, pearls and jade were ordinary things.

Qarth was extremely wealthy, and the royal family had accumulated thousands of years of wealth.

"Pylat Vella, put the chair under the leather man in the middle of the lawn."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The leather man target for practicing slashing was suspended at a height of two meters. This position was still slightly shorter than the height of the Mountain's greatsword slash. However, most of the enemies the Mountain fought were less than two meters tall.

Pylat Vella carried the chair to the leather man target.

"Asha, put a suit of plate armor on this chair."

Asha glanced at the surrounding generals, and Jorah Mormont took off his plate armor and handed it to Asha. Asha put the plate armor on the chair.

The Mountain lifted his robe sleeves and pulled out the world's first short-barreled firearm from his waist. This was the first new bow and arrow made by Duke Gendry and Master Tob Mott according to the Mountain's drawings and written instructions - a bow and arrow that did not require wooden arrow shafts or being carried on the back.

The gunpowder short gun, of course, contained gunpowder and iron bullets.

In the Mountain's previous life, the firearm was called a fire lance in ancient China. During the Song Dynasty, someone used bamboo tubes as gun barrels and filled them with gunpowder and bullets to create fire lances. That was the earliest tubular shooting weapon in Chinese civilization that could fire bullets. By the Yuan Dynasty in China, the bamboo gun barrels were replaced with cast iron pipes, and the gunpowder ratio was adjusted, greatly increasing the power, range, and service life of the bullets.

The Mountain's short-barreled gunpowder gun bypassed the initial grassroots era - bamboo tube gun barrels - and used good steel in one step.

This was a purely handmade gunpowder gun.

For Master Tob Mott, as long as he was given a rough drawing, instructions, and key points, he could create weapons he had never seen before.

Before everyone's eyes, the Mountain raised his hand and pulled the trigger on the plate armor on the chair.

Bang!

A loud crash echoed as the bullet pierced the plate armor with a tearing sound. The projectile, retaining its force, continued through with a snap, shattering the chair back. The round jade inlay on the chair back was pierced clean through with a crisp crack. Fractures spiderwebbed across the jade's surface as it shattered.