The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Mountain said, "Lord Petyr Baelish, all the nobles of the Westerlands once advised the Duke to kill the Mountain, but the Duke didn't. Instead, he made me the general of his five hundred-man guard cavalry camp. Border patrols, settling noble disputes, and foreign affairs exchanges, the Duke used me for all of them, treating me as his most trusted subordinate."

"The Martell family of Dorne once sent an envoy to demand that the Duke cut off my head and send it to Dorne, and then Dorne would conduct reconciliation talks with the Westerlands. The Duke ignored the Dornish Martell family's request. To protect me, the Duke's feud with the Martell family has lasted for sixteen years and will continue to do so."

"I am one of the two types of people the Duke will not kill: loyalty! My absolute loyalty to the Duke. If you want to be forgiven by the Duke, then please offer the Duke your loyalty."

Littlefinger Petyr immediately knelt on one knee and swore allegiance to Duke Tywin in the name of his family honor and the Seven Gods.

Duke Tywin looked at Littlefinger Petyr and said indifferently, "Lord Petyr Baelish, I will protect anyone who is loyal to me to the end, just like Gregor Clegane."

"Yes, Duke, I will follow you from now on, be loyal to you, and be willing to give my life when necessary!" Littlefinger said eloquently. This is not the time to be subtle.

Duke Tywin was expressionless, and no one knew what he thought of Littlefinger's oath of allegiance? How much trust was there?

The Mountain said, "There is another type of person that the Duke will not kill, that is, useful people."

"Ser Gregor Clegane is very useful to me," Tywin said, "Lord Petyr Baelish, besides your loyalty, are you useful to me?"

"I believe I am very useful to the Duke. From now on, the Duke will have me, a vassal, among the important ministers in the Royal Council in King's Landing," Littlefinger said.

"Lord Petyr Baelish, from now on, you must wholeheartedly complete the tasks I give you, and I will give you the castle and fief you want. For example, Lady Tanda's territory and castle, if you want it, I can give it to you."

"............" Littlefinger was speechless.

"Although Lollys is an idiot and two years older than you, it would be a very worthwhile thing to get the castle and territory of Stokeworth after marrying Lollys."

"Duke, the heir to Stokeworth Castle is Lollys's sister, Falyse Stokeworth. Her husband is Ser Balman Byrch. They have been married for ten years and have already moved into Stokeworth Castle. Once their mother Tanda passes away, the next in line to inherit the castle and territory is Falyse."

"Falyse and Ser Balman have no children," Duke Tywin said unhurriedly.

"But they are both very young and can also adopt a son."

"No, Ser Petyr, you are thinking too much," Duke Tywin said calmly, "If you want it, I can naturally give it to you. Once you get your castle and territory, I don't believe that Lord Petyr can't solve the problem of an idiot like Lollys."

Duke Tywin was offering a bribe!

Littlefinger's heart pounded, and at the same time, a chill rose in his heart. The Duke wanted to give him Stokeworth Castle and territory, and he would inevitably kill Lollys and her husband without leaving a trace. The Duke's cruelty made Littlefinger feel a chill. That was the King's territory, and Countess Tanda was also a royal courtier. The Duke was also showing Littlefinger his strength and issuing a warning: "Duke, I am willing to marry Lollys."

Duke Tywin nodded slightly and did not continue the topic of the Tanda family: "Lord Petyr, you either be a loyal person to me, or be a useful person to me. I need you to prove your loyalty, or prove your usefulness. After you return to King's Landing, I want you to secretly pay attention to Varys. I want to know if there are any other noble forces behind him."

Duke Tywin had determined that the person Varys was loyal to was not King Robert. He obviously wasn't loyal to the Lannisters of the Westerlands either, so who was he loyal to? Or was he like Littlefinger, only loyal to himself?

"Yes, Duke," Littlefinger secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He thought Tywin wanted him to poison King Robert. Kinslaying is a stain and infamy for life, and the chances of being held accountable afterwards are too great. Kingslayer Jaime Lannister is just an exception.

"Can you bribe Janos Slynt, the commander of the City Watch in King's Landing?"

"Effortlessly, Duke."

"Why wasn't the corrupt Janos dismissed by the honest and shrewd Prime Minister Jon Arryn? I heard that the Prime Minister spent a lot of effort to dismiss Janos, but in the end he didn't succeed."

"King Robert can benefit from Janos's corruption," Littlefinger said, "More than half of the money Janos made from buying and selling official positions was secretly handed over to King Robert."

This was a secret that even Prime Minister Jon Arryn didn't know before his death, but Littlefinger knew.

Tywin knew Littlefinger was telling the truth as soon as he heard it.

"What about the other officers of the City Watch?"

"Bribed all of them, easily," Littlefinger showed his signature mischievous smile.

Duke Tywin stared at Littlefinger for a long time, and slowly said, "Mountain, let Grand Maester Pycelle take Lord Petyr Baelish to eat, and let the maester give Lord Petyr a knife and fork."

"Yes, Duke."

*

In the study, only the Mountain and Duke Tywin were present.

"Ser Gregor, I want you to send people to the Riverlands to do some major damage. What ideas do you have? But we can't let Duke Hoster of the Riverlands know that we did it."

Duke Tywin believed that the Mountain had an innate talent for doing bad things and subduing villains.

"Half a month later, the rice in the Riverlands plains will ripen. Set a fire on the plains and burn Duke Hoster's grain reserves for this year, causing a heavy blow to his people on the plains."

Duke Tywin was expressionless, but he felt very happy in his heart.

War is about to break out, and burning the enemy's grain is the best way to strike the enemy in peacetime. No wonder the Mountain is the number one villain in the Seven Kingdoms. As long as he is asked to do bad things, Duke Tywin is always particularly satisfied.

"Half a month later, the King and the Prime Minister's southward troops will reach the Green Fork in the Reach. If you go to set the fire, your body is too special and easily noticed."

"No, Duke, I will take the good wine and food from the Westerlands to the Green Fork to offer to King Robert and Prime Minister Eddard. The King likes to gamble, and I will offer the King a bag of gold coins we minted to express the Westerlands' respect and love for the King."

"Then when will you set fire to the grain?"

"I will find a tall soldier to pretend to be me and take my brothers to set fire to the grain on the plains, but they will leave traces of being soldiers under the Tyrells of the Reach. Their retreat route will also lead entirely into the Tyrells' territory in the Reach."

Duke Tywin said with a straight face, "Ser Gregor, your idea is very good! But I want to remind you, while training the soldiers, step up the minting of coins. I have thought about it. Since the Seven Kingdoms will be in great chaos, the gold mines in our Westerlands that are handed over to King's Landing will decrease every day. We need to secretly add another mint."

"Yes, Duke."

In peacetime, let the Mountain take the blame for minting coins; since peace is bound to end and internal strife begins, the Duke has decided to personally roll up his sleeves and get to work, and will no longer let the Mountain manage the minting on his behalf. The Mountain can mint his own gold coins, and the Duke has decided to secretly open a larger and more complete mint for his own gold mines.

For the gold mines in the Westerlands that are handed over to the country, just write a letter to the Minister of Finance, Petyr Baelish, and say that the gold mines in the Westerlands have sharply decreased, and everything will fall into place. Besides, Lord Petyr Baelish is eating in the restaurant here!

Well, after Littlefinger finishes eating, the Duke decides to take Littlefinger and the Mountain back to Clegane's Keep. He wants to first listen to the advice of the witch and hope to plan his next move through the witch's prophecy. This is very important!

"Ser Gregor, go and notify my financial officer and tell him to prepare a thousand gold dragons to bring to the hall."

"Yes, Duke."

A thousand gold dragons, a huge sum, but for Duke Tywin, although the gold mines in the Westerlands are about to run out, these thousand gold dragons are still insignificant.