The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“But it doesn't belong to any other knight's territory either,” Gregor replied.

The place Gregor chose to mine gold was the closest area to Clegane Keep, in the Silver Hills region, a no-man's-land. Gregor decided to get his first pot of gold nearby. As for the long-abandoned gold mine of Castamere, firstly, it was very far away, in the north of the Westerlands. Secondly, it was a 'landmark building' deliberately left by Lord Tywin Lannister, the Warden of the West, to deter other nobles in the Westerlands and make them submit, so it was best not to touch it easily.

“Lord, there is no gold mine in the mountain area you ordered us to dig in,” another miner said.

“I know,” Gregor replied.

“Lord, why are we mining in a place where there is no gold mine?” another miner said.

“Its back is the gold mine,” Gregor replied, “and it's very close.”

The miners exchanged glances. They understood that Lord Gregor intended to mine from the no-man's-land into the gold mine area of ​​House Swyft.

“Lord, the place with gold mines on the back belongs to the territory of House Swyft.”

“Yes, Lord, what if House Swyft discovers us?”

“We will be caught and sent to the dungeons of Casterly Rock.”

“Lord, who dares to violate Lord Tywin's laws?”

The miners began to chatter. The atmosphere finally picked up.

Gregor raised his hand, and the audience immediately quieted down.

“If Lord Tywin wants to arrest you and send you to the dungeons of Casterly Rock, he will send me to arrest you with troops. Will I arrest myself? What do you think? Will I or won’t I!”

These words were very rogue-like!

But Gregor was the king of rogues. When had he ever reasoned?

It seemed like never.

His greatest advantage might be that he kept his word.

Moreover, the Westerlands' noble disputes, the arrest of criminals, the conquest of disobedient nobles, the knocking of troublesome knights, and the patrolling of the southern and eastern Westerlands border lines were indeed all done by Lord Gregor with the garrison of Casterly Rock.

The miners looked at each other, unable to say anything more.

“Now, you are all my soldiers, although not the fighting soldiers I value, but my mining soldiers. From this moment on, you are my mine soldiers.”

Mine soldiers?

It was the first time everyone had heard of such a troop type.

It sounded so ridiculous, but no one found it funny.

“The first step to becoming my mine soldiers is to swear an oath. Maester Hallis, it's your turn!”

So, the young Maester Hallis brought out the statues of the Seven Gods—the seven gods carved out of wood: the Father representing judgment; the Mother representing motherly love and nurturing; the Warrior representing battle; the Maiden representing purity and innocence; the Smith representing labor and handicrafts; the Crone representing wisdom; and the Stranger representing death.

The Seven Gods were only a few inches in size, incomparable to the colored statues taller than people in the Sept.

Clegane Keep was too small and did not have a Sept for people to pray in.

The Seven Gods are actually seven different forms of one god, representing seven different virtues. Worshippers pray to a specific form of the Seven Gods according to what they seek.

The Faith of the Seven is the official religious belief on the continent of Westeros.

As soon as the miners saw the statues of the Seven Gods, they immediately knelt down on one knee in unison.

*

On the continent of Westeros, there are only two places where people do not widely believe in the Seven Gods, one is the North, which believes in the Old Gods, and the other is the Iron Islands, which believes in the Drowned God.

The transmigrated college student was an atheist. After transmigrating, he believed that there were supernatural forces in this world. This power could be called God, or it could be called Spirit. But no matter what it was called, gods and spirits would not respond to the prayers of small individuals, just like an elephant cannot notice a small ant in the grass.

But people do not understand this. Using religious beliefs to rule a world with a low level of civilization is the most common method used by the ruling class.

And the channels that connect small people with gods are the Church and the Citadel. Specifically, they are priests, priestesses, maesters, Silent Sisters, nuns, wizards, and so on.

When Gregor saw the miners kneeling respectfully and praying sincerely when they saw the wooden statues of the Seven Gods, he knew that he could actually use the Faith of the Seven in handling many things.

The oath of a knight and the contract between master and servant can both make good use of the worship of the Seven Gods.

*

After Maester Hallis led the eleven miners to complete their oath, everyone stood up and had no more objections to the task of mining gold. They had all sworn an oath to the Seven Gods under the guidance of the maester.

Gregor waved his hand, and the Scribe shouted loudly: “Black Stone, come and sign.”

A big man ran out of the queue and stood in front of the Scribe's table.

Sweetmouth Raff sang like a song: “Black Stone soldier, receive one bag of salt, one warhorse, one set of armor, and one good sword from Ser Gregor.”

Black Stone couldn't believe it. Urged by the Scribe, he grabbed the quill dipped in water and drew a circle on the spot pointed by the Scribe's finger.

Most poor people cannot write or read. The better ones have names, and the worse ones don't even have names. For example, Black Stone, too lazy to give a name, the person is dark, tall, and has hard bones, so he is called Black Stone.

The names of the eleven miners were already written on the Scribe's notebook. They were the prototype of the first mine soldier team established by Gregor. The series of item names after these people's names would not be written by the Scribe, but would be written in advance by Maester Hallis.

Gregor beckoned Maester Hallis over and whispered in his ear, and Maester Hallis nodded repeatedly.

*

“Black Stone, do you want the warhorse, armor, and sword to become your private property?” Maester Hallis asked.

“Wh…what…yes…I really want to…Maester, I really want to!” Black Stone felt like he was dreaming. He didn't quite understand what he was saying, his ears were buzzing.

A warhorse, a set of armor, and a good sword with a scabbard—God! Even ordinary mercenaries don't have a decent set of armor.

“Kneel down and swear allegiance to Lord Gregor, and these things will be your private property.”

Private and lord-issued are two different things. The lord has the right to take back the items issued by the lord at any time.

Black Stone knelt in front of the statues of the Seven Gods, and under the guidance of Maester Hallis, in the name of his family and life, and with faith and loyalty to the Seven Gods, he finished the oath of allegiance to Ser Gregor.

Then, Black Stone received a bag of snow salt from Julie, a warhorse from Horse Soldier Thomasman, and a set of armor and a long sword from Dunsen.

Half an hour later, Gregor had an additional mine soldier team: eleven warhorses, eleven new soldiers, and eleven swords.

Gregor said: “From now on, you are already the loyal and devoted warriors of Clegane Keep, my armed mine soldiers. Tomorrow morning, you will receive half an hour of swordsmanship training from Centurion Dunsen and half an hour of horsemanship training from Knight Raff. For the rest of the time, I want each of you to find at least five miners to join the team. Go and tell your miner friends that the salary I pay them each month is ten times their current salary. Today, each household will take ten gold dragons home first.”