The Mountain of Ice and Fire
#519 - Control the industry
Chapter 506: Controlling Industries
The Great Sept of Baelor, the Sept of the Seven.
All the royal courtiers were in the hall. Queen Mother Cersei wore a jeweled crown, with Queen Margaery Tyrell standing beside her. Cersei held Prince Tommen Baratheon's hand.
Tommen Baratheon was born in the Red Keep of King's Landing in the 299th year After Aegon's Conquest and was nine years old this year.
Standing behind the Queen Mother in the first row of courtiers were the Mountain, taller than everyone else, Kevan the Shadow Lion, Lord Mace Tyrell the Bloat, Grand Maester Qyburn, Master of Ships Aurane Waters, Commander of the City Watch Bronn, Captain of the Kingsguard Loras Tyrell…
Before them on the altar, barefoot, in a gray robe, with dry, forked hair and piercing eyes, the High Sparrow was chanting blessings for the new King Tommen Baratheon to the Seven Gods.
The Septa, representing maidenhood, the Warrior, representing courage, and the Smith, representing craftsmanship, stood beside the High Septon, each holding a crown.
Hundreds of white-robed nuns echoed the High Septon's blessings, singing hymns in the pauses of his chanting, their voices beautiful and melodious. Opposite the nuns were hundreds of monks, also in white robes, their deep voices providing a soft rhythm to accompany the nuns' hymns.
The Mountain was attending a king's coronation for the second time!
The first time he attended a king's coronation was eighteen years ago, when King Robert ascended the throne. That year, he 'shocked' the world with his 'evil' deeds while carrying out Lord Tywin's orders for the sack.
The Mountain was born in Clegane Keep in the Westerlands in the 266th year After Aegon's Conquest. He was thirty-four years old this year, the best age for strength and vigor. By the age of sixteen, the Mountain was already famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms.
The king's coronation ceremony was long and dull. The only thing that interested the Mountain was that Lancel was wearing a full suit of blue armor, with a long sword at his waist and a blue helmet that hid the seven-pointed star on his forehead.
It seemed that Lancel was constantly being promoted and valued by the High Septon. He had become a Son of the Warrior with command and attendants. Judging from how he was directing other Sons of the Warrior today and personally leading a team of club-wielding Sparrows to maintain order in front of the altar, it was clear that he was a major leader of the Poor Fellows.
A team of fully armed knights was lined up in front of the steps leading to the altar. They were the High Sparrow's Warrior's Sons.
All members of the Warrior's Sons came from noble families! Once a noble believed in the Seven and became a brother, they would donate all their wealth, land, and castles to the Sept, which was one of the reasons why the Sept had become increasingly wealthy over the years.
The Mountain noticed that there were three squads of Warrior's Sons in total: one squad at the main entrance of the Sept and two squads in the Sept of the Seven.
In a short period, the members of the Poor Fellows had doubled. The refugees of King's Landing were willing to join the Poor Fellows for a piece of golden bread, then participate in various ceremonies and doctrinal studies. In a matter of days, they became the most steadfast star warriors in the Poor Fellows.
Their combat skills were not worth mentioning, but their ignited iron will and fanatical pursuit were their most terrifying weapons.
Before long, almost every poor person and refugee in King's Landing would be a member of the Poor Fellows. The Poor Fellows accepted the participation of any poor person, regardless of gender.
This was a very terrifying force, developing at a rapid pace. Queen Mother Cersei had given them the right to legally purchase weapons and form armed forces, and the right to train in combat skills. To end all this, a new prime minister would need to take office after the new king's coronation to have the authority to issue new government decrees.
In a short time, the High Sparrow's Poor Fellows organization and the Warrior's Sons had both developed rapidly. The civil war had not only wounded the common people and the poor; many nobles had also lost their homes and families. After these people became disillusioned, they would all come to the Sept to pray for guidance. As a result, many people became new brothers under the guidance of the brothers and joined the High Sparrow's Warrior's Sons.
This was the most threatening force, with super strong combat power, fearless of death, and proficient in martial arts and battle formations.
The combat power of the Poor Fellows could not be compared with that of the Warrior's Sons, but the Poor Fellows had a large number of people, more than ten times the number of the Warrior's Sons. Once these Poor Fellows members went crazy, it would also be a very terrible thing. In history, during the Riot at Dragonpit, members of the Poor Fellows rushed into the Dragonpit and killed three dragons.
While the Mountain was attending Prince Tommen Baratheon's coronation as king, the Mountain's guards were also busy in King's Landing.
*
This operation was led by Landon Flowers and assisted by Qomra Warner. They led the strongest warriors of their tribes, riding the purest and most divine warhorses of the peninsula. The first place they arrived was a two-story wooden building rebuilt on the banks of the Blackwater Rush.
The owner of this wooden building was the master of coin, Petyr Baelish. After he left King's Landing before King Joffrey's wedding, the hundreds of brothels he owned in King's Landing were managed by the madams of each brothel.
King's Landing now had a population of over one million. The war had brought the benefit of a large population to King's Landing. In King's Landing, whether in times of war or peace, there were two businesses that were almost unaffected. On the contrary, more often, the trauma brought by the war could make these two businesses even more popular.
These two money-making businesses were underground casinos and brothels.
In King's Landing, during the war, business in the brothels was at least twice as good as usual. The salaries of mercenaries and soldiers would be higher than usual, and the pressure and bloodlust of the war made the soldiers more willing to spend money, and the brothels became their favorite place to go.
With the brothels' business booming, the owners made a lot of money.
Littlefinger's brothels were famous for their large number. The largest, best, and most famous brothel in King's Landing was Chataya's brothel, but Chataya only had one high-end brothel in the Oldtown, while Littlefinger's brothels covered the high, middle, and low levels.
Whether it was an island prince or a governor from a Free City, or a duke or a master of coin, Littlefinger's luxurious brothels could definitely make these people linger. For mercenaries and noble warriors who licked blood from their blades, the middle-level brothels were waiting for them. And for the common people, low-level brothels were everywhere, with at least one on every street.
Littlefinger had a good business mind. He had not received marketing training, nor had he studied market target customer positioning, but he was born with it.
Littlefinger had gone to become the Lord of Harrenhal. In the Mountain's eyes, the brothels he left in King's Landing were a high-level form of chain store management, with money flowing in like running water every day.
The Mountain decided to take over Littlefinger's chain of brothels. His current army was scattered in three places, with nearly 20,000 men: the Westerlands, the Claw, and Dragonstone. Including his father-in-law's soldiers and the 3,000 new recruits from the Claw, the total number was around 20,000, equivalent to the total number of Stark's troops marching south from the North.
Such a powerful army had one major problem: food and military pay!
The Mountain had food and military pay and could support it for a while, but he could not wait until there was no money and food before thinking about it. He had to solve the problem of money and food now.
Littlefinger's chain of brothels in King's Landing, as well as the businesses of other owners, if all taken over, would be a source of flowing money. Every day the door opened, money would flow in. If he took over the management, the money would go into the Mountain's pocket.
*
Erica was still asleep.
The dense sound of horses' hooves woke her up.
The brothel business on the Blackwater Rush was particularly booming. The first best place for visiting captains and sailors was this two-story wooden building.
The sisters thought a patron had arrived. They mostly received sailors and captains. Such horses' hooves meant that cavalry warriors had arrived. Hopefully, they were not mercenaries, but noble knights.
Knights were elegant and courteous and generous, while mercenaries were rude and barbaric and difficult to serve. The sisters all came to the corridor on the second floor to see. They saw a team of cavalry, twelve people, led by two teenagers, one of whom still had a hint of childishness. The sisters shouted and giggled.
The cavalry team ignored the women's shouts. Everyone rushed to the gate. One fierce man jumped off his horse, took out a small flag, and ran straight to the second floor.
Along the way, the girls said all sorts of things to him, but the man remained silent. He came to the corridor on the second floor, took out a small iron hammer, and nailed the small flag to the railing on the second floor.
The small flag unfurled and fluttered in the wind. The flag on it was the Clegane sigil of three dogs.
"Who is in charge here?" the man shouted, his face unfriendly.
The laughing girls could no longer laugh.
This group of cavalry was not here to patronize their business, but to cause trouble.
Erica stood up: "I am, sir, but this is Petyr's..."
"Tonight, come to the Red Keep's Stone Cell, report the income and expenses to Lord Mountain, bring the books and the surplus money. From today on, this place has been taken over by Lord Mountain."
Erica was speechless. She could see that the other party would not give her any explanation or excuse. If she did not agree, there would be big trouble.
"...Yes, sir... But if Lord Petyr Baelish comes back, what should we..."
"Remember, come after dinner, preferably earlier," the man said fiercely. He was too impatient to walk down the stairs from the second floor again, so he jumped directly from the railing of the second-floor corridor and landed right on his warhorse.
This small skill was easy for the cavalry of the Claw.
Riding on a galloping horse, the peninsula cavalry could pick up a golden dragon from the ground.
While the sisters were dumbfounded, a teenager shouted from upstairs: "Anyone who dares to move Lord Mountain's flag will have their hands chopped off for minor offenses and be sentenced to death for serious offenses. If there are patrons causing trouble, mention Lord Mountain's name."
The sound of horses' hooves rang out, and the cavalry galloped forward, stopping at a wooden building not far away.
That wooden building was not Lord Petyr Baelish's property, but it was also a brothel. The brothel business on the Blackwater Rush was booming, targeting sailors from all over the world.
A cavalryman, just like last time, took out a flag, nailed it to a conspicuous place on the wooden building, and then ordered the owner to come to the Red Keep tonight with the books and the surplus money to see the Mountain.
This owner was a middle-aged man, a local of King's Landing, who watched helplessly as this team of cavalry swaggered away.
The Mountain's cavalry, the Mountain's flag, the Mountain's order.
Who dared to disobey?
But he only had this small business to make a living, and he was going to be squeezed by the Mountain?
When encountering unfair things, the owner could go to two places to seek help. The first was to ask the City Watch to come forward, and the second was to petition in the throne room.
The throne room held government meetings every day, which were specifically for handling the petitions of the citizens of King's Landing.
But not today. Today was the new king's coronation, and all the free citizens went to Baelor's Great Sept Square to watch various coronation ceremonies. No citizens petitioned in the throne room today, and the government meeting was canceled.
Then he could only go to the commander of the City Watch!
The highest commander of the City Watch was Commander Bronn from the Westerlands.
In one day, all the brothels, large and small, in King's Landing were planted with the Clegane small flag by this team of cavalry: the Clegane sigil.
All the responsible persons or owners were told to go to the Red Keep at night, bring the books and the money they earned, and Lord Mountain would summon them.
Who dared not go?
No one dared!
The brothel with the most strength and background in King's Landing, the first place Anguy the Archer went after winning the national archery competition, the place where he spent his ten thousand gold dragons, was Chataya's brothel.
In the Oldtown, a luxurious three-story building. There was also an attached tower on the east side of the third floor, seven stories high. This was the only place where the richest people from other countries and islands liked to play, the most profitable brothel in King's Landing. The owner was named Chataya, and her daughter was named Barbara. The mother and daughter came from an archipelago in the southern sea: the Summer Isles.
Chataya's brothel was also planted with the Mountain's flag by the cavalry. Chataya had many connections. The great nobles of the Crownlands were all her acquaintances. The late King Robert I was also a good friend of hers, but unfortunately, King Robert had passed away, and the current king was being crowned in the Sept today, and he was only nine years old...
Among the masters of coin, Chataya had an old friend, a master of coin who could speak for her: Grand Maester Pycelle, but he was shot to death by Varys with a crossbow.
When the Mountain's flag was planted in Chataya's brothel, Chataya and her daughter were stunned. The Oldtown was the city's villa area, and all the dignitaries lived in this area. Kings, governors, and wealthy captains from the outside world all bought their own villas in this Oldtown, a place full of dignitaries, but Chataya found that she seemed unable to find anyone who could speak for her...
The Mountain!
The one who came to cause trouble was the Mountain!
The Mountain who beheaded Stannis in the Battle of the Blackwater, raided King's Landing at night, defeated the Westerlands army, and captured Tywin alive, the Mountain had come! Chataya, who made a fortune every day, felt despair in her heart.
*
At night, a long queue formed in front of the Mountain's Stone Cell. When Chataya and her daughter Barbara arrived, there were already many people ahead of them.
The patrolling captain, Alyn, saw Chataya and her daughter—the two mothers did not bring books, nor did they bring gold coins, their hands were empty—Alyn had been to Chataya's brothel when he was serving as Eddard Stark's guard and recognized the mother and daughter.
"Lady Chataya, please come with me!" Captain Alyn said.
Thanks to [ArthurusRex] [拾号仔] for the reward and support, thank you, handshake!
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