Chapter 242 Situation Changes
The beginning of the year 295 of the Conquest Era was a rather turbulent year. The Twins, which was adjacent to the North, became an empty city overnight. All the members of the Frey family disappeared. Correspondingly, the river below the Twins occasionally washed out broken skeletons of sticky flesh.
At the same time, a very serious wolf disaster broke out in this area. Merchants passing through this place suffered heavy losses one by one. The trade route in the North was blocked. The Tully family, the Lord of the Riverlands, was currently recruiting soldiers to hunt and investigate the truth.
According to the merchants who came to King's Landing, a group of wolves that looked like humans appeared in the Twins area, and the ordinary wolves were gathered by those monsters, so those monsters were the murderers.
This incident was a strange talk in King's Landing. Unfortunately, the distance was far, and no one could confirm the truth of the news. At the same time, people in King's Landing also had a lot of topics to talk about, so after the news spread for a while, no one paid attention to it.
Currently, King's Landing is in turmoil because of a bounty.
Once the bounty for Crab Claw Peninsula was announced, it quickly spread throughout King's Landing. The hired knights who could not find suitable jobs during the non-war period signed up without hesitation. Some idle people also began to call their friends after seeing the high bounty, ready to make a fortune.
The huge city with a population of nearly 500,000 people continued to lose people, and nearly 30,000 people left in just one week. At this time, the Iron Throne had not paid any money for the bounty except for some necessary preparations. After the preliminary figures were reported, the bald king laughed.
However, the king laughed, but the Prime Minister Jon Arryn could not laugh, because he needed to strictly control everything during the bounty period. During this period, his hair, which was not much, fell several strands in a row - early preparations, mid-term rules maintenance, and late bounty payment.
The bounty method sounds feasible, but there are many loopholes that need to be kept an eye on. The most important thing is to avoid fishing in troubled waters and strictly limit the killing to the inside of the peninsula.
This series of procedures is no easier than starting a war, and it is even more difficult because it is the first time to do such a thing.
At the same time, Jon Arryn also needs to keep an eye on everything that happens in the Vale.
Earl Gerold Grafson of Gulltown betrayed several lords and nobles who had contact with Targaryen, but those lords refused the call of the Iron Throne to come to King's Landing to meet the king. After several fruitless negotiations, the old Duke of the Vale brazenly called on his lords to send troops to encircle and suppress the rebellion for him, the feudal lord -
Most of the lords of the Vale are actually still loyal to the Arryn family, so as soon as the call appeared, they began to prepare for the upcoming war. A small number of those whose loyalty is worrying did not jump to the enemy side, but chose to wait and see or perfunctorily deal with it.
The final result of this matter has not yet been released, but according to the current situation, the rebel camp consisting of only three lords is unlikely to cause any waves.
However, despite the stability, the old Prime Minister or everyone in the Royal Council did not relax their vigilance. After all, no one knows what will happen before the danger is extinguished.
Renly is also keeping an eye on this matter, but he has a lot of things to do recently, so he doesn't put all his thoughts on it.
Not long ago, he had a meeting with the fat archbishop of the church and successfully persuaded him to call on the monks to resist Targaryen, but this does not mean that Renly has given up the idea of changing the archbishop. He is still looking for qualified candidates.
In addition, he is also busy presiding over the trial.
One of the king's daily tasks is to convene a court to try cases in the city. One of Renly's main jobs is to provide advice to the king during the trial.
But Robert is an impatient person. Although he has frequently attended important royal meetings due to various things during this period, it does not mean that he will sit on the iron chair and preside over justice for the common people.
Even before the Targaryen incident, he rarely attended the royal meetings.
So the cheap brother threw this matter to Renly, the Minister of Justice.
In fact, the job of the Minister of Justice does not include the responsibility of presiding over the trial. Normally, this kind of thing is the job of the Prime Minister, or in other words, the things that the king does not want to do are the work of the Prime Minister. In a sense, the Prime Minister is equivalent to the king's representative or substitute.
It's just that the old Prime Minister has been very busy recently, so this task can only be done by Renly.
The series of hangings a while ago scared many people, but also made Renly win a lot of praise among the civilian class. At the same time, relying on his psychic talent, the cases he tried were basically correct, so that some victims in King's Landing who did not trust the Iron Throne have recently gone to the Red Castle to appeal. More and more people, his work as the Minister of Justice has become more and more arduous.
This has made Renly's reputation grow day by day, but the price is that he basically has no time to do other things all day.
Renly is a little helpless about this, but he is not too irritated because he actually has no urgent important things to do recently. In addition to keeping an eye on the situation in various parts of the Seven Kingdoms and the church, he can only prepare for the Dornish envoys who are about to arrive.
…
“The number of the capital garrison has dropped sharply to less than 4,000. My lord, should we start to stabilize people’s hearts?”
Looking at the black-haired young man sitting behind the desk in deep thought, the barbarian Samwell with a bandaged arm asked.
The harsh punishments and high rewards made the people in the capital guard panic. Some retail investors with no backers and bastards who were living on empty wages kept quitting their jobs during this period, which made them increasingly short of manpower.
"During the time of King Viserys I, the City Guard had only two thousand personnel, but now we have nearly four thousand." Renly glanced and replied, but before the other party could respond, he changed the topic.
"Recruiting is not going well?"
"There are many people who have signed up, but very few who are qualified." replied the tall new commander of the garrison.
He was attacked some time ago, but in fact the injury was not that serious. The claim that he was seriously injured was just Renly's excuse. It was only half a month since the incident, and he was almost recovered.
"It doesn't need to be too strict, just ensure loyalty." Renly offered his own opinion.
This world lacks everything but people. A serious job is very attractive no matter where in the Seven Kingdoms, so even if the number of members of the garrison is greatly reduced, Renly doesn't care, and is even more happy to see it.
Removing decay and regenerating muscles, after such a torment, although the Capital Guard has become relatively fragile, it is no different from being much stronger than it used to be——
From Renly's point of view, although the rotten flesh that had been removed was large, it was a complete hindrance, while the new skin, although still small, was something he could control.
A fool can tell which one is good and which one is bad.
…
After chatting with the ancient man about the situation of the garrison for a while, Renly changed the subject and asked: "Is that Dornishman you mentioned last time really going to come with the envoy?"
"If it is indeed Oberyn who is leading the team, then she will not be absent." Barbarian Samwell replied.
Renly nodded upon hearing this.
The "she" in the barbarians' mouth is a Dornish person who was born more than 200 years ago and is a member of the "Ancient Alliance". However, unlike the others, she has more powerful methods. Within a few years after arriving here, she He hooked up with the younger brother of the Prince of Dorne, a guy nicknamed the Red Viper.
According to calculations made a while ago, I still owe nine chapters. However, I had two chapters in arrears when I asked for leave yesterday. At the same time, the recommended votes and monthly tickets have also increased by two chapters in total during this period, so I still owe 13 chapters~
