Chapter 203 Meeting an old friend in a foreign country and borrowing money

Chapter 203 Meeting an old friend in a foreign land - Borrowing money

The news that Lord Lynd Terra of Summer Hall had unified the Stepstone Islands has spread throughout Westeros in a short period of time. This incident did not cause much commotion among the people. After all, for ordinary civilians, They said that they had no idea where the Stepped Stone Islands were, let alone the importance of the Stepped Stone Islands.

But for the lords and nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, the impact of this incident is no less profound than when Dorne surrendered to the Iron Throne.

The Iron Throne has always attached great importance to the Stepstone Islands, and regularly sends fleets to clean up the pirates on the Stepstone Islands. The most recent time was after the Iron Islands suppressed the rebellion, Stannis led the royal fleet to clean up the Iron Islands.

Although the Iron Throne claims to have returned with a great victory, people who often do business in this area know that Stannis's ship swam around the waters of the Stepstone Islands and then returned, without any contact with the Stones. The pirates of the Tier Islands have officially fought against each other.

The reason for this is not only because Stannis cherishes his fleet and ships very much and does not want to waste his men on clearing out pirates, but more importantly, the pirate alliance on the Stepstone Islands is very strong. Both the number of ships and sailors far exceeds the royal fleet under Stanlis. Regardless of winning or losing, the royal fleet will suffer heavy losses in the end.

Moreover, in Stannis's view, pirates are something that cannot be completely eliminated and killed. A batch of them were cleaned up today, and another batch will appear soon, so you don't need to pay too much attention to it, just keep the stone. It is enough if the air routes to the Tier Islands are smooth and stable.

Because of this, when Linde spent a lot of money to lease the islands in the Stepstone Islands from the Iron Throne, Stannis, as the Sea Lord, only asked for a stable route and did not stop the lease agreement.

Because in Stannis's mind, Daemon Targaryen, who was riding a dragon and leading several dragon knights, was not able to unify the Stepstone Islands, and Lynd was even more impossible.

But the result was completely beyond his expectation. Not only did Lind unify the Stepstone Islands, but he also unified them so perfectly that he completely annihilated the Pirate Alliance fleet and captured Tyrosh's fleet at a very small cost. The strength does not decrease but increases.

And this kind of unification is not just a nominal unification after completing the conquest war like Prince Daemon, but a real unification of holding all the islands in hand and establishing small towns, ports and other facilities on the islands. .

According to the information collected, Linde stationed immigrants on all the islands in the Stepstone Islands, built ports and villages, and built defensive fortresses in the villages, built beacon towers, and had armed fleets patrolling back and forth.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Stone Step Islands have been built like iron barrels by Linde. It is impossible for any pirates to obtain any supplies from here. As long as they enter this sea area, there will be a beacon reporting immediately. On the nearby islands, The armed fleet will rush over as soon as possible.

The armed fleet is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is the sea dragon glutton in Linde. It will cruise in the waters of the Stepstone Islands from time to time. Once the pirates encounter it, they will only die and become one of them. A big meal.

Because of this, a few months after Lind unified the Stepstone Islands, the pirates on the Stepstone Islands were basically extinct.

This is undoubtedly good news for those who rely on maritime trade, so that they can safely sail in this most dangerous sea area. The bad news is that sailing here requires a fixed fee based on the number and size of ships. Except for members of Miracle Chamber of Commerce.

Therefore, those maritime merchants who often need to pass through the Stepped Stone Islands take the initiative to join the Miracle Chamber of Commerce. Although this still requires a high annual fee, it is much more cost-effective than paying the toll to the Stepped Stone Islands. After all, this The annual fee includes not only the tolls to the Stone Steps Islands, but also the insurance premiums for the goods, the use of the warehouse, and the privilege fees for discounts on various goods.

All in all, because of the various benefits brought by the Miracle Chamber of Commerce, a large number of maritime merchants took the initiative to apply to join, and liaison offices and branches of the Miracle Chamber of Commerce have also appeared in different cities.

At the same time, the dignitaries in Westeros also discovered that unknowingly, the territory under Lind's command had become so large that it was almost comparable to the guardians of the Seven Kingdoms.

Moreover, most of Linde's territories are not under nominal control like the guardians of various countries. In fact, they are controlled by many secondary lords and smaller local lords.

The territories under Linde's command, whether it was Summer Hall, the Frontier, or the Sea of ​​Dorne and the Stepstone Islands, all of these territories were firmly under Linde's control.

And not only does he control his own territory, but even the territories bordering his territory are also under his influence, such as Black Harbor, Green Valley City, etc.

Throughout the history of Westeros, there has never been a lord who had such strong control over his territory.

Many people even felt that they had discovered Linde's weakness. They believed that Linde's stinginess in allocating territories to his loyal men would inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of his nobles and knights. It only took a little provocation to make Linde's men rebel.

After that, many people did follow this idea. The effect has not yet appeared, but a lot of money has been spent. It seems that every official and general under Lin De is very greedy and demands excessively, but for those who are interested, It's a good thing. It's better to ask for nothing than to ask for nothing. In their eyes, this at least shows that Lin De's men are not invulnerable.

However, what they didn't expect was that the bribes they used to bribe officials and generals were first delivered to the bribers, and then transferred to the Finance Department of Shengxia Hall and recorded on the bills, which would be included in the bills at the end of the month. Half will be returned to the submitter as a reward.

Before these officials and generals take office, they must pass the loyalty test of the Redemption Temple. Unless a supernatural force intervenes to completely reverse the minds of these people, it will be very difficult for these people to commit acts of betrayal.

Moreover, Linde also encouraged them to accept solicitations and bribes from various forces, provided that they need to report to the relevant departments afterwards, such as Bahrain's intelligence department, Rosso's Blood Armored People, or the Finance Department, etc.

Through these baits, Linde could easily grasp which lords and nobles were malicious to him, and he could also know in advance what they wanted to do next.

After the unification of the Stone Step Islands, many people thought that Lind would make big moves. However, what was surprising was that after a few months, Lind seemed to be satisfied with the status quo and made no further moves. The Summer Hall territory was prosperous and peaceful. , even the army is rarely dispatched.

Except for the standing forces that maintain law and order and regularly patrol, all other armies have returned to the army camps. Only the navy continues to replenish ships and sailors to the Stepped Stone Islands to enhance the overall strength of the Stepped Stone Islands.

Even in the past two months, Lind rarely left the castle. Even if he left the castle, he would mostly go to the restricted area in the mountains to stay, or accompany his son to play at the horse farm in Redemption Town.

As for the affairs in the territory, all the affairs in the territory were handed over to his wife Nymeria. The officials in the Summer Hall territory have become accustomed to this, and all affairs in the entire territory are operating normally without any problems.

Just when everyone thought that Linde was recuperating in Summerhall Castle, an ordinary sailing merchant ship docked at the dock of Bello Town. Linde, dressed as a mercenary, led a tall black war horse and A pack horse, disembarking from the ship.

There are two large boxes placed on the back of the pack horse. One of the two large boxes is very long and looks like it contains some kind of spear weapon. The other is very large. As the pack horse moves, it will make the sound of metal friction. It seemed like there were a lot of metal objects stored inside.

The town of Belo is the most important and only port of the island city-state Lys on the Essos continent. There is a Valyrian road extending from the port, passing through the disputed land, and crossing the Myr River directly to Myr.

In addition to some of the goods coming out of Lys being transported by sea, there are also many goods that depart from Bello Town and are transported to various places along the Valyrian Avenue.

However, the Valyrian Avenue in the disputed area has been temporarily suspended because there are seven Dothraki KaLS wandering here, with a total number of more than 60,000 people.

Among these Dothraki KaLS, three KaLS are employed by three free city-states respectively. The original intention was to use these Dothraki people to compete for open-pit gem mines.

However, four more Dothraki LS groups were attracted by the wealth of the gem mines and the three Free Cities.

Afterwards, for unknown reasons, the hatred between the seven Dothraki LS was ignited.

Immediately afterwards, the seven khals started fighting endlessly in this small disputed land, completely forgetting the original purpose of defeating other khaos and annexing the other khals. Instead, they became the war goals of these Dothraki.

The three free city-states did not expect that things would turn out like this. For this reason, they had to postpone the battle for gem mines and instead recruit mercenaries from other places to guard their respective port towns in the disputed areas, because they knew very well that once These seven KaLS were divided into winners and losers and merged into one big KaLS. In order to celebrate the birth of this powerful KaLS, the Dothraki would definitely plunder the three major city-states.

The hunting dogs that were originally hired to serve themselves would now become vicious dogs that backfired on their owners. The three free city-states had to take precautions in advance and recruited a large number of people to garrison in towns that they regarded as important, and Bello Town in Lys was one of them. one.

Today, the caravans in Bello Town have disappeared, and there are only mercenaries from all over the Essos continent and the Unsullied purchased from Slaver's Bay.

Linde looked like a mercenary from Westeros. Although there were not many people like him from across the narrow sea in Bello Town, they were not few either.

No one in the town recognized Lynd, the new king of the Stepstone Islands, except for one person, who was Jorah Mormont, the former lord of Bear Island who gave up his title almost a year ago and escaped execution.

"I thought I saw the wrong person, but it turns out it's really you, Lord Lind." When Lind was about to leave Bello Town, Jorah Mormont, who was following Lind, stepped forward quickly and came. When he reached Linde's side, he showed an exaggerated expression of surprise and said.

Compared with the high-spirited Big Bear who had made great achievements in the battle against the rebellion, the Jorah Mormont in front of him looked a lot more haggard. The hair on the top of his hair that was originally very sparse had completely fallen out and was unkempt. His messy beard, old clothes and leather armor made him look more like a wild man outside the Great Wall than a local lord.

"Lord Jorah, long time no see." Lind was not too surprised, because when he got off the ship and passed the town square, he had already seen Jorah Mormont who was discussing employment salary with a recruiter. Knowing that Jorah Mormont recognized him, he followed behind.

It's just that he seemed to be hesitating for something. He didn't immediately come forward to say hello to him. Instead, he caught up with him after he mustered up the courage.

"Sir Linde must have heard about me, right?" Jorah was a little embarrassed at the moment. According to his character, even if he recognized Linde, he would take the initiative to walk away and not have any contact with Linde, because he is really He was so depressed that he felt inexplicably embarrassed when he saw anyone who knew him. However, he had to suppress this embarrassing feeling due to the pressure of life and took the initiative to contact Linde to see if he could get any benefits.

"Yes, I heard about it, and I still remember it vividly." Lind looked at Jorah and said, "What happened to you actually caused me to lose an important subordinate. It's hard for me not to remember."

"Ah?" Jorah was stunned, not understanding what Linde was talking about.

Linde briefly explained and said: "Daisy was recalled to Bear Island by Mrs. Meggie and inherited the title of Earl of Bear Island."

After hearing this, Jorah looked ashamed. He was not guilty because his actions caused Lind to lose an effective subordinate, but because he realized that his actions caused Bear Island to have only a group of women left to support it. Feel ashamed.

"If you come to me because you want me to help you plead with Lord Eddard to exempt you from the death penalty, then you may overestimate my influence." Lind looked at Jorah who looked ashamed. , guessing his behavior and said: "You should be very clear about Lord Eddard's character. Even King Robert, who is as close to him as a brother, cannot sway his judgment."

"I know that Ed Stark's character is as cold as the ice on the Great Wall. He will not show mercy to anyone who has made mistakes. I have never had the luxury of hoping that I can return to my hometown. I just want to..." Jorah shook his head, and then wanted to say something, but he looked confused and didn't know how to say it.

Lind couldn't help but frowned when he looked at Jorah who was squirming in front of him. Based on his understanding of Jorah, he should be very straightforward.

However, Lind soon understood from the state of Jorah's clothing the purpose of suppressing his sense of shame and taking the initiative to contact him.

So, without opening his mouth to confirm, and without waiting for Jorah to recover from the embarrassment, he directly took out a gold promissory note that belonged to the Miracle Chamber of Commerce, tore off one piece, and placed it in Jorah's hand. In his hand, he said: "This gold promissory note can be exchanged for two thousand gold dragons at any Miracle Chamber of Commerce. This money should be able to alleviate your current predicament."

After saying that, before Jorah came back to his senses and thanked him, he led the horse and walked out of the town.

Qiao An held the gold promissory note in his hand, his face flushed with shame and embarrassment. He felt that if there was a hole in the ground now, he might get into it immediately.

After standing there like this for a while, his expression returned to normal, and he carefully put the gold promissory note into his pocket, turned around and walked towards the dock with his head lowered.

For him, although he was still very uncomfortable in his heart, with this money, he and his wife could live comfortably in Reese for a period of time, and he did not have to fight the Dothraki for such a small commission.

However, when he was thinking about how to make good use of the money, he did not realize that several groups of people had already stared at his wallet where the gold promissory notes were stored, and followed him closely towards the port terminal.