Chapter 222 Food Crisis and Melisandre

On the streets of Meereen, gunpowder smoke filled the air like a ghost, and the pungent smell filled every inch of the air. On the street, corpses were lying in random directions, some of which were still bleeding from their wounds, while others were already cold and stiff. Amidst this chaos and ruin, Gavin slowly walked into the newly conquered city on a tall horse.

Gavin first came to the Pyramid of Meereen. This magnificent building stood like a silent giant in the center of the city. It was a symbol of the city's power. Jalal, Kyle and others were already waiting here respectfully.

"Your Majesty, the treasure house of Meereen has been controlled by us. Together with the wise masters who escaped from Yunkai before, the wealth inside is simply beyond imagination." Jalal was very excited, his eyes flashed with excitement, and he said eagerly .

Gavin nodded slightly, with a calm expression, and then ordered Missandei: "Go and carefully count the contents, make a record and give it to me."

Missandei immediately bowed to accept the order and said in a clear voice: "Yes, Your Majesty."

"Kyle, you are responsible for leading a group of soldiers to maintain law and order in Meereen and ensure that order is restored to the city as soon as possible."

Kyle immediately bowed and accepted the order: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Then, Gavin looked at Jalal: "Counting the population of Meereen, including slaves, free people, and wise masters, I want to know the detailed figures. At the same time, we need to understand the food reserves in the city. We want to ensure that the people here are not Will starve."

Jalal responded: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I will take care of it immediately."

Before the shipping route was cut off, Gavin had not worried about food issues. However, with the cutoff of shipping routes, Slaver's Bay, which relied solely on land transportation, was already in a predicament of being unable to sustain itself. Overland transportation was not only inefficient, but also costly and unable to meet the needs of Slaver's Bay's large population.

Two days later, in the pyramid of Meereen.

Jalal stood in front of the table, his face solemn, as if there was a dark cloud hanging over him. He reported to Gavin: "Your Majesty, after detailed statistics, Meereen's population is about 150,000, of which slaves account for the majority. The current food reserves are relatively sufficient. If distributed appropriately, they can last for several months. Time. But the situation in Yunkai is a bit troublesome. It is currently relying on Astapor to transport food. If it continues like this, Astapor will not be able to survive for two months. "

Listening to Jalal's report, Gavin couldn't help but frown. His eyes showed deep worry and asked: "Are there still no merchant ships arriving at Slaver's Bay?"

Jalal nodded and said: "Yes, Your Majesty. As more and more merchant ships disappear, several major free trade castles have stopped maritime trade with Slaver's Bay. There are even rumors that the severance of shipping routes is due to your Majesty's order to blockade of."

"Ignore those rumors." After Gavin thought for a moment, he continued to ask: "What is the situation of those wise masters now?"

"General Kyle executed nearly half of the wise masters who had proposed the war before. The remaining wise masters were very cooperative and handed over a lot of property. But they didn't have much food. Those who were short of food The problem is still serious." Jalal replied immediately, speaking quickly, as if he was eager to provide Gavin with the most accurate information.

"Keep an eye on these wise masters, they are not that honest." Gavin couldn't help but think of the son of the harpy in the original plot, which was created by these wise masters. They will never be willing to fail. There is a high probability that the Son of the Harpy will appear again.

"Your Majesty!" Jalal said hurriedly, as if something suddenly occurred to him: "If we purchase grain from the disputed land by land, a single journey would take two months, and transportation would consume a lot of money. Moreover, Volantis and Volantis When Mill learns that we are short of food, he will definitely impose a food embargo. It is better to purchase food from Lazarin, which is northeast of Slaver's Bay. The only trouble is that Lazarin is less than a month away. There are no cities, and there are mostly small towns and tribes scattered there. It is difficult to purchase. Moreover, I heard that Khal Drogo and his khalasar are looting there. The caravan we sent may be robbed by the Dothraki. ”

After hearing this, Gavin fell into deep thought.

The Lazarins are peaceful by nature and are keen on shepherding and farming. Since they have never been able to achieve internal unity, their external force is extremely weak. In the eyes of others, they seemed to be weak beings who could be trampled upon, and they were even nicknamed "goatmen" for a time.

There is no doubt that the weak "goatmen" have become the most ideal source of slaves.

Lazarin's geographical location is very special, it is close to the Dothraki Sea.

Because of this, it has naturally become a frequent target for Dothraki raids.

It seems that it has become a habit. Whenever a new Kaa rises, he will definitely tour here.

Thinking of this, Gavin couldn't help but frown slightly and gently rubbed his forehead.

Now, Drogo's 40,000 Roaring Warriors are in Lazarin, not far from Slaver's Bay. There is no guarantee that the other party will come to Slaver's Bay to plunder them in the future.

Once, Drogo was a problem that slave owners needed to worry about, but now, it has become a trouble that Gavin has to face.

The only thing that makes Gavin feel lucky is that the Dothraki's technology is very backward, and they don't even have a dragon-hunting crossbow.

With their bows and arrows alone, they could not pose a threat to Blazing Shadow, and the Dothraki could only passively wait for the dragon flames to come.

However, we have to admit that these roaring warriors are indeed fearless of death. This point has been painfully verified by countless free trade city-states with blood.

The power of the dragon lies in its ability to destroy strong cities and frighten the morale of the army. It does not simply use dragon flames to burn the enemy. Even if 40,000 roaring warriors lined up neatly waiting to be burned, the exhausted Blazing Shadow could not burn them all to death.

Jalal saw that Gavin was deep in thought and reminded him: "Your Majesty, there is a situation that you must pay great attention to. Whenever the Dothraki plunder Lazarin, they will sell those slaves. Go to Slaver's Bay in exchange for food and weapons. If nothing else happens, Drogo will do the same thing. Will we buy those slaves by then?"

Hearing Jalal's words, Gavin couldn't help but show a look of helplessness on his face. It is not impossible to accept those slaves, and it is still acceptable to pay some weapons, but in terms of food, Gavin himself is in a state of shortage. If the Dothraki were unable to obtain food through trade, they would inevitably choose to raid Slaver's Bay.

It seemed that conflict with the Dothraki was inevitable. Originally, Gavin thought of marching into the disputed area immediately after seizing Slaver's Bay, but now it seems that this matter can only be put on hold for the time being.

After Gavin fell into thinking for a moment, he decided to solve the immediate trouble first. Otherwise, he would not be able to leave Slaver's Bay with peace of mind.

He said slowly: "Inform Kyle that the Second Legion must seize the time to collect the prisoners. Half a month later, we will go north with the Unsullied Legion, and we will go to Lazarin. Instead of passively waiting for the Dothraki to attack, why don't we Take the initiative and go find them.”

Jalal straightened his body and said respectfully: "As you command, Your Majesty."

Gavin nodded lightly and continued: "Send someone to carefully check the situation on both sides of the Worm River to see if more land can be reclaimed there. At the same time, you can also consider building canals. We don't lack manpower now, so we can't Always rely on imported food to at least be self-sufficient and give the slaves something to do to avoid trouble."

"Yes! Your Majesty." Jalal accepted the order and left. His figure gradually disappeared from Gavin's sight, leaving Gavin alone in deep thought, thinking about the future situation.

Ten days later, as time passed quietly, Gavin received an unexpected guest.

In the main hall of the Meereen Pyramid, Gavin narrowed his eyes slightly, his deep eyes full of thinking and vigilance. He quietly watched Melisandre in red robes in the audience. This priest of the Red God was supposed to assist Stannis. However, due to the appearance of Gavin, Stannis died unexpectedly, and Gavin also died. Subconsciously ignoring her presence. But he never thought that Melisandre would come to Slaver's Bay and request to meet him. Considering R'hllor's real existence, Gavin still met him.

But Gavin was full of vigilance, "Why did Melisandre come to me? Did she receive mysterious instructions from the Lord of Light, or did she misinterpret the flames again? It would be fine if it was the latter, but if it was the former , It means that I have been paid attention to by the Red God. The power of the Red God is far greater than that of the Thousand-faced God, and none of these gods are easy to deal with. "

Melisandre was also observing Gavin quietly. After a moment, she seemed to be confirmed. She stepped forward and bowed gracefully, then raised her head. The voice seemed to come from a mysterious distance: "Your Majesty, I am Mei. Lissandra, a devout priest of R'hllor, the Lord of Light. I have received divine revelation from the Lord of Light in the flames and come here to visit you."

Gavin heard this and said politely: "Meereen welcomes you, Priest of the Red God. I once visited the Red Temple in Braavos. I wonder what kind of instructions you received from the Lord of Light?" Hearing the name of the Lord of Light, Gavin was already sure that he was being noticed by R'hllor. Melisandre's misinterpretation of the flames in the original play may not have been R'hllor's intention.

Melisandre smiled slightly, with a mysterious light shining in her eyes. She slowly opened a pair of slender arms and stretched them into the sky. Her posture was pious and solemn: "My lord R'hllor informed me that Azor Ahai's Reincarnation has appeared, and he will shoulder the sacred mission of driving away the darkness and saving the world. And in the flames, I saw your figure."

After hearing this, Gavin frowned slightly and said: "I have heard the prophecy you mentioned when I was in Braavos, and it was told to me by the Red God Priest there. But I don't think the prophecy is true. It’s me, and I have always believed in the Seven Gods. You must have made a mistake.”

Melisandre looked at Gavin and said seriously: "Your Majesty, there are only two true gods in this world, the King of Light R'hllor and his mortal enemy the Cold God. The seven gods you mentioned are nothing but false existences. . As far as I know, you don’t believe in the Seven Gods, and you don’t even have any respect for God. The Seven Gods are just your excuse. You don’t have to worry. The King of Light is full of good intentions towards you, and you can trust Him unconditionally.”

When Gavin heard this, he stared at Melisandre coldly, unable to figure out her true intentions. Gavin does not believe in gods, even if they do exist in this world. If he had to believe in anything, Gavin only believed in his dragon. "Melisandre, if your purpose of coming is just to be a guest, Meereen and I both warmly welcome the Red God's sacrifice. But if your purpose of coming is to persuade me to believe in the Red God, then please come back. Regardless of whether I am devout to the Seven Gods or not. , I will not change my beliefs easily.”

Melisandre smiled and said, "Your Majesty, you do not understand the greatness of my Lord R'hllor. Soon, after the long summer, the stars will weep blood, and the cold and endless darkness will cover the whole world. Then, you will draw the burning sword, and that sword will be the 'Lightbringer', the red sword of heroes. Then, you will truly understand the greatness of my Lord."

Gavin has always kept a distance from things beyond his understanding, especially the gods of this world. He said coldly: "When I draw the sword, we can talk about faith. Melisandre, do you have anything else to do here?"

Melisandre spoke slowly, her voice seemed to come from ancient times, with a mysterious and distant charm: "Your Majesty, the 'Lightbringer' is not necessarily just a sword. Soon, you will understand. I came here mainly to tell you that the cold god in the north has awakened. With his awakening, the undead army has moved south, and the shadow of cold and death is gradually spreading. You should return to Westeros, which is your battlefield. I clearly saw your figure in the north in the flames."

Gavin shook his head slightly, his tone firm as a rock: "Maybe in One day in the future, I will conquer Westeros, but at the moment my focus is here. If you are here just to let me know, I already know. Next, you can stay in Meereen. If you are interested, you can also go to the Stepstones, but the route is currently blocked and you need to take a detour. I hope you have a good time here. "

Melisandre stared at Gavin and continued, "Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty, but I am here to help you. I can solve the problems you are facing now. Whether it is killing Khal "Drogo" or solving the sea monster that cuts off the route. "

After hearing this, Gavin couldn't help but think of the shadow created by Stannis and Melisandre in his mind, guessing that was the other party's reliance.

Shadows can kill people, Gavin knows, after all, the shadow once passed through layers of barracks and killed Lanli. But kill sea monsters? Gavin asked uncertainly: "I'm curious, how are you going to kill sea monsters?"