In order to rush back to Highgarden as soon as possible, Samwell handed over the army to the leadership of Todd Flowers, and took the first step with only the cavalry squad.

When he arrived at Highgarden, he found that many lords' troops had gathered here.

In fact, when Samwell set out for Starfall City to meet Prince Doran, the Duke of Mace, at the request of Lady Olenna, the "Queen of Thorns", had already publicly denounced Cersei and her brother's scoundrels as having no right to inherit the Iron Throne.

Interestingly, this public statement did not explicitly support Stannis Baratheon's ascension to the Iron Throne.

At the same time, the Duke of Metz also issued a recruitment order.

However, it was not clearly stated who the target of the conquest was.

Of course, this ambiguous statement was negotiated between Samwell and Lady Olenna, so that there would be room for whatever he did in the future.

Samwell hurriedly washed away the travel dust, changed his clothes, and went to see Lady Olenna.

"Sam." Lady Olenna waved her hand, signaling the maids surrounding her to step aside. Then she looked at her grandson-in-law and asked, "What did you talk about with Doran? Why did Sunspear send a messenger to Gao?

Court, what does it mean to renegotiate the tariffs between the two places?”

Samwell came to the seat in front of the old lady and sat down. He poured himself a cup of tea without being noticed. After drinking it to relieve his thirst, he calmly told the story of his meeting with Prince Doran.

Told it once.

Lady Olenna smiled and nodded: "What you said makes sense. Even if the Martell family realizes that something is wrong, they may not dare to issue such an order that is bound to offend the Dornish peasants and even the Dornish nobles. Moreover, Doran is not thinking

To show us sincerity, we can’t just sign a tariff agreement and regret it later.”

The land in Dorne is barren, and the yields of crops such as barley and wheat are not high. I asked specifically that with the same planting area, farmers could earn almost twice as much money if they planted mountain grapes instead.

Of course, this "agricultural invasion" plan is destined to be a long-term plan. It may take several years or even more than ten years to slowly transform Dorne's agriculture. The best way for him to increase his strength currently is to swallow the Stormlands.

"He will stay in Highgarden." Lady Olenna snorted, "Garland will go out with the army on behalf of the Tyrell family."

"Yes. That's why I want to renegotiate the tariff with Prince Daolang, just to strengthen the commercial exchanges between the two places and reduce the difficulty of implementing this plan."

Samwell looked happy and stood up to help Lady Olenna get a cup of tea.

Samwell leaned forward slightly and said softly:

"I thought of a plan to conquer Dorne. Don't worry, it won't be with force, but with food."

Moreover, the owners of the grape plantations and the farmers working there are all very friendly to Yingzui Island, which is understandable, after all, they rely on Yingzui Island to make money.

Think about it, the two places were fighting each other a year ago, but now they have become as close as one because of trade and interests.

"Most of the lords of the Reach have already sent out troops. There are currently nearly 30,000 people gathered in Highgarden. It is estimated that there will be an army of 40,000 in the end."

I was secretly excited. It seemed that dragon bone soup could indeed accelerate the growth of dragons.

In fact, one of the more important reasons why he rejected Prince Doran was that he did not want to offend the Tyrell family. He had just entered into an engagement and was about to marry a second wife. Can Lady Olenna endure this kind of humiliation?

The attitude of the Reach nobles must also be considered.

Think about it, if this model is promoted, it will be impossible to cover all the farmland in Dorne. Of course, it should be impossible, but as long as a considerable part of the farmland is converted into grape plantations, or other fields are more expensive and more suitable for planting in arid areas.

Cash crops, such as olives, cotton, sugar beets... Then——"

Therefore, now, large areas of farmland on the outskirts of Starfall City have been converted into grape plantations.

Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, he suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Mrs. Olenna:

"A witch who serves the red god R'hllor once told me a prophecy. She said she saw the withering of roses..."

"Oh? Food?" Mrs. Olenna became interested, "Tell me about it."

The reason is very simple: you can make money by growing grapes.

After listening quietly, Mrs. Olenna sneered and said:

"He actually wants you to learn from Aegon the Conqueror? Haha! He must have no good intentions. Aegon had three adult dragons back then, and your dragon..."

"Agreed. There is no shortage of food in the Reach. Even if you lose a little, you can sell it to Dorne. As long as your plan can be implemented smoothly, maybe we can achieve something that the Targaryen family has not been able to achieve for hundreds of years."

After thinking about it, she added: "The only thing we need to worry about is that the Martell family is aware of the problem and issues an order forcing farmers to grow food."

"Then Dorne's food production will be greatly reduced." Lady Olenna seemed to have understood Samwell's thoughts, and her small eyes shone with excitement and cold light.

"Okay." Samwell nodded, and then asked, "This time we march into the Stormlands, will Lord Mace go?"

And as long as we control Dorne's food supply..."

"That's a lot to eat." Samwell chuckled and found an excuse.

The thousand-year feud between the Riverbend and Dorne is not something to be talked about casually. Samwell knows very well that he can only get the support of one party for the time being, and the Riverbend is obviously much more suitable than Dorne.

"Anyway, you were right in not agreeing to Doran's alliance conditions. He seems gentle, even a little weak, but if you think he is easy to bully, you will definitely suffer a big loss. They are all grown from Dorne's viper's nest.

Yes, how could Doran be a harmless sheep?

It's just that compared to his flamboyant brother, Doran knows how to hide his fangs better, but such a poisonous snake is also more deadly."

This also made him let go of his worries. Finally, he was not raising a dragon for his grandson's grandson.

"That's enough." Samwell nodded with satisfaction.

"You can control Dorne." Lady Olenna followed Samwell's words and concluded.

"I understand." Samwell pretended to be open-minded.

Samwell said with a smile: "That will destroy people and wealth, and the Martell family will be prepared to bear the wrath of the farmers of Dorne. My plan is actually to create enough relationships within Dorne.

Bay Faction', as long as there are more Dornish people like this, the less likely Dorne will be our enemy, and even gradually come under our control."

He had to admit that after receiving the support of the Tyrell family, the means and power he could use were far beyond what he had before. Even Dorne, the hardest nut to crack in the Seven Kingdoms, dared to even think about it.

Mrs. Olenna didn't know whether to believe this reason, but she didn't bother and continued:

When I met with Prince Doran this time, I also took a look at the grape plantation in Starfall City and found that the local Dornish people were happy to grow grapes for Yingzui Island.

"It grows very fast." Mrs. Olenna sighed, and then she became confused, "Do dragons grow so fast?"

"It is expected that the army will be assembled next week. At that time, I will let Mace officially declare war on the illegitimate Duke. I will not participate in the specific battle plan. You can discuss it with your father and Matus Rowan.

"

Now if you go to Starfall City and ask, I'm afraid there won't be many people who are still willing to be enemies of Yingzui Island or even Hebend.

Thinking of this, Samwell asked: "How is the army gathering situation?"

As she said this, Mrs. Olenna looked up and saw the white dragon Cleopatra hovering over the courtyard, making sharp neighing sounds from time to time.

It was indeed very fast. Samwell's dragon was the size of a kitten when it was first hatched, but just over two months later, it was already the size of an adult falcon.

"You also know that brandy is produced in my territory, so I need a large amount of fresh mountain grapes as raw materials for winemaking. In order to strengthen the connection with the Dane family, I deliberately chose Starfall City as a grape supply base.

"Okay, now let's talk about business tax. What are your plans?"

"So, you agree to this plan?"

"That's right!" Samwell continued, "In order to make the Dornish people more willing to plant other cash crops, we must provide a large amount of food, and it is low-priced food, impacting the food market in Dorne, and letting farmers discover how to grow food.

There is no money to be made at all, and because there is a large supply of low-priced food, they do not need to grow their own food. As a result, the Dornish people will become increasingly dependent on food from the Reach.

Most of the Stormlands' troops have been trapped in Dorne, and if they can gather another 20,000 troops, they will be able to hold up the sky. What's more, the bastard Duke appointed by the Iron Throne has no such appeal.

"Okay." Samwell nodded with satisfaction. As long as the inflatable fish doesn't cause trouble for him, that's fine.

"It is indeed an excellent idea." Lady Olenna did not hesitate to praise her. "Conquering Dorne with swords will only arouse hatred and resistance, but using food will make the Dornish people increasingly inseparable from the river.

Bay. Perhaps one day in the future, even if the Martell family issues a war order against the Reach, the Dornish people will find that they can no longer become enemies with the Reach."

"Prophecy?" Lady Olenna sneered, "I have never believed in any bullshit prophecies in my life. The reason why the Targaryen family always produces crazy people is not all because of the so-called prophecies. What about 'the dragon has three heads'?

'A Song of Ice and Fire'... They were obsessed with prophecies, so they did all kinds of unreasonable things, which ultimately brought destruction to the family."

Samwell shrugged: "Actually, I don't really believe in prophecies. However, it's always good to be careful."

"Don't worry, the Reach is not that fragile. Even if 40,000 troops are deployed, there will still be enough defense power."

"Okay." Samwell said no more, stood up and saluted, then said goodbye and left.
Chapter completed!