Robert's interest arose as soon as he talked about the war.
"This matter cannot be decided now. Ministers, please make statistics of the troops that can be dispatched and the materials that need to be consumed. Once a war starts, you can only win but not lose! Whoever participates in the war will benefit, and those who do not participate will take turns.
Not to them."
Stannis: "This is equivalent to mobilizing the manpower and resources of the entire seven countries. It will take at least half a year for our personnel to gather the materials and get them in place."
Jon Arryn: "Grand Maester Pycelle, you first send letters to the Westerlands, the North and Dorne, especially the Westerlands and Dorne. Let's test their voices first."
"As you command, Your Excellency."
"The Dukes of the Stormlands and the Dukes of the Reach who are here clearly support sending troops. Please make an inventory of the troops and supplies within the territory. I personally represent very little shipping in the Valley, and I have not suffered any losses in the Stepstone Islands area.
, in principle, we must first remain neutral on the matter of sending troops."
Jon Arryn looked at Robert again.
"The shipping in the valley is underdeveloped, and the military force is mainly composed of knights. Like the soldiers in the north, most of them are not good at water warfare, and they are not of much use in the naval battle on the Stepped Islands. However, they can be stationed in the royal territory to maintain law and order.
”
Robert trusted his adoptive father very much and had already told him about his affair with Tywin in private.
Robert: "Stannis, hurry up and train the royal fleet. Varys, from now on, you must collect more information about the Stepstones and Dorne. Renly and Duke of Mace, you two are deeply harassed by pirates.
The main force this time depends on you!"
"As you command, Your Majesty the King."
Varys continued: "In fact, the nobles in the royal territory and the Lannister family in the west have also been harassed by pirates in their maritime trade. They should also approve of the Seven Kingdoms sending troops this time."
Robert thought for a while: "The estimated preparation time is half a year, and the expedition time will be scheduled after my wedding. But this matter will be kept secret until there is no reply from the West, the North, and Dorne. Grand Maester Pycelle
, you have to speed up."
"As you command, Your Majesty the King."
Robert: "Even if we conquer the Stepstone Islands this time, we will also solve the hidden danger of Dorne. If possible, use more of Dorne's troops in the battle."
Renly: "The Dornish people become pirates themselves, and then send the Dornish army to fight them. It's ridiculous to think about it, but they may also trick us in turn!"
Robert: "So, ministers, you must prepare a plan for how we will respond once the Dornish people start a war with us as pirates."
The letter crows quickly flew to various places from the Red Castle. The eight ministers of the Royal Council and King Robert also began to secretly carry out statistics on soldiers and supplies. However, if there are too many people who know the secret, the news will inevitably be leaked.
Later that day, Varys met Baelish again at an entertainment venue.
"Lord Varys, you charged me so much money, I want to know why the Chancellor of the Exchequer ended up being an inflatable fish?" Littlefinger Baelish did not pour wine for Varys this time.
"The Prime Minister and I both recognized you and voted for you. But didn't you see that all this was decided by the Baratheon brothers long ago! Maybe even the Prime Minister doesn't know."
Littlefinger was very angry, but he still kept a fake smile on his face: "Then, Mr. Intelligence Controller, do you have anything important to do when you came to me just after the imperial meeting?"
Varys has a high opinion of Littlefinger Baelish. He is bold, careful, glib, and pervasive, but very ambitious. He has only been in King's Landing for a few years and yet he dares to seek the position of Minister of Finance. Beware of such people.
But certain interests can still be exchanged with him.
"A top-secret piece of news, so I can return the favor to you."
"Oh!" Littlefinger finally poured a glass of sweet wine for Varys.
Wallis picked up the wine and drank it, showing a very thirsty expression: "Now that pirate attacks are becoming more and more frequent, the king is going to launch a war on the Stepped Stone Islands. If he wants to directly conquer the Stepped Stone Islands, it will probably take half a year to prepare.
All seven Dukes will participate."
"This is a big deal! Dear Lord Varys, thank you very much for your information!" Littlefinger Baelish became excited.
"But don't think about doing stupid things, just take this opportunity to make a fortune."
"Chaos is the ladder, my friend! War brings death, but it also brings opportunity!"
"You can take care of yourself." Varys said and left.
Varys has always felt that he has information that others don't know, and he will always stand on the ladder. Littlefinger Baelish is similar in some aspects. He doesn't want to face this person, which sometimes puts him at a disadvantage.
So today I found an opportunity to return the favor to avoid losing greater benefits in the future.
Wallis returned to his residence, which was luxuriously decorated and filled with various fragrances.
In a small room next to the kitchen, two wooden boxes are placed here.
When someone came in, there was a knocking sound from the wooden box.
Varys used a crowbar to open a box. Inside was the wealthy businessman who bought his lifeblood when he was a child and used it to perform blood magic.
After several months of sea transportation, the boatmen will only ensure that the goods are not dead and arrive well when transporting this kind of goods. The wealthy businessman is now so hungry that he is skin and bones, but Wallis still recognizes him at a glance.
Wallis already knew the identities of the wealthy businessman and the wizard back then, and now that he had status and money, he could take their lives at any time. Maybe he hadn't figured out how to torture his enemy yet, or he wanted to see his enemy cry when he was forced into a desperate situation.
None of them took action.
Wallis grabbed the rich businessman's hand and placed it next to the wooden box. He took out a nail and nailed the wooden box in place again, but this time the nail also went through the rich businessman's palm.
The wealthy businessman was fed poison by Tyene. He was speechless and had no strength to fight Varys. It was difficult for him to even stand up. He could only watch with tears as his palms were nailed through, and he was once again sealed into the dark wood.
In the box.
Wallis walked to another wooden box and saw through the vent that there was a bald wizard inside. Although the skin color was wrong and he was not the wizard who cast the spell back then, he heard from Little Bird that Witte had already put the other two of Mir to death.
A wizard was killed.
"Come here!"
"Sir, what are your orders?" A servant came over.
"Go to Flea Bottom and ask Chef Layton to buy meat." Varys rubbed his fingers gently.
Flea Bottom is a slum in King's Landing City. Most of the people here have no jobs, thieves, robbers, women engaged in the lowest-end entertainment industry, and illegitimate children. The most disliked people in King's Landing live here.
Brown soup is a kind of stew provided by Flea Bottom street shops. Various vegetables and meat are put in it and cooked together. The vegetables include rotten vegetable leaves picked up from the market and vegetables stolen by thieves from outside the city. There is even more meat. Rats, bats, pigeons, fish, as long as they are edible, are thrown into the soup.
Today, at Chef Layton's small shop, the brown soup is particularly fragrant, and you can see a few pieces of meat when you scoop it out with a spoon. Many people buy it here and eat it with a wooden bowl.
A robber from outside the city also bought a bowl, which was very rich in oil and water. At the end of the meal, a blue finger with human skin spit out from his mouth. He didn't care and threw the finger bone to a dog next to him.<