The Bizarre Adventure of the Warhammer Elves

Chapter 294 Support the Great Wall

Author: Bamboo Basket Frame Water

Chapter 294 Support the Great Wall

"Lord Petyr, may I ask if our treasury has enough money to support the Great Wall?"

Facing the inquiry from the King's Hand, Petyr Baelish, the Finance Minister at this time, was slightly startled, and then couldn't help but sneered and said:

"Dear Lord Aylin, you don't know the current debt situation of the treasury. Maybe our treasury is not as rich as the Night Watchman!"

Littlefinger's joke obviously failed to relieve the atmosphere. Except for Renly, who covered his mouth and laughed heartlessly, everyone's face was full of sadness.

Because they know that what Littlefinger said is true, that King's Landing is indeed poorer than the Night's Watch in a sense!

Although the living conditions of the Night Watch people are very difficult, they receive supplies from major kingdoms every year, so there is no shortage of food and weapons.

Precisely because there is no need to worry about logistical supply issues, the Night's Watch can still obtain some golden dragons every year by selling animal skins and wildling trophies to improve their food.

But King's Landing is different:

Since Robert Baratheon became king, the treasury has basically been in a state of loss beyond its means.

In addition, King Robert was a man who enjoyed great achievements. Not only did he often hold competitions with huge bounties in King's Landing, but he also never asked about the specific situation of the treasury.

To this day, the national treasury already owes a huge debt of more than 6 million gold dragons. Even if the entire royal collar is sold, it will not be able to raise this much money!

Old Jon obviously also knew about the emptiness of the treasury, so he could only sigh secretly, and then asked the bachelor next to him who had been keeping his eyes closed and concentrating:

"Grand Maester Pycelle, what do you think we can do if the savages choose to invade the Great Wall at this time... Grand Maester Pycelle?"

However, at this time, Grand Maester Pycelle was as silent as a twilight old man, as if he had not yet recovered from Old Jon's question.

Phew~

The faint sound of snoring spread into the hall. Stannis, who was sitting next to Pycelle, couldn't help but frown slightly, then reached out and patted Pycelle on the shoulder and said:

"Grand Maester Pycelle, this is the Royal Council, please be more serious."

"Ah? I'm sorry, it seems I'm too old and I accidentally fell asleep in the meeting."

Looking at Grand Maester Pycelle who seemed to be waking up from a dream, Old Jon could only helplessly shake his head, and then repeated the question he just asked.

After all, Pycelle was nine years older than Old Jon, so the Hand of the King didn't care about the Grand Maester's discourtesy.

However, everyone present did not know that the reason why this 80-year-old bachelor looked so tired just now was entirely because he was reminiscing about the young prostitute who was sent to his room last night.

In fact, this bachelor is the real master of pretending to be confused!

Pycelle stood up from his seat with a stoop, and his slightly swaying body left everyone present with no doubt that he might fall to the ground at any time.

Seeing that everyone present was focusing on him, Pycelle slowly touched the gray beard on his chin and started his acting:

"The savages are a group of humans living south of the Great Wall. The Great Wall separates them from the continent of Westeros, allowing them to be free from any moral and legal constraints..."

The words that were as dull as a monk chanting sutras came out of Pycelle's mouth, and the content was almost entirely based on information that everyone already knew.

Seeing this, Old Jon interrupted Pycelle's reading with some dissatisfaction, but continued to ask:

"It goes without saying that this is information that everyone knows. What I want to know more now is your analysis of the reasons why the savages went south this time!"

"The reason... maybe it's because the long winter is coming, and those savages are forced to go south to plunder due to the pressure of survival, right?"

After listening to Pycelle's speech, Old Jon couldn't help but squeeze the cane placed next to him, obviously very dissatisfied with Pycelle's meaningless speech.

He also knew that the savages most likely went south because of the pressure of survival, but he hoped that Pycelle could give some advice on how to deal with it!

"Is there anything else you want to say? If you have any good suggestions, please put them forward as soon as possible."

Seeing Pycelle return to his seat with a trembling body, Old Jon could only give up seeking advice from the Grand Maester, and instead turned his expectant eyes to the other ministers.

Seeing that no one seemed to be able to come up with any good ideas, Stannis, who controlled the Royal Navy, stood up and suggested:

"Why don't you let me gather the troops from the royal territory and Dragonstone Island, and then transport them through the Royal Navy's fleet to Eastwatch on the Great Wall to support the Night's Watch?"

After hearing Stannis's suggestion, Old Jon's eyes suddenly brightened up, and then he took over the conversation and continued:

"This is a good suggestion. The Royal Navy can go to Seagull Town in the valley for supplies, and at the same time, it can also get the cavalry from the valley to join."

As the Duke of the Eyrie and the Warden of the East, Old Jon is also qualified to mobilize the nobles of the valley. What's more, there is also a branch of the Arryn family in Seagull Town, which can completely obey Old Jon's orders.

And if this plan can succeed, then the armies of the king's territory, Dragonstone, the valley, and the north will unite for the first time in a long time, which can greatly strengthen Robert's dominance!

After all, the Baratheon family is only a young family that has just sat on the Iron Throne for less than thirty years, and its dominance is not strong.

The decades-long winter is coming. If Robert can successfully establish his prestige before then, then at least the country can survive the long winter safely.

Everyone here is basically a human spirit, so they immediately understood the importance of Old Jon's plan, and began to think about it one after another.

The finance minister, Little Finger, who had been standing nearby, stood silently in the shadow of the stone pillars of the hall, his fox-like bright eyes constantly turning, wondering what he was thinking.

"In this case, then I will put the icing on the cake and send three thousand heavy infantrymen from Storm's End to meet at King's Landing, and then we will go to the Wall together."

Renly, the Duke of Storm's End, obviously also understood Old Jon's plan, so he decisively chose to devote most of the elites in his territory to this expedition, with a smile on his face.

After all, although the relationship with his brother King Robert is not that good, he is still a member of the Baratheon family after all.

As long as it can make the Baratheon family's rule over the Iron Throne more stable, then he doesn't mind sending troops to support his brother.

And Old Jon's wrinkled face also showed a chrysanthemum-like smile, obviously very satisfied with the result.

Now they have gathered the support of the North, the Vale, the Crown, Dragonstone and the Stormlands, which will greatly strengthen the cohesion of the kingdom.

Coupled with the Tully family from the Riverlands who are married to the North and the Vale, it can be said that most of Westeros is already considered a friend of the Baratheon family!

Thinking of this, Old Jon stood up from his seat excitedly, then picked up the wine glass with some joy and said:

"Great. As long as we in Westeros can unite together, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of wildlings, even the legendary White Walkers will not be afraid."

After saying that, Old Jon raised his glass to the ministers around him, and then drank all the wine in the glass.

He seems to have seen the future. Westeros will step out of the shadow of the Targaryen family and move towards a brighter future!

Unfortunately, not everyone is satisfied with this alliance:

"Although I don't want to ruin your enjoyment of drinking, I still have a problem that I want to raise first, that is, there are not that many golden dragons in the treasury to support this expedition."

The thin figure of Littlefinger walked out of the shadows, and the false smile on his face made Old Jon feel uncomfortable and disgusted.

However, Petyr did not seem to notice Old Jon's unkind gaze, but sat directly on his seat, crossed his legs and continued:

"Don't forget that we still owe Lord Tywin Lannister three million gold dragons in the West, and the Iron Bank's debt of three million gold dragons is about to expire. Who knows what they will do?"

Hearing the joking in Petyr's words, Varys, who had never dealt with Petyr, couldn't help but put his hands into his sleeves, and then asked pretending to be curious:

"Lord Petyr, if I remember correctly, the tax money from the royal family should have entered the treasury last month. It shouldn't be that you can't even afford the money, right?"

After all, this is not an era of war, and the port revenue of King's Landing and King's Landing City is enough to bring hundreds of thousands of gold dragons to the national treasury every year, which is more than enough to cover the interest on the loan.

As long as the treasury can provide tens of thousands of gold dragons for logistical expenses, plus the wishes of the Valley and Stormlands, there is no reason for the Iron Treasury to be so hostile to the Iron Throne?

However, Petyr soon gave everyone present a big 'surprise':

"I think all the ministers here probably don't know yet. His Majesty the King is planning to hold a competition next month, which is expected to cost more than 50,000 gold dragons!"

"What?!"

Hearing this shocking news, not to mention old Jon and Stannis who were dedicated to serving their country, even the crooked Renly and the transparent Pycelle were frightened.

Wallis took his hands out of his sleeves in surprise, touched his bald head uneasily and murmured:

"Gods above, is this all destined?"

"This is nonsense! Does that bastard Robert really want the entire country to be buried for his childishness!"

Even Stannis, who had always been calm, lost his composure and stood up from his chair with an angry look on his face. He didn't even notice that he had cursed the king loudly.

However, at this moment, several knights in white robes were escorting a fat man past the royal meeting, and they happened to hear Stannis's curse.

Not long after, a rough voice came from the hall of the Iron Throne. Even though they were far apart, everyone could feel the smell of alcohol exuding:

"Mind your manners, boy Stannis. Although I am your brother, I am also your king!"

"Then my dear brother King, why are you preparing to hold a competitive competition with great fanfare when your kingdom is about to suffer disaster?"

Seeing the fat figure walking into the hall of the Royal Council, Renly looked at Stannis with a gloomy face next to him teasingly, then stood up and greeted:

"Good morning, brother, I wonder how good your harvest was when you went out hunting this time?"

"Haha, it seems that I was lucky this time. I met a brown bear that was just about to enter hibernation. You should really follow me and hunt black bears like a real man, instead of getting some cosmetics in the castle!"

Upon hearing this, Renly's face darkened just like Stannis next to him, and then he rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair.

King Robert, smelling of alcohol, entered the hall under the protection of several Kingsguards, and then laughed and asked the silent crowd:

"Why was the Royal Council suddenly convened, and the atmosphere is still so gloomy? Could it be that the Beggar King of the Targaryen family came here?"

Looking at King Robert who had offended two duke brothers at the same time, Old Jon sighed secretly, and then stood up on his own initiative and said:

"I'm afraid the situation is worse than that. Your Majesty the King, hundreds of thousands of wildling troops are preparing to attack the Great Wall. Ned has issued a mobilization order and is preparing to go north to assist the Night's Watch."

Hearing Ned's name and what his adoptive father had just said, Robert slapped his forehead hard, trying to wake up his fat brain.

Old Jon sat patiently on the chair, waiting for Robert to come to his senses again.

He knew that Robert was actually a very smart ruler, but he had lost his motivation after living without threats for a long time.

Robert is like a piece of fine steel. Although it may rust due to being left for too long, as long as it is carefully maintained, it will be the strongest material.

After a while, Robert's originally cloudy eyes showed a glimmer of light, and then he touched his chin and said:

"Well~ Ned is not a guy who messes around. It seems that there is indeed some threat in the north of the Great Wall."

Seeing that Robert had regained consciousness, Old Jon revealed all his previous plans in the royal meeting, and then advised:

"Give up your tourneys for the time being. Think of it as just to help Ned. You must send troops to support him this time!"

"Don't worry, Ned is my good brother in this life. How could I put him in danger just for my own temporary pleasure?"

Looking at his adoptive father's face full of anxiety, Robert's fat face showed a trace of tenderness, and then said to his two younger brothers:

"Please, my dear brothers, remember to pay attention to safety on the road. I will pick you up at Castle Black!"

Upon hearing this, Renly, who was still a little sulky, immediately stood up, confidently patted his chest and promised:

"Don't worry, brother, we promise that we will...wait a minute, what does it mean to pick up the wind for us at Castle Black?"

Hearing Renly's incredible question, everyone present reacted quickly and looked at the fat king in front of them in shock.

Robert was looking at his bulging belly like a pregnant woman with some distress, and then complained to Barristan, the captain of the Kingsguard next to him:

"I've really gained a lot of weight over the years. Maybe it's time to find a blacksmith to build myself a new armor and warhammer."

"Robert! Do you also want to follow the fleet to the Great Wall?"

"You want me to slowly gather the troops with you? Are you kidding me? Ned is fighting hard on the Great Wall right now. How can I watch him fight alone and remain indifferent!"

(End of chapter)