The Mountain of Ice and Fire

"Open the castle gates, summon the lady and the young mistress, and come with me to greet Lord Mountain," Count Ron said.

"As you command, my lord," Dick Ron said, bowing.

The Mountain led his light cavalry of four hundred, a guard of over a hundred, and six hundred mountain tribe soldiers, led by Kira of the Black Ear tribe, to Ron Town.

The six hundred mountain tribe soldiers came from all the tribes in Tarbeck Hall, forming a mixed legion. There was deep animosity between the tribes of the Mountains of the Moon, due to the irreconcilable conflicts caused by competition for resources in the mountains. Now that they had migrated to the Westerlands, that conflict naturally disappeared. The Mountain deliberately mixed the soldiers from different tribes to make them realize that they were a unified whole, comrades in arms, and no longer enemies.

For Ron Town, the Mountain only needed to bring two hundred men. Besides the light cavalry, he also brought six hundred mountain warriors to train their marching and discipline, and to familiarize them with the surrounding geography.

The mountain warriors were beginning to take root in the Westerlands, and they needed to adapt to the climate, geography, surrounding environment, and military discipline as soon as possible. Because of the construction of cities and buildings, the Mountain would lead the mountain tribe warriors out to work with him in batches.

In the distance, the gates of Ron Town opened wide, and a group of people came out to greet the Mountain.

Countess Stella Ron was forty-one years old this year and well-maintained. The lady and young mistress also accompanied her to show their respect to Lord Mountain.

As the two sides approached, Count Stella Ron dismounted first, waiting by the side of the road. The lady, young mistress, and guards also dismounted, respectfully waiting by the side of the road.

If they dare to offend, punish them severely; but if they submit and are respectful, then personally help them up. - This was Duke Tywin's famous saying. However, the time-traveling Mountain did not need to remember Duke Tywin's famous saying, as he already possessed such basic awareness from a higher level of civilization.

The Mountain also dismounted from Red Smoke Beast, followed by Guard Captain Erin, attendants Landon Gahl, Com Warner, and the rest of the guard.

The two leaders of the light cavalry, Julie Clegane and Anguy Clegane, signaled, and the four hundred light cavalry also dismounted.

Seeing this, Kira, the little beauty leader of the Black Ear tribe, turned her head, and her seven sons dismounted one after another, along with the tribe guards. Kira also dismounted.

The Mountain walked towards Count Stella Ron, who hurried forward to greet him.

Seeing the Mountain and his rumored barbaric warriors dismount together, showing no contempt for the Ron family, the lady and young mistress secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, given the Mountain's brutality, when would he ever be so polite to people? This was an unbelievable doubt!

Among the welcoming party brought by Ron: the maester, captain, and soldiers also secretly breathed a sigh of relief, their tense faces visibly relaxing. Dismounting from afar, was this still the brutal and terrifying Mountain?

The Mountain's notoriety was so deeply rooted in people's minds that once he showed a certain amount of etiquette and rules, people would have a dazed illusion, feeling that it was not real.

After the Mountain defeated Duke Tywin in King's Landing, his prestige in the Westerlands was so great that the nobles who remained were both shocked and afraid of him. The Mountain's ferocity, only one person in the Westerlands could restrain him in the past, and that was Duke Tywin, but now, Duke Tywin was no longer here...

"Duke," Count Stella stepped forward quickly, almost kneeling to pay his respects. This was not only self-deprecating humility, but also the fear and unbelievable excitement of being treated with courtesy by a brutal demon.

The Mountain's status as Duke was worthy of any grand gesture from the Count.

The Mountain quickly reached out to help the Count, and he was very satisfied with Count Stella's performance.

Beginning with fear is not a bad thing! As long as the Count feels that everything is getting better, with dignity, benefits, development, and favor, then everything will fall into place.

"Count," the Mountain helped Stella up, preventing him from kneeling.

The Mountain's willingness to give others dignity was to give himself nobility.

"Welcome to Ron Town," the Count said excitedly.

"Sorry to disturb you, Count!" the Mountain said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"This young general must be Miss Julie Clegane?"

"It is indeed my daughter."

Julie Clegane saw her father's gaze and had no choice but to come forward to pay her respects to the Count, saying a few hypocritical pleasantries.

Next was General Anguy Clegane, whose divine archery was famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Since winning the archery championship in the King's Landing Hand's tournament last year, he had been very famous among the nobles. The nobles passed around the word that since he followed a great villain like the Mountain, Anguy's name as a divine archer had spread even further and faster.

"General Anguy is my adopted son, and also my son-in-law. Elanor Mooton, the daughter of Count Mooton of the Riverlands, is my adopted daughter, and is now General Anguy's wife. General Anguy is a knight conferred by me. He made great contributions in the Battle of the Blackwater, and His Majesty the King personally granted him the title of Baron."

Among nobles, what is valued is the other party's family status, interpersonal relationships, knightly spirit, and war merits and glory.

The Mountain said this about Anguy to give him credit and honor. Fine clothes should not be worn at night, but should be worn out in the daytime, so that others can see them clearly.

"General's archery is invincible, Stella admires him very much. He is also loved by the Duke, taken as an adopted son, and married to Miss Elanor Mooton, a beautiful marriage, and glorious achievements in battle, a young hero, unmatched by anyone." Well-educated nobles give out beautiful words wholesale.

Anguy hurriedly humbled himself, feeling extremely awkward. But with his father, Lord Mountain, here, with a smile on his face, he did not dare to show the slightest displeasure. He glanced at Julie, and his little sister was the same, maintaining a stiff smile on her face.

Afterwards, the Count introduced his wife and young mistress to the Mountain.

Under Lady Jeyne's tutelage, the Mountain had mastered all the tedious etiquette of the nobility. Lady Jeyne was a noble lady carefully cultivated by the Westerling family since childhood, not only in virtue, but also knowledgeable.

"Count Stella, where is your heir?"

"Duke, last year, when the Westerlands and the North went to war, my two sons took the family soldiers to fight with Duke Tywin."

"Oh? Are they still in the Westerlands army now?"

"Both children have died in battle." The Count looked sad. "The family soldiers are also almost all dead."

"That's unfortunate." The Mountain looked at the Count's daughter, Dillya Ron, "Is Miss married?"

"Due to years of war, many of the other nobles' children have also died in battle, so my daughter is still unmarried."

"What about Sharlot of Silverhill? If possible, I could try to be a matchmaker."

"The Sharlot family of Silverhill is very wealthy... We are afraid we cannot afford to marry into them."

The rumor that the Countess Sharlot of Silverhill was the first to submit to the Mountain and swear allegiance had also spread throughout the Westerlands, but it was difficult to tell whether these rumors were true or false.

"The Sharlot family has seven sons. After two years of war, three brothers are still blessed by the Seven Gods and are not yet married. As long as you agree, I will be your matchmaker," the Mountain said.

*

No matter how large and successful the Sharlot family of Silverhill is, only one can be the heir. The remaining brothers either find their own way out or eke out a living as vassals of the family head. If they want to establish themselves as a family, they either need to gain great military exploits and be rewarded, or they need to form a marriage alliance.

For the Westerlands army, which has been losing battle after battle, military exploits are out of the question. Then, for the Sharlot family, apart from the eldest son, the other two sons only have marriage alliances to get ahead.

Whoever can marry Dillya Ron will get Ron Town. The youngest son of the largest noble family in the Vale, the Royce family, became a member of the Night's Watch, and the second son became a Rainbow Guard of Renly Baratheon in the Stormlands. Because they are not the eldest sons, they all have to find their own way out.

The other noble families are the same.

Among the great noble families with many brothers, they even kill each other for the right of inheritance.

*

"Then thank you very much, Duke," Count Stella thanked him quickly.

This shows that Count Stella does not mind becoming a vassal under the Mountain's sphere of influence.

The Mountain's test was successful.

Extreme notoriety is also a resource comparable to a good reputation. If used well, it can also play a clever role in leveraging strength.

The group politely entered Ron Town.

Erin, Com Warner, Landon Gahl, and other close attendants of the Mountain noticed that there were only about thirty soldiers on the city walls. Along the way, in the streets, the training ground, and the courtyard in front of the main castle, there were only a few soldiers on guard.

After two years of war, the Ron family had not only lost its heirs, but also had no military strength! Counting the welcoming party brought out by the Count, the entire town, at most, had less than a hundred soldiers.

The war has had a profound impact on the large and small nobles of the Westerlands. And in the Riverlands, the Westerlands and Reach joint forces are still fighting. For the Westerlands army, which is less than ten thousand strong, casualties are still occurring every day.

*

After drinking and eating, in the main castle, in the study.

Two people: the Mountain and Count Stella.

The Mountain spread out maps, household registration books, and detailed tax forms on the table.

Count Stella did not understand what this meant. These things belonged to his Ron family.

He knew that the Mountain would not come here for no reason, and these things were taken away by Lady Sharlot and handed over to Lord Mountain.

"Count, Ron Town no longer has gold mines, and the war has exhausted the wealth and food of the people. I want to revitalize the Westerlands, are you willing to help me?"

"I am very willing, Duke, but Ron Town really cannot provide more food and money to you, I am very sorry."

"Count, I don't need the Ron family to give me any food or money. The gold mines of Castamere and Tarbeck Hall were put on hold by Duke Tywin for forty years. Now that I have reopened the gold mines, they can be mined for at least another thirty years. So, in the entire Westerlands, I am the one who lacks gold mines the least, Count."

"Yes, Duke."

"I am not short of ready-made gold dragons either, Count. I have a secret to share with you."

"…………"

Count Stella knew that some secrets were best not known. Knowing is easy, but what if something happens in the future...

"I secretly built a mint in Castamere to mint my own gold dragons." The Mountain took out two gold dragons and placed them in front of the Count. "Look at these two gold dragons, Count, which one was minted by the royal mint, and which one was minted by me?"

The Mountain secretly minting gold coins?

This is a capital crime!

The Count looked at the two identical gold dragon coins in front of him. He could not tell the difference between the real and the fake. He was dumbfounded!

Both were real, both were made of real gold, but the minters were different.

The Mountain smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Count. The mint was secretly authorized by Duke Tywin to build. Duke Tywin also has a secret mint under Casterly Rock. Otherwise, how could the Lannister family be so rich?"

Stella felt like he could not breathe. He didn't want to know these secrets at all. These secrets were like red-hot branding irons, very hot, and would kill people if he wasn't careful.

"Count, I have drawn a new map, would you like to take a look?"

Count Stella really wanted to say he didn't want to see it, but he found himself nodding, "Very willing, Duke."