The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 527: Ambitions of an Empire

(Bonus chapter for Alliance Master [Jin Xiao Yanei].)

*

The Mountain arrived with his guard.

The Mountain's guard had always been a company of one hundred men, but this time, Kevan saw two companies.

One company was the death squad led by Captain Alyn, and the other company was entirely composed of tribal warriors from the Claw Peninsula.

Both companies were cavalry.

Men like wolves, horses like lions!

The Mountain's two most elite companies.

Captain Alyn's death squad company was uniformly equipped with armor, longswords, short knives, daggers, and helmets.

The Claw Peninsula company, on the other hand, wielded heavy poleaxes, large scimitars, warhammers, chain maces, spiked maces, double-bladed heavy axes, spiked clubs, spears...

Kevan also noticed that the warriors of Captain Alyn's company carried small round shields and short crossbows on their backs, with quivers full of short arrows hanging from their waists.

The other company of peninsula warriors all carried longbows and wicker shields on their backs, with quivers at their waists, their arrows either green, black, or red. The colorful arrows reminded Kevan of the peninsula people's most feared poison arrows.

The arrival of these men caused the red-cloaked warriors of the Tower of the Hand to secretly become wary.

It seemed that the Mountain had come with ill intentions, as if looking for trouble.

The restaurant in the Tower of the Hand was neither large nor small, capable of accommodating hundreds of people at the same time.

The Mountain entered the restaurant with Alyn, Comm, Landon, and Joyce, while the rest waited outside.

Joyce Footly, the young chieftain of the peninsula's most powerful tribe. The captain of the Mountain's second guard company, wielding a spear.

Kevan came to accompany the Mountain and his four men, along with his maester, captain of the guard, and steward.

Various exquisite dishes were brought up in a continuous stream.

"Lord Gregor, the guard has increased by a company," Kevan said, expressionless.

"Two companies are just right," the Mountain said.

"Oh, does the invincible Duke need two companies to protect him?"

"Compared to Duke Tywin's five hundred guards, my numbers are not many."

Kevan revealed a smile, an expression that Duke Tywin would never have: "Duke, there are many refugees in the city, and various mercenaries come and go. I would also like to have an extra company."

"If the Hand wants to hire an extra company, just have the Master of Coin, Gyles Rosby, allocate the funds."

Kevan shook his head: "Let's put it aside for now, the treasury is empty, and money is flowing out like water every day. Fifty thousand gold dragons will soon be spent."

"Hand, the Rock's stored gold coins should also be in the millions."

"There isn't that much money, it's all rumors from the outside. Lord Gregor, you know the Lannister family best."

Kevan cut the meat for the Mountain and diligently urged him to drink.

The Mountain and his four guards ate and drank freely. Kevan had hired the best chefs in King's Landing to prepare the dishes, and various dishes with unpronounceable names were brought up continuously, extremely lavish.

"Hand, what do you want to see me about? Speak."

The Mountain did not beat around the bush.

"The bank!" Kevan was not polite or hypocritical either, the Mountain did not like those kinds of tricks.

"The bank is just the first step, Hand. The second step is investment," the Mountain said frankly.

"Investment?"

"Yes, I plan to persuade Duke Mace Tyrell to let me sell the Arbor Gold wine from House Redwyne under his command. I will not do business within the Seven Kingdoms, I will only do free trade across the Narrow Sea."

"I'm afraid House Redwyne will not agree."

"They will agree, I assure you of that, Hand," the Mountain said.

Kevan felt uncomfortable. The more confident the Mountain was, the more he showed that he was sure of success, the more uncomfortable he felt.

"Duke, if you can negotiate the overseas trade of Arbor Gold wine alone, the only one, you will become very rich," Kevan asserted.

"Is the Hand willing to invest?"

"Invest? How to invest?" Kevan heard the word 'invest' for the first time.

"It's cooperation. I plan to ship a batch of Arbor Gold wine to Pentos soon, and sell a ship of wine to the local big merchants. If you are willing to do it together, we will split the capital in half, and we will also split the profits in half."

"I'll invest," Kevan said without hesitation.

Arbor Gold wine was in short supply, and had been selling well in the Seven Kingdoms for a hundred years. It was a fine gift for the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, and a must-drink wine for entertaining distinguished guests.

"Hand, after my trade routes are opened in the future, all the common people in the city who believe in me can invest through the bank."

"Through the bank?" Kevan felt that his mind could not keep up with the Mountain's pace.

"Yes, through the bank. Hand, if you are willing to invest in the sale of Arbor Gold wine, you must cooperate with me through the bank's channels."

"I hand the money over to the bank?" Kevan was really surprised.

"Yes, through the bank. I will launch the cooperation methods for Arbor Gold wine one after another, the foreign trade of Westerlands snow salt, the foreign trade of Westerling noodles, mercenary business, weapons sales, iron ore business, you can learn about which way you like to do business through the bank, and then invest money. Once a business is done and money is earned, it will be divided."

"Snow salt?" Kevan said expressionlessly, he always liked to imitate Tywin's words and deeds. "Lord Gregor, I am the Salt Minister of the Westerlands snow salt."

"That was when Duke Tywin was around, Lord Kevan, now you are the Hand of King's Landing, and you can't spare the time to manage the snow salt in the Westerlands. However, the snow salt business in the Westerlands belongs to you, to your second son Martyn Lannister, but I will do the foreign trade, the trade to other places in the Seven Kingdoms. The snow salt technology is the production method that my Light of the Seven thought of. In addition to snow salt, we have many businesses for foreign trade. I want to do everything that can be sold from the mainland to the other side. I also want to do everything that can be sold from across the Narrow Sea to our side."

Kevan was stunned.

The Mountain in front of him was so unfamiliar.

When did the Mountain become so concerned about foreign trade?

It must have been forced out by supporting the army.

Calculating it, the Mountain's legions in the Westerlands, the Claw Peninsula legions, the Dragonstone legions, and the heavy cavalry around him, already totaled more than 20,000 warriors. These more than 20,000 warriors were 20,000 mouths to feed.

"Duke, what about your capital?"

"Find someone to invest, let's do it together, everyone earns money together, and the bank is where our funds are turned over. If there is not enough money, I will borrow from the bank. All the money I earn will be deposited in the bank. When the time comes, I will take it out again."

The Mountain's modern financial knowledge, which was several levels higher, even just some basics, were measures that Kevan was amazed by.

Kevan had never thought that business could be done this way.

"Why must it be through the bank?" Kevan humbly asked for advice.

"Hand, how heavy is ten thousand gold dragons?"

"Very heavy!"

"What about one hundred thousand gold dragons?"

"It needs a carriage to pull it."

"With the bank, if we earn money and distribute dividends in the future, if I distribute ten thousand gold dragons to you, I may not give you ten thousand gold dragons in coins, but only a note for ten thousand gold dragons, a piece of paper. When you receive this piece of paper, it means you have received ten thousand gold dragons. Is it more convenient to take a note, or is it more convenient to carry ten thousand gold dragons with you?"

Kevan was speechless, feeling that this thing was too precarious.

"A piece of paper? Ten thousand gold dragons?"

"One hundred thousand gold dragons can also be a piece of paper. When you need money, take this piece of paper to the bank to exchange it for money. It's okay to exchange all of it, or it's okay to exchange 10% of it."

"But there is a problem," Kevan said thoughtfully, "If I pay someone else ten thousand gold dragons, can I only give him a piece of paper from the bank?"

"Of course!"

"But he is across the Narrow Sea?"

"There are three solutions," the Mountain said, "First, you withdraw ten thousand gold dragons from the bank next to the Alchemist's Guild, pack them in a box and send them to the person across the Narrow Sea; The second option is, you give him a bank note and let him deposit the money in the bank. If he has business in Westeros, he doesn't need to bring gold dragons across the sea, he can bring the bank note over and purchase goods here; The third option is to open bank branches in the free trade city-states across the Narrow Sea, so that this note can circulate freely on both sides of the sea."

"Open a bank on the other side?" Kevan's voice became a little shrill.

"Yes, open a bank on the other side. If we open a bank in Pentos, we will cooperate with the magisters of Pentos. There are forty magisters in the city of Pentos, whoever supports us to open a bank together, we will pay to support them to continue to be magisters."

"Your method seems similar to the Iron Bank."

"It's different from the Iron Bank. The Iron Bank trades in gold, while our goal is to trade in bank notes. Which is more convenient, carrying 100,000 gold coins or a note with 100,000 gold coins written on it?"

Kevan had many thoughts after hearing this. The biggest thought was that this thing was unreliable and did not give people the strong sense of security that gold did. Any boss, partner, or captain would want gold, not this bank note. Notes can be forged, damaged, or lost, and notes can also be completely disavowed. Although the Great Sept of Baelor does not seem to do things that would dishonor a debt, between a piece of paper and gold, anyone would choose gold.

Kevan saw that the Mountain's bank notes were a trap, but his proposal to exclusively sell Arbor Gold wine was a real path to wealth, and Kevan wanted to participate.

What if the Mountain really persuaded House Redwyne to give the Mountain the way to sell Arbor Gold wine to the other side of the Narrow Sea? That would really be a fortune.

Arbor Gold wine, whether for external or internal sales, is not difficult to sell at all.

"Duke, I will invest in your trade of Arbor Gold wine, and I will recognize how much capital I need to contribute. But when I divide the money, I only want gold, not bank notes."

"No problem, you are free to choose between notes and gold," the Mountain said, "But, at the beginning of the cooperation, you have to deposit the capital in the bank, and when we divide the money, it will also be divided through the bank. The bank will charge us a 5% handling fee on the profits."

Five percent, not much!

"Agreed!" Kevan said.

The Mountain was not afraid that Kevan would not take the bait. Buying Arbor Gold wine to the free trade city-states across the Narrow Sea was like picking up money. The only problem was not sales, but how to persuade House Redwyne to hand over the wine to the Mountain to sell.

The Mountain's bank was just a window to a business empire. Everything is difficult at the beginning, but he had already made a good start.

He had a professional term for selling Arbor Gold wine: monopoly! He will bring this new word to this world.

Behind the monopoly, there is also a new word that this world does not have: company!

Bank, monopoly, and company are all new things, new words, and new ways to conquer the world that do not exist in this world.

After a country and a legion have swords to escort them, the real strength is how to play the game of 'counting copper coins'.