Chapter 253: Trouble

On Earth, funerals, weddings, and inauguration ceremonies of politicians are all important occasions for communicating and solving domestic and international problems.

However, the Westeros people obviously have not formed such a trend yet, so when King Viserys gathered the princes from all over the country during Prince Denis's tournament to discuss matters with the ministers, held small meetings after the big meetings, and held banquets after the small meetings, and occasionally summoned the dukes of the three kingdoms, the major princes, and the powerful people who actually managed the affairs in various places, many people were a little uncomfortable.

You know, in their cognition, except for the "wrong spring" Harrenhal tournament, there has never been a tournament that the king regarded as a serious political occasion for various exchanges with the princes.

Many people will think of Robert Baratheon, who held the tournament almost every year. Look at King Robert. Which tournament is like Viserys? It doesn't look like a jubilant rest at all. Instead, it seems that the princes in the jurisdiction have finally gathered together and took the opportunity to find out what the current situation in the jurisdiction is. This time, Prince Dennis's naming day was the first grand event in the jurisdiction. Except for a few who were old or had something to do and couldn't get away, almost all the princes gathered.

Many people were not used to it.

Under the feudal system of Westeros, the princes of various places were actually equivalent to the small kings of various places. Before this, there were few such political inquiries, which made them feel like they were reporting to the great lords. Although Viserys only asked about the situation in various places, he asked more about the implementation of the policies he promoted and the difficulties encountered during the construction process.

And he seemed very kind and gentle during the process, just like some nobles who wanted to be good lords sometimes chatted with the stewards and main knights in the territory, which was essentially a means of winning people's hearts.

Because of Viserys's "hard work", this martial arts competition changed in the eyes of the powerful nobles. It seemed that the king still wanted to continue to toss new things in the territory.

As expected, although the king did not propose a new policy, after communicating with the ministers of state and the powerful lords, the king still announced two major events, demonstrated two new things, and proposed a new concept.

The two major events are: one is to make Dennis the crown prince - although the mortality rate of children in this era is very high, Dennis can be said to be the child of two extraordinary creatures, and Viserys thinks he will be fine; the second is to re-establish the Kingsguard. Two candidates have been decided. One is the captain of the guard, and the one who is now far away at the Wall is Barristan. The other is Quentin Martell of the Martell family. The remaining five vacancies are being selected.

And the more shocking news followed. His Majesty will provide seven sets of Valyrian armor and weapons for his Kingsguard.

When this news came out, the significance of this tournament instantly became imaginative. Many well-known knights were very excited and eager to try. Many people began to think that this was a preliminary test for the candidates of the guard.

Compared to the selection of Iron Guards, which is related to the honor of the knights and may even be recorded in history, the two new gadgets displayed by the king only shocked the great lords and generals who knew military affairs.

The first of these two new gadgets is the glass candle. This thing is relatively hidden, and not many people know about it, because there are only four glass candles at present. It is said that after the glass candles are re-burned, they can play the role of remote communication in the hands of people with strong mental power, and even invade other people's dreams.

But the fact is that it is not as evil as the legend says, and the huge mental power required to invade dreams is simply not something that mortals can bear. Even Daenerys can't stand the invasion function of the glass candle. However, if the user has strong mental power, it is true that remote fixed-point two-way communication can be carried out. Of course, it cannot reach the level of the earth's satellite phone transmitting sound across thousands of miles.

It is also a use that Viserys thought of when he and Fremi went to Valyria, that is, to use mysticism to fix the point and then communicate through fireworks.

So Viserys thought that even if he couldn't find someone with strong mental power like Viserys, Daenerys, and Fremy, as long as there was someone who could withstand the long-distance fireworks from one glass candle to another, he could transmit information.

Yes, Viserys thought of Morse code.

He found that it was entirely possible to use the mystical connection between glass candles to train specialized talents, and transmit basic information between two places through the long and short leaps of fixed-point two-way fireworks.

Doesn't this mean that Viserys now has four radio stations?

So Viserys wanted to train a "telegraph operator" in Oldtown, Storm's End, Highgarden, and Sunspear, and use four glass candles for real-time communication.

With this in mind, Viserys also wanted to take Daenerys to the ruins of Valyria again to see if he could find dragon eggs and glass candles. He also wanted to look for the Blood Temple in the capital of Valyria and the study in Tria to see if there were any written records, the manufacturing process of Valyrian steel and glass candles, and other technologies that might be used.

At this time, Viserys often found that he had missed something in Valyria before - for example, the researcher, who must have thousands of years of Valyrian knowledge in his head. Viserys should have confirmed whether the messenger of the Red God had killed him. That guy was very weird, but he was a real researcher. With his arrogance, Viserys thought it was impossible for him to cooperate with others, but now that he died, he thought it was a pity.

In addition to the new thing called the glass candle radio, there is another new thing, the so-called "electric heating device" made of copper wire and steel.

Viserys used his "witchcraft" to show the attendees selected by the king how to use the power of thunder and lightning generated by his "magic" to change the copper coils and steel of the "electric heating device" under precise control. Got to be red.

Many people were amazed to see it, but they didn't know what it was used for.

Viserys said that he would have a way in the future to let the main officers in the army obtain certain methods of controlling "thunder and lightning". As for what this thing can do, at present, it can be used for heating, heating water, and removing ice and snow in winter. .In addition, it may be possible to cooperate with a thing called "electric light" that the city is researching for lighting - yes, Viserys asked Dr. Marwin to establish a research institute in the city to study tungsten filament lamps. . In addition to electric lights, Viserys also envisioned a defensive power grid for special operations in military camps.

Speaking of this, a new idea of ​​Viserys is also related to this "electricity". Viserys plans to let the four major jurisdictions organize the establishment of officer schools, and let the princes arrange prestigious and responsible veteran generals and knight commanders in each jurisdiction. To carry out learning activities, Viserys will specially arrange instructors from the school city to teach them the correct understanding of "electricity magic", so that they can learn and understand this kind of magic. At the same time, he hopes that they can brainstorm and see if they can think of "electricity magic". " Usage on the battlefield.

Although a lot of new things were said in this meeting, most of the participants were veterans and knights who were fighting on the battlefield. They heard the new things vaguely, but they grasped the most important point: "Your Majesty, you are saying that you have a way to let us Is it possible to use your 'witchcraft' power?"

Viserys answered seriously: "Yes, but you need the cooperation of your sergeants. I have a way to let you gain some 'power', but I'm afraid you can't do it by yourself, and you need to learn first."

For a moment, these knights were surprised, shocked, and speechless.

Someone asked: "Your Majesty, it is said that the troops commanded by Prince Gaelin of the Rhoynar who once fought against Valyria can summon water magic to fight against the dragon - Your Majesty, with all due respect, are you saying that you have a way to let us Has a power similar to that of the legendary 'Great Gaelin'? Or is this the power that made Valyria unrivaled in the world?"

Someone else said: "Could it be that thousands of years ago, the Arm of Dorn was also destroyed by an army with similar power?"

"Is that Ning Ze?"

Well, Viserys was originally worried that these veterans and knight commanders would not be able to accept ideas and new things that were beyond the way they were accustomed to fighting. Unexpectedly, they would think about it and find corresponding things from historical legends for reference. .

Viserys replied: "You can think so for the time being, but don't have too high expectations. After you actually try it, it is possible that this power can only be used to boil water, light lamps, and fix defenses."

After Viserys finished what he had to show.

Soon the turn turned and it was the turn where the princes asked him.

The most important one is the Royal City. In the past year, after Viserys left Dragonstone Island, because the king took the king around in the jurisdiction, it became very difficult for locals to contact the king. They could only wait for the king. Only when the news came, the location of the center was known. Therefore, the princes urgently needed a stable royal city and national institutions to establish normal communication channels.

So there was another discussion, and finally it was decided to tentatively designate the old town as the temporary capital, not build a palace for the time being, and use a castle in the academic city as the official temporary palace.

There are also other issues related to the degree of policy implementation and the distribution of power between royal orders and local managers. Although the royal power has not banned or threatened the power of local princes, many measures have made the princes keenly aware of the king’s increasing local power. The bigger, although it seems that it is because of the consideration of war, and it makes up for the part where the original princes did not play a role, occupying some of the originally vacuum scope of responsibilities, but things like power have always been sensitive.

Viserys and his ministers had to carry out "rumor-refuting" activities to the princes, talking about "you have difficulties, I also have difficulties." "Fighting the White Walkers is the focus." "Tolerance is for the country." and so on.

Crown Prince Denis's tourney was in full swing under this situation where it seemed to be just a tourney, but what actually happened was far more than a tourney.

Some people look passionately at the position of the Kingsguard, wanting to get that honor - this is the first Kingsguard to wear Valyrian steel armor.

Some were pondering all the new things the king had proposed during the tourney and new ideas that seemed to change the way war was fought.

Some people simply rejoiced in the event and enjoyed the moment.

At this time, few people could realize that this tournament would be a rare warm memory in their memories for the next few years.

After seven days of competition, the final winner of the individual competition was Gerald Dane, a knight from the Dane family in Gaoyin City, nicknamed Dark Star.

However, it is expected. The magical Prince Oberon is the Prime Minister and did not participate in the competition. Among the young talents of the princes in the area, only Loras of the Tyrell family in the south can compete with him, but Loras After returning from King's Landing, Si's heart was stimulated and he had a knot in his heart - he was named Kingsguard in King's Landing, but when family interests and honor conflicted, his father, Duke Mace, forced him to make a choice, which plunged him into He was confused. Even if the winner of Crown Prince Denis' tournament might become the first white robe of Valyrian armor, he still couldn't overcome the hurdle in his heart.

Gerold Dayne is different. He is harsh, persevering, ambitious and resourceful. When he heard Viserys rebuild the Kingsguard, he only had the champion in his eyes.

This Dayne is not the same kind of person as the late Sir Arthur Dayne, the "Sword of the Dawn".

But when this knight did not choose to wear the crown of love and beauty to anyone after getting it, but asked Viserys for approval and applied to become a Kingsguard, Viserys did not refuse.

Viserys also knew that the Dark Star would not be a decent knight, but it didn't matter. Dennis would become the crown prince in the future, which meant that Dennis could not become a pedantic good man. Viserys had high hopes for Dennis, so he would not arrange a baby bus team for the crown prince. The Dark Star is different from Barristan, but it is also a sharp steel knife if used well.

Moreover, this man, who was born in the Dayne family, although a branch of the Dayne family in Starfall, also followed the Dayne family's tradition of "learning martial arts and serving the king". Gerald Dayne may not become Dennis's "Dawn Sword", but he can become Dennis's "Dark Star".

So Gerald Dayne became the third person in the Kingsguard team established by Viserys for the Crown Prince.

As the tournament ended, Viserys took a group of formal Targaryen court personnel and rode back to the temporary capital "Oldtown".

Originally, for the sense of ceremony, Viserys planned to follow the slow carriage and drag his family back to Oldtown step by step, but he didn't expect that as the Citadel sent the white crows of winter to all parts of Westeros and just announced the arrival of winter, some new information was transmitted to Sunspear City, forcing Prince Doran to send a fast horse to catch up with the carriage and deliver the information to Viserys.

After Viserys came back, he specifically told Oberyn to pay attention to the intelligence of Essos, because he concluded that something big must happen in Essos.

Unexpectedly, the intelligence personnel sent by Oberyn to the Free Trade City of Essos just started their work and found out a seemingly unimportant news that made Viserys feel horrified.

The blood plague broke out and spread in the east of Essos.

There are reports that the blood plague appeared in the three cities of Slaver Bay and the middle of the Dothraki Sea.

In order to avoid the plague, the Dothraki began to migrate westward on a large scale - and also went eastward.

The merchants who traveled between Qohor and Vaes Dothraki first discovered the signs that the Dothraki were gathering in the west, so they sold the news to the governor of the Qohor city-state. Considering that this gathering seemed different from the past, the Qohor people wanted to follow history and organized a mercenary team to go to the three cities of Slaver Bay to buy the Unsullied for preparation for defense. But they never thought that they would hear the news of the blood plague on the way.

The blood plague is an infectious disease that spreads very quickly.

The Dothraki are fleeing, and the merchants in the three cities of Slaver's Bay are also fleeing. There are also a large number of refugees behind them, and the blood plague is spreading along the slave trade route along the movement trajectory of these people.

Qohor and Volantis, which are closest to the Dothraki and Slaver's Bay, have begun to organize people to prevent anyone from the east from entering the territory. They even considered closing the city gates to isolate everything from the outside.

At the same time, Volantis issued an order allowing anyone with the ability to attack and burn merchant ships from Slaver's Bay found at sea.

But will the Dothraki from the west let the plague sweep across Essos? Will it affect Westeros?

At this time, no one can tell.

Prince Doran sent the news to Viserys on horseback because Westeros was purchasing a large amount of food from Essos, and the source of food was mainly the disputed land. And the Dothraki from the west will almost certainly cross the Rhoyne River, go to the Golden Fields, and even go deep into the disputed land.

So Doran wanted to ask, should we gradually reduce the purchase of food, and resume normal purchases when there is no news of the outbreak of plague?

Although Slaver's Bay is far away from Westeros, Volantis and Qohor are also the ends of the earth for many Westeros people, but plague is not like other things. If it is accidentally brought from land or sea, it will sweep a city or a city-state in a short time.

Viserys is not unaware that in the original world line, when Daenerys was besieged by the slave owners' coalition during her reign in Meereen before winter, the blood plague spread and suffered heavy losses.

At that time, the first case of blood plague found in Meereen was a dying Astapor cavalryman carried by a pale mare, and thus got the nickname "Pale Mare".

But Viserys did not expect that the blood plague actually affected the Dothraki outside the vision of Daenerys in the original world line, causing them to migrate in large numbers and possibly become a source of pollution.

It is very reasonable to think about it.

The plague sweeping the "world" - the "barbarians" from the eastern grasslands - the end of the world, this correlation makes Viserys inexplicably feel a sense of rationality beyond time and space, and even finds a sense of déjà vu in the medieval history of the earth in another world.

As a sign of the arrival of the "end of the world", a plague and the westward movement of the grassland people are so reasonable.

Needless to say, Viserys turned around and informed Daenerys, and then summoned the accompanying ministers, asking them to send a letter to the ports where grain is imported immediately, asking for statistics and examinations on the inflow and outflow of each port, so that the ministers and officials who control grain imports can estimate how long the amount of grain purchased will be enough for the expenses, and at the same time asking the princes from all over the country to check how much gap there is in the granary.

Food imports may have to be accelerated. Viserys roughly estimated the pace of the Dothraki and prepared to gradually reduce large-scale purchases after a month, strictly control the source and review of food imports.

At the same time, it is necessary to set up epidemic prevention inspection departments in various ports, and be prepared to directly close the ports when necessary and stop trade with the Essos continent.

The jurisdiction cannot be taken lightly. Viserys plans to find a medical doctor to jointly draft an epidemic prevention manual after returning to Oldtown. Even if Westeros can't use it, it can be used to trade with friendly city-states in Essos.

In any case, it is always right to be prepared and prevent it.

Suddenly, Viserys wondered if the messenger of the Red God had already prepared for the plague?

This idea has no evidence, but it makes Viserys feel very feasible. Put yourself in his shoes. If Viserys is the "messenger of God", in order to expand his influence in the shortest possible time, if Viserys foresaw this plague, then he will undoubtedly use this plague to show his skills and make a fuss.

In the following days, the intelligence from Essos seemed to confirm Viserys's guess.

The Dothraki moved westward in large numbers, directly crossed the Rhoyne River, and entered the Golden Fields they were familiar with, but the Golden Fields had not yet recovered from the swamps that had been turned into by the previous storm, and it could not meet the Dothraki's stationing needs, so they continued to enter the inland controlled by the major city-states.

Just like Drogo, who had threatened the major city-states for nearly a year more than a year ago, these Dothraki began to demand treasures and supplies. They also brought the plague, although when they found suspected patients, they would immediately drive them out of the tribe without any hesitation, and even slaughtered and burned them to death. But the plague was still brought into the inland of Essos.

The plague began to break out in the villages and towns outside the city of some city-states, and death spread.

Especially in the disaster-stricken areas that had been swept by the previous storm, those ordinary people who had lived on the fertile land had just seen improvement, but were hit again by the closure of trade routes and the invasion of the Dothraki. Many civilians, even those with sufficient risk resistance, could not escape the fate of bankruptcy and family destruction.

At this time, many Red God priests went to the Dothraki looting areas and plague-spreading areas to spread the gospel and save the suffering civilians. The Red God Cult was able to absorb a large number of believers in a short period of time and become the Red God's reserve.

Even in the city, with the dual threats of Dothraki force and plague, the radicals of the Red God Cult began to spread terror in major cities and declared that the Red God had come to the world and the messenger of God had come. Only those who believe in the Red God can survive among the Dothraki and the plague.

As more and more news came, it was said that Volantis had been controlled by the Red God Cult. Volantis relied on believers to form the Flame Army to resist the Dothraki tribes that invaded Volantis and burned all things related to the plague.

And Volantis called on the states in the disputed land to unite and fight against the Dothraki.

Because of Volantis's radical resistance, most of the Dothraki tribes that went there were killed in the brutal and explosive resistance movement, which caused dissatisfaction among the Dothraki people, and some large tribes began to move towards Volantis.

But Volantis stubbornly resisted two waves of large attacks and demonstrated the miracle of burning the Dothraki tribe in a battle.

This angered the Dothraki people, and the Dothraki tribes that had already entered the inland began to plunder the place, replenish their war preparations, and return to attack Volantis.

During the looting process, the city-states originally planned to stand by and watch. But the Red God believers in the city-states suddenly seemed to have planned to agitate people everywhere, refute the indulgence of the Dothraki in the city-states, and use magic and witchcraft that ordinary people cannot understand to spread the suffering that Essos is experiencing and the "miracles" that happened in Volantis, announcing to the people that the messenger of God has come to the world to lead the world to fight against evil and obtain salvation.

Essos already has a large number of Red God believers, and this premeditated incitement has caused a strong response from believers everywhere.

With the Red Temple as the center, many city-states have formed armed groups of the Red God in places where refugees are resettled, with the intention of seizing power by force.

In order to calm this wave, the city-states chose to provide financial assistance, provide these fanatical armed forces with materials and weapons, and let them go to accompany the messenger of Volantis.

For a time, going to Volantis to see the messenger of God became a trend among all the Red God believers in Essos

The messenger of the Red God obviously used the westward migration of the Dothraki and the plague to deceive the ignorant people with the Crusades and organize religious forces in Essos.

Considering that the "God's Messenger" is real, Viserys estimated that it would not be long before the "Crusaders" of the Red God Cult would grow exponentially and become a force that could influence the situation in Essos.

However, Viserys still underestimated the Red God's Messenger.

As time went on, after he had enough followers and armed himself, he even set his sights on the Dothraki.

It is said that the God's Messenger personally killed and resurrected a Dothraki horse king, and showed the resurrected man a miracle to drive away the terrible plague, turning him and his tribe into believers, and driving the tribe to annex one Dothraki tribe after another. And led them to the area around the Forest of Qohor to meet the real great war.

All kinds of rumors are so bizarre that a lot of intelligence seems to be nonsense, artificially fabricated, and inconsistent.

But Viserys doesn't think so. These seemingly confusing intelligences indicate that the Red God's Messenger is very urgent to do things. The more impulsive and weird he acts, the more anxious he appears.

This means that the Red God feels a lot of pressure.

However, Viserys has been preparing for Westeros in full swing these days. After discovering that the Red God's messenger was taking advantage of the plague, Viserys's epidemic prevention preparations seemed less important, but various predetermined policies were still being promoted.

What happened in Essos also made Viserys feel pressured, so he also paid special attention to the development of the situation in the North and the situation of the Great Wall.