After the canonization ceremony, in the tower of the burning king, the two newly baked knights stood in front of Ma Shen with their heads held high and energetic, not to mention, Ma Shen now has a feeling of giving orders and holding power, and hopes that there will be more and more knights under his command in the future.

"Sit down, I'm going to say something. Ma Shen smiled and stretched out his hand to his seat.

After Jeffs and Scar Man sat down, Ma Shen knocked on the table: "Jeffs, I asked you to disband those who don't want to be soldiers, how are you doing now?" ”

"It's been done, many people have chosen to leave, and now the whole of Harrenhal plus the 20 soldiers you brought back, there are only more than 100 soldiers left, and there are not enough people. Jeffs replied with a look of embarrassment.

100 soldiers is indeed a bit insufficient, originally Harrenhal had more than 400 soldiers in the standard configuration, Ma Shen nodded: "How are these soldiers treated now?"

"5 silver deer per month. ”

"Tell them that if they work for 3 months, they can triple their salary, 10 silver deer per month, and slowly recruit 150 soldiers, and the newly recruited soldiers will be paid 1 silver deer in the first month, 3 silver deer in the second month, and return to the same treatment as other soldiers in the third month. Ma Shen said lightly, there is no money now, it does not mean that there will be no money in the future, as long as you get through the most difficult months first.

Then you go to the other side of the Narrow Sea and take 50 soldiers with you, which means that Harrenhal has 200 soldiers, and that's about the same.

"But we don't have that much money, and the pension just now issued by the Lord at the canonization ceremony is enough to use up the money and other stocks that were collected from the merchants who defended the city. Jeffs grimaced.

If it weren't for his knighthood ceremony, Jeffs would have raised an objection to the pension issued by Ma Shen, and even the castle guard's salary would not have been paid.

"Don't worry about this, tonight I will invite all the merchants and nobles in Harrenhal to come to the Burning King Tower for a banquet, I have a way to solve it. ”

As far as Ma Shen knew, there was not only the Hean family in Harrenhal, but also some nobles large and small.

These nobles have all returned one after another since the Lannister army left.

In addition, in addition to the nobles who lived in Harrenhal, there were also a number of vassals in the vast territory outside Harrenhal, and these vassals were the main source of Harrenhal's tax revenue.

In the same way that vassals are not my vassals, these vassals are loyal to the Harrenhal rulers, the Hean family, the Hean family is loyal to the Tully family, the ruler of the Riverlands, and the Tully family is loyal to the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, the Iron Throne holder.

As the number of princes increased, the land of the state became less and less, and the harvest of privatized land was only a part of the tax paid as a loyance according to the tribute system, so the tax revenue handed over to the state after layers of skinning was very limited.

But in general, the He'an family is in the second layer of taxation, and has not been peeled too much, plus the soil and geographical conditions around Harrenhal are very good, suitable for planting, and the taxes handed over from each fief should be considerable, but after the days of tax collection, so far I have not even seen the shadow of taxes or vassals.

It stands to reason that since Lady Ha'an had "entrusted" herself to guard Harrenhal, the vassals outside the city were obliged to pay taxes to Harrenhal.

Don't think that the vassals outside the city have been wiped out by the Lannisters, some of them were indeed destroyed because of the sweep of the Lannister army, but some of them ran away with their families and soldiers like Lady He'an, and more of them did not recognize Ma Shen's status.

If it weren't for Ma Shen's insistence that Mrs. He'an had entrusted him to guard Harrenhal, and Mrs. He'an didn't know where he had gone, no one would have questioned Ma Shen's identity.

But there is no need to think about any taxes, the vassals put forward slogans, the Lannister family has just withdrawn, and there is chaos in the territory, how can there be time to hand over the taxes to some bullshit wolf slayer, if you want to have taxes, please ask Mrs. Ha An to send someone over in person.

Regarding their situation, Ma Shen also thought about whether to hold such a stalemate for the time being, and then deal with it when the strength is enough, or hold a Hongmen banquet, find an excuse to gather the remaining vassals, and then send someone to arrest them as hostages.

But this method will cause a lot of problems, such as what if some vassals don't come to Harrenhal if they don't bird themselves, and whether they want to launch a thunderbolt and send 100 soldiers in Harrenhal to exterminate them.

Or take the vassals who participated in the Hongmen Banquet as hostages, then their heirs will be like Robb, directly leading troops to fight Harrenhal, and there will be a lot of trouble.

If their own strength is not enough, they will not be cowardly at all, so they can only tolerate them for the time being, if they had 1,000 well-trained soldiers, they would have been obedient a long time ago.

"Wouldn't it be a little inappropriate for merchants and nobles to come together? Jeffs asked, hesitantly.

"It's okay, just let them sit in two positions. Ma Shen said indifferently, there is harm in comparison, let the merchants understand the difference between nobles and commoners, it is beneficial to their next plan.

"Robb told me that in a few days, the army will be stationed in Harrenhal for a while, and some northern soldiers are not good at stubble, so you have to worry more, if you encounter a northern soldier insulting women and oppressing the people, report it to Robb immediately, and he will deal with it. ”

"My lord, are you entrusting the aftermath with this, don't do stupid things, my lord" The scar man who had just been canonized as a knight was full of loyalty and anxiously persuaded.

Find fault, the corners of Ma Shen's eyes trembled, and he said with a smile, "I just plan to go to the other side of the Narrow Sea, and it may take 3 months to go back and forth." ”

"That's good. The loyal Scar Man breathed a sigh of relief.

"Still the same as now, during the time I'm away, Jeffs is guarding Harrenhal, with Loger assisting, is there any problem?"

"As you wish, my lord," Jeffs and Rogev stood up at the same time, thumping their chests.

"Alright, Loger, come over here. Ma Shen stood up and greeted him.

The scar man followed Ma Shen in a hurry: "My lord, do you want me to help you spy on the old man Jeffs, don't worry, I will keep a firm eye on him, even if Mrs. Ha An really comes back, I can hold it for a while." ”

"Okay, you don't have to worry about this issue, Mrs. Ha An won't be coming back. Ma Shen said expressionlessly.

"Okay, my lord" The scar man shuddered in his heart, Mrs. He'an won't come back, could it be that the adult has already sent someone to give Mrs. He'an.

"Remember, no one should be allowed to taint Harrenhal, if it is an enemy, hold the city, if it is an ally, put it off and wait for me to return, remember that no matter how strong a castle is, it will not be able to resist the onslaught from within. ”

"I remember, my lord," Scar Man quickly agreed.

"There's another task for you. ”

"Please instruct. ”

"Come and practice my sword with me. Ma Shen sneered, in a bad mood, plus you just said that I was entrusting the aftermath, I will definitely beat you out even the this time.