Iger patiently listened to the Earl of Buckwell's story, and finally understood the main source of the "trouble" - morale, and military pay.

There are only two of them, but the explanation is long.

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When more than 30,000 soldiers of the coalition army rushed out of the camp on Robert's orders and scattered to besiege the many castle strongholds outside the Arryn Valley in a group of thousands, a strange situation arose: no matter which family's castle was only waiting for the counterinsurgency army to arrive, and before it could gain a foothold, the city immediately raised a flag of surrender, and when the army loyal to Robert cautiously entered the city, they were dumbfounded: only a few servants were left in the castle who were responsible for cleaning and guarding the door. It doesn't matter if the core is not the core, important or not...... As long as it is a family member with status, he has already left the castle with valuables and disappeared when Robert was rectifying the king's army outside King's Landing, and it is estimated that he is already in the safety of Arryn Valley at this moment.

If you can't get valuable loot, the six nations are not here for robbery - without the nobles taking prisoners, there is no way to ask for ransom, let alone rely on hostages to force the "rebels" to surrender. Robert's plan to uproot the stronghold and put pressure on the Alliance of the Righteous has failed, and if he is still unwilling to compromise, he will have to storm the Bloodgate.

If you want to attack, the difficulty comes: the so-called one blow of strength, then decline, three and exhaustion. The coalition forces were stationed in this fertile field outside the Blood Gate for more than ten days to a month, except for the first two days when Robert personally commanded the army to carry out a decent assault. Later, the nobles ate and drank to their relatives to talk about marriage, and the soldiers spent time with Xiao Huangben and even competed in martial arts, only playing once every six days. Even if it was his turn, he rushed up to shoot some arrows like the exercise, forcibly caused some casualties, and immediately withdrew his troops......

After a few rounds, the shortcomings of the army's backwardness in system and training were exposed at once: Robert was indeed extremely prestigious, but this kind of morale maintained by the personal reputation and charm of the ruler did not last long.

If he had used the tactics of the sea of people to attack at the beginning regardless of casualties, and did not hesitate to pay tens of thousands of casualties, Robert might have been in the Eagle's Nest City at the moment to give the girls in the valley ***, but now, if he wants to organize a strong attack, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult.

......

Morale is only one of the two major troubles, although the attack is not smooth, it has been reduced a lot, but it has not suffered any big defeat and fell to a negative value, and the outstanding generals of the six countries have gathered here, and they can always drum up a starting point if they think of a way, but another trouble is more realistic: military salaries.

In this era in Westeros, joining the army when the lord issued a call was a "conscription" for the people in Westeros, and the rewards that the responders could get mainly came from the capture of the spoils of war, the lord's reward after the victory, the reduction of family taxes in the year, and the promotion of officials after meritorious service.

In addition to the personal guards and standing guards, most of the peasant soldiers conscripted in wartime were not paid, and the lords would provide equipment if they had money, and those who were poorer like the North had to bring some of their own weapons - the peasants fought for the nobles, and they were working for free until they won the war!

This seemingly unreasonable conscription system can be achieved because it is restricted: it can be carried out in the [territory] of the lord to defend the country and defend the country, and only for [a certain period of time] can the military be completely unpaid. This time, the army of the Six Nations left their hometown and ran to the valley to quell the rebellion for King Robert and Duke Arryn, not only the cost of travel and transportation had to be borne by the lord, but once the time limit was exceeded, they had to pay military salaries!

According to the different customs and traditions of each place, the time limit for conscription in the Six Nations ranged from forty to sixty days, and Iger was busy selling the Night's Watch industry all day long and did not feel the time passing, but in fact, this counterinsurgency war had unknowingly dragged on for time, and the lords of various places were about to start worrying about military salaries!

And this is the reason why Robert asked Littlefinger to go to the Iron Treasury in advance to borrow money - not only the king's own soldiers recruited from King's Landing would ask for money, but the princes also had the right to ask the king for reimbursement for the salaries paid to the soldiers after the time limit!

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"The Chancellor of the Exchequer defected?"

"It can't be regarded as a defection, Petyr disappeared as soon as he got off the ship in Braavos, and did not take the loan from the Iron Vault with him...... At best, it can only be regarded as absconding in fear of crime. The old earl sighed: "This is a troublesome matter, not only because I haven't borrowed money, but I heard that the Iron Vault is ready to send someone to King's Landing to investigate the financial situation of the Iron Throne." ”

Littlefinger didn't dare to touch the iron vault's wealth, and Egger had expected it, and the ruler of Braavos deliberately created a momentum for the Faceless to promote their deterrent, wasn't it just to come in handy at a critical moment, he shrugged: "If I were an iron vault, I would be nervous if something like this happened to my client's house." ”

"More than that, Littlefinger's run is tantamount to admitting guilt, telling the world that Lysa Tully did indeed conspire with him to murder the old Duke of Arryn...... Now, even our counterinsurgency coalition forces have been put in a dilemma. ”

Egg nodded thoughtfully: "It's really troublesome, if it were me, I would definitely choose to accept the terms of the Alliance of the Righteous and make a decent truce." ”

"But His Majesty is not you after all. The old earl smiled wryly and shook his head.

Iger also smiled, he could imagine Robert thundering at the battle meeting, such a naked slap in the face, I was afraid that the first grumpy brother in Westeros would completely lose his mind, and now, he would not accept the compromise: "But there is really no money, he can't force the princes of all countries to force people to keep people here to make up the number - the rules of the game don't allow this." ”

"Not allowed, Robb Stark...... I don't know if you know it, but the prime minister's son has already said at the battle meeting that he will first send some of the peasants who are not trained enough to go home to farm, and he himself will personally lead the remaining knights and elites to continue to help. ”

Speaking of which, it is still a problem of productivity - the society of this era cannot support the long-term work of young men who account for 1% of the total population. The reality is so cold, even in a world where magic exists, after all, there is still to abide by the basic law.

......

"The Stark family is not only a great hero in Robert's eyes, but also did not take away too many benefits after His Majesty overthrew the Targaryen family, this kind of hard-working family, Robert has no reason to force them to do coolies for themselves. Iger suddenly realized, vaguely aware of the predicament facing the Earl of Bookwell: the treatment of heroes and criminals would be very different.

"That's right, the Starks and the Tully are loyal allies of Your Majesty, and Your Majesty can't force them to stay and not take money for their lives. The old man frowned: "The Tuli family is okay, the Lady Lysa trapped in the Eagle's Nest City is their own family, no matter how bad they are, they will leave 10,000 people here to fill the scene, but the Stark family, it is loyal, and if you miss the important opportunity for farming, you will starve to death." ”

"Let me predict - the army of the Stormlands is estimated to be reduced by half, but after all, it is the king's own family, and the elite should not leave, and the Lannisters are the king's own family, and they are not short of this money, so they should stick to their positions, but the cost of military pay will definitely be calculated into the account that His Majesty owes Duke Tywin. Egger's mind moved, and his brain, which was not useful in the competition just now, turned around, and he actually analyzed it: "The only one who may pat his ass and leave is the Dorne army, the Martell family has always ignored the Iron Throne, and because of the law and morality, the king can't get the military pay when the conscription deadline comes, and he is afraid that he will form a group and slip away in a few days......; They are trying their best to drill into the center of power in King's Landing, and they will certainly not give up this opportunity to perform. O Seven Gods...... I finally understand why the High Court has only sent 5,000 elite men to the Riverlands, so that they can always perform loyal hymns under the nose of the king without paying too much military pay!"

The rules of the game are simple and crude: the king wants to fight, and if you don't go, you will rebel, so you will give someone a handle, but when the time comes, it is loyal to continue to stay, and there is no problem if you don't stay and go home to farm—the king can hate you for giving you little shoes for this, but he can't make a fuss about it! The problem is: if you are not afraid of Robert's grudge, there is only one Dorne in the Seven Kingdoms!

There were 10,000 people from the north, and 5,000 were left halfway through the battle, and the rest were 5,000, and Robert didn't say anything on his face, but he might feel uncomfortable in his heart, but the high court only came 5,000 and persevered until the end, maybe he won the king's good impression and good intentions! The human heart is such a strange thing, but I don't know if the Tyrells are crooked, or is it really so accurate?

"That's right, it's just that you missed our royal family. Earl Buckwell nodded and agreed with Egger's analysis: "Not only did we stand on the wrong side during His Majesty's uprising, but we were also directly under the jurisdiction of the Iron Throne, and this is the opportunity to make meritorious service and show loyalty.

......

Oops, if it weren't for Yoren and the old Count, Egger would have broken his thigh—he suddenly realized that the counterinsurgency war had gotten out of control due to Robert's absurdity, and that it was no longer in his interest!

"How long will the Antlers Fort family last?"

Thankfully, the Tyrells' family had a lot of food and grass, and the pressure was much lessened. I calculated, it's no problem to last for a month, sell the family property, the limit is two months, more than this number, let alone promise your investment, even my own family, I have to borrow money to eat. ”

Trouble, really trouble, among the customers that Iger has already pulled, many of them are nobles from the Bends and the Lord, if the armies of these two countries burn their own money because they dare not offend Robert, soon, countless money that should have been invested in the Night's Watch industry will evaporate because of the quagmire of war, although the money has not disappeared, but it will be extremely difficult to get it out of the hands of the soldiers.

This is an unbearable loss for an entrepreneur and businessman!

Egg took a breath, the air flowing between his teeth made a "hiss-" sound, and after thinking for a moment, he clenched his fist: the ass decided the head, and he had to interfere a little for the sake of profit.

"So, my lord, I will give you an idea, and you will present it to the king at the next battle meeting, so that you may be able to end the war as soon as possible and reduce your losses. ”

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