"I didn't have the army and no way to make a living. Daenerys frankly admitted, "But shouldn't these problems be solved by the council and the liberated freedmen themselves?" ”

"You broke the shackles of slaves and overthrew the production and operation mode of the slave city-state for thousands of years, but you wanted to promote a few random people and expect them to solve everything on their own? If things are really that simple, then guess why there are tens of thousands of slaves...... The Free Folk don't live a peaceful life in Astapo and Yuankai, and want to follow you to Meereen?" Petyr chuckled, "I guess it's because of love?"

Isn't it?" Daenerys opened her mouth, and she almost uttered the word.

"I used to be a small person, so I understand the mentality of people at the bottom. Let me tell you – as long as they live, people will never leave their homes in droves to follow ...... Even if someone a hundred times more noble and beautiful than you goes on an adventure in a strange place. The freedmen who follow in your footsteps are wise men, and they see that staying behind will never lead to a safe life, and that as soon as you leave, Astapo and Yuankai will fall into chaos and immediately resume slavery, so they will do whatever it takes to cross the wasteland and insist on following you and your army!"

"It's just your judgment, as far as I know, Astapo and Yuankai are fine right now. Besides, what does this have to do with Meereen?"

"How can it not matter to the three sister-like slave city-states, you have just ordered the one hundred and sixty-three leaders of the great lord to be crucified on a stake, and you have already put the city on the brink of destruction!" Petyr looked at Daenerys and said in a deep voice, "Please let me ask, Your Majesty really thinks that the order to crucify the one hundred and sixty-three slave children on the side of the road where you came to Meereen was unanimously approved by a meeting of all the slave owners of Meereen?"

Daenerys shifted her gaze and stared at Petyr for a moment, suddenly realizing that she hadn't thought about it. Subconsciously, a slave owner is a slave owner, what difference can there be between them?

"Just give an example, and your Majesty will understand what a huge mistake the hasty decision was. Lord Tywin of the Lannisters, Your Majesty should have heard of it...... After exterminating the two vassals of Reyes and Tarbek, he became the nobleman with the strongest control over the feudal kingdom in all of Westeros - at that time, there were more disrespectful families in the West, why did Tywin only destroy two families instead of punishing all the disrespectful families? Because what he wanted to do was to make an example of him, and he wanted fear, not hatred. Petyr stared at Daenerys without flinching, he wanted to say that the Mad King did not understand the difference between fear and hatred, so that he would lose the Iron Throne and die and cause you to be exiled...... But at the last minute, he decided not to use Daenerys's father as an example, but instead changed the negative teaching material to the success story of Tywin.

"You want to kill, you want to avenge those one hundred and sixty-three children, no problem - but create fear, not hatred! Imagine if Tywin hadn't slaughtered two families, but had singled out and beheaded every disrespectful family in the West...... Will he still have a chance to be written into 'Casterme's Rainy Season' and be feared by all of Westeros?no, he will be overthrown by a coalition of vassals in a few days, and he will be taken out of Castle Rock and hanged!"

"I understand what you mean, it was not all the slave owners of Meereen who ordered the one hundred and sixty-three children to be nailed to the stakes, but the families and even a few people in charge of the real power. Daenerys frowned and said, "But I don't think anyone will come forward and admit it." ”

"You don't need anyone to admit it, you just have to investigate which great lord of Meereen has the most slaves and lives in the highest pyramid, and the answer will be revealed. Petyr shook his head: "It's easy, and what is even stranger now is you, Your Majesty...... Even if you sit down and calm down for a while, you still only think about finding down the great master who ordered the children to be crucified? Are you here for revenge or for liberation?"

"Liberation and revenge, is there a contradiction?"

"It can not be contradictory. "If I were you, there would be at least three strategies to ensure control over Meereen after taking possession of meereen, and it could be divided into three types, lower, middle, and upper according to the order from inferior to superior to superior, Your Majesty suspects me of being a liar, and I understand." So I'm just going to say how to do it – it's up to you to decide whether it's feasible or not. ”

Facing the Mad King's daughter, Petyr didn't dare to play tricks such as selling off the guanzi at all, he took a breath and directly began to offer advice: "The best strategy is what I said in public before - kill the slave owners of Meereen cleanly, and then completely take over the city and re-establish a set of rules, just like you did in Astapor." ”

"But the worst-case scenario faces three problems: First, you don't have enough people around you who can help you manage the city. Mercenaries and Unsullied can fight for you, but they can't give advice or create food resources, and among the Freedfolk are doctors, scholars, technicians, clerks, craftsmen, or teachers, but they are servants, not rulers! Kill all the slave owners who belong to the ruling class, and the city will immediately fall into chaos!" Petyr slowed down and continued: "The second point is: a city-state supported by the slave trade, suddenly all the 'goods' become free men...... So what can be used to feed these free men? You can order everyone to farm, but what to eat before the first round of crops and what to do with the invasion of foreign enemies before the first harvest, does Your Majesty have a mature solution? The third question -- Do the liberated slaves have the ability and quality to manage themselves when they turn them into masters? Although the former great lords were hateful, the experience of thousands of years made them clear that everything had to be "measured"...... The freedmen who have turned over and become masters do not have this concept, and those who have not been exposed to wealth and power suddenly grasp these two things, and they will only look worse than the slave owners. Whether you admit it or not, there are always people in this world who have to be oppressed and enslaved to feed other people! There must always be nobles and slave owners who are well-dressed and well-fed to engage in ideology, culture, and art in order to build civilization!"

"Enough, don't say it. Daenerys frowned in disgust, Petyr might be right, but she just didn't like the way the guy spoke: "I'm not going to take your plan, let's say the other two." ”

"Good. Littlefinger agreed: "The best strategy is - kill no one, you will rule the city and all the great lords as Queen Meereen, and become the greatest slave owner." ”

"It can't be, I'm here to liberate, not to join here. ”

"Well, even if you adopt this strategy, you still have trouble to deal with. Petyr nodded in agreement, "As an outsider, you have no roots in your native land, and until your dragon grows up, your power will come mainly from the Unsullied and the Free People you have liberated. If you want to be a big slave owner, you lose your greatest reliance and can easily be overthrown. Once ousted, the city will quickly return to its former life in a short period of time, as if you never came to it – that's why we have the ultimate plan. ”

......

"You said two methods that I can't use, and the United States says that the name is the middle strategy and the next policy, I'm afraid it's just to lead to this one best policy. Daenerys narrowed her eyes slightly and said displeasedly, "Don't babble on explanations, summarize it." ”

"Your Majesty wants to summarize, then I will simply say it. The Targaryen girl was crazy or not, but at least he wasn't stupid, and he felt a little reassured: "Expel the most powerful lords, and let the middle-class nobles who were originally pressed by them take the place of the former." The general description is that the tiger and the wolf were originally one family, but the lion came and united with the wolf to drive away the tiger. Intruder, Your Majesty, you are the Lion, and after driving away the tiger, use the wolf to rule and govern the freedmen and cities you have liberated. ”

"What about the enmity of the hundred and sixty-three children, to whom is my anger poured out?"

"You can kill some of the leaders of the big families, one or two, ten or twenty...... As you please. Petyr shrugged: "But you can't kill them all, you have to check and balance, you have to make sure that those new 'elites' and your people don't betray you, how can you ensure this? That is, your people will also cling to your thighs for fear of being eaten by wolves...... In this way, you only have to be on top, control the method and speed of eating the sheep, appease both sides among your new nobles and people, accept their worship and submission, and respond appropriately to their needs, what kind of food...... Safety...... You don't have to worry about anything, the wolf will take the initiative to help you take care of it, this is their home, they know it very well. ”

It makes sense, but why the tone is just unpleasant. Could it be ...... Daenerys was silent, but Dario, who was standing next to her, snorted coldly: "Your Majesty is a real dragon, not a tiger, and her people also love the queen, and it is impossible to betray it!"

"Haha, I'd love to believe it, but unfortunately it's a stupid thing to say whether it's true or not. Petyr smiled: "If there is one thing that rulers must remember, it is this: human nature is inherently evil. Your Majesty's freedmen will call you 'Misha', 'Mother', 'Dragon Queen' loudly as you break their shackles and free them from oppression, and will be grateful for your kindness, as if they were ready to die for you at any moment. You can enjoy it, but don't get carried away with it – when you are in danger or if you don't have enough to eat, you will be whined, complained, betrayed, and some may turn to spurning, despising, slandering, and even hurting you. Affection is better for rule than fear, but remember that the cost of being loved is high, and the value for money is so low that you can't force it, let alone put your hopes in it. Always have the mindset that your people are bad, your new nobles are bad, and the guards around you are bad...... Even me, who is talking to you, is a bad person. Petyr had won Eddard Stark's trust by telling the back, but that trust was quickly and completely destroyed by a note. This time, will the young queen in front of him be tricked? He curled the corners of his mouth: "Always speculate on the motives of others with the greatest malice, and leave yourself the means to deal with it, so that the rule can be stable for a long time!"

......The handsome mercenary standing behind Daenerys couldn't stand Littlefinger's nonsense: "It's nonsense, there are thousands of people around the queen who are willing to sacrifice everything for her, and only cunning villains will be used to maliciously speculating on others!"

"When I say, 'All are bad people,' I hope that Your Majesty will be so vigilant, not that it is true! Maybe you are right, the Queen has a majority of people around her who love her, but no amount of lovers can stop an enemy who comes behind Her Majesty and shows his sword. Petyr glanced at the handsome mercenary, and then continued to look at Daenerys with a slightly reproachful look: "Either kill them all, or don't kill them, or kill the right people." You used the lower strategy in Astapor and the middle strategy in Yuankai, and I thought you would become wiser in Meereen...... Who wants you to use something I wouldn't even think about...... It's not an exaggeration to say stupid?"

Dare the queen be stupid? The mercenary was furious: "Be respectful, you little man, do you want to taste the scimitar?"

How dare a mercenary constantly interject himself in a conversation with the queen in such a tone?Petyr looked up at the speaker again, and couldn't help but suspect that this guy was Daenerys's lover, but it didn't matter, if Daenerys favored a mercenary who could only play with a knife over a sincere and talented contributor, then she would never return to Westeros, let alone be worth following. If you leave this room by yourself, you can start thinking about escaping.

Daenerys' expression gradually became solemn, and she sat up straight on the sofa, lowered her right leg, and lowered her head in thought. Human nature is evil, and with the greatest malice, he speculates on anyone around him...... What harsh nonsense, but after all the hardships and two betrayals, she realized that Petyr was right. Perhaps, the thin man from Westeros in front of him with a worrying personality is the follower he needs?

The queen took a deep breath and looked up, "Dario, go and move a chair for Sir Petyr, Missandei, go get some drinks." I have a lot of questions to ask, and this conversation – it may go on for a while. ”

......

Petyr breathed a sigh of relief.

The Targaryen girl in front of her was not crazy, she listened to herself.

This should be good news, but why does my heart hurt so much? Yes...... By relying on observation and practice, reading history, and hard work, how many means of governing the country and playing power politics have he mastered...... Who wants to think that the world is unpredictable, empty and full of political skills, but was forced to run to Slave Bay, thousands of miles away, and had to do everything he could to win a chance to play the role of "a loyal minister who assists the fugitive princess to restore the country...... It's sad.

Until Daenerys regains the Iron Throne, no ambition is out of reach, and even if he succeeds in restoring the Targaryen dynasty, it will only be a return to the beginning, and he feels a little tired just thinking about it.

——