In order to rush back to the High Court as soon as possible, Samwell handed over the army to Todd Ford, and he only took the cavalry squad first.

When he arrived at the High Court, he found that many lords' armies had already gathered here.

In fact, when Samwell set off for Starfall City to meet with Prince Dolang, Duke Mace, at the request of Lady Olenna, the "Queen of Thorns", had already publicly reprimanded Cersei and her brother for not having the right to inherit the Iron Throne.

Interestingly, this public statement did not explicitly support Stannis Baratheon's ascension to the Iron Throne.

At the same time, the Duke of Metz also issued a conscription order.

However, it is not clear who the target of the requisition is.

Of course, this ambiguous statement was agreed between Samwell and Lady Olenna, so that there was room for whatever to do in the future.

Samwell hurriedly washed away the dust, changed his clothes, and went to see Lady Olenna.

"Sam." Lady Olenna waved her hand, motioning for the maids around her to stand back first, then looked at her grandson-in-law and asked, "What did you talk to Dorang?" Why did Yang Ji City send an envoy to the High Court, saying that he wanted to renegotiate the tariffs between the two places? ”

Samwell sat down in front of the old lady, poured himself a cup of tea, drank it, quenched his thirst, and then unhurriedly recounted the situation of his meeting with Prince Dowland.

After listening quietly, Madame Olena sneered, and said:

"He wants you to learn from Aegon the Conqueror? Scold! It must be that there is no good intention. Aegon had three grown dragons, and yours ......."

As she spoke, Lady Olena glanced up and saw the white dragon Cleopatra hovering over the courtyard, making a high-pitched hissing sound from time to time.

"It's growing up pretty fast." Lady Olenna sighed, and then fell into doubt, "Is the dragon growing so fast?" ”

It's fast indeed. Samwell's dragon was the size of a kitten when it first hatched, but just over two months later, it already has the size of an adult falcon.

"Eat a lot." Samwell chuckled and made an excuse.

Secretly excited in my heart, it seems that dragon bone soup can indeed accelerate the growth of dragons.

This also made him let go of his worries, and he was finally not a dragon raised by his grandson's grandson.

Lady Olenna did not know the reason for believing it or not, but she did not dwell on it, and continued:

"Anyway, I didn't agree to Daolang's alliance conditions, he looks gentle, even a little weak, but if you think he is easy to bully, you will definitely suffer a big loss. It's all grown out of Dorne's viper den, how can Doron be a harmless sheep?

It's just that compared with his flamboyant brother, Dao Lang knows how to hide his fangs better, but such a poisonous snake is even more deadly. ”

"I understand." Samwell put on an open face to be taught.

In fact, one of the more important reasons for his rejection of Prince Dorant was that he did not want to offend the Tyrells. Just signed a marriage contract here, and she is going to marry a second wife when she turns around, can Mrs. Olena bear this kind of humiliation?

And the attitude of the nobility of the river bend must also be taken into account.

Riverbend's thousand-year-old feud with Dorne is not a casual one, and Samwell is well aware that he can only get the support of one side for the time being, and Riverbend is obviously much more suitable than Dorne.

"Alright, now let's talk about the business tax. What are your plans? ”

Samwell leaned forward slightly and said softly:

"I thought of a plan to conquer Dorne, rest assured, not by force, but with food."

"Oh? Grain? "Lady Olenna is interested," Tell me about it. ”

"You also know that I have a lot of fresh mountain grapes to make wine, so I need a lot of fresh mountain grapes to make wine. In order to strengthen the connection with the Dane family, I deliberately chose Starfall City as a grape supply base.

During this meeting with Prince Dolang, I also took a look at the grape plantations in Starfall City and found that the local Dornite people were happy to grow grapes for Eagle's Bill.

The reason is very simple, grow grapes to make money.

The land in Dorne is barren and the yields of crops such as barley and wheat are not high, so I specifically asked the farmer how much he could earn almost twice as much for the same area of cultivation if he were to plant mountain grapes.

Therefore, now a large area of farmland on the outskirts of Starfall City has been converted into grape plantations.

Moreover, the owners of the vineyards and the farmers who work in them are all very friendly to Hawkspew, which is understandable, after all, they depend on Hawksbill Island for their money.

If you think about it, a year ago, the two places were still fighting for life and death, but now, because of trade and interests, they have become like a family.

Now if you go to Starfall City and ask, I'm afraid there won't be many people who are still willing to be enemies of Eagle's Beak Island and even Hewan.

If this model were to be extended, it would not be possible to make the entire farmland of Dorne, of course, all of it, but as long as a significant part of the farmland was converted into vineyards, or other cash crops that are more expensive and more suitable for growing in arid areas, such as olives, cotton, sugar beet...... So—"

"If you have so much, your grain will be greatly reduced." Lady Olenna seemed to have understood Samwell's train of thought, and her small eyes gleamed with excitement and coldness.

"That's right!" Samwell continued, "In order for the people of Dorne to be more willing to grow other cash crops, then we had to provide a lot of food, and it was cheap food, and it was a storm on the grain market in Dorne, so that the farmers would find that they couldn't make money growing food, and because there was a large supply of low-cost food, they didn't need to grow their own food." As a result, the Dornse will become more and more dependent on food from the river bend.

And as long as you control Dorne's food supply......"

"You can control Dorne." Lady Olenna followed Samwell's words and came to a conclusion.

"Yes. That's why I had to renegotiate tariffs with Prince Dowland, in order to strengthen commercial exchanges between the two places and make it easier to implement this plan. ”

"It's a brilliant idea." Lady Olenna did not hesitate to praise herself, "The conquest of Dorne by the sword will only provoke hatred and revolt, and the use of food will make the people of Dorne more and more inseparable from the river." Perhaps one day, even if the Martell family issues a war order against Riverbend, the Dornish will find themselves unable to become enemies of Riverbend. ”

After thinking about it, she added: "The only thing to worry about is that the Martell family sensed the problem and issued an order to force farmers to grow food. ”

Samwell laughed and said, "That's a cut of money, and the Martell family will be ready to bear the wrath of the Dorne peasants." My plan is actually to create enough 'pro-riverbend factions' within Dorne, as long as there are more such Dorn, the less likely it is that Dorne will be our enemy, and even gradually be controlled by us. ”

Lady Olena smiled: "What you said also makes sense, even if the Martell family realizes that it is wrong, they may not dare to issue such an order that is destined to offend the peasants of Dorne and even the nobles of Dorne, and besides, Doran is not bent on showing us sincerity now, we can't just sign the tariff agreement and turn around and regret it." ”

"So, you agreed to the plan?"

"Agreed. There is no shortage of food in the riverbends, even if it is sold to Dorne at a loss. As long as your plan is carried out smoothly, perhaps we can achieve what the Targaryens have not been able to achieve for hundreds of years. ”

Samwell was beaming, and got up to help Lady Olenna make a cup of tea.

I have to admit that after receiving the support of the Tyrell family, the means and power he can use are far from comparable to before, even Dorne, the hardest bone to gnaw in the Seven Kingdoms, dares to make a move.

Of course, this "agricultural invasion" plan is destined to be a long-term plan, and it may take years or even decades to slowly transform Dorne's agriculture, and the best way for him to grow his strength at the moment is to swallow the stormland.

Thinking of this, Samwell asked, "How's the build-up of the army?" ”

"Most of the lords of the Riverbend have already sent troops, and they have gathered nearly 30,000 people in the High Court, and it is estimated that there will be 40,000 troops in the end."

"That's enough." Samwell nodded in satisfaction.

Most of the forces of the Stormlands have already fallen into Dorne, and now they can gather another 20,000 troops to reach the sky, not to mention, the bastard duke who was appointed by the Iron Throne cannot have such an appeal.

"It is expected that the army will be assembled next week, and then I will ask Mace to officially declare war on the bastard duke, and I will not participate in the specific battle plan, you can discuss it with your father and Matus Rowan."

"Okay." Samwell nodded, then asked, "Will Lord Mace go this time into the Stormlands?" ”

"He'll stay in the High Court." Lady Olenna snorted, "Garland will follow the army on behalf of the Tyrells. ”

"Okay." Samwell nodded in satisfaction. As long as the inflatable fish doesn't cause trouble for themselves.

Just as he was about to say goodbye and leave, he suddenly remembered something, hesitated for a moment, and said to Lady Olenna:

"A witch who served the red god Rahlo once told me a prophecy. She said she saw the roses withering......"

"Prophecy?" Lady Olenna sneered, "I've never believed in bullshit prophecies in my life. The reason why the Targaryens are always crazy is not because of the so-called prophecy. What 'the dragon has three heads', what 'A Song of Ice and Fire'...... They are obsessed with prophecy, which is why they do all kinds of unreasonable things, and finally bring destruction to the family. ”

Samwell shrugged, "Actually, I don't believe too much in prophecy. It's always good to be careful, though. ”

"Don't worry, the riverlands are not so fragile, and even if 40,000 troops are dispatched, there will still be enough defense forces."

"Okay." Samwell said no more, got up and saluted, and then took his leave.

(End of chapter)