Storm's End.

The white dragon slowly landed in the courtyard, and the huge leather wings stirred up smoke and dust, making people unable to open their eyes.

When the dust settled, the castle's steward, Gavin Mande, stepped forward and saluted:

"Your Majesty, welcome back."

Samwell jumped off the dragon's back, took the damp gauze towel from the maid's hand, wiped his face, and asked:

"How's Dorne doing? Did Alen kill someone? ”

"Killed. But only Earl Anders Ellenwood was killed. She also declared the Ellenwood family a rebel and issued a conscription order asking the rest of the Dorne family to send troops to assist the Martell family in quelling the rebellion. ”

Samwell was a little surprised, and smiled:

"Alene, this woman has a brain? He was able to control his temper and knew that he would only deal with one enemy at a time. ”

"Tyrion of House Lannister has gone to Pycabrid. I suspect he was the one who gave Princess Arrene the idea. ”

"Tyrion...... I guess it's him. Samwell smiled, "How's that?" All the major families of Dorne have sent troops? ”

"Not yet. Now the major families of Dorne are asking the city to release their lords, but it is the Cletus of the House of Ellenwood who has inherited the title of earl, and is gathering vassals under the banner of avenging his father, and it seems that he is preparing to fight with the city of the sun. ”

Samwell nodded, "Stay tuned." ”

"Yes." Gavin responded, but then asked, "Your Majesty, do we need to intervene?" ”

"I'll write a letter to Starfall and make some arrangements." Samwell mused, "Other than that, don't get directly involved in Dorne's civil strife. If it provokes the Dorn's hatred, it will be bad. ”

"Okay."

"Have you found a bachelor and a craftsman who understands water conservancy construction?" Samwell asked again.

"I found a dozen of them." Gavin said, "However, I suggest you first meet the emissary of the Iron Vault, who has been waiting for you in Storm's End for more than ten days. ”

"Emissary of the Iron Vault?" Samwell was stunned for a moment, then smiled thoughtfully, "Okay, bring him to me." ”

After changing his clothes, Samwell met with Naho Dimetis, the emissary of the Iron Vault, in the Hall of the Storm.

"Dear His Majesty Caesar, allow me to extend my sincerest greetings to you."

"Lord Naho." Samwell sat on the Storm King's throne with a faint smile in his eyes, "I hope you've brought more than just a greeting. ”

"Of course." Naho laughed, "As you know, the Iron Throne borrowed a loan of one million gold dragons from us, and now the loan is about to expire, but they refuse to pay it back. ”

"That's why you came to me. You want me to help you recover what you owe. ”

"You can say the same thing." Naho always felt that the other party's statement was a little awkward, "However, we will give you a generous donation to help you overthrow the defaulting king on the Iron Throne." ”

"Your funding isn't free, is it?"

"Of course not." Nahoe explained, "Our grant is really a loan to you, which you will still need to repay in the future, along with the Iron Throne's one million gold dragons. ”

Samwell laughed, "So not only do I have to pay back what I borrowed, but I also have to pay off the Iron Throne's debts?" ”

"Yes. That's the rule of the Iron Vault. Naho saw the other party's displeasure, so he added, "Your Majesty, when the time comes, the entire Seven Kingdoms will be yours, and you still care about paying off the extra million gold dragon arrears." ”

"How can you not care? No one wants to take on an extra million gold dragon debts. ”

Nahoe obviously didn't expect Caesar to have such an attitude.

He thought that the other party would readily agree when he learned that the Iron Vault supported him.

"Your Majesty, you may not know much about the generosity of the Iron Vault." Naho said, "As long as you agree to our terms, the Iron Vault will pay a million gold dragons at once, and with such a large sum of money, you can go to the other side of the Narrow Sea and hire an army of tens of thousands to fight for you." ”

Samwell smiled noncommittally and said:

"I have not heard of a king on this continent who sat on the Iron Throne by mercenaries. Those who fight for money, will also betray for more money. ”

"If you don't want to use mercenaries, you can also use this money to recruit soldiers in the territory, or buy food, equipment, weapons, etc., no matter how you spend it, this huge amount of money can greatly help your business."

"Lord Nahoe, why did you choose me and no one else?"

"Of course, I value your majesty, you have the potential to challenge the Iron Throne."

Samwell smiled coldly, "No, it's because you don't have a choice. ”

Without waiting for Nahoe to plead, he continued:

"Who else can fight the Lannisters now? Stannis Baratheon has lost almost all of his capital in the battle of Blackwater, Eddard Stark has lost even his hometown of Winterfell, and is now being surrounded and suppressed by the lion's army.

If you want to recover the arrears of the one million gold dragons, you can only come to me.

So, don't put on a posture of being condescending to me, as if you are giving me charity.

No, you're begging me to do something. ”

Nahoe had the heart to retort, but he didn't know how to speak.

Samwell smiled slightly and said leisurely:

"To put it bluntly, it was the Iron Treasury that asked me to help you recover your debts, so you should give me a little labor fee. In this way, the amount of arrears recovered will be divided fifty-fifty. ”

Nahoe was stunned, and he always felt that this statement didn't seem right.

"Also, be generous when you want to borrow money." Samwell added, "Don't pick at the one million gold dragons, who can spend such a small amount of money." In this way, the Iron Treasury will fund me with three million gold dragons, and when I sit on the Iron Throne, I will pay you three million and a half million gold dragons, with additional interest. ”

"Three million Golden Dragons? And you only pay half of the million that the Iron Throne owes? ”

"That's right, that's my condition." Samwell stood up and said, "If we agree, we'll sign a contract." ”

"Your Majesty Caesar, I have no right to agree to the three million gold dragon funding, but I can help you apply to the key keeper, however, according to the rules of the Iron Vault, you must also return the one million gold dragon on the Iron Throne in full......"

"It's time for your rules to change." Samwell interrupted coldly, "As I said, it's you who are asking me to do things now, not the other way around. If you don't accept my terms, then go to other people who oppose the lion. However, you have to choose carefully, but don't lose all your money. ”

Naho's face turned ugly:

"You may be underestimating the role of money, but with our help......"

"It's you who overestimate the role of money." Samwell interrupted impatiently, "Money can indeed buy a lot of things, and even buy hearts and minds. But the only thing that can really make people surrender is iron and blood. Otherwise, why is the Iron Treasury just a bank, and not the ruler of Braavos? ”

After saying that, he said no more and strode away.

Naho looked at the other party's distant back, and finally couldn't help but speak:

"Your Majesty, I can't directly agree to your conditions, but you can write back to the Iron Vault to ask......"

"Then hurry up." Samwell said, "I'm too busy to talk to you guys. And soon I will also go to the other side of the Narrow Sea, you are not the only bank in the free trade city-state, even if I want to borrow money, there are many choices. ”

"But the Iron Vault is the strongest." Naho hurriedly said, "Richer than all the other banks in the free trade city-state combined." You can't borrow that much money from them. ”

"But they won't let me take on debts that don't belong to me at all." Samwell waved his hand, "Send my conditions back to the Iron Vault and tell them that my conditions are unchangeable." Either say yes or go to someone else. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will give you an answer as soon as possible." Nahoe bowed, visibly more humble than he had been.

(End of chapter)