Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 160

Longzel touched Lingol's hair. He didn't know how to explain to his son the private goods that Bishop Korron had put in the Seven Star Bible. After all, although these private goods were beneficial to maintaining the rule, they were indeed a bit far-fetched or shameless. Bishop Korron linked the dragons and the dragon kings with the Seven Gods when he preached. But in fact, neither dragons nor dragon kings had much to do with the young Andal religion of the Seven Gods. When the Andal leader "Great Man" Korron was annihilated by the dragon kings, no one saw the Seven Gods send down miracles to save them, and no one saw these dragon kings stop.

Today, the holy places of the Seven Gods on Andalus have all turned to dust, and no one has seen the incarnations of the Seven Gods descend to the world to save the lands of these "true believers."

However, linking the Dragon King family with the Seven Gods is a very good means of rule for the people of Westeros who believe in the mature religion of the Seven Gods. As the only known religion with clear scriptures but no confirmed miracles and magic, it would be easier for the Seven Gods, who worship the seven gods, to play the trick of religious integration. After all, they also wish to have something to prove that they also have miracles - there is nothing more suitable than dragons. Moreover, the Seven Gods have been completely broken by Maegor's sword and dragon flames, Jaehaerys's gentle words, and Longzel's dragon threat. At the same time, as the only religion that has nothing to do with the mysterious element of magic, whether it is the Targaryen family or the Varese family, they don't need to worry about any real magicians suddenly emerging from this religion to interfere with their rule. So why not use them?
William, an old hunter from the north, followed the priest carefully. He was not noticeable at all. He had just led a group of young men to hunt a stag and a wild boar. The old hunter said slowly, "Your Highness, my name is William, and I am a hunter of the manor. I once followed Lord Bolton to the south and stayed here. You gave us, the old men and children who should have died on the battlefield in the south or in the ice and snow in the north, a way to survive. I am very grateful to you."

Longzel smiled and said, "Don't say that. Your arrival has helped me a lot. You are experienced farmers, hunters and warriors. Without you, my estates would not have been built so quickly and so well." He patted Ringol, indicating that he would say the next sentence.

Ringol swallowed nervously, straightened his face, and tried to act like a little adult, and said, "Hunter, please tell us what you want." After saying that, Ringol, who was still a child, couldn't help but shy away.

The old hunter smiled happily. He used to be the hunter of Earl Domeric Bolton and his father. He had met many lords and their children in the North. The old hunter's experience told him that the shy boy in front of him did have a heart that wanted to inherit the answer to the question of what "rule" was from his father.

It seems that they can live a good life. "Your Highness, I don't have any problem to ask you. We have demarcated the border of the forest with another Silver Blood Army manor and Lord Adams Lawbreaker. Now we don't have to worry about losing our heads for hunting in the territory of a noble lord."

The old hunter patted his head jokingly. The natural environment of the Reach was much better than that of the North. The primeval forests of the North were home to fierce shadowy mountain cats, wolves, bears, and wildlings who occasionally came south. Hunting in the North - although the old hunter once served the Bolton family, the surrounding nobles would often attack him just because the prey they caught was better than theirs. Directly taking the prey away was already considered mild. The old hunter remembered that his partner was arrested for poaching and sent to serve at the Wall because he caught better prey than one of Earl Horwood's vassals. The lords would never offend other nobles for a hunter.

Ringol listened silently. He had learned a lot about Westeros from Dr. Vesalius, and Longzel had also told him about the rules here. The lord had supreme control over his territory. Whether it was the fish in the river or the animals and trees in the forest, they were all the lord's property. If civilians dared to hunt, fish, or cut wood without the lord's permission, it would be considered "poaching". The lords of the North and the Valley would open the forests of their territories in winter, but the only purpose was to worry that the civilians who were also the lord's property would starve to death. But in normal times, only hunters raised by the lord and hunters with the lord's permission could hunt specific prey - these hunters must hand in at least half of the prey after the hunt. That's why so many people took the risk and chose poaching.

However, the hunters of the Silver Blood Army Manor are not subject to this restriction. They belong directly to the Varese family, and Longzel gave them the power to hunt, so there is naturally no such thing as poaching. Of course, they can only hunt in the woods within the manor, and they need to pay a certain amount of taxes with furs or game.

The old hunter talked a lot, including how these northerners integrated into the life here after coming to the south, and small things like hunting in daily life, which made Lingol listen with great interest. In fact, these things are not complicated. The difference between life in the north and south of Westeros is not as great as imagined. The northerners are rough and unruly, the border people are martial, and the Valyrians have also integrated other cultures after losing their homeland. The people of the Reach are gentle and polite. The stone men of Dorne are essentially Andals. In fact, ethnic integration in Vareses's territory is not a big problem. In addition, each Silver Blood Army manor has a small school, either built in the center of the manor or placed together with the temple. The assistant maesters who are about to take the exam serve as teachers. They will teach the children of wealthy people basic common sense. And select the particularly smart civilian children to send to the new school city in Silver Crown City.

With these, perhaps in Harry and Ron's generation, a new integrated nation will be born in the border prince's territory. Longzel has quietly named this new nation.

How about just calling us Silver Blood People?
After the old hunter finished his petition, an old man from a nearby village cautiously asked how the locals could join or form the Silver Blood Army Manor. After all, their welfare was indeed enviable. Longzel patiently answered their questions.

It's very simple. Joining the army does not mean temporarily conscripting farmers, but truly leaving production and joining the Silver Blood Army barracks in various places. This condition really discourages many villagers.

After all, what people want to gain from war is not a precarious life, but wealth. Many people think it is not worth it to waste their own land and join an army where they don't know when they will retire.

Finally it was Harry's turn. The boy looked at the dragon above his head with some admiration. Wormisol was so huge that even if it was just lying there to rest, Harry could feel the heat and terrifying majesty emanating from its body. But what made the boy feel more pressured than the dragon was the person sitting on Wormisol's tail.

Wearing a purple riding coat with a stand-up collar, a silver half-shoulder robe, neat short silver hair and a neatly trimmed short beard, Harry could still see Longzel's handsomeness, but more of it was the majesty of the lord of the dragon group.

The boy almost forgot what he was going to say. Finally, Longzel spoke: "Kid, why are you here?"

Harry mustered up the courage and said, "Your Highness, I will take over my father's service and serve you and your family." The boy spoke haltingly in High Valyrian, but finally chose to return to the Common Language in the smile of Longzel. This was much smoother: "Your Highness, according to your regulations, the Silver Blood Army cavalry must provide their own war horses before serving. After arriving at the barracks and passing the assessment, the barracks will issue us new war horses, but..." Harry hesitated.

"Speak, kid." Longzel knew what the boy was thinking. This Silver Blood Army manor was close to a settlement and pasture of Ago's Karasa. Although the main force of Ago's Karasa was still near Midsummer Hall, as a high-quality pasture, there had always been a Kou stationed here with his Kas, who trained war horses for the Varese family.

"It's the warhorse's problem." Longzel said.

Harry nodded: "Yes, Your Highness, it's a problem with war horses. Our manor is next to Karkoko's ranch, but the war horses they sell through the tax officer are too expensive. Our manor is the largest Silver Blood Army manor nearby. The cavalrymen from our manor must ride the best war horses. This is our pride!" Harry's voice became louder and louder, and finally the boy raised his head confidently in front of the prince.

"Well, kid, don't envy these war horses for sale." Long Zeer smiled and comforted the boy. "When you enter the military camp, if you really pass the assessment, I calculated that your batch of new recruits will just be able to catch up with this batch of new war horses. You don't need to spend that money." Long Zeer said with a smile.

The warhorse that Harry mentioned is the hybrid warhorse bred by Khalasar of Aggo for the Vareses family. This kind of warhorse is a hybrid of Volantis' tiger-striped horses, Dorne's sandy warhorses, River horses of the Reach and Dothraki horses of Dothraki. This breeding started in the time of Longzel's father. The warhorses bred from the tall and strong tiger-striped horses and the short and stocky Dothraki horses with extraordinary endurance were then hybridized again with the nimble and agile sandy warhorses and the tall and powerful River horses. It took decades and only three years ago did the first batch of qualified and stable warhorses get bred. These warhorses are exceptionally majestic, not only with great endurance, ferocious and swift, but more importantly, good-looking. All of them are solid-colored warhorses, and they don't even have the stripes on their tiger-striped horse ancestors.

This is the origin of the Varese Silver Blood Horse, which later became world-famous.

Harry quickly finished his plea, and as the sky gradually darkened, the father and son had dinner with the villagers at their warm invitation.

As the night deepened, Longzel and Ringol did not bother the people in the manor to vacate their houses, but rested beside the dragon.

Lingol couldn't sleep for a long time, so he got up and looked for Longzel.

"Father," Lingol said hesitantly, "Father, I read everyone's petition today and also saw the situation of our Silver Blood Army Manor." The boy looked into his father's deep purple eyes and said resolutely, "Father, have you ever considered that in the future these Silver Blood Army Manors will become 'independent kingdoms' in our territory, just like the knights' castles?"

"That's inevitable." Longzel was very pleased that his son could think so much and couldn't help scratching his son's nose.

"Father, I'm discussing a serious matter with you." Lingol said, pretending to be a little adult, with his hands on his waist. If he hadn't been hanging on Longzel, Longzel would have been in a trance and saw himself at the same age. "It is inevitable. When I'm alive, they may not dare to act so recklessly. When I die, they may gradually go their own way."

Longzel still maintained a warm smile: "People always want to have as few guys above them as possible and as much land under their feet as possible. The same goes for wealth. The officers who dominate the Silver Blood Army manor will gradually encroach on the land of their subordinates until their colleagues become tenants. The people in the manor will also encroach on other people's land in the same way. So, what will you do, my son?"

Ringol was lost in thought until Longzel tapped him lightly on the head.

"Is your dragon just for show, my son?"

First update, there will be another update before 12:. This chapter title: Varese Silver Blood Horse

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(End of this chapter)