Game of Thrones: I am Dothraki, not a barbarian

Chapter 90 Inauguration Ceremony
The next afternoon, Rhaharo, wearing Valyrian armor and a scimitar at his waist, walked majestically towards the tallest white brick tower in Pentos.

This is the seat of the Governor's Council, the center of power in Pentos.

The soldiers of the Golden Group saluted him respectfully and pushed open the heavy wooden door of the hall for him.

The original noise stopped abruptly, and the thirty-seven governors all looked towards the door.

A moment later, the noise started again, even more intense than before.

Forty high-backed chairs made of gold are arranged on two semicircular platforms. Traditional nobles sit on the left, while wealthy businessmen sit on the right. From this layout, it can be seen that the two major forces are clearly divided.

Leon Prestan, the new speaker, sat in a high-backed chair in the middle of the wall, facing the door. There was an empty chair next to him, which was obviously prepared for Laharo.

Leon waved to him and invited him to come forward and take a seat.

Laharo nodded, and just as he walked to his seat and sat down, the atmosphere immediately became tense, and a torrential wave of verbal attacks began.

The old nobleman Paulin Kopta had a head full of silver hair and a beard that was tied into seven or eight strands like an octopus, each strand dyed a different color.

"We cannot allow a foreigner to take control of our army!" He pointed at Rhallor, his voice harsh. "He's a Dothraki barbarian. Look, he has braids and no beard!"

On the high platform on the right, the round-faced merchant Martin immediately retorted, "Rahlo defeated the great pirate Euron Greyjoy. He is our guarantee of safety! My cargo ship has safely passed through the strait three times!"

"He's only pursuing his own interests!" A noble suddenly stood up from the middle of the left platform, filled with righteous indignation. "You all know what happened to Eccles and Simon!"

"Bullshit! Simon was killed by Eccles, Ilian and Leon can testify to that!"

Suddenly, more than ten governors stood up on both sides, glaring at each other, puffing their beards, glaring, and rolling up their sleeves. The quarrel was almost enough to blow the roof off.

As the speaker, Leon tried his best to maintain order, but the hall was in chaos and no one listened to him.

Laharo watched the excitement for a while before slowly standing up. The light of the setting sun shone on him through the high glass windows, as if covering him with a sacred halo.

The hall fell silent, all eyes on him.

"My Lord Governors," his resonant voice shook the hall, "Pentos was once the pearl of this sea, possessing unparalleled prestige!

But today, there are countless pirates roaming the coastal waters, and we are not even able to protect ourselves, just like the daughters of the branch courtyard, at their mercy!

Ninety years ago, the Treaty of Braavos forced your ancestors to pay a huge sum of gold royals, lost their sovereignty and humiliated their country, and they never received the respect they deserved!

The warships of the Sea King are running rampant in our territorial waters, intercepting and inspecting ships at will, and interfering with our trade under the pretext of strictly investigating the slave trade!
The Iron Bank, a bunch of parasites who only know how to manipulate the market, treat us as cash cows, even condoning pirate plundering, so that we will be bankrupt and forced to accept their usurious loans!"

He paused for a moment, his expression determined, and suddenly waved his hand towards the distance: "I am standing here today just to tell you, enough is enough!
Pentos' humiliation will not continue! From now on, our fate is our own!"

The hall was silent as everyone was stunned by his aura. Leon raised his head and stared at Laharo in amazement, giving him a thumbs up in his heart.

Well, this is called domineering!

"Mr. Governors," Rhallor continued, "your caravans support the prosperity of Pentos, but the Sea King of Braavos and the Iron Bank take away most of the profits!
What's worse, Pentos has to pay high tariffs to other city-states for its goods. Even though we are selling the same goods, we can never compete with their merchants!
It's not that the quality is bad, but because they know that we Pentos people are easy to bully!"

The governors began to murmur, and even some in the traditional aristocratic camp nodded subconsciously. Laharo's lips curled slightly. A slap in the face, it was time to show some real benefits.

"But all this will change! Pentos will become the center of trade in Essos!
I will form an escort fleet to protect all merchant ships registered in Pentos, ensuring safe travel between Westeros and Essos. The era of paying protection fees to pirates is over!
Furthermore, I want all city-states to abolish tariffs on us!"

He raised his right hand and pointed it diagonally toward the sky. "I will make Pentos great again!"

Then, he raised his fist to his lips and cleared his throat. "Besides that, the ill-gotten gains of the traitor of Pentos, Governor-Slayer Eccles, stained with blood, will be distributed fairly to everyone through the hands of Lord Speaker and Lord Illian!"

At this moment, the parliament was in an uproar.

Lion shouted at the right moment: "If Lord Rhallor can truly achieve this, then Pentos' trade will rise again!"

"We can no longer be controlled by Braavos!"

"The Iron Bank should serve us, not be their slaves!"

"Return the gold to Pentos!" a governor shouted passionately.

Rahalo spoke in a resounding voice, "Everyone! I am willing to shoulder the responsibility of protecting Pentos! I ask the Governor's Council and the Speaker to initiate a motion to make me the commander-in-chief of the Guard!
I will not let the invasion of Pentos happen again. I will lead the army to ensure the safety of you and every one of your caravans!"

As the speech ended, the merchant class stood up first and applauded enthusiastically, followed by the nobles who followed Illian's lead.

In the end, the parliament passed a resolution by a majority vote, officially granting the position of commander-in-chief of the guard to Laharo, and allocating 15 gold royals from taxes every year as military expenses, allowing him to seize the time to build a navy and fulfill his promise.

Tariffs have been a burden on Pantos for a long time!
Of course, this was actually the parliament's compensation for him giving up the property under the name of Eccles.

The governors played this tactic with perfect coordination, generously spending the money of the city-state to fill their own pockets.

Then, the inauguration ceremony began. Laharo stood in the center of the hall with an upright posture and a solemn face. Five priestesses of the Temple of Poseidon, draped in transparent blue gauze, walked slowly over, holding salt water, and danced around him. They twisted their waists, and their plump breasts swayed. They raised their slender hands and sprinkled the salt water on Laharo's forehead.

At the end of the sacrifice, Leon came forward with a bronze sword symbolizing the commander of the guards, and the main priest took holy water from the silver plate and poured it on the blade.

"In the name of the Sea God, please accept this power and responsibility, Commander." After saying this, the high priest handed the bronze sword to Harold.

"May the sea god be with you!"

Seeing Rahalo take the sword and open his mind, the chief priest smiled charmingly. He squeezed Rahalo's body and whispered in his ear, "Go to the Temple of Poseidon when you have time. The Saint of the Sea can soothe all your worries..."

Laharo gave an awkward yet polite smile. "What a carelessness!" He hadn't expected a priestess to be so ruthless.

The next step was to show the new commander of the guards to the people. Laharo rode on a tall horse and slowly advanced along the Avenue of Pentos.

The heavy infantry of the Golden Group guarded on both sides, with dark red cloaks fluttering in the wind, holding long swords and tower shields, and silver chain mail shining in the sun. The white robes were printed with a bright red horsetail logo, and on the back was the square brick tower symbolizing Pentos.

The entire team was like a silver wave, escorting the new commander-in-chief of the guards towards the Glorious Square.

The Golden Company designation has been discontinued and replaced with the Shield of Pentos.

(End of this chapter)