Game of Thrones: King of Harrenhal, starting with a blue hand stat panel

Chapter 131 Preparing for the Next Decade

Conquest 290 years ago, July, under the bright sun.

The majestic Herenberg Tower, like a giant hand reaching for the sky, overlooks the fertile fields of the Hean family on both sides of Lake Divine Eye not far away.

Shenyan Lake is like a vast expanse of blue that has been carved out. In addition to black swans, there are also thirty longships of the He'an Fleet decorated with black bat patterns on the lake.

The other thirty longships of the River An fleet were moored at a nearby dock, having been borrowed by Arthur from Earl Harlowe's town.

Thanks to Arthur's gains during the Greyjoy Rebellion, the bat fleet had grown to a size of sixty longships.

If not used for long-range operations, the fleet is sufficient for coastal operations in Crab Bay.

The black-armored cavalry raised their banners emblazoned with gold and black bats, and the knights clad in golden robes held their heads high, facing the gentle breeze and sunlight.

Arthur Hoan looked at the lush green fields, and each time he saw them, he felt refreshed and happy.

Arthur was followed by his eight knights.

They are Sir Lucas Dayne, the sword instructor; Veri Ward, the squire; Lucas Roots Jr.; "Big Guy" Raleigh; the mercenary knight Rosso; Clayton; Tritimor; and the newly joined "Mad Rat" Sir Shadridge.

Mad Rat is the knight in the original story who flirted with Brienne of Tarth in search of Sansa, and was eventually hired by Littlefinger in the Vale.

"Your land is truly beautiful, Sir Arthur! The sky and the earth here even make me forget blood and fire," Mad Rat exclaimed sincerely.

"Men love their land, sir. But you can be assured that even in times of peace, violence will not be lacking," Arthur replied.

"It is my greatest honor, Sir Arthur," Mad Rat said respectfully. "To fight alongside a legendary warrior like the Dark Knight."

In terms of climate, soil fertility, and water resources, the farmland near Shenyan Lake is first-class and covers a vast area.

Unlike the narrow plots of land in a valley, this place is only comparable to the large tracts of fertile farmland in a river bend.

The plot is now planted with wheat, barley, sweet corn, alfalfa, carrots, turnips, apples, blackberries, and more.

The current climate is a typical long summer climate, and the decade that began in 299 is also the last harvest season before winter.

"Sir Arthur!"

"Sir Arthur!"

The tenant farmers of the River family, dressed in cloth robes, greeted Arthur River warmly, and Arthur returned their greetings.

As the tide rises, so does the harvest; the better the grain yield, the higher the tenant farmers' wages will be.

Although they were all tenant farmers, the farmers in the Riverlands and the Reach had a better quality of life than the farmers in Dorne and the North.

From Harrenhal to Whitewall, the production bases of the River An family never cease their roar.

Harrenhal's alfalfa hay was transported to Whitewall City, boosting the vitality of the cows and horses on the ranch, and thus improving the quality of the milk.

Harrenhal's sweet corn, apples, flour, carrots, and other produce, along with Whitewall's wine, fresh milk, and cheese products, were shipped to various markets, King's Landing, and the castles and docks of some of the lords.

The largest market is still King's Landing, which has the royal family, a considerable number of wealthy merchants and lords, a large number of citizens, hundreds of docks, and foreign merchant ships that also buy products there.

Many of the vassal lords of the royal domain did not even reside in their own castles.

As princes ruling over the kingdom, they were naturally courtiers and also had residences in King's Landing.

"As you instructed, all the grain should be sold in half, and the other half kept, following the northern practice," Lucas Jr. explained to Arthur.

Even in the height of summer, the people of the seven kingdoms still had some habit of storing food.

The difference lies in the degree to which this custom is implemented; the optimistic feudal lords simply do not believe that the long summer is over and only store a small amount of grain.

Food.

For example, in King's Landing, despite supporting so many people, there have been numerous precedents of riots.

However, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the King's Landing court had no concept of food reserves and relied mostly on external supplies to survive, and were quite optimistic.

Robert and Jon Snow may not care about these things, but Littlefinger is most likely up to no good.

Pessimistic feudal lords, such as those from the north, would store more grain, since even in summer, the north's grain production was not as high as that of the south.

"Very good." Arthur nodded.

In addition to selling a huge amount of food, Arthur also sent agents to buy some food at low prices during this golden period.

Anyway, Harrenhal is a large place, and as long as it is properly stored, it can store a lot of grain.

These grains are food in the height of summer, but in winter they become war supplies.

"Let's go, let's look south along King's Road!" Arthur said.

Arthur led his cavalry south along the Kingsroad, which lies east of the Eye of God.

The roads here are not all smooth. The roads of the He'an family are well maintained, but those of the royal lords and feudal lords are not.

Leaving the fiefdom of the River An family, the King's Road also meanders like a snake, sometimes even intertwining with desolate paths, sometimes disappearing completely, only to reappear a mile or two later.

The scenery here is also beautiful. Along the road, hills and terraces rise and fall, dotted with meadows, forests and streams; in the streams, the water flows slowly and willows line the banks.

The roads here are indeed very narrow, with sharp turns, but fortunately Arthur and his men are cavalry, so they don't have to struggle as much as a caravan.

"Neither the sow's horn nor the antler fortress have any road repairs?" Veri said with a hint of helplessness.

"I don't think they're interested," Arthur laughed. Indeed, the lords of the royal domain preferred to enjoy life in King's Landing.

"Let's go, we've reached someone else's territory!" Arthur gave the order, and the cavalry began their return journey along the western route of Lake Changing Eye.

There are also distinctions between the areas around Shenyan Lake, which can be considered an imbalance in regional development.

The western shore of God's Eye Lake is not close to King's Road; it has a higher forest coverage and is also the territory of the River Ann family.

The villages and manors were smaller and more scattered, the hills were higher, and the valleys were deeper.

This is the reality of our time; even though humans have ventured into many areas, it remains largely untouched by human activity.

Even fertile and mature lands like Shenyan Lake have plenty of forests nearby, not to mention other areas.

Arthur recorded the terrain and features of the area around the Lake of the Good Eye, and he also had Coburn and his apprentices describe the detailed topography of the Riverlands.

The peace we enjoy now is only a prelude to a war in the future.

Only by being familiar with the terrain can one wage a perfect war.

From this perspective, Arthur can be considered one of the earliest lords of the Three Rivers region to prepare for war.

Aside from the foolish Robert, Jon Snow, Hoster, and Eddard Woods, the others—Tywin Lannister, the Queen of Thorns, and even Renly—all had some degree of preparedness.

Perhaps only the four most original members of this power structure are unaware of the danger.

Perhaps the blacksmith was right; Robert was born for the battlefield, not for the throne.

Stormlands, Storm's End.

The castle has only one tower, which stretches out boldly toward the sky.

Inside the lord's room, Renly Baratheon opened the letter with its gold patterns.

The letter came from King's Landing; it was from Robert.

"Loras, my brother told me in his letter that once I come of age, he intends to give me a gift: to go to King's Landing and serve as his Minister of Justice. After all, Duke Arryn has been holding this position for too long, and my brother is considering assigning someone else," Renly said happily.

The position of Justice Secretary is extremely important, and only Robert would so casually grant it to his own brother, which is in line with their system's philosophy.

Renly also possesses Robert's affability, is handsome, gentle and polite, and has a fondness for luxury.

He was gentle and polite to every lord, knight, and even servant.

Therefore, although Lanli did not have any great achievements or warrior talent, he was still well-regarded by everyone and had a great reputation in Stormwind.

Furthermore, King Robert's overly close ties with the Lannisters led many disgruntled lords of Stormlands to begin investing in Renly.

For Lan Li, there was no doubt that he harbored further thoughts.

Robert ascended to the throne as Duke of Stormlands, while Renly, as Duke of Stormlands, was even younger than Robert, making it seem like a windfall.

Since the king is the one with the strongest army, Renly is not that far from the throne.

"That's great news. I'll write to Highgarden, and they'll give you all the manpower and resources they need," Loras said happily. As Renly's squire, the two were always inseparable.

At the same time, Loras's presence also brought Renly the support of the Reach.

Although the River Bend area was not in the core of power, it was wealthy and had always been dissatisfied with the existing arrangements.

If Renly gets involved in King's Landing, then the Reach will do everything in its power to support him.

The combination of Stormlands and Reach is incredibly powerful.

"When I reach King's Landing, I think my servants in the Stormlands will be satisfied, and I will speak on their behalf," Renly said with a smile. "But until then, my coming-of-age ceremony is a journey through the Stormlands, where I will meet with every lord of the Stormlands and establish friendly relations with them."

“Oh, and that bloodthirsty Bat Rider,” Renly said. “He so thirsts for honor, and I will grant him even more.”

o

Harrenhal is not far from King's Landing, and the strength of this army would be crucial if its leader were a knight like Arthur Hoan.

Loras paused for a moment, then said arrogantly, "They say he's the most fearless young knight in the Seven Kingdoms, but I don't believe it. I'm going to train hard and try to defeat him in the arena."

"I believe in your fearlessness, but it won't be that easy. After all, Ser Barristan and the Kingslayer are formidable warriors, yet the Bear and the Bloodbat surpass them." A glint flashed in Renly's eyes; much of his behavior was modeled after Robert Baratheon.

However, Renly only learned Robert's affability, but not the tenacity that Robert possessed.

Robert was able to lead from the front on the battlefield, be invincible, and share the joys and sorrows with his soldiers.

But Renly lost the essence of these warriors; at best, he was a playboy.

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