83 News in the capital
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POV of Jon Arryn, fourth moon,284 AC
''Here are the expenses for this moon, Lord hand'' said the master of the coin, handing me some papyrus with the expenses we had to face.
I gave a heavy sigh as I looked at some of the expenses.
''Why are we spending almost a hundred thousand golden dragons on Prussian liquors,'' I said while pointing out the expenses with my quill.
''The king personally ordered it, he wanted to fill our cellars with some Prussian drinks that should be aged to taste better and when his majesty heard about that he decided it was better to have available a good amount saved for parties in the future'' replied the master of the coin
''We have to do something to stop Robert from spending so much, food prices are very high and instead of filling the coffers with gold by selling the food from the crown lands, Robert is wasting it on great feasts, but now he is attacking the taxes we collect'' I said with a tired tone
''I am not the one to control the king, my duty is to advise him and see to it that we raise enough for expenses'' the master of coin answered
''Ah... very well and how are you doing with that... we will have enough funds for all our projects... we have to build almost one hundred and fifty war galleys to recompose the royal fleet... besides compensating the lords who lost their fleet in the attack to dragon stone, the city guard, the customs officers, the repairs to the roads... so tell me how the taxes will be for the next year... do we have enough?'', I asked the coin master
''Yes... as long as the economic conditions don't change too much we can count with enough funds for the next year, the Prussians are spending like crazy, importing a lot of building materials from all parts of the kingdom... you should know it first-hand lord hand because the Prussians import iron and copper from your lands constantly'' said the master of coin very confident.
''What's more, we can't forget that soon will come the mid-year harvest where we will fill our coffers again with taxes from the lords, grain from the reach... gold from the western lands... silver from the north and cattle from the river lands... and well, although unpopular we can always raise taxes'' finished the master of coin.
''Well... I guess we can move forward with that... but we must not be confident because there is an economic bonanza after the war, soon it will end, the Prussians will stop building and gold will stop coming to our coffers... but taxes would be difficult with the Targaryen escaped, it would be giving a reason to those who do not trust the Baratheon government'' I said sealing the purchase of liquor.
''Lord Hand, I also sold the rights to mint gold coins to the Prussians.... Maximilian paid a good sum for us to give that privilege to the Hohenzollerns... it seems that the Prussians found gold in their search for mines in the reach'' said the master of coinage
''Gold... are you sure about that?'', I said in surprise.
''No... but I think the spider might know with more certainty, only that the Prussians have sent reports of purchasing certain elements that are necessary to process gold and I raise my suspicions'' the master of coin finished.
I handed the papyri to the master of coin and he retired to do his job.
That gold will be a great inconvenience for the Lannisters... they could control the prices whenever they wanted, since almost all the known gold mines are owned by the Lannisters and their banner men... I hope this does not escalate into a conflict between them... the wounds of the kingdom still do not heal
I went on with my work because we had to decide which roads we would maintain this year
But a familiar figure entered my workroom
''My lord hand... I bring information that may interest you'' Varys said smiling as he had his hands inside his ample robes.
''Lord Varys I hope you have progress on your spy network...I can't keep waiting forever for information on what is going on in the reach'' I said looking at the eunuch
''Oh...I am sorry my lord hand, but it seems the Hohenzollerns do not like my little birds...for their territory has become a place where they do not live much...information rarely comes...but I have adapted and have begun to use other methods of espionage that prove more enduring...I believe I could finally answer many of your questions''day Varys as he quickly approached me
''What is going on in the reach the high septon says the Prussians are killing the faithful in heinous ways'' i said as i concentrated on the maps i had
''Indeed, they are... only in numerous instances they were caught red-handed... the septon of lannisport paid for a large shipment of swords and armor with his gold to support a local rebellion that was near the border of the reach and the western lands.... but the Prussians found out very quickly..., as it has a very controlled steel market... extremely difficult to own weapons... only the Prussians can have them which allows them to control the larger masses of peasants with few men'' Varys said pointing to the ocean road
''Damn it... we need peace, not more war what are you planning to accomplish?'', I said very annoyed.
''Well, I have discovered certain things... the faith has been acting very far from their responsibilities... during the last time they have made many people disappear... permanently... to prevent serious information from coming to light'' said Varys taking some papyrus out of his clothes and handing them to me
It was information about sinful deeds performed by some septon of the capital and its surroundings
''Spider...this is a serious accusation...are you confident this happened?'' I said after reading the information.
''I can confirm the veracity of these facts, I still need more time to find out everything, but I hope this proves that I am on the right track... because if this is true, you may find the reason why the high septon was so kind to the Prussians'' Varys said opening his eyes wide.
''Well do it, but keep it discreet, this could be a huge scandal if it proves to be widespread practices'' I said as I thought of the chaos such a corruption of the faith could cause.
''I heard something about gold, the Prussians have a mine?'', I said looking at the spymaster.
''I guess from the purchase reports... but yes... it's a different mine than the one we know, apparently the sandbanks of the torentine river are full of gold on the Prussian side... we still need to check if the Dornish side is the same... but according to what my little birds heard a man with a shovel and a bucket can get a full year's pay working only one moon'' said Varys handing me another papyrus.
''Do you think it affected the price of gold in general?'', I asked Varys.
''Completely... to extract the gold is very simple, they have to clean the sand and mud and they get gold... much simpler than having to pay skilled miners and go deep into the bowels of a mine to extract it... all along the torentine'' Varys said running his finger along the river
''I just hope this doesn't generate a conflict... the Dornish could become very aggressive if they find out that in the peace treaty they ceded such a rich area'' I said as I thought about the reaction the queen's father might have.
''Sadly, Lord Hand... they know...it is hard to ignore how thousands of people work every day washing dirt...it is only a matter of time before the Dornish culture of the vulture kings returns..... although the Prussians are fortifying the entire border to protect their new treasure''Varys said with a serious tone.
''But well my lord hand it is not all bad news... a letter arrived from your home'' Varys said pulling a letter out of his sleeves
''It is from Brynden.... give it to me'' he said as he received the letter.
''Pycelle gave it to me, the old man didn't want to climb the stairs just to bring you this letter'' Varys said in his calm tone.
'That the wildlings of the Mountains of the Moon were slaughtered by the Finns?'
''Something that should be brought to my knowledge, Lord Hand?'' Varys asked with great interest.
I was a little stunned... the men of the Hohenzollern did in just one moon what I or my ancestors could not do in centuries.
''The Finns... the men who wear wolf's heads as a distinctive... they massacred the mountain clans... all the great clans were destroyed.... Brynden is checking how many they killed and eliminated the survivors... but the mountains are littered with the bodies of the savages''I said as I leaned back in my chair and thought.
''Wow... so those men are more dangerous than they look... including what happened in the Stormlands, that means that this group of men is very lethal to take down groups of savages so elusive that they hide in those mountains that they know like the palm of their hand'' said Varys very surprised
''Apparently the Prussians were enraged when the wildlings attacked a caravan carrying materials for the production of tools and clothing, which led Lord Hohenzollern to mobilize his best men to root out the problem'' I said as I finished reading Brynden's letter.
''But wouldn't that mean that the Prussians would crush anyone who upset them?'', Varys said with a tone of intrigue.
''It's a message... but I'd like to think he did it because it was a problem for everyone and not just because it was a stone in his shoes'' I said with some doubt
''We'll have to keep an eye on Lord Hohenzollern's movements... because they're planning something'' Varys said standing up straight.
''What are they planning?'', I asked the spider.
''A messenger from Maximilian brought this letter in the morning... apparently Maximilian is escaping from lady Tanda... that woman is very insistent with offering her daughter to Maximilian... but the important thing is that the Prussian bank wants to finance a feast for the king... for reasons to be determined'' Varys said, pointing to Brynden's letter.
''So Maximilian had knowledge of what was going on?'', I asked the spymaster.
''Maybe yes...maybe no...just that he was informed...it would not be right to make assumptions about it...but what if Maximilian paid for it all...it is an opportunity to unite the realm with a great feast...though I think we should not overdo it too much...angering the Prussians seems not to be advisable...ha, ha, ha'' Varys said with a little laugh
'Then a feast for the pacification of the mountains of the vale... as much as it pains my pride it is the right thing to do...'
''Well... we will accept Maximilian's request... a feast after the harvest, for the seventh moon... tell Pycelle to send invitations to all the lords... let all those who want to participate come with a little luck the martells won't be present'' I said after reading Maximilian's letter
''At your orders, lord hand, I will continue with my work... we have to get to the bottom of what happened with the high septon and the Prussians'' Varys said as he was leaving the room.
'Well... the Prussians will pay for a feast of Robert's..... we saved some gold thanks to them'
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