92 The arrangements I

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POV of Jon Arryn, sixth moon,284 AC

In kings landing the administrative and political center of the seven kingdoms was happening a meeting in the small council where they were discussing the progress in their respective fields to try to keep the kingdom united while their king was sleeping.

''Well, give us your report, how is the security for the approaching feast?'', I asked looking at the new captain of the guard.

''I thank you lord Hand for allowing me to speak in this meeting, the security of the city remains at normal levels, but lately the cases have been reduced, my men have managed to recover from what happened in the last days of the fall of the mad king... only one thing bothers me in specific'' said the captain of the city guard.

''What bothers you?'', Varys asked intrigued.

''What's going on..., we haven't caught any smugglers in the last few weeks and honestly seeing that the thefts have remained at the same levels as always, experience tells me that the smugglers found a way to circumvent our vigilance and I fear that what we have on our hands is not that they have disappeared, but that they got better'' said the captain grimacing

Varys set his face thoughtfully as he placed his hand on his chin in thought.

The entire council looked at the spymaster as he thought to himself.

''I suppose I will have to check the guard again, we can't risk once more which bandits enter the ranks of the gold cloaks, besides I will have to investigate the customs officers they could be corrupt that all the smuggling is over overnight raises suspicions'' Varys said without moving his hand from his chin

''Any additional information that should be given to the council?'', asked the captain

''Uh... well, recently the silk street brothels became operational again... since the day the Prussians took control of the city they took a huge retaliation against the previous brothel owners... public whippings for their behavior they considered contrary to public morals.... well, again the streets have been filled with people seeking those services and I think I will need more men to guard the streets... the service has changed a lot which has attracted plenty of people both locals and travelers'' said the Captain while keeping his hands together.

''Well, for the moment I will alert my guards to support you in the task while we await the recruitment of more gold cloaks... who is the new owner of the brothels?, last I heard the Prussians placed the previous owners to mine coal in tumbleton'' I said looking at the coin master

''I don't know... he was a man from essos his accent i didn't recognize... only that he paid enough gold to buy us that property and avoid numerous questions, he spent another good amount of gold to demolish and rebuild several of the buildings... which were built by the Prussian construction squads with their liquid rock'' the coin master replied, shrugging his shoulders

''Varys?'', I said looking at the spymaster.

''I'm afraid I don't know either, lord Hand...I haven't had the joy of meeting the new owner and neither have my little birds seen him, much less heard of him'' the spymaster replied in a calm tone of voice

''Well the high septon will not be happy with this news... they are opening the pleasure houses again.... well, you may go Captain, secure the streets, the feast cannot be ruined by lack of public order'' I said pointing to the exit.

The captain nodded and quickly left the council.

''Well, what's next on the list?'', as I ran a hand through my hair

''The royal fleet, lord hand'' replied master Pycelle as he adjusted his chains.

''Lord Stannis, how is the rebuilding of the royal fleet going?'', I asked the king's brother.

''Good'' Stannis answered with a serious face.

''Could you please specify more Lord Stannis if it is not too much trouble?'' I said staring at the master of ships.

''After quite a lot of work we managed to get the shipbuilding back to work inside the city, since as it is known the Prussians took all the shipbuilders as prisoners, I managed to get several shipbuilders to come from the Stormlands and other areas for the job, so far, a galley is being built every week and we will need another three years to return the royal fleet to what it was before the rebellion'' Stannis answered without showing any emotion on his face

''That's quite a long-time lord Stannis'' I said looking at Stannis

''We work as fast as we can, lord hand in the Targaryen era each galley took almost two moons to complete, I have increased the productivity of the shipyard by a considerable amount'' Stannis replied looking back at me.

''Well... about the guarding of the seas, lord Stannis has something to report?'', I asked again

''The pirates are emboldened, as are the slavers of essos because the security offered by the royal fleet has been drastically reduced, it has increased the windows of opportunity these men have had to carry out their vile deeds, as long as the royal fleet remains so small I fear we will have to get used to news of villages under attack'' Stannis replied.

''Well... bad news indeed... I will send my banner men to muster a fleet at gull town to help with the work of defending the coasts, until we can rely entirely on the royal fleet again'' I said a little concerned.

I settled back in my chair, looking at the empty seat where Robert should be sitting.

Gave a long sigh and returned to concentrate on my work.

''Varys situation in the realm?'', I said looking at the spymaster.

''Relatively calm regarding the political intrigues, although there is a great chaos generated by the bandits that abound in the river lands, the north and the storm lands, but slowly the lords are regaining control by chasing the bandits and returning the king's peace to all the territories, you will be pleased to know lord hand that your protégé Eddard Stark is receiving help from the Prussians when it comes to protecting the roads. ... it seems the Prussians have interests in the area, only time will tell if it is for good or bad,'' Varys said smiling.

''What kind of help?'', I asked, a little intrigued.

''The Prussians have trade interests in the area to supply raw materials for their large projects that span their territory and since they found their supplier in the north, what they are doing is returning order as the Prussians are used to, quickly and brutally, the attacks on the merchants along the main road by bandits to Winterfell are history, since the Prussian trading company organized heavily armed guards that are hunting the bandits all over the territory...'' Varys said with his calm tone.

''Is the reach still stable?'', I asked the spymaster.

''More than ever, the Prussians are expanding their control over the territory more and more each day, while building cities for the small folks... you will understand that currently it is the way the Prussians found to evade the fulfillment of the deal with the crown because they do not allow the construction of septs and move the entire population of the area which has considerably reduced the revenues of the faith'' Varys said

''No doubt a very obvious provocation against the crown lord hand, we must punish this foreigner or these acts will affect the stability of the realm'' said Pycelle as he ran a hand through his long beard

''I don't think it is a provocation, but it is more the internal politics that the Prussians are pursuing, as they call this building frenzy, they call it the mission to civilize... I think it obvious that the Prussians have quite an advantage with respect to knowledge and in their eyes most of us live like animals and this whole process is to bring what they call civilization to all their territory'' Varys replied to Pycelle

''Well and touching on exactly that topic lord hand... my little birds found more nests in the reach which has allowed me to strengthen my knowledge of the internal structure of the Prussians'' said Varys smiling

''Ahh... did you find the secrets of the Prussian steel?'', said Pycelle very enthusiastically looking at Varys.

''I'm afraid not... there are areas that no matter how many of my little birds I send all of them never send their songs back to me, ashford is one of those areas, every spy I have sent only reports once, that he entered the city and subsequently disappears as well in many areas of the reach. ... but tumbleton is the dilemma, not a single letter I have received from that area... as far as I understand, it is ruled by the wolf heads, which are a culture external to the Prussians, but extremely loyal and subservient to them.''

''The Prussians are politically inept for the most part, they do not like lying and even less diplomacy... although there are exceptions like Maximilian who are the diplomats of the Prussians, the Finns act as guards, advisors and even diplomats, no Prussian officer goes on a mission without one of them by his side... as far as I know, Maximilian also has his own group of wolf heads around him'' Varys said observing everyone's reaction.

''So they are what caused you all the headaches?'', I asked the spy master.

He just nodded closing his eyes

''Well, that will be a problem I will have for later, but now I have some information that Lord Stannis might like greatly, in Wilhelmshaven the fortress city at the mouth of the mander they are building a shipyard that the Prussians call arsenal, what my little birds told me they are not looking to produce the typical galleys... they want to produce a giant ship that needs two thousand good-sized logs or even more'' Varys said observing the surprise of everyone.

''Two thousand logs?, Lord Varys don't talk nonsense, it is impossible to make such a monstrosity without it collapsing on itself'' said Pycelle.

''How much would it cost to make just one of those?'' said the master of coin in surprise.

''I don't know what the Prussians must cost, I only know that they are enormous'' answered Varys.

''Are you sure, Lord Varys'' said Stannis with a serious face.

''They are rumors, I wish I could confirm it, but the presence of the Finns is high in the area... but some of the members of the Prussian engineers were the ones who spoke about it near my little birds, but what strikes me is that they are also looking to mass produce ships... they said something from three to five galleys every day when the arsenal is fully operational'' Varys finished.

Almost all of us were gasping for air hearing that, the only one who remained stoic about the information was Stannis who was looking grimly at Varys

''To finish, the Prussian harvest is abundant, they increased considerably the production of grains, the problem is that the Prussians estimate that the next harvest will also increase enormously, the price of grains is in danger, I think the master of coin could explain it better, the Prussians started to produce sugar... and salt in the surroundings of the fortress city of mander''said Varys taking out two linen bags which he opened and dropped on the table

'White sugar... different from sugar coming from essos which is brown... salt so white very different from the rock salt that is usually traded throughout the realms.'

''In what quantities?'', I asked a little anxiously.

''Huge...isn't it master of coin?'', Varys said pointing to the master of coin.

''I'm afraid so, lord hand, the price is going to fall considerably, you will have to inform your banner men, what is going to happen, the vale and Dorne will be greatly affected, while the western lands of lesser extent, since they were the salt producers of the kingdom'' said the master of coin.

''Well something else i have to do... but regarding the grain is it that bad?'', i said a bit annoyed

''The harvest is almost forty percent more than the previous harvest, the price will go down a little, I am worried about the future... the Prussians believe that the harvest will continue to increase as long as their techniques continue their expansion through the reach...'' said the master of coin, but the lord commander of the royal guard entered followed closely by a familiar face

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