146 Preparations for the long conflict
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-Pov of Antti fourth moon 286 AC
The sounds of hammers driving nails into the hands of the mercenaries while they screamed in pain and the surrounding people laughed at the fate of the mercenaries, who began to fill every street of the city. As bread started to circulate from hand to hand among the hungry inhabitants, occasional fights broke out over food, as people feared the food would run out before it was their turn.
But the plan was working; the people adored Lothar. Throughout the fight, he had been at the forefront, killing enemies like none of us would ever do, putting on a show by grabbing them by the neck and showing them to everyone watching as he slowly strangled them, smashing one of his enemies against the wall and turning them into a bloody pulp, or simply cutting his enemies in half with his Valyrian steel sword.
'All those ignorant fools think Lothar is a paragon of all virtues. Maybe Lothar was that at one time… now he's just a fanatic with chains around his neck, as his so-called savior hero cared nothing for their lives. If it weren't for me keeping Lothar on a tight leash, he would have already purged the city to eliminate all the paganism that inundates the city with its multiple temples to various gods,'
Lothar and his men patrolled the streets of the city in search of surviving mercenaries, while a huge group of people followed them like sheep in search of protection.
Throughout the night, they searched for every last mercenary to nail them to a cross, as the city had to be pacified and ensured that there was no force that could expel us from the city, as the slave guards of the magisters were already locked away in one of the mansions awaiting a decision on what to do with them.
While my men and I began to work on what we had to do in the city to get it back on its feet and able to put up a fight against Myr and Lys, we carried out the complete reorganization of this failed state. The next day, we gathered the magisters in the ruins of their old council, which had been burned almost completely, leaving only a few pillars.
"So, what are we going to do?" Lothar asked with his arms crossed.
"We're going to establish you as the figure who governs the city, with the noble title that the city of Tyrosh gave you previously... Tyrosh will maintain its republican regime, but you will govern for life... The council of the city of Tyrosh will only have the role of advisory body with no power in the city, and we will immediately send new governors to the cities that are still loyal to us, Prussian governors with Finnish councils as tradition dictates, and we will seek to establish a conscription system... We don't have time to establish cantons, so it will simply be mandatory conscription," I said to Lothar.
"Wait... you want to train the pagans in war like us without converting them first? Are you crazy? As long as the loyalties of the pagans are with false gods, they will always be a danger for our training to leak... Do you know how the damn Westerosis are desperately trying to bribe Prussian nobles and officers to be able to match the greatness of the Prussian armies, and you want us to train Essosis?" Lothar said, a little furious.
"Do you want to keep depending on mercenaries whom we cannot trust... who, the moment someone offers them more gold than us, will betray us? It's better to bring in as many people as we can and lead Tyrosh to a quick victory against the other Free Cities while we control everything. Victory will be all the legitimacy your government needs. Besides, if we confine them to a military unit and train them and instill loyalty in them, conversion will be much easier," I said to Lothar, trying to convince him.
"True... the mercenaries... And I highly doubt I can keep them terrified of me like my mercenaries are if they're not close to me all the time... Ahh... well... but what are we going to do with those damn pagan temples? We must close them at least," Lothar said after a moment.
"No... we have to let them operate for the time being... we can charge them a ton of taxes to make them leave voluntarily, but I doubt that will happen. But we must try... but we can't just expel them because we can't act like a violent conqueror... not yet... we have to be patient, Lothar... patience rewards the hunter... and when we're ready, we can cleanse these lands of paganism," I said to Lothar, who was very angry to hear my words.
"Lothar, remember why we're here... Not always the most direct action is the best... That's why for everything to change... nothing must change for now," I said to Lothar, who was calming down.
"All right... let's finish this, the city must start with repairs and we must manage to restore a supply route soon or famine could happen again... what are we going to do with, you know, my enormous personal wealth that I have obtained over the years of service?" Lothar said, being very obvious about the gold we had stolen.
"We should bring it little by little, use it to pay the workers and build up the local industry that collapsed, and obviously try to negotiate in the meantime with the lenders to whom the city of Tyrosh owes money, or we'll have problems with those cities, especially Braavos, which has quite an influence with its Iron Bank, and it's better not to provoke them for now," I said
Finally, we stopped talking and headed towards the magisters who had survived all the chaos of the city in the past few days and didn't seem happy to be in shackles like slaves.
"What is the meaning of this?... damned mercenaries ... they quickly forgot who their owner is," said a magister who saw us arrive at the meeting point.
"Yes, damned mercenaries ! Remove our chains immediately, and we will consider sparing your lives!" said another magister.
"Well, if it isn't obvious how terrible they are at judging situations... It doesn't surprise me; they've lived in total opulence all their lives... They never thought power could be lost in this way," I said to Lothar, who chuckled a bit.
Lothar approached the pair of magisters, and immediately they began to tremble in fear when the Prussian giant crossed his arms in front of them, waiting for them to continue their intention of resistance.
"If no one has more complaints, I suppose you have your doubts about what will happen now... Well, the council of magisters gathered here, in the place where all the decisions of the city have been made, will hold two very simple votes, where all the problems can be solved immediately... First, you will appoint Lothar as lifelong archon, considering the emergency situation that afflicts the city, and you will vote to give him all legislative, executive, and judicial powers, without any consultation with the archon of Tyrosh, also lifelong," I said after positioning myself in the center of all the magisters.
"This is an outrage... madness... We won't relinquish control of the city to a mercenary, let alone a foreigner with no Valyrian lineage!" Several magisters joined in the complaint.
"I suppose that's a refusal," I said to the magister who dared to speak.
"As desperate as the situation may be, this is a humiliation we will not tolerate," said the magister, making quite a noise with his chains.
"Lothar, why not... you know, demonstrate what will happen if they don't put, for once, the interests of the city's inhabitants over their own?" I said to Lothar, who began to smile from ear to ear.
The magisters' support ended immediately when Lothar began to walk towards the magister. Before the magister could say anything, Lothar grabbed him by the neck with one of his hands and lifted him close to his face, watching with a smile as the magister desperately tried to free himself from Lothar's fingers, which were embedded in his throat like knives.
The magister did everything to free himself... he tried with his hands to loosen Lothar's grip, but it was firm against his neck... he kicked Lothar's chest, although without armor it seemed to do nothing to the Prussian giant, and in his moment of desperation, he tried to use his hands to attack Lothar's eyes and hit his face, although without the slightest success. His blows must have been like caresses made by a child to Lothar's tough, steel-like skin, and no matter how hard he tried, Lothar's eyes remained intact. The only thing that changed was Lothar's smile; the more and more purple the magister became, and the harder it was to fight, the more Lothar's smile grew.
The magisters watched in horror as their comrade died, until finally, the magister stopped struggling, and after that, Lothar threw him with great force to the ground, smashing his skull against the floor. Then he turned to the rest of the magisters.
"I think Lothar has given an excellent speech on why he needs to be the archon and why all powers should be vested in him. So after this great speech, honorable council, let's put to a vote what we have requested... Obviously, if no one has more to say," I said sarcastically, looking at the magisters.
"Well, since no one has anything to say... Who votes in favor of Lothar being lifelong archon?... Ah, very well, everyone... And who votes to give all powers of the council to the archon?... Ah, very well, everyone again... That said, and by an absolute majority, Lothar is the new archon, and the council loses all its powers... The council will remain alive but will only be advisory... There are no more sessions for today, so leave," I conducted the votes, and after all the magisters raised their hands in the votes, I had their shackles removed.
"Come on, Lothar, we have to start governing, and that's something you were good at. Let's see if your skills have rusted or are still in good shape."i said to lothar
During the following days, we began trying to restore Tyrosh to where it was before the chaos caused by my previous mission. Some cities remained loyal and accepted new governors who were knights of Lothar with their Finnish advisers, but others rebelled and changed sides... now we only controlled the coast in front of Tyrosh, and it was necessary to severely punish the traitorous cities... several thousand had mobilized to besiege the cities, and orders had been given not to accept any kind of negotiation; they would be the example passed on to any city that betrayed its lords.
We had begun massive recruitment in the cities, and due to the hunger and scarcity of work in the city, thousands of men arrived under the banner, and Roon's men began to work hard to turn these weaklings into soldiers. While all industry was geared towards one thing, war... all craftsmen now dedicated themselves to feeding the army, from tailors and shoemakers to all the blacksmiths who began preparing equipment for the war to come against Lys and Myr.
But the hardest work was the negotiations with the bankers of many free cities. Lothar had been busy negotiating with the city of Pentos, Volantis, Norvos, Qohor, and Lorath about the loans that Tyrosh had previously taken... negotiating better interests or reducing the amount owed, all a back and forth between Lothar and the envoys from the banks.
The debt to the Prussian bank was recognized immediately, as their interests were lower, and now that the leadership had changed, they offered even lower interests to support us in the upcoming war.
"Well, come back tomorrow, and we'll continue the negotiations," said Lothar, not very interested in the envoys from Pentos, who were red with anger.
"Are you sure you want to anger the bankers? Maybe the more distant cities have agreed to lower interests and receive less gold, but Pentos is very close," I said to Lothar in Finnish.
"They lost a war against Braavos and have tough military restrictions, what are they going to do? Glare at us?" said Lothar, tired after a day of only negotiations.
"That was a long time ago and..." I tried to say, but one of Lothar's knights entered the room followed by a messenger.
"Graff Lothar... an envoy from Braavos and the Iron Bank has come to speak with you," said the knight bowing and withdrawing.
"Be careful with this," I said to Lothar in Finnish.
"Archon... Lothar... excuse my manners. When I was told that a Westerosi had become the archon of Tyrosh, I thought they were joking, but here we are both," said the envoy.
"The chaos and the council's inability to do anything led to this... I suppose you're here for me to acknowledge the debt that Tyrosh has with the Iron Bank, isn't that right?" said Lothar getting straight to the point.
"Yes and no, Archon Lothar... the Iron Bank wants all that was lent to the city of Tyrosh repaid immediately... but the city of Braavos has a proposal for you," said the envoy from Braavos.
"I'm listening," said Lothar, interested.
"The city of Braavos is willing to pay off the entirety of its debt to the Iron Bank if the city of Tyrosh establishes slavery as illegal... considering that you, the Andals, are also opposed to slavery," said the envoy from Braavos.
"I am Prussian, of the Germanic peoples. I have no connection to the Andals, but I do consider slavery a horrifying act, contrary to all morality," said Lothar, looking at the envoy.
The envoy pressed his lips, thinking he had insulted Lothar by mistaking him for an Andal.
"For the moment, the city cannot afford to stop depending on slavery... but within ten years, it would be feasible to do so," I said to the envoy. The envoy pondered my words.
"If Braavos supports us against the other free cities, we commit to ending slavery in the area, but we need time or what happens in Pentos will occur... people reduced to eternal labor, just without the name of slave," I said to the envoy.
"That would be feasible... The city of Braavos will pay off the debt to the Iron Bank, but the debt will remain with the city of Braavos and will only be lifted when you have fulfilled the promise. And obviously, we will support a sister city seeking to end slavery," said the envoy, smiling.
I looked at Lothar and nodded.
"The city of Tyrosh accepts this agreement... Do you have the authority to make the agreement immediately, or should we wait for a higher-ranking diplomatic agent?" said Lothar with a fake smile.
"I have the authority," said the envoy.
And we signed a secret alliance between Braavos and Tyrosh to end slavery in the area.
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