Chapter 152: The Loan

King Robert's roar was so loud that even the servants passing by in the corridor outside cast sidelong glances. Everyone present in the room was silent, and the only person who dared to voice opposition, the Hand of the King, was left speechless.

The Lord of the Eyrie argued that from a national perspective, should this war actually break out, it would place a tremendous burden on the entire realm. It could even potentially drag the Seven Kingdoms into a quagmire of war, causing nobles to become disloyal and the common people to rebel. At that point, the Targaryen prince wouldn't even need to cross the sea with his dragons; the Iron Throne's power would crumble on its own.

Of course, it wasn't impossible to support the army through war, but doing so required a profitable premise. Now, to wage a distant campaign across a vast sea to attack a not-so-wealthy city-state on another continent seemed ludicrous, like trying to rob the Dothraki.

The situation was somewhat similar to the War of the Ninepenny Kings during the reign of Jaehaerys II. At that time, the Hand of the King, Lord Mondaerys Baratheon, personally led an expedition to the Stepstones. After the final defeat of the Band of Nine, however, the Iron Throne's forces withdrew from the Stepstones, not daring to lay a claim on the land. Otherwise, they would have faced a joint embargo from the Nine Free Cities and possibly left none of the remaining men on the island able to return.

The Iron Throne's power was so great that the Free Cities couldn't accept them holding any enclaves on the Essos continent, not even a remote and unclaimed territory. If the Seven Kingdoms were to establish an enclave on Essos, they could spend just a few years cultivating it and stockpiling resources shipped from Westeros.

Then, if the Iron Throne ever intended to invade the Free Cities, countless armies and knights could board warships and cross the sea to Essos in an instant. For them, the most difficult problem of supply would have already been solved.

Now, the problem had circled back to its origin.

If the remnants of House Targaryen had only dragons and no army, it would be less worrisome. As Jon Arryn had said, if there were only dragons, they could do little. When Aegon the Conqueror invaded Westeros, he had dragons, but still suffered a crushing defeat in Dorne, losing a dragon and a sister in the process.

An army was the Iron Throne's most sensitive issue. The Targaryens had been winning consecutive battles on Essos, claiming vast tracts of land. Jon Arryn's advisor had previously predicted that the Free Cities wouldn't allow the Targaryens to expand so wildly and would join forces to annihilate them. However, this prediction was proven wrong in an instant. Now, Andalos was not a force that a single Free City could easily extinguish.

"Very well, Your Grace. If we truly want to cross the sea and attack Andalos, we have many urgent problems to resolve," said Jon Arryn, who didn't want to argue anymore. He felt that if he kept arguing, King Robert would suspect him of collusion.

In truth, not only King Robert but also Jon Arryn himself felt that they couldn't allow the Targaryens to keep expanding. Otherwise, it could lead to disastrous consequences. However, as the Hand of the King, Jon was second only to the king himself but had to deal with an indolent ruler.

Just because the king couldn't see certain issues didn't mean they didn't exist. The well-meaning Hand of the King, despite his age, was still running around taking care of matters, cleaning up after his ruler.

Then, the white-haired old Lord of the Eyrie began listing the pressing issues that needed to be resolved, one by one, counting them off on his fingers.

"First is the issue of supplies."

"Your Grace, if we wish to wage war against the Targaryens, we must have an ample supply of gold dragons."

"Currently, the Iron Throne is burdened with a debt of over four million gold dragons."

As Jon Arryn reached this point, he glanced at the Master of Coin. However, it was apparent that the man had been daydreaming and was not in the right state of mind, as he seemed slightly stunned and didn't react at once.

Varys, seated nearby, gently poked the Master of Coin and whispered a reminder.

"My lord?"

He tapped his finger on the spot over the Master of Coin's chest.

"Oh, oh..."

The Master of Coin immediately understood and hastily retrieved the backup ledger from his pocket, respectfully handing it over to the Hand of the King.

The old man, looking at his incompetent colleagues, couldn't help but feel helpless. The Master of Coin was as foolish as a pig, his only skill being borrowing money from others, signing any treaty as long as it provided funds. This had caused Jon Arryn no small amount of stress and irritation.

However, lately, the Master of Coin had been unable to secure any loans, and King Robert was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with him. In the king's eyes, the Master of Coin's primary duty was borrowing money, and it wouldn't be long before he was replaced.

At this thought, the image of a young, capable man appeared in Jon Arryn's mind. This man had a good relationship with his wife and was very competent.

Perhaps...

The white-haired Lord's heart stirred slightly. If the opportunity presented itself, he wouldn't mind choosing a capable assistant to help alleviate some of his burden.

However, he still needed to report to the king. Jon Arryn straightened his face and opened the ledger.

On the other hand, the Master of Coin, who had just been reminded by Varys, the spymaster, narrowly avoided making a fool of himself in front of the king and the Hand. He returned to his seat and offered Varys a grateful smile.

Varys, with his hands crossed inside his sleeves, nodded in response, showing a friendly smile.

Court politics were difficult, and it was essential to help each other out.

The Master of Coin was increasingly feeling the weight of King Robert's dissatisfaction and was now treading on thin ice.

"Huh?"

However, at that moment, the Master of Coin froze, only just realizing a question.

How did Varys know that his ledger was in his chest pocket?

...

On the other side, the Hand of the King, seated to the left of the king, had begun to report the current state of the realm's finances and the remaining gold dragons in the treasury.

Now, the Iron Throne was burdened with a debt of over four million gold dragons, not because of the Master of Coin's competence, but due to the expenses incurred during the restoration of order after the rebellion and King Robert's reckless spending.

Additionally, because they needed to borrow more money, the Iron Throne had taken on the debts owed to the Iron Bank during the Targaryen era, which was also a considerable sum.

These various factors contributed to the debt of four million gold dragons.

Half of the debt was owed to the Lannister family, with the remainder borrowed from the Tyrells, the Iron Bank of Braavos, several trading companies in Myr, and even the Faith.

Jon Arryn closed the ledger, his wrinkled face solemn.

"Your Grace."

"Although there are some unconfirmed connections between Braavos and the remnants of the Targaryens."

"The true purpose of Braavos' actions is to prevent the Seven Kingdoms from uniting completely and to stir the waters."

The sharp-eyed Lord of the Eyrie was incisive and straight to the point.

"We must secure a loan from the Iron Bank to win this war, regardless of how harsh the terms and interest rates may be."

"As for whether we repay it in the future, that can be discussed at that time."

Jon Arryn was willing to go all-out to win this war.

The Iron Bank eyed its interest, and the Iron Throne eyed its principal.

If they won, there would be no need to repay the loan, and if they lost, there would be no need to repay it either.