Siege of King's Landing

Even if the northern nobles hate the Brotherhood Without Banners, they still have to show some respect to Earl Beric.

After all, he is also a proper earl.

Berry, wearing worn leather armor, walked into the big tent, followed by the red-robed monk who did not appear during the day.

"My lords, what is your solution? Do you want to keep stealing the farmers' food?" asked the Lightning King, who represented the interests of the farmers.

In the North, Earl Mitch of Seven City, who was equal to Beric, stood up and said, "Lord Beric, the riverlands are now also the territory of our King in the North, so we naturally have the right to requisition military rations."

The river people didn't think so, and Raymond Darry also expressed his opinion to everyone in the tent:

"Although His Majesty Robb is also the King of the Three Rivers, the riverlands are not the direct territory of the noble Stark family, so we still have to follow the rules. I suggest that we collect military rations by buying them."

Although this is reasonable, it has a little problem.

The coalition army has a total of 16,000 people, 12,000 Northern soldiers, and the Frey family and other river family soldiers and mountain clans add up to more than 4,000.

Except for the Frey family, the great nobles with thousands of troops here are all poorer Northern families, and they don't have money to buy food.

Moreover, whether Arthur led the troops to rescue the ferry town or the coalition army went south to attack King's Landing, it was considered a public matter between the North and the Riverlands, and it was impossible for the nobles who led the troops to pay for the soldiers' food.

Moreover, during the war, the price of food rose to an incredible level, and even if you had money, you might not be able to buy it.

Everyone present understood this truth, so someone expressed his objection on the spot.

Lord Harys Hornwood said loudly in his rough voice: "Do we have to pay for food when we go to war for you river people? I still support forced collection of food."

This statement is slightly biased. The river was attacked by the Westerlands first because Lady Stark of the North kidnapped Master Tywin's son, which made him, who was proud, unbearable, so he took out his anger on Lady Stark's family first.

The Northmen went south because of the coup in King's Landing. Lord Eddard was imprisoned in the Red Castle dungeon, and the two Miss Starks were held hostage in King's Landing, so Robb led the army to rescue his father and sisters.

It's just that the fight turned into a war to recapture the riverlands.

In terms of reason, the Northmen can't have the upper hand.

Earl Beric, the red monks and the river nobles naturally opposed the forced collection of military rations, so the two groups of people began to quarrel.

In an instant, all kinds of male voices rang out in the whole tent, mixed with some strange greetings.

The noise made the sitting Lord Bolton angry, and he growled, and the tent finally quieted down.

"Is there no way to have both?" Lord Leech's face was gloomy.

If there were not four thousand rivermen, mainly the Frey family, and he had to consider their opinions, why would he worry about such a small matter.

"I have a way." Seeing that everyone was quiet, Arthur said.

Lord Leech did not speak, but raised his chin to let the little river noble express his opinion.

"We can collect food in the form of IOUs, and then when the situation stabilizes, let Riverrun and other earl-level nobles come up with gold dragons to pay the farmers."

This proposal is still feasible.

After all, the current war is indeed a public business in the riverlands.

All the expenses of the Brotherhood Without Banners led by the Lightning King in the riverlands are also "paid" in this way.

And some farmers who are blessed by the Brotherhood also happily accepted this payment method.

Marquis Bolton was quite receptive to this idea. Anyway, as long as they could collect grain now, it would be fine.

"I support this proposal. If we write an IOU, we will use the name of Duke Hoster of Riverrun."

The northern nobles mostly agreed when they saw that the river people would pay in the future.

But Earl Beric was still not willing to give in. "How do you ensure that the IOU is useful? What if the Riverrun and river nobles refuse to acknowledge this debt after the situation stabilizes?"

"I'll guarantee it." Arthur waved his hand. "Because of the tourney of Duke Eddard, the late King Robert gave me 60,000 gold dragons. Most of this money is in the Tyrell family in the Reach. Even if Riverrun refuses to acknowledge it in the future, I can still pay for the expenses of the army."

The tourney two or three months ago was held in the name of Eddard Stark, but the one who paid was Robert on the Iron Throne.

These two people are also kind, friendly and generous people. Arthur will not be stingy because they have received such a huge sum of money.

The persistent Earl Beric added: "Okay, if you can guarantee to leave enough food for the farmers, we will not stop the collection of food in the name of Riverrun in the future."

The problem of requisitioning military rations was solved.

Beric and the red monk who were invited left first.

After briefly listening to Roose Bolton's arrangement of the marching route in the next few days, Arthur also left the tent.

He had to discuss with the Brotherhood Without Banners how to catch Arya's dire wolf, Nymeria.

Beric and others who were keen on protecting farmers would be happy to go with him to catch wolves.

...

Five hours later, by the God's Eye Lake.

Arthur, wearing two layers of chain mail and plate armor, used leather gloves to fiddle with a dead pig to make the bloody smell drift further.

A layer of drug taken from Coburn was applied on the surface of the pork to increase the chance of successfully catching the wolf.

In a hidden corner of his circle were twenty Qohor mercenaries and nearly thirty members of the Brotherhood Without Banners.

Although this kind of camouflage is not very useful to wolves with extremely sensitive noses, it can make people feel safer.

The moonlight shone lightly, covering the calm lake with a layer of gauze, arousing everyone's imagination like a beautiful dancing girl.

"Catching wolves under the moon is really interesting." The red-robed monk appeared out of nowhere and approached Arthur and said.

"This giant wolf should be the direwolf of the Stark family. After we capture King's Landing, I will treat her as a gift to Miss Stark."

Arthur muttered nonsense.

Nymeria's master is in his camp, and he is just doing this to hide some information.

"Here we come." The most caring Lightning King whispered a reminder, which made everyone start to get nervous.

After all, he was facing a giant direwolf that was larger than an ordinary gray wolf. It was impossible not to be afraid.

Their target swam across the lake, using a dog paddle style.

Circles of ripples spread out from in front of the huge wolf's head, making the direwolf's whereabouts more obvious.

According to nearby farmers, there are not many larger animals on Qianmian Island in the center of the lake, so giant wolves that are still growing in body often swim out to look for prey.

This gave Arthur, Berry and others an idea to capture the giant wolf.

Not long after, the giant wolf Nymeria swam ashore, bared her teeth and growled, sniffing around with her nose.

She wandered left and right in the shallows by the lake. Although the wolf kept its eyes on the pork, there was a lot of human aura around it, which made her afraid to move forward.

Arthur, who pressed down his mask, waved his hand to signal his companions to stay away.

He himself tied a rope prepared around his waist tightly to the pork, and then slowly backed away.

After feeling the distance of humans, Nymeria slowly walked towards the pork that lured the wolf.

She is still growing and cannot do without eating some meat.

The red-robed monk Thoros whispered: "Can you catch this?"

Mercenary leader Rock Holt answered his doubts: "It should be possible. After the wolf eats a few mouthfuls of meat, he will be reluctant to part with the meat in his mouth. Then Master Bracken pulled the rope. Did the wolf catch it soon?"

"It's not that simple." Lord Berry wanted to catch the giant wolf and prevent her from harming civilians, so he was fully prepared.

He quietly asked his two Stormlanders soldiers to outflank him from both sides.

These two people are farmers in his territory and know some fishing skills. Now they can only let them go up to trap the wolf.

After the direwolf ate the meat for a while, he noticed the humans coming from both sides, so he held the meat in his mouth and let out a low growl of "Huhu".

The two Stormland soldiers stopped moving.

Nymeria then continued to eat. After devouring a few mouthfuls, she suddenly gave up on the meat in her mouth, turned around and slipped towards the lake.

It's just that her movements are far less flexible than usual.

Cunning humans.

Arthur and the two Stormland soldiers threw the nooses almost at the same time, but neither of them caught them.

Fortunately, Maester Coburn was fairly reliable, and his drug quickly took effect.

The direwolf staggered, only reaching the shallows of the lake before he rolled over and fell.

Two Stormland soldiers carefully went over to check the situation and confirmed that the giant wolf had been stunned. Then they got closer and used all their strength to drag the giant wolf ashore.

"It's perfect." Arthur already wanted to see Arya's expression when she saw Nymeria.

He shouldered the giant wolf and returned to the camp with the mercenaries, while the Brotherhood returned to the hidden lair where they were hiding.

…

Fifteen days later, Junlin City.

The streets and alleys on the hills of Visenya and Rhaenys were crowded with civilians who came to seek refuge. Most of them were piled on the streets or crowded into charity homes run by kind-hearted monks.

The Northern-Hejian coalition forces have begun to siege the city, which has enveloped the entire city with a layer of panic.

When the War in the Riverlands began, the price of food in the grain stores had increased five times. Now that the city is under siege, it has reached the point where no one is selling it.

Without noble status or connections, people in the city would not be able to hoard food even if they had golden dragons. This made some wealthy businessmen from across the narrow sea feel desperate.

The fat pigeons that no one wanted in the past have almost been hunted by humans. The small fish fed by human excrement in the Blackwater River have now become hot commodities.

You know, the former could not be exchanged for a piece of bread a month ago, and the latter was regarded as excrement by the proud citizens of King's Landing. Now it has become the only source of meat for the rich civilians in the city. Those who have no money may not even have food. Can't afford it.

Red Keep, Throne Room.

Joffrey I, who was wearing a crimson knee-length robe and a solid gold crown, looked at his cousin Cleo Frey coldly and listened to the conditions from Riverrun.

The halls of the throne room and the corridors all around were crowded with nobles from the Seven Kingdoms who were trapped in King's Landing, as well as civilians who still had time to understand the situation.

"Your Majesty, when I set out, the false king Robb did not know that his eastern army had already attacked King's Landing, so the conditions I brought only represent Robb, and cannot represent Roose Bolton outside the city."

Because Cleo's father, Emmon Frey, married Tywin's sister, Emmon's family either stayed in Casterly Rock or King's Landing.

Unfortunately, when the war broke out in the Riverlands, Cleo and his cousin Jaime returned to Casterly Rock, and then went north with the Western Division, and were captured by the Northern Cavalry outside the Twins.

Then, he was taken to Riverrun and became King Robb's messenger to convey the conditions of the truce in the North to the royal meeting in King's Landing.

Even more unfortunately, when he arrived at the crown, he learned that the Wolf and Fish Alliance on the eastern front had already reached King's Landing, which made him go in vain.

Sitting on the Iron Throne, Joffrey stared at his cousin with a gloomy look, "As the only true king of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and the protector of the entire territory, how could I agree to the conditions of a fake king?"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and suddenly shouted, "Sansa, come here."

Sansa Stark, who was hiding in the crowd, walked to the open space in front of the throne with trepidation and whispered, "Your Majesty!"

Under Joffrey's malicious gaze, she swallowed nervously.

"Your brother king wants you and Arya, who is dead, and the independence of the two major territories in the North River as conditions for a truce. Tell me, what should I do?" He said sarcastically.

Sansa's face was a little pale, but she still fluently said a bunch of lies: "I don't have a king brother. Robb is a thief who stole your territory. I think you should bravely lead your troops to attack and eliminate this thief and his men, so that the whole Seven Kingdoms can see how brave and powerful you are."

Joffrey I had a strange smile on his face, as if he had thought of something funny.

He glanced at the Kingsguard Meryn Trant beside him.

The latter understood, nodded to the king, walked down the steps of the throne, came to Sansa, and slapped Miss Stark twice.

This made Sansa's fair skin red.

"Use some strength." Joffrey urged excitedly.

He had already forgotten the coalition forces outside the city and the negotiations with Riverrun.

Maryn Trant then slapped Sansa twice again, causing the poor Stark's cheeks to swell.

Joffrey, sitting on the Iron Throne, widened his eyes, with an excited and perverted expression on his face.

Abusing women is one of his many hobbies.

Sansa's charming expression and pitiful eyes greatly satisfied the wise and powerful King Joe.

If there weren't so many people present, he would probably moan with satisfaction.

"Go on."

Marin Trant waved his big hand again to hit someone, but was stopped by Littlefinger Baelish who came in with a thick book.

"Wait, Ser Trant."

He turned to Joffrey I, half bowed and saluted, and then suggested in an orderly manner: "Sixteen thousand northern river coalition troops are now outside the city, and they will soon build large-scale siege weapons. This is the problem we have to solve for your majesty."

Queen Mother Cersei, who had been sitting next to the Iron Throne, saw that someone finally mentioned the most urgent matter at the moment, and followed suit: "We should consider the enemy instead of bullying little girls here."

She could no longer control her son.

Joffrey looked at Sansa with lingering thoughts, and then glanced at the nobles and commoners who were talking with their heads down, and finally decided to do something serious.

Do what a king who loves his people like his own children should do.

He waved his hand and asked Sansa, who was in the way, to leave.

"Silence." The master of the Iron Throne stood up and shouted.

So the commoners and nobles stopped discussing some of the king's strange behaviors and quieted down.

Joffrey took his usual posture of standing on one leg and leaning on the other leg, and said to his subjects: "I will lead the troops out of the city, wipe out the bandits outside the city in one fell swoop, and lift the siege of King's Landing."

Except for a few courtiers in the royal meeting, everyone in the throne room cheered for the king's wise decision.

As long as the siege of King's Landing was lifted, life could still go on.

Queen Mother Cersei looked at her son with a surprised face, wondering where Joffrey got the courage to say "go out of the city to suppress the bandits" when there were only 6,000 gold robes and 2,000 royal noble soldiers in the city.

If I had known this, I would have let him abuse Sansa.

Just as everyone in the royal council was troubled by the king's "wise" decision, many nobles in the North and the Riverlands were also troubled by the order from Riverrun.

In the central army tent, in front of the leaders of the coalition, Earl Herman Tallhart, with a serious face, spoke the order from Riverrun.

What frightened Arthur was not the order, but the man Herman Tallhart who conveyed the order.

According to the original plot, after crossing the Green Fork, Robb ordered Earl Tallhart to garrison in the Twins with a few people.

First, to ensure that this important place is under their control, and second, to supervise the Frey family.

But the magical thing is that Edmure of Riverrun called away Earl Tallhart of the North, and then ordered him and Roose Bolton to recapture Harrenhal together.

This person's departure was one of the conditions for the Frey family to defect.

The situation on the western front is unclear, and Herman Tallhart has openly become the emissary of Riverrun. This is not good news.