The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 631: Grinding One Gold Coin Can Turn It Into Two

(Update is a bit late again, 5000-word chapter. Update at 12 noon tomorrow.)

*

Several days later, night.

King's Landing. Red Keep. Maegor's Holdfast. Queen Mother's Ballroom.

Cersei stood by the south wall, facing the huge arched windows. She held a golden wine glass in her hand, her eyes looking out through the window, which was dark outside.

In the night, the White Sword Tower, where the Kingsguard lived, appeared like a white ghostly sword, showing a hazy white shadow, like a long spear inserted into the sky.

The room was as bright as day.

Jaime stood fully armed in front of the north wall, which was covered with gorgeous wood carvings, a row of torches and candles. The wall behind the candelabra was fitted with polished silver mirrors, which doubled the intensity of the light from the torches and candles.

The Queen Mother's Ballroom was not large, and it was no longer used for dancing.

"Jaime, I am a man, and you are a woman," Cersei said lightly.

Faced with this humiliating remark, Jaime remained silent, his hand on his sword. His face was full of stubble, obviously he had not taken care of himself for some time, and his golden hair looked messy, with one or two gray strands mixed in.

Cersei turned around, staring at Jaime Lannister, who was filled with a sense of vicissitudes: "Have you read Donna Swift's letter?"

"I have!"

"The Mountain's gold and jade are piled up in the castle, is his money conjured up by magic?"

"He has the support of nobles and wealthy merchants. Donna said she believes the gold and jade were provided by the wealthy merchants."

"It's the support of the nobles and wealthy merchants under the Lannister family in the Westerlands."

Jaime was silent again.

Cersei suddenly changed the subject: "How long has it been since you came to my bedroom?" She held her slender neck straight, looking at Jaime like a white swan.

"It's been a while."

"Shave your beard, take a bath, change your clothes, don't bring armor and a sword, I want you to come to my bedroom tonight."

"I still have to patrol tonight."

"Leave it to Bronn, he is the captain of the Maegor's Holdfast guard."

"I am the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard."

"I am the Queen Mother, and I order you not to patrol tonight."

"Yes, Queen Mother."

"Call me Cersei."

"............"

Cersei stared at Jaime, a hint of annoyance flashing in her eyes.

Once, after a moment of passion, the two spoke, and Jaime asked her about her past affairs with Lancel, the Kettleblack brothers, and others. She refused to explain to him, and the two parted unhappily. After that night, Jaime stopped coming to the bedroom. When they met, he would remain silent unless necessary, and he paid less and less attention to his appearance. Cersei couldn't bear it any longer, and after drinking again, she called her former lover Osney Kettleblack over for a secret meeting, and the news was leaked again.

In fact, as soon as Jaime returned, Cersei drove Osney Kettleblack away from her side for Jaime's sake, arranging for him to be a low-ranking officer in the garrison. But Jaime didn't seem to appreciate her good intentions.

After Jaime learned that Cersei and Osney Kettleblack had met again in secret, he became even more gloomy and didn't even bother to shave his beard. This made Cersei increasingly disgusted with him.

She longed for Jaime to put aside his love for her and be as powerful as Lord Tywin, take on heavy responsibilities, and rebuild the glory of the Lannister family. She hoped that Jaime would not be a Kingsguard, but a Hand of the King, Warden of the West, and Lord of Casterly Rock, but he was unwilling to do anything. He still chose to be a Kingsguard, choosing to protect her.

But this was not what Cersei wanted most! She would rather be a man so that she could be the Hand of the King and unify the Seven Kingdoms.

The Mountain was ordered to conquer the Vale, and the documents of the Vale's submission had arrived in King's Landing. Grand Maester Pycelle's raven letter had also been sent back, in which Mace invited Petyr and his wife to King's Landing as guests, of course, the real intention was to hope that Littlefinger could come back and control Lysa Tully again as a hostage.

"Have you read Grand Maester Pycelle's letter carefully?" Cersei softened her tone.

"Yes."

"The Mountain crossed the Mountains of the Moon and recruited more than three thousand mountain tribe warriors, and eight thousand barbarian people migrated to the Westerlands again to become his people. The Mountain is getting stronger and stronger, fortunately, his people and soldiers are mostly barbarians."

"The mountain clan warriors are very brave in battle and have a high degree of loyalty. The Mountain has recruited eight thousand mountain clan warriors before and after. I believe it has reached the limit of the forty-odd mountain clan tribes."

"Perhaps the soldiers of the entire mountain clan tribe have followed the Mountain. However, Grand Maester Pycelle also said that more than a hundred silversmiths from White Harbor in the North also took the initiative to join the Mountain this time. This news makes me feel very surprised, why?"

Grand Maester Pycelle was the Mountain's tax scholar, a court scholar sent to the Mountain by Kevan before his death.

"How could the Stark family's silversmiths rush from White Harbor to the downstream ferry of the Trident River? Unless the Mountain had people in White Harbor beforehand," Jaime said. He was able to say this immediately, obviously he had thought about this strange news after reading the letter.

"Craftsmen live by their skills, whoever pays them more will follow them. Is that possible?!" Cersei walked towards Jaime.

"The Mountain has a bad reputation, why do you think the silversmiths of White Harbor would go?"

"The person who persuaded the silversmith masters to leave in White Harbor may not have said that they were working for the Mountain at all. When the silversmiths arrived at the Trident River ferry and found the Mountain waiting for them, they couldn't go back even if they wanted to!"

Jaime nodded, admitting that Cersei's words made sense.

"Silversmiths? What does the Mountain want silversmiths for?" Cersei came to Jaime and asked softly, her eyes sparkling.

"The Mountain is issuing paper money in the Westerlands, using paper money to exchange for gold and silver in the Westerlands. His paper money will be printed more and more, and the gold and silver in his reserve vault will also increase. When there is more gold and silver, turning the gold and silver into works of art and decorations can be sold to the free trade city-states across the Narrow Sea."

"Well, it seems that this is the only explanation. Donna said that she refused Lady Jeyne's invitation and did not join the gold reserve supervisory committee of Grand Maester Benfro's bank. She is so stupid to do so," Cersei's mouth curled into a sneer.

"Jeyne won't let Donna manage real things!"

"It's no use managing real things, it's also good to snoop into their internal operations. The money in the Mountain's vault will increase, while our money is decreasing. Lord Rossart, the master of coin, may stop breathing with a cough tonight. We urgently need Littlefinger to come back," Cersei's eyes flickered, as if she had some ulterior motive.

"Then please ask Prime Minister Mace to issue an order," Jaime said. Jaime's sense of vicissitudes actually made him more masculine.

"Jaime, even if the prime minister orders Littlefinger to come back, have you ever thought that Littlefinger might not be willing to come back?"

"I haven't thought about it!" This was the truth.

"I knew you wouldn't think about these things," Cersei sneered, "If Littlefinger is unwilling to come back, what should we do about our national treasury revenue? Lord Rossart only calculates the daily expenses on paper and cannot grind one coin into two. We have spent more than one million of the three million six hundred thousand gold dragons we borrowed from the Mountain and the Great Sept of Baelor, and the interest of the Iron Bank has to be repaid, but the principal has not been repaid yet."

"If you want to find a new master of coin to replace Lord Rossart, you should discuss it with Prime Minister Mace," Jaime said.

"Didn't the Mountain's bank bring you any inspiration?" Cersei walked to the bar, where there were many good wines from all over the world in the wine cabinet.

"Inspiration? The Mountain once talked to me about the plan to open a bank. He invited me to join, but I couldn't understand everything he said at the time. He said that his goal was to surpass the Iron Bank of Braavos across the Narrow Sea and lend money to kings, dukes, governors, wealthy merchants, and princes all over the world. At that time, I laughed at him. The Iron Bank cannot be surpassed."

"If the Mountain develops his bank at the current speed, he may surpass the Iron Bank."

"The wealth of the Westerlands is very limited, the borrowing is also very limited, and the interest is also very limited. The Mountain's bank is in the Westerlands and King's Landing, while the Iron Bank's bank is worldwide, far to the end of the Eastern world. The Iron Bank will not be surpassed," Jaime said lightly, "No one will recognize the Mountain's paper money once it leaves the Westerlands. The Mountain's bank is a small ant, while the Iron Bank's bank is an elephant."

Cersei looked at Jaime: "You are very stubborn, what if the Mountain succeeds?"

"His bank's paper money can't even leave the Westerlands, how could he succeed."

Cersei turned that sentence in her heart, and she decided not to say it for the time being. She took a sip of wine and changed the subject: "Jaime, when the Mountain hoped you could join, what conditions did he offer?" Cersei looked at Jaime with a playful look.

"He wanted me to give him half of the gold in Casterly Rock."

"Oh! Then how much gold reserves do we have in the underground vault of Casterly Rock? When Father was alive, no one dared to ask about his wealth."

"Now less than a million gold dragons, maybe less, who knows!"

"That means there is almost no money?" Cersei said in a surprised voice. The golden cup in her hand froze in the air, Cersei was really surprised.

"We fought for three years, Cersei. It hasn't been long since the Westerlands army withdrew from the Riverlands. We had a total of 40,000 elite soldiers, now there are less than 800 left."

"Yes, mainly defeats," Cersei sneered, a light flashing in her eyes.

*

Jaime's eyes flashed with a hurt expression, he looked more vicissitudes.

In the year 298 of Aegon's Conquest, the civil war began. Jaime led the elite of the Westerlands army to attack the Riverlands, besieging Riverrun. He was captured alive by Robb Stark in the Whispering Wood on a moonlit night, and then imprisoned in Riverrun, and his father could not come to rescue him. Tyrion Lannister sent someone to rescue him, but he was caught back by Edmure Tully on the street. Robb Stark led his army into the Westerlands, winning every battle, and the Westerlands army was defeated. The wealth of many nobles was looted, and the capital Casterly Rock was almost looted, but the defeated Westerlands needed money and food to maintain it, which severely depleted the Lannister family's huge wealth.

The more defeats, the faster the money is consumed! What the soldiers lose is their lives, and what the nobles lose is their wealth.

War wealth belongs only to the winning side.

In the end, in order to survive, Jaime had to propose to become a member of the Night's Watch. When the Others and wights attacked, Jaime persuaded Eddard Stark to let him go back to persuade the Iron Throne to send troops and food to the Wall. He came back, but Eddard Stark didn't get any money, food, and soldiers.

*

"I was impatient, and Father underestimated the enemy. We didn't know that Eddard Stark was in Robb Stark's army," Jaime said in a low voice.

"The Westerlands army has exhausted its own people, and the Starks of the North are our enemies, but you actually persuaded me to summon the legions to go north to support the Starks?"

"It's not to support the Starks, the Others are the common enemy of our human race."

"We don't live in the North."

"If the Others defeat the Starks, they will march south, and then we will all be turned into wights by the Others. On the Iron Throne will sit the Night King with blue eyes and covered in frost, not Tommen Baratheon I."

"Humph!" Cersei snorted coldly, looking at Jaime with contempt, "I don't believe in Others, and I don't believe in wights."

"Do you believe me?"

"I believe."

"I won't lie to you."

"I believe you, and I also believe that there are no Others and wights."

Jaime looked at Cersei, a hint of strangeness in his eyes.

"Let's consider our national treasury revenue. That's the most important thing," Cersei changed the subject again, "Did the Mountain tell you about the bank's plan, did he also tell you about the plan to promote paper money?"

"No!" Jaime replied stiffly.

"He told me!"

Jaime's dim eyes suddenly lit up.

"When?"

"When I was in the Reach," Cersei said lightly, "I know you are very unhappy about the Mountain killing Uncle Kevan, but I supported him killing Kevan. Kevan wanted to imprison me in Highgarden, the capital of the Reach, and forcibly marry me to a cripple, and then he would be the regent, controlling the royal palace and the kingdom. What he committed was treason."

"Uncle's approach was indeed inappropriate, but..."

"The Mountain shouldn't have killed him? Right?" Cersei sneered.

Jaime hesitated and chose to remain silent.

"Before the manager of the Iron Bank came to King's Landing, the Mountain suggested to me to promote paper money in the Seven Kingdoms. I didn't understand what he was talking about at all at that time. After he finished speaking, I listened and completely forgot about it. Until I was tricked by Uncle Kevan to the Westerlands, the Mountain wrote to me to warn me and proposed the plan to promote paper money again. He said that if I was not interested, he could first promote it in the Westerlands for me to see, and if it was successful in the Westerlands, it could be promoted nationwide. Think about it, Jaime, if we can print paper money ourselves and circulate it, replacing the metal coins of the Seven Kingdoms, will our royal family still lack money to spend? Will we still worry about not being able to repay the Iron Bank's debts? Paper money is a gold mine, gold mines will be exhausted, but paper money can be printed out continuously, and our money will never be spent."

Jaime looked surprised.

"The Mountain hopes to promote paper money nationwide? Just like in the Westerlands?"

"Yes!"

"But it's not just the royal family that can print paper. But gold is different, no one can conjure gold out of thin air."

"The Mountain once assured me that paper money can be made unique," Cersei's face showed a smile, and she looked radiant.

"Absolutely impossible!" Jaime said flatly.

Jaime, though a hardened hero, was limited by his civilization's level and couldn't believe that this world could implement paper money for transactions. While the Mountain's isolated success in promoting paper money in a small area through military force seemed promising, he knew it would be impossible to implement on a large scale. Even if the Red Keep unified the Seven Kingdoms, the Starks of the North, the Tullys of the Riverlands, the Arryns of the Vale, the Baratheons of the Stormlands, the Tyrells of the Reach, and the Martells of Dorne would all rise up in opposition, especially now that the kingdom was divided into several pieces.

"The Mountain has already succeeded in the Westerlands. Donna said in her letter that she has to go to the bank to exchange for paper money before buying anything. Otherwise, she can't even buy a box of rouge."

"The Westerlands are small, and Lannisport is even smaller."

"I promised the Mountain that if he succeeded in the Westerlands, I would allow him to promote paper money in the Crownlands. The Bank of Baelor, opened by the Mountain and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing, is responsible for promoting paper money in the city. Our royal family will invest in the Bank of Baelor, without putting in any money, but with the royal family's reputation and power. This is the way to grind one gold coin and turn it into two."

Jaime was stunned!

It turned out that the Mountain's promotion of paper money in the Westerlands was just a small experiment. His real ambition was to promote paper money throughout the Seven Kingdoms, across the entire continent. But how was that possible? Exchanging shiny gold coins for a light piece of paper? Anyone who wasn't stupid would never accept it.

"Cersei, if you want me to exchange the gold of Casterly Rock for the Clegane Bank's paper money, I will definitely not do it!" Jaime said decisively.

"I won't either!" Cersei laughed. "Donna won't either, but she still chose to exchange it."

"The situation in the Westerlands is special. The Mountain's troops control the Westerlands, and no one dares to resist him. If it's promoted in the Crownlands, I bet it will be a 100% failure."

"I'm not sure either, but the Mountain said that as long as I delegate power, if it succeeds, our royal family will sit back and enjoy the bank's dividends for nothing; if it fails, the losses will be the Mountain's."

"This may cause chaos."

"You're wrong, Jaime. The Bank of Baelor is opened in the name of the Great Sept of Baelor. The Great Sept of Baelor's reputation is hundreds of times higher than our Lannister family's. The Mountain doesn't need to borrow our Lannister family's reputation. He just wants the royal family to nod, and he will do it."

"The Hand of the King probably won't agree!"

"Maybe. If this matter requires a vote in the small council, I want your vote to go to the Mountain," Cersei said solemnly.

Jaime felt his body heat up, his armor so heavy.

"Cersei, if the Mountain's plan to promote paper money in the Crownlands succeeds, what percentage of the profits will our royal family get?"

"How much do you want? Without investing a single gold dragon, without doing anything practical, just nod and let the Mountain do it."

"Forty percent of the profits!" Jaime said.

"The Great Sept of Baelor takes 40%, the Mountain takes 40%, and we split 20% out of thin air."

"At least 30%," Jaime said, "And who will keep the gold dragons, silver stags, and copper stars exchanged for paper money, us or the Mountain?"

Thank you [Chau534] for the reward, thank you for your support!