Chapter 115: The King, The County Magistrate, and the Community Matron

In the blink of an eye, six months had passed. According to the Westerosi calendar, the Long Night had just ended, and the Seven Kingdoms were now entering a rare autumn season—oh, rather, an "autumn year." Next year, they would officially step into the bitter cold of winter. However, Slaver's Bay, with its tropical maritime climate, lacked distinct seasonal changes.

Though Daenerys had been in this world for over a year, she had spent all her time in warm regions, leaving her with no firsthand experience of winter or the changing seasons.

Many times, while patrolling the estates and farmlands with her Queensguard, she would jokingly ask the two Westerosi among them, "Do you think Slaver's Bay could be the legendary 'Long Summer'?"

Adopting a strategy of over-preparing for potential threats, Daenerys used this relatively peaceful period to push large-scale production. In just six months, two cycles of rice had been harvested, wheat and turnips had been gathered once, and the second harvest wasn't far off.

Beyond the slave trade, the Ghiscari had mastered two other industries—brickmaking and bronze smelting.

From past memories, Daenerys recalled that the Free Cities primarily built with stone. She consulted Jorah and Barristan, who confirmed that in Westeros, nobles lived in stone castles while commoners resided in wooden houses.

So, just how advanced was Ghiscari brickmaking?

Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen—their entire cities, including pyramids, streets, squares, residential areas, and even city walls—were all built from bricks.

That said, the primary material for the pyramids was still massive stone blocks.

This showcased the brilliance of Ghiscari architects, who had already considered the effects of weathering. If the exposed stone surfaces were left unprotected, the pyramids would "quickly" erode and collapse. To prevent this, multiple layers of red bricks were used as an outer shield.

Of course, the Ghiscari had a different sense of time compared to modern people—they were genuinely building for eternity.

The Great Pyramid where Daenerys resided, now named "Sunrise Palace," had stood for over five thousand years.

At that time, the Ghiscari Empire had been destroyed by Valyria. The Ghiscari fled their burned and salt-poisoned capital, Old Ghis (situated across the strait from New Ghis), and went on to build Astapor, Yunkai, and Meereen in Slaver's Bay.

Were there buildings on Earth that had lasted over 3,000 years?

Daenerys wasn't sure.

But in this fantasy world, not only were there buildings older than 3,000 or even 5,000 years, but some Westerosi structures had existed for 8,000 years—such as the 19 Night's Watch fortresses beneath the Wall, Winterfell, Casterly Rock, and Storm's End.

Alright, back to the point.

While the Ghiscari excelled in brickmaking and bronze smelting, Daenerys didn't rush to ramp up red brick production. In the southern part of Astapor, near the mountains, there were extensive brick kilns and metal foundries, but she redirected labor efforts elsewhere.

After freeing the enslaved kiln workers, she had them sign labor contracts for reemployment—not in the brickworks, but in the foundries, dedicating all efforts to producing agricultural tools and weapons.

Iron was scarce in Astapor, with over 90% of its mines yielding copper instead. Precious steel was prioritized for making farming tools—hoes, sickles, and shovels.

To enhance agricultural efficiency, Daenerys conceptually invented three types of plows: a small version for mules and horses, a medium-sized one for oxen, and a massive one for elephants.

By conceptual invention, she meant she only described their intended uses. A group of blacksmiths and scholars racked their brains to turn those ideas into reality.

Bronze weapons were certainly inferior in a world that had been in the Iron Age for thousands of years, but a bronze spear was still far deadlier than a wooden club.

Not just the Queen's Mother of Dragons Guard—even the part-time militia among rural farmers was equipped with a bronze spear and a curved bronze saber.

Daenerys' governance strategy in Astapor followed a two-step approach:

Establish laws and order to stabilize the people and standardize governance.

Develop agriculture and military strength—feed the population and build power.

The Long Night was approaching, leaving no time for a leisurely "five-year plan"—she could only implement a "six-month plan."

The primary goal of her first six-month plan was to restore agricultural production, stabilize urban prices, and ensure every household had surplus grain.

Three days after the Dany Law Codex was issued, 40% of the rural slave owners outside the city surrendered voluntarily.

After that, personally leading Unsullied, Dothraki archers, militia supply teams, and dragons—Black Dragon for reconnaissance, White and Green Dragons as living flamethrowers—Daenerys crushed all remaining resistance at breakneck speed.

She estimated that she had acquired four million acres of cultivated land, along with an equal amount of semi-cultivated land left fallow for soil rotation.

Wondering how 200,000 people could farm four million acres? They didn't farm the way Heavenly Kingdom peasants did—it was extensive farming, not intensive. Besides, part of the land was used for grazing.

Half of the cultivated land was dedicated to olive groves and vineyards.

For those who surrendered willingly, Daenerys confiscated land based on the number of slaves they owned.

Each slave equated to 10 acres of land seized. The remaining land was nationalized—and as Queen, Daenerys was the nation.

However, she honored her word and compensated the former landowners at full price.

Additionally, they were allowed to take personal belongings—everything except grain and livestock—which still amounted to a hefty fortune.

Despite losing over half their land and food stores, those who surrendered were still far better off than those who resisted.

For slave-owning lords who took up arms, Daenerys spared them after capturing their estates. Instead of executions, she sentenced all able-bodied men and women in these families to forced labor for three to ten years, depending on the intensity of their resistance.

With the Long Night approaching, those crying out "The Queen is merciful" likely wouldn't survive the full ten years.

However, if a slave owner not only resisted but deliberately scorched the land to prevent her from claiming it, execution was the only fate.

Regardless of whether they surrendered or fought back, all their assets were confiscated.

Once land surveys were complete, Daenerys redistributed the farmland.

Every person—Ghiscari, newly freed men, city dwellers, rural laborers, Dothraki, Unsullied—received 15 acres of land each.

Well, only the farmland has been distributed so far, while the pastures, orchards, and olive groves remain under Dany's control for the time being.

Does it seem like there's not enough to go around?

Many people don't actually need land—such as skilled workers, city merchants, and ordinary citizens of Ghis. Dany is simply using land distribution as a means to carry out a completely fair redistribution of the concentrated wealth in society.

Those who don't need land can bring their household registration book to the Palace of the Rising Sun and exchange their allocated land for gold and silver from the queen's clerks.

There's no price suppression; the exchange rate remains the same as the market price before Dany took over Astapor.

By the way, Dany has renamed her great pyramid the "Palace of the Rising Sun," and at the entrance of the first floor, she hung a plaque inscribed in both Valyrian and a mysterious script.

She told others that those beautiful square characters were the language of dragons, which she had learned from them, and that they carried magical power.

Dany has already renovated the first and second floors of the pyramid. The first floor serves as her audience hall and courtroom for major criminal cases, where citizens are free to enter and observe—essentially functioning like an ancient magistrate's office.

It is very spacious, about the size of a football field.

The second floor is where government officials work, handling household registrations, signing contracts for the people, and overseeing real estate and land transactions.

All properties originally belonging to the Ghiscari have now come under Dany's ownership—some were purchased at market price, some were confiscated as punishment, and others reverted to the state due to the owners' extinction.

Apart from Dany herself, no ordinary households remain in the city's pyramids.

Except for one smaller pyramid that serves as a burial site for the ancestors of the Ghiscari, the rest have all been repurposed as granaries and storage warehouses for supplies.

City residents can purchase the former Ghiscari brick houses from Dany or buy land to build their own homes—mostly those who were relatives of the great slave masters. Dany first confiscated all their assets, then allocated them a pension ranging from ten thousand to a hundred thousand gold dragons, officially designated for their infants and young children.

Dany, however, is nothing like the exploitative real estate tycoons of modern times. Whether it's an existing house or a plot of land for construction, the prices are practically "dirt-cheap."

One acre of land could be exchanged for a 100-square-meter house—how's that for affordable?

Astapor has a population of over 300,000, with each person allocated 15 acres of land. Theoretically, they could each exchange it for 15 houses in the city.

Of course, during the process of liberating the slaves, many people in the city perished, yet even so, it was impossible to grant every single person a house, let alone allow unrestricted exchanges.

Only those who obtained city residency could exchange their land for a house in the city, while farmers with rural residency could only exchange theirs for the former estates of the slave masters.

Regardless of whether they were city dwellers or farmers, each household could only exchange for one house. Farmers were not allowed to sell their land, while city residents could exchange theirs for gold and silver to use as startup capital for businesses.

It's hard to say who came out ahead and who lost in this arrangement.

The city had better locations, but apart from the pyramids, Astapor's urban areas were filthy, chaotic, and rundown. The streets were so dusty with red brick debris carried by the sea breeze that people had to wear veils just to keep it out of their eyes.

Meanwhile, the estates of the former slave masters were overwhelmingly luxurious—brick castles, gardens, clean wells, swimming pools, fruit-laden orchards, spacious courtyards, stables, and grand halls.

Aside from being a bit far from the great Queen's presence, they were practically perfect.

The Unsullied maintained order in the city, while rural areas were managed by village elders.

Dany assigned one elder per estate, with each overseeing between ten to fifty households, depending on the estate's size. There were no distinctions of status; all villagers lived together in the red-brick castles.

Then, ten village elders would form a village council, responsible for taxation and organizing labor services. The elders took turns serving as the village chief, and the chief had the privilege of meeting the queen.

Dany's 800 mounted warriors from the Lhazareen tribes still served as the village patrol force. They patrolled only the main roads and were allowed near the village entrances but were forbidden from entering estates without the village chief's permission.

These cavalrymen had two main duties. First, they acted as couriers and messengers, relaying Dany's decrees to the villagers, escorting village chiefs to the city, or delivering letters between different villages. Second, they assisted the local militia in capturing thieves.

Meanwhile, Lhazareen women and the elderly took over all the pastures confiscated from the former estate owners. Their job was to herd livestock for the queen.

One could say that the "small" city of Astapor was now entirely under Dany's control.

From the central districts to the outer villages, Dany's rule was like a giant spider's web, ensnaring all 300,000 people within it.

She didn't think much of it, but Jorah, Whitebeard, and even the Green Grace were utterly stunned by how orderly and structured her governance was.

They called her "queen" and treated Astapor as a nation, but to Dany, it wasn't even the equivalent of a county.

In ancient China, a county magistrate was called a "Marquis of a Hundred Miles," and many magistrates of wealthy counties governed over a million people.

At most, Dany was just the magistrate of a mid-sized county—not even a provincial governor.

If this were modern times, a single large neighborhood in a first-tier city would have more than 300,000 people. In that case, her title of "queen" would instantly be downgraded to that of a "community committee director."

(End of Chapter)

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