Chapter 173: Lai Junchen, Scholar Lai

Six kings fall, and the four seas unite.

Consorts, concubines, princes, and grandsons— they bid farewell to their palaces, descend from their halls, and are carried to Qin. Songs by day, strings by night—they become people of the Qin palace.

The royal families, nobles, and consorts of the fallen nations were all relocated to Xianyang City, numbering no less than hundreds of thousands. Yet, when have you ever heard of the 'sons of the six kingdoms' assassinating Qin officials?

In fact, even until the fall of Qin under the Second Emperor, not a single 'Ghisian' of the heavenly dynasty dared to stir up trouble.

Hmm, after all, Emperor Qin Shi Huang was a dragon without equal.

Not only the Qin dynasty—throughout any dynasty of the heavenly empire, even on the eve of its downfall, there was never an internal rebellion within the capital that nearly forced the emperor to death.

In Dany's view, ruling Slaver's Bay was far too simple, because the Ghisians were already a mixed-blood race who had long lost the valor of their early days.

To put it bluntly, the Ghisian people at this time were nothing more than a decadent, inferior race.

More importantly, they did not hold a population advantage—Ghisians accounted for only one-fifth of the total population in Slaver's Bay.

Three city-states in Slaver's Bay required only three qualified county magistrates to govern.

The hardships and difficulties faced by the original Daenerys were not felt by her at all. Instead, she had plenty of time every day to leave the city, work on farms, and practice swordsmanship.

Sure enough, just as the Sons of the Harpy stirred up trouble, Dany hadn't even had time to intervene before the illiterate Cleon easily uprooted them.

"Cleon, what are the identities of those involved? Are there many of them?" Dany rested her right elbow on the wide armrest, supporting her chin with her palm, leisurely asking.

"A total of 743 people were arrested. The 25 core members are Ghisian merchants and petty nobles who retained significant wealth, while the rest are Ghisian citizens. However, I suspect that there are remnants of the Great Masters, and even the Green Grace may have been involved, though they are deeply hidden and no direct evidence of their participation was found."

At this, the Butcher Earl couldn't help but sigh, somewhat reproachfully saying, "Ah, Your Majesty is still too merciful. Aside from the Great Masters who joined the Ghis Alliance and had their properties confiscated, the small and medium-sized merchants and nobles only lost their slaves and pyramids, paid a fine, and were left intact. The three cities' temples were completely preserved—it's too lenient!"

"I have said that the property of citizens is sacred and inviolable. Although those merchants traded slaves, they mainly employed slave workers to run legitimate businesses. As for the temples, they are filled with weak women without true faith..."

Dany sighed helplessly and asked in return, "I can't possibly confiscate the entire family property of a cloth merchant simply because he bought slaves for weaving, then send his whole family to forced labor, can I?"

"Your Majesty, if I may speak bluntly, you are entirely mistaken." Cleon shook his large head.

Dany asked curiously, "Where am I wrong?"

Cleon spoke eloquently, "On a global scale, our enemies are slave owners and slaver teams. But in Slaver's Bay, the opposing class can be precisely defined as the Ghisian race.

Your Majesty must realize—no matter what, the Ghisians will never love you, nor will they like us new freedmen.

Therefore, we must consistently and resolutely implement the policy of striking at the Ghisian upper class.

Just as you taught me before—the Ghisian slave owners are class enemies, their personal backgrounds inherently impure."

"Uh..." Dany's cheeks flushed slightly. She rubbed her nose awkwardly and asked in a low voice, "You still remember those words?"

"Of course, I think Your Majesty's words make great sense. Only by completely overthrowing the rotten slave system can we achieve a free and beautiful feudal society."

Who knows if the revolutionary martyrs of Earth would crawl down from heaven to beat her for twisting their classics.

After taking Astapor, Dany knew she would inevitably clash with the Ghisian slave masters.

To ideologically arm her subordinates, she had gathered military officers several times and used... well, just by swapping a few terms—replacing 'anti-imperialism and feudalism' with 'anti-slavery,' and 'building XXX beautiful society' with 'building a peaceful, free, and advanced feudal society.'

She didn't remember much herself—just spoke whatever came to mind. Looking back now, even Dany couldn't recall exactly what she'd said.

Yet, almost a year later, Cleon had not only remembered but also drawn inferences and reached his own epiphany?!

Could this guy really have a gift for revolutionary destiny?

"Cleon, your thoughts are... advanced, and quite radical."

Dany racked her brains to find the right words. "But we are currently surrounded by enemies, and the entire world awaits liberation. If we recklessly massacre the Ghisians now, who would ever surrender to us in the future?

Therefore, we must firmly uphold the development philosophy centered on the 'Code.' Neither lords nor queens can arbitrarily violate the 'Code.'"

Finally, Dany winked at the thoughtful Butcher Earl and whispered so that only the two of them could hear, "So, do you understand now?"

"I feel something, but not quite." Cleon whispered back.

"Oh, how can you be so slow-witted? We can't violate the 'Code,' and naturally, neither can the Ghisian nobles and merchants. If they dare to violate it, you can openly judge them according to the 'Code.'" Dany sighed in exasperation.

"But..." Cleon said blankly, "I can't catch their handles precisely because I have no evidence against those behind the scenes!"

"Sigh, come closer," Dany beckoned the butcher over, "Let me tell you a story—about six thousand years ago, after the Andal invasion of Westeros..."

Hmm, the ancestors of House Lannister of the Westerlands were originally the First Men, and both their subjects and nobles were also of First Men descent.

However, the Andal knightly orders were too powerful. At the time, King of the Rock, Gerold III Lannister, suffered several defeats in battle and could no longer bear the strain. So, he crowned his son-in-law, Ser Joffrey Leyton, an Andal, as the next King of the Rock. Thus, the war between the Westerlands and the Andals came to an end.

But while the external war was over, an internal conflict arose. How could a King of the Rock of Andal descent gain the trust of First Men vassals?"

The Butcher Knight mused, "It's somewhat like the current situation in Slaver's Bay—the decayed Ghiscari are the First Men, and we, the powerful ones, are the Andals. The 'First Men' are rebelling against the Andal king."

"Exactly!" Dany gave him an approving look and continued, "Later, a 'Lai Maester' from the Citadel of Westeros happened to meet the King of the Rock."

Dany then went on, selecting some of Lai Junchen's deeds, adapting them into a story that fit this world, and narrated it to Cleon.

The Butcher Earl listened with fascination, eager to try it himself.

Finally, she clapped her hands in regret and sighed, "What a pity! The magnificent masterpiece The Manual of Accusations by Lai Maester has been lost to time, otherwise—"

"Oh dear, what a loss!" The Butcher Earl cried out with a face full of regret.

Dany nodded and sighed, "Even Lai Maester's contributions in helping the King of the Rock suppress the First Men rebellion have gradually faded into history. The world no longer remembers Lai Maester."

Cleon, unable to hold back his emotions, said excitedly, "Your Majesty, I am willing to be your 'Lai Maester'!"

"Very well, but don't rush just yet." Dany raised her hand to calm him, lowering her voice, "You know about the alliance matters—we cannot sit back and take the hits; we must find allies.

So, in some time, I will leave Slaver's Bay and take a diplomatic tour of the western continent on dragonback—Qohor, Braavos—it will take about half a month, maybe a month."

"So, do you understand?" Dany gave him a meaningful look.

"I… don't understand." The Butcher Earl stared blankly.

"Sigh—" Dany rubbed her face in frustration. Why were these foreigners so dense?

They couldn't even anticipate the Queen's needs—such an unqualified courtier!

She asked blankly, "What don't you understand?"

"I get that we need allies, but…" Cleon's greasy, plump face was full of confusion. "What does that have to do with judging those Ghiscari rebels?"

Clang!

Dany extended her right hand, clad in a lobster-shaped iron gauntlet, grabbed the golden boar clasp on Cleon's shoulder, and yanked him closer. Leaning in, she whispered into his right ear, "Do you know why Lai Maester launched the purge while the King of the Rock was away?

Because His Majesty the King was kind and noble.

I loathe the Ghiscari and wish to see their bloodline erased, but I cannot do it myself. A kind, innocent, noble, and elegant person like me is not suited for such matters.

When 'Lai Maester' does those things, I must not be present.

Now, Lai Maester, tell me, do you understand?"

The Butcher Knight's eyes darted nervously, his voice trembling, "Y-yes… I understand now."

So…so terrifying!

He had secretly mocked the Queen multiple times before, thinking she was just a soft-hearted woman. MMP! Now he finally understood why she was Queen, while he—no matter how hard he tried—was only an Earl.

Ding! If Dany had an emperor system, she would have definitely heard a notification:

"Your subordinate Cleon's fear of you +40 (Maxed out), loyalty +20 (Maxed out)."

Dany clenched her iron hand tightly, causing the pure gold boar head to creak as it deformed. She casually asked, "Only you know about this matter—not even I know about it. Do you understand?"

"Understood! Absolutely understood!" The Butcher Knight nodded frantically like a pecking chicken.

"Heh, Earl Cleon, I am very pleased that you caught the assassin." Dany smiled, patting his shoulder guard thump, thump, thump, and gently invited, "It's almost noon. Let's have a drink together to celebrate."

Half a Month Later

A merchant from Volantis, who had come to Astapor to buy white sugar, brought shocking news from Westeros: Renly, Robb, and Joffrey had all perished.

"Prince Renly died in the first half of last year," the sausage-lipped fat merchant, Fatt Dothim, said with a strange expression, lowering his voice. "It's said that his own brother used blood magic to steal his soul."

Yes, the grain merchant who had been captured by Dany at Poplar Slope had returned to Astapor for more supplies.

At first, when the merchants heard that the Queen was willing to buy their cattle, horses, grain, and oil at "wartime prices," they excitedly cheered, "Long live the Queen!"

Later, when they learned that the difference between the "wartime price" and Astapor's market price would be compensated in goods, they ground their teeth and cursed, "Damn the Butcher Queen!"

Finally, they grudgingly traveled more than 20 kilometers to Astapor's commercial district, only to be stunned by what they saw.

"Gods above! This… is sugar? Premium white sugar? So fine, so white, so clean, so pure! I want it—I want all of it! What? I've used up my subsidy quota? This—"

"What fragrant liquor! Pure as water, and one bottle can be mixed with ten bottles of fruit wine—what a bargain! I want it—I want all of it!"

"Why is your copperware so shiny? Is it gold-plated? What? This cheap? I want it—I want all of it!"

"Oh? Astapor has glass too? Its purity isn't as high as Myr's, but… what? This cheap? I'll take it!"

A horde of merchants stormed into the shops like mad dogs, spending every last copper coin in their pockets.

Dany had initially set up a system to accumulate quotas over time, but it was completely useless—within a single visit, the merchants had spent their entire quota.

The "True Fragrance Law" was too powerful—it worked even in another world.

(End of Chapter)

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