Casterly Rock gathers the most and most skilled blacksmiths, with dozens of smelting furnaces alone, forming a sizable smelting workshop when gathered together.
Tywin, with Damion and Adam, didn't even need to enter the smelting workshop; just being outside, they felt their clothes become hot and damp. After only a few steps inside, fine beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.
Upon entering the smelting workshop, it was like stepping into a furnace. The bright crimson flames around them were almost blinding, and the constant clang of hammers was denser than raindrops. The supervisor, who was on patrol, immediately came forward upon seeing Tywin and his group. He was a man over forty, wearing only a thin, light gray linen undershirt.
His chest and back were soaked brown with sweat. Seeing Tywin, he immediately shouted behind him, "Lord Tywin is here! Everyone, come and greet Lord Tywin!"
This loud shout caused the hammering in the workshop to quickly cease, like a sudden stop to a downpour, from dense clanging to scattered strikes, until it completely disappeared.
Although stopping mid-forge would turn the weapon or tool being made into scrap, this was Tywin's command, and he believed the dignity of the lord of casterly rock was worth more than a few pieces of steel.
Adam stared at the scene before him, his eyes wide, and a different thought arose in his mind.
"How has production been recently?" Tywin picked up an arrowhead and asked. The tip of the arrowhead glinted coldly, and a light scratch on his hand would leave a white mark.
"My Lord, recently we can produce two thousand eight hundred to three thousand three hundred arrowheads daily, three hundred forty to five hundred forty spears, and twelve to sixteen sets of armor per day. As for longswords––"
Tywin once said that true conquest relies on steel and blood. The head of Casterly Rock's armory was personally chosen by him, so he had a thorough understanding of the armory's capacity, which greatly pleased Tywin.
"Forget about longswords for now. Prioritize making more spears and arrows. Also, tell the craftsmen that for every extra weapon they produce beyond the current quota, I will pay them double."
"Yes, My Lord!" A smile spread to the corners of the supervisor's eyes, and he bowed to Tywin with great delight.
After a brief inspection, Tywin left the armory.
Damion, standing by, said, "My Lord, our current weapon inventory is still very sufficient, enough to arm an army of twenty thousand Soldiers."
Tywin nodded, indicating he wanted to see the Treasury.
Casterly Rock's Treasury didn't need to be specially excavated; following old customs, they only needed to repair the hollowed-out mine shafts, which could then be used to store supplies.
The group arrived at a disused Gold Mine. The gate of the Gold Mine was made of bronze and oak, with a brass lock the size of a human head on the gate.
However, this particular Treasury seemed to have been built recently, as the brass lock was still bright yellow, showing no signs of greening.
The keeper of the Treasury took out a key, opened the brass lock, lit a torch, and entered the dark Treasury.
By the light of the torch, Damion began to explain the storage situation to Tywin.
"My Lord, during your campaign, we cleared out four more mine shafts to use as storerooms. I have already filled them with grain and steel."
"You have done well. This is not ten years ago; converting gold into steel and grain is a wise move.
Tywin once again approved of Damion's work.
It was said that three years ago, the Gold Mine beneath Casterly Rock had already been depleted, and the last Gold Mine vein had been completely excavated.
This was not a good sign, but he did not let anyone know. However, Tywin decided to convert the hollowed-out Gold Mine shafts into storerooms for supplies.
These mine shafts in the stone mountains were dry and spacious, making them perfectly suitable for use as storerooms.
The group arrived at the grain storage. Here, sacks of grain were piled up as high as two people, and as far as the eye could see, there were thousands of such sacks in no less than ten such storerooms!
"My Lord, Casterly Rock currently has seventeen thousand people, including Soldiers, craftsmen, and maids. Our stored grain is enough for over a decade."
"Hmm, that's enough."
Tywin nodded. If anyone wanted to starve them by besieging Casterly Rock, it would be utterly impossible.
Besieging Casterly Rock would require an army of at least twenty thousand, and maintaining the military provisions for such a large expeditionary force would be an astronomical figure, one that even Highgarden might not be able to bear.
Moreover, the Soldiers might not be able to endure being away from home for so long.
Next, they came to Casterly Rock's water cisterns. The cisterns of Casterly Rock were very large, and compared to the armory they had just visited, the area around the cisterns was somewhat damp and cold.
Casterly Rock, after all, was built on a stone mountain, and only a few wells could be dug around the foot of the mountain, which was far from enough to support the water needs of nearly ten to twenty thousand people.
However, Casterly Rock's coastal location compensated for this; abundant rainfall allowed them to replenish their water supply through precipitation from the sky.
Sufficient food and an unblockable water source are the true reasons for Casterly Rock's reputation as "never falling."
"The water in the cisterns is enough for Casterly Rock for at least a month. Although consumption at the armory might increase, it's autumn now, and rainfall will soon be even heavier than in summer. It won't be long before it rains again, so we won't lack water," Damion said confidently.
"Adam."
"My Lord." Seeing Tywin call him, Adam quickly stepped forward.
"Tell the kitchen to prepare more meat today to reward the Soldiers."
"Yes, My Lord."
The reason Tywin suddenly decided to inspect the supplies and boost morale was because he had received news that Jon had broken through Casterly Rock and had already raided Sarsfield.
This was completely beyond his expectation.
Tywin naturally would not believe that Daven would be fooled by Jon's little tricks; it must have been a problem with the ravens.
Recalling how Renly and his acting lord had all died mysteriously, and the widespread rumors of Stannis trusting witches, Tywin judged that it was most likely related to witchcraft.
However, regarding witchcraft, Casterly Rock's maesters had not been able to find any useful answers.
"I intend to continue expanding the army. Command the entire Westerlands to conscript at least fifty thousand more Soldiers, broadening the age limit to thirteen for the lower end and fifty-five for the upper end. Furthermore, have physically qualified women also join the army!" Tywin looked at the distant horizon, which showed a curve, as if allocating manpower was like allocating gold coins from the Treasury.
However, Damion, standing by, interjected, "But My Lord, if we do that, the young and able-bodied men of the Westerlands will be depleted. Even if we win, we will—"
"If the Lannister no longer exists, then the Westerlands has no reason to exist either." Tywin directly interrupted Damion, his voice carrying a chilling ruthlessness that made one shiver.
"Understood, My Lord." Damion replied, casting aside any pity in his heart.
However, he also knew that at the beginning of the war, Tywin and Jaime took away nearly forty thousand men. After that, Daven's father conscripted another twenty thousand new recruits in the Westerlands, but they were defeated by Robb. Not to mention that the Iron Islands had plundered the Westerlands extensively.
Tywin had been back in the Westerlands for less than three months and had already conscripted tens of thousands more. In the end, regardless of the war's outcome, the Westerlands would be severely weakened, and it might take twenty years to recover.
"Additionally, we can consider discussing peace talks with Stannis." Seeing Tywin finally make this decision, Damion also breathed a sigh of relief.
In fact, they still had many cards to play, such as choosing to waive the debts previously lent to the royal family, which amounted to three million Gold Dragons.
However, these three million were already irrecoverable; Stannis certainly wouldn't repay the gold Robert had squandered.
By the way, when Tywin plundered King's Landing back then, he only seized less than a million Gold Dragons. Robert, spending these three million Gold Dragons lavishly in King's Landing, could be considered compensation from Tywin to the common people of King's Landing.
However, the royal family still owed three million Gold Dragons to the Iron Bank and some Free Cities banks. They could also use these as bargaining chips to repay them.
There were also large fines and such, which Tywin could also bear, but only if the iron throne returned Cersei and Jaime to him.
In this condition, Cersei was secondary, and Jaime was primary. As for their children, Tywin had given up on them.
Of course, these conditions would not be released all at once, but rather exchanged and compromised with Stannis little by little. Tywin set a negotiation bottom line for Damion and gave him full authority to handle it.
All of the above were negotiation conditions; the true confidence for peace talks still lay in the never-falling Casterly Rock.
Neither Stannis of King's Landing nor Tyrell of Highgarden could wage a long-term war in the Westerlands. As soon as they left, the Westerlands would still belong to the Lannister.
"Additionally, and most importantly, we need to remind Stannis of the possibility of the Tyrell and that bastard joining forces," Tywin continued. "We can accept that bastard occupying Casterly Rock, and even splitting the Westerlands with the Lannister, but as long as the Lannister still occupies Casterly Rock, we will eventually be able to reclaim the entire Westerlands!"
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