Luo Luo scratched his head a little embarrassed: "My lord, I will leave this matter to one of my subordinates to handle specifically, he is much better than me, and the road is very wild." "
"Oh? Who is it? Liu Qian raised his eyebrows.
"Do you remember Mezzo Maher? It was the round-faced eunuch next to Salado. "
Rollo explained: "He used to follow Salado and met people of the three religions and nine streams, smugglers, robber leaders, and businessmen... I have a lot of connections, so I asked him to be in charge of this area, and the effect was really good. "
A hint of approval flashed in Liu Qian's eyes.
Luo Luo, a reckless man, actually knew how to dig and use talents, which surprised him a little.
He immediately ordered someone to call Mezzo Maher.
This former close minister of Salado now looks particularly respectful in front of Liu Qian, even with a hint of imperceptible fear.
His round face was filled with a humble smile, and he bowed slightly: "My lord, you summoned me?" "
"Mezzo, what new movements are there over there in King's Landing?" Liu Qian went straight to the topic.
Mei Zuo cleared his throat and reported clearly in an orderly manner: "My lord, I bought some well-informed people on King's Landing and Dragonstone Island, and at present, it seems that there is no sign of large-scale mobilization of the royal fleet itself, but according to the deployment detected by our people..."
He paused, and his face showed a hint of strangeness: "The entire royal fleet nominally has two hundred and ten ships, but only fifty of them are resident in King's Landing, and the remaining one hundred and sixty ships are docked at the port of Dragonstone Island.
Of these two hundred and ten ships, only eighty were real paddle ships, the rest were sailing ships for transportation, and most of the precious eighty rowing ships were said to be in disrepair and lack of maintenance, and most of them could not be used normally. "
His tone carries a sense of disbelief about the current state of the Iron Throne Navy.
Liu Qian heard this, and his fingers rubbed his chin unconsciously.
The dilemma of the royal fleet is so bad, the proportion of main battleships is so low, and it has been reduced to a situation where it cannot be used?
He looked at Mezo: "Where is the Iron Throne's energy lately?" "
A smile appeared on Mezzo's face: "According to the eyeliner report we have placed in the Antlers' residence, His Majesty the King has recently announced that he will attend in person with great interest in a grand competition to be held in Twilight, and for this reason, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are busy raising funds to meet His Majesty's huge travel expenses." "
The Antlers are wealthy merchants in King's Landing, and they can usually get first-hand information from the Red Keep.
Liu Qian laughed dumbly.
No wonder!
The money in the treasury was used by Robert to satisfy his selfish desires, so how could he have any surplus money to maintain the warship?
He asked: "So, do they not plan to use troops against our Shijie Islands in the short term?" "
Mezzo shook his head cautiously: "My lord, this may not be the case, Duke Jon Arryn of the King's Hand has been holding frequent royal meetings in King's Landing recently, and one of the core topics is the new situation in the Stonestep Islands after the fall of Salado, as well as the future military response of the Iron Throne."
The prime minister is said to have taken a tough stance at the meeting, believing that your expansion must be curbed. To this end, he even asked Grand Scholar Paisier to urgently inquire from the school city if anyone was familiar with necromancy, in order to deal with the legendary 'Necromancer' under your command. "
Liu Qian's eyes flashed.
Sure enough, the news has reached the top of King's Landing.
Fortunately, he took the initiative and abducted Coben.
He leaked the information of the "Dragon Spirit Guard" in order to arouse enough attention and panic from the Iron Throne, and it was best to induce them to take the initiative and send the main force of the navy to his mouth.
"Is there any other movement?"
"Yes, my lord."
Mezzo added: "The Prime Minister has also summoned Earl Redwin of Qingting Island to King's Landing, and it seems that he is also discussing a response plan..."
Liu Qian was a little playful: "The Wang family's fleet has become a decoration, so you count on the fleet of Qingting Island?" Aren't they afraid that Baron Greyjoy of the Iron Islands will take advantage of the situation? "
Mezzo analyzed: "My lord, compared to Baron's possible maritime raids, the Iron Throne is obviously more afraid of you completely controlling the narrow sea lanes, which monopolizes most of the maritime trade between the Seven Kingdoms and the free trade city-states, once completely cut off by you, the tariff revenue of the Iron Throne will be sharply reduced, and the source of luxury goods of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms will also be cut off, and the impact will be huge, so they would rather temporarily bear the risk of the Iron People than give priority to solving your confidant's big problem." "
Liu Qian nodded, which was exactly the effect he wanted.
The logic of the Iron Throne's actions was completely in line with his prediction.
As long as the other party gathers a fleet and takes the initiative to attack, he will have the opportunity to use the trump card in his hand that has not been shown since leaving the ruins of Valyria to completely bury the maritime power of the Seven Kingdoms.
His magic is limited and he cannot destroy these fleets separately, so concentrating them all in one place is the best option.
Once the royal fleet and the main fleet of Qingting Island are destroyed, the Seven Kingdoms will lose the ability to rebuild a large-scale navy within a few years.
Shipbuilding is not farming, it is extremely dependent on mature shipbuilders, high-quality timber reserves and huge capital investment.
Even Braavos, which is famous for its shipbuilding industry, cannot build ships at the speed of dumplings, but can only build one warship a day at most.
Liu Qian's men now gathered four or five hundred experienced shipwrights captured from Salado and Telossi, and repaired hundreds of warships, but they have not been able to build a new ship independently.
He knows the difficulty of rebuilding a strong navy.
With the current financial situation of the Iron Throne, once the navy is destroyed, it will be difficult to turn over for several years.
And a few years is enough for him to do a lot.
"The Redwin family is indeed strong."
Mezzo added at the right time: "According to reliable intelligence, they have a huge fleet of more than 1,200 ships with 200 professional paddling warships and five times as many commercial sailing ships. "
Rao is Liu Qian's psychological preparation, and he can't help but be stunned by the wealth of the Redwin family.
The wine of Qingting Island is indeed flowing with gold.
But he quickly calmed down: "Redwin can't come out, right? Most of their merchant ships were on the way to trade long voyages, maintaining the family's lifeblood business, and the most they could draw were the two hundred warships. "
"My lord is wise."
Mezzo nodded: "That's true, their merchant ships are scattered on various routes, and they can't be assembled on a large scale for military use in the short term." "
"Very good," Liu Qian was very satisfied with Mezzo's performance: "Continue to expand your intelligence network, the main ports of the Seven Kingdoms, Telosi, Ris, and even Pantos and Valantis... All valuable information, no matter how much golden dragons are spent, is borne by the Bloodstone Island Treasury, and I want to know every action and every rumor of them. "
"Obey orders, my lord!"
Mei Zo respectfully accepted the order, and a hint of reused light flashed in his eyes.
Liu Qian turned to Rollo and Howl, and his tone turned cold and hard: "You two, do your best to supervise the restoration project of Sarado's remaining warships, and at the same time ensure the maintenance and maintenance of our original fleet, I want every ship to be in the best condition and ready to fight." "
"Yes! My lord! "
The two agreed in unison.
Liu Qian paced to the thick stone window of the tower, looking at the narrow sea in the distance.
Since leaving the cursed land of Valyria, he has hardly used real magical power except for the use of the dragon bone bow, and has laid the foundation of the Stone Steps Islands step by step.
It's not that he doesn't want to use it, but that precious magic is like a sweet spring in the desert, and he is reluctant to waste a drop on this group of pirates.
But this time, it's different.
If the fleet of the Seven Kingdoms really dares to come over, he will definitely let them experience firsthand what the wrath of the true dragon is.