Outside the tent, the loud roars and cheers of the reveling soldiers filtered through the cloth curtain, forming a stark contrast to the quiet inside the tent. Under the gaze of countless nobles, Aegon's body began to tremble slightly—he hadn't expected Robert to reward him in such a "make a wish" format, leaving him somewhat unprepared.
Your Majesty, please relieve me of my Night's Watch status!
The words almost slipped out, but reason held Aegon back at the last moment.
For Robert, would this request be considered "outrageous"? Aegon couldn't judge, but he knew that Robert had the power to make this decision. If he announced that Aegon was a free man from today onwards, a citizen of the Seven Kingdoms, Jeor Mormont would never dare to publicly utter a single "no".
But how would he get past Eddard? As the Hand of the King of the realm, he had the right to refute and overturn the King's decrees and decisions, legally speaking—the King had the power to legitimize a bastard, but he had no right to pardon a man of the Night's Watch from shedding his black clothes; it had been this way for a thousand years. If Eddard insisted on following the rules, Robert would have no legal standing at all… even if in the end "the King's authority" triumphed over "the Hand of the King's integrity," he himself would become a thorn in Eddard's side. As a citizen of the Seven Kingdoms, yet offending the Hand of the King, could he have a good life?
Also, what about the Night's Watch Industry? Having regained his freedom, he would have no reason whatsoever to continue handling and managing this nascent production enterprise and financial empire. At this point, Jeor Mormont could simply send anyone to take away all these industries bearing the name of the Night's Watch. Eddard Stark might even assist in this, preventing him from transferring assets!
Moreover, disregarding the thoughts of others and objective conditions, solely from a personal subjective standpoint—Aegon had gradually begun to get used to his identity as a Night's Watchman and had started to enjoy the many privileges of wearing the black and being the Chief Logistics Officer. Not to mention anything else, just the single point of "never having to go to war" was enough to benefit him for a lifetime in this era where human lives were cheaper than grass.
[Not under the jurisdiction of any power, not loyal to anyone, not obeying anyone's orders...] How much potential for development these rules held, a smart person could see at a glance. Wearing the black, although burdened by vows, the privileges he enjoyed were far from being replaceable by a completely useless "citizen status." With his current special status, he was the only person in the entire Seven Kingdoms who could truly gain upward mobility and status completely "by his own ability."
(Voluntarily throwing away this advantage and starting from scratch as a commoner?)
Aegon could hardly imagine—after giving up his Night's Watch status, what kind of risks he would have to go through and how much effort he would have to put in to stand among these actual controllers of the Seven Kingdoms again, clinking glasses and chatting cheerfully with a bunch of knights and Earls, and even facing the King?
***
"What?" Robert was impatient, but compared to his behavior at the last war council, this time he was incredibly gentle towards the deserving minister who had saved his face: "If you haven't thought it through yet, just sit on the side for a while, have some wine and meat, and tell me when you've decided."
"No, Your Majesty, I have decided." Aegon raised his head, trying his best to suppress his excitement and nervousness: "You said I could have anything I want, and there's no limit on the number, right?"
"Hmm… no, but anything too outrageous won't do. Let's add a limit, three things that don't violate the law or the Night's Watch vows."
"I only want two things." Aegon secretly felt lucky and decided to advance by retreating. In fact, he only needed one, but needed another as a prelude and cover: "The first is the Alchemists' Guild in the center of King's Landing, which has long kept the Wildfire left by the previous dynasty under your command. This substance is dangerous in the warm South but can be quite stable at the cold The Wall. I would like to ask Your Majesty to order the Alchemists' Guild to process and unseal the Wildfire stored in King's Landing as soon as possible, leaving only assistants for management, and the Masters familiar with Wildfire preparation—that is, the Pyromancers—to go to the Night's Watch's The Gift in the North to produce and provide this weapon for the garrison at The The Wall."
"Note that down!" As long as it wasn't about money, Robert breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the attendant beside him: "And the second?"
"More than a hundred thousand Wildlings Beyond the Wall are stirring, and urgent support is needed, but the Iron Throne… is unable to help." Aegon had originally intended to say that the finances were difficult, but fearing that Robert couldn't handle such a blunt revelation of his pain, he changed his words, "The Night's Watch understands the difficulties Your Majesty is facing, and therefore has decided to be self-reliant—the Logistics Department that I established and manage is starting to try to raise funds, procure food supplies and materials, and train new recruits through its own efforts in King's Landing."
Most people present were already familiar with the Night's Watch Industry, and even Robert himself had heard scattered news. After all, on the back cover of every book on the market, including the little yellow booklets, there was a small line indicating the producer: "Hmm—go on."
"But there is one thing that is truly annoying." This matter was of great importance, and Aegon had to say a lot of unnecessary words to cover his true intentions: "All commercial activities providing logistical support for the Night's Watch actually have to pay taxes to the Iron Throne like ordinary merchants—it should be the Iron Throne funding the Night's Watch to fight the White Walkers, but now it's the other way around. The money we earn with great difficulty actually has to be partially fed back to the Iron Throne instead of being completely converted into supplies provided to The The Wall…"
"Alright, the Night's Watch purchasing food supplies, military equipment… Sigh… Forget it, all activities conducted by the Night's Watch within the Seven Kingdoms are tax-exempt!"
Robert was more accommodating than expected, but as soon as the words left his mouth, amidst the uniform soft gasps and sharp intakes of breath from the surrounding nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, the King, who hadn't yet gotten completely drunk, finally realized something was wrong: "Wait… No using names. Only activities personally handled and managed by true Night's Watch men who have taken the oath and seen The The Wall… can be tax-exempt!"
"Your Majesty!" The Kingsguard had the duty to advise the King against outrageous behavior. Barristan, standing nearby, was a little anxious: "Rules are meant to be exploited. These restrictions you've added are completely useless—take an oath, then stay at The The Wall for two days to get a golden veneer, and from then on, all activities conducted by this person will no longer require paying taxes? Within ten years, all of Your Majesty's subjects will become Night's Watchmen!"
Robert also realized there was a problem with his words, but he was a man, and as long as he was a man, after making a grand statement when speaking smoothly, he would face the dilemma of "suffering for the sake of saving face." He couldn't take back his words: "Enough! Otherslayer! Only your activities, personally handled and managed, do not need to pay taxes!"
"Your Majesty!" The old Kingsguard was exasperated. This restriction seemed very strict, but in reality, it was still useless. The only difference was that the outcome would be—within ten years, the entire Seven Kingdoms would become Night's Watchmen under Aegon's command. Complete tax exemption should never appear in feudal Westeros!
"Enough, stop talking!" Westeros's most irritable old brother's nature flared up again. He slammed his wine cup down, splashing wine everywhere: "Otherslayer, I'm warning you in advance here, this privilege is for you alone. You are not allowed to assign or allow others to act on your behalf to enjoy it! If you play too outrageously, I will take it back!"
Setting a vague bottom line—like the final right of interpretation, no matter what, this was finally a useful restriction. Barristan sighed and no longer defied the angry Robert.
"Alright, go down." Robert seemed a little unhappy, but today was a good day after all. He finished the remaining wine in his cup, and the alcohol quickly numbed the annoyance in his chest: "Next, Robb—what do you want? Don't be as slow as the fellow before you!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Aegon suppressed his ecstasy and returned to his seat. He had originally only wanted to fight for tax exemption for the factories under the Night's Watch Industry, but who knew the gains were far more than that—a personal tax exemption privilege for himself. With this in place, as long as Jeor Mormont was still clear-headed, he would never have to worry about being sidelined or recalled! As for the restrictions: from now on, he would probably have to run around and appear frequently to continuously add the "tax exemption" buff to the ever-expanding Night's Watch Industry!
He might not quickly become one of the most powerful people in the Seven Kingdoms, but he would at least quickly join the ranks of those with the highest appearance fees in the Seven Kingdoms.
Returning to his seat, a beautiful young woman beside him raised her wine cup to him—Margaery Tyrell, being a woman, naturally couldn't attend the war council, and thus hadn't witnessed Aegon's suggestion firsthand. But this celebration banquet was fine: "Chief Logistics Officer is truly amazing, this little woman admires you!"
"Likewise, compared to tax exemption, those who collect taxes like the Tyrell family are the real winners." Aegon couldn't hide his smugness. He knew that as long as he didn't play the privilege too excessively like the temples in ancient China, with Robert's temper, even if he regretted it later, he would never swallow his words.
The only person in this large tent without noble birth had now become the focus of attention for the nobles throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Spending money without knowing the difficulty of earning it, compared to Robert, a hands-off manager who liked to push things onto the Master of Coin, the heads of other families and the leaders and key figures of various countries… anyone who had managed taxes would understand what tax exemption meant.
Although it wasn't yet enough to make them envious—this little Night's Watchman's methods were truly remarkable.
So many people were focusing their attention on Aegon that when Robb Stark walked to the center of the tent and told Robert what reward he wanted, few people were seriously listening to the Young Wolf Lord's words.
But this young man from the North, the future Lord Stark, still managed to instantly draw back everyone's attention with a single sentence.
The tent suddenly became lively again. Some were jeering and cheering, others were surprised and uncertain. Even Aegon spat out the mouthful of wine he had just toasted Little Rose with. He had previously thought Cersei was the biggest winner of this rebellion suppression war, and just now he thought he was, but at this moment, he realized there was someone else.
Robb Stark knelt on one knee before Robert, took a deep breath, looked up, and said: "I fell in love at first sight with Lord Walder Frey's daughter, Roslin Frey. Please grant us marriage, Your Majesty!"
—