In the Red Keep at King's Landing, Jacaerys was holding his first Small Council meeting.
In this spacious and well-lit large room, all decorations belonging to the Church of the Seven had been removed.
After the situation in the Seven Kingdoms stabilized, Jacaerys would gradually replace the faith of the Seven Gods with a new faith.
And as for this new faith, well, that was him and Womax!
The many gods in this world were vying to spread their faith, and perhaps some shocking secret was hidden within this.
The candidates for the new Small Council ministers had just been announced in the Throne Room.
Most of the people sitting at the Small Council Stone table at this moment had excited and joyful smiles on their faces.
Jacaerys sat at the innermost King's chair, with Ser Dario, the Captain of the Kingsguard, standing behind him.
To Jacaerys's right was Stone, who was trying to maintain a serious expression and wore the Hand of the King's brooch on his chest.
Below Stone was Korman, the Master of Whisperers, a position newly created by Jacaerys.
Korman was actually quite similar to the 'Spider' Varys of later generations, both were foreigners and both were eunuchs.
Seeming to feel that he had finally regained trust, Korman was full of arrogance at this moment.
But when his eyes met Jacaerys's, he would immediately change his expression, putting on the look of a fawning sycophant.
No matter what Korman hid deep in his heart, without military power, he could only be a dog relying on the might of a true dragon to intimidate others.
Sitting in the first position to Jacaerys's left was the new Master of Laws, Lord Forrester.
Just as he had thought before, as the Blackwood family, who had taken a firm stance and made the greatest sacrifices during the Blood Dragon Dance.
Jacaerys wanted to set them up as an example of how loyalty to him would be richly rewarded.
Moreover, the House Tully, which had only sent a messenger so far, should indeed be severely punished.
The second position was the new Master of Coin, Lucerys Valyrian.
Lucerys, who knew nothing about financial management, was now trying to appear calm, but he had a plan.
Because if he didn't understand something, he could directly consult his brother.
Besides the dragons, military and financial power were the most important, and Jacaerys naturally had to keep them in the hands of his own people.
It just so happened that Lucerys's personality was not suited for fighting and killing, and his mind was clever and Agile, so with a little training, he could be of great use.
The third position was Archmaester Mukun, who had taken over the position of Grand Maester during Aemond's reign.
With the Citadel and Oldtown destroyed together, scholars in the Seven Kingdoms became even more sought after than before.
Other things were fine, but the Ravens and medicine they possessed were needed by every lord.
Jacaerys planned to extract Archmaester Mukun's knowledge when he had free time,
Then organize it into books based on his past life's experience, and then begin to establish his own royal school.
Especially the ravens that could control public opinion in the Seven Kingdoms, they had to serve him.
Finally, the position directly opposite Jacaerys was occupied by the new Master of Ships, Earl Samwell Blackwood.
This earnest earl was now restless and confused.
He had thought before that he would receive a reward from Jacaerys, but he hadn't expected it to be this level of reward.
After all, Raventree Hall was only a medium-sized castle, and in this war, it could only field an army of about six hundred men.
The best reward he had envisioned was to destroy his neighbor and mortal enemy, the House Breken, who was loyal to the Green Party, and then gain a portion of their land.
And most importantly, in his entire life, he had never been on any other ship besides the small riverboats on the Blue Fork.
He couldn't even swim, and now he was the Master of Ships?
As mentioned earlier, the Conqueror Fleet and the Valyrian Fleet were military powers that Jacaerys had to personally control.
Earl Samwell was just a figurehead, and he had outwardly gained a prestigious Small Council seat.
Secretly, Jacaerys would also grant him the lands of the House Breken.
He believed that Earl Samwell would be very happy to play this puppet role.
As the first Small Council meeting, there were many, many backlog of government affairs to discuss.
But Stone had already worked overtime to handle the vast majority of minor matters in advance and reported them to Jacaerys for review and approval.
So what was discussed today were a few major issues.
The first matter was the reconstruction of the area from Rhaenys' Hill to Dragon Gate in King's Landing.
King's Landing now had a population of nearly 400,000, so there was definitely no shortage of labor, but there was a lack of funds for reconstruction.
Because the Blood Dragon Dance ended very quickly, most of the funds in the King's Landing treasury were still intact.
Coupled with the money plundered from Myr by the Conqueror Fleet and the wealth of the Baratheon of Storm's End, Jacaerys now possessed a million golden dragons.
So he didn't haggle over this matter, or squeeze the lords of the Seven Kingdoms to pay for the Targaryen civil war.
He directly promised that this reconstruction cost would be paid from the treasury.
The ministers present heard this and praised Jacaerys's generosity one after another,
Lord Forrester and Samwell even planned to publicize His Majesty's kindness and benevolence after the meeting.
The second matter was that the armies of the Black and Green parties had consumed a large amount of food supplies during the war, and the Crownlands, Riverlands, Stormlands, and other places were facing food shortages.
The essence of this matter was actually the same as the first matter, it could be solved with golden dragons.
But Jacaerys did not intend to handle it like he had just done, he understood the principle of 'a measure of rice is kindness, a peck of rice is enmity'.
In this world, it was natural for vassals to fight for their liege, and the consumption of food and supplies during this process should also be paid for out of their own pockets.
If their territory lacked food, they should spend money to buy it themselves. At most, Jacaerys would inform the lords of the fertile The Reach and The Vale via raven letters not to raise the prices too high.
The third matter was that after Oldtown was wiped out, the southwestern route of Westeros was cut off.
Should they support the Arbor outside the Whispering Sound as a new important port town, or expand other small port towns near the Whispering Sound.
The first two matters were basically decided by Jacaerys's word, so this time he did not speak, but let these new ministers participate in the discussion.
But most ministers believed that supporting the already well-known Arbor was easier and saved effort.
On this matter, even Lucerys, who had been mostly silent, spoke up in agreement.
Only Stone expressed his dissent, because he was worried that the House Redwyne of the Arbor would become the second House Hightower.
Jacaerys was very pleased to hear this, as expected of the left and right arms he had trained since childhood.
Just as Stone said, the House Redwyne had already accumulated vast wealth through the Arbor's renowned wine industry and its somewhat famous shipbuilding industry.
If the southwestern route were also handed over to them, it would be equivalent to personally cultivating the first family in the Seven Kingdoms.
While Jacaerys was on the throne, they might be able to behave themselves, but a hundred years later, it would be hard to say.
At his signal, Stone exercised his power as Hand of the King for the first time and forcefully decided to expand a small port town called Laurel Town.
Seeing that Jacaerys had no objection, the other ministers naturally would not offend the new Prime Minister for something that did not concern their own interests.
The first Small Council meeting ended successfully, and Jacaerys finally kept Stone alone.
"Has the bounty been sent out?"
"Yes, Your Majesty.
After you left last night, I followed your instructions and took the golden dragons to find the White Worm in Flea Bottom.
The ravens carrying that high bounty are probably flying to all cities with Weirwood trees now."
Stone immediately replied upon hearing this.
Jacaerys stood up, reached out and patted Stone's shoulder encouragingly: "Well done!
But you must pay attention to rest, I still have many things for you to do in the future.
Oh, and bring your relatives from Dragonstone to the Red Keep for a reunion!"
When he said the last sentence, he raised his hand and pointed at Stone and Ser Dario next to him.
Family might be the only weakness of these fourteen personal guards, and this weakness could only be controlled by Jacaerys.
"Yes, thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!"
...
In Winterfell, at a tavern called the Boar's Tusk in the Winter Market.
The Boar's Tusk tavern was the largest and liveliest tavern in the Winter Market, offering not only drinks and food, but also accommodation and various entertainment services.
Information and news from all over converged here, and various illicit private deals were also completed here.
A dozen or so burly men with full, fleshy faces, who clearly weren't good people, were whispering in the corner of the tavern.
Each of them had a suspicious look on their faces, clearly not believing what they were discussing.
And to be the leader of this group of fierce strong men, he naturally had some extraordinary qualities.
Finally, he forcibly suppressed dissent and made the decision.
Anyway, the danger of this bounty mission was not high, and if it was really a scam, he would personally go south to King's Landing to find the White Worm, who had a small reputation in the dark world.
After accepting the mission, this group of people immediately split up.
Some of them bought the necessary materials and items in the Winter Market, while others went to Winterfell to scout and observe the target.
After purchasing the necessities, they rented a temporary room in the city and brewed the mission items while waiting for nightfall.
At dawn, the entire Winterfell was in a deathly silence.
This group of strong men, carrying huge pottery jars, slipped into the night.
On the inner city walls of Winterfell, the Stark Family soldiers on night watch were diligently observing the night.
However, the target of this group of strong men was not the inner city main castle, but the Godswood located in the northwest area of Winterfell.
The Godswood in Winterfell had been growing for ten thousand years, and in the vast area of three acres (about 12,141 square meters), various kinds of towering trees also grew.
In the center of the Godswood stood a Weirwood tree older than Winterfell, rooted beside a small pool of black water, with a crying human face carved on the trunk.
This was the Heart Tree of Winterfell.
Rustle, rustle!
The group of strong men easily arrived beside this ancient Heart Tree.
As thugs who licked blood from knives and regarded money as truth, they didn't care about Old Gods or new gods.
Gulp, gulp!
Without any hesitation, they took turns pouring the high-concentration salt water from the pottery jars directly onto the root area of this crying human face Heart Tree.
This stuff wouldn't take effect immediately, so the ancient Heart Tree had no abnormalities at all.
After doing all this, the group of strong men quietly left the Godswood, returned to their rented room, and refilled the high-concentration salt water.
Spending most of the night, they watered all the Weirwood trees, big and small, in the Godswood except for the ancient Heart Tree.
The next day, as soon as it was light, they returned to the Winter Market as if nothing had happened.
Now they just needed to wait for the results and collect the generous bounty.
In fact, it wasn't just Winterfell, but also in the Godswoods of White Harbor, Dreadfort, Deepwood Motte, and other cities, big and small, in the North.
Shadowy figures, taking advantage of the dark and windy night, watered the Heart Trees and Weirwood trees of various sizes with high-concentration salt water.
The Godswood in each city was not a particularly important area, so there were no soldiers guarding it, and naturally, no one discovered the small actions of these shadowy figures.
A few days later, Duke Cregan, who was concerned about The Wall, returned to Winterfell covered in dust.
As soon as he returned to the inner city main castle, the old scholar who had rushed over upon hearing the news shouted anxiously from a distance: "Your Grace, something is wrong, something is wrong!"
Duke Cregan's heart immediately sank when he heard the shout.
He immediately asked: "Did the wildlings attack the breach in The Wall, or something more terrifying!"
"Wildlings? No, no, Your Grace.
The Heart Trees, the Weirwood trees of Winterfell, no, the entire North, have withered and died within just a few days!"
Hearing Duke Cregan's words, the old scholar was first stunned, and then immediately spoke the bad news he had to report.
As a scholar, although he had no faith, he understood the significance of the Heart Trees to the Stark Family and to most of the lords of the North.
The collapse of The Wall, the sudden withering and death of all the Weirwood trees, these signs seemed to be foreboding that something big was about to happen.
What?
The young Duke Cregan immediately turned and quickly ran towards the Godswood in Winterfell upon hearing this, and his personal guards also immediately followed suit.
As soon as he stepped into the Godswood, Duke Cregan saw bare Weirwood trees, with large amounts of blood-red leaves fallen around them.
He quickly walked to the center of the Godswood, and the Heart Tree, older than the Stark Family, was also bare, obviously withered and dead.
Duke Cregan approached and reached out to touch the trunk of the Heart Tree, muttering to himself: "The Wall has collapsed, the Heart Trees have died!
Could it be that the 'death' beyond The Wall, passed down by the Stark ancestors, is truly going to invade the North?"
Whoosh, whoosh!
The sound of flapping wings rang out, and Duke Cregan immediately looked over quickly.
He saw a black raven perched on the branch of the dead Heart Tree, its black eyes staring intently at him.
...
Red Keep, Throne Room.
More than half a month after Jacaerys's coronation, the Warden of the West, Duke Jason House Lannister of Casterly Rock, finally expressed his sincerity to him.
Carriages transporting cattle, sheep, and food supplies stretched like a long dragon, from the Lion Gate of King's Landing all the way to the gates of the Red Keep.
In the Throne Room, two beautiful, golden-haired sisters with skin as white as milk were paying their respects to Jacaerys on the Iron Throne.
The older one was named Tissara House Lannister.
The younger one was named Serella House Lannister.
This pair of golden-haired sisters were Duke Jason's daughters, and could be considered one of his apologies!
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PS: I originally wanted to ask everyone which golden-haired girl they liked, but I think your answer would definitely be, only children make choices, adults want them all!