Half a month later.
Rhaegar came ashore from the Mud Gate by ship, making his first public appearance in over a year.
The appearance of Crown Prince Rhaegar immediately caused a massive stir, and the court was abuzz with discussion.
Dragon Prince Daeron, with his illustrious military achievements and the title of Protector of the Realm, was already the consensus heir to the Iron Throne.
However, there were still many noble lords who supported Crown Prince Rhaegar and the system of primogeniture.
It was thought that Rhaegar's return would lead to a fierce struggle between the two brothers.
Surprisingly, after Rhaegar returned to King's Landing, he did not take any improper actions. He had even secured the support of ten thousand troops from House Martell, who were currently on their way by sea.
Daeron didn't pay any mind to his elder brother either. He spent his days pondering the implementation of the new systems, so busy that his feet barely touched the ground.
The two brothers did not interfere with each other, and the entire court remained very quiet.
.
Inside the royal chambers of the Red Keep.
Rhaegar held his daughter, Rhaenys, who was over a year old, and looked at his wife, Elia, who leaned by the window in silence, choosing to offer his quiet companionship.
In his letter, he had already explained the agreement with Prince Doran.
No matter what the future held, the eldest daughter, Rhaenys, would be named the heir unless he and Elia conceived a male successor.
This was to ensure the absolute right of succession for this branch of the bloodline.
However, after returning to King's Landing, things seemed a bit unexpected.
"Daeron defeated Robert's rebels and pacified the Stormlands?"
Rhaegar's eyes darkened as he realized his right of succession was beginning to waver.
His heart grew even heavier, especially upon learning that Daeron had mounted that Red Dragon and defeated the Stormlands rebels in a crushing manner several times.
Well-read as he was, he immediately realized that the growth rate of Daeron's dragon was abnormal.
He had never heard of a precedent where a dragon less than three years past hatching could grow large enough to be ridden, or even become invincible on the battlefield.
"Is it the magic tide triggered by the arrival of the Red Comet?"
Rhaegar believed firmly in prophecies and had some understanding of the occult.
He began to crave a dragon!
Not to steal Daeron's dragon, but to replicate Daeron's footsteps: finding Dragon Eggs, hatching a young dragon, and taming it.
No matter how extraordinary the Prince that was Promised might be, he still needed time and conditions to grow.
The Targaryens' greatest asset was undoubtedly the Dragonlord bloodline.
A Targaryen with a dragon was a complete Targaryen.
If he had a dragon, his children might inherit one or be allocated a Dragon Egg.
"Prince Doran's refusal to abandon this marriage—isn't it because he wants to replicate the old paths of House Hightower and House Velaryon?"
Rhaegar understood this perfectly.
Whether there were dragons or not was another matter; first, they would intermarry with the Targaryens to latch onto the Dragonlord bloodline.
As time passed, who could guarantee that in several decades or a hundred years, House Martell wouldn't possess a dragon?
"Win this war first, then go to the Essos to find Dragon Eggs."
Rhaegar was not foolish and quickly shifted his thinking.
He broke free from the narrow focus of solely seeking the Prince that was Promised, no longer limiting himself and instead opening up a broader vision.
In terms of birth and bloodline, both he and his brother Daeron were true dragons.
If the other could have a dragon, so could he.
He silently recalled the intelligence he had gathered over the years regarding where the probability of finding Dragon Eggs was highest.
As for his brother Daeron—
Rhaegar's gaze was calm, showing no emotional change.
Father Aerys was in his prime. When Rhaegar was summoned upon his return to King's Landing, the man's voice was full of vigor as he insulted him; he had at least another decade or two of life in him.
Daeron had merely started looking for Dragon Eggs and hatching a young dragon two or three years ahead of him.
As long as their father did not die, the two of them were still on the same starting line.
He had enough time to make up for his mistakes and introduce new ideas.
Dragon Language Farm.
Daeron walked through the pre-planned oak forest, collecting Oak Resin from the tappers.
A total of 56 portions of Oak Resin.
With each portion combined with 30 units of Wood, 1 Copper Bar, and 1 Iron Bar, he crafted a total of 56 Kegs.
"Finally, I can brew wine."
In high spirits, Daeron pushed open the Greenhouse doors. The Ancient Fruit planted inside was fully ripe, and the five types of fruit trees planted around the sides—Apple, orange, Apricot, Pomegranate, and Cherry—were all heavy with fruit.
He gathered the Ancient Fruit and the various other fruits.
He returned to the vicinity of the cabin.
By this time, the cabin had also undergone some changes.
—
He had spent 1,000 gold and 450 units of Wood to purchase the cabin upgrade service, elevating it to a Level 2 cabin.
Not only had the interior expanded to include a kitchen and a bedroom, but the dilapidated exterior had been repaired, giving it a completely fresh look.
To the left of the cabin, a Stable stood adjacent.
The white deer lay inside the Stable, resting on hay dried in the Silo, occasionally nibbling a few mouthfuls greedily.
Stable construction requirements: 10,000 gold, 100 units of Hardwood, 5 Iron Bars.
"Now that I have money, I must improve my standard of living."
Daeron walked into a large, separately constructed building. The internal space was vast, with hundreds of Kegs neatly arranged.
Shed construction requirements: 15,000 gold, 300 units of Wood.
Shed upgrade to Big Shed requirements: 20,000 gold, 550 Wood, 300 stone.
After making preparations for brewing, Daeron had specifically built the Big Shed to house the large batches of Kegs he had produced.
Thump, thump, thump—!
Ancient Fruit was tossed into the Kegs, and the Kegs began to operate, expanding and contracting as they brewed.
The extra Ancient Fruit and various other fruits were stored in chests inside the cabin; they would surely come in handy eventually.
"Mission accomplished!"
Daeron clapped his hands, took the items he needed, and returned to King's Landing.
King's Landing, Red Keep.
Daeron gathered his followers to ask how the implementation of the new systems was progressing.
Three new positions were assigned to three people.
High Steward of the Kingswood—Barristan Selmy; Bronzegate Garrison Commander—Manli Stokeworth; high waymaster of the kings road—Davos Seaworth. Among them, Barristan's deputy was Alliser. Daeron transferred five hundred men from the City Watch and assigned them to Barristan to form the first Kingswood Guard.
The jurisdiction of the Kingswood Guard included, but was not limited to, guarding the Red Keep, caring for the royal horses, patrolling the Crownlands, and maintaining order in The Kingswood.
Davos and Count Manli were in a superior-subordinate relationship, appearing as a coordinated system responsible for monitoring the Stormlands, maintaining the Kingsroad, and recruiting the Bronzegate garrison and Road Wardens.
"Blackfish" Brynden led over a dozen Trident Knights to become the newest unit of Road Wardens.
Such an assignment of duties could not be called fair or impartial; it was absolute nepotism.
But since the three positions were special, Daeron could only select suitable candidates from among his confidants.
For example, the position of High Steward of the Kingswood.
Barristan was a member of the Kingsguard, whose purpose was already to protect the King and the royal family.
By promoting him to High Steward of the Kingswood, Daeron effectively bypassed the Red Keep patrol assignment authority of the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Gerold, and incorporated three hundred Red Keep guards into the Kingswood Guard.
Incidentally, he requisitioned all the royal horses, leaving a portion for daily use and moving the rest to the Prince's Domain to be carefully tended to on the edge of The Kingswood.
In Westeros, cavalry was the primary combat force, and the importance of horses went without saying.
The creation of the High Steward of the Kingswood directly placed control over the Red Keep's defenses and the horses into Daeron's hands.
In other words.
Daeron now controlled the palace guards. If he wanted a coup, it would be a matter of a single command.
"Prince, I have recruited a batch of Kingswood Guards. There are enough to guard the Red Keep and tend the horses, but we are far from being able to patrol the Crownlands and maintain order in The Kingswood."
Barristan's expression was strange; he felt as though his own power had become too great.
Now Ser Gerold was watching him like a hawk, fearing some upheaval in the court.
Daeron waved his hand: "It is precisely because your Kingswood Guards are insufficient in number that one role must serve multiple purposes. When the number of Kingswood Guards increases in the future, the duties will naturally be split into more detailed positions."
"That is good then."
Barristan breathed a sigh of relief.
A duty-bound Kingsguard suddenly finding his power skyrocketing had made him feel uneasy.
Daeron understood his thoughts. Considering the treasury's income, detailed subdivisions of duties remained, for the time being, in the ideal stage.
The role of High Steward of the Kingswood was essentially a hybrid entity merging the palace guards, city defense forces, horse care, and capital auxiliary troops.
But the Iron Throne's treasury was limited. With Father Aerys's stinginess, he would not shell out that many gold dragons to recruit soldiers.
Therefore, roles had to be multi-purpose, focusing tightly on the affairs of guarding the Red Keep and caring for the horses.
The south bank of the Blackwater Rush was the Prince's Domain, which was the responsibility of the Dragon Guards and Daeron himself.
By combining the two, they could control King's Landing and even more than half of the Crownlands.
"Prince, we have encountered trouble on our end."
Davos and Count Manli exchanged a look, and the former stepped forward to explain the difficulty.
The manpower for the Bronzegate garrison and the Road Wardens, aside from the Trident Knights led by Brynden as the backbone, currently relied entirely on The Reach army.
However, the nobles and commoners of the Stormlands harbored great hatred for The Reach army, causing all sorts of obstructions and lack of cooperation.
The recruitment needs for both positions ultimately Fell back on the local people of the Stormlands.
If things continued this way, the new system could not be implemented at all.
"I see!"
Daeron Fell into deep thought.
He had no army under his direct command, which was why he was implementing the new system to gain control over the Stormlands.
The Stormlands nobles and commoners hated The Reach army and would not cooperate with his new system, so the root of the problem was that he had no direct army to replace The Reach army.
It was a logical deadlock.
"What about Lord Caron and the others?"
Daeron frowned.
The three noble lords—Carleon, Fell, and Grandison—all possessed some troops and could provide assistance.
Davos hesitated for a moment before giving a subtle reminder: "The great war has ended, and the three houses suffered significant losses. The lords are still in King's Landing, but the soldiers have been sent back to their respective fiefs."
Daeron realized the situation.
For the past half month, he had been dealing with those rebellious Stormlands nobles.
Some confessed their crimes and were granted pardons.
Some were die-hard loyalists to Robert; their lords were beheaded, and their family members were exiled across the Narrow Sea.
A portion of the cases were complex, resulting in either being sent to the Wall to join the Nights Watch or having their family lands reduced.
In a short time, Daeron had combed through the Stormlands from top to bottom.
However, he had not yet rewarded those who had performed meritorious service.
Daeron thought for a while, having a general grasp of the Stormlands nobles' background, and said: "Davos, go and call Lord Caron and the others. Tell them I wish to repay their support."
He paused and added: "Remember, summon them using the status of the Acting Duke of Storm's End."
To rule the Stormlands, one still had to stand on the side of the Stormlands nobility.
"Yes, Prince."
Davos set out immediately.
Daeron did not stay idle either. He called upon Barristan, who was of Stormlands noble birth, to study which nobles could be won over.
Power is about winning over one group and striking another.
The striking of that one group was already finished.
With his swift and resolute iron-fisted methods, he had successfully established his majesty.
Next, he needed to win over a group, allowing the Stormlands nobles to see his sincerity and consolidating the prestige of a ruler.
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