chsdbacks Chapter 126 Water Without Roots
Chapter 126 Water Without Roots
Chapter 126 Water Without Roots
The Kingsguard are called the King's guards, but they have nothing to do with the royal guards; this is common knowledge.
Just like the Kingsguard near King's Landing, which has become a mere shadow of its former self.
Because of the wildfire that the little devil set, the opposite bank of the river is still scorched to this day.
In order to cross the river, the troops on both sides cut down trees that were pulled out from deeper depths.
This saved Joffrey a lot of trouble; the gradual clearing and logging that should have been done step by step could be skipped entirely.
What he's going to do doesn't involve any forest protection laws; in this day and age, destroying a forest of thousands of square miles is extremely difficult.
Moreover, cutting down trees is easy, but eradicating them is difficult; afterwards, the land needs to be plowed and reclaimed.
It would be good enough if they could create a piece of land that would allow the soldiers to be self-sufficient before winter came.
This isn't Joffrey deliberately seeking trouble.
The territory of the kingdom is flat with almost no mountains; the most famous features are the three hills within King's Landing.
But faced with endless plains, he could only stare blankly.
There's no other reason than that these lands belong to others.
In a land-sparsely populated region, labor is the scarcest resource, and Westeros's farming methods can hardly be described as intensive.
Plant half and leave the other half fallow, so that the land can recover its natural fertility.
Furthermore, with the implementation of the manor system, self-cultivating farmers were a minority, and farmers toiled all day but earned very little and had little initiative.
Land transactions did occur, but they were mostly handled by officials and had nothing to do with ordinary people.
Only the Royal Forest, this royal forest, is a truly private hunting ground belonging entirely to the King.
As is customary, Joffrey can be disposed of at will.
Even when this was implemented on their own land, there was still considerable opposition.
To his utter surprise, it was Cersei who came to his door first.
"Are you out of your mind? Why would you let these lowly people farm your own hunting grounds?!"
Joffrey was genuinely puzzled and scratched his head.
"Isn't Mother the one who hates hunting the most? Why is she opposing this?"
There's a little story behind this.
Whenever Cersei's due date approached, our First Battuta of Westeros, King Robert, would retreat to the Kingswood to hunt.
Then they brought back a bunch of furs and a deer head, and traded them for a child.
Joffrey was like that, and so were his siblings.
So Cersei cursed more than once, wishing a wild boar would come and kill him, or clamoring to burn the Kingswood to the ground so Robert would have nothing left to fight.
"Times have changed." Cersei shook her head.
"The significance of the Royal Guard goes beyond hunting; it is also a symbol of royal privilege."
"The Mad King was forced by the Kingsguard Brotherhood to grant the common people the power to cut down trees and hunt a few deer."
"I can't remember which Kingsguard mentioned it, but it was the one Jaime always talked about."
"But even so, many nobles thought he was very weak, that he would give way to commoners in order to wipe out a few bandits."
"After the war, the lords around the Kingsguard came to the Iron Throne to petition Robert to rescind his order."
Robert did not agree.
"Because he felt it would be a great thing to be able to go to the lumberjacks' camp or the hunters' hut and have a glass of their sour beer while hunting."
But seeing Joffrey's noncommittal attitude, Cersei became somewhat anxious.
"More importantly, this is different from the fiefdoms of the Reach. You are not giving it to nobles, but to commoners. People will feel sorry for each other."
"Today, the royal family's land was used to settle some lowly people; will they take away their land tomorrow?"
"By then, everyone will be on your side."
Joffrey simply shook his head gently at this.
"Mother, you are overthinking it. I did not actually give the land to them."
"My approach is no different from that of other lords, except that the estate I've designated this time is larger, with several thousand people."
""
"They are still serving me, and they are cultivating public land."
"Besides, these soldiers were originally from King's Landing, so it's good to place them nearby for mutual support."
That's pure nonsense.
Joffrey planned to collect taxes so low that any farmer would kowtow to him, which would be no different from actually granting the land to someone else.
However, they certainly wouldn't advertise it like that to outsiders, and while it might appear normal on the surface, they would give back through various benefits.
After all, whoever pays the money is the boss, and his soldiers have no intention of disbanding.
Material support is also essential; we should strive to make them self-sufficient to alleviate the pressure on the national treasury.
As for the relocated poor, that has nothing to do with Joffrey.
They gathered around the military camp on their own; how could they possibly hold out?
With a population of 500,000, the King's Landing recruited 5,000 full-time standing soldiers, a ratio of one percent, which is considered relatively healthy in peacetime.
However, this is entirely supported by one city, unlike recruiting soldiers from all over the country.
Furthermore, due to the presence of the Golden Robe and auxiliary units, the actual stats are even higher.
Moreover, many of these were actually seized by Joffrey from the king's lords during the defense of the city, and he kept them by various means.
After all, in the game of power, it's either winner or loser.
If the king chooses the nobles, why wouldn't the nobles also choose the king?
When it really comes down to life-or-death situations, even the slightest hesitation before a backstab is unacceptable.
Joffrey preferred to believe in the rootless water he had personally nurtured rather than in the oaths and honors of the nobility.
Their power, wealth, and status all came from Joffrey; their interests were inextricably linked.
If Joffrey falls, everything they have gained will vanish.
So, the disagreement between him and Cersei ultimately boils down to the question of who it depends on.
Cersei's point of view is not that she is stupid.
Throughout Westeros' millennia-long tradition, the foundation of royal power has always rested on the nobles of the lands.
Her objection stemmed from her fear that Joffrey would take too big a step and become isolated and helpless.
At least that's what Joffrey thinks Cersei does.
It seems Tywin is really in a tough spot.
The eldest son, on whom they had placed the most hope, only liked to practice martial arts.
The one who most wanted to inherit the identity was his daughter, but because she wasn't properly taught, she went astray through self-study.
The most promising candidate was a dwarf.
However, Tywin was too domineering, ruthless, and arrogant to the point of cruelty.
Most people would only gloat over this and think it was the gods' punishment for him.
Moreover, Joffrey has no immediate plans to disrupt the existing order and create a new class.
This approach could be used before a war of conquest, since everyone was an enemy state and there was no need to worry.
But now, Westeros has long been divided up into pieces.
There were some defeated nobles, and lords from all over the country were also eyeing them covetously. Joffrey was essentially stealing food from their mouths.
Therefore, he did not even dream of carrying out any land revolution, nor did he even pursue military meritocracy.
It's just a matter of making minor modifications to the existing framework of Westeros, and adjusting it to suit the current situation.
The nobles who are willing to cooperate should be avoided as much as possible; only those who have the power to lead the opposition should be dealt with.
However, there's only so much cake, and if it's divided around, someone will always be dissatisfied.
Joffrey could only gradually expand his power while giving himself the largest share, cultivating a loyal and devoted core of support.
When the time is ripe and one's power is sufficient to suppress all resistance, then one can raise the butcher's knife and complete true authoritarianism.