To them it seemed both like a blessing and a curse simply because his talent has brought great prosperity to Driftmark, but the curse part lies within Aethon’s brewing ambition.
Rhaenys actually was the one who feared her good-son’s ambition would grow too big for the Throne of Driftmark to handle.
Corlys pushed his thougths aside while he opened his mouth but closed it again as his words escaped him.
He disliked how reasonable that sounded because the Triarchy were a problem.
Aethon continued before his father could recover from his good points saying “Had I attended on time, they might have tested our resolve and disrupted our shipping lanes.
By arriving three minutes late father, that possibility is now like yesterday, gone and forgotten.
So a thank you, my child would do well right now.”
He folded his hands upon the table, concluding his rant, which left his father speechless.
One elderly merchant cleared his throat into a poorly disguised cough, desperately hiding the smile threatening to betray his composure, but deep within him, his thoughts swirled as he thought, ‘Truly, the young Lord is a very capable leader, he is even able to establish his talents from accolades so we can perceive him as a natural leader, therefore wining our support in the coming future as heir to Driftmark….he is very smart for his age.’
Corlys simply stared, knowing full well what Aethon was doing, still he had to feel proud of himself, especially if his seed was able to produce such a talented, smart son.
So his mood lightened slightly, and he could only blame himself for pampering him for so long instead of disciplining him.
But that too wasn’t necessary because Aethon was very skilled in combat prowess, and such praise required discipline enough to train.
Then, with the resignation of a father who had lost too many verbal battles to count he finally said “…sit down Aethon, and next time wait for my permission!
But it seems my permission is irrelevant these days”
Without another word, Aethon slid several neatly organized sheets of parchment across the table saying “Shall we begin?”
The steward immediately stood saying “As requested by Lord Aethon, a complete accounting has been prepared regarding House Velaryon’s naval strength, treasury, commercial ventures, and future projections.”
He unfolded the first document gently due to the importance of the information, and he continued saying, “Our fleet presently consists of one 310 warships, not including auxiliary merchant vessels capable of temporary military conversion.
With marines amounting to 30 000 raised and currently active and 10,000 unraised.”
Several captains nodded proudly, hearing the scale of their armada that blanketed the seas in a swarm of wooden vessels.
Only a decade earlier, the number had barely exceeded one hundred and thirty.
The increase had not occurred by chance, though; it had begun with Lord Aethon’s suggestions about launching a maritime insurance monopoly in the seven kingdoms, and taking key trade routes that could choke the trade of Westeros entirely if they wanted to with their armada.
Aethon knew Driftmark made immense wealth from shipping Tolls & Customs, like charging fees to every merchant ship passing through the Gullet to enter King’s landing to charging foreign merchants a premium for Velaryon warships to protect them from Triarchy pirates in the Stepstones.
But being the person he is with knowledge about modern earth economics, he leveraged this idea to make House Velaryon the wealthiest House the continent has ever seen by creating a system he proposed to his father long ago.
Since sea trade in the Narrow Sea is highly risky due to storms and pirates.
One lost ship can bankrupt a merchant house.
The Fix was to create the realm’s first marine underwriting firm under his name on purpose to take all the credit, but Corlys didn’t mind because he thought this wouldn’t work.
Anyway, merchants pay House Velaryon a small, upfront premium of 15% of cargo value before sailing.
This results in, if the ship sinks, Velaryon covers the cost of damages and lost goods.
If it arrives safely, Velaryon keeps the coin paid from said insurance.
Because the Velaryon navy already controls the waters, their actual risk is incredibly low, guaranteeing massive passive income as long as no ship sinks.
This idea was what made Corlys recognize him as a genius and talented steward.
He wasn’t the only one, though, king Jaehaerys also saw his abilities and wanted him to join his court a year later when he came of age, after the prosperity of this firm he created.
Naturally, Aethon took the offer so he could begin branching out his influence into House Targaryen, especially before tragedy befalls them.
Due to this new income stream, Corlys was able to expand his fleet rapidly; their only growing expense was how much they would spend on paying the army, if not for food only.
“The treasury has likewise exceeded previous forecasts, m’Lords, with exceptional growth to our reserves, pardon my unseriousness, but we are drowning in coin my Lords.”
This caused the individuals present to chuckle, hearing this because it was somewhat true and something to be proud of.
Another parchment changed hands as they continued saying “Our annual revenues have increased by nearly forty percent over projections made seven years ago.
Piracy within our principal trade routes has declined substantially due to expanded naval patrols now that we can afford the numbers…..Our influence over commerce passing through the Narrow Sea now exceeds that of every noble house within the Seven Kingdoms.”
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