Viserys greeted the council members who had assembled.
His Hand was Lord Lyonel Strong.
A good and honorable mountain of a man.
His Master of Ships was Ser Tyland Lannister.
Viserys had offered Corlys his post back as part of the nuptial agreement between their children, but he had declined.
Ser Tyland was not nearly as useful as the Sea Snake had been, but he was competent and knew enough about nautical matters to advise.
His Master of Coin was Lyman Beesbury.
He had kept the royal treasury full and ensured the realm’s finances ran smoothly.
His Master of Laws was Lord Jaspar Wylde, a stern man who took his duties seriously.
Grand Maester Mellos rounded out his small council.
He met with the council regularly.
Today was different, as Lyman had an issue to bring before King and council.
“Your Grace, my lords, I had been asked to show the princess how the treasury was run and she proved to be most inquisitive.”
That sounded like Elaena.
“So much so, that I had to spend several days addressing her concerns.”
Viserys frowned, he had thought they would just meet for an hour or two.
If Elaena was distracting Lyman from his work, he should have come to him personally, not brought this up in the small council.
“To my shame, there were several discrepancies that had been overlooked.
As I investigated, I uncovered several culprits who worked under me that had been stealing from the treasury.”
Lord Wylde narrowed his gaze, “What was done with these miscreants?”
“They have been arrested; it will be up to the King to decide what to do with them.”
“How much was stolen?” Lord Strong asked.
“We are still determining that.
It appears to be several thousand gold dragons over the years.
They misused my trust and spent the coin on various vices.
It is a fantastically large sum for individuals; however, it has done little to dent our coffers.”
“We should mount their heads on the walls of the Red Keep to send a message against any other would-be thieves,” declared Lord Wylde.
The Grand Maester nodded in agreement, “The sum that was stolen warrants such a fate.”
Viserys leaned back.
“I dislike this talk of mounting heads.
Have them show us how they were able to commit this sort of act under your nose, so we can prevent it in the future.
If they are cooperative, they can join the Night’s Watch.
Should they refuse, then they will be executed.”
“We already know how, Your Grace.
The princess was able to uncover exactly just how they altered the ledgers to get away with it.
I leave the King’s justice to you and Lord Wylde, but there is a proposal I would present to stop this from happening in the future.
Viserys motioned for him to continue.
“The idea requires three parts.
The first is that we begin doing our bookkeeping differently.
What we do today is when coin is added to the treasury from taxation we mark it in the ledger.
In the future we would mark it within the ledger upon receipt, but then also mark it in a separate ledger for the royal treasury.
The princess coined the term ‘double-entry bookkeeping.’ The usage of it will make it more difficult to defraud the treasury.”
Ser Tyland looked at the Master of Coin, “Rhaenyra came up with this?”
Viserys glanced at the Lannister nobleman with annoyance.
He didn’t have to sound so incredulous about his eldest daughter doing something like this.
She hadn’t, but still…
“Forgive me, Tyland, it was the Princess Elaena.”
That surprised the lords assembled, with some exchanging disbelieving looks.
“Continue please Lyman, you mentioned three parts,” Viserys commanded.
“Yes, the second part is that for all physical transactions where gold and silver are exchanged, there must always be a second witness who validates the transaction.
The Bank of Braavos uses a similar mechanism.
Depending on what is being accepted, we do have multiple individuals already who are part of the exchange, but there is no requirement that their names be recorded.
Maesters, knights, and nobles could be the witness for it and be recorded as ratifying what exchange took place within the royal treasury.”
Tyland frowned, “That seems burdensome for your work.”
“Not really, we already have several knights who guard the vaults.
The purpose of this, is that any sort of theft and deceit that takes place will require multiple individuals to work in concert, further reducing its feasibility.”
The small council digested the idea, and then Lord Beesbury continued.
“The third step is to have the great lords of the realm keep track of their tax calculations with similar record keeping, which will be audited by the King’s men on a random basis to ensure that everyone is following the rules.”
Tyland outright laughed.
“That’s absurd.
The Paramount lords of the Seven Kingdoms would never agree to such a thing.”
“Our Master of Ships has spoken,” Viserys commented, “what say the rest of you?”
Lord Strong was noncommittal, Grand Maester Mellos was opposed, but Lord Wylde thought it good.
“Prior to accepting the honor of being Master of Laws, I oversaw House Wylde’s finances as its lord.
What Lord Beesbury suggests is not overly onerous.
The dual ledgers and having an individual put their name as a witness is a paltry price to pay to avoid thieves and traitors from denying the King his due,” Lord Wylde said firmly.
Viserys disliked when his council was divided on matters.
It was much easier when most were all in agreement on an issue.
Mellos urged that by passing this sort of edict, they would be challenging the honor of the realm.
Ser Tyland agreed readily with him, stating that his own brother, the Lord of Casterly Rock, would take great offense to this sort of heavy-handed lawmaking.
I’m surprised at you Lord Beesbury, your laxness in keeping the treasury secure is foul enough, by why compound your foolishness by giving credence to a child’s fancy.”
Lyman stood up, outraged, and Viserys called for order.
“Ser Tyland, that was uncharitable of you.
I have not made any decision yet, but you will treat the other members of this council with respect.”
“Yes, Your Grace,” was Tyland’s response as he bowed his head.
Viserys called an end to the council meeting and asked Lyman to stay behind.
“My daughter’s curiosity turned out useful then.
I had not expected all of this when I asked for you to meet with her.”
“Your Grace, your daughter has a natural grasp for mathematics and understands how the underlying concepts that govern trade within Westeros function.
I did not bring all before the small council.
By examining the historical accounts and our estimation of trade, she made a list of houses that she suspected of shorting the crown in taxation.”
Viserys was shocked at that, just how much time had his daughter worked on this?
“Who is on that list?”
Lyman took out parchment and handed it over.
There were several houses listed, and majority were either within The Reach or the Westerlands.
It included the Lannisters and the Hightowers.
“Is there proof of this?”
Lyman shook his head.
“No, it is only suspicion based on the amount of trade being reported and the amount of taxation provided.
Princess Elaena believes it would be difficult to prove with certainty that outright shorting has taken place without a confession.
However, by implementing these changes, it will make it far more difficult for this sort of fraud to take place in the future.
Additionally, she believes those houses who likely have cheated in the past, will suddenly find more coin for the treasury, even without us formally laying down an accusation to them directly.”
Viserys recalled how firm Tyland was in his opposition of the changes.
He frowned.
Damn him, it was a powerful indication that the Lannisters had been shortchanging the crown.
His irritation was tinged with true delight over what Elaena had accomplished.
He had always known the last gift he received from Aemma was special, but he had not known just how special.
He resolved to approve the changes Lyman and Elaena had brought forward.
There would be much to talk of in the morning on their next walk.
…
Who knew?
So …
just keep tossing them 😉
…