After gaining control of The Stepstones, the happiest of the three was Corlys Velaryon.
Ever since Triarchy seized The Stepstones a few years ago, merchant ships of House Velaryon traveling back and forth through the Summer Sea had suffered greatly.
At first, although Craghas had instituted exorbitant tolls that had some impact on the merchant ships of House Velaryon, it was still within an acceptable range.
As time went on, however, Craghas and his men grew increasingly greedy and shameless, not only demanding even steeper tolls but also beginning to plunder young boys and girls from the ships, selling them as slaves at high prices to the brothels of Triarchy, which finally drove the Sea Snake past his tolerance and prompted him to launch this war of conquest for The Stepstones.
Now that the campaign had ended in victory, the Sea Snake and Daemon had gathered together, and it was time to distribute the fruits of this victory.
“Corlys, Daemon, now we can discuss the future development of The Stepstones and fulfill the distribution of benefits stipulated in the original alliance treaty.”
As Talvey’s voice fell, the scene instantly fell silent.
“What? Do you intend to break the treaty?” Talvey slightly frowned, his cold and stern gaze sweeping over Corlys and Daemon.
Sensing Talvey’s mood, Terentius, who had been resting on the ground, raised its head, its massive jaws slightly agape as it let out a series of rumbles.
“You misunderstand, Talvey, House Velaryon will definitely fulfill the alliance treaty, I was merely pondering the specific plans after occupying The Stepstones.”
Corlys hurriedly extended his hands to press downward in a calming gesture, eagerly explaining aloud.
In this war lasting a year and a half, House Velaryon had exhausted nearly everything, and now urgently needed to recover its vitality through the tolls.
Furthermore, he certainly did not want to make an enemy of House Valthorn, even though House Velaryon now possessed the largest dragon in the world today—Vhagar.
However, regardless of territory size, army numbers, the number of dragons, or wealth, House Valthorn outperformed House Velaryon by a margin, so Corlys naturally would not provoke Talvey without cause.
Unless one allied with House Targaryen to oppose House Valthorn, no one was a match for House Valthorn, and uniting with House Targaryen to fight House Valthorn was even more preposterous.
After all, Corlys’s current relationship with the Targaryen royal family was extremely tense, stemming from Viserys’s refusal to marry into House Velaryon and the matter of Rhaenys’s succession.
After listening to Corlys’s explanation, Talvey’s expression relaxed slightly, and Terentius also resumed its lazy resting posture.
“I already have some preliminary plans, and since you both are here today, please come in.”
Talvey invited the two of them into the large tent together.
Inside the tent, Talvey produced a massive world map and spread it out on the table between the three of them.
“My idea is this: previously, due to the greed of Craghas and his like, many ships no longer chose to pass through The Stepstones, so we must make a change.”
At this moment, Talvey held a slender command baton and pointed out various locations on the map, saying,
“My proposal is to charge different tolls for different regions: ships belonging to our three houses will be completely tax-exempt, the fleet of the Seven Kingdoms will pay a 4% toll, Myr, Lys, and all other regions will be charged a flat 5%, while Tyrosh, which borders The Stepstones directly, will be hit with a hefty 10% toll. In this way, those mercenary magisters of Lys and Myr will naturally reap the rewards without effort and stop supporting Tyrosh, causing the alliance of the Free Cities to inevitably fracture. As for Dorne, I will make a decision after discussing it with Prince Qoren.”
At this point, Talvey took out some rolls of parchment, handed them to Corlys and Daemon, and continued,
“These are some materials I gathered on The Stepstones. Based on them, I roughly calculated that during the most stable and prosperous period of The Stepstones, an average of over two hundred ocean-going merchant ships passed through daily. Following the ultra-low toll I set earlier, we will rapidly restore the prosperity of The Stepstones. By then, the tolls collected monthly alone will be at least five hundred thousand gold dragons. This is a very considerable income, and I can responsibly say this is the most lucrative business in the Seven Kingdoms today.”
When Talvey said this, radiant smiles appeared on the faces of Corlys and Daemon beside him.
To anyone, this was a wealth vast as the heavens, and it would flow endlessly.
Talvey’s smile grew even wider, because the share occupied by House Valthorn was the largest.
“According to the previous alliance treaty, House Valthorn will hold a 50% share of the tolls, as well as the ownership of all of Bloodstone.”
“House Velaryon will hold a 35% share, as well as the ownership of Grey Gallows.”
“Daemon will personally hold a 15% share, along with the ownership of all remaining islands, and acquire the claim to the King of the Narrow Sea and The Stepstones.”
“The three houses shall jointly dispatch troops to garrison The Stepstones, regularly clear out surrounding pirates, and maintain the safety of The Stepstones. The command of the garrisons and the fleet shall belong to House Valthorn, and all their pay and expenses shall be defrayed from the tax revenues of The Stepstones.”
“I have finished. Do you have any objections?”
After Talvey finished speaking, he propped his hands on the table, sweeping his gaze across the faces of Daemon and Corlys, waiting for their reply.
“I have no objections; Talvey’s plan is extremely flawless.”
After listening, Daemon shrugged indifferently.
He did not care about the profits of The Stepstones; what he truly cared about was precisely the claim that Talvey and Corlys cared the least about.
This was naturally because he still had not given up on the Iron Throne.
Seeing that Daemon had already agreed, Corlys could only nod in consent to the plan outlined by Talvey, though he still put forward one request,
“Talvey, I have no objection to handing the command over to your House Valthorn, but I want to dispatch a tax official to supervise the accounts of The Stepstones.”
Talvey naturally would not refuse, as he would not stoop to falsifying accounts,
“Of course, this is your right. Daemon can also dispatch a tax official to supervise, which can also make our cooperation more solid.”
Daemon tossed the parchment in his hand onto the table: “Count me out. Mutual supervision between the two of you is enough. As for my share of the profits, let Talvey keep them in custody for the time being.”
“No problem, I will have someone compile a separate ledger for you.” Talvey nodded readily in agreement, and then said to Daemon with a smile on his face: “Daemon, from now on you are the King of the Narrow Sea and The Stepstones!”
Corlys likewise offered his own congratulations: “Congratulations, Daemon. I believe this time, the King and the lords within the realm will certainly look at you in a new light.”
“Let us toast to victory!” Daemon raised his goblet with a smile.
At noon that day, on a highland of Bloodstone, the scorching sunlight baked the red ground of Bloodstone.
Witnessed by the soldiers of all three sides, Corlys crowned Daemon with his own hands.
Then Daemon, wearing a crude crown of the ‘King of the Narrow Sea and The Stepstones’, stood in the dazzling sunlight, indeed possessing quite a bit of a king’s bearing.
No doubt Viserys would soon receive the news of Daemon crowning himself, and Otto Hightower would certainly not let go of this opportunity to sow discord.