Due to the siphoning effect of the capital, the cities near the capital would not be too big.
In the world of the Song of Ice and Fire, this rule was applicable.
Rosby City was 30 kilometers north of the King's Landing. The city was small and had no bustling commercial districts or tall and magnificent buildings. Besides the castle of the Rosby family, there were huts made of wood and mud everywhere.
Rich merchants, noble knights, and even Count Rosby himself lived in the King's Landing next door.
Rosby was very rich. The narrow land of the King's Landing was either near the bay or the Blackwater River. The land was fertile and rich.
During the War of the Four Kings, the food provided by Rosby and Stokworth Castle (Bronn's territory) was enough to satisfy half of the needs of the King's Landing.
Because of the War of the Four Kings, Rosby City could not support Erlu's 20,000 Valley Army.
That day, under the dim sky, a Winged Dragon flew from the east and landed on the spacious drill ground in front of Rosby Castle.
There were many people on the drill ground, but no one cared about the old Knight who came down from the Winged Dragon.
Hundreds of people were gathered in a circle and performing a ritual.
Davos was the Hand of the King. As he approached, the people in front of him made way for him.
After a while, the Onion Knight squeezed to the front. At the center of the pile of wood, he saw the cold-faced King, the graceful red-robed woman, and the eight Knights who were tied to wooden stakes and begging for mercy.
"What's the matter?" Davos found his son, Stannis.
Er, not Erlu, but Davos' sixth son.
The Onion Knight had seven sons. The first four died in the Battle of the Blackwater River and were indirectly destroyed by the Gnomes.
The fifth son, Davon, was 15 years old. He was Erlu's attendant. But one day, the Onion Knight noticed the way Davon looked at Melisandre.
That was the way a man looked at a woman. It was full of strong desire and uncontrollable love.
He asked around and found out that when Erlu left the Great Wall for Winterfell, he didn't bring Davon with him because Melisandre asked him to stay with her.
Actually, this was a misunderstanding.
Melisandre knew that the Onion Knight didn't like her, but she respected his character.
The reason why she left Dai Feng behind was not because of the "loneliness" that Davos was worried about, but because the red-robed woman knew that Erlu's trip would be dangerous, and Dai Feng would most likely never return.
She pitied Onion Knight because four of his children had died at the Blackwater River. That was why she wanted to protect Dai Feng.
She understood Dai Feng's love for her and was happy about it, but she didn't do anything to him.
Davos did not know the twists and turns of the story, so he left Dai Feng in the rainforest with the excuse that he had left home to visit his mother.
Out of loyalty to Erlu, he brought his thirteen-year-old son to serve Erlu.
The sixth was named Stannis, and the ten-year-old seventh was even more awesome. He was named Stephen (Erlu's father's name).
"They are Braavos mercenaries. They disobeyed His Majesty's orders. Not only did they leave the area they were stationed at, but they also kidnapped a fourteen-year-old peasant girl in a village three miles away and …"
Little Stannis' childish face was filled with anger, and the way he looked at the mercenaries on the pillar was filled with … a kind of fanaticism that made Davos' heart skip a beat.
This child had only been with His Majesty for a few days, and he was already looking forward to being burned alive!
Davos thought worriedly.
Erlu stood quietly in front of the pillar, listening to the pleas of every prisoner before he turned around …
His gaze first swept across the short and stocky Sir Song Ge and Sir Richard with the scarred face. Without any hesitation, he continued to look behind.
"Asser, can you do it?"
"Your Majesty, your faith is the one I serve." A simple and stout middle-aged man with protruding ears said in a deep voice.
"Then let's begin." Erlu sighed softly.
In the past, the ones who led the Blazing Red Heart Knights in the sacrificial ceremony were Gordy Falin and Richard. After Gordy was slapped to death by Great Jon, Sir Song Ge took over.
Now, although Richard still wore the Blazing Red Heart Cloak, there was a bright white heptagram on his chest.
Even though Song Ge's attire was no different from before, he had died once, and his soul did not report to the Light King. Instead, he was resurrected by the Dragon Queen.
What did this mean?
Song Ge had also lost his faith in Lahlo.
People without faith could not lead believers in the sacrificial ceremony.
On the other hand, Asser Florence was an opportunist. He converted to the Light King to gain the favor of the king and queen to gain power. His faith was not as pure as Gordy and Richard's.
"King of Light, listen to us!" Yassel shouted.
"Light King, protect us." The Red God believers chanted in unison. "Because the night is long, and danger lurks everywhere."
Sir Yasir looked up at the dark sky and shouted: "O Allah, please return the light of day to us, please lead us straight in and annihilate the enemy." Please banish the dark clouds that cover the sky, and let us bask in the light of the stars. "
The believers prayed, "Light King, protect us and banish the merciless darkness."
With a look from Melisandre, the firewood around the eight stakes burst into flames. The sacrifices began to howl and curse.
"Lahlo," Sir Asser raised his voice. "We offer you eight sinners. Pure and sincere, worshiping Allah. With their blood, we offer sacrifice. With the help of God, we swear to destroy the enemy! Please accept this sacrifice and lead us to the King's Landing to purge the heretics! "
"Light King, accept the sacrifice." Hundreds of voices shouted at the same time.
The flames greedily licked the skin and hair of the sacrifices. Their pleas turned into an incomprehensible, high-pitched wail.
.....
As soon as the sacrificial ceremony was over, Davos hurried to find Stannis.
"Your Majesty, you want to attack the King's Landing? This is different from what we planned! "he asked anxiously.
"I don't want to wait any longer. The people of the King's Landing may not have food, but the Red Keep must have a lot of food. Your plan to cut off food won't work.
Once the food from the valley and Dragonstone Island arrives, I'll attack, "Stannis said softly.
If he used the pterosaurs to throw wildfire bombs, the Onion Knight would be able to break through the King's Landing before Erlu returned from Winterfell.
But he didn't do that.
Stopping Erlu from entering the King's Landing was not only the Iron Throne's army, but also the city's Sparrows who believed in the Seven Gods.
After the successive battles, the king's territory and the river's lands withered. The people of the two populated areas all moved to the King's Landing and joined the church's Poor Congregation.
At this time, they were clean from head to toe. They had nothing but faith.
Unless Erlu could solve these people's livelihood problems and allow them to work and work, they would definitely rebel against the Red God King.
When King Aegon's True Dragon Alliance besieged the King's Landing, Aegon's enemy was only the Iron Throne. The people and the church could only watch numbly.
Facing the Erlu army attacking the King's Landing, the hundreds of thousands of Sparrows in the King's Landing were agitated.
They picked up wooden sticks, bricks, and rusty kitchen knives, climbed up the city wall, and even poured out of the city gate, shouting the slogan "Long live the Seven Gods, for the Holy Mother!" They wanted to use their flesh and blood to fight the Valley Army that was attacking the city.
The vassals of the valley were the first to shrink back.
They also believed in the Seven Gods. They sided with Erlu only because of political needs. They had no loyalty. It was impossible for them to kill the believers of the Seven Gods for Erlu.
The last person to kill the believers of the church was Meg during the founding of the kingdom.
But what happened to Meg?
Meg still had dragons, Bellerion!
Even someone as crazy as Cersei only dared to secretly kill the Sparrows.
Other than the Sparrows, the countless old, young, sick, and weak refugees squeezed under the city walls were also a big problem.
King's Landing was crowded with people. If they burned the city with kerosene bombs, many innocent people would be affected. Even if Davos dared to kill the armed forces of the church like Meg, he could not bear to kill the ordinary people.
Therefore, he only blocked the land passage between King's Landing and Highland, blocked the sea passage of Blackwater Bay, cut off the food supply into the city, and forced the starving people of King's Landing to open the city and surrender. Then, he comforted the believers and people who had fainted from hunger with food.
"Your Majesty, if you burn King's Landing and kill the people, the vassals of the valley will no longer be loyal to you.
The mercenaries hired from Braavos are not trustworthy at all. They even want to terminate the employment contract and escape back to Braavos, where there are no Other Ghosts.
At that time, even if the city gates of King's Landing are open, you will have no soldiers. How will you occupy King's Landing? How will you rule the country? "Davos advised bitterly.
Without a base, this was indeed one of the problems that Erlu was facing.
As the Duke of Dragonstone Island with a small territory, he did not have many confidants to begin with. After wandering around the Northern Region, he lost Storm's End Castle and Dragonstone Island. He was completely alone, with only a few hundred Knights of Red Heart.
The Braavos mercenaries, the Northern Region's two thousand cavalrymen, and the vassals of the valley seemed to be powerful, but he could not rely on them as a foundation.
In the past, Erlu would have clenched his jaw and ground his teeth.
But now, he was pale and lifeless. His shriveled cheeks did not even show a trace of emotion. He only said indifferently, "Davos, I don't have time to waste. It's night now, and the Other Ghosts are infiltrating Neck Swamp and going south to Hejian. If you are indecisive, you will be in trouble. "
Davos sighed helplessly. "What about the poor and the refugees?"
A dim light flashed in Erlu's deep eye sockets. He said, "As long as the people can temporarily fill their stomachs, they won't care if the Iron Throne is an angel or a demon.
They love Margaery, who murdered her husband, and call her 'Holy Mother Margaery' because the High Court brings them bread and cheese.
They accept the rule of the bastard Tommen and the criminal Cersei because the food from the High Court can sustain their lives. "
"I believe in the Red God, but are You Lun a devout believer of the Seven Gods?" Erlu patted the King's Hand's shoulder and said indifferently, "The people are much easier to deal with than the nobles. As long as they don't starve to death, they are the most obedient people.
The nobles' desires are endless. It seems that they will never be satisfied unless they sit on the Iron Throne. For example, that woman, that dwarf. Have you reached an agreement? "
"Tyrion rejected the suggestion of dividing Hejian into two …" Davos explained the details of the negotiations that afternoon.
"Danny Rize can give up the Iron Throne, but she wants to inherit the Targaryen ancestor's land, which is the King's Domain.
If the new king is unwilling to move away from the King's Landing, he can compensate with other lands close to Dragonstone Island, such as the Three Rivers Basin. "
"The Targaryens are just outsiders. What land do they have?" Erlu said coldly.
"Your Majesty, forgive me for being blunt, but your ancestor Theon Bella and Aegon the Conqueror are in cahoots," Davos said awkwardly.
They are all foreign bandits.
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