Arya had no idea that she had inadvertently become the biggest contributor to the Night's Watch Industry. Thanks to the girl's timely report, which could truly be described as "worth a thousand golden dragons," Aegon safely weathered the biggest financial crisis since he transmigrated into the Ice and Fire World.
This series of actions was entirely due to luck, and it's not shameful to honestly admit that, but doesn't the old saying also say that this is part of strength? Under the dual influence of luck and operation, the Night's Watch Industry not only survived the crisis in one fell swoop but even achieved a leap in capital volume. Now, the funds theoretically owned by the Night's Watch and practically managed by Tyrion have instantly exceeded the debt, and the capital chain can now withstand 100% withdrawal and redemption!
On the day the order was completed, more than half of the deposit miraculously returned to the Night's Watch Office after doubling. The remaining part was reluctantly handed over to him after Aegon and his subordinates went to urge delivery with the agreement—it's worth mentioning that Tyrion suggested Aegon remember the order in which these cargo owners paid the penalty for breach of contract: the first to know the inside information meant the larger their backing. Make a list, and it will likely be useful in the formation of future interest groups.
Aegon gladly accepted the valuable suggestion.
...
Next came the stage of continuous bond redemptions.
King Robert, the most powerful and irritable old man in Westeros, didn't even negotiate a few rounds with the League of the Righteous—he directly issued an ultimatum, and a few days after sending the ultimatum without receiving a response, he issued a mobilization order, officially summoning the lords of the Crownlands and all nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to gather the armies of all Westeros to quell the rebellion.
In this situation, it was entirely reasonable for the bond owners to reclaim their golden dragons to purchase food and equipment for themselves, their knights, and squires. This was not a malicious redemption, so Aegon and Tyrion also very "humanely" took the initiative to cancel the penalty for early bond redemption: every bond buyer, as long as they came to the office with the bond, could take away the principal plus at least one month's interest, and the first batch of buyers who had held the bonds for more than a month even received two months' returns.
One decision meant an extra expenditure of dozens of golden dragons, but this was not a rash dispersal of wealth. It was hoped that through the "amicable separation" of borrowing and repaying, these wealth holders would remember that they could put their money into the Night's Watch Industry's capital chain after the war ended and they returned to the Crownlands and King's Landing.
Although the remaining net assets belonging entirely to the Night's Watch Industry were no longer a small amount, with the expansion and development of the projects, no one would complain about having too much money in hand.
***
Under the brilliant summer sun, the Crownlands army began to gather about ten miles north of King's Landing. Similar scenes were simultaneously occurring in the Westerlands, Riverlands, The Reach, Stormlands, and the North, and even in Dorne far to the south of the continent. That's right, the person sitting on the Iron Throne only held the title of King. In terms of identity and strength, he was essentially on the same level as the other seven great houses. Control over the Seven Kingdoms was entirely determined by the strength of power and the level of means.
But fortunately, Robert's personal martial prowess and victory record were extremely deterrent, and under Jon Arryn's more than ten years of management, the alliance between the great houses had not yet broken down. Furthermore, Littlefinger, who had originally planned to provoke conflict between the Stark and Lannister families, had also been brought down. In this atmosphere of peace and harmony, the League of the Righteous, which suddenly emerged from the Vale, became the target of public criticism. The four houses of the Lion, Wolf, Stag, and Fish naturally had to rescue the Eyrie with all their might. Even the remaining two houses, the Tyrell of The Reach and the Martell of Dorne, who had stood with the Targaryens during the War of the Usurper and become Robert's enemies, thus remaining outside the core of power since the establishment of the new dynasty, under the circumstances of being "both defeated enemies and legal vassals," did not dare to openly defy the King's mobilization call against the world's disapproval.
Tyrion directly concluded: more or less, the Tyrell and Martell families would also send some significant figures, bringing just enough troops—neither too many nor too few—to leave Robert speechless.
Westeros suddenly presented a picture of unity from top to bottom, preparing for war with a common enemy. The last time such a situation occurred was during the Greyjoy rebellion in the Iron Islands. And this time, even the Ironborn, professional rebels, responded to the call and sent a fleet—although ships were basically useless when attacking the Vale of Arryn, the attitude had to be right.
***
None of this had much to do with Aegon, at least that's what he thought. Taking a share from the war was not something an outsider with no foundation like him could even contemplate. What he wanted to do now was to quickly establish the first factory, rapidly process orders from the church and other scattered small customers, receive the final payments to inject fresh capital into the capital chain, and continue expanding after stabilizing his position.
One good thing about a backward era is that nothing is complicated. Two weeks after narrowly surviving the first financial test, the first production line was already operating in the unfinished factory building. Hundreds of pounds of papermaking raw materials began to be fed into large stone mortars, and wooden pestles thicker than a man, driven by waterwheels, began to indiscriminately crush the materials placed inside. The pulped paper mash was mixed with alkaline powder and flowed into the next cooking process. The secret to ensuring a continuous output of products through assembly line production was: as long as the initial feeding of materials was continuous, regardless of how many days the intermediate process took, production could continue without interruption.
Engravings for the seven-pointed star scripture, calendars, etc., were already prepared, just waiting for large quantities of paper to come off the production line. Hired bards and authors also began to continuously convert stories from oral tradition into written words and physical form. Since Aegon promised them authorship rights for their works, the writers were quite diligent. Among these stories, the one that Aegon was most interested in was a novel based on "his own" story. This book was titled "The Night's Watch's Fantastic Adventure Journey." The story began with the protagonist's first journey after adulthood, recounting his travels and adventures throughout the continent... After countless adventures and tempering growth, the protagonist began to become curious about the shape of the world.
At the beginning of the final volume, this adventurer had already traveled throughout the continent and resolutely boarded a ship attempting the first circumnavigation... Finally, he was shipwrecked and came to Westeros, forced to join the Night's Watch, and by chance became an officer of the Black Cloaks, coming to King's Landing to raise food, supplies, and manpower for the defenders of the The Wall.
There were no professional story writers in this world, and the things written by the bards were slightly rough in style and scattered in structure, but the story itself was sufficiently new and interesting, which was enough. The name Aegon Westerling did not appear throughout the story, but anyone with a bit of information would know that this was about the Chief Logistics Officer in the King's Landing Night's Watch Office.
***
This was a bold public relations attempt. The more novels sold, the more people would know about his "experiences," and the less negative impact and opposition there would be when he eventually left the Night's Watch... Aegon looked at the drafts of the other novels. Compared to the novel he had outlined and instructed to be written, the knight stories passed down orally among the bards were too cliché. He had a gut feeling: even considering only economic benefits, his own story would be the most profitable one.
In addition, the content for the things Tyrion called "not presentable" had also begun to be prepared. Since experts in this area were nowhere to be found, Tyrion simply invited painters and bards to move into his favorite brothel, where the atmosphere was most suitable for collaborative creation, striving for illustrations and text.
The Dwarf showed Aegon the draft of the little yellow book. To be honest, compared to famous erotic publications from Aegon's world like "Giovanni XX," "XX Gang," and "XX Health," the thing in his hand was simply garbage. Aegon said he felt nothing after reading it... Of course, as a new thing, how it would perform after entering the market remained to be seen.
Having already promised his little apprentice, Aegon casually handed the booklet to Arya, who was waiting nearby with eager eyes. He thought the girl would quickly throw it back with a blushing face, but to his surprise, she blushed slightly while scolding, "Master, you're so bad," yet she giggled and read it with great relish—Tyrion almost couldn't get this unique draft back from her.
...
Everything was progressing well. The paper produced in the experimental workshop was temporarily only supplied for the printing of the seven-pointed star scripture and calendars. Once the production line in the factory outside the city was running smoothly, all the preparatory work would be put to use.
Aegon was looking forward to this day, but he first waited for other uninvited guests. A servant from the Red Keep suddenly came to the office, claiming that King Robert needed a "true Night's Watch man" who had taken vows to accompany the army on the expedition.
Unfortunately, in King's Landing, Aegon was the only one who met the conditions.
"Why does the Night's Watch need to accompany the army on the expedition?" Aegon asked with wide eyes, immediately pulling out the most reliable and useful shield: "The Night's Watch vows not to participate in internal disputes within the Seven Kingdoms."
"His Majesty the King said that after breaking through the Blood Gate, he will allow those rebellious nobles to don the Black Cloaks," the servant said haughtily with his nostrils flared. "This will require a true Night's Watch man to receive them and be responsible for escorting them to the The Wall."
"But that's the Crow's business, which is under the Night's Watch Chief Officer. I'm the Chief Logistics Officer!"
How could the visitor distinguish between your Night's Watch Officer and Logistics Officer? The servant frowned: "Either you come with me to explain to His Majesty the King, or I go back and tell His Majesty that you refused his request. I don't care that much. Stop talking nonsense, you're the one!"
—