Not to mention Casey, this young man from King's Landing who had just come of age, even Aegon, who had "been a soldier," was still involuntarily stunned by the huge military camp before his eyes.
Compared to this army assembly point, the Night's Watch's Castle Black was simply like a small outpost—of course, in terms of function, the Night's Watch were indeed the sentinels of the Seven Kingdoms, so this contrast was not wrong.
How many people were here? Ten thousand, twenty thousand? Or fifty thousand, a hundred thousand?
As the saying goes, "A thousand people, boundless; ten thousand people, reaching the heavens." For ordinary people who had not received professional scout training, once the number of people exceeded a certain limit, estimating their quantity became an impossible task—whether it was ten thousand, fifty thousand, or a hundred thousand, looking closely with the naked eye, it was actually impossible to tell the difference. This was precisely the important confidence ancient nations had when fighting each other, daring to arbitrarily inflate troop numbers to try and intimidate the enemy.
To be honest, Aegon couldn't tell how many people were in the army assembly point before him, but in reality, after hearing Tyrion's introduction to the population and economic situation of the Crownlands, he had a rough idea of the number of soldiers in the assembly point before him.
...
The so-called Crownlands could actually be better described as a directly administered territory. You can understand it as the Lord of this territory being the owner of the Iron Throne, Robert himself.
This plain, located directly south of the Vale, east of the Riverlands, and north of The Reach and Stormlands, would undoubtedly be a battleground if it weren't for its proximity to the sea... Historically, there had never been an independent political power here; it was often contested by various forces from the Riverlands, Stormlands, and others. This chaos and disorder only ended when Aegon the Conqueror landed here on his dragon and began the conquest of Westeros, making the landing point his main base and later the territory of the royal capital.
Before the Dragon King's conquest, the total population of this area was less than one hundred thousand. After three hundred years of Targaryen rule, under the dual effects of large-scale immigration and reproduction, it had become a rich land with the largest city, King's Landing, the highest population density in all of Westeros, and the most wealth per capita.
Leaving aside wealth for now, regarding the highest population density—since the Crownlands were quite small, if you removed the abnormal case of King's Landing, its total population was roughly similar to the sparsely populated North. Given that there was no complete census in this era, estimating all factors combined, the total population of the Crownlands was approximately two million.
This time, Robert's trip to the Vale to suppress the rebellion was a small-scale local war, and naturally, it wasn't a total mobilization. In such circumstances, the ruling class would generally try their best to ensure the war did not affect the safety of the lives and property of the remaining populace and the potential for continued social development. At the productivity level of this era, the initial mobilization rate should be between 0.5% and 1%—that is, between ten thousand and twenty thousand. This refers to soldiers, not including those who came to do business, or servants and slaves. The specific number depended entirely on the ruler's authority and ability to control the lords.
Aegon couldn't judge how many people were in the army assembly point before him, but there were definitely more than ten thousand. And one should know that when Cersei later frantically conscripted soldiers to defend King's Landing, she hysterically only managed to gather a few thousand—this huge disparity in the number of responders was actually the most intuitive manifestation of the ruler's control in this "era of personal rule."
***
"So many people!" the young squire Casey murmured to himself, his eyes completely wide.
Aegon actually wanted to say the same thing, but he was now the Night's Watch Chief Quartermaster, a "big shot" in the young man's mind. No matter how shocked he was, he still had to appear calm and collected.
"There are quite a few, indeed. Let's go, let's see what accommodation the King has arranged for us and how we should proceed with the army."
Seeing his own superior so calm, the young man immediately felt that he must have too little experience. He responded with a sound and quickly urged his horse to follow Aegon down the dirt slope, approaching the assembly area.
If this army went to the Wall, they could beat the more than one hundred thousand Wildlings Beyond the Wall until they didn't recognize their own parents. But now... these people were going to the Vale to rescue a mad woman who had murdered her own husband... just because she was formerly a Tully and was the mother and guardian of the current Lord of the Vale of Arryn.
...
Earlier on the road, Aegon was still complaining inwardly: Before the fighting even started, he was already thinking about allowing the heads of families like Royce to don the black after winning, and for this, he even fancifully summoned himself, this "Night's Watch attached to the army." Robert, this fat pig, was truly an optimist.
After seeing this army assembly point, he understood where this warrior King's "mysterious confidence" came from.
Although debauched and completely unqualified as a ruler in Aegon's eyes, in terms of ruling power and prestige, this guy was definitely above the excellent line. While the fat man's years of reckless spending and waste certainly led to the Iron Throne regime being heavily indebted, it gained him astonishing support and immense prestige among the middle-class nobles and lower-class knights who benefited from "profit and honor." This advanced idea of "overdrawing the future to stabilize the current rule" through loans, he didn't know if Robert stumbled upon it by chance or was truly wise in seeming foolish.
Admittedly, the prestige and control gained through squandering wealth were not reliable—but if the person using this tactic also frequently won battles, then the situation would be different again. As long as Robert didn't die and didn't suffer a crushing defeat, this unreliable control, when exerted as a burst of enthusiasm in a short-term war, was no less effective than any regular army under any excellent social system.
These were just the soldiers from the Crownlands, plus the other Six Kingdoms... Without the natural barrier of the Bloody Gate, the "League of the Righteous" in the Vale wouldn't even be able to hold out for a single battle!
***
While just going through the motions at the Night's Watch Office in King's Landing, Aegon had also learned about the sigils of the various noble houses of Westeros. As he, clad in black, rode deep into the army assembly point, many sigils he seemed to recognize appeared on the banners planted everywhere. The golden crowned stag symbolizing House Baratheon was the most numerous, which was obvious... Besides that, he also saw other patterns on the chests of soldiers and servants, on the silk pennants decorating lances and wooden spears, on tent flaps, and other places: the crossed warhammers of House Lychester, the sheep holding a golden cup of House Stokeworth, the light green waves of House Hayford, and so on...
Aegon didn't continue counting. Since Robert himself had issued the mobilization order, he could guess without thinking: none of the families from the Crownlands would be absent. Even if a family had only one person left, they would still insist on carrying their banner and crawling here, trying to earn military merit in the war to restore their family.
With so many nobles gathered together, it was a good opportunity to run a financial scam, brainwash people, and accumulate wealth. However, the Chief Logistics Officer now needed to first find the King... or at least relevant personnel to seek accommodation.
After asking several soldiers consecutively, Aegon didn't get any valuable replies. Everyone seemed unaware that King Robert had also brought a "Night's Watch attached to the army." This made Aegon subtly displeased; this was the helplessness of too great a disparity in power and status. He had expected that the so-called Night's Watch attached to the army might just be a sudden, strange idea Robert had after getting drunk—this was evident from the fact that the servant who came to find him didn't even have a token or a letter of appointment.
But there was no way around it, he had to come no matter what. The reason was simple: it was a small matter if he came and the King completely forgot about it, but what if he didn't come and the King happened to remember it? Then he would be in trouble. Regardless, his precious time as a transmigrator, meant for building and developing, had to be wasted on a boring military campaign!
Aegon cursed that fat stag countless times in his heart, but since he had already come, there was naturally no reason to go back. If he did... not to mention the major principles, his status in the eyes of his personal young squire would at least drop significantly.
He couldn't keep asking aimlessly and hitting dead ends like this. He had to resolve this matter quickly, otherwise, it would be too embarrassing!
...
He continued riding deeper into the military camp. To be honest, the discipline, quality, and organization of the army in this era were really poor. He had just ridden along the King's Road like this and was actually able to ride straight into the middle of the army assembly point without dismounting. While there were certainly no enemies within a few hundred miles around, what if there were assassins?
Aegon seriously doubted if, had he known the way, he could have ridden all the way to Robert's tent before being stopped by the Kingsguard. He didn't know if the guy was even in the army right now, but regardless... if there were explosive weapons like dynamite, assassinating the King would be as easy as playing a game.
Finally, he saw someone he knew and who could also see the King—a noble from King's Landing who had once bought bonds. Adding that he had redeemed them two days ago, they were now acquaintances who had met twice and spoken dozens of sentences!
Fortunately, he hadn't asked him for the penalty fee for early redemption of the bonds. Now, at least, he didn't have to worry about the other party pretending not to recognize him.
—
[T/N: If until now, y'all aren't clear about the nature of this fic, I'll tell you that this is fic is a translated work. If you want to know the name of the raws, check the T/N on Chapter 69.]