Although Aedric didn't agree to Daenerys's request to become her Hand, from that day on, he began teaching her lessons in politics and strategy whenever he wasn't training Arya in swordsmanship.
He taught her things like The Thirty-Six Stratagems, the economic base determines the superstructure, and countless other distilled truths drawn from the wisdom of generations of Chinese rulers, strategists, and philosophers—lessons that emperors, conquerors, and reformers had spent their lives discovering.
And he gave them to the silver-haired girl of destiny—for free.
How much she could absorb depended on her own intelligence and insight.
As for Arya… well, the little wolf with "the blood of the wolf" in her veins decided that swinging a sword was still much faster than studying theory.
When their fleet finally reached Astapor, the city's Good Masters—who had already heard the news—welcomed Daenerys and her company with open arms. The difference from the cold, dismissive attitude shown in the TV series was like night and day.
It was only natural. In the show, Daenerys had arrived with a single ship and a pouch of gold. Now, she came with more than ten ships and mountains of treasure.
A broke girl and a rich patron get very different receptions.
Though Daenerys still found the Unsullied's cruel training methods hard to stomach, the three days of crash-course education from Aedric had changed her perspective. She had learned not to let emotion cloud her judgment. So instead of lashing out as she had in the show, she kept her composure—displeased but polite.
The result? A two-day negotiation filled with smiles instead of blood.
In the end, both sides reached an agreement: Daenerys would exchange half her treasure for the entire army of Unsullied and enough grain to last a year.
Gold and goods traded—everyone was satisfied.
No one died, no one was betrayed, and Daenerys didn't burn anyone alive. After the deal, she freed all the Unsullied as before, but this time, she didn't sail away. Instead, she purchased a large mansion in Astapor and stayed put.
The Good Masters didn't understand what this strange silver-haired girl was planning, but since the deal had gone smoothly and everyone had made a fortune, they didn't bother to question her further.
Half a month later, when a massive fleet from Qarth arrived and began loading crates onto their ships, the Good Masters finally discovered what Daenerys had been doing behind closed doors—she had been producing something called porcelain.
Yes, the same "white gold" that once drained a third of the world's silver in ancient China.
The Good Masters stared at the beautiful, jade-like creations, their fingers tracing the impossibly smooth surface that felt softer than skin. They instantly recognized the immense commercial potential of this miraculous material.
It was no exaggeration to say that porcelain could conquer the world.
Within days, the Good Masters were tripping over themselves to visit Daenerys's mansion, each one offering partnerships, bribes, and ever-higher bids. When they saw the crates of gold from Qarth being carried in as payment for the first shipment, whatever pride or restraint they had left crumbled completely.
One after another, they knelt before the Mother of Dragons, swearing allegiance in exchange for a share of the profits.
As for trying to seize it by force—were they insane? Daenerys commanded the entire Unsullied army now. If anyone was going to rob someone, it'd be her.
And just like that, without spilling a drop of blood, Daenerys took control of all Astapor.
She abolished slavery, declared every slave a free citizen, and then set about building countless kilns to mass-produce porcelain—the priceless treasure that would soon flood the markets of Essos.
With the powerful merchants of Qarth handling logistics and trade, Astapor's porcelain quickly spread to every city on the continent, bringing Daenerys more wealth than anyone could possibly count.
The profits were so vast that even the former Good Masters were drowning in gold. And when the neighboring slave cities of Yunkai and Meereen saw this fortune, their Masters couldn't sit still.
They came rushing to Astapor, begging for cooperation.
Daenerys rejected them outright.
Her reason was simple: she refused to deal with slavers. If they wanted to join her porcelain trade, they would first have to free their slaves.
The Masters of Yunkai and Meereen, safely distant and unaware of how strong her forces really were, dismissed her ultimatum.
Blinded by greed, they pooled their resources and hired multiple mercenary armies—including the Second Sons and the Golden Company—to attack Astapor and seize control of the porcelain business.
It didn't end well for them.
Even without counting the Second Sons' inevitable betrayal—the deputy commander switched sides the moment he saw Daenerys—Aedric's newly trained Unsullied, upgraded with tactics from The Art of War and The Book of Wu Mu, tore through the combined armies like a storm.
The invaders were annihilated, their leaders slain—including the commander of the Golden Company himself, saving Aedric the trouble of dealing with him later.
With their mercenaries destroyed or defected, the Masters of Yunkai and Meereen finally understood the true power of the Mother of Dragons—and the Wind Sword Saint beside her.
At Aedric's suggestion, Daenerys retaliated by ordering the fleets of Astapor and Qarth to blockade the ports of Yunkai and Meereen, cutting off all trade routes and trapping the cities' slave-based economies.
Starved of resources, their proud Masters were soon forced to kneel as well, swearing fealty to the Dragon Queen.
In just three short months, Daenerys had unified the three great slave cities.
Yunkai, Meereen, and Astapor together crowned her their joint sovereign—Queen of the Three Cities, the Dragon Queen.
Once crowned, she kept her word: every slave in the three cities was freed.
Then, from Aedric, she acquired the secrets of sea salt refining and steel tempering, turning the liberated cities into vast industrial hubs. Factories rose across the region, churning out one Chinese invention after another, flooding the continent with goods and gold.
As for the "Sons of the Harpy" rebellion that plagued her in the show—well, they were too busy working in factories to rebel.
After all, who had time to stab nobles when you could make money instead?
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