Along the way, what Rhaella saw most often were farmers reclaiming land.
They swung their hoes with extraordinary vigor, as if they could dig gold straight out of the soil.
It wasn't that she had never seen farmers at work before.
The peasants around King's Landing were also diligent, but that diligence came from numb repetition after endless days of labor.
The farmers of Gohor were different.
From the look on their faces, it was as though they were creating something great, something meaningful.
Could it be that Viserys, eager to raise more troops as quickly as possible, had imposed heavy taxes on the local people?
The thought made Rhaella uneasy. If Viserys truly burdened the people of Gohor with excessive taxes, she knew she would have to persuade him otherwise.
She lifted the carriage curtain and asked Crispian, who was escorting her,
"How does His Grace levy taxes in Gohor?"
"Reporting to the Queen Mother, His Grace has implemented a head tax in Gohor."
"And how much does one person have to pay?"
"200 kg of grain per person per year."
"200 kg? Isn't that a bit too much?"
Seeing the concern on Rhaella's face, Crispian explained, "Because Gohor has few people and much land, His Grace chose to implement a head tax.
No matter how much land a farmer cultivates, as long as he pays the head tax, everything else belongs to him."
"The 200 kg applies to adult men.
Those who have not yet come of age only pay half. Children under twelve pay even less. Women receive another reduction on top of that."
Hearing this, Rhaella more or less understood and asked again,
"Other than the head tax, does Viserys impose any additional taxes?"
"Not for now. Gohor doesn't really have other industries yet."
After confirming that her son was ruling Gohor with what could be called benevolent governance, Rhaella finally felt reassured.
It wasn't that she was being overly soft-hearted. Levying heavy taxes on newly claimed lands would inevitably lead to unrest.
It was foreseeable that for a long time to come, the Targaryens would be unable to reclaim the Iron Throne.
What she feared was Viserys acting out of impatience.
Taking the opportunity, Crispian began telling her about Viserys's first battle after arriving in Gohor.
He said that Viserys disguising elite archers as farmers had been an ingenious move.
Everyone had been deceived.
In truth, Rhaella had long found this strange. She had personally investigated the first group of soldiers and farmers sent to Gohor.
Those farmers really were farmers, absolutely not archers. Yet that made it impossible to explain how their archery had been so precise.
Listening to Crispian's account, Rhaella thought that perhaps only her son knew the true answer.
But regardless, Viserys had fought his first battle beautifully.
And most importantly, he himself had not been injured. That mattered more than anything else.
Before long, Rhaella's escort saw, rising abruptly from the horizon, a massive wall.
"That is the Wall of Vhagar, isn't it?" Rhaella asked, pointing toward the bluish-green rampart in the distance.
"Yes. One could say that His Grace's conquest of the Rhoynar began with this very wall."
Since the Rhoynar had already submitted, most people now knew of the methods Viserys had used.
After learning of his stratagems, they could not help but praise him.
Rhaella listened just as intently.
Especially when she heard that a Rhoynar commoner had discerned Viserys's intentions, yet Viserys had spared his life and let him return instead of killing him, her heart stirred even more.
She could not help but think that if she had given birth to Viserys earlier, perhaps the Targaryens would never have lost the Iron Throne.
"How is that man, Baelor, doing now?" she asked.
"He now willingly serves His Grace. His Grace plans to have him oversee the collection of taxes from the Andals along the Little Rhoyne in the future."
Rhaella nodded, finding it remarkable that Viserys could employ talent so flexibly.
She suddenly realized that Viserys might be deliberately setting the Rhoynar and the Andals to check and balance each other, strengthening his rule in the process.
As someone born into royalty, she found nothing improper in that.
After all, Aegon the Conqueror had once used the Tyrells, stewards of House Gardener, to rule Highgarden.
When Rhaella and her party reached the main gate, they found a ring of stone-brick road outside the walls.
Naturally, it could not compare to the stone-paved streets of King's Landing. Compared to flagstones, brick roads raised more dust and were less even.
The bluish bricks were slightly damp, deliberately so, to prevent dust from rising.
Rhaella did not mind in the slightest.
How could guarding an empty castle compare to the rammed-earth walls her son had personally built?
She eagerly searched for Viserys's figure—and he was already there, waiting.
His silver hair was combed back, revealing a smooth forehead.
The hair on the sides barely reached his ears, giving him a sharp, capable look.
Upon his head was only a simple golden band, two fingers wide, serving as a crown.
He wore a black cloak, one that Lyanna herself had sewn for him.
After nearly a year apart, Rhaella noticed that he had grown much taller, almost tall enough to meet her gaze eye to eye.
Violet eyes met violet eyes, and boundless warmth surged within them.
Yet Rhaella still restrained herself from showing her emotions.
Viserys was surrounded by his ministers. This was no moment for her to act in a way unbefitting her dignity.
"Queen Mother," Viserys called, together with the ministers behind him.
Among them were several faces of Rhoynar origin.
Rhaella nodded and raised her hand slightly, signaling that they need not be so formal.
Viserys stepped forward, took Rhaella's hand, and together they boarded the carriage to enter the city.
"The wall ahead—that must be the Wall of Balerion, right?"
Seeing that the earthen wall was already taller than the Wall of Vhagar, Rhaella asked approvingly.
"Yes. Once we've truly secured our footing in Gohor in a couple of years, I plan to build the Wall of Meraxes outside it, along with dragonbolt towers.
"Before that, I want to dredge the irrigation works left behind by the Rhoynar.
That will attract more people. Right now, our total population is less than three hundred and fifty thousand—not even as many as King's Landing—"
Viserys spoke animatedly, laying out his plans to Rhaella.
Rhaella looked at her son with a touch of sorrow in her eyes.
If the Targaryens still had living dragons, her son's path would undoubtedly be far easier.
She often regretted that she had not been able to place a dragon egg in his cradle.
Viserys, however, was not thinking about such things. Since it was her first day here, he decided to talk about something lighter.
"Mother, I've decided that I won't build a castle inside the Wall of Balerion. I want to build a palace instead.
The Red Keep has far too many strange secret passages. I don't like it."
To Rhaella, these were minor details.
What truly concerned her was how Viserys viewed the prospect of renewing a marriage alliance with House Martell.
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