Cersei, Tyrion, and others watched from afar as Robb distributed bread to the poor.
"Perhaps he should have taken a tumble and hit his head before he chopped off Ned Stark's head. That way, maybe he wouldn't have suddenly beheaded Ned, and the North wouldn't have rebelled," Tyrion joked.
"My son has grown up, he will be a great king," Cersei said, her praise for Joffrey unwavering, even after he revoked her regency.Beric: "Trading the things that feed the nobles for the hearts of the smallfolk may not be worth much, but stabilizing the most chaotic area of King's Landing with the least cost is indeed a way."
Varys glanced at Littlefinger without speaking, his thoughts unreadable.
"Yes, our king has finally become wise," Tyrion said meaningfully, glancing at Varys and Baelish. "I must be going, I have much work to do."
Three days passed quickly.Kiyan arrived with his men in the commoner district, which was a bit better than the slum cellars, no longer just dilapidated thatched huts, but starting to resemble a city.
Soon, city guards on every street were announcing the king's new decree: "From today onwards, the land tax is reduced to 10%, the poll tax for those under 16 is abolished, and the household tax is abolished."
A clamor of surprise erupted. The land tax reduced to 10%?
Directly from 70% to 10%, does this mean they will have a surplus every year?
An excited farmer asked, "Is this true? Is the king really willing to reduce the land tax to 10%?"The city official said with a strange undertone, "Of course, King Joffrey loves his people like his own children, and he cares most about you farmers. His Majesty said this morning that you are the cornerstone of the nation!"
Hearing this, the farmer's eyes reddened, and he knelt on the ground, "His Majesty loves his people like his own children, this old farmer kneels to thank His Majesty for his kindness!"
Just as everyone was kneeling to thank the benevolent King Joffrey, Joffrey was currently facing the dwarf's reprimand.
"Your Majesty, it is good to think of the common people, but you cannot directly reduce the land tax to ten percent. How much grain will King's Landing receive next year? How will the nobles feed their armies? How will they maintain their luxurious lives?"Tyrion's words were anything but polite.
"Damn it, Your Grace, I'm talking to you, please stop playing with that red monkey, okay?" Tyrion was about to explode with anger. All the nobles with fiefs in the Kingswood were probably already on their way to the Red Keep.
Taxation in Westeros is a troublesome matter. Farmers have to hand over seventy percent of their grain to their noble lords, and the nobles hand over half of that to the king, keeping the remaining half.
The little Zhu Yan was already a meter tall. Joffrey, scratching the Zhu Yan's chin, said unhurriedly, "Uncle, don't worry, I've already thought of a solution."Tyrion stopped his hurried movements at the words, then picked up a goblet and poured himself some water. Joffrey didn't drink, so there was no alcohol in his room.
"I wonder what brilliant plan Your Grace has?"
"I've already had Pycelle recruit a batch of maesters from the Citadel." The maesters came from the Citadel in Oldtown. The Citadel was a neutral institution that specialized in cultivating various talents and sending them to the nobles. The maesters of the Citadel were proficient in all kinds of knowledge, including but not limited to management, and were much more useful than the scholar-official class of the Celestial Empire.
"???" Tyrion was filled with question marks, then suddenly startled!"You wouldn't be thinking of killing all the nobles who come to you, would you?"
Joffrey clapped and exclaimed, "Worthy of the Hand of the King, the Lord Hand is indeed clever!"
Tyrion took a deep breath. Joffrey actually wanted to kill the nobles of King's Landing and then have the maesters help him govern those towns. This was undoubtedly a crazy idea.
"Even if you kill them, they have heirs!"
"Then kill them all. King's Landing will have no great lords. I have the strength to sweep them away."Tyrion still disagreed: "Raise the taxes to fifty percent, and I'll persuade the nobles in King's Landing, but the taxes outside King's Landing can't be touched. Otherwise, what will the nobles outside King's Landing think?"
Joffrey lost his smile, walked directly to Tyrion, and stared down at Tyrion's mismatched eyes:
"I am the king, and what I say goes!"
"I don't care what the nobles outside King's Landing think!
The North is the Starks' North!
The Riverlands are the Tullys' Riverlands!
The Westerlands are the Lannisters' Westerlands!
The Stormlands are the Baratheons' Stormlands!""The Reach is the Reach of House Tyrell!"
"Dorne is Dorne of House Martell!"
"They don't want to be, they're just dukes, but they're kings whenever they want to be."
"Have you heard the saying? 'The lord of my lord is not my lord,' the nobles of the North are an example."
"Only King's Landing, barely, is Joffrey's King's Landing."
"King of the Seven Kingdoms? That's not a real king, a king of one kingdom, that's a real king!"
After saying that, Joffrey went out to walk his monkey, while Tyrion was shocked and motionless, and after a moment said in a trembling voice, "Fuck!"The next day, Joffrey met with the nobles of King's Landing. Faced with their questions, Joffrey directly placed a document before them. After reading its contents, everyone declared it unacceptable, that the tax system, established since ancient times, could not be changed on Joffrey's whim.
Joffrey leaned back on the Iron Throne, propping his chin with one hand, and said disdainfully, "Either you sign and go back to honestly implement my system, or you pack your bags and leave King's Landing."
The crowd was furious. You haven't even warmed your seat yet and you're already this arrogant? If you ever settle in, wouldn't all seven kingdoms suffer persecution?Afterward, only eight nobles signed their names - their lands held only a few hundred people, and their lands were not granted by other nobles, but were knights ennobled by Robert for their excellence in war.
After the nobles who hadn't signed left, Joffrey immediately summoned Lu Bu, accompanied by Tyrion.
"You immediately take the cavalry. I don't want any of them to return to their lands. Go inform the Hound, and have him take the Embroidered Uniform Guard to confiscate their property and exterminate their families!" The Embroidered Uniform Guard had been fully formed, with more members than initially anticipated, a full four hundred, all boys around the age of fifteen.The eight nobles who remained were terrified, well, they survived!
"Gentlemen, you have made the right choice, and I also have a gift for you all."
Joffrey clapped his hands, and a maid brought three items to the eight nobles.
Joffrey got up and went to the tray, opened the first box, and a square object appeared before everyone's eyes.
"This is called soap, and it can be used to wash clothes, clean the body, and clean hair, with obvious effects." Then he called two maids to demonstrate the effect of the soap, and Tyrion and the eight knights all showed surprised expressions."The cost of this piece in my hand is about 5 copper cents. Normally, one piece can last about two weeks, and if you're frugal, it can even last a month."
"I sell them for 10 copper cents apiece, which is affordable for all commoners. It only costs the price of a mug of ale and a sausage. Besides, I can add various spices and sell them to nobles for 10 silver coins."
"After that, I will open a factory to specialize in production. At that time, you can come to me to get the goods and sell them elsewhere."
...
The fully completed English PDF of this fan-fic is now available on my Patreon shop.If you want to support my work and enjoy the entire story in one go, grab the PDF and binge-read it from start to finish without any breaks.
Patreon Shop:patreon.com /InkNovels
Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)