Bab 8: An Excrept from "The Rise of the Mighty" By Archmaester Gyldayn in
Author's Note: This was already a draft when I stopped writing, I thought I'd give you a little info dump before I restart writing in earnest. I will try to eke out another chapter or two before my exams but don't expect something until after they end.
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A.N: Keep in mind that this was written more than a hundred years after Baelon.
A big part of why King Baelon the First is recognized as the greatest Targaryen King in history was due to his academic genius, ingenuity, and statesmanship.
Records show that he was above and beyond outstanding in his studies, and letters from Grandmaester Mellos are still stored in the archives, denoting the degree of his accomplishments.
His first and one of the biggest achievements of his childhood were at seven name-days old, where -with the permission of his father- he used the money from his considerable allowance to buy a small piece of arable land.
He then proceeded to hire a couple of farmers to experiment with new farming methods, something that the common man did not do as it endangered their life, and the rich didn't either due to their perceived superiority over such tasks.
The first thing achieved was the discovery of the four fields system, something that was due to the Prince's puzzlement over the inefficiency of the usage of the previous three fields system, where the farmers would plant two fields every year with wheat in winter and oats or barley in summer in one field, and beans, peas, or lentils in the other, leaving the third empty and rotating them out every year.
The four-field system unlike earlier methods such as the three-field system is marked by an absence of a fallow year. Instead, four different crops are grown in each year of a four-year cycle: wheat, turnips, barley, and clover.
This managed to not only increase the yield of the farm, but the inclusion of clover allowed the herding of more cattle, yielding even more food.
At the time, Prince Baelon somehow convinced both the farmers and Grandmaester Mellos to keep it secret, claiming that this knowledge can be as harmful as it can be a blessing.
In terms of agriculture, the last of his contributions at the time would be the discovery of plant crossbreeding, increasing the quality of crops through careful selection of grains.
The last of his discoveries between 7 and 11 namedays would be the blast furnace, a furnace that mimics Qohor's famed ones, but instead of using the physical strength of numerous slaves, this one required the might of water.
By his 11th name-day, King Baelon would be famously known as a very charming and intelligent boy with great martial talent, but at the time it was nothing but potential, unfulfilled, and untested.
That all changed at his tour, in his nameday, Baelon I would manage to somehow convince his father to let him go on a tour of the realm, and the Prince would be accompanied by a detachment of guards and Kingsguard Steffon Darklyn.
Their route would go from Kingslanding to Oldtown, to Lannisport and then Seaguard, they will then continue to Winterfell through the land before heading to Gulltown from White harbor, then the Eyrie to Riverrun, and finally back to Kingslanding.
At Oldtown, the King would frequent the Citadel often, where he would befriend the famous Maester Vaelar, a supposed bastard of Archmaester Vaegon formerly Targaryen. At Lannisport he would be received by Tyrion Lannister, the old Lannister lord paramount at the time, where nothing of note would happen.
The same would go for Seaguard, but everything whanged at Winterfell. Where he would befriend the very young Cregan Stark who would grow to idolize him, but most importantly, he would change the north forevermore.
By the time he reached Winterfell, the prince at the time was very disheartened at the state of the region, and publicly lamented several times about the potential of the north, and how the land was underutilized.
As he reached Winterfell, it was the King's personal mission at the time to change the state of the north, with his first action being changing his plans, and heading for the Wall.
Rickon Stark would follow him out of panic at first but would stay for the benefits. As the Prince managed to negotiate the ownership of the New Gift back to House Stark and by association the North. In exchange for constant support from the Crown to the Night's Watch in terms of food, clothing, and weapons, something that they dearly lacked at the time, which at first was actually provided by the prince himself.
But his support wouldn't end there, at his stay in the region, Baelon I would write a small book about the North and its possible improvements, such as the sale of ice and entreating the Mountain clans in order to reliably mine iron. But the most important would be the new farming discoveries that would pull the North out of poverty in the next few years, allowing them to invest in other ventures.
Apart from the recruitment of Rodrick Lychester, also known as the Guardian, the rest of the young prince's journey goes without issue.
After his return to the capital, Baelon I gets emboldened to govern his own territory, so he convinces his father to send him to Dragonstone and take control of the island as the Crown Prince, something that the King did not out of confidence in his ability, but to occupy his energetic son.
After reaching his ancestral island, the Maester of Dragonstone would request to return to the Citadel, citing his desire to continue his studies and gather more chains, and he would, suspiciously, request the young Maester Vaelar as a temporary replacement.
It was common for a castle maester to do so from time to time, but the timing made a lot of historians believe that either the prince coerced or bribed him into doing so.
Maester Vaelar didn't come alone however, he managed to convince little more than a dozen acolytes to accompany him in Dragonstone, each one specializing in certain fields like agriculture, engineering, etc...
For the next 3 years, King Baelon would create a base of operations of sorts in Dragonstone, with the help of his friend Maester Vaelar and the acolytes, the Prince at the time would create a research team that explored and experimented with whatever the Prince desired.
The King's intuition would not fail him, as the research brought some significant discoveries that allowed him to turn the poor island into a gold mine.
The first of those is the usage of volcanic ash as fertilizer, allowing the significant improvements in yield brought by the four-field system to increase even more, which was a significant source of income after the former's popularization.
The second and third were also major commercial products, mainly sea silk and what the prince called brandy, the first is an airy type of silk produced from clams local to the island, while the second is just a method of further distilling the wine, allowing for a stronger taste.
Another discovery was the liquid rock, a substance that had significant -albeit specific- connotations in terms of building.
The most significant discovery however was the compass, a circular item made with a base of rock and wood that used a magnetized lodestone to point north, no matter the position, this allowed his burgeoning fleet of trading ships to be able to no longer have to follow the shore but sail directly towards their destination, allowing him to amass enough gold from selling liquors, grains, and colored obsidian jewelry from the island to equip and feed his road builders, which was also the beginnings for his standing army.
During his stay at Dragonstone, the Prince at the time would slowly but surely expand his influence and deepen his pockets using his new enterprises and creating a rudimentary spy network through the merchants and traders associated with him.
He would also convince the small council to provide workers from all around the Crownlands in order to build roads using the new liquid rock, which was quite easy as this would be financed by the Prince alone using his new wealth.
King Baelon would recruit thousands of workers, who would be separated in order to work on several roads, and one canal linking Ironman's bay to the Blue fork.
This would allow King Baelon to secretly train a formidable standing army in secret, as whenever the workers were not digging roads, they were trained professionally, the hard work, the good food from the Prince's own stores, and the great equipment due to the Prince usage of his northern connections for cheap iron, and the blast furnace for cheap, good quality steel, would make for an incredibly disciplined and formidable infantry.
An infantry that would show its might in the Dornish Conquest, which allowed the Prince to finally secure his reputation as a perfect heir to the throne, as his achievements were unmatched at 14 even against kings, let alone other princes.
But his efforts did not end there, as the King at the time saw the necessity to completely bring the Dornish to the fold, both he and Alleras Dayne, the newly ordained Lord Paramount of Dorne, would unite Dorne under himself through marriage first, and gold second.
The young Alliandra Martell and her siblings would foster at Starfall followed by their mother, with the former Princess getting bethroded to the close-aged nephew of Alleras Dayne, Vorian Dayne. His sister, Diane, was wedded to Hother Yronwood, securing if not the house's loyalty, then at least their neutrality.
Lord Alleras himself would marry Lady Sansa Tarly, the single daughter of Lord Tarly, while Harrison Dondarrion, the second son of Blackhaven, would squire under him, and Morton Caron would be his cupbearer until he reaches good age for being a squire, securing the Lords of the Marches and forging alliances with both the Reach and the Stormlands.
Furthermore, the formidable spearmen of the Prince's army would return in their roles as workers, as their next task would be to elongate the Torrentine's branches all the way to both Horn Hall and Nightsong, and to build roads leading from Horn Hill to Highgarden and from Nightsong to Harvest hall, in order to allow easier passage from Reach and Stormlander merchant and traders to Dorne.
But the most significant change would be the city charter granted by King Viserys | Targaryen by counsel from his son, which would shift Dornish products away entirely from eastern ports towards the west, as Dornish traders were ecstatic about the much lower prices of food, iron, and cotton, while the others were equally enthused by the equally low price for spices, salt, and exotic herbs and fruits.
This would have an effect on the obvious strengthening connection between Dorne and the other Kingdoms, and also weakening Oldtown's hold over the Reach's economy and the dependence of the Seven Kingdoms on the products of the Free Cities.
The Torrentine, which previously took the role of a river that allowed soldiers to mobilize faster, turned into the lifeblood of trade and prosperity for Dorne, as the Dornish found out that the so-called slavery under the Targaryen regime only brought prosperity, their new channels for trade allowed all sides to benefit, people no longer starved and almost everyone had roofs over their heads, people no longer had to worry whether the wells would dry or whether their harvest would catch a sickness, as the unfavorable prices of the Free Cities were no more.
But this was just the start, as after King Baelon was called to...
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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