章 430: Chapter 430: The Sword of Change
Consider what Viserys has done on the continent of Essos...
All the nobles present wore grave expressions.
Why would Randyll Tarly warn the nobles present? Because anyone with a clear mind could see that the changes Viserys had made in Essos were uprooting the foundations of all the noble families!
Therefore, the ancient families that Randyll Tarly named, some of which had existed for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, and some of which had been around since the First Men fought the Children of the Forest, could potentially be wiped out by Viserys' changes.
This is also why, despite Viserys' powerful forces, he still encountered fierce resistance in his unification of Westeros, with no nobles surrendering to him.
If it weren't for these changes, perhaps half of the Seven Kingdoms would have already surrendered by now.
But Viserys' changes were too threatening, making the nobles fear and even despise him.
Viserys' changes in Essos mainly took two forms.
The first was land reform, dividing the large estates into many small plots and giving the common people a lot of opportunities to rise through military merit.
Anyone could be knighted and rewarded with a small plot of land for their military achievements, becoming a true landed noble.
The second was the revocation of the traditional nobles' autonomy. In the past, nobles had absolute rule over their own lands.
They could even enact their own laws, levy armies, collect taxes, and wage wars at will.
Two noble families could fight each other under the kingdom's system, and their liege lord could mediate between them, or watch them fight to mutual destruction, thereby consolidating his own influence.
Even the king of the Seven Kingdoms was just a nominal overlord, in reality, a big noble.
If his vassals rebelled, his title of king would become meaningless. The situation of the vassals being strong and the monarch being weak occurred from time to time.
Therefore, Viserys, knowing the drawbacks of the Westerosi noble system, saw the long-standing nobility as the biggest obstacle to social development. From the time he began to build his power, he started to reform this place, carefully designing a system suitable for this world's unique culture.
The newly promoted nobles were all originally commoners or hedge knights, so naturally, they had no objections or resistance to the changes.
But for the traditional nobles of Westeros, especially those old noble families that had been around for thousands of years, Viserys' changes were like a knife cutting into their arteries.
All military power was taken over by the king, and taxes had to be paid to the national treasury according to a certain proportion. What was left was the nobles' own, who had become local officials.
Some even jumped up and down, cursing that Viserys was cutting off all the nobles' roots, that his madness was even worse than his father's. But the person who said this had already committed suicide by jumping into a river.
Viserys' changes were like a sword hanging over all the nobles' heads, which might fall at any time.
Therefore, at this time when the war situation is not completely clear, the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms will not easily surrender and allow themselves to be slaughtered.
Randyll Tarly's words made the determination of those present, which had been somewhat wavering, firm again.
"Yes, that's right."
"I agree."
"I'm in favor."
They must unite to resist Viserys.
This is a matter of the survival of the family, and they don't want to become the sinners in the history of the family.
"Gentlemen, think about it."
"Those filthy mudlegs, those serfs, will sit in the hall with us in the future."
"We even have to politely call them 'my lord'?"
"But he can't even use a knife and fork, because his whore of a mother has been eating with her hands since he was born!"
The elderly, white-haired Lord of Redfort, Horton Redfort, spoke out in a hoarse voice.
"Impossible!"
"There can never be such a day."
His words were immediately echoed by Matthos Rowan, the Lord of Goldengrove, who was dressed in full military uniform, his hand on the hilt of his sword, and spoke out with a serious expression.
Although Lord Rowan was widely loved, he took a clear stand on this issue, representing the interests of the great nobility.
Nobles are nobles, they are born noble, and commoners are commoners, they are born with a lowly fate.
"Just thinking about such a scene makes one nauseous."
Another noble in the room shook his head and joined in the commotion.
"If that's the case, my dog can also be called 'my lord'."
"I'll go back and ask my horse if it wants to be a 'my lord'."
The room burst into laughter, and the previously tense atmosphere was swept away.
Standing in front of the king's bed, the usually stern Stannis couldn't help but laugh at these words, shaking his head slightly.
"It's absurd."
"Old Walder Frey, the Lord of the Crossing, is right. Viserys is indeed the son of the Mad King, and he is even crazier than his father."
How could nobles possibly mix with commoners?
Randyll Tarly's words seemed to ignite the atmosphere among the allied nobles, and everyone became indignant, thinking that Viserys dared to do this was simply crazier than his father, the Mad King.
Even
many nobles wanted to speak in front of Robert but didn't.
But they wanted to say that if Viserys wanted them to surrender, he would have to fight for it at the negotiating table, let Westeros keep its 'noble tradition', and not be affected by the changes in Essos, otherwise, they, the nobles, would rather fight to the last man.
In the room, only Tywin, Ned, and Robert on the sickbed did not laugh.
Tywin was still considering the current crisis, Ned was thinking about what Robert had just said.
Robert, however, was the one who could empathize the most. Viserys was doing what every king wanted to do.
But due to the daunting resistance, no king dared to try to break the wheel of noble rule and change to a more powerful, more unified centralization system.
If Viserys really succeeded, he might become a figure like Aegon the Conqueror, Brandon the Builder, or the Grey King, whose names will be remembered for all time.
Robert's expression was slightly dazed, and the arrow wound on his right chest was still throbbing.
And the next day.
At dawn in Riverrun, the horn suddenly sounded.
The endless Dothraki began to move at dawn.
But they did not attack the impregnable Riverrun, but bypassed the river and charged directly at the allied camp outside Riverrun.
"Roar~"
Thousands of horses galloped on the ground, and the Dothraki let out a howl, charging over.
Last night, Viserys sent a letter to Riverrun demanding their surrender, handing over Robert Baratheon, Tywin, and Ned Stark, among other criminals.
But he was firmly rejected by the old Duke of Riverrun, Hoster Tully.
And told Viserys that he should take his barbarians and dragons and get out of Westeros forever, or they would kill the dragons and these barbarians.
And Viserys promised the Duke of Riverrun, the protector of the Riverlands, that the Tully family line would be cut off, Riverrun would become ruins, and disappear forever in the river of history.
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