Capítulo 12: Hand of the king
(Time skip 1 year)
(6 years old Raymond's pov)
Duties of the Hand include commanding the king's armies,drafting laws, dispensing justice, and generally managing the day-to-day running of the kingdom. The Hand may act on the king's behalf when he is indisposed, and sit the Iron Throne while doing so. The Hand sits on the small council and will run the council if the king is not present.
The office typically makes the Hand the second-most powerful man in the kingdom next to the king, though some Hands have had the reputation of ruling their kings.
It is considered by some to be a difficult and unglamorous job of great responsibility. A popular saying goes, "What the king dreams, the Hand builds," but the lowborn say, "The king eats, and the Hand takes the shit." Many able men have failed in the office throughout history.
The Hand resides in the Tower of the Hand within the Red Keep. His badge of office always includes a hand, though each Hand can design his own. Rogar Baratheon used brooches of gold and iron, respectively, and a silver clasp has also been used. Some Hands have used chains,such as a necklace of linked golden hands of Septon Barth, considered by some as the wisest man to have served as Hand, He wrote the Books of Law in 55 AC. which i love reading, And lastly the Servants of the Hand might wear the emblem of a hand.
Talk about hand , I'm currently inside the tower of the hand and watching how the hand of the king works in his office.
At first i had questions
What exactly does a (good) Hand of the King do ?
I did read the story of Septon Barth.
Barth was the son of a blacksmith who became a septon, and worked in the Red Keep's library, until he came to the attention of King Jaehaerys I, who appointed him as his Hand.
Barth was the Hand of the King for forty years - (AN:damn) most of the Old King's reign which was the pinnacle of prosperity in the Targaryen era. Among the many reforms that happened during this partnership are the construction of the Kingsroad and the network of roads linking various castles of the Lords Paramount, the establishment of an unified code of law throughout the realm, the reconciliation of the Crown and the Faith, and a peace in the kingdoms that lasted for decades.
Well after hanging around with my grandfather i found some of the other and most important answers.
The best Hands of the King are sort of a jack of all trades: political operators, accountants, diplomats, lawyers, generals, counselors, logistics experts and historians.
The hand need to manage a complex royal court, including the other members of the Small Council and courtiers who all want something from the king. There are a lot of competing egos and interests in play and they all need to be navigated and accounted for in decision-making.
They need to have a good head for money, keeping an eye on the purse, managing tax collection and balancing the need for taxation income with what people are willing to pay, and making sure the Master of Coin is keeping honest books.
They need to be able to peacefully mediate conflicts, interact with foreign officials, set up trade links and be the public "face" of the crown.
They need to have a feel for jurisprudence — in terms of efficacy, fairness and means of enforcement — to push through new laws, enforce existing ones and discard ones that are no longer fit for purpose.
They need to have some head for war and military matters, either by having their own experience or by successfully identifying men who do. If foreign or domestic war breaks out or rebellions pop up, the Hand needs to be able to address it competently.
They need to be candid and unafraid of speaking truthfully to the king about sensitive issues, steer the king wisely when deciding a course of action and keep the king honest, as it were, when it comes to the crown's promises and obligations. They may need to occasionally save the king from himself.
They need to be outstanding administrators and, for lack of a better term, bean counters. Building projects, the ins and outs of food production and industry, the distribution of products and supplies and the overall "engine" of the country are all in their purview. How does something get from A to Z in the most efficient manner? Where can costs be limited? Where can the process be improved? This also requires them to identify useful talent, cultivate it and delegate tasks to others. A good Hand shouldn't be a micromanager; they'd never keep up with everything.
They need to know what's already worked and what hasn't and use that to inform their actions. What can a tax strike 50 years ago mean for today? Does a drought three winters ago mean another will occur, and if so, how should the agricultural sector prepare for it? If this city-state in Essos sent a trade mission two kings ago, would they send another? If this tactic worked to win a battle in some war, will it work in a new war? And so on. You need to know where you've been to see where you're going. A well-read Hand is a good Hand.
Not all of these things are equally important in any given reign. A more peaceful reign might have more emphasis on diplomacy, jurisprudence and money management for spending on domestic infrastructure. A reign marred by war could mean the Hand would do better having more military experience, in addition to managing logistics and money to prop up the war effort.
That is for the war time scenario, but peace time needs an excellent administrator.
Overall the king can be absent or sometimes ignore his duty but the hand cannot.
So overall it is the hands job to run the entire continent.
It's a thankless job ,the man doesn't get many vacation days,only gets and shit tons of works and some more.
I'm currently sitting in one of the chair and watching how Ser Otto writing something very important.
The scratching of quill on parchment cut through the otherwise silent room.
A month ago I suggested my grandfather about my revolutionary financial idea of double-entry Bookkeeping. I explained to him how this new financial accounting could benefit the crown.
Double-entry bookkeeping, also known as double-entry accounting, is a method of bookkeeping that relies on a two-sided accounting entry to maintain financial information. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry to a different account. The double-entry system has two equal and corresponding sides known as debit and credit. A transaction in double-entry bookkeeping always affects at least two accounts, always includes at least one debit and one credit, and always has total debits and total credits that are equal. The purpose of double-entry bookkeeping is to allow the detection of financial errors and fraud.
In exchange i also received a lot of pocket money in promise cause,not that i needed at the moment I'm too small to spend it.
And this new financial system also costed the life of our many tax collectors. They were executed for their corruption.
Our old master of coin Lyman beesbury almost lost his job, though he will loose his job once I grow up.
So the credit for the new accounting system The hand of the king took it for himself.
Of course he asked where and how did I learned such high level financial secrets?
My answer was simple.... in my dreams....I was already considered a strange child. Magic not that unbelievable because we are living with dragons... And throughout history a lot of targaryen had dreams there is also a unknown history about a hightower princess having dreams in the age of heroes,
And the Dragons...the creatures
themselves considered by many, magic made in flesh.
So my grandfather did not asked any further, only warned me that if I have any of these similar high level classified dreams then make sure to tell him about it first.
And as for my rewards i get to spend time with him and so that i can learn about politics, administrations, and overall how be a Hand of the King in the process.
I also asked for a meteorite/ AKA in westeros a Fallen Star as my name day present. He was confused but agreed to find one for me.
At the moment he's writing a letter.... to whom i don't know but I like to know what is it about?
Just what is it so important that Hand of the King needs to write himself?
Further food for thought; frankly my head was starting to hurt at the number of plots and players in this game I had entered.
"Grandfather." I said.
He hummed, shuffling through a pile of papers. I half expected him to dismiss me, thinking our business was finished, but he was silent, so I stayed sat opposite him.
"I have been made aware," Otto said after a moment, "Some of your ideas could be Unnatural, revolutionary and.... dangerous. But i have given it a lot of thoughts. The Ice import from the north might seems like a impossible task, but with right amount of tools that you've suggested and manpower it is possible. And in the long run we could hold a lot of monopoly over Dorne.Because of their harsh landscape Dornishmen needs it the most. As they do with their spice, it could be used as great counter for it."
"NOT just Dorne every landscape in the south will bow down if my plans succeed."
I shall rule the world through ice cream....!
"Hmm...Your dragon dreams are a great boon for the family Raemond."
"I can hardly take undue amounts of credit, Grandfather, but I hope I have proved myself useful to my family in that regard. I also thank you for teaching me some of your statecrafts."
"Rather young to be taking a role in crafting economic policy and building ports, are you not?
he asked, ignoring my humble answer.
"I am," I conceded with a small smile. "And I cannot claim to be any type of genius, My lord hand. But I am blessed by the gods with some small number of ideas and wants to worked diligently with the fine Maester Mellos and the dutiful grandfather, the most wise man in the seven Kingdoms."
He smiled, not a full, beaming grin like that of Aegon's, but a softer, smaller sort of smile. Carefully, he picked up a sheet of parchment and handed it across the table to me.
"What can you tell me about these numbers, Raemond?"
Is he testing me again.... why? Well its always Interesting.
I analysed the information before me. I was wary of some sort of trick, but it all seemed pretty simple to me.
"Looks to be the crop yields for the village of Rockleberry in the domain of," I squinted at the signed name at the bottom of the page, "a Ser Wallace Blackberry, grandfather. There's the usual dividends to the bailiff, a cut for the smallfolk, and then the reported amount given up to his liege lord, Lord Darry."
He took the paper back and handed me another, far more detailed, account.
"And this?" He asked.
"A summation of taxes paid by Lord Manderly of White Harbour to Lord Stark of Winterfell in… 79 AC," I said after perusing the document. "Looks like it was a tough year, grandfather. Or Lord Manderly was an underhanded thief, and none too subtle about it."
Wordlessly he handed me another document.
"Ah, this is the same summation but for the year 85 AC," I said with interest, reading the document meticulously line by line. "And an immensely higher tax and tariff yield than the previous one. Population growth alone cannot explain it, nor do the number of goods noted seem much different…"
I trailed off, thinking, as Otto watched me.
"I'd have to look at the accounts across the time period, but my guess is that White Harbour was giving a new municipal charter between the two dates," I said, finally.
He took the documents back, neither confirming nor denying my conclusion.
The test continued for the better part of a half hour. Otto would present me some tax account, or economic law, or debt agreement and I would explain what it was. By the end he was even asking how I would improve certain taxes, laws and agreements. Once a guard knocked on the door, but Otto waved him away before the knight could open his mouth.
By the end, I knew I had impressed him, albeit grudgingly so.
"How do you know all this ? ."
"in my dreams."
And then it was silence....pure silence.
It was pure dragonshit.... I know and he knows that as well. And why must I do this?, cause i don't have much better explanation sue me I'm too lazy to think of a better one.
"By the gods..! if daemon was born with your blessings then I would have never suggested to the king to make the princess his heir."
"Well grandfather judging by his personality he would rather used the knowledge to destroy the house then build it."
Well that's true...there's is a another reason me and Otto get along because of our shared hatreds for daemon the pedophile cunt.
Then a knocked the door and grandfather gave the permission to enter.
A well built Knight entered the room and just a single glance at him i learned who he is. Uncle Gwayne entered the room in his Gold cloak officer outfit.
He smiled "Good Morrow nephew is your study going well?"
"Good morrow uncle, of course I am learning from the finest after all."
Then he's attention shifted towards the man sitting in main chair. He's expression also turned all professional.
"My lord Hand I have brought you the message from the one called the White Worm."
Oh now that's news. it seems Raenyra and Daemon have done something really stupid.
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