Chapter 264
"It is the certificate of deposit of Church Bank, which is anonymous and can be exchanged for money at sight."
The world's maritime trade is particularly developed, and the banking industry is also prosperous. It is unrealistic to issue paper currency, but similar The "Jiaozi" of the Celestial and Song Dynasties has long existed.
However, most of them are real-name certificates of deposit of large amounts, which are not accepted by Golden Dragon Bank if there are no more than 3 banks, and the money can only be withdrawn if the parties or their designated persons are present and signed and adjourned.
Of course, banks encourage depositors to use bearer certificates of deposit, which are almost equivalent to large-denomination banknotes.
But it is very unsafe. If Dany is robbed, he will lose 20,000 Golden Dragons at once, but a Noble's ransom is only 100 Golden Dragons...
Therefore, even if Dany won the three major city-states of Ghis, he didn't find many bearer certificates of deposit from slave merchants.
Shiquik widened his eyes and slid his fingers on it tremblingly: "One, ten, one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand... The Seven is above, twenty thousand Golden Dragon?"
"Small meaning," Dany serene waved his hand, "tell High Sparrow, use the money immediately, it is best not to buy food in the Seven Kingdoms, go to the other side of the Narrow Sea to find a food merchant."
20,000 Golden Dragons are trivial, are you a billionaire?
Sure enough, no one is perfect, this Miss Knight is kind-hearted, beautiful, and good-looking, just like to brag.
Shiquik cautiously hid the parchment on the flesh, puzzled: "Why? It's cheaper to buy food from Highgarden!"
"Ai, Seven Kingdoms is short of food, and only suffers from internal consumption. It's hard to get through this winter without buying out. And Tyrell and Lannister are in constant conflict, Highgarden won't support King's Landing all the time, and when you all go to Reach to sell food, prices will definitely rise rapidly.
Foreign profiteers will increase the price of food even if the cost remains the same, such a vicious circle, the currency will depreciate wildly, and the King's Landing economy will inevitably collapse."
"This..." Shiquik completely listened I don't understand, some don't know what to do, so I suggest: "How about you go with me to Great Sept to see High Septon? If you have any advice, you can tell High Sparrow in person. I don't understand, but it's always good for the people of King's Landing."
"See High Sparrow?" Dany hesitated, looking towards White Cloak.
"You can go see me." Barristan nodded and said.Dany asked Shiquik again: "Will he meet me?"
"Sure!"
"Well, to that Legendary Rising Most Devout, I would also like to know more about it."
King's Landing is adjacent to Blackwater Rush in the south and Blackwater Bay in the east. The urban area is mainly composed of three hills, named after the three couples of Aegon the Conqueror: civilians and poor people live in Rhaenys' Hill, the central location is the abandoned dragon's nest, and Flea Bottom is also there; Visenya's Hill, where craftsmen and the middle class live, the representative building is the Great Sept of Baelor (Church of The Seven); Aegon's, where King and nobles live High Hill, Red Keep is located on a high cliff at the corner of Blackwater Rush and Blackwater Bay.
They went all the way east along the Great Way, the streets were still dirty, messy, rundown, but the buildings gradually became tall and tidy: the air was still full of stench and corruption, but there were also spirits, The flour and toast smell mixed in with it...well, it seemed to smell even worse.
On the way, Dany met a naked prostitute lying on the second floor window to greet customers, and saw a blue robe woman carrying a vegetable basket. The street vendor bought five shriveled apples the size of a child's fist, and saw a hotel and a hotel with a downturn in business...
After turning to the Street of the Sisters, Dany also saw the owned The Guild of Alchemists.
There is a huge Blackstone building complex, only two or three Pyromancers are idly in and out, and the nearby ordinary person seems to avoid the source of the plague, and they speed up their pace when passing by.
In contrast to the Guild of Alchemists, the Great Sept of Baelor is almost overcrowded, mostly rags and filthy refugees.
They seem to have made their home in the square, taking the old and the young, building sackcloth tents on the white marble floors, mud huts beside the altar of Saint Baelor, on the steps of the Great Sept pulpit, and Lay out the rolls, raise the fire, and put the pots and pans aside.
The Great Sept of Baelor is filled with smoke! !
Shiquik walked quickly to a group of soldiers in brown sackcloth, handed the purse to the leading one-armed man, and explained while pointing fingers at Dany on the edge of the square.
Soon the group of soldiers came towards Dany, slovenly, scruffy, armed with lances, axes, and in untidy uniforms. Some had a ragged plate armor on their sackcloth coat, some wore rusted mail, and some had only a cracked leather armor, but all had Church's seven-pointed star painted on their chests.
Dany gets it, this rags-to-riches army is High Sparrow's 'beggar army' - the poor man's assembly.
Of course, 'The Poor People's Association' is what ordinary people call this Church Forces. In Church of The Seven, its real name is actually awesome -- Stars.
The one-armed man first expressed his gratitude to Dany and Barristan before asking, "Are you a parishioner?"
"Well, we all believe in The Seven, and I'm still a faculty member. Personnel." Dany nods.
"Okay, then, I'll take the two to see Most Devout immediately." The one-armed man smiled with satisfaction, "The two church members, I don't know what to call them?"
Dany Handing the horse to a Stars, he smiled and said, "My name is Kasha Alexander, and he is my Knight squire Arstan."
"Hello, Miss Kasha, my name is Lancel," the one-armed man has a He hesitated for a moment, "Lancel Lannister."
"Lannister?" Dany was shocked.
Suddenly, she thought of who he was, Jaime's cousin, who climbed on Cersei's bed and killed Robert's immediate murderer.
"I have given up my title and territory, and I have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to The Seven." The one-armed hero looked vicissitudes of life and his tone was desolate, like a monk who saw through the world.
They walked through the crowds, past bonfires, carriages and shacks... Refugees were sluggish, gloomy, numb, and many were vaguely hostile.
Lancel stopped in the middle of the crowd and announced loudly, "This Miss Kasha Alexander is our parishioner, a devout follower of The Seven, and she has donated a large sum of money to us."
Just like turning on the beauty and background lights suddenly, the expressions of the refugees changed suddenly. The eyes looking towards Dany were gentle, reverent, and full of kindness. The gray and cold weather seemed to be sunny.
"Too realistic." Dany complained in his heart and smiled.
As she approached the statue of King Baelor the Blessed, she was shocked to see the majestic marble statue with a kind smile, piled from the waist down with various bones and skeletons, many of which still had flesh and blood .
There are fat white maggots squirming, buzzing flies flying around, and even a group of crows parked on it for a dry light meal.
"What's this doing?" Dany asked Lancel next to him.
"All the faculty members who died tragically in Riverlands, Crownlands, Stormlands in recent years, Septa, Septon, regional Devout, some of them were hanged by Red God cultists, some were dismembered by North rebels , but more was..."
paused, the one-armed man ugly complexionly continued: "Murdered and killed by Bloody Mummers hired by Duke Tywin. And wandering in Riverlands and Crownlands. They robbed Septon, raped Septa, and even spared the Silent Sisters. The brothers of the poor congregation have collected their remains from all over the country, in the hope that the Holy Church will bear witness."
Bloody Mummers is Brave Companions, the mercenary group of second only to Second Sons (Titan's Bastard, destroyed by Dany) in the reputation of Essos continent.
The stupidest thing Duke Tywin ever did in his life was hire the notorious Brave Companions from across the Narrow Sea to do the dirty work for him.
Excluding his son Jaime having his right hand chopped off by the Brave Companions, this arrangement also completely destroyed the Riverlands agricultural production - unfortunately it didn't help much in winning the Riverlands princes.
The Three Rivers basin, the granary of the Seven Kingdoms, became Iron Throne's biggest burden after War of Four Kings ended.
High Sparrow, including his little Sparrow, are all refugees from the Three Rivers basin.
Walking on the stone steps in front of Sept, Lancel reminded: "Miss Kasha, according to Lord High Septon's order, weapons of non-Church Forces personnel cannot be brought into Sept, you and your squire must be released. Sword belt."
"Okay," Dany took off the long sword from his waist and handed it to White Cloak, "you wait here."
Old Knight hesitated for a moment, then Nod to "Clearsky".
It doesn't matter if the ordinary iron sword is handed over to the poor, but the appearance of the Valyrian Steel Sword doesn't show anything special. Anyone who pulls it out and swings it will immediately notice the abnormality in weight and thickness.
With two Valyrian Steel Swords appearing all at once, it is hard to guarantee that the poor and insane will not be greedy for ink, or cause other troubles.
Crossing Saint Baelor Square and a small garden, Dany followed Lancel to the Sept gate.
This is a majestic marble dome with seven crystal towers towering over it. After entering the gate, there is a long corridor leading to the interior of Sept.
Lancel stopped in front of the hallway, where more than twenty Septons in sackcloth were kneeling on the ground, scrubbing the floor vigorously with clean water in the wood, a rag in his right hand and soap in his left hand.
Dany was wondering when a skinny old man 1.5 meters tall got up from the ground, threw the rag back into the bucket, his skinny old face cracked with a smile, and said, "Kasha, thank you for serving King's Everything the Landing people did."
"You, you're High Septon?" Dany's eyes widened.
The old man is not as tall as her shoulders, his body is too thin, his brown robe seems to be wrapped around a hemp pole, and his bare feet are black and hard and rough like tree roots.
But he wasn't sloppy at all, his robe was frayed and patched, but washed very cleanly, his beard was neatly trimmed, his thinning hair was combed back and tied into a knot, a very refreshing Little Old Man.
"I'm High Sparrow," he said with a mild smile. "It's not convenient for guests here, Kasha, please come with me."
He led her over the sewage-stained and The corridor of soap bubbles, through the double | Inner Sect, into a wide hall, Dany's iron boots, High Sparrow's bare feet, can echo on the marble slabs.
There are seven tall statues in the hall. Except for Stranger, the altars under the other six statues are filled with candles, almost a thousand candles, shining like stars.
When I came to the center of the hall, a rainbow of rainbow lights slanted in from the lead-inlaid glass windows on the big dome, countless dust danced in the beams, and the air was filled with incense. A Septon led hundreds of Sparrows. Pray before the image of Mother, their voices are like the waves of the distant sea, ethereal and sacred.
"Which Spiritual God does Kasha serve?" High Sparrow asked softly.
"Maiden." Dany said, and automatically walked towards the Maiden altar.