Duke Horst suddenly smiled, glancing at the stiff face of his family's sole heir, Edmure, and said, "Sir Gregor, the value of Riverrun cannot be measured in gold dragons. This city has a history spanning thousands of years, and the Tully family has repeatedly repaired it, resulting in its current grandeur. I cannot pay the equivalent price to redeem the city; even millions of gold dragons are insufficient to match Riverrun's glory. Faced with this priceless ancient fortress, no amount of gold dragons would be appropriate. Therefore, I express our Tully family's deepest apologies for this conflict, and you return Riverrun to the Tully family for ten thousand gold dragons."
With composure and humility, reason and evidence, keen observation and clear logic, and finally a sum of money to settle the matter, the Duke of Horst dominated the Riverlands for decades, demonstrating his shrewdness and experience. Many of the older generation of knights were such great figures, possessing eloquence, political acumen, and the ability to lead armies on horseback.
Ten thousand gold dragons, a huge sum of money.
However, if the cost were divided among the various noble families in the city, and made to be shared by the dozens of noble families who were imprisoned, it would actually be a relatively small amount.
The Mountain captured all the nobles and patriarchs or heirs of wealthy merchant families in the city. Even if there were twenty nobles, an average ransom of five hundred gold dragons per person would fall within the range of ransoms for conflicts between nobles. Furthermore, this time it was the ransom for Riverrun. To put it bluntly, as Duke Horst said, even millions of gold dragons couldn't measure the value of this ancient city and famous castle. Therefore, this sum was indeed merely an expression of the Tully family's apology for this conflict.
Ten thousand gold dragons in exchange for the priceless Riverrun was a bargain for the Tully family; there was no lower price to be expected. As for the Mountain, although Edmure was the instigator of the conflict, the Tully family's way of expressing their apology was truly beyond belief.
There has never been a case where a conflict between nobles had incurred a greater cost than this one, nor has there ever been anything like it in the history of the Seven Kingdoms! In peacetime, when conflicts arise between nobles, there are absolutely no cases of demanding ransom for the other side. Instead, they capture each other's people and force the other side to pay ransom. Killings are usually done by killing the other side's lackeys. All conflicts are kept within a controllable range.
After all, in peacetime, there is a king and prime minister, a royal army, unified national laws, and nobles loyal to the royal family. If anyone goes too far, the king can order all the nobles in the country to mobilize their armies, and no single family can stand against the power of the entire nation.
"Deal!" said Demon Mountain.
Edmure's face turned deathly pale!
Sir Wayne was speechless!
The finance manager, Fran, couldn't breathe, as if it were his own money!
Bernie's adoration of the Magic Mountain reached its peak!
Bad guys always tend to idolize bad guys who are even worse than themselves!
"Bernie, take these six brothers and help Manager Fran move the money onto the ship and transport it to the west bank of the Red Fork," the Mountain said.
The money is only truly yours once it reaches the West Bank. If it's left in Flowing City, and circumstances change, who knows who it will belong to!
"Yes, Lord Mountain!" Bernie heard his own voice sound unreal.
Such a large sum of money was something a nobody like him had never seen before. It was like a poor person who had never lived in a palace suddenly finding themselves in one.
An hour later, thirteen thousand golden dragons were transported to the Clegane cavalry camp on the west bank of the Red Fork River. This sum of money was enough for the Clegane cavalry of the Mountain to live comfortably until the outbreak of the Five Kingdoms War. At that time, the Five Kingdoms War broke out, and the Mountain's army would sustain itself through war, with no worries about money or provisions.
Count Leo watched with envy and trepidation. The Mountain's blackmailing skills had improved, his appetite had grown even larger, and he was becoming increasingly lawless. He was personally profiting, but the entire Western Territory was bearing the blame.
This is fucking ridiculous!
Count Leo and his knights were blinded by the Mountain's methods of getting rich!
The Mountain was satisfied and in a good mood: "Sir Edmure, don't be angry, Bernie, give Sir Edmure a handful of Westerling noodles."
Westerling noodles?
Duke Horst, Edmure, and Maester Weyman were all hearing about it for the first time.
As for noodles, the Tuli family, being wealthy and powerful, could simply order the chef to make them whenever they wanted. The Hejian region was abundant in wheat and rice, and grain production had always been a strength of the region.
But they had never seen noodles so thin and white, and all of them were the same size and uniform.
Based on the chefs' experience making noodles by hand, it's impossible for every noodle to be the same length, nor could they possibly be so thin and uniform in size. — The noodles the Dukes of Horst ate were essentially blocks of dough.
After the chef kneads the dough, he hand-pulls and stretches it into any shape to make 'noodles', which are then thrown into boiling water to cook. These are the'superior noodles' enjoyed by the Dukes of Horst.
Refined?
No!
thin?
No!
What kinds of ingredients, such as eggs, seasonings, meat broth, salt, etc., are added to noodles?
No!
The noodles that the Dukes of Horst ate were primitive and coarse blocks of dough of varying thickness. Compared to the refined noodles that the Mountain brought out, one was made from the soil, while the other was a refined delicacy from a civilization several levels higher.
"It can be eaten raw, cooked, or stored. These noodles are also dried!" said Demon Mountain.
Bernie picked up the Westerling noodles and started eating, and he was happy to demonstrate to the nobles, especially the high-ranking nobles.
"The noodles have eggs, salt, seasonings, and spices in them! I thank Count Edmure for taking our food bags without throwing them away or crushing them," the Mountain said.
He pulled out a noodle and handed it to Duke Horst, Earl Edmure, and Maester Weyman: "Try it. If you're interested, we can cooperate on the noodle business. This kind of noodle can be sold in shops to nobles, knights, soldiers, and commoners."
Faced with such exquisitely made noodles, Duke Horst not only broadened his horizons but also thoroughly whetted his taste buds.
They had never heard of adding eggs, gravy, spices, salt, and other ingredients to the noodles themselves; they had never seen noodles made to be the same length and size; and they had never seen noodles dried and stored!
But what surprised them even more was yet to come.
The Mountain said, "Your Grace, July is almost here. The Riverlands' milk, wine, fish, wheat, and rice are famous throughout the seven kingdoms and sell well across the Narrow Sea. However, July and August are often disastrous months for the milk industry, as outbreaks of diseased milk frequently occur during these months. We in the Westerlands, or rather, Jenny Westerling of the Westerling family, have discovered a way to turn the diseased milk that can only be dumped into sewers into delicious milk, cheese, milk noodles, milk cakes, milk desserts, and all sorts of healthy foods."
Duke Horst, Earl Edmure, Maester Weyman, and Steward Fran all stared at the Mountain as if he were a talking monster!
"The Riverlands produce the most milk among the seven kingdoms. If the Duke is interested, and if the Tully family can transform the diseased milk into healthy milk and produce a wide variety of dairy products, then the Tully family will quickly recoup the 13,000 golden dragons you have given us today. Furthermore, the 200,000 people of the Riverlands will no longer have to pour milk into ditches and the Trident River."
Duke Horst said, "Sir Gregor, you said..."
But his words were abruptly interrupted by the Mountain: "Your Grace, do not doubt my words. The snow salt you have never seen before is real, the Westerling noodles you have never seen before are real, and the transformation of diseased milk into healthy milk is also real. You only need to send someone you trust to visit me in the city of Cliff Rock in Westerling, and you will immediately know whether it is true or not. Snow salt, Westerling noodles, and the transformation of diseased milk into healthy milk—we can cooperate on all of these."
Duke Horst and the others exchanged bewildered glances, filled with surprise and uncertainty!
However, sending someone to the Westerling family's Rock City to take a look is a feasible option.
Duke Horst and Earl Edmure exchanged a glance and agreed to send men to Cliffrock. After all, when the diseased milk outbreak occurred, the milk poured into the Trident River had turned the surging waters white.
"I'll go see!" Sir Edmure said somewhat abruptly. His decision caught Duke Horst off guard!
The Mountain said, "Lord Horst, our conflict has been perfectly resolved. We have no more grudges against each other, and this matter is now closed. I swear by the honor of House Clegane and the name of the Seven, and with the piety of the Old Gods, that whenever Sir Edmure goes to House Westerling's Rock, I will personally escort him to and from there, and I will guarantee his safety with my life!"
*
A day later, The Mountain and Edmure set off from Riverrun to the Westerling family's Rock. They had just left the city gates and were boarding a ferry when a troop of men roared in from the opposite bank of the river. The red-robed general at the head of the troop shouted on his horse, "The Mountain, you stop right there!"