The Development of Yunkai
The parliament chamber was still heavy with the smell of wax and cedar when Daenerys shifted in her chair. The vote on the rubber factory had been passed. Plans would be drafted, reviewed, and only then would funds be sanctioned. She gave a firm nod and turned to the next matter.
"The economy," she said. "Slaver's Bay must feed itself and more. Speak."
A representative of Meereen, a man in silk robes with streaks of gray in his beard, rose. His voice was steady but tinged with unease.
"Empress. It must be said plainly. Our wealth, for centuries, was slavery. Chains brought coins. Chains kept our markets full. Without them, the bay is hollow. Yes, Meereen still breeds silkworms. The cloth is good, but silk never matched the value of flesh. Yunkai and Astapor are worse. They have nothing. No silk. No gold. Only fish."
A few in the chamber murmured in agreement. Daenerys' face remained still, but her voice cut clean.
"Not true. Astapor has manpower. Free men, free women, who will not march in ranks or wield spears, but who can labor. That is worth more than mines or forests. They will work in factories. They will build. They will shape. Condoms are only the start. There will be more: tools, bricks, cloth, oil, iron. If they earn as free men, they will feed themselves and the empire both."
The Astapori delegate, a thin man with sharp shoulders, glanced up and gave a stiff nod. The murmurs in the hall quieted.
Daenerys leaned forward. "The age of chains is over. The age of work begins. We will push this land from the stone age of masters to the iron age of free people. And we will do it within this decade."
The Meereenese representative shifted and then spoke again, more confident this time.
"In Meereen, Empress, other trades grow already. Silk continues, but we have expanded to perfumes and wine. Freed workers produce thirty barrels of perfume each day. The Braavosi merchants pay in gold for it, and they will take more. Wine presses are working as well, with the freed vineyards outside the walls. But soap… soap lags. We produce only five crates a day, and the quality is poor. The ingredients rot. The workshops are damp. The soap spoils before it ships."
A woman from Yunkai raised her hand. "I have seen it. The soap crumbles. No city will pay for that."
Daenerys considered. "Perfume and wine bring steady coin. Continue. For soap, do not rush. Move the workshops to dry ground, near the coast if needed. Bring in better oils. Palm, olive, even rendered cattle fat from the plains. Do not waste labor on spoiled goods. First draw a plan. Show me where, who, and how much. Then we will vote and fund it. No plan, no coin."
Missandei wrote quickly, recording every word. The chamber gave small nods. The merchants muttered among themselves.
The Meereenese delegate bowed his head. "It will be done."
Daenerys' eyes turned then to the representative of Yunkai. A sharp-eyed woman, her dress simple, her expression hard.
"And Yunkai?" Daenerys asked.
The woman sighed before speaking. "Empress. We have nothing. Not like Astapor, not like Meereen. No silk. No mines. No skill. Our freedmen were bred for bed. They know how to please. They do not know how to forge iron or till fields. A few women sew, but their clothes are thin. Not enough to clothe a city. We fish, but fish will not keep the coffers full. We are hollow."
The chamber grew still. Even the Dothraki delegate gave no smile this time. It was the truth of Yunkai: a city built not on work, but on flesh.
Daenerys sat back, eyes narrowing. She let the silence stand before speaking.
"Then we change what flesh means. Yunkai will not die. It will live by turning what was once slavery into choice, into coin, into power. The idea is simple. Pleasure Paradise."
The words hung strange in the hall. She explained.
"Casinos. Houses where men gamble coins. Dice, cards, boards. Let them lose gold while the empire gains it. Taverns, not the mud pits you knew, but high houses with rich drink, music, and clean rooms. Water parks—fountains, pools, places where men and women can swim and rest. Not just for the rich, but for those who pay. Gardens—pleasure gardens. Brothels, yes, but not chains. Rooms where men and women work by choice. Orgies if they will, or single companions if they wish. And the coast—nude beaches. Shores where people strip and swim. Freedom, spectacle, indulgence. All under rules, all under law."
The Yunkai woman's brow furrowed. "Tourism. You mean to make Yunkai a city of play."
"Yes," Daenerys said, blunt. "A city where men from Qohor, Pentos, Braavos, even Lys, come to spend coins. Where your freed bed-slaves, who cannot smith or farm, earn in the only craft they know—on their own terms. Not as chains, but as workers. Every coin flows into the empire. Every rule will be set by us."
Some in the chamber shifted, uneasy. The Dothraki delegate gave a sharp laugh. "A city of games and flesh. Many khals will ride to see it."
Daenerys did not smile. "This is not chaos. It will not be the brothel pits of old. We will build it as law. I will go myself. I will walk Yunkai's streets. I will speak with the freed. I will see if the plan will hold. If it can, then we vote. If the vote passes, Yunkai will be rebuilt as Pleasure Paradise."
Missandei's quill scratched fast across parchment. The Yunkai delegate gave a stiff nod, though doubt lingered in her eyes.
Daenerys looked across the chamber. "This is the work of parliament. We find what is broken. We plan. We vote. And we act. No empire grows on hope alone."
Her words settled like stone. For a moment, no one spoke. Then the murmurs rose again. Some were approving. Some were doubtful. But the seed was planted.
Daenerys lifted her hand. "We will close today's session. The matters of Yunkai will be reviewed after my visit. The next plans for Meereen and Astapor will be drafted and brought here. All will be voted on. This is how we build an empire."
Missandei stood and read back the points, steady and precise:
Astapor: factory plans, to be reviewed and voted on.
Meereen: soap production to be moved and improved. Perfumes and wine to continue.
Yunkai: Pleasure Paradise, to be surveyed by the Empress before a formal plan.
The records were sealed. The first parliament meetings had set their rhythm.
Daenerys rose. Her white dress caught the torchlight. The soldiers at the door straightened.
"This session is closed," she said.
The chamber emptied slowly, delegates filing out in pairs or alone, voices low. Some argued. Some whispered. Some smiled at the thought of coins yet to come. Daenerys did not linger. She had already decided: Yunkai would either live by pleasure, or it would die in ruin. The choice would be theirs, and the law would be hers.
…
Next chapter: A field trip of Yunkai (18+)
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