"No one can call this exploitation," Aegon told the Small Council. "Those unwilling to pay need only give up pepper, silk, and pearls. Then they won't spend a single coin.
But the nobility's hunger for luxury is bottomless, never satisfied. Without such fineries, how could they flaunt their power and surpass rivals in the contest of wealth? They may grumble, but in the end, they will pay."
Taxing luxuries was only one of Aegon's measures.
He also issued a castle-building decree: any lord wishing to build, expand, or repair a castle must pay a substantial fee for royal permission.
As he explained to Grand Maester Bennifer, this law had a deeper purpose: "The greater and stronger a castle, the easier it is for a lord to nurture disloyal thoughts. You might think they'd have learned from the fate of 'Blackheart' Harren, but in truth, many know little of history.
This tax will make them think twice before raising new fortresses. And those who insist must pay dearly—filling our treasury in the process."
At this time, castles were primarily military bastions. Their urban functions were carried out instead by the markets that sprang up outside their walls.
The Winter Town outside Winterfell, the bustling market near Highgarden—these places were the true centers of population and trade. Their inhabitants often outnumbered those inside the noble keeps by several times, even dozens of times.
By regulating the castles of the nobility, Aegon had found another way to weaken local lords' power, laying the foundation for one day placing their lands directly under crown-appointed officials.
...
Once he had stabilized the crown's finances, Emperor Aegon and Queen Alysanne planned a royal progress through the realm.
They wished not only to see their people's needs firsthand, but also to project the majesty of the crown. At the same time, they intended to settle accounts with those dukes who had yet to surrender succession rights, bringing every Warden fully under royal authority.
In Aegon's plan, the royal couple would meet the great lords face-to-face, submitting themselves openly to their judgment. They would also go among the common folk to hear their grievances. And wherever they traveled, their dragons would be at their side.
Aegon was certain that his subjects would come to accept centralized rule, but he would not wait passively for it to happen.
"Words are like the wind," he told the Small Council. "They seem formless, but they can fan sparks into flame. My father answered reckless words with iron and blood. We, instead, shall answer words with words, extinguishing sparks before they blaze."
So, instead of knights or soldiers, Aegon dispatched preachers.
"Let all the realm know the Emperor's grace is as boundless as the sea, and His divine might as inescapable as prison," he commanded them.
Seven preachers set out—three men and four women.
They bore no swords or axes, only their courage, their wisdom, and their tongues, which they would use to win hearts.
Stories of their journey multiplied, their deeds soon passing into legend—and like all legends, each retelling made them larger, brighter, and more dramatic than the last.
When the seven preachers first set out, only one was known to the common folk: Lady Elinor, famed for her bounty and abundance.
Lady Elinor of House Costayne traveled through the Reach. With her stirring testimony, she praised the glory of the Emperor. Along her long journey, her fine clothes grew ragged and worn...
In time, she renounced all noble privileges, joined the Faith, and ultimately became Mother Elinor of the Great Convent at Lannisport.
The other six preachers sent forth by the Emperor would, in time, achieve renown nearly equal to hers.
Among them were two young Septons—Brother Baldrick, quick-witted and sharp of tongue, and Brother Rollo, learned and eloquent—as well as the stalwart elder Brother Alfyn. Yet Alfyn had lost both legs years before, and could only travel by palanquin.
The three women chosen with equal care by the Emperor were no less remarkable.
Septa Ysabel had once served Queen Alysanne on Dragonstone and had been deeply moved by the queen's grace. Sister Violante, petite in stature, was famed far and wide for her healing arts—wherever she went, it was said, miracles of recovery followed. Mother Maris, from the Vale, had long tended a convent on the isle within Gulltown's harbor, where she lovingly raised generations of orphaned girls.
Together, these seven preachers traveled across the realm, proclaiming the Emperor's justice and mercy, and teaching the necessity of central rule.
When common folk, brothers of the Beggars' Brotherhood, wandering knights, or discontented lords called Aegon a tyrant, the preachers would answer with passages from the [New Testament – Sevenstar Canon].
This sacred text, written by Aenys—hailed as Savior, Dreamer of the Divine, and Son of the Father—declared plainly:
"—It is because we are born to be ruled by the Emperor, that he shoulders the burden of rule."
The teaching was simple and clear.
From his palanquin, Brother Alfyn would preach: "We must obey the will of the True God and submit to the Emperor, who is the god made flesh. Those who defy him shall be lost forever after death; those who honor him shall gain eternal life."
One tale tells of Brother Baldrick, who was once challenged in a village by a towering knight.
"We nobles of Westeros have held our inheritance for thousands of years. Our proud bloodlines have ruled this continent for centuries. Why should the Emperor strip this away from us?"
Baldrick smiled calmly and replied, "Because the Emperor is a god, and all things in this world were made and granted by the divine. He merely lent you this land to tend. Now that he has returned, it is only right that it be restored to him."
...
Historians are ever faced with the same difficulty: when we look back at events that did happen, it is easy to trace causes at length. But when we ponder events that did not happen, we are left only with guesses.
The truth is, in the fifty-second year of the Conquest, the Seven Kingdoms did not rise as one against Aegon II's centralization, as they had against Aegon I a decade before.
The exact reason is hard to define.
Aegon II's invincible strength surely mattered. So too did the exhaustion of nobles and smallfolk alike, weary of war.
Yet if words do indeed carry power—whether like the wind or otherwise—the work of the Seven Preachers cannot be dismissed.