"We are brothers, I won't let you fight Rhaenyra alone."
"Even if it's a one-on-one duel, it should be between me and Rhaenyra."
"Dragon combat is dangerous, always consider your safety."
Aegon lectured them with words he had repeated hundreds of times, only hoping Daeron and Aemond would take his words to heart.
"Got it, got it, always put your own life first, you've said that countless times."
"For something life-threatening, saying it a thousand or ten thousand times is not too much."
Daeron covered his ears, shook his head, ran to the table, pulled the fruit platter towards him, and mumbled while eating.
"Not listening, not listening, a tortoise chanting scriptures."
However, how sharp were Aegon's five senses?
Silently picking up a stick, Aegon approached Daeron, who was eating grapes, with a forced smile.
A silver moon hung in the sky, stars filled the night.
Alec and Kraken could hear Daeron's cries before they even entered the house.
The two entered the hall after knocking, and immediately saw Daeron sobbing loudly, lying on Helena's lap.
"Your Highness, what happened?" Kraken suppressed a smile.
Actually, they didn't need to ask; it must have been Daeron being disobedient and getting a beating from Aegon.
Alec secretly glanced at Daeron's backside.
After seeing clearly, Alec's eyelid twitched.
Good heavens, the raised red welts were neatly arranged; one look and you knew Aegon had given Daeron an even "loving" treatment.
"What happened? Everything's normal," Aegon feigned ignorance and changed the subject.
"Let's not talk about this, Helena, take Daeron back to his room first."
"Okay."
Helena led Daeron upstairs by the hand, and Daeron would "hiss" with every step.
"Sit down first, I have a few things to discuss with you."
The three sat around the round table.
"Please speak, Your Highness," Kraken poured Aegon a glass of wine, and then poured one for Alec.
"Thank you," Alec nodded in thanks.
Aegon took a sip of wine, then said:
"There are two main things. The first is a personal request of mine; if it's inconvenient for you, you can refuse."
"Your Highness, please speak, we will certainly do our best to satisfy you," Kraken took a sip of wine.
Alec nodded, indicating "me too" while drinking.
"It's not really a big deal. Aemond and Daeron are not young anymore, I want them to serve as your squires, how about it?"
"Serve as our squires?" Alec's eyes widened.
"How can this be? Our status is humble. The two princes should return to King's Landing and serve as the Hand of the King's or His Majesty's squires," Kraken quickly refused.
"Don't be in a hurry to refuse. Calm down and listen to me. What I'm about to say is half a secret plan."
"This... please speak, Your Highness."
Kraken straightened up, feeling that Aegon was about to do something big!
"My two younger brothers don't want to return to King's Landing. His Majesty clearly prefers Rhaenyra and her eldest son."
"So I simply won't let the two brothers go back."
"Most importantly, I plan to take control of the Triarchy and the Disputed Lands."
"Myr will be granted to Aemond, and Lys to Daeron, so they can familiarize themselves with the situation in advance and learn how to govern a region."
"Speaking of governance, this leads to another matter."
"I plan to establish a Round Table Council, with a total of eighteen positions. Strictly speaking, there are six main positions and twelve deputy positions."
Then, Aegon fully revealed his ideas about the Round Table Council.
The six main positions are: Councillor of Military Affairs, Councillor of Finance, Councillor of Law, Councillor of Land Affairs, Councillor of Infrastructure, and Councillor of Personnel.
The twelve deputy positions are deputies to the six main positions, capable of both sharing the burden and restraining the six main councillors.
It's just unknown whether the twelve deputies can truly restrain the six main councillors once implemented.
Kraken and Alec frowned after listening.
They had a rough understanding of the Councillor of Military Affairs, Councillor of Finance, and Councillor of Law.
Aegon had previously said he wanted to establish a standing army, so a Councillor of Military Affairs was needed, which was understandable.
The Councillor of Finance and Councillor of Law were essentially the Master of Coin and Lord of the Law of the Small Council, which was also not difficult to understand.
But what were the Councillor of Land Affairs, Councillor of Infrastructure, and Councillor of Personnel?
Hand of the King?
Or the Grand Maester?
Adhering to the principle of asking when unsure, Alec directly asked Aegon for details: "Your Highness, could you elaborate on what the Councillor of Land Affairs, Councillor of Infrastructure, and Councillor of Personnel do?"
"No problem," Aegon nodded, then shouted to the maid outside the door: "Go prepare some snacks and wine, quickly."
"I'll explain slowly. You should focus on considering the feasibility."
"First, Land Affairs primarily manages civil matters such as land surveying, household registration and population statistics, taxation, and marriage."
"Next, Infrastructure is mainly responsible for matters like engineering, construction, water conservancy, land reclamation, and military farming."
"Finally, Personnel can be understood as being established to serve the other five main councillors."
Because I will need a large number of grassroots officials, the Councillor of Personnel is mainly responsible for selecting grassroots officials.
They are also responsible for the appointment, dismissal, assessment, promotion, demotion, transfer, and ennoblement of grassroots officials."
Aegon explained his ideas as clearly as possible.
The three ate and talked.
They didn't finalize a preliminary plan until the early hours of the morning.
"You've worked hard, go back and rest quickly. I'll think about it some more," Aegon said, looking slightly tired.
Unimportant territories could naturally be granted as fiefs.
But he needed a political system that could operate efficiently to rule the crucial Dragonstone and the fertile Disputed Lands.
Only then could Aegon tap into the war potential of the Disputed Lands in the shortest possible time.
His first thought was to copy the centralized system from his previous life.
But later, he found that the centralized system was completely unworkable.
Ultimately, he could only reference feudalism and centralization, feeling his way towards a new system bit by bit.
Kraken and Alec exchanged glances, then advised:
"Your Highness, your health is important. Regardless of whether the new system proceeds smoothly, you must take care of yourself."
"Please forgive my bluntness, Your Highness, but your trial and error cost is actually very high, there's no need to be anxious."
No system is all advantages and no disadvantages.'
"That's right, Your Highness, implementing a new system will inevitably encounter many problems, but you have four, no, you have five dragons!"
Even Prince Daeron's dragon has fighting power. There is no problem you cannot solve!'
Aegon waved his hand, shed his fatigue, and smiled.
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm not anxious, nor will I work through the night. Don't worry, go back and rest quickly."