Chapter 321: The Funding Crisis
The two soon understood why Arya was running.
A group of Stark soldiers, intent on capturing their young lady, dashed past them like a gust of wind. The sight felt somewhat surreal to Nina, nearly making her forget what she had been saying. "Arya... hasn't she always been close to you? Why are you sending her away, my Lord?"
"We have always been close, but you must understand—being too friendly with the scion of a noble house can be a massive headache when they won't let go." Egger liked Arya, but this had nothing to do with affection or dislike. "She's helped me plenty, and now she's growing up and starting to remember things; I can't just coldly dismiss her. She's been driving me mad lately. Your arrival truly couldn't have been more timely."
"Uh..." Receiving such a strange compliment left even the world-wise Nina a bit nonplussed. she felt a faint sense of unease—had she innocently offended Lady Stark? But on second thought, she didn't have to deal with House Stark; whether Arya liked her or not made little difference.
Nina dismissed the meaningless thought. Within half a minute, it was behind her, and ten seconds later, she picked up the thread of the conversation they were having before Arya appeared. "But you needn't worry too much, my Lord. What I said about someone from House Florent having too many ideas—it was just something I sensed early. In reality, they haven't started exerting actual pressure or taken any action yet. My temporary departure will let them cool off. By the time I return, the news of your election as Lord Commander will likely have spread. Whatever plans they have, they'll have to account for the Master of the Gift and restrain themselves."
She paused and sighed. "Let's put the unpleasantness aside for now. Ever since you left King's Landing for the Wall, the Night's Watch has been constantly demanding funds and supplies from the capital... While the mission of the Night's Watch Industries is to support the Wall's defenders, not everyone possesses such high ideals. After a period of 'seeing the letters but not the man, just hands reaching out for this and that,' whispers began to circulate among the middle and upper management that you were being held under house arrest or controlled by the Watch. These rumors grew louder over time. At the urging of many managers, I planned to come north many times to confirm you were safe and free... but I realized that even if the suspicions were true, I couldn't save you. Instead, being a woman, I might only bring you more trouble. So, I suppressed the urge until the news of your election finally arrived. Only then did I feel truly at ease and arrange this trip."
Though she spoke in brief snatches, Egger could only imagine the pressure. For over a year, a young woman not yet twenty had independently managed such a massive enterprise without her mainstay. He could only guess at the internal and external threats she faced, or the torment of longing and worry she endured. As a man, he could imagine it, but he could never truly experience it.
"You all thought too much. The Night's Watch—and even the North—is different from the South. While there is internal scheming, it is as clean and pure as a white sheet compared to the sinister darkness of the capital and the royal court." Egger pulled the girl closer again, stroding with love as he stroked her slender shoulder. "However, making you worry was indeed a result of my lack of foresight. I've truly made it hard for you... there's no need for thanks between us. But I promise, here and from now on, you won't have to live in fear. You can enjoy your man's protection."
"Mmm," Nina whispered, barely audible. After a moment of observation, she finally confirmed it: Egger didn't need anyone to worry about him in the Gift; he was omnipotent and perfectly at ease. "I came this time mainly because I missed you so much, but also to explain in person: we are all very happy you were elected Lord Commander, but unfortunately, the Night's Watch Industries is no longer able to send a larger flow of funds as a celebration or support. I brought the financial statements for all activities, income, and expenditures over the past two years. There are small losses due to corruption and errors in judgment, which I've tried to highlight... If you have questions, I can explain everything clearly."
"I'll look at them when I have time; just leave them in my room," Egger nodded, reaching out to tap Nina's nose. "But I must correct a flaw in your phrasing—when you say you missed me, put it in a sentence of its own. Don't mix it with a bunch of other talk, trying to smuggle it through."
Nina's face, which had just begun to recover its normal color, instantly turned crimson again. Reclaiming the familiar intimacy before the man she admired most, she dropped her facade and acted spoiled. "I know... it's enough that you heard it, isn't it?"
With the most important report finished, they whispered a few more honeyed words. Ultimately, considering that Queenscrown was mostly full of men, flaunting their affection too much felt inappropriate... they saved their endless private talk for the intimacy of the night.
Egger understood that Nina had come in person not just for personal feelings, but for procedural correctness. As the leader of the Night's Watch and the big boss of the Industries, Egger was in a position where he needed money most, yet the business couldn't provide more. Such an awkward situation meant the CEO couldn't just send a letter or a messenger. By all logic and sentiment, she had to explain in person.
However, he wasn't surprised or discouraged by this situation at all.
The Night's Watch Industries was a unique conglomerate in Westeros, a commercial entity that ranked among the largest in the world of Ice and Fire. But that titan status was only in comparison to individuals. When it came to doing truly great things, it was just a small player. Just as no matter how rich giants like Amazon or Microsoft are, they cannot personally fund a carrier battle group or an entire military—it's simply not the same order of magnitude. Selling them off would only provide a fraction of what was needed, let alone supporting a war effort independently.
If he only had to worry about a few hundred or a thousand brothers on the Wall, the Industries could easily cover food, clothing, and weapons with just a bit of belt-tightening. But now there were thousands of mountain clansmen and even more New Gift residents. Food was accounted for, but Egger wanted to arm these people, establish a military-industrial system beyond the era, and create a local power base loyal only to himself... the capital required for start-up, R&D, mass production, and buying loyalty was not something the profits of the Night's Watch Industries could fill.
Whether King's Landing sent a few dozen or hundred more Gold Dragons a month was irrelevant. Egger had already been thinking of new sources of funding and had an idea.
"Everything in the Gift is just starting, and for now, the money is enough... but as the operation expands, my need for capital will grow exponentially... no, explosively. That level of money would require selling the entire Night's Watch Industries just to cover it; a little bit more or less from the monthly profit makes no difference." Egger naturally hid nothing from Nina. "But I already mortgaged the Watch's share of the Industries during my negotiations with the Iron Bank. I can't sell the same thing twice... so, I plan to continue borrowing."
"Borrowing?"
"The Northern lords plundered a great deal of wealth when they invaded the Westerlands. I estimate it's hundreds of thousands, maybe a million Gold Dragons... that money is useless sitting in their castles. I plan to visit them personally once I'm a bit less busy and talk to each house to borrow as much as I can." Egger stated his plan honestly, then shifted his tone: "Additionally, I heard Tyrion started something called the Lannister Bank in the West. It seems to be taking shape. I can't get detailed intelligence here at the Wall. You have better sources in the capital—tell me what you know about this bank."
"Oh... that's no problem. Because of business and funding, I've kept in touch with Lord Tyrion from time to time since you left." Nina's complexion returned to normal, and her narrative became light and fluent. "It's quite interesting; no one expected the West to rebuild so quickly from the ruins of war. But some things are just that miraculous. It all starts with how the situation in the West differs from the other six kingdoms..."
The Reach, the Stormlands, the North, the Vale, the Riverlands, and Dorne—even the Crownlands—all followed a similar pattern: one Great Lord at the top of the pyramid, several slightly lesser but powerful and wealthy major vassals, and a host of minor families.
But the Westerlands were entirely different; it was a landscape where House Lannister stood alone in dominance, with all other houses revolving around them like stars around a sun.
This wasn't a natural development. While the Lannisters had been Kings of the Rock since ancient times, for a long period they were in a state similar to the other Great Houses: very strong, but not so strong that they could crush their vassals—until the rise of Tywin Lannister.
The story of how he bypassed his father, Tytos, to deal with the two rebellious houses is well known, but few outsiders knew the details of how he ruled his territory after becoming Warden of the West.
The details were many, but they could be summarized in one phrase: maintain deterrence, accumulate strength, and suppress vassals.
The first two points were unquestioned, but the last made him a subject of controversy and resentment. No one objected to him eliminating vassals who disrespected him, but even those houses that were loyal to the Lannisters and never entertained a rebellious thought found life under his hand to be bleak. Their power and development were constantly suppressed to the point that on the great stage of Westeros, they were entirely swallowed by the light of their liege lord, possessing no presence or influence.
While Tywin never overtly broke the feudal rules of lord and vassal, he was secretly pursuing centralization. Relying on the deterrent of The Rains of Castamere to prevent rebellion, he used a blunt knife to cut meat and a slow-boiling pot to weaken the foundations of his vassals' strength piece by piece. Over decades, he created a miraculous situation in the West where all the vassals combined were no match for House Lannister alone.
King Robert's war to extinguish the lions acted as a catalyst that pushed this singular dominance to its peak. The armies of the five kingdoms that entered the West attacked and plundered every house except the Lannisters, only to face the King's death, political upheaval, and the ensuing War of the Two Stags just as they prepared to besiege Lannisport and Casterly Rock. As a result, House Lannister was the only power in the West with its strength intact. Tyrion's Lannister Bank developed within this environment.
...
After the war, House Lannister adopted an unthinkable reconstruction strategy: instead of providing compensation, aid, or comfort to the vassals who had suffered losses, they forcibly brought them all to the Noble District in Lannisport under house arrest. Far from helping their subordinates recover, they took the opportunity to seize all the gold mines in the West for themselves... they even transformed gold control into economic control, expanding its scope from Lannisport to the entire Westerlands!
Tywin bought a breathing space by currying favor with the new King and paying protection money. While Stannis Baratheon and Aegon Targaryen were fighting to the death in the South, the West quietly underwent a earth-shattering transformation. The Lannister vassals still nominally owned their castles, but in reality, they had completely lost all control and influence over their lands.
While the overall strength of the West had dropped significantly, Tywin—with the help of the Great Army Robert had gathered—used the decisiveness and cruelty of a man cutting off his own hand to complete a century-long plan intended for his son or grandson. The abolition of the vassals was complete, making House Lannister the sole, vertically integrated authority in the West—the first centralized ruler in the history of Westeros!
Undoubtedly, this ruthless approach—which other lords across the seven kingdoms called monstrous and wicked—was a difficult path with no turning back. This breaking of rules would have met with external interference and internal rebellion in times of peace, and should the house ever weaken, they would be consumed until not even ash remained. But for now—at least for several decades—House Lannister would be the strongest single family on the continent.
As the financial tool of this nascent centralized state to concentrate resources for great tasks, Tyrion and his Lannister Bank were naturally thriving. Its profitability might not compare to the Night's Watch Industries, but in terms of capital volume, it was an absolute hegemon.
At the very least, it certainly had the money Egger wanted to borrow.
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