Ice and Fire: Conquering the World Starting from the Wall

Chapter 73 Ransom

Lynn's words hit the nail on the head.

Davos thought about it carefully and realized that these remarks were indeed very reasonable.

When no one supports you, lineage becomes meaningless.

"I understand, Your Majesty."

Davos said sincerely:

"In return for your kindness and tolerance, I will serve you wholeheartedly."

Lynn nodded in satisfaction and said to him:

"I happen to have some questions for you right now, about those Ris pirates."

Lynn sat down next to Davos, and the two began to talk in hushed tones, their conversation revolving around the pirates' wealth and fortune.

The long conversation finally ended as dawn broke, and the two returned to their rooms to rest.

When Lynn woke up, he found that the sun was already starting to set.

After washing up, he went to the Night's Watch training grounds in Eastwatch, where Tormund's men had already prepared everything he needed.

It was a large wooden tub filled with warm water, the water almost overflowing from the side.

A few steps away was a newly erected cross-shaped execution rack.

Salado Sunn, the pirate from Ries, was bound tightly and knelt on the open ground. Behind him were dozens of captains and first mates, as well as many more ordinary pirates, while the training ground was surrounded by free civilian soldiers who had come to watch the spectacle.

Lynn, with a tearful expression, calmly walked up to Salado.

He began to speak:

"My men interrogated your crew and slave oarsmen last night, and they recounted the many crimes you have committed."

According to my laws, you don't even have the right to wear black; you should be immediately executed by slow slicing.

Lynn spent some time explaining what slow slicing was, and thoughtfully made some minor upgrades to the punishment:

Every piece of flesh cut from the victim was not wasted. It was cooked in different ways, such as frying or boiling, and then fed back to the victim to ensure that the victim had enough strength to cope with the next round of execution.

Even the pirate captain, who was used to bloodshed, couldn't help but turn pale and tremble after hearing this.

"However, your old friend Davos pleaded with me on your behalf, so I've decided to give you a chance to atone for your sins."

Lynn said to Salado:

"If you are willing to pay a ransom equal to your body to support my cause, then your past sins will be forgiven."

"Otherwise, the execution rack over there will be your final resting place. I will find the best butcher to carry out the punishment, and try my best to ensure that you live as long as possible."

Before Lynn could finish speaking, Salado shouted that he was willing to pay the ransom.

Lynn nodded in satisfaction and said to Salado, "Very good, then go in."

"Where to?"

The pirates from Ries didn't react for a moment.

"Get in the barrel!"

Lynn tilted his head toward the large wooden bucket filled with water.

"How can I measure your volume if you don't go inside?"

Only then did Salado realize that Lynn wasn't referring to gold equal to his body weight, but rather gold of equal volume.

These are two completely different concepts, with a difference of more than ten times.

Human density is roughly the same as water density, while pure gold density is more than nineteen times that of water. This means that Salado would have to pay nearly twenty times his body weight in gold.

Considering the purity issues caused by the smelting technology of this era, Lynn felt he should ask for more to round it up.

Salado quickly realized what was going on.

As a pirate, merchant, smuggler, and moneylender, he had dealt with gold and silver currency for many years and naturally knew what a volume of gold equivalent to his own was like.

He wasn't stupid; he knew someone had leaked his family's secrets.

This wealth was precisely the amount he could afford with all his might, without losing everything or being left destitute.

He glared hatefully at his subordinates behind him, seemingly searching for a possible leaker.

After the search yielded no results, he turned to Lynn and said quite decisively:

"Your Majesty, you hold my life in your hands, like a lion biting a sheep's neck."

"I think we should skip the process of getting it into the barrel, so I don't get infected and die from it. That would be a huge loss for both of us."

"I will pay you 3000 pounds of gold or an equivalent gold dragon as ransom, which is roughly the same size as me."

Lynn quickly did the mental calculation: 3000 pounds is about 1.3 tons, which translates to a volume of about 60 to 70 liters in gold, which is indeed roughly the same as Salado.

It seems that the science education in the Free Cities is indeed much better than that in Westeros.

Even experienced scholars would spend a long time scribble on paper to complete this conversion, but Salado from Rees could do it quickly in his head.

It's a pity that Lynn went to so much trouble to come up with the bucket measurement method.

His original plan was to have Salado climb into a full bucket of water and then calculate the amount of gold needed based on the overflowing water.

This would create a certain amount of drama and give free citizens another topic to boast about.

First there was Cao Chong weighing an elephant, now there is Lin En measuring gold!

Lynn was initially quite pleased with himself for this clever trick.

It turned out that they were just out of touch with the times, but they weren't stupid; they figured it out for him right away.

So no matter where you are, you can't be blindly arrogant. There's a saying like that.

Weakness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival, arrogance is.

Lynn thought to himself somewhat sullenly.

His recent string of successes has made him a little complacent.

Especially after the Night's Watch recognized him as king and defeated Stannis, Lynn began to feel dissatisfied with being led by others and developed an urge to do something on his own.

This shift in mindset isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's something to be wary of.

Lynn, having failed in his attempt to show off, lost interest in any further tricks. He divided the remaining pirate leaders and ordinary pirates into several categories based on their wealth, requiring them to pay varying amounts of gold or silver as ransom.

Information about these people's backgrounds came partly from Davos's confession and partly from reports by their subordinates or from mutual accusations.

Davos's task was to sail to the pirates' hometown, retrieve their ransom, and then use the ransom to buy food, horses, and weapons, before transporting them back to Eastwatch.

This will greatly alleviate Lynn's logistical burden.

As for how Davos communicated with Salado and his captains to ensure their families would obediently hand over the ransom instead of giving up, that was their own business.

This matter was no less important than attacking the Great Wall again, so Lynn attached great importance to it.

Because he lacked personnel skilled in ocean navigation and trade, he had to select capable individuals from among the prisoners. Davos, a former smuggler who had risen to the position of King's Hand, naturally came into Lynn's sights.

Even if he doesn't come looking for him, Lynn will go looking for him.

Lynn first examined Davos's character and loyalty to his lord, then obtained information about Salado from him. After careful consideration, he decided to entrust this important task to him.

Once the ransom-related events had been sorted out, Davos approached him.

"His Majesty."

He first bowed, then handed Lynn a piece of fine parchment covered with dense writing.

Lynn glanced at it briefly and found that it was a detailed action plan.

After getting to know him over the past few days, Lynn learned that Davos was illiterate, and although he had been trying to learn, it didn't seem to be working well.