Chapter 325 Green Maiden
At dusk, the chaos in Astapor gradually subsided.
Jorah Mormont and Barristan Selmy climbed the red brick stairs to the pyramid.
The Pyramids of Astapor were modeled after the Great Pyramid of Gughis, which had been reduced to ruins by the dragons of Valyria.
The pyramid has a total of thirty-three floors. It is said that this number is sacred to the gods of Ghis, just like the number seven is in Westeros.
The ruler's hall is in the center of the pyramid, between the sixteenth and seventeenth floors.
When the two knights arrived, the bronze door of the hall was open, and dozens of Unsullied were guarding the door.
A slave girl came up to her and asked in the common language of Westeros:
"Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah?"
"It's us."
"You two, please follow me."
Jorah and Barristan exchanged glances, but still followed.
They already knew about the riots in the city, but they still couldn't believe it. Their queen and Caesar managed to capture Astapor with a little trick.
Of course, when Barristan entered the city, he found that the city's defenses were very empty. The walls were old and crumbling. Except for the Unsullied, the guards had been corroded by a long and easy life.
Perhaps it was because of the reputation of the Unsullied that no one dared to invade Astapor, which made the city smell of decay from the inside to the outside.
Even so, it is too far-fetched for two people to conquer a city with four dragons—all juvenile dragons.
So until now, Jorah and Barristan still have a sense of unreality, as if this is just a dream.
Behind the door is a spacious and luxurious hall, with a row of braziers burning on the walls on both sides, high ceilings supported by black oak beams, Qarth silk carpets on the floor, and priceless oil paintings hanging on the walls.
These old faded oil paintings depict the splendor of the Gughis Empire.
On the high platform in the center of the hall, there are eight seats, and now six are vacant, and Samwell and Daenerys are sitting on the two middle seats.
An Unsullied was half-kneeling under the stage.
The more spikes on the spiked helmet of the Unsullied, the higher the level.
The person in front of me has three spikes on his helmet, obviously a senior officer.
When Jorah and Barristan came in, they saw Samwell giving orders to this man:
"...The family members of the good lord can survive as long as they surrender, and the same is true for the guards. As long as they are willing to put down their weapons, they don't need to be killed. But these people will lose their status as nobles and become civilians from now on."
"Their slaves have all been freed from then on." Daenerys added, "From now on, the trading of slaves is prohibited in Astapor."
"Yes." Gray Worm replied.
The Unsullied do not have a name, and every day they will randomly draw a name tag to decide their name for the day.
Of course, this system has now been abolished.
But these unsullied people have long forgotten their original names. They were slave children, and most of them didn’t have names at all. Therefore, the names drawn last time became their names from now on.
"Your Majesty." Ser Jorah stepped forward to salute, and then asked, "If the slave trade is banned, what will the people of Astapor do for a living?"
Daenerys froze for a moment, then subconsciously looked at the man beside her.
Samwell asked:
"The Worm River should be able to irrigate a lot of good fields, right? What crops did the Astapors grow before?"
The Unsullied officers present were silent when they heard the words. They were born to kill and were the best soldiers, but in other respects, they were terribly ignorant.
Finally, the slave girl named Missandei replied:
"Your Majesty, Astapor can grow sweet potatoes, beans, and olives. However, the Good Lords generally have to buy a lot of food from places such as New Ghis and Qarth."
So food is not self-sufficient. Samwell was not surprised by this.
The people of Astapor made a lot of money through the slave trade, so of course they didn't bother to farm.
"Then let them dig ditches along the Worm River, reclaim fertile land, and plant these crops." Sam Well said, "Sir Kato, you organize people to do this."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Katu nodded in response, but the expression on his face was somewhat reluctant.
Samwell also knows that the other party is not good at this kind of thing, but he has no other candidates now.
The Unsullied can only be used on the battlefield, and this time he came to Slaver's Bay without any internal affairs personnel.
In fact, Samwell didn’t intend to stay here for a long time. Slaver’s Bay is half a world away from the Westeros continent, so it wasn’t his goal of conquest at this stage.
He came this time only for Daenerys and her three dragons, as well as the Unsullied Legion.
Arranging Katu to command the Astapors to farm, he just did what he could before leaving.
In fact, deep down in his heart, he knew very well that without the slave trade, the decline of Astapor was almost a foregone conclusion.
Even after they leave, slavery may return.
In this regard, Samwell is also helpless, unable to help.
Unless he unifies the Westeros continent in the future, and then expands his power to the Essos continent, he can truly solve the problem of the Slave Bay.
"Are there any minerals in Astapor?" Daenerys seemed enthusiastic about governing Astapor.
Missandei nodded and said: "There are rich copper mines in the hills of Giscari."
Daenerys's face was happy:
"Then we can organize people to mine copper mines."
Samwell held her hand, squeezed it, and said with a smile:
"Dani, it's not the Bronze Age anymore, and copper mines are not worth much."
"Oh." Daenerys was a little disappointed, and then asked again, "Aside from copper mines? Are there gold mines or silver mines?"
Missandei shook her head.
Samwell secretly sighed, the current Dragon Mama is indeed a bit naive, if there are gold and silver mines in Astapor, there is still a need for slave trade.
Daenerys also seemed to realize that she didn’t know how to govern the country, but she didn’t shrink back. Instead, driven by her sense of responsibility, she wanted to govern Astapor even more.
"I think we might need to hear from the elders and wise men of Astapor," she said, "and the saints of the Temple of Grace, I want to talk to them too."
So under her command, the Unsullied found a group of old men and scholars.
However, the saints of the Temple of Grace did not appear, and the Unsullied reported that they thought Samwell and Daenerys were blasphemers and refused to come to see them.
"Your Majesty, do you want to capture them?" The Unsullied do not believe in the gods of Ghis.
They have their own unique beliefs and goddesses.
It is said that the name of the goddess of the Unsullied is a secret, but it is claimed to be the Lady of the Spear, or the Bride of War and Mistress of the Army.
So the Unsullied have no psychological burden to arrest the saints of the Temple of Holy Grace.
"No need." Daenerys shook her head and said, "We still have to respect the beliefs of the people of Astapor."
As he spoke, he began to discuss the future of Astapor with the elders who came.
Samwell felt bored after listening for a while. These people were destined to come up with no good plans, and some people even tried to persuade them to restart the slave trade.
"Danny, you can talk to them, I'll go to the Temple of the Holy Grace." Samwell simply got up and prepared to leave.
"Okay." Daenerys said, "Then be careful."
Leaving the pyramid, Samwell summoned the white dragon and rode it towards the Temple of Grace.
The Temple of Grace in Astapor is easily recognizable. It is a huge building with a golden vault, which is particularly conspicuous in the red brick city.
When Samwell came to the temple, he saw that the Unsullied were already stationed here.
Since the temple is the center of Astaporian belief after all, it was not affected by the previous riots, and there were no traces of riots at all.
Leading a group of Unsullied, Samwell entered the temple hall.
The hall was lit by candles, and hundreds of women in various robes were sitting cross-legged on the ground, praying silently.
Samwell knew that the saints of the Temple of the Holy Grace used robes of different colors to distinguish their identities. Among them, the one wearing the green robe was the highest priestess of the temple, also known as the green saint.
The green maiden of Astapor is right in the center of the hall. Her hair is white and her skin is as thin as parchment. She looks like she is thirty or forty years old, and then she looks like sixty or seventy years old. Green There seemed to be a soul-stirring power in his eyes.
Samwell has actually seen this green saint. When he entered the city last night, he passed by Pride Square and saw her preaching to the public.
"Your Majesty Caesar, welcome to the Temple of Holy Grace." The green saint said in a flat and gentle tone.
Samwell came to her and smiled slightly:
"How may I call you?"
"Grazny."
"Ms. Grazini. You seem to have some problems with our rule of Astapor?"
"Yes." Grazny nodded frankly.
"Why? Because we don't believe in your gods of Ghis? Or because we abolished slavery?"
"None." Grazne shook her head, her green eyes staring at Samwell, "Because you are destined to bring destruction to Astapor."
(end of this chapter)