Thirteenth day, Eleventh Moon, 260 AC (+1 days)

He scratched his beard thoughtfully. Hugh Grandison had always listened to his wife when it came to his beard – her sense of popular fashions was usually quite accurate – so it remained shaved. Fortunately, with his rise in station to the Small Council, he was afforded a measure of social power. Some might have taken the opportunity to try to increase the desire for their House goods, like Lannisters and their penchant for gold trim on everything. But all he wanted was beards to come back into fashion.

Well, not all he wanted – just from a fashion perspective. Keep your clothes and your finery, just give him a beard before he went gray!

The King was looking at him expectedly, so he wrenched his thoughts back to the topic.

"Harvests are down, Your Grace, but considering that many of the men fighting are able to scavenge the net effect is still negative but not terribly so," he said.

The King looked thoughtful. "Will it be enough to enact your idea?"

Hugh nodded. "It should, Your Grace. We have enough from previous harvests to sell to the Essosi. Not enough to make up for the famine, but enough to make a sizeable profit. What we can't take by the strength of our arm and honor of our knights, we shall take in peace."

Lord Gormon Massey, the Master of Whispers, said, "I have no issue with selling food, especially if it helps secure an ally in the area, but the rest of your plan seems needlessly antagonistic."

He restrained himself from rolling his eyes. "My plan is sound, and no one will be in a position to complain from a position of strength. Indeed, we will have plenty of room to lead them about – after all, we are merely replenishing our Treasury after a war."

Lord Massey snorted. "You don't have to explain to me the power of words, but your plan will upset many – they may not be unified, but it may upset them enough to see them band together."

Seeing the King remain silent, Hugh replied, "Our gold has flowed continuously into Essos for millennia – a statement that has been bandied about for years. My own examinations of the treasury indicate that this is likely true, and this state of events is only possible because the Lannisters are able to mine more and more gold to replace that which is lost. My goal is to reverse that, and the first step is to increase our exports to Essos."

"Yes, yes," replied Massey. "I don't believe anyone has any objections to that part."

"The second step," Hugh continued, "is to restrict imports. By placing fees on certain imports, like wines, that we can make ourselves we ensure that our wealth stays here. It won't stop the purchase of these goods, but it will lower the demand for them – while ensuring the Treasury is replenished."

"I understand that, but a controlled effort to reduce sales of goods from Essos will be met with backlash. It is unprecedented, and the merchants that control Essos will not be happy with it."

"It is not entirely unprecedented, Massey. During the reign of Baelor the Blessed, he passed a law near the end of his reign – one of the few times he bothered – that banned trade of any goods that were sourced purely from slave labor. It was targeted at Volantis after he heard a gruesome story, and the law was largely ineffectual and quickly repealed by King Viserys II, but we do have a historical precedent that we can use to justify our actions."

The King chuckled. "I had not heard of that law. How long did it stay in place?"

"It was enacted a moon before Daemon Blackfyre's birth in 170AC and was repealed in 171AC. I do believe that some of the smaller ports had never even received word before it had been repealed."

Lord Massey looked troubled. "I suppose if we have precedent – weak as it is – we can proceed, but opposition will form eventually."

"Of course," replied Hugh. "It always does, but the Essosi have always been fractured, and this will put us in the strongest position the Iron Throne has ever been in."

"From a financial perspective," said King Aegon drily.

"From a financial perspective," agreed Hugh. "But we can leverage that into true power easily enough."

"What of your other project, Hugh?"

"The roads? I have continued my investigation, and I believe my original thought on the nature of roads was correct. The better the road, the more profit it can generate. The trouble is determining the exact scope, as many of my predecessors did not record the information I need."

The King drummed his fingers on the table. "An eternal problem, I fear. Perhaps in a few years, we can revisit the issue and start a small trial somewhere when we have replenished the Treasury. I will still want to know the upper limits of this return before I approve any large expenditures – there is no sense in spending 10,000 gold dragons if the Throne will only benefit from spending 100."

"With my plan, the Treasury shall be filled promptly," promised Hugh.

The King nodded regally. "Excellent. After we are victorious in this war, it shall only encourage more war – from both enemies and my own lords. I do not know when another war shall break out, but I will not have my descendants shackled by an empty Treasury."

Hugh bowed his head. "Your will shall be done, Your Grace."