The so-called The Gift was a book Aegor had racked his brains over day and night in the small cabin during his journey by ship from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to Dragonstone, written specifically for Daenerys.
Well, that was obviously an exaggeration. There was no such thing as racking his brains. Although every word was newly written, the content had been brewing in Aegor's mind for a long time. Once he picked up his pen, ideas flowed like a spring, and the writing came naturally. As for the length, rather than a book, it should be called a long article, mainly divided into two parts, upper and lower.
The first part is very short, mainly leveraging his familiarity with the plot and characters to write an emotional card specifically designed to snipe Daenerys Targaryen. As the core character with the third most lines in the story, Aegor had, of course, read character analyses and inner interpretations about the Mother of Dragons. This upper part, summarized, is actually an ideal that Daenerys has long buried deep in her heart, slightly tinged with a sense of self-righteousness, to break the wheel of history, end exploitation, eliminate oppression, and rebuild a new world.
Of course, the specific content was made much more subtle through proper rhetoric and build-up, not as direct and chuunibyou, but the meaning was pretty much the same. The goal was to make the Dragon Queen feel a sense of a kindred spirit is hard to find after reading this section, thus generating interest and anticipation for the content that followed.
And the second part had much more content.
The inspiration for this part came from a world-renowned political book Aegor had read before transmigrating, The Prince.
Speaking of the significance of this work in Western and even human history, it is truly immense. It was the first systematic book that clearly broke free from the constraints of theology and ethics, paving the way for political science and law to become independent disciplines. The title could also be called, how to operate a state coolly, cunningly, but efficiently and stably. It mainly discussed the way of being a monarch, what qualities and abilities a monarch should possess, how to conquer and defend a realm, and so on. It is truly one of the cornerstones of modern political thought.
Unlike being a pure plagiarist, Aegor removed all the redundant and irrelevant content that did not fit the current situation in Westeros, keeping only the most valuable and eye-catching parts, condensing an originally great work into the most essential synopsis. Not only that, he replaced the historical examples from Earth's history with corresponding information from the Ice and Fire world, especially the history of Westeros. On this basis, he added core reflections and arguments extracted from other miscellaneous but equally excellent political literature, fine-tuning and modifying them based on his personal experience of ruling and reforming The Gift before and after becoming Commander. Ultimately, he created a magically modified version of The Prince that was most relevant to the reality of the Ice and Fire world and would be of immense help to the Queen in ruling the Seven Kingdoms.
Of course, it was impossible to write so much content in less than a week, so Aegor also acted as a cliffhanger at the end of this booklet. The entire On was complete in its main body, and the content did not seem to lack anything upon first glance, but it would definitely make Daenerys feel like it stopped abruptly at the most exciting part, leaving her with endless aftertaste and itching for more.
As for the remaining content, of course, it was in Aegor's mind.
...
To be fair, if Petyr or Varys were given a complete writing team and sufficient data, they could also write political proposals that were not much worse, or even more suitable for ruling Westeros, but can is not will. No matter what happens, these two schemers, each with their own agenda, would never summarize their life's learning and insights in book form and give it to the Queen without reservation.
The reason is simple. Teaching someone to fish is indeed a truth, but for Varys and Petyr, who live by fishing, this saying is absolutely false. Compared to teaching Daenerys how to fish, how to make independent judgments, they would rather directly grill the fish for the Queen, telling or suggesting to her what to do when she encounters specific issues.
This is where the role of retainers and advisors lies. If they taught all their skills to the Queen, their own roles and importance would be greatly diminished, becoming insignificant, and they would face the situation of being discarded once their usefulness was over at any time.
But Aegor did not have this concern. He was not a fisherman, he was a captain. Even if he were to seek allegiance one day, he would inevitably join as a partner bringing his own resources and team. No matter what happened, he would never become an advisor to Daenerys or anyone else. Since that was the case, he was naturally happy to stir things up, borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha, using something that Petyr and Varys also knew, or perhaps even more proficiently, but making the Queen feel that he was more capable than these two.
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Daenerys was curious about the booklet in her hand, but it was inappropriate to spend a lot of time reading the specific content in public. She smoothed the silk cloth covering the cover, placed it gently beside her, and the Queen decided to read it during her private time after the audience.
At this moment, Varys, who was standing nearby, suddenly spoke with a fake smile and a sinister tone. "Sworn to neutrality, impartial? That is truly wonderful to hear, then I would like to ask the Commander to explain, why did the Night's Watch Industry, which you personally established, provide a large number of heavy crossbows for anti-air defense to the City Watch during the Fake King Stannis's construction of the King's Landing defense system, rendering Her Majesty's three dragons useless?"
There was such a thing?
The Master of Whisperers' sudden attack caught Aegor off guard. He really did not know this detail.
Come to think of it, even if he knew, there was nothing he could do.
When the Night's Watch Industrial Park had just found its footing and started developing back then, Aegor had launched a business, venture capital for inventions and creations, and selecting those with profit potential for large-scale production to make money.
This idea, which came to him on a whim, was based on the modern world, and the starting point was good, but it was not very suitable for the Ice and Fire world with its backward productivity. In the process of the industry, this baby, continuously developing and growing into a giant, it was naturally gradually eliminated. The relevant departments made reasonable changes to the founder's initial plan, gradually transforming it from the Venture Capital Department into the Technology Research and Development Department, no longer sponsoring unrelated people, but continuously scouting for skilled or intelligent individuals and signing contracts with them, fixing them as employees of the Night's Watch Industry through the payment of basic salaries, thereby turning their wisdom into the industry's own research and development capabilities, accumulating over time, making its own technical foundation increasingly strong.
Today, the Industrial Park has not only developed into the largest manufacturer in the Seven Kingdoms but also the most dynamic and technically advanced research and development and manufacturing enterprise. The political and interest entanglements between it and the Crownlands lords, the King's Landing City Watch, and even the King are even more complex, and those not directly involved cannot sort them out. The industry is based in King's Landing, using land belonging to the Iron Throne, enjoying the tax exemption privilege granted by House Baratheon, and employing managers and employees who are subjects of the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Aegor could not just give blind commands from afar, telling Nina whose money could be earned and whose business should not be done.
The Mother of Dragons had not even arrived at Dragonstone before Stannis started setting up defenses. Did the Night's Watch Industry dare to refuse the King's order, even though they had the ability to improve and produce this weapon, but simply not build or sell it to the King?
If they really dared to do that, the Night's Watch Industry would probably be confiscated and nationalized in minutes, and it would not be Aegor's turn to bother protecting it.
(To be continued.)