After officially becoming a political ally with Tyrion, Zhang Cheng completely let go of his hands and ordered Blanco to expand the mercenary team without limit.

In just one month or so, the number of mercenaries swelled from two or three hundred to eight hundred.

Add to this the 1,500 newly recruited city defenders who ostensibly belonged directly to King Joffrey, but in fact had military power in his hands, and he actually had an army of more than 2,200 men.

Don't underestimate this, you must know that these two thousand two hundred men are not a rabble of improvised patchwork, let alone farmers who go to battle with pitchforks, but an out-and-out professional army, and almost every soldier has a few lives on his hands.

Perhaps many people are very unimpressed with the military power in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, and think that a continent equivalent to the area of South America on the earth, how can a battle only have tens of thousands of people, compared to the ancient battles of the Celestial Empire, which often cost hundreds of thousands of people or millions of people.

In fact, behind this phenomenon is the huge gap in the mobilization capacity of the feudal system and the centralized government on the one hand, and the difference between professional and non-professional armies on the other.

The soldiers in the army of Westeros were often not required to engage in productive labor, and from the time they joined a family, they had been engaged in all kinds of training and combat, and in terms of experience and mental quality, they were far better than those who were improvised farmers.

So, like Robb Stark, who led an army of 20,000 to the south, his 20,000 men were not improvised peasants, but heavily armed professional soldiers.

It can be said that the war on the continent of Westeros is closer to a showdown between elites than a full-scale war.

Once the main force of a certain family is devastated, it is basically difficult to recruit an army of the same quality in a short period of time.

What does it mean for Zhang Chengshou to have an army of more than 2,000 people at the moment?

To take the simplest example, the Florentine family of Brightwater City, a prominent family in the Riverbend region, can afford to raise a professional army of more than 2,000 people, and with this army, they even dare to publicly complain and question the dominance of the Tyrells in the Riverbend region many times.

Unfortunately, the family apparently didn't learn the Tyrells' ability to steer the wheel.

According to the development of the plot, after Lan Li's death, the economic queen Olenna Redwin will immediately choose to join forces with the Lannisters, and they choose to defect to Stannis, and are eventually defined as traitors, losing their realm and noble titles.

Unfortunately, Zhang Cheng took a fancy to this and made an agreement with Tywin Lannister in advance, as long as he contributed enough to the defense of King's Landing, then after the victory, he would become the new Earl of Brightwater.

Interestingly, this secret deal was made without the slightest consent of the Florentine family, the owners of Brightwater City......

With Tyrion appointed Prime Minister, he set out to enforce his rights and obligations, racing against time to build King's Landing's defenses in the hopes of turning the chaotic city into an impregnable fortress before war strikes.

But he apparently overlooked the fact that when the shadow of war loomed, the prices of all kinds of necessities began to skyrocket.

In particular, the food that depends on it for survival is refreshing people's perception of price almost every day.

After all, when Lan Li married Margaery Tyrrell, the Tyrell family fell in full swing to this self-proclaimed young man, and naturally did not continue to provide King's Landing with a steady stream of cheap food, fruits, and vegetables.

"Damn! This is the fourth pauper revolt this week! We must find a way to get them something to eat! Otherwise, we'll have to scramble ourselves before the enemy strikes at us. Tyrion sat back in his chair and grumbled.

"Don't worry, they're just a bunch of defenseless paupers, and I've taken it down for you. But seriously, you really should get them something to eat, even if it's just a bowl of batter. With that, Boron ignored the large amount of blood stained on his armor, and raised the bottle and took a sip of wine.

Just when the little devil was about to say something, Zhang Cheng suddenly pushed open the door and barged in, greeting with a smile on his face: "Good morning, honorable Prime Minister, I just got a good news and a bad news, which one are you going to listen to first?"

"Good morning, Sir Mason. I'm already on the verge of burnout, so don't sell it and just tell me what's going on. Tyrion rubbed his dry eyes and laughed to himself.

Judging by the tired expression on his face, he hadn't had a good night's sleep in days.

"Hehe, the good news is that Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands has once again established himself as king, and has begun to sweep the entire north along the sea. Our invincible Robb Stark will face a difficult choice next, whether to return to the army to protect his lair, or continue south to approach King's Landing. Zhang Cheng was keenly aware of the other party's exhaustion, so he said the first news bluntly.

Hearing this, Tyrion's eyes lit up and he laughed and clapped his hands: "Hahahaha! Great! This is the first good news I've heard since I became Prime Minister!

"As you wish, my lord. The mercenary leader smiled and raised the bottle and filled the empty glass on the table.

The little devil didn't say a word, picked it up and poured it clean, then wiped his mouth, and his expression quickly became very solemn: "Say, what's the bad news?" ”

The corners of Zhang Cheng's mouth curled slightly, and he replied in a slightly low tone: "The bad news is that Lan Li was assassinated in his tent and died on the spot. Now his brother Stannis Baratheon, who had received almost all of his men, was marching towards King's Landing with an army of nearly 100,000 men. My dear friend, a strong opponent is coming......"

"Ten...... 100,000 ?!!!"

Knowing the exact number of enemies, Bolon's entire face became distorted.

There is no way not to distort it, you must know that the entire city of King's Landing has a population of about 500,000 men, women and children combined.

"Is your source accurate?" Compared to the panic of his men, Tyrion was calmer, except for a slight uncontrollable tremor on his legs.

"100% accurate! And I can tell you that Lan Li's death was the work of a priestess with magical powers next to Stannis, so you'd better be careful. ”

After saying this, Zhang Cheng didn't care whether the other party understood or not, turned around and left the room, disappearing at the end of the chaotic street......