After all, the Targaryen dynasty, which had ruled Westeros for more than three hundred years, had only been destroyed for just over ten years.
And although the tourney seemed to be a waste of extravagance, it strengthened the appeal to knights, nobles, and even commoners at a deep level, and could subtly enhance the people's identification with Robert.
Presumably, as long as the Usurper's rule became more stable day by day, the Baratheon family could sit on the Iron Throne forever.
And this was the point Robert valued most.
However, Jon could not directly tell Duke Ned about these understandings.
After all, from the beginning, Ned Stark was a second son. If Brandon hadn't met with an accident, Ned would never have ascended to the position of Duke.
So from beginning to end, the education and training he received were only to assist the Lord, not to become the Lord.
Even now, after years of practice, Ned seemed to have made some progress, but it was just some progress, not enough to overcome his innate deficiencies.
However, leaving aside Duke Ned's own shortcomings, there was one situation that had to be reiterated.
That is, Jon, as the King's squire and Secretary to the Hand, obviously shouldered too many responsibilities that didn't belong to him.
Although Jon could also ignore these miscellaneous tasks like Duke Ned—after all, someone would worry about them eventually.
But the reality was that since stepping into King's Landing, he had lost the qualification to "lie flat."
Now, Jon was equivalent to Ned, almost equivalent to the North, and shared a lifeline with all the Starks.
And as the weakest mosquito leg on this spider web, anyone in King's Landing could crush him to death.
If he didn't want to be boiled like a frog in warm water by guys like Littlefinger, Cersei, and Tywin, and then die unnaturally one day...
Then Jon had to seize every opportunity to strengthen himself desperately before Robert died, so that he could have enough strength to have the last laugh.
So regarding how to prepare for this tourney and use it as an opportunity to level up, the transmigrator had more foresight than anyone else.
Among all this, the most tempting reward was the gold prize set by Robert.
The prize for first place in the jousting was as high as forty thousand Gold Dragons, the runner-up also got twenty thousand, and even the archery champion could get twenty thousand Gold Dragons.
In contrast, in the current King's Landing, coarse bran black bread only sold for five copper stars, and roasted quail only cost one Silver Stag to enjoy.
If replaced equally, eighty thousand Gold Dragons could almost equal two years of tax revenue from the vast North, or the total income of dozens of minor nobles, and could even equip an army of nearly a thousand Unsullied.
And such generous and substantial rewards, presumably even the high-ranking nobles of the Seven Kingdoms would find it hard to resist.
In other words, as long as he had this money, even if Robert was gored to death by a wild boar tomorrow, Jon could pack up and run, cross the Narrow Sea, and start over.
At worst, he could use his brain, which far surpassed this world, to become a newly wealthy man in the Free Cities.
But in terms of current reality, the applications from the Seven Kingdoms' nobles who wanted to participate in the tourney had already piled up on the Hand's desk.
Among them, Ser Loras of the Reach actually declared he would participate in the tourney and sent an application.
Apart from these, many well-known knights of Westeros were also listed impressively, joining this competition one after another, wanting to win both fame and fortune and earn the King's reward.
Just dealing with these influxes of Seven Kingdoms' nobles was already giving Ned a headache.
Moreover, he had to find time in his busy schedule to take care of his two daughters' emotions, and occasionally sneak out of the Tower of the Hand to investigate the cause of Duke Jon Arryn's death.
Therefore, as the Secretary to the Hand, Jon quickly highlighted his importance.
No matter when or where, the King's squire, Secretary to the Hand, and bastard of the North would guard outside the Hand's room, handling affairs large and small with a simple square table.
Including but not limited to receiving incoming and outgoing letters and classifying documents. When Ned had free time to deal with them, these things would always be accurately categorized and presented to the Hand according to urgency.
Regarding this, several scribes sent by Robert to assist Ned had expressed more or less dissatisfaction and felt indignant about the treatment of not being valued.
However, Jon knew the hypocritical tone of these guys better than anyone.
Compared to various letters and documents, these scribes hoped to fill their chest pockets with gifts and Gold Dragons.
Anyway, every noble who wanted to visit the King or the Hand needed to go through these people's reception to pass on documents.
And on this point, Jon chose not to participate at all. Not only that, he handed over similar reception work completely to the old hands to profit from.
Of course, Jon had his own reasons for choosing to do so.
On one hand, as a newcomer, excessive performance wouldn't necessarily win the love of colleagues; instead, it would plunge the whole environment into disorderly internal competition.
After all, having lived two lives, he had long understood that try-hards die horribly.
On the other hand, as a newly arrived existence in King's Landing, even if he was popular for a while and highly reused by the King and Duke Ned...
There was one point that couldn't be changed in the short term, which was the understanding of the entire King's Landing noble system.
You know, these scribes had all been hanging around the Red Keep for many years and were familiar with every face here.
Even if there were occasionally some unfamiliar visitors, for these guys who had been climbing on the spider web for many years, it wasn't a blank slate.
In contrast, for Jon, wanting to accurately identify the other party's identity and make the correct reception was simply harder than ascending to heaven.
Therefore, appropriate division of labor and power became the optimal choice for the Secretary to the Hand.
Precisely because of this tacit understanding, the work in the Tower of the Hand could proceed harmoniously and efficiently.
...
Just as Jon became more and more adapted to life in King's Landing, the Imp finally received a letter from the King's squire.
When he unfolded the letter brought by the raven, he immediately saw the concise greeting on it.
"Dear friend, hope this letter finds you well."
"It has been a long time since we parted at Winterfell. But my dreams continue constantly, and thus I urgently need your analysis."
"Presumably with your brilliant mind, you can definitely help me decode the dispute between the crippled lion and the she-wolf."
Although there were only a few dozen words, the information contained therein made Tyrion...
Completely bewildered!
Although the last question the two discussed before parting was about dreams and the legend of warging.
But this didn't mean that the Imp could interpret all dream omens like a witch.
Even more coincidentally, on the day before Tyrion finally got tired of the Wall and prepared to return, he really saw the fat boy Jon mentioned.
---