Theoretically speaking, the whole of Oldtown, both its people and its property, belonged to House Hightower.
The people living in this city not only still had to pay taxes and perform feudal labor like serfs, but also had to endure the lord of the Hightower using his privileges to monopolize the most profitable trades, impose various monopolies... In short, they were exploited and plundered in every conceivable way.
To put it in more fashionable terms, Oldtown's "business environment" was extremely poor, and it was not a place fit for human habitation.
But in such an environment, where feudal order and urban operations were incompatible, why did the leaders of every industry in Oldtown so consistently support House Hightower?
There were many factors, both subjective and objective, that led to this abnormal situation.
Objectively, the unstable climate of the world of ice and fire prevented citizens from living with a clear rhythm and stable expectations based on individual ability and a small amount of private property. During a long winter, most people living within the city walls still had to rely on House Hightower's winter reserves to survive, just as they had for thousands of years... When you take from others, you are beholden to them. Oldtowners naturally could not strike or rebel at every turn like medieval citizens in the world of Earth.
There were also many subjective reasons.
House Hightower's family style, which favored commerce and disliked conflict, along with their relatively enlightened and peaceful methods of rule and management, had eased the conflict that would eventually break out between the two classes.
The relative backwardness of the historical process caused by the climate had prevented citizens from generally realizing that they were a class, and they had not awakened the "citizen spirit" needed for self-protection.
Finally, and most directly, in this relatively miserable world, the masters of Oldtown already stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Compared to the lords of other cities in Westeros, who were constantly involved in wars and then urgently levied all manner of exorbitant taxes and fees, House Hightower's stable and restrained "harvesting of leeks" was simply noble and benevolent, the conduct of a benevolent ruler for the ages. Outside Westeros, there was even less to say. Those so-called Free Cities were still in the age of slavery, and living there meant not only being used as tools, but even possibly being sold as goods.
...
In a word, it was all thanks to the contrast with their peers.
The Oldtowners did not believe in their hearts that Daenerys's arrival could make their lives better than they were under House Hightower's rule. It was the instinct to seek advantage and avoid harm that drove them to collude with their "natural enemy," their lord.
And what Aegor had to do was use the great promise of "Oldtown Self-Government" to shatter the preconceived notions of the people before him.
House Hightower's exploitation and oppression of the Oldtowners might not be severe, but their status as lords gave them the ability and authority to increase that exploitation and oppression at any time. This was like a sharp sword hanging over their heads, and "self-government" meant taking those swords down from the ceiling and locking them in a cabinet.
Ordinary citizens at the bottom might never have had the chance to notice the scenery above their heads because they were busy surviving all day, but the leaders of every industry, who had climbed to the top of the commoner class, stood upon considerable private property, and approached the ceiling, saw the existence of those swords every day. Therefore, they could immediately realize the great significance of this move.
Aegor was not afraid of the plan being exposed, because he was borrowing House Hightower's flowers to offer to the Oldtowners, and as the original owners of the flowers, the Hightowers absolutely could not offer better terms.
The long, but by no means boring, "Urban Self-Government Plan Seminar" began.
Because a great deal of homework had been done beforehand, and even the first draft of the plan had already been drawn up, everything proceeded almost entirely according to Aegor's design... Through intense debate and discussion, this group of outstanding individuals, who stood at the pinnacle of the commoner class but were still not nobles, painstakingly won the following autonomous rights from Aegor, or so they thought.
Anti-monopoly, breaking unreasonable monopolies and opening up the market economy to a certain extent.
Freedom of trade, establishing clear commercial laws and reducing the interference of the feudal system in economic activities.
Personal freedom, citizens were exempt from corvée labor and could pay appropriate taxes instead. The city could exercise the "right of asylum."
Protection of private affairs and private property, the lord would not interfere with citizens' religious beliefs, marriage arrangements, or any disposal of property, including ownership, transactions, gifts, and inheritance.
Even without counting the more judicial, administrative, financial, and even military powers that had not yet been finalized, which Aegor did not intend to give any more of, just looking at the major items that had been agreed upon and signed was enough to make almost every representative who walked out of the meeting room smile broadly. If the historical process had flowed naturally, any one of these rights would likely have required them to unite and struggle hard for decades or even centuries to seize from House Hightower. But now, riding the favorable winds of Daenerys's crackdown on feudal separatism and expansion of royal power, they had simply fallen into their arms from the sky.
In return, the Oldtowners needed to do two things. First, raise a huge sum of money to buy "Targaryen Bonds" to support Daenerys's war against the slave owners. Second, offer absolute loyalty and support to Aegor in his subsequent struggles with the Reach nobles, including but not limited to House Hightower.
...
After the meeting ended, Aegor calmly rose from his seat and left the hall, arriving at the Hightower corridor that connected the stairways up and down.
He was probably the most unruly guest in the Seven Kingdoms. The Hightowers, who sincerely intended to surrender, had opened the door and invited Aegor into the Hightower, yet he immediately turned hostile and ordered the takeover of their ancestral home. At this moment, the people coming and going in the tower had almost all been replaced, from House Hightower's guards and servants to personnel from the Western Expeditionary Army. Doing so was somewhat suspected of violating guest right, but from another perspective, it was actually protecting the hosts' greatest interest, their lives.
As the only great noble house in the Reach that had surrendered without raising troops against Daenerys, Aegor could not risk universal condemnation by harming the members of House Hightower. But faced with the fundamental disruption of interests that was "Oldtown Self-Government," House Hightower could never sit still. Instead of waiting for this group of nobles to do something foolish and be defeated, then agonizing over how to punish them reasonably, Aegor chose to solve the problem at its source, cutting off the lifeline, placing the entire Hightower family under soft imprisonment in the upper part of the tower, and eliminating the possibility of them causing trouble.
As for the lower part, he accepted it without ceremony, requisitioning it as his temporary residence and command post in Oldtown.
"Lord Aegor." Myrcella, who had accompanied him and even recorded the entire agenda of the Oldtown Self-Government seminar, finally could not bear it anymore and cautiously spoke. "Are you not giving the citizens a bit too much autonomy? I think even half of it would be enough to make them wholeheartedly support Her Grace. Giving it all at once, does this not go against the principle of slowly bestowing favors that you have always emphasized?"
"Excellent question!"
Aegor greatly admired Myrcella's ability to always get straight to the point with her questions. Sometimes he even suspected that this young woman had actually seen through everything, and was merely deliberately giving him the opportunity to answer her questions and fully put on a show, pleasing him in this high-level way.
They stepped onto the stairs and headed for the vacated guest rooms on the second floor, led by a soldier. People were coming and going, but fortunately they were all his subordinates, so Aegor began to explain without concern.
"The principle of slowly bestowing favors is aimed at a weakness in human nature: people always feel that things they have grown accustomed to are only natural. Therefore, when you want to win people's goodwill and affection, it is best to give out benefits gradually and sustainably, rather than taking everything out at once... and then running out of strength. This principle is applied to the people, because after offending many nobles, Daenerys's rule must gain the support of the people to remain stable. For the people, this need is long-term, even eternal, but for the Oldtown elites, it is not. Think about it again and see if you can figure it out."
"Daenerys's need for the support of the Oldtown elites is not eternal?" This hint was too obvious. Myrcella frowned her fine, pale golden brows, then smoothed them out. "Ah! Because House Hightower can return to its fief after two years!" Wait... she immediately fell into even greater confusion. "But after House Hightower returns to its fief, should Her Grace not need the support of the elites from every industry even more?"
"Theoretically, yes, but in reality, things are not that simple. By then, compared to the need for the support of the Oldtown elites, Daenerys will be more afraid that House Hightower will wisely accept the status quo of Oldtown Self-Government, relying on their old connections and network to reintegrate with the Self-Government Council and reestablish their undisputed position and authority in this place." Aegor smiled complacently. "So, you feel that I gave too much today, and that feeling is correct. But in fact, this is exactly what I deliberately did to sow the seeds of conflict and completely eliminate the possibility of these two factions joining forces again."
"No matter how much is given, it is still House Hightower's property!" Myrcella's eyes lit up, and she finally understood. "When Lord Leyton, who is used to having the final say, returns to Oldtown in two years, he will never be able to calmly accept the current situation, where the authority and functions of the Self-Government Council still stand above theirs, and conflicts will arise!"
"Exactly. By then, I will not only refrain from continuing to blindly indulge the Self-Government Council, but will even do the opposite and support House Hightower in regaining some... reasonable power." Aegor revealed the standard answer. "By then, the Oldtown Council will need Daenerys's continued recognition and protection of the Autonomy Law to avoid House Hightower's restoration of its petty kingdom. And House Hightower will need the royal government's recognition of their lordly status and support for their ruling power to avoid being completely sidelined, or even driven out or eliminated..."
"Both sides will be helplessly forced to rely on Daenerys's support. Is this state not much more reliable and stable than the so-called affection of one side for Daenerys? Standing between the two, acting as the lofty mediator and arbitrator, this special administrative region of Oldtown, which had previously remained outside the fold, will also be completely incorporated under royal rule, becoming the final piece of the Great King's Landing Plan."
So that was how it was!
Myrcella suddenly understood, her shoulders trembling slightly, her small face flushed with excitement. She was already completely impressed by Aegor's strategy of sowing discord and dismantling the forces in Oldtown, and now that she discovered this already magnificent plan had an even more ingenious and grand second half, she was momentarily unable to find suitable words of praise and flattery.
This feeling of standing beside a great person, witnessing and even personally experiencing major events and historical turning points, was simply amazing.
(To be continued.)