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Looking at the black banner hanging behind Jon, Orell felt as if the common sense he had accumulated over fifty years of life was being overturned.
In his impression, the West belonged to Casterly Rock, and Casterly Rock belonged to the Lannisters forever. But now that had changed, leaving him feeling somewhat lost.
But feeling lost was just a feeling; it wasn't a big deal.
After all, from now on, Jon was their liege lord. The taxes that needed to be paid would still be paid, and the blood tax would also be paid on time.
To some extent, Orell becoming the patriarch of House Marbrand in his fifties was thanks to this war.
He was just from a branch family, and a rather distant one at that. If the main branch hadn't been wiped out and the closer branch members hadn't returned, this position of patriarch would never have fallen to him.
Just over ten days ago, the entire West received the news of Casterly Rock's fall. Jon demanded they come to Casterly Rock within ten days to swear allegiance to him, or he would personally lead an expedition to punish them.
Now, let alone the West, the entire Seven Kingdoms knew the prestige of this bastard.
In terms of military ability, it had been proven at the Green Fork and King's Landing. In terms of personal combat prowess, he had personally killed the Mountain, and it was even rumored that he knew sorcery!
Most importantly, the Western elite Tywin had taken with him were basically wiped out, and those first-tier nobles had largely died on the battlefield.
Many of the slightly lesser ones had also died under the combined attacks of the North and the Iron Islands.
If not for the Ironborn being unskilled at siege warfare and mostly active in coastal areas, the number of capable Western nobles would have been further reduced.
Jon didn't even need to summon them to demand an oath of allegiance; any decrees and punishments just needed to be issued. If any family had second thoughts, he could just march his army over.
The rest were basically soft eggs—third-tier and substitute nobles with no ability or courage to speak of.
These people were either raised as fops, finding joy in bullying peasants every day, or they saw no future for themselves and worked as stewards in castles.
Orell was in such a situation. He came from House Marbrand, which originally had a strong cavalry. They were present at the Battle of the Green Fork, the blocking action at the Red Fork, and the Battle of King's Landing, but now they were buried on the battlefield along with Lord Marbrand.
Next to Orell was a boy no older than ten; the peacock pattern on his clothes indicated he was from House Serrett.
Orell could tell that none of these people possessed the decisive temperament of a lord. Two of the families had even sent women.
Seeing that everyone had more or less arrived, Jon looked at these "substitute lords" of the West and spoke, "Before my army arrived, you should have all received the news that His Grace the King has named me Duke of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West. That means I am your liege lord, yet you still followed Tywin in resisting me. Therefore, in the name of King Stannis Baratheon the First, I declare you all guilty!"
Jon's cold, heavy voice echoed in the hall, frightening the group of elderly, weak, women, and children.
Orell looked at the surrounding nobles; all of them had their heads lowered, not daring to say a word, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Perhaps the past glory of his family gave him some courage. Orell stepped forward and hurriedly said, "Lord Duke, we... we didn't want to, but Tywin... Tywin he..."
"Enough, I understand what you mean," Jon said indifferently, his tone devoid of joy or anger, as if pronouncing a sentence of fate. "However, I will reduce your territories. Depending on how many troops you sent, I will reduce them by fifty to seventy percent. I will send Maesters to measure the land."
"Fifty to seventy percent..."
Although those who came to Casterly Rock were basically substitute nobles who didn't manage affairs, they understood that Jon confiscating so much land at once would further damage their families' vitality. But selling the ancestral land didn't hurt the son; getting past this hurdle was the priority.
It was said that the Lannisters occupied about three-fifths of the land in the West. With Jon's confiscation, eighty-five percent of the land in the West would be under his control.
Some resentful people began to curse Jon's greed in their hearts. They didn't look favorably upon Jon's land-grabbing face.
With such a vast amount of land, Jon was basically just one person; without a family to help him, this land couldn't provide output.
Although the substitute nobles were waiting to see Jon make a fool of himself, their faces remained very respectful.
"In addition, there is the issue of fines." Seeing no one dared to object, Jon somewhat regretted it. If he had known, he would have fined more and just left them a castle. "Forget about the fines."
Jon's decision surprised everyone.
Forget it? Does he really not want them?
The substitute nobles who heard this news turned to look at each other, as if they couldn't believe their ears.
For defeated nobles, fines were essential. If they couldn't pay enough fines, confiscating land and reducing territories were common occurrences, and the two often happened simultaneously.
Yet Jon said he didn't want their fines, which surprised them greatly.
But soon they understood Jon's intention. An attendant pulled a handcart in front of them, on which were square pieces of animal skin of various sizes.
The smaller ones were about the size of a handkerchief, and the larger ones could almost be sewn into a vest.
"This is a Gold Dragon Certificate." Jon picked up a handkerchief-sized piece of skin and said, "The smaller ones are worth one thousand Gold Dragons each, and the largest is worth ten thousand Gold Dragons. Through these certificates, you deposit gold coins in Casterly Rock. If you need money in the future, you can come and withdraw it. I think there should be no safer place in the entire Seven Kingdoms than Casterly Rock, right?"
"Certificate?" Orell was stunned for a moment, then understood that Jon was conducting a very special kind of "robbery." Would he really spit out the gold coins sent to Casterly Rock?
Wasn't this a joke?!
It looked like just another form of fine.
Just as someone was calculating how much of the skin in Jon's hand they should buy, he added, "Those who deposit more, I can let them manage their family's castle, territory, and affairs. These will all be recognized by me."
Jon spoke lightly, as if discussing some free gift.
But the group who came to swear allegiance suddenly realized why Jon had specifically requested both the main and branch families to come.
Although it was currently only management rights over the territory, it was visible to the naked eye that the main branches of families throughout the West had almost all declined. The more flexible-minded branch members had long been restless, wanting to make a move on the widows and orphans.
Now with Jon's endorsement, what was there to hesitate about?
It wasn't like they hadn't made money by managing family territories over the years. Now was the time to spend money to buy status!
If they gave enough, Jon might directly title them as the main branch inheriting the castle, title, and territory!
What were they waiting for!
So, under Jon's hint, the representatives of the branch families began a frantic buying spree. In just a short while, all the so-called "Gold Dragon Certificates" Jon had ordered the artisans to make were sold out.
Jon had only prepared deer skin notes worth one million Gold Dragons, but in the end, these people raised a fortune of 1.61 million Gold Dragons for Jon.
Jon knew well that now was not the time to promote paper currency, but these large-denomination notes could raise enough money for him to do things.
Although the West still had its foundations, the continuous wars throughout the region easily spread a pessimistic atmosphere.
Especially since more people were watching him, an "outsider," with suspicion.
So Jon needed to reward soldiers, rebuild towns, carry out projects, and even hold festivals to revitalize the West.
And these all required large sums of money.
Besides these places where money was needed, there was another huge hole: the resettlement of the mountain clans.
As early as when Jon's plan to "intercept the rain" worked, he sent ravens to the Vale, sending messages to the mountain clan tribes, telling them they could start preparing to move west.
The mountain clan tribes in the entire Mountains of the Moon added up to about 160,000 people. The migration alone would cost over a hundred thousand Gold Dragons, and this was with the "discount" Old Walder gave him.
For the West, Jon was an outsider, and so were the mountain clans.
Settling them securely around him, handling their food and security, would make him sleep much sounder.
Moreover, these 160,000 people could supplement the population of the West.
Take the previous invasion by the North and the Iron Islands as an example. The Northerners might have just grabbed some cattle, sheep, and gold, but the Ironborn didn't even spare the population.
Added to the continuous conscription by the Lannisters due to the war, the West had a certain shortage of manpower.
If not for cost issues, Jon would have even wanted to bring the wildlings from beyond the Wall to the West.
Speaking of which, Westeros has many "uncivilized people": those beyond the Wall naturally go without saying, the mountain clans of the North, the Red Mountains of the South, the mountain clans of the Vale, and Crackclaw Point in the Crownlands.
Visenya, the wife of Aegon the Conqueror, once rode a dragon to conquer Crackclaw Point. During the more than three hundred years of Targaryen rule, the natives of Crackclaw Point liked to call themselves "Dragon's Model Subjects."
The Dragon Kings also gave them the privilege of not paying taxes, while they paid the "blood tax" when the Dragon Kings needed it.
The houses on Crackclaw Point were the area with the densest appearance of Kingsguard members.
When Rhaegar and Robert fought their decisive battle, almost all the adult males of Crackclaw Point went with them, and more than half of them died in battle.
Their loyalty was beyond words.
Jon had the same positioning for the mountain clans moving west.
In the past, the Targaryens made the residents of Crackclaw Point loyal for three hundred years just by virtue of being Dragon Kings. In the future, Jon planned to improve the literacy rate of these people, provide them with first-class medical care, prioritize selecting officials and officers from among them, ensure their status, and completely bind them to his power.
As for these Western nobles standing before Jon, he had no intention of sharing power with them.
When he reached Highgarden, Jon planned to ask the Citadel for a large batch of "semi-finished Maesters," that is, acolytes still undergoing training.
As long as they could read, these people would become his bureaucrats, assisting him in governing the West.
The feudal system of the Seven Kingdoms was like dividing Westeros into ships of various sizes, while Jon wanted to create an aircraft carrier made of chained ships.
Simply put, concentrate power to do big things and prepare fully for the Long Night.
After temporarily dealing with a large number of affairs such as defense, the army, and vassals, Jon set off for Highgarden.
Before leaving, he also wrote a letter to Theon, inviting him to his wedding.
Theon wasn't bad at heart, at least much better than King Balon and that Cthulhu beast Euron. If he could control the Iron Islands through him, then his plans for the future could be greatly accelerated.