Since Tywin retreated to the West, and Robb held Jaime in the Riverlands to bargain with Tywin, Roman was finally able to transfer his troops to the Eastern front to continue the war.
Due to Roman's intervention in this war, the Stark family gathered in Winterfell early on. When capturing Jaime, Roman single-handedly crushed his personal guard, preventing the young nobles of the North from suffering any harm.
Now that the Riverlands were relieved, the Northerners had no desire to continue fighting, and everyone prepared to withdraw to the North after House Lannister ransomed Jaime.
The Young Wolf had confided his thoughts to Roman; he planned to wait until Baratheon seized the iron throne before considering whether to pledge allegiance.
"Does Lord Eddard allow this? His honor only recognizes Stannis Baratheon. I fear Lord Eddard would not agree with you doing this, Ser Robb."
Robb shrugged: "I will try my best to persuade my father. The North is not a land of plenty, its population is extremely precious, and the wildlings cannot be put to use immediately. There are three kings in the South now; it is unwise to support any of them. It is better to wait until they finish fighting."
Just as they were speaking, Philia brought them tea.
"Come, have a taste. This is tea from the Eastern Continent. The climate of Westeros cannot grow such good things!"
Robb took a sip, savoring the tea's aroma while looking at Philia. He suddenly said to Roman:
"Ser Roman, I heard you intend to marry a personal maid of common birth. Is that true?"
"Ha!" Roman set down the porcelain teacup and rolled his eyes at the Young Wolf. "And what about you, Ser Robb? Didn't you also end up with a nurse of unknown origin? You are the future Duke of the North, and Lord Eddard didn't say anything."
Robb could only rub his nose awkwardly after hearing this. However, no one was arranging a marriage for Robb now, so if he wanted to date, he would date. At most, he would be scolded by Eddard, but given Eddard's character, he would eventually accept Jeyne Westerling.
Subsequently, Roman inquired about the situation of the Stark family.
Sansa remained love-struck, Arya hoped Roman would come to Winterfell to practice swordsmanship with her, Bran was still climbing in the ruins, and Rickon was still acting like a child.
As for Jon Snow, Robb said he had ended up with a wildling woman and was now following Benjen Stark to patrol Beyond the Wall as a member of the Northern Defense Force, perfectly missing the war in Westeros.
Robb asked Roman if he intended to marry his sister Sansa, but Roman declined the Young Wolf's offer on the grounds that the marriage contract with Myrcella was uncertain.
"I don't understand you. On one hand, you are enterprising and willing to overthrow the knight system of Westeros to implement new policies; on the other hand, you place special importance on these matters of honor. Whether as a man or as a dragon, you are too strange."
Finally, Robb bid farewell to Roman. What he needed to do now was to get as much ransom as possible using Jaime; the rest could wait.
Roman, meanwhile, began large-scale military operations against The Crownlands. Now, those nobles were completely unable to resist Roman's offensive, and many surrendered immediately upon seeing the Harrenhal troops.
The rare stubborn elements only needed Roman to circle above their heads for a while, and they would open the city gates themselves to welcome the royal army.
The soldiers of Harrenhal would often sigh when seeing this: "Tywin Lannister used to play 'The Rains of Castamere' for disobedient vassals. Now, our Lord Roman also flies over the heads of disobedient nobles with flames. History is always so similar."
"That's still different! Tywin was cruel and relentless. Now that he has lost power, everyone looks down on him, and the West is beginning to stir again. Lord Roman always strips defeated nobles of their land and wealth, but he doesn't mistreat them. Not only do they live in Harrenhal, but he also lets them engage in trade and construction. How can the two be mentioned in the same breath?"
Rumors about Roman once circulated among the nobles, saying that he would grab nobles and burn them to eat like the dragons in history, but as letters from captured nobles were sent back, people realized that Roman was different from the rumors.
Small nobles and landed knights in The Crownlands always chose to surrender when facing Roman's army. Compared to being smashed by rocks by the Harrenhal army or burned by Roman's White Flame, kneeling and surrendering was better than dying in resistance.
But in the end, some nobles did not intend to surrender, including the Staunton family of Rook's Rest.
When Roman brought his troops to the foot of the castle, Rook's Rest still maintained a posture of fighting to the death.
Roman gave them a week to consider. A week later, Roman decisively took to the sky. On the ground were the counterweight trebuchets of Harrenhal, and in the sky were White Flame and lightning.
The magic dragon of Harrenhal immediately used Magic Missile to destroy the defensive equipment on the walls and the warehouses by the walls. Then, he sprayed dragonflame into the arrow slits of every tower, directly igniting the hidden archers.
Roman could melt steel and stone, but he didn't want to waste heat on such uneconomical things. It was better to use that magic to systematically blow up several key towers.
The Staunton family thought they could rely on the thick castle to defend against dragonflame, but they later discovered that a wise humanoid magic dragon like Roman was more dangerous than the dragons in history.
Roman could always find the weak points of the defensive line and launch attacks. After multiple attacks, the defenders of Rook's Rest dared not raise their heads. Even when the Harrenhal army attacked the city, they remained unmoved; after all, if they dared to raise their heads, they would eat a Magic Missile.
In the end, Rook's Rest could not withstand the pressure and surrendered. Since then, Roman had completed the feat of fighting from the Gods Eye to Blackwater Bay.
After clearing out the Staunton family, Roman immediately began to rebuild and transform this land.
During this period, Roman's progress was not fast. He always waited for roads to be built and castles to be rebuilt before proceeding to the next step.
Every place Roman conquered was warmly welcomed by the local residents. Most nobles were a bit too inhumane; by comparison, Roman was too kind.
Now the commoners of Westeros knew that the arrival of Roman meant the cancellation of harsh taxes, the construction of roads, the digging of water conservancy facilities, and the popularization of medical care and education.
For the three kings of the South, Roman was more terrifying than Aegon the Conqueror.
After Aegon conquered Westeros, he needed the support of the local nobles. Without the help of these locals, Aegon had power but could not manage.
But Roman was different. He adopted a different set of systems. Every time Roman arrived at a place, it meant the disintegration of the local landed knight system.
The soldiers, workers, farmers, and technical bureaucrats of Harrenhal were like extensions of Roman's hands and feet, efficiently transforming the local area.
Recently, Wilson also had a great invention. Relying on his ability, the agricultural scholars of Harrenhal successfully cultivated a dwarf variety of wheat that was resistant to pests.
At this time, these new wheat seeds were planted everywhere. Using the phosphate fertilizer, potash fertilizer, and ammonium fertilizer produced by the Harrenhal workshop, and after irrigation through water conservancy facilities, the wheat yield in slightly better farmland could easily exceed 500 jin per mu.
And this was a common phenomenon. For the old farmers of Harrenhal, these achievements were still shocking, but everyone was already used to it.
But for the people of The Crownlands, Roman was the incarnation of the Seven, otherwise, it was impossible to explain why he could accomplish agricultural feats that Westeros had been unable to complete for thousands of years.
In a field during the autumn harvest, Philia looked excitedly at the numbers reported by the farmers.
The young girl held up a pile of wheat grains and showed a bright smile to Roman:
"Lord Roman, look! With these, we can really make it so that everyone has food to eat. Your wish is about to come true!"