Game of Thrones: Kings in the North

Chapter 167 The father of life, admired by all the people, trembling all the officials
The residents of the winter resort town stood on both sides of the King's Avenue, and they sprinkled the petals of winter snow roses into the air to welcome Duke Ed's triumphant return.

"Long live Stark! Long live Duke Eddard!"

"Long live Winterfell!"

Ed rode on the direwolf night walk, wearing a bearskin cloak sent by the leader of the wildlings, and walked in the forefront of the team, besides Greatjon Umber, Great Barrel Wall, Earl Rickard, and Black Donna Flint , Riddle and other northern nobles, as well as Old Bear, Halfhand, Bunyan, and Carter Pike among the Night Watchmen who were invited to the triumphant banquet.

The others are Ed's honor guard, Varamyr riding on a four-meter-high snow bear, Byers riding on a black bear, Michu riding a giant eagle, Samantha riding an ostrich, and Thorns of the shadow lynx, Billy and Rayson, the leaders of the rock species riding unicorns.

And giants riding mammoths, they are like moving castles.

Ed ordered a hundred giants to stay on the north shore of Long Lake, and under the command of architect Downs Aylin, built Long Lake City. The remaining 500 giants followed Ed to Winterfell on mammoths.

Ser Roderick Cassel, the coach of Winterfell City, stroked his snow-white beard with his hands. The well-informed Sir Roderick also saw the magical sight of skinchangers and giants for the first time.

Maester Luwin frowned, his bald head was covered with beads of sweat, and he murmured: "Giants reappeared in the world, beasts of the skinchangers appeared in the downtown area of ​​Winterfelt Town, and giant eagles flew in the sky. It was a really weird era."

All the way south along the king's road these days, Ed would find a wildling leader to accompany him every day.He discussed the customs between different wildling tribes with the giant killer Tormund, discussed the knowledge of shapechangers with the goat girl Gisela, discussed the knowledge of birds with the eagle king McCain, and discussed the habits of three-headed dogs with the hell dog Darren, etc. .

The more exchanges, the more Ed gets to know these savage leaders.The wildlings had all faced the weirwood heart tree and sworn allegiance to Eddard, but loyalty had to be earned.

The savage values ​​oath, loyalty and honor more. The wolf king Ed brought the savage to the green land. The savage and the giant respected Ed as a god.

Tormund refers to Ed as "Father of Life", which was originally one of Tormund's many nicknames.

"It's only because Lord Ed saved countless holy spirits from the hands of the other ghosts." Many savages began to call Ed the "Father of Life".

Robb, Theon, Domeric, and Jon rode beside the giant bear. The originally majestic war horse became much smaller in an instant beside the big bear.

Caitlin took Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon to welcome Ed's triumphant return at the gate of Winterfell.

In the imagination of the children and Caitlin, Ed should be riding a war horse, surrounded by Winterfell's personal guards, and returned in triumph. Unexpectedly, Ed was riding on the back of a direwolf, and all around him were riders. Riding a ferocious beast, the strange-looking savages are just like scenes in old Nan's stories.

As soon as Sansa saw the snow bear and the ferocious wild boar in the Polo area, she immediately turned pale with fright. She dodged backwards and bumped into a wildling leader. Sansa was very polite and wanted to apologize, but she didn't expect that the man in front of her was actually The king of bones covered in withered bone armor, Sansa ran away crying in fright.

Arya was not afraid, she took a stick and tapped the bone king's withered armor, clanging, the bone king laughed and called Arya a "fierce little guy".

As soon as Bran saw the direwolf's nocturnal movement and sunlight, he ran over and screamed, "Wolf knight, wolf knight!"

The direwolf laughed merrily as it licked Bran's head with its rough-as-stone tongue.

Little Rickon ran screaming and running between the direwolf's legs, and Eddard reached out and pulled Rickon onto the wolf's back and held him in his arms.

Robb dismounted, and Catelyn hugged Robb.The war outside the Great Wall was the first war Robb participated in. Caitlin prayed to the Seven Gods in the church every day, looking forward to the safe return of Robb and Ed. Now that they are finally back, Caitlin should be happy, but, look Looking at these wildlings and tens of thousands of savages, Caitlin began to worry again.

In the cheers of the residents of the winter town and Stark's soldiers, Ed turned over and got off the direwolf, and handed Rickon in his arms to Robb, who hugged Caitlin.

Caitlin held Ed's face in her slender hands.

"Ed, you're finally back! What's going on with your savage friends? The ferocious beasts they ride are too scary, what if they bite you? What if they bite innocent residents of the winter shelter town? what to do?"

Ed smiled, "Don't worry, these shapechangers are all beast masters, they can control these ferocious animals very well."

The deputy captain of Winterfell, Harris Moran, escorted three hundred wildling adopted sons to Ed, and Ed introduced to Caitlin: "Caitlin, these are our wildling adopted sons, and their parents are wildling leaders. , a total of 300 people."

Three hundred children covered in fleas and in rags, the oldest no more than Sansa's age and the youngest about Bran's age.

Some of the adopted sons looked at Caitlin presumptuously, which made Caitlin feel very uncomfortable. People in the north never paid much attention to etiquette. They thought the red tape in the south was unnecessary and a waste of time, while the wilderness beyond the Great Wall had no etiquette at all.

"Arrange them in the Stark Manor in Winterfell Town!" Caitlin didn't want these children to live in Winterfell, maybe they would spoil the children.

Sansa is okay, she is a polite little lady, she knows to stay away from these savage children, but Arya and Bran are always willing to make friends, and little Rickon is too young to distinguish good from bad.Catelyn didn't want the wildling's children to be friends with her own.

Ed shook his head, "Catelyn, our adopted son must live in Winterfell. Maester Luwin will teach them to read and write, and Ser Rodrik will teach them sword and shield and riding. I hope the wildling adopted son will be well taken care of, Growing up with the Stark children at Winterfell."

Caitlin can only obey her orders. After all, after Ed defeated the wildlings beyond the Great Wall and merged the land beyond the Great Wall, he became a great hero of the Northern Territory in Winterfell, in Winterfell Town, and in every corner of the Northern Territory. It was not a good idea to disobey Eddard's orders in front of Winterfell's soldiers and servants.

"Vayan Poole, take the children into Winterfell." Ed ordered the steward, "Send the girls to the bathroom to bathe, and the boys to the Godswood Hot Spring to bathe, and then arrange rooms for them, ten children to a yard, no Let them run around."

Weiyan Poole nodded. Together with the soldiers of Winterfell, he entered Winterfell with the wildling's adopted son.Almost every adopted son stared dumbfounded at the majestic Winterfell.To the wildlings, a tower and a mill are a castle, and Winterfell is nothing short of a miracle in their eyes.

Thousands of savages flocked to the winter town, some led scrawny plow horses, some drove goats, some rode oxen, some rode bone chariots pulled by dogs, but many more Hiking, penniless, hungry.

Thousands of Winterfell soldiers were fully armed to maintain law and order. Thenns in bronze scale armor and wildling warriors holding wooden clubs and stone axes walked among the wildlings to maintain order.The wild people often quarreled and fought from time to time, but there was little bloodshed, because according to Ed's order, those who committed crimes would be reduced to hard labor and lost their freedom.

Originally, Ed bought a large amount of grain from King's Landing, White Harbor, Seagull Town, Pentos, and Riverland through White Harbor, and filled all the granaries in the winter shelter town and Winterfell City. Caitlin was very happy, He thought he could survive the next cold winter, but Ed brought back so many savages.

Carloads of pumpkins, brown bread, carrots, pears were handed out, Caitlin's heart was bleeding, it was all money!
The soldiers of Winterfell set up tents along the King's Road, and then spread to the south and east of the King's Road. Thousands of wildling tents were already filled with wildlings. The wildling team on the King's Road still couldn't see the end. Still coming in like a tide.

Caitlin lowered her voice, "Ed, how many wildlings are there on the King's Row?"

"The savages are almost here. Tomorrow is probably the last batch." Ed stroked Caitlin's red hair. "There are more than 12 savages. I left [-] savages and [-] giants in Long Lake." Castles were built, and the rest came to the winter towns."

Caitlin said in amazement: "So many savages? They will finish our food. They are all useless mouths. What's the use?"

Ed put his finger on Caitlin's mouth, "This issue can wait until we get home and talk behind closed doors. Now is the time to enjoy victory."

So Ed entered Winterfell amidst the cheers of the townspeople and wildlings, and Caitlin could only follow.

Ed walked across the yard, and the pregnant Gilly sprang out from the shadows, "Master Ed, thank you for taking me in, I became a washerwoman."

Gilly is Custer's wife. After Ed captured Custer's fortress, he sent Gilly and Custer's dozen wives to Winterfell. "Gilly, I hope you enjoy life at Winterfell."

"Despicable wolf king." Custer cursed from the side, and Ed realized that Custer was in shackles and locked in a cage, "Let me out."

Ed smiled, "Castor, I can set you free immediately. If you are willing to stay in the winter town, I will provide you with a house. If you are willing to return beyond the Great Wall, I can also send someone to escort you. All this, as long as you provide the White Walker Give me the information."

Castor showed a sinister smile, "Wolf King, do you think I will betray the cold god for freedom? I will never reveal the secrets of the cold god and the other ghosts to you. The cold wind has already blown, and sooner or later the cold god will come from Go south in the Land of Eternal Winter and put out all the flames of life, when the time comes, only a God-worshipping person like Custer can survive."

Ed nodded, "So you should stay in the cage and worship your god!"

Castor stared at Gilly's pregnant belly, "Wolf King, I've heard about it, you think you can mock the God of Cold by defeating that kid Mance and bringing back 10,000+ wildlings? You fucking idiot When Gilly gives birth to a child, if it is a boy, you must send him beyond the Great Wall to the God of Cold, otherwise, the White Walkers will follow in the child's footsteps and turn Winterfell into a city of bones and bones. "

Ed really wanted to ridicule Custer's doomsday heresy, but his thoughts instantly returned to the time when he was in Custer's Fortress. In that dilapidated hall, Ed felt an inexplicable feeling Cold, do the sons of Craster really have a special attraction to the White Walkers?

Caitlin was taken aback by Custer's words. She said in amazement: "Ed, is this prisoner so important? This is a lunatic. He has been talking about the past few days since he came to Winterfell. Send him quickly. Let's go, send it to Stark Manor."

Ed didn't want Caitlin to be frightened, so he called the Winter City Guardsman.

"Put Custer in the dungeon."

Let Craster and his White Walkers stink and musty in the dungeons!

Ed and Caitlin returned to the bedroom, Caitlin said excitedly: "Ed, you defeated the savages outside the Great Wall and just drove them away. Why did you have to move the savages to Winterfell? We can't support them at all." Many people."

Ed took off his bearskin cloak, "We have enough food in stock. I ordered Earl Wyman of White Harbor to bring a lot of food from the south, Pentos, and Tyrosh."

"But it was all Winterfell's money!" Caitlin said angrily, "Have you forgotten? We are heavily in debt, we owe the Earl of Manderly a hundred thousand gold dragons in arrears, and we owe the Braavos Iron Bank 50 gold dragons." Wan Jinlong."

Thinking of the tens of thousands of wildlings outside Winterfell, Caitlin suddenly became agitated. He held Ed's hand, "Yes, I heard from Maester Luwin that if any king or lord dares to default on the Iron Bank Debt, there will be rebellion in the territory, and it will continue to breed. Last year there was a rock rebellion on Skagos Island, and this year it was Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall, who attacked the Great Wall. Maybe the Iron Bank is behind it?"

"You brought more than [-] savages back to the winter town today. This is the heartland of the northern border! If the iron bank incites these wild men to rebel, the big market, barracks, and stables in the winter town that we have worked so hard to build, The forge, the glass farm, may all be destroyed by the wildling rebellion!"

Ed smiled bitterly: "Caitlin, your imagination is really rich. You can ask the financial advisor Clare, our maple syrup, blue nobles, vodka, cinnabar ink, perfume, herbs, dyed woolen clothes, have already sold well in Victoria. Stello and the Free Cities, we made a lot of money."

Caitlin said sadly: "I made some money, but you spent it all! I read Krall's bills, and those wolf castles you built on the west coast, like Dawn Watch, War Horse City, Rock City, Blacksmith City, Which one doesn't cost money? Now you still want to build Long Lake City and raise so many savages, you are crazy."

Ed calmly said: "The debt we owe to White Harbor will be offset by the tax that the Manderly family should pay to Winterfell. As for the debt of the Braavos Iron Bank, you don't have to worry about it. It’s wood, and now the Haunted Forest beyond the Wall is also mine, and I have ordered Castle Stark on the Great Wall to go to the Haunted Forest to cut wood, and transport it directly from Eastwatch to Braavos for sale.”

Caitlin said disdainfully: "How much is the wood worth? The Braavosians know that the North is poor and crazy when they see us paying our debts with wood."

Ed laughed and said, "You don't understand this. Timber is worthless in the north, but it is valuable when transported to Braavos. Braavos is located at the junction of the Shivering Sea and the Narrow Sea. The climate is relatively cold, there are very few forests in Braavos, and the Braavos are not allowed to cut down the windbreaks on the island. Therefore, many Braavos cannot afford wood for heating and can only burn horse dung. A boat The profit from bringing the timber to Braavos is hundreds of gold dragons."

The haze on Caitlin's face gradually dissipated, "The wood is so valuable in Braavos. Then why didn't the damn Braaavos financial advisor, Krall, tell me? If you calculate it this way, the northern border is worthless. Selling lumber to Braaavos is enough to pay off the debt. But those wildlings"

Ed put his hand on Caitlin's shoulder, "People's hearts are the most precious, and the wildlings faced the heart tree and swore allegiance to me, the Stark family and Winterfell. The wildlings, like the people of the North, They are descendants of the ancestors and worship the old gods. Many people think that the savages are barbaric and uncivilized ethnic groups. In fact, the savages are proud and resolute. 12 savages need to consume food to support so many savages, but the savages can also provide for Winterfell. Provide labor and troops."

"There is a lot of uncultivated land in the territory of Winterfell. We build houses, resettle these savages, let them join the Stark Manor, open up more fertile fields, and harvest more food. Besides, the food brought by White Harbor There is plenty of food. The ice bank of the Great Wall is full of food. Stark fishing boats can catch a lot of seafood every day in Ice Bay, Seal Bay and Shivering Sea. It is not a problem to feed the people of the North, including the wildlings. .”

"In addition to wildlings, there are giants, skinchangers, and ten thousand brave wildling warriors can be selected. In peacetime, wildlings farmed for Stark in the Stark Manor and worked for Stark in the workshop. During the war, the wildlings would fight for the Starks under the banner of the direwolf. Just imagine, if the Seven Kingdoms were at war, and the riverlands were involved in the flames of war."

Caitlin's heart tightened, "Zhan Luan? Don't fight a war. My father, Duke Hoster Tully, has been getting worse and worse over the past few years, and he has started to be bedridden. My brother Edmure, how can he fight a war?" What about the materials?"

Ed said: "The Riverland borders on the West, the North, the Valley, the King's Land, and the Reach. It also faces the Iron Islands across the sea. The Riverland is a battleground. Go and read the history books. , in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, the riverlands could not stay out of any wars, "the seven kingdoms are in dispute, and the rivers bleed."

"Once a war breaks out in the riverlands, the Stark family will summon the vassals of the northern border and rush south to help Riverrun City. Think about it, there will be tens of thousands of wildlings roaring warriors at that time. How big an advantage will the northern border be?"

Caitlin suddenly realized, "I didn't think of this level, Ed, after all, you have considered everything. My uncle Brynden told me that wars need population and money to support them."

The Tully family in Riverrun was the governor of the riverland appointed by Aegon the Conqueror, but the embarrassing thing is that the Tully family has never been king in the riverland, and their territory is not as large as that of the Vance family next door. It is not as majestic as Harrenhal of the River Ann family, and the blood of the Tully family is far less noble than the Mallister, Vance, Blackwood, and Bracken families that used to be kings, and it is not as rich as the Frey family of the Twins. .
All this doomed the Tully family in Riverrun to be far less popular in the riverlands than the Stark family in the north. Once a war broke out, Riverrun needed support from the north and the valley. Back then, Catelyn and Lysa , married Ed and Jon Arryn respectively, and created the Northern Territory, the alliance between the Riverlands and the Vale of Arryn, precisely because of this political consideration.

Ed held Caitlin's hand, "Beyond the Great Wall has been incorporated into the territory of the North, and the territory of the North has expanded several times. Stark has Dawn in the Streamland, Rock Town in the Rocky Coast, and Warhorse City in the Streamland. , there is Blacksmith City in Kraken Point, and Abyss Castle in Skagos Island, and the people in the north have increased by more than [-], which is a great victory."

"Enjoy the victory! The triumphal banquet will be held in a few days. At that time, vassals from all over the northern border will come to Winterfell to participate in the banquet. I will honor the heroes in the war beyond the Great Wall. This is a glorious moment for the direwolves."

A few days later, nobles from all over the northern border arrived one after another.

As usual, Earl Mitch Seven arrived first. Since Seven City is too close to Winterfell, only one day’s ride away, Mitch Seven is usually No.1 at every Winterfell banquet. He also brought his daughter Qiao Lier Seven and son Clay Seven.

Mrs. Ballerina from Barrenton was the second to arrive. In previous years, Mrs. Ballet was either absent or late at the Winterfell banquet. This time, she came so early because she missed her husband Ferran.

Barbaret and Phelan embraced, and Phelan apologized: "I was captured in the war, and I failed to become a hero in the North."

"Fool, heroes are going to the grave. It's good that you come back alive and safe." Barbaret took Ferran's hand and placed it on her stomach, "I'm pregnant."

Ferran excitedly said, "Am I going to be a father?"

Afterwards, Earl Herman Tallhart of Torrhen's Square, brothers Galbert and Robert Glover of Deepwood Motte, and Earl Harris Hornwood of Hornwood arrived one after another.

Lord Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort arrived at Winterfell, escorted by a group of Dreadfort guards.The flayer's coat of arms is worn on the chest of the Dreadfort guards.

Greatjon Umber taunted: "Earl Luce, you didn't set off outside the Great Wall. I'm sorry that I couldn't hear your whispers at the battle meeting!"

Roose Bolton said: "This must be a very great expedition. Duke Ed defeated the army of Mance Rayder, the king beyond the wall, and captured all kinds of strange spirits. I saw giants, moas and There are snow bears, and there are countless savages. It is a pity that I was not able to lead the army. But fortunately, my son Domilik went to the battlefield with Duke Ed."

In fact, the northern nobles are very envious of the Amber family, the Karstark family, the northern mountain clan and the rock clan who followed Ed. The territories of these noble families are closer to the Great Wall, and many of them have feuds with the wildlings. Even when Ed was not recruited, he still chose to send troops to fight side by side with Stark.

Many nobles missed this great war of merging beyond the Great Wall, expanding the land for thousands of miles, and capturing more than [-] savages.

Today's triumphal banquet is prepared to honor these nobles. The glory and spoils are divided among Amber, Karstark, Rock Seed and the northern mountain clans, and other nobles come to join them.

Maggie Mormont, Countess of Bear Island, brought over 600 captives.Xiong Dao did not follow Ed, but Xiong Dao was involved in the war at the beginning of the war of conquest beyond the Great Wall.

Mance Rayder once hoped to capture Bear Island, using Bear Island as a springboard to bypass the Great Wall and enter the North.Instigated by Mance, the people from the Frozen Coast across the sea from Bear Island rushed up to the coast of Bear Island in a canoe. Countess Maggie led her daughters and the Bear Island warriors to defeat the attack of the people from the Frozen Coast. Hundreds were captured, control of the Bay of Ice was regained, and Mance's plans were aborted.

Earl Wyman of White Harbor brought a large amount of delicacies as usual, caviar, sturgeon, salmon, prawns, crab and swan meat, beef and so on.

"What a great war. The territory of the northern border has reached an unprecedented size. So many savages have joined the big family of the northern border. Fortunately, White Harbor has purchased enough food under the instruction of Duke Ed. If there is enough food in the environment, there is nothing to be afraid of.”

After the nobles from the north arrived, the nobles entered the hall, and the servants of Winterfell began to deliver plates of turkey, onion beef, mutton sprinkled with cinnamon and cumin, turnips, and pumpkins. Pie, lemon cake, browned and crispy bread, vodka, ale and beer.

The banquet has not officially started, and Ed is still in the study.In the hall, some nobles were chatting and laughing. The Greatjon and Earl Severn began to play dirty jokes. Earl Rickard played dice with Herman Tallhart. Countess Meggie found her brother Xiong Lao to chat about family affairs.Old Xiong and night watchman officials Colin Halfhand, Bunyan and others were invited to the banquet, because the night watchman was also a hero who conquered beyond the Great Wall.

Earl Roderick Lathwell of Streamland was frowning. He walked to Barbaret's side and walked towards Ed's study with his daughter.

The Earl of Laswell and Ballet came to Ed, and Ed was curious, "Why don't you go to the banquet?"

The Earl of Laswell handed over a jar of golden dragons, "Lord Ed, it was wrong for us to bargain with you on the issue of the mouth of the Saltspear Beach. I will return a thousand golden dragons and send five hundred war horses. Apologizes."

Barbaret handed over a pot of golden dragons, "This is the two thousand golden dragons, and I didn't move them. Lord Ed, you have won both the rock species war and the war beyond the Great Wall, and you have included the beyond the Great Wall into the territory of the Northern Territory. Even Geng can't do it, you are a great hero in the North and even the Seven Kingdoms."

"Now that the direwolf is in full swing, I only want to be a humble servant of the direwolf. I have offended Lord Ed before, please forgive me, Lord Ed."

Ed stroked the golden dragon, "Barbaret, this is not like you."

Ballet stroked her belly, "I'm pregnant."

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(End of this chapter)