King of The Wall

2021-01-06

Chapter 306 Guiding Teachers
"What the hell did you do, master!"

Arya hurried into Igor's room, dragged the man out of breath and snitched. Although she was still young, she could hear from the tone of the discussion between her brother and several bannermen that they were very dissatisfied with some of the actions that the oneself master was secretly doing.

After spending a few minutes listening to Arya's live broadcast of Human Flesh, Igor frowned, keenly aware of the anomaly - things seem to be a little different than expected: "Are you sure, that's what your big brother said?"

"Are you doubting my mind?" The girl akimbo dissatisfied, "Although I sometimes... um... careless, but as long as it's something I want to remember, I definitely don't. I'll be wrong!"

Without much room for thought, less than a minute after Arya relayed the discussions of the nobles in that room to Igor, House Stark's guards came outside and knocked on the door to tell him North guard please.

"You wait until I'm gone before you go out, so that no one will see that you tipped me off." Igor pushed Arya to hide her aside, and after saying this, he didn't dare to wait too long to come out. Open the door, led by the gray robe soldier to Duke Stark's bedroom and conference room.

＊＊＊

The mysterious visitor was Yohn Royce, who was supposed to be trapped in Castle Black by the Land Granters - this lunatic, actually got around the Wall A long way, risking mortal danger, unexpectedly appearing here - just to send a message, to bad oneself thing?

Igor has to admit that oneself can count for thousands of dollars, but after all, it still can't be counted as a last resort.

However, if that's all, he's not too frightened. The military operation of thousands of people, he only planned to delay it for a day, and did not intend to completely hide it. In fact, he had already planned the way back and explained the behavior of oneself on the day of the order—— It was bad that it happened a few days earlier than expected, but it was not completely unprepared.

But Arya's retelling of Robb's discussions with the North nobles aroused his vigilance.

Roose Bolton speaking for oneself again is a small accident, this time it is not as simple as showing goodness in front of oneself - defending it so rationally in a sudden situation that did not pass at all in advance oneself , this is something that a fairly solid political ally would do, and oneself and Old Flayer are obviously not in this relationship.

Igor didn't know what this guy was thinking for a while, so he could only think for the time being that this was really a sympathy among smart people. But if oneself's cheap recipe doesn't add fuel to the fire, Robb's statement is quite interesting: "ability is important, but humility, loyalty, and honor are also indispensable."

If you don't think about it, It's easy to dismiss this phrase as an ordinary politician cliché, but once you dig deeper, you can learn a lot from it.

"Ability is important", this sentence subconsciously affirms oneself's ability, which means that Igor's efforts to show his ability have paid off. And "humility, loyalty, and a sense of honor are also indispensable"... The abstract things of humility and honor are not mentioned, the "loyalty" in the middle is the key - Robb's sentence, translated as: this time What oneself did was an attitude problem. The move of military action without anyone knowing made the ruler of North uneasy, doubting whether oneself could remain loyal after becoming Lord Commander.

When oneself deployed the land-grant mutiny, all he could think about was "how to make the operation have no flaws in weak spot", "how to ensure the achievement of tactical goals"...even planning for the way back and events. When he made a speech, he was thinking about how to quibble, how to clear responsibility and deal with the aftermath, so as to minimize the impact of oneself and the big game of land grant...

Traveling through the pre-modern society The idea of "ability first" was so ingrained in his mind that even after living in this world for several years, he still had not completely reversed it.

Before running for Lord Commander, as an officer, it is no problem to focus on ability. But this time, things have changed: Although Night's Watch "Lord Commander" is only Level 1 higher than "Chief", this is a military rank with no higher-level superiors, and it is no longer an irrelevant position. Commanding the Wall garrison, Seneschal granting land, serving for life once elected, not accepting impeachment, etc., make it more like a "one lord" than a "position".

In addition to the one that cannot be inherited, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is also a "land-grant Duke" to some extent - just the Fiefdom population resources, which are far away from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms and even Iron Islands and Dragonstone and the Narrow Sea Islands.

Considering all factors, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is more like a big banner guarded by North, or the one who is the most distant and cannot be dispatched at will.

In this era of feudal lords, the important position of ruling a party must not be based on personal preference, because they are more familiar with each other, or oneself younger sister is closer to them, or Igor "ability" Competent enough"...and made a rash decision. In order to secure a stable position, upper-level rulers often prefer to let more ordinary, if not a little incompetent, take over - just like when King Robert knew that Janos Slynt was a bastard, but still wanted to protect him.

A vulgar but apt metaphor to describe this relationship is: Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is not a poison insect that can kill with one blow to the North guardian, but a loyal guardian of the home. Dogs - and if the watchdog is too smart and too unruly, then the owner should worry about whether oneself is suspected of bringing wolves into the house.

Igor didn't grow up in the aristocratic circle. Since leaving Wall, the road to entrepreneurship and high-ranking has been difficult. In the second half, there is no insider guidance like Tyrion Lannister, who understands everything, so he went astray. This seems to be unremarkable, but it is actually a crucial point.

If it weren't for today's dive light flashed and let Arya go to explore the ideas of Robb and the others, he would have just followed the original preparation: walked confidently in front of the North nobles, and spoke according to the plan , like referring to Ironmen as "pirates" and wildlings as "new land-givers", through common methods such as arguing, distorting facts, referring to deer as horses, etc., relying on cleverness and eloquence to pass the test... Maybe today Robb can't make oneself. , but in the long run, it is definitely self-defeating, walking into the pit without realizing it, and I don't know how to fight in the end!

On the less than 100-meter road from the room to the main castle, Igor quickly thought about the situation, and finally made a judgment - giving up all the words he thought up before.

Ability and ability, oneself has shown too much, it's time to perform something else. Today, he is going to pretend to be an honest man with good intentions and bad deeds, a loyal and reliable Night's Watch Legion Lord Commander.

＊＊＊

Icemark City is so big, the two of them walked into the main castle quickly. At this time, the kitchen was bringing the steaming breakfast, and the hall was filled with North soldiers in armor and swords, so crowded that it was hard to even insert their feet. Igor followed the House Stark guards who were leading the way and pushed through the crowd. As he passed a table full of soldiers, someone bumped him and slipped a note into Igor's hand.

Turning his head, he saw the soldiers with Skinner's likeness embroidered on their breastplates.

Igor didn't make a sound, but continued walking silently. When he bypassed the front hall and entered the living area, he quietly opened the note in his hand and glanced at it while no one was paying attention.

A very simple line of words.

"Speak frankly."

 …

Hey.

Igor quietly crumpled up the note and stuffed it into his pocket, and things got more and more interesting.

He originally thought that oneself relied on Arya's first-hand news, and it was a fluke to be able to detect something wrong at the last moment, but didn't expect that even if there was no girl's report, someone else would remind oneself.

Although this note is not provide timely help, it confirms that oneself's speculation a moment ago is not over-interpreted, which makes him more confident in the dialogue later... Whether he admits it or not, oneself This favor is in debt.

Arriving at the destination, entering the door, bypassing the partition wall, he stood in front of the North princes.

While wondering why Old Flayer wasn't there, someone else pushed in behind the door. The last person missing from the delegation walked back with a nonchalant expression on his face, apologized to everyone, and sat back in his seat.

Obviously, in order to arrange for his subordinates to report to oneself, Roose Bolton was not even afraid of trouble and risks, and found excuses such as going to the toilet to leave for a while - this time, even Igor began to suspect that oneself Have you ever had a fatal relationship with Old Flayer, but just lost your memory...forgot?
"Igor." Robb stared solemnly at the black clothed officer standing in the center of the room. After a while, he continued, "You have done a lot in the past two days."

It's obvious to ask for guilt. According to the original plan, Igor will play a fool at this time. After Robb continues to ask questions, see you again... But this time, he chose another response.

Igor sighed, putting on a tired and helpless look: "It's not that I've done a lot of things, but there are too many changes, so I'll deal with it one after another, unconsciously, and I'll make it happen. It's a bunch of shit."

Seeing him frankly admit, Robb doesn't want to talk nonsense any more, so he can only ask straight to the point: "Explain - those actions you did at Castle Black Right. Did you send troops to surround it and forbid everyone within the wall to leave?"

"That's true." Igor nods: "I originally planned to tell you the truth, but considering this There are already a lot of things to be dealt with during the inspection along the Wall, so as not to make the adults worry too much. I just decided to deal with it separately and report the results after the end."

"Worrying about it?" Rickard Karstark laughed, "That's many thanks. You care, Chief Logistics Officer. We old fogeys haven't been that busy yet, why don't you explain it now - the vow to send someone to point the weapon at oneself brother, And limit the reasons for their freedom."

"Okay." Igor nodded: "There was a riot in Castle Black not long ago, and someone tried to assassinate the former King-Beyond-the-Wall Mance Rayder who surrendered. , in order to oppose the new land-grant people and completely destroy the foundation for the operation of the land-grant resettlement plan... Fortunately, it was discovered and stopped by my subordinates in time, but it did not succeed - the guardian should have known about this matter. Later, I got news that , the loan food that the former Lord Commander Mormont applied to the Iron Vault is about to arrive in Castle Black... This large amount of food is the most critical part of granting land to feed tens of thousands of residents and soldiers, in case my opponents will think about it , if there is a slight mistake, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

“Loaning food? I have heard of it, but the food sent by the iron vault must be sent to Eastwatch. Why did you send troops to surround Castle Black?”

p>

It looks like they don't know what's going on with Eastwatch yet. Igor secretly said in one's heart, but his face was stern: "Because, the one who wanted to attack Mance Rayder in Castle Black before was Eastwatch Commander Cotter Pyke, I am busy leading the adults to tour the Wall, and I have no time to deal with him. All kinds of guns and arrows. In order to avoid being taken advantage of the opportunity to enter and destroy the major event, this is the last resort, and strong measures are taken to prevent him from returning to Eastwatch to ensure that he can't use the dark tricks on that batch of food."

...

Igor concealed the identity of his opponent at first, and only said that it was "a small group of people" who wanted to threaten Mance Rayder, because he was afraid that the identity of the other party would make Robb's judgment of the nature of the event produce transformation, but now that since Decided to speak frankly, of course, no reservations. Such a clear explanation of pouring beans without omission and in detail in a bamboo tube made Robb, who was originally aggressive in questioning and beating him, confused and slowed down his rhythm.

Yes, after the "Lords Declarant" was exterminated by King Robert, all the Vale lords headed by him were exiled to Wall and then dispatched to Eastwatch. With such a group of people around, Cotter Pyke would tell Igor Hostility is normal. It seems that Yohn · Royce's complaint just now, I am afraid that there are personal emotional factors, not all the truth.

It's just...

While Robb Stark was thinking and the other nobles were silent, Roose Bolton shook his head dissatisfiedly: "You want to make sure the food from Braavos is okay. , understandable. But with so many possible options, you ended up choosing the most inappropriate way to deal with it - send troops to surround Castle Black and prevent Cotter Pyke from returning to Eastwatch? What did you think at the time?"

"I realized something was wrong when I went down, but after all, the Ranger was born and has no experience in dealing with such matters. It is necessary to come up with a solution as soon as possible without delaying the arrangement of the inspection items at hand... Somehow, the brain This idea popped up in here. At the time, I didn't think much about it at all, I just thought that keeping Cotter Pyke at Castle Black would prevent him from threatening King-Beyond-the-Wall, and it would be impossible for him to run to Eastwatch to pay for the loan. Hands and feet, one move, two gains, thinking like this, I gave the order to go out when my brain became hot."

Igor finished explaining with a face full of annoyance, and there was no other sound in the room for a while, Old Flayer regretfully Shaking his head: "one move, two gains? Yes, indeed, two gains, but at the same time as these two gains, what kind of trouble did your actions cause to the black clothed brothers surrounded by you in Castle Black, and let everyone , what kind of impressions and impressions have you had on you, have you considered it? This kind of negative emotional effect far exceeds the previous 'two gains', which is more than the gain!"

......

It seems to be criticizing oneself, but it is actually shifting the focus and making a relief for oneself!
Igor realized this quickly and answered quickly: "Lord Bolton said very much, but the mistake has been made, and I bear all the responsibility for this change. All the consequences are now only up to me. I did it."

Igor obediently and honestly explained it all, with a serious face and a sincere attitude, but in the end he had reservations - everything Roose Bolton said, he was making the decision. It was all taken into consideration in an instant. In addition to preventing Cotter Pyke's "two goals" from causing trouble is the direct reason for oneself to take action, the most important thing is to show muscles through this large-scale deployment, to shock and conquer some swaying Night's Watch voters, and try to make a final decision. the goal of.

And taking this into account, this mutiny is a three-for-one.

Of course, even if the general policy today is to speak frankly, Igor will not reveal the last point - obviously, this is not what the North nobles want to hear.

Karstark is getting a little confused, what the hell is going on? An aggressive questioning, why did the wrongdoer readily admit and confess, and then take the rhythm away?
The old aristocrat noticed the abnormality, but couldn't understand how the change happened unconsciously, and it took a long time to realize that it had nothing to do with the Old Flayer: "Roose Bolton, what are you doing with him? Just want to fool this matter? Can you bear it? It's not that simple!"

The named Terror Fortress naturally refused to accept the accusation, and immediately confronted him: "Lord Karstark said this. It's a little strange. The chief logistics officer has explained the cause of the incident and admitted that the mistakes caused by the lack of consideration. What we should do now is to solve the problem and try to minimize the impact of the mistakes. Blindly accusing it is not good for improving the status quo. How can I help?"

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(end of this chapter)