King of The Wall

2021-01-06

Chapter 307 turn peril into safety and North shock

Robb feels like oneself has been tricked again, but He couldn't figure out how this happened.

His original plan was: to question Igor first, this guy will probably do what Karstark said—glib tongue to try to fool oneself... Then, oneself will interrupt his shit. Crap, fiercely tapped him to warn him.

If he has finished speaking, his attitude is still not correct, and he still conceals and deceives the situation... Then he will not be merciful, and will publicly support the Shadow Tower Commander from tomorrow to help him rise to the top. Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

With Denys Mallister's prudence and sophistication, coupled with the North ruler's suppression and control of Igor's influence, he will surely be able to control the land grant situation.

But who would have thought, this Igor seems to have changed his temper, oneself has not had time to exert pressure and show his face, he is like a wine glass that has been turned over, without leaving a drop of the whole cause, after He even explained all his inner thoughts, not only that... but also resolutely admitting his mistakes and expressing his willingness to take all the responsibilities?
Attitude to the point of being completely unprepared.

Thus, the unfathomable mystery of the matter changed from "North guards interview the wanton Night's Watch chief logistics officer and hold him accountable" - to "North lords work together to give Igor this uneasy idea." Guys clean up the mess".

The most terrible thing is that, as the owner of North, Robb can scold anyone severely, or personally decide who to support and who to suppress, but he has no right to declare a person on the stage. Officers of Night's Watch who are under oath and are not under North's jurisdiction, carry out any form of formal punishment.

Only the King and the Night's Watch Legion Lord Commander can handle the Chief Logistics Officer of the Night's Watch...and now, King Stannis is busy quelling the rebellion, and the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is being selected - which means , unless oneself cast aside all considerations for face, otherwise, even if Igor confesses his mistakes, no one can come to punish him substantially.

......

Is this guy really confused and made a mistake for a while, or did he take the initiative to show weakness, so that oneself can do nothing?
Robb Stark resists the urge to scratch his head. After all, he's still not sophisticated enough, and when things don't go according to plan, he doesn't seem to be flexible enough. It is easy to deal with the enemy on the battlefield, but it is beyond his ability to deal with the oneself politically.

Although confused, he at least knew how to hide it: "Okay, one last question - several Night's Watch officers at Castle Black sent me a letter, why didn't I get it? "

"This..." Igor looked innocent: "There are sixteen new fortresses along the Wall, it's easy to live in, but train the birds to get acquainted with them and know when to fly." These strongholds, even for the smartest Raven, are a long section of the road. In fact, there are only seven mountain clan strongholds along the Wall that have set up crow cages - the ice we are now in. There is none in Scar City, and the number and reliability of the previous Nightfort and Raven are far from enough to ensure smooth and stable communication... I don't know where the Lords of Castle Black sent their letters, but you didn't receive them. It's really normal, it's definitely not because I moved my hands or feet."

This explanation is quite convincing, Robb stared at Igor's face for a while, but didn't find any weak spot, and finally only Can give up getting to the bottom of things.

In any case, at least Igor didn't continue to hide and prevaricate when he deployed troops to surround Castle Black. In terms of attitude, he passed the test.

"Forget it, Mr. Bolton is right, we should hurry up and find a way to properly resolve the Castle Black issue first."

 …

As soon as this sentence came out, Glover and Umber, who were always on the sidelines, counted relaxed. They intuitively tend to support Igor, but he has committed a crime after all. Before Fengjun's attitude is clear, they naturally refuse to take risks for him for a little indirect favor. Now that Robb Stark has no intention of continuing to pursue it, They were finally able to speak.

"The top priority is to notify the Queenscrown troops on the Castle Black side first, withdraw the siege, and let the trapped people free." Galbart Glover said: "And then you have to issue a statement explaining the situation, admitting mistakes... Of course , this point, it is better for the parties to do it in person after returning to Castle Black, in front of their oath brothers."

"hmph, how many days have you been besieging people, go back and say The apology is over?" Rickard Karstark understood that the overall situation had been decided, and although he was unhappy, he also knew that with oneself's eloquence, he could no longer reverse the result, so he could only join in the discussion of the aftermath and gain more advantages for his friends: " Now that there are so many people donating land, there must be clear constraints on the armed forces of non-Night's Watch. The position of Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is temporarily vacant, and the soldiers can't do anything; on the contrary, the foreigners are free And unconstrained, you can run with all the land and take the host away... What is this? My opinion is: since the land is granted, you must accept the management of the Night's Watch law, even if the mountain clan is a friend, it cannot be condoned!"

"Lord Karstark is right." Robb really agreed with this proposal, he nodded, "I will send someone to inform the various mountain tribes: they are North people, I am very happy to come to Wall to assist in defense, But since it's here, you must follow the Night's Watch law like Night's Watch, and you must not sacrifice your life for it, regardless of right or wrong, just because you take whoever's money to eat. Conspiracy theory, I'll ask myself!"

Robb felt that this was oneself's last chance to seize - to warn Igor and let him know that oneself was serious - when he said the last two sentences, It is already hard to be stern: "And you, send someone back to Castle Black immediately, and ask your people to withdraw to Queenscrown, don't use any more stupid brains! The matter of public statement and apology, we will talk about it later!"

Binding oneself's hands and feet is a hit on Igor, but this rule is reasonable. Strictly speaking, oneself took advantage of the loophole before. When it comes to acting and doing a full set, he naturally can't speak out against it at this juncture. He can only make a docile appearance of completely admitting his mistake and accepting the treatment, nodding again and again, without any objection.

＊＊＊

As expected, he will now obediently and honestly send someone back to Castle Black to order the withdrawal of troops as Robb said...and the subordinates ordered will also Pack up and go quickly. But... what happens next after leaving Frost Scar City will be a little different from the North nobles: the messenger team will not be like Yohn Royce working hard day and night, they will walk a few miles to catch a breath, After arriving at a stronghold, I will rest for a while... There will be people who fall and hurt on the road... In short, all kinds of accidents happen, which delays the trip.

According to Arya's accurate information, he resolutely gave up the speech he had prepared on the spot, but he had already arranged the way back without any modification.

The order to withdraw troops will be communicated to Castle Black after two to three days, and the siege troops will take a day to withdraw, the most elite, with Night's Watch status, will also be led by James Lannister Set off for Eastwatch - to reinforce the "unloading team" that has settled in the fort and controlled the port.

Even if Cotter Pyke gets up and returns to oneself's home as soon as Castle Black is cleared, Igor has held him back for at least a week...as long as the first batch of loan rations are successfully unloaded during this period and It is transported to the mountain people closest to Eastwatch and stored in the warehouse, even if oneself is not tossing in vain.

It is true that when oneself returns to Castle Black after that, most of them will have to make a public explanation and apology...ordinary person will probably feel that "apologizing to the opponent" is a shameless thing - of course, in fact It is indeed a bit - but: oneself mobilized troops to surround the Night's Watch headquarters, but forced the experienced Castle Black defenders to dare not fight, and did not receive substantial punishment afterwards, and was not forced to withdraw from the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch election.

Anyone with a nodded brain should know who won.

......

The whole incident ended within the time the guards of the patrol group had breakfast, and the squad Igor appointed to send the withdrawal order was sent by Robb to Ser Rodrik. He hurried on the road under surveillance... and the North nobles who "wiped their buttocks" for him who made a mistake in the meeting also started their inspection of Icemark City as originally planned after finishing their meal.

The new land-givers, the Seven Kingdoms used to call them "wildlings", while they called themselves "freemen". However, the gang facing the nobles of the North now look neither savage nor free - the most daring, strong or ferocious, most of them have been damaged in the process of fighting against the Others or following Mance Rayder to attack the Wall; Among those who survived, the young and strong with a little brain and responsibility also went to Queenscrown early to seek work and seek survival for the ethnic group... The rest are basically the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled... No, even the old, sick, and disabled None, only women and children and a few left-behind Warriors.

They are in ragged clothes, stomach rumbling with hunger, and under the hard work of the Night's Watch logistics department, they barely maintain the status quo of "neither freezing nor starving to death". The nobles of the five families in the North were fully armed-especially wearing helmets, and cautiously went to visit these "dangerous" visitors beyond the wall, but they saw a bunch of hungry people who were cowering and couldn't even talk to them.

That dread, numbness, and hopeless glazed eyes that Robb had heard from his father's tales: in winter or war, when supplies are running out, spring or peace is late When it doesn't come, the territorial people huddled in the winter town outside Winterfell basically see this scene in their eyes.

(The so-called wildling, without the veil of distance and rumors, is just a bunch of peasants living beyond the wall.)
More than one North noble felt this feeling, and it was is the effect Igor wants. However, this time, everyone is acting in their true colors, and there is no falsehood - what Igor did is to convey a message that is not a lie to the new land givers beforehand, in order to stimulate this state: once Let the North nobles find that they are restless and obedient, and they will all be driven back to the north of the Wall.

Guarding the Wall and fighting against the Others, of course, it is impossible to rely on these poor muddleheaded bastards... But the leaders of the Great Family in high positions know that although the world is not dominated by the commoners, it cannot be separated from the people at the bottom. composition and support. If the entire group of people beyond the wall can have the status of the residents of Icemark City, and use them to fill the land grant and support the real Wall defenders, it may be a feasible option.

 …

Not halfway through the tour of Wall, naturally unhurried concluded, each is busy with his own business, the short day in the northernmost part of Seven Kingdoms is fleeting, and the sky is dark When they came down, the smoke from the kitchen soon rose from the top of the kitchen, and in the night that slowly enveloped the earth, another new visitor arrived at Ice Mark City.

He also came from the west and was black clothed...but unlike Yohn Royce, the Shadow Tower Commander was not alone, nor did he appear to have endured the hardships of a long journey The color, physical and mental state is quite good.

Denys Mallister resolutely left Castle Black in the first place, judging that the conflict between Cotter and Igor would cause trouble sooner or later, so he stayed away from right and wrong as soon as possible, for fear of being involved in the middle and evening. It turns out that he guessed right, and the mess was far bigger than he had imagined, to the extent that... he had the idea that "oneself might be able to profit from it".

On the day Castle Black was besieged by the Queenscrown army, he learned of the news through Raven, and quickly selected a man, planning to send along the Wall all the way east to search for the North nobles and report. If this news can anger Robb Stark and bring down Igor West, then oneself is the next Lord Commander without any suspense.

Coincidentally, on the same day, a new piece of news came from the direction of Deepwood Motte, which further strengthened Mallister's intuition that "win or lose is here"... I couldn't sit still, so I personally led people on the road.

They didn't rush as desperately as Yohn Royce, and the speed was a little slower than the one who traveled farther, but they finally arrived at Icemark City before it was completely dark today. Thinking about tomorrow's itinerary.

＊＊＊

Denys dismounted, handed the reins to his subordinates, and stood in front of the yard in Icescar City and looked all around.

The moisture exhaled from the mouth formed a white fog when it was cold. Judging from the North soldiers who can be seen everywhere, oneself has reached the destination - the election of the next Lord Commander has been delayed for too long, In the end, he was forced to be forced by an external accident to the extent that an immediate result was required. It was really unpredictable.

He breathes deeply - whatever the outcome, things will come to an end tonight.

Soon a soldier approached for questioning and interrogation. After some question-and-answer negotiations, Denys unexpectedly learned that someone from Castle Black had already sent the news first. I know, maybe the results of the treatment have been discussed.

"Tsk—"

Denys frowned, pondered for a while, and decided to go to an old friend to find out the news before deciding what to do next.

He quickly changed his plan. After inquiring about the residences of the North princes, he made a clear goal of going to the main castle, and entered the residential area of the Karstark family.

......

"Ho, Denys!" Rickard Karstark exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you here?"

It's hard for outsiders to imagine: Karstark Count such a rough man, who is heroic and righteous, and has a straight personality, will be so close to Denys Mallister, who is slick and sophisticated, cautious and never makes mistakes... But it is exactly the sentence: gentlemen are harmonious but different, and there is no difference in their personalities at all. affect their relationship. In fact - they met and became friends on a Tourney more than 40 years ago, before Denys joined Night's Watch.

Denys Mallister took off his helmet to keep out the cold and said with a smile: "I want to visit an old friend, what reason do I need!"

"Haha, no need, no need, Wall is Night's Watch's territory, you commander naturally go wherever you want, it's not my turn to force you." Karstark count smiled roughly, quickly remembered something, waved his hand, and drove away the squire and the clan in the house. Junior, waited until the door was closed before sitting down in the chair again: "If you are here to report what happened to Castle Black, you are late. Yohn Royce has already explained everything clearly in the morning."

"I heard that he is the first Night's Watch to set foot on the land north of the wall in months. One day one night, he arrived at Icescar City from Castle Black forcibly. It is indeed Bronze Yohn. He still insists that Igor West killed his youngest son, and has a temper as hard as a bone." Denys shrugged helplessly and couldn't help but complain. "How was Robb Stark's reaction?"

"Naturally angry at first, but then... well, it's a long story, you sit first, drink something warm to warm yourself up, and I'll explain slowly. ”

Hearing that things didn't go the way oneself expected, Denys sat down with frown, took the mulled wine from Karstark, and listened patiently.

Rickard Karstark is a rough guy with average narration ability, but after all, he is a noble with some education. He picks and chooses without losing the focus. After a while, the unfathomable mystery of this morning has finally been changed. The taste of Xing Shi asked for the guilt, and restored it to Denys.

"Igor and House Stark have a really good relationship, Robb can't be ruthless with him at all, plus there's this guy Roose Bolton at his side... even such a big thing, he's blown away. Enron got in." Karstark sighed, "I'm afraid you're going to run for nothing."

Good luck sighed? Denys didn't think that although he didn't come to the scene in person, he could basically imagine what was going on... The major event was reduced to a small, trivial matter. It was really a good means of crisis public relations and had to be accepted.

Just, how did Igor convince Roose Bolton to help him?
"I won't run in vain, don't worry about that. If it's just to help Cotter and the others sue, how can I run away in person? That's too cheap." If you come late, you will be late. Denys shook his head slowly, "I have another important thing on my trip - to pass on the emergency military information on the west coast of the North. The Ironmen, led by Euron Greyjoy, attacked the Rocky Coast and the Rills again, and now they have surrounded Flint's Finger and threatened again. At Deepwood Motte, North is in a hurry."

"What, these bastards, come again?!" Karhold is thousands of miles away from the west coast, so Karstark is naturally not worried about his own danger, but the North princes have always been the same qi, connected branch, whoever is in trouble, everyone has to help. This has consumed food resources, and the next winter will be very sad, and he is naturally nervous. "Didn't these robbers loot Reach before, why did they come back? What is it about North, a poor and white place, that attracts them?"

"This is not something we should consider, Deepwood Motte There is only Raven flying Shadow Tower and Castle Black, Castle Black is surrounded, this news can only be forwarded by me to Robb Stark... And once the North guard learns the news, he will definitely stop the current inspection of Wall and take you to the west coast Lead the army against the Ironmen, and then, the people who can't hold the ground are giving land again."

"As soon as we leave, no one can hold back Igor." To the Lord , Protecting the bannermen is naturally a higher priority than investigating land grants, and Robb Stark's reaction doesn't have to be guessed at all. Although Karstark was rough, he quickly figured out the key: "Unfortunately, this time he made such a big deal and didn't seize the opportunity to bring him down. Later... there is no chance."

"Did you find any problems during your inspection along the Wall?"

"There are a lot of problems, but they are not major events. You have to admit that Igor, this kid, did place the land grant. The plan has gone well, and so far, Robb is quite satisfied with the status of Queenscrown, Nightfort and Icescar City - no, let's not go around in circles with you, let's be honest, the fact is that the land grant is in good condition Much more than Robb expected, he is very satisfied." Karstark said with a sullen face, "Although I don't like Igor, but after all, I can't find trouble with my conscience, let alone - Glover and Umber both prefer him, and Roose Bolton is The old bastard tried his best to speak for him like he took the wrong medicine. Even if I had the intention, I could still control Robb's thoughts alone with one against three."

I rushed to Frozen City with great anticipation, Robb's face has not yet been seen, and the hope of a comeback has been dashed... With Denys' self-confidence, he couldn't hide his regret. He let out a long breath, his expression changed several times, his eyes wandered for a few minutes, and when they converged again, his expression became firm.

"I have a basic understanding of the situation, many thanks to you, Rickard." Denys Mallister got up from his chair and said goodbye to Karstark count: "Now, I'm going to speak frankly with the future Night's Watch Legion Lord Commander. Talk about it, and put this damn campaign -- over tonight."

"Are you going to surrender?" Karstark asked in surprise, "It's not like you, Igor this time. If the Ironmen don't come to harass North and your tour goes on, I do have a chance, but right now ...why deceive myself? I've tried my best, maybe I can delay the election for a few months or a year, but what's the point of harming others without benefiting oneself? Denys said as he put on his coat again without the slightest hesitation and walked towards the door. "The moment I left Shadow Tower and rode out the door the day before yesterday, I swore in my heart: I will never go back as a Lord Commander candidate. This time I can use Igor's troops to surround Castle Black to bring him down, and I will persuade Igor to give up the campaign and support me on the condition that he will not stop the land-grant resettlement plan after he is elected. Or, quit the campaign and persuade him to accept me Conditional support... Now the fact is that he launched a mutiny without the North's guard, and he was still unscathed. I ask myself that I don't have the ability. Since it is not an opponent, why not take advantage of the fact that he does not know that the Ironmen are coming. news, while the chips are still in my hand, can I strive for more benefits?"

——

(end of this chapter)