King of The Wall

2021-10-15

Chapter 651 Expedient
Politics is the art of compromise.

Although Igor was born in a military organization, has a reputation for winning, and is undoubtedly a hardcore hawk on Reach's stance on the Golden Company, he has never been a war madman.

Although the stalk "I'm very busy, let's play together" is heartwarming to play, Igor is no longer a hot-blooded teenager, and he will never take the initiative to increase the difficulty of oneself just for a broken achievement. His positioning of himself is very clear: a prime minister who can lead troops, not a field marshal who fights professionally. He can already be regarded as a successful and famous person, even if some people think it is not enough, "one will be successful and all bones will die" is not his life pursuit... As a person with real power, the overall interests of the country can be regarded as his interests to a certain extent; Hand of the Queen, he is morally responsible to the monarch and the people of Westeros, and to ensure this, he has to uphold certain principles.

An enemy that can be defeated one by one will never be dealt with at the same time; a victory that cannot be won through war will never be fought with bloodshed.

Since ancient times, it is not uncommon for two or even multi-line battles to be won, but there is no need to make equal sacrifices. Westeros, who has just experienced a chaotic winter and finally waited for spring, should not suffer any more. Unnecessary pain and suffering.

If you want to stagger the time between two conflicts, you have to find a way to delay, and if you want to delay, you have to pay a price.

In the carriage that started, the two hoped to finalize a foreign policy in the early stage of the nation's founding.

First of all, they unanimously agreed: after the Linhemen tragedy, the diplomatic relationship between King's Landing and Pentos will inevitably drop below freezing point, the opposite side will impossible send another envoy in a short time, and Seven Kingdoms will send people on their own initiative. In the past, we had to beware of possible retaliation by the Pentos; at the same time, the state of war between Queen and Volantis was not over yet... For the communication between the two places, the safest solution is to come forward through neutral shipping or commercial giants Passing the word, relying on a middleman to mediate between the two sides, helps the two sides communicate over the air - to avoid the inevitable direct conflict of sitting down and talking face-to-face.

Except for these two exceptions, the other seven of the nine Free Cities can communicate normally.

Igor first expressed his thoughts on the tone of diplomatic work: first with his mouth, then with his hands.

The specific development is: in the two stages before and after the end of the Reach war, foreign policy is carried out according to two sets of modes.

The stage of the battle with Reach: In the public statement of the Queen's regime, in addition to insisting that Illyrio stole military secrets first, and resisted law enforcement in the face of the search, and finally caused the tragedy, in actual actions Never show too much toughness. The diplomats of the Targaryen Dynasty will not only take the initiative to visit and show a good attitude of willingness to negotiate, but also slightly relax on the originally expected tariffs and trade regulations, and make a pair of "although we can't admit it, but in fact we still know that something is wrong and Decided to resolve the matter with blood" attitude; while negotiating and negotiating the "concession margin", dispatched public relations personnel to lobby and make lavish shots... A large number of coins were thrown into the seven Free Cities power classes that were not at war to pay real gold. , The way of white silver buys the friendliness of the powerful and powerful in the set up Sect, at the expense of creating internal division.

As long as this most dangerous period can be dragged out, the Targaryen Dynasty, which has taken the Reach and integrated all the resources of Seven Kingdoms, will immediately tear off its harmless mask and reveal its hideous fangs, changing all policies. Get overbearing: Not only will the Illyrio incident, which was actually an admit defeat, be brought up again to ask Pentos to apologize and compensate in the name of endangering national security, but even the topic of abolition, which has been deliberately put on hold, will be brought up again. Take it out with great fanfare and use it to put pressure on Nine Cities... Even Igor once drew a big cake for Queen's "Rebuild Valyria", you can actually try one or two depending on the situation!
......

"These city-states that let slave-masters and wealthy businessmen hold meetings to decide national policies and take the 'elite' republic as their actual political system have their natural weaknesses and disadvantages, that is: sinister Visionary people can never be the top rulers, and no one can quickly implement any policy one word worth nine sacred tripods, even if most people know that this will be good for oneself in the long run." Igor explained his proposal. Thinking about it, what is good for the enemy is naturally harmful to oneself. If you ask him what he is afraid of now, he is naturally afraid that the group of slave-masters and wealthy businessmen will not eat the oil and salt, and they have to take advantage of their western expedition to decisively fight. "Just like competing for the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, as long as you control the votes of one third, the winner will never be born, we don't need to convince the city-states to abolish the slave system to support the Queen, we just need to exert a little force to stop her Quick internal consensus is invincible!"

"It's a good idea, but you're stupid to assume slave-masters. If I were a slave-master in a Free Cities , every night there are bed slaves who are good at spring cry to warm the bed for me, then I learned that there is a hard-core anti-slave Queen sitting on the iron opposite the sea... When I sit on the throne, I will definitely have trouble sleeping and eating. If a Queen sends someone to talk about foreign trade, I will definitely grab the messenger and ask him what his Queen's position on the slave system is." Tyrion shook his head in disapproval, "Maybe some slave- The master will be obsessed with greed, will be paralyzed and will only focus on the immediate pleasure without vigilance, but as long as there is one person out of a thousand who decides to hold on, someone will follow him, forming a trend and a general trend!"

Igor frowned and reflected. , realizing that what Tyrion said is impossible: "I just put forward a general idea, if you have ideas and supplements, you can naturally put forward."

"The topic of slave control cannot be avoided, I think, go to Some people who spend money and shellfish must also appease and tell the slave-masters at the same time, Seven Kingdoms is also strongly opposed to interfering in the internal affairs of Free Cities, and the Queen has acquiesced to the slave-master under pressure..."

"I'm afraid this won't work, even if it's just temporary forbearance and withdrawal, after it spreads, it will make the Queen's 'Chainbreaker' character collapse, and she may lose the Unsull she relies on in an instant. ied and the Liberty Militia - these two slaves came from the army. Tariffs, trade regulations, and even minor bleeding on cash and property can be suppressed as long as they are not large enough to have an immediate impact, but these issues of principle... must not be rashly relented, giving up justice and stability. "

"The Queen's loss of the loyalty of the slave soldiers is probably not necessarily a bad thing for you, it just depends on whether you have that plan." Tyrion gave him a meaningful look and shook his head as if to shake something off - he was here to make a name for the major event, not to persuade his friends to be scoundrels. The diplomatic team crosses the narrow sea east, and you lead the army west to reach Reach, and the communication between the two takes weeks, which means that no matter what news comes from Free Cities, it is unlikely to be the winner in the west. Affects the morale of your troops - as long as you can do it quickly as bragged. ”

“As for the subsequent news that Queen wants to compromise and negotiate with the slave-masters, it will have a bad impact on Your Majesty’s character. Actually, there are ways to save it. Both have illusions about the Queen's abandonment of slavery, and do not sign any legal treaties and instruments that may be slapped in the face in the future. When the time is up, the king's government will simply deny the authenticity of this rumor and declare that my diplomatic strategy is against the instructions of the Queen and the Prime Minister. I will be taken down for this reason and only Master of Coin will be recalled and replaced. A batch of diplomats... As for the decline in international reputation caused by doing so, it will definitely be better than a war on both sides. ”

This is really a stopgap measure that is purely time-consuming. If the last strategy to pacify the Seven Kingdoms fails, it will be a dilemma. But fortunately, in the case where the weapon has a crushing advantage Under this situation, the war on Reach can definitely be ended quickly, so that oneself can withdraw back to the east line in time to clean up the mess on both sides of the narrow sea.

Igor pondered for a while, and finally gritted his teeth: the current situation is , oneself was killed by Illyrio, and needs friends to help in the aftermath. This is a remedial action that will not have a perfect ending. It is wishful thinking to come up with a perfect solution.

Im, but never let him down.

"Since I have handed things over to you, I trust your judgment and ability, and I will only follow the general direction and the West Expedition. The possible timetable and follow-up plans will be truthfully reported, how you will cooperate in the east, just boldly adapt according to the situation, and decide together with Queen! "

...

After a long conversation and discussion, the carriage arrived at the Prime Minister's temporary residence. He was greeted by the guards and his servants and slowly drove into the main gate. Igor took the lead. Step on the carriage.

He wanted to call someone to call Myrcella, but when he saw the girl was waiting for oneself in the compound, he beckons with the hand: "Maeve, come into the hall with me and entertain guests. ! ”

Tyrion carefully jumped off the carriage, and was about to complain that the Prime Minister's temporary residence was a bit shabby and shabby, when he looked up and saw oneself approaching, but stared wide-eyed slowed down after seeing him The blond Maiden, who was walking in the footsteps, immediately froze on the spot.

——

(end of this chapter)