The king on the Great Wall

Page 161

However, once he started to achieve his goal by means of "hostage-taking", which would not be recognized in any era or place, he instantly changed from an "opposition" to a "terrorist".The collapse of human settings caused by this kind of nature change is often complete and devastating. No matter how many good deeds he has done to benefit the country and the people, or even heroic feats, he will not be remembered. Everyone will only say: Look, the fox's tail is finally exposed coming!

At that time, not to mention the mountain clans in the north and the people outside the Great Wall who are not interested in the internal affairs of the Seven Kingdoms in theory, even the Queen who originally favored him may change her attitude and become vigilant and defensive towards him .

His character was questioned, and he was unable to make Houguan Town operate normally and export war weapons with a generational advantage. Only by relying on the level of popular science and military and political knowledge that may not be in line with the local environment of Westeros, he can How long will you continue to bludgeon under the queen?

Since he didn't plan to use his brains on the members of the Stark family, it was natural to make friends without any hesitation.

Seeing Iger's quick reply, Robber breathed a sigh of relief, and soon noticed the details of the second half of his sentence: "The war is not over yet? But as far as I can see, there are no moving ghosts or ghouls left on the battlefield. gone."

"A moment ago, a few single-digit small groups of enemies sneaked into the wolf forest under the cover of a large number of ghouls. Although I have sent people to pursue them, the terrain in the forest is dark and the terrain is complicated. Can catch up. In addition, the enemy seems to have remnants outside the Great Wall. Although I have an appointment with the queen, after all, I am the commander-in-chief of the night watchman first, and then her supporter. Before sending troops to fight for the iron throne for the queen, I still We will first organize a large-scale northward exodus operation, through this expedition at least wipe out all the remnants of the ghost forest, completely remove the threat of the aliens, and then fulfill the agreement with the queen."

(That's a nice way to say it.)

Robb's face twitched - Iger's awe-inspiring look of "putting the duty of the night watchman first" made him unable to answer for a while.

"Before this expedition, I asked the northern border to return all the dragonglass weapons, collect the boiled saltpeter, and deliver them to the night watchman army." Iger didn't wait for Robb to answer, and the next thing was the highlight: "Wait until the process is over This last expedition returns to the land-grant, and I hope that the northern border can provide appropriate food, grass and military support, and allow the Night Watchmen to go south through the King's Road, pass the Kalin Bay Fortress to the south, and complete the return promised to the queen."

"Give up the road, provide food, grass, and armaments, and support the Night's Watch to go south to rebel?" The Earl of New Seven City immediately sneered, "Why don't you just ask the northern border to swear allegiance to the Queen, and go south with you to fight King Stannis? never mind!"

"It would be better if it could be so natural, but unfortunately I know that it is impossible for you to agree to the condition, so I don't mention it at all." Iger continued with an almost ignorant attitude, "Master Stark, don't rush to reply—after the night watchmen receive Before the end of the expedition beyond the Great Wall, you will have a lot of time to investigate through various channels: Did the Night Watchman intentionally send the White Walkers south to endanger the North Territory. After everything has been found out, calm down and think about this question: In order to protect the Northern Territory, the Queen lost the opportunity to attack King's Landing and one of the three precious dragons. Such a significant gesture of favor and huge sacrifice only asks the Northern Territory to remain neutral in this war and provide a small amount of assistance. Is it too much?"

……

Is it too much?Of course not too much.

But Robb is the Guardian of the North, the supreme ruler north of the Neck and the Duke of Winterfell, a great lord who controls nearly one-third of the Seven Kingdoms, not a chivalrous knight or knight ——It is impossible for him to think about problems based on emotion and intuition, but to analyze interests and take long-term considerations.Not to mention, the Queen never came to him to discuss terms at all before, and Robb did not bear any moral pressure in this matter!

His mind turned sharply, and the guardian of the northern border began to think quickly.

Robb was born out of a typical political marriage, and the purpose of this marriage was to ensure the stability of the anti-Targaryen "Osprey" alliance.With such a background, and growing up in Winterfell under the rule of King Robert Baratheon, Robb really couldn't get rid of the instinctive perception that "Targaryen is the enemy".But on the other hand, after all, he is a young man with a fairly flexible mind and a strong ability to accept new things... It is an indisputable fact that the queen lost a dragon in order to protect the soldiers in the northern border. My sister did return to Winterfell safely, and the results of the investigation showed that the Night Watchman did not deliberately release water during the White Walker invasion, so should I let Iger go to help the queen of the Targaryen family?

Inherent concepts and emotional factors conflicted for the first time, and the pain he suffered in the previous battle prevented him from concentrating on thinking. Robb, who already lacked judgment, was completely unable to make a choice.

Fortunately, Iger also said that I don't have to rush to reply.

Dragonglass and that "saltpeter" can only be used to deal with the White Walkers and the dead, and cannot be used to help the Queen conquer the world. If the Night's Watch really wants to go out for an expedition, it is completely reasonable to give them.However, at the time when Iger put all his thoughts on this expedition to Saibei, he could calmly investigate the real process of this battle between humans and ghosts, and by the way, gathered the lords to hold a meeting to jointly deal with the future of the Northern Territory. decide on the role to play in the conflict.

"Dragonglass and saltpeter, I will order them to be dispatched to Houguan Town as soon as possible." After some careful consideration, Robb stared at Iger and made a decision, "But whether to break the convention and tradition and tacitly allow the Night Watchman to mix with the Seven Kingdoms?" The internal conflict is related to the interests of the entire northern border, and I cannot decide it alone, it must be decided by all the nobles of the northern border."

Iger showed a slight disappointed look on his face, but he was laughing wildly in his heart: This condition seems to be excessive, but in fact it is all smoke bombs, just to cover the saltpeter that quietly juxtaposes with Longjing in front and pretends to be "harmless to humans and animals".

He succeeded, and Robb didn't notice anything unusual at all.The cautious early start of the layout of confidentiality protection has finally paid off.

***

Among the three major raw materials of gunpowder, sulfur and charcoal can be obtained anywhere, but nitrate is always the one that is in the greatest demand and the most troublesome to obtain.

Bachelor Cobain reminded Iger in King's Landing more than a month ago: In addition to the two long-term paths of finding nitrate mines and improving the nitrate production process, they can actually use the method of boiling nitrate on a large scale to quickly obtain a certain amount of saltpeter in a short period of time. Hold on for a while.After Iger was awakened by him and brought him back to the gifted land, he asked Cobain to teach the simple technique of boiling nitrate to the residents of many castles and winter towns in the north through on-the-spot training, so that they could survive the cold winter when they had nothing to do. Here, you can also use your own hands to make contributions within your ability to the frontline night watchmen.

The nitrate boiled by the people in the north is purchased by the night watchman at a price-through this mutually beneficial method, Iger can turn most of the north into his own nitrate field, avoiding the transportation and transportation of nitrate that can only come from King's Landing. Political embarrassment.

However, although the plan is wonderful, there is a fatal problem: as a barren land that cannot achieve self-sufficiency in resources, the land-grant has been mining sulfur from Dragonstone Island for a long time, collecting and refining saltpeter from various places in the south... this kind of large-scale resource introduction It is inevitable to contact outsiders, and it is impossible to hide the truth from those who want to know.It’s okay to say during the preparation stage, when the invasion of the White Walkers is repelled and preparations begin to fight for the Dragon Queen, what is the name of the Night Watchman... asking the Northern Territory to continue to send sensitive resources such as "weapon raw materials" to itself?

Iger's plan for this is to keep it secret from the very beginning, and lay the foundation for "strategic deception" early, so as not to bother and talk when things come to an end.

In order to keep the secret of gunpowder, he not only set the actual explosion test site in a remote place, but also let the technical department announce from the beginning: "Nitre" is used to speed up the melting speed of obsidian and strengthen the killing power against white ghosts when casting dragon crystal weapons and the powder stuffed into the bombs to make them explode is a mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and "wildfire that has been specially treated, air-dried and ground into powder."

True or false, false or true... It is difficult to hide from a professional spy who wants to inquire, but it is more than enough to deceive a stubborn feudal noble like Robb Stark!

……

If Robb could find out with his conscience, it would be best if he voluntarily agreed to his series of conditions to provide convenience and support for the Night Watchman to go south to support the Queen; Under the circumstances, things are not up to him to decide!

***

"Thank you for your understanding, Lord Stark." Iger recovered a bit of politeness—the saltpeter is stable, but this is only a verbal stability. Only when it is in his hands can he be qualified to lift the table, "Then , I wish you a speedy recovery, I still have some things to deal with, so I will take my leave first."

No matter how much influence the Northern Territory has on the Land Grant and the Great Wall, the legal facts have never changed: the Land Grant is an independent administrative region on the same level as the Northern Territory, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watch has never been a subordinate of the Guardians of the Northern Territory.From today onwards, he will still maintain a minimum of politeness, but he will never continue to pretend to be a grandson again!

Without waiting for Robb to make a statement, Iger waved his hand, turned around and left the meeting place with a group of guards.The moment he turned his head, he saw Roose Bolton standing obliquely behind Robb, who hadn't said a word during the whole showdown—although they only looked at each other for a short moment, he still clearly confirmed one point: The Earl of the Dreadfort was staring meaningfully at himself with eyes that shone in the faint light of the torch.

-

Chapter 450

After the snow, the sky is fine.

The east floats soft and mixed with light blue and lavender white, and the land-grant and the Great Wall have not seen the dawn for a long time... In the sound of getting up and the smoke of cooking breakfast, all kinds of magnificent colors of dawn Take turns to dress up the horizon colorfully.

Due to the occlusion of terrain such as wolf forests and lonely mountains, the soldiers participating in this bloody battle over Long Lake could not see the sunrise immediately, but could only see the eastern sky continuously changing colors like a magic trick, until the sun completely jumped from the ridgeline Come out, it is considered to use gold to completely set the tone for the world.

Good weather, the Great Wall and the Land Grant are certainly not unheard of, but under the general tone of nervous preparations for the White Walkers, even if the sun rises by chance, most people will only remember to dry the quilt quickly instead of admiring or enjoying it with a good mood ——Only at this moment, the boulder that has weighed on the hearts of all the land-grant soldiers and civilians for a long time fell to the ground, and the first dawn after the great victory was a rare sunny day, what a wonderful coincidence!The combatants who survived the catastrophe exhaled long breaths of white air at the magnificent scenery that seemed like a reward from the gods, and they all felt this way: this round of sunrise will still be deeply engraved in their hearts many years later. .

The Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watch also enjoyed the long-lost sunshine, but compared to the low-level soldiers who were relieved of their burdens, he suddenly had more things to do.

After having breakfast with the queen, who was depressed because of the loss of a child, he was fortunate enough to witness the scene of a dragon cremating another dragon: the dead body and flesh of the white dragon Viserion under the raging flames of the green dragon Rego Slowly collapsing, coking, and turning into fly ash... In the end, only the black fire-resistant keel and scales shrunk into slag were left on the ground.

Iger ordered to bury the remaining keels and set up a sign - if the "Long Lake Bloody Battle Site" is really built one day, no matter how it is arranged, the "Tomb of the White Dragon" must be the core and most critical relic of the entire scenic spot group.It not only allows visitors to intuitively understand the brutality of this battle, but also reminds the whole world: how much the queen of the Targaryen family made sacrifices to protect the North, which in turn added stability and legitimacy to her rule .

Of course, the premise is that she wins.

……

Daenerys originally planned to let the "big brother" Drogon undertake the task of cremation, but the black dragon was shot down from the air yesterday and fought with a large number of ghouls on the ground - at that time, it was full of adrenaline because of the threat, After a night's rest, the exhaustion of vitality appeared suddenly: not to mention taking off again, the black dragon curled up into a ball in desperation, not only looked sick, but also lost his appetite, and even his body temperature dropped a lot.

"Dragon likes warmth, and the climate in the north is too cold, which is not conducive to Drogon's recovery." The queen said anxiously. Anyone who just lost a child, and the other looked like he was dying, couldn't calm down. "But right now he is determined not to be able to fly back to the south, we have to find a way to keep him warm!"

insulation?This is not difficult. When the land-grant army marched south, more than [-] people lost hundreds of people last night. Those who died and were cremated on the spot no longer needed tents and bedding. They could use the extra fur and cloth to sew a The huge "blanket" covered the seriously injured black dragon to prevent its body temperature from losing.

"I'll give you an order right away. Don't panic. Your Majesty's black dragon will be fine." Iger didn't dare to be passive and lazy with the queen's direct order. There is no danger here and we can't wait for a long time, can we hold on for a while, at least until we return to Last Hearth City, and then settle down and wait for it to heal?"

"No." Daenerys shook her head resolutely, "Crawling on the ground also requires injured wings, and it takes more energy than flying in the sky. Drogon must not be able to bear it right now!"

"Put something on to keep it warm, and then make a big sled to pull Drogon away. During this period, Ms. Melisandre and I will take care of him." Marqoro suggested calmly, "The dragon looks It’s big, but it’s actually not as heavy as I imagined, the King’s Road is so flat and wide, and it’s covered with a thick layer of snow, transportation shouldn’t be a problem.”

"This..." Iger wished that the black dragon would die quickly - in this way, the queen could only act on the ground honestly instead of flying around restlessly all day long, but he would not take any risky actions or change his ideas. Expressed in the form of inactive treatment.He nodded without hesitation: "That's the only way to go. I'll give you an order to use all the resources I can get right now to try to make a huge sled."

***

Maybe it was because of the fear of the two dragons who were still alive, or because Iger, who had already jumped back, would take advantage of the opportunity to do some dangerous moves. Robb Stark led the northern army to retreat the next day after the bloody battle. south.Without this undecided army in the way, the land-grant army can do its job.When they went south to chase the ghosts, they brought a lot of war preparations and food, and now they have consumed more than half of it, freeing up a lot of vehicles and animal power...Using these ready-made tools, plus some materials that can be obtained from the wolf forest, thousands of people went into battle, Together they built the "Dragon Sled".

As Maqiro said, Drogon, who has just grown up and has not grown to the level of the "conquering dragons", is indeed much lighter than expected. It is estimated that it is about [-] to [-] without tools. It’s heavy, so it’s not amazing in terms of quality alone, but the difficulty of transporting it is: the dragon is a complete living thing rather than a bulk cargo like food, which cannot be distributed to various vehicles...not to mention that it has different With a regular and huge body, even if there is a large truck that can carry more than ten tons, it is difficult to squeeze it into it.The Land-Grant Army had to build a large plate enough to mount it at one time and then properly arrange the manpower and animal power of the trailer before it could be taken away.

The only good thing is that even the seriously injured Drogon can still obey Daenerys' orders. As long as the delivery tool is caused, at least he doesn't have to worry about how to "get it into the car".

After spending a whole day researching various schemes and making several failed attempts, they finally cobbled together a usable "Super Combined Sled" in a manner similar to a multihull ship. The road ahead was leveled with snow. Dozens of cows and horses and hundreds of soldiers took turns pushing their shoulders and pulling their backs. When the weather turned better, they advanced more than 20 miles a day. After spending two full days, they finally brought the black dragon back to the last hearth. city.

However, a little bit beyond Iger's expectations: when they worked hard to get outside the last hearth city, which was supposed to be a dead city, they found that most of the castle had been repaired and closed tightly, and the wall was floating. Banner with a black background and a white sun—the army of the Karstarks came one step ahead, and occupied this place before them.

-

Chapter 451 The Karstarks' Abacus

For a moment, Iger thought that Robb had seen through his strategy of slowing down the army and decided to set the table and fight against the land-grant first, so he sent the army of the Karstarks to steal his way... But on second thought , this should not be the case.

Kahoe City is located in the northeast corner of the Seven Kingdoms, east of Last Hearth City, separated from the hinterland of the northern border where Winterfell is located... Robb Stark received an alarm call from the Great Wall a week ago The army from all over the land came to assemble in the Last Hearth City. Of course, the Karstarks came directly to the west instead of making a big circle.Due to the long distance and the road conditions are not as smooth as the King's Road repaired by Iger, the marching speed is average, and the massacre attack by the White Walkers on Amber's house was missed... until the ghouls crossed the border, and the land-grant army also pursued non-stop As the former went south to the battlefield of Long Lake, he arrived one step later—I don’t know whether it was luck or a waste of time to take over the empty castle and collect the corpse of the Amber family left behind by the night watchmen.

Robb Stark will definitely not be able to send a message to the army of the Karstarks who have already set off on the road at Long Lake, which means: this northern army that occupies the Last Hearth City should not know that the war is over , I broke the oath of neutrality and joined the Dragon Queen's camp!

Iger ordered the dragon sleigh to stop far away and not approach the castle, and sent an advance troop to investigate the situation. The performance of the other party confirmed his judgment: After discovering the pioneering troops with black flags outside the city, several Kashi The soldiers of the Tucker family came out to check and verify the identities of the visitors, and after confirming that they were indeed night watchmen, they opened the door unsuspectingly and let them in and out.

After confirming from his subordinates that there was no ambush in the city, Iger greeted the queen, entered with his guards, and met the leader of the occupying army—Earl Rickard Karstark.

***

"You commander-in-chief, are you eating shit!" Rickard sprayed Iger bloody as soon as he met, "I immediately summoned the soldiers to come after receiving Robb's letter, but within three or four days, We can only collect the corpses! Are you sleeping when the dead people go south? It’s fine if they are all dead. The point is that I can’t even find the corpses of people I know——Crow Eater, Whore Nightmare, and Hammoud Amber, where are they?! Have they escaped, why don’t you go find them?”

The Ambers?Most of them have already turned into ghouls, and were turned into fly ash by the dragon flames in the Battle of Long Lake.

Iger thought to himself that the patrol soldiers of the Land Grant Army who had previously investigated the ruins of Last Hearth City had indeed reflected this situation to him: most of the corpses left inside and outside the castle were old and weak or women and children—the men of the Amber family ate well, dressed well, and looked good. Strong and strong, he must have been picked up by the ghosts and turned into a puppet...Of course, he didn't need to explain it in such detail.

"Lord Karstark, tens of thousands of soldiers were lost in order to resist the invasion of the aliens." Iger didn't have time to count whether there were so many, but estimated that the difference was almost the same, so he simply exaggerated and said, "Even if the enemy can't take it Houguan Town decided to take a detour to the south, and we chased all the way to Changhu Lake until we completely wiped out the enemy... The sacrifice was so heavy, and the mission was finally completed, even if we were ashamed that we could not stop the enemy from the gate of the northern border , and it’s not your turn to be late, you who didn’t kill a soldier and didn’t wipe out half of the ghouls can blame you!”

"What?" Rickard was momentarily at a loss for words, his face flushed.He really didn't know anything about the situation. Although he looked like a utterly rude person, he still made sense at least. When he heard the words, most of his menacing aura was extinguished, and his expression eased a lot: "The fight is over? Then What about Stark, who is supposed to lead his army here in time, and those who disappeared from the Umber family... Where did they go?"

Iger had no choice but to be patient. He failed to make a lightning raid on the Great Wall and Houguan Town and had to go south. After capturing the Last Hearth City, he selected male warriors and transformed them into ghouls to take away. Robb Stark and the Vigil Humans attack from both sides in Changhu and cooperate to wipe out the remnants of the enemy, the war between humans and ghosts is basically over, and the northern princes can go back to their homes... and the news that the night watchmen are planning an expedition outside the Great Wall to completely wipe out the remnants of the enemy, etc., are told in detail. Asked old Karstark to listen, to pave the way for the next request.

……

"Well—it turned out to be like this, damn it, I didn't catch up." Rickard frowned after listening to his narration, cursed angrily, and calmed down his anger, "Okay, I apologize for the previous rude accusation, Brothers of the night watchmen have worked hard. You can’t blame the Amber family’s affairs entirely. The vegetables and meat products they had stockpiled in the warehouse are no longer useful. Let your people come and move them, and bring them back to the gift land. Think of it as a reward for the defenders of the Great Wall."

"Thank you for your kindness." This is simply a textbook generosity, and Iger didn't know what to thank him for, and he shrugged quickly after blurting out: "One more thing, many soldiers under me fought against the ghouls in Long Lake. I was injured in the battle, and now I need a warm and safe environment that can shelter from the wind and snow to recuperate. The battlefield is too far away from Houguan Town, so I can only find a place in the northern border - I hereby ask for a temporary stay in Last Hearth City , and withdraw the land grant after the condition of the wounded improves."

Rickard Karstark is notoriously stubborn. If you tell him that "the queen's dragon is injured and needs to be restored, so I'm going to requisition your northerners' castle now", then don't talk about doing things, can you be unscathed? Getting out of the castle without injury is a problem.Although the combination of dragon + land-grant army can form a crushing advantage against the Karstark army of no more than [-], Iger still needs the northern border to supply his first batch of nitrate—he needs a period of time to prepare before he can Turn against the Seven Kingdoms, especially the North.It would be best if the goal could be achieved through some small deceptions to avoid the conflict breaking out in advance.

"Wounded? Then let them choose a house in the winter town outside the castle... Anyway, the original owner doesn't need it anymore." Earl Rickard was very happy about this, "If there are serious wounded, our army They also brought physicians to live in the castle, and they will be properly healed."

To be honest, this kind of treatment is nothing to say, but this is not what Iger wants.

"You didn't understand what I meant." He said helplessly with a bitter face, "There are more than 4000 of our army, and your Karstarks' army totals nearly [-]. It will be very crowded to stay in Last Hearth City together. Now that the war is over, it will only be a waste of time and food for you to continue to lead troops here, if you can return to the fief for a while and let the Last Hearth City be used by the Night Watchman for a few weeks, I will be very grateful."

"What do you mean?" Earl Karstark's complexion changed, and he showed his anger again: "My lord commander, pay attention to your own identity! Let's not mention it for the time being. Everyone in the Bai family is dead, and Hearth City will have nothing to do with you in the end, what are you trying to do to drive me away?!"

***

The war between humans and ghosts is over, but the Karstark army continues to stay in the assembly area fully armed... Of course, it is not because of too much food, but because of many considerations.

The White Walkers don't know how to use fire. They slaughtered the inside and outside of the castle and didn't make much effort to deliberately destroy the buildings or destroy the wealth and resources stored in them-such a strong city full of granaries and meat depots that are fully prepared for the winter must not be let go. Just let all cats and dogs come to loot and search.Rickard Karstark, as the first nobleman from the northern border who arrived afterwards, had the obligation to keep an eye on it to avoid unnecessary follow-up damage caused by the "broken window effect".

In addition to this high-sounding reason, other reasons are not humane.

Just as the land-grant soldiers and civilians would not all be crowded in Houguan Town when the White Walkers attacked—the residents of the northern border would not all crowd out of the King’s Castle for the winter. Scattered but concentrated to several winter shelter towns consisting of a castle + several larger villages, thousands or tens of thousands of piles of land to keep warm, exchange resources and labor on credit to ensure that they can survive the long winter .In the end, Hearth City was no one's land after the white ghost massacre, but there were still more than half of the total number of people in Amber's family, which was [-] to [-]. This castle, as well as its territories and residents, are still There is considerable contention value.Rickard must occupy the core of the Umber family's territory in Last Hearth City to ensure that the Karstarks can maximize their interests in the aftermath of this unfortunate event!

That's right, it's for profit.However, it would be too biased to scold Rickard for killing people because of this. Years of experience have told the northern nobles: When similar things happen, if you show chivalry and don't fight for the sake of face, That benefit will all fall into the pockets of shameless and ambitious families like the Bolton family.The relationship between the Karstark family and the Umber family has always been close, and the destruction of the latter is definitely not a good news or opportunity for the former... But since the tragedy has happened, no matter how you pretend to express grief, you will not die People come back to life, as the lord, Rickard has to consider the long-term interests of the family as a whole!

Of course, he did not expect to let the Karstarks swallow up all the inheritance of the Umber family if he occupied the Last Hearth City and did not leave: if the subsequent investigation finds that there are still people with the surname Umber alive because they went out at the time of the incident , Rickard naturally returned all the castle and its contents without any complaints; but if it is really unfortunate, the Amber family has been completely destroyed, such a good castle and the land and people it governs Of course, you can't just be deserted or become a savage. The general way to deal with it... nothing more than the following.

[-]. As the lord, the Stark family annexed the fief of the original Umber family.

In principle, the Stark family has the right to do this, but in this way, Robb will rule over a land that is too large to manage in an instant, and at the same time, such embezzlement of the assets of the extinct vassals will also get a reputation for greed and viciousness... It is almost impossible for the wolf family to attach great importance to honor and prestige.

[-]. Robb appoints a loyal or illustrious follower to transfer the castle and fief that destroyed the Umber family to this new family.

Regardless of whether there is a suitable candidate, Amber is a surname that is almost as old as Stark, a glorious family that has been king in ancient times, ruling from Seal Bay to Long Lake and Lonely Mountain, almost like a land grant Large territory... Even if the Stark family elects a new last hearth city lord, the latter is definitely not qualified to inherit all the original territory of the Umber family and instantly become the pillar of the north.In order to avoid such a situation of "unsuitable virtue", the territory of the new Earl of Last Hearth City must be cut off a few forests and villages on the edge, and distributed to those with higher qualifications Great nobles, for them to redistribute to their lower vassals.

If this happens, the family that actually occupies the Last Hearth City will definitely get an extra piece of this distribution!

[-]. It is also the most likely situation: Even if all the people with the surname Amber died in the attack of the strange ghosts, in the frequent marriages with other families in the northern border for thousands of years, even though there is no surname in the body There are people with the blood of the Amber family all over the northern border... If Robb has no intention of letting "Amber" disappear in the long river of history, it is very likely that he will choose from among these people who carry the blood of the Amber family. A person who was closer in blood and did not have a high line of succession in the original family was ordered to change his surname back to Amber and take over Last Hearth City again—to allow this ancient and noble surname to continue in the north through a reasonable "adoption" method. The environment survives.

As the Karstark family bordering the Umber family's territory, there is still a record of intermarriage with the Umber family within a hundred years, and there are several candidates in the family who meet this condition. The hard work of "collecting the corpse for the Amber family" and the fact of "physically occupying the Last Hearth City" will definitely add a lot of points to the candidates of their own clan when the new Earl of Amber is finally selected.

……

Regardless of the considerations, there is no reason for Rickard Karstark to give up Last Hearth City at this moment and leave with his troops!

-

Chapter 452 Forced to take risks

Seeing Earl Karstark's angry and vigilant expression, Iger felt bad.

Everyone has his own little ninety-nine, he plans big chess related to the ownership of the Seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne, others will naturally have their own little calculations that suit their identity and style.Because he is not familiar with the history of the northern border and the deep-seated unspoken rules and regulations among the princes, after some persuasion, Rickard mistakenly thought that he also coveted the Last Hearth City and wanted to occupy this place to expand the sphere of influence of the land grant. up!

Iger smiled wryly in his heart: Conscience of heaven and earth, he is going to the south to help the Queen fight for the Iron Throne, what is he doing with a northern, cold and resource-poor earldom like Hearth City?

Even so, he didn't dare to tell Rickard the truth.

He was stunned and afraid of being violent, and he was afraid of dying... Iger dared to show his cards to Robb after the Battle of Long Lake. Firstly, it was because the opponent was rescued by a dragon, and this matter could not be hidden anyway; At the end of the bloody battle, the other party suffered heavy casualties, and most of them did not want to cause any further incidents; but the most important reason is actually the third reason: Robb Stark, who had experienced a lot of hardships in the world and was born again, had something to worry about and would never dare to ignore it. Mess with consequences.

And what about the old man in front of him?

In the original plot, this was a character who was declared rebellious and beheaded by the latter because he blatantly violated Robb Stark's order to kill the prisoners of the Lannister family, and remained stubborn until his death.Horrible, frightened and desperate... Want to reason with this kind of person and persuade him to give up Last Hearth City and return to Kahuo City peacefully?

It's not impossible, but this possibility is far less than the risk of Iger confessing to Rickard that he has taken refuge in the Dragon Queen surrounded by Karstark soldiers.

The other party did not participate in the bloody battle at Long Lake, and was not saved by Daenerys' dragon, so naturally he has no moral doubts.If he ordered the arrest or even execution of himself after hearing the truth, the land-grant army and the queen outside the city would not be able to save him in time.

If the risk outweighs the possible benefit, then throw it to the back of the list for consideration. This has always been Iger's principle.

……

"You have misunderstood, Lord Karstark." He sighed and gave up continuing to negotiate.If you continue to entangle, I am afraid that you will accidentally include yourself, "Then, our army will temporarily borrow the winter shelter town outside the castle to make do with it, and return to the gifted land as soon as the wounded get better. But—the night watchman later The upcoming expedition outside the Great Wall will require a large amount of dragon crystals and saltpeter, I will send people to various parts of the northern border to collect and purchase, and I hope that your lord can order Kahuo City to provide cooperation and deliver them as soon as possible."

"It's easy to say." Seeing that Iger didn't continue to try to trick himself out of the castle, Rickard snorted and calmed down, "As an elder, I advise you, don't just think about it because you have some credit Wrong idea. Be your commander-in-chief of the night watchman, and the northern border will not treat you badly."

Iger pretended to be convinced and nodded in agreement, and after a few more perfunctory words, he found an excuse to leave, turned and walked out the door.

In the end, the occupation of Hearth City was beyond Iger's expectations-the Land Grant Army actually didn't have so many wounded who needed a place to recuperate, at least not so many that they had to occupy the castle.However, although there are many houses in the winter shelter town outside the wall, there is no open space suitable for the dragon to stay, and this place is too far away from Houguan Town.Whether Drogon, whose injury has not improved, can persist until he returns to the land-grant is not the key, but the key is: with Daenerys Targaryen's character, will he tolerate his children being wronged?

impossible.

She traveled thousands of miles to drive the dragon to fly here. Although she wanted to fulfill the agreement with herself, she objectively protected the northern border.For this, three dragons were killed and two were injured. If the result is that after the war, they want to find a shelter in the northern border to let the dying black dragon temporarily recuperate, they can't find it. With the character of the dragon queen, she will definitely think that she Betrayed!