The king on the Great Wall

"Simple and rude way, but here comes the problem, who will pay for the money." The dwarf said with a smile, "Our good king owes a lot to the Iron Bank and my father, and he can't pay it back at all." signs."

"The place where he lives is stinky, how can he bear it?"

"Sorry, the Red Keep is on Aegon's High Hill, and the high winds blow away the smell of excrement and urine. The dignitaries who live there don't have to worry about the smell."

"Ok."

Iger really has nothing to say this time. Even if he is from modern times, he has no idea to solve the problem that the ruler himself does not seek to make progress.

Not to mention - he still has a lot of things to do, so how can he care about whether King's Landing stinks?

While talking, several people rode close to the gate to the northwest of King's Landing City. The gate was crowded with pedestrians, horses and vehicles entering and leaving—some came in and some went out.Among them were knights and freeriders, bards with harps and drums, wagons laden with hops, corn, and barrels of honey, as well as merchants, artisans, and whores, and the turbulent crowd crowded the gate of the gods , Dozens of soldiers of the Capital Guard in golden robes were scrambling to maintain order.

"The Prime Minister's tourney." Yoren said with a sneer. Born in the North, he knew Duke Stark's temper better than most people in Westeros: "The Prime Minister must hate this tourney."

"The martial arts tournament itself is a good thing. It is this kind of activity that makes the kingdom prosperous. The nobles can use this to show off and seek glory, and the common people can also join in the fun and forget the hardships of life for a while, and those who do business can also take the opportunity to earn a little money. ’” Tyrion lowered his voice a little, but he didn’t hide the sarcasm in his tone: “The only problem is that our good king is doing it too often. One for the festival, one for the prince’s name day, one for the new Prime Minister.” You can come here when you are in office, and you can come if you are in a good mood... The martial arts competition does not charge registration fees and admission fees, and the participants and spectators are happy. Borrowing money in the name of not an individual, tsk tsk. I don't know if he is smart or..."

Several people discussed the just-concluded martial arts tournament, rode through the street, and gradually approached the center of King's Landing City.

The smell is heavier than the outside, but people's adaptability is so strong, within a few 10 minutes, several people have been able to bear the smell - it's not that the nose can't smell it, but the brain can ignore the smell, carry on Other thought.

……

"My ass has suffered enough damage in the past two months. Let's find a place to settle down first, and then think about the future." Tyrion changed his tone: "I know there is an inn, in the hills of Rhaenys On the half slope, the terrain there is higher than most places in King's Landing, and the smell is much less, you will like it."

"Don't you live in the Red Castle?" Iger was a little surprised. The other party was the queen's younger brother. Even if he had a normal relationship with his sister, he was eligible to enter the royal family's castle...or at least live in the aristocratic area at the foot of the Red Castle.

"The Red Keep is too far from my favorite brothel," answered the dwarf, "and it makes me sick to be around a lot of careerists, schemers, and fools."

"My lord, this journey has already cost you a lot. Let us settle the matter of accommodation." Yoren didn't know the debates and deals between Tyrion and the senior members of the Night Watch. He really thought that Iger was The person who was sent to King's Landing to collect supplies used other people's money all the way, which already made him a little uneasy.

"Seven gods, can you just sympathize with me, a short and poor dwarf? When do I want to chat with my two night watchman friends, and I have to ride across most of the city to find you?" ?” Tyrion said in mock anger, “Stop arguing and come with me.”

-

Chapter 43 Settlement

After everyone said so, the two night watchmen stopped talking, and followed the three Lannister family masters and servants along the main road of King's Landing City. After passing the Shoemaker Square and the Central Square, they walked forward to the left and extended along the Nun Street. Riding a little longer on the gentle slope, he gradually approached the top of the lowest of the three hills surrounded by the walls of King's Landing.

As the altitude increases, the surrounding scene quickly begins to change. The streets become spacious and tidy, and the manners and clothes of pedestrians become more leisurely and decent. There are even non-necessities for sale on both sides of the road—that is, luxury goods. goods store.

Iger quickly realized that this is the wealthy area in King's Landing, and foreigners living here would probably be an expense that he could never afford.Finally, they stopped at the door of an inn called "Albatross".Following Tyrion dismounting, Iger looked into the distance and found that he was standing higher than the city wall of King's Landing. This place was tens of meters higher than the lowest point in the city, and it was on the top of the Rhaenys Hill where the Dragon's Den was located. Below—the height is just right to greatly reduce the odor without too much affecting the travel and daily activities of residents. It is really a good place.

"Boss, open four rooms, one for me and my two friends in black, and one for my two attendants. They must be connected together." Tyrion said loudly as he stepped into the hotel door. , the decoration in the hotel was even better than the hall in Winterfell. The boss obviously knew the little devil, so he graciously asked his servants to lead their horses and carry their luggage for them, and led them to the second floor.

"You are now the image representative of the night watchman. You have to pay attention to your clothes when you go out. There are many shops on Nun Street, some of which sell ready-made clothes and some can be customized. I suggest you buy some clothes when you have time." Before entering their respective rooms , The last words Tyrion and the two night watchmen said were: "Besides, turn right when you go out, and then turn left when you can see the hole on the top of Dragon's Lair clearly, and you will be on Silk Street, half of King's Landing. The brothels are all there, as long as you report my name, you can be cool if you don’t have money, if you don’t dare to go, I can take you another day, but today, I want to relax my ass first—sleeping on my stomach may be a good idea Idea, see you later."

……

To be honest, Iger is really moved. He is a normal adult man and has his own needs.It's been a year and a half since he traveled to this world, and he hasn't touched a single woman... He really can't get away with the prostitutes in Mole Village on the edge of Castle Black who are actually part-time village girls. Maybe things will change here in King's Landing ?

Qi Nian flashed by, and he quickly killed it, owed Tyrion a favor, and shouldered a heavy responsibility, how could he have the interest and courage to use other people's money to be a prostitute?

Push the door and enter the single room, put away the clothes and luggage, and then go out to the front desk to ask the boss for a pen and paper. Iger sat down at the small table by the window.King's Landing is a dangerous place, but if he doesn't get involved in the Game of Thrones, at least he, a night watchman, will be safe for the time being, but if he doesn't want to go back to that damned place on the Great Wall, then he has to plan for the future.

***

Watching the people coming and going on the street, after spending a few minutes adjusting his state, he first wrote down his four tasks on paper: collecting supplies, recruiting personnel, mining dragon crystals, and improving the image of the night watchman.

Compared with when he first received these tasks and didn't know where to start, after more than a month of thinking while traveling south, plus discussing with Tyrion, he already had some ideas and plans in his heart, and now he All you have to do is get your plans down in writing before you get so dazzled that you forget them.

First of all, what Iger and Tyrion both agree on is that the task of "improving the image of the night watchman" is actually no different from non-existence: In this era of underdeveloped communications, southerners have a good or bad impression of the night watchman However, can the Night Watch Corps still send a large number of people to the south for investigation and statistics?

Whether he cares about this task or not, only he himself is clear about it, and the quality of the completion is completely up to him.To put it bluntly, the only reason for the existence of this task is to have an excuse in case I have completed the other three tasks well, but the Night Watchman Legion still wants to tear myself apart for special reasons and forcefully recall me .

As long as the worst doesn't happen, no one will mention it at all.

Iger crossed out the last task with a pen.

There are three remaining tasks, but you have to do it down-to-earth.

But how is it done?There is a lot of room for movement here. The next time Yoren comes from the Great Wall to look for his important person, he will not be able to hand over any of them. He has not delivered any supplies to the Great Wall for several months. The transport ship of the Night Watchman has arrived at Dragonstone. Obsidian mining had not yet started on the island... Naturally, these three situations must not occur, otherwise the recall must be undiscussed, but how many people can be handed over, how much supplies and obsidian can be provided, there are many ways to go.

It can't be too little, at least not too little for a long time-if you can't pay the ransom, who can keep you happy outside?

But too much is not enough, people's appetite will be bigger, and the same is true for organizations composed of people-the recruits recruited by themselves will make the Night Watchman Legion bigger and bigger, and the larger and larger legion size, and the larger the size of the Legion. It is bound to need more and more supplies to feed, not to mention that as winter approaches, the supplies that the northern princes can provide to the Great Wall will definitely shrink.Many factors have determined that the supply gap will inevitably become bigger and bigger—if you give the night watchman's senior management the impression that they can provide as much supplies as they want, it will be a disaster.

The level of productivity in this world is there. Except for air, water and land, there are basically no particularly rich resources.Even if he could really say that the rich and nobles in King's Landing had lost their fortunes and gave their all to support the Night's Watch, he still couldn't fill the bottomless pit.

The ideal situation is - the materials, recruits and obsidian provided by oneself are all at a low level that makes the upper echelons of the night watchmen "not satisfied, but not so that they will turn their faces and recall themselves", so that if one day the Great Wall asks Providing more supplies and personnel will also start to increase from a lower starting line.

But where this level of safety is, you have to figure it out yourself.

Iger determined the core idea of ​​​​the work and planned the itinerary: he will first arrange to send Tyrion's "funding" - that is, his "ransom" - to the Great Wall, and then rush to Dragonstone Island for obsidian mining survey and start-up work.After these two things are completed, I will go back to King's Landing to try to recruit people and "raise" the follow-up materials and equipment.

……

After finishing the itinerary, he hesitated for a moment, and at the bottom of the paper, he added two more words in Chinese that no one in this world could understand:

Take off the black clothes.

Ideas to go home.

Trying to complete the task Mormont entrusted to him is a means—a means of delaying time.The purpose of delaying time is to find a way to get away from the night watchman.He had hoped that Tyrion would be able to do this before, but later found that just leaving the Great Wall would have to overcome many difficulties. As for the removal of identity... no one has this power at all, and he has to figure out his own way in the end.

Not only that, but he will never forget that he is not from this world.If possible, he hopes to find the reason why he traveled to this world, and try to travel back.

There is a saying, "It is better to be a dog of peace than to be a person in troubled times".For Iger, even being a king in this damn world of ice and fire is not as good as being a middle class in a strong and stable country in the original world.

-

Chapter 44 The Beginning of Southern Life

Before time travel, Iger followed such a principle in his work: he did not slack off in his duties, but he did not take the initiative to do things that were not his own, and he did not accept any arrangement including but not limited to overtime work that took up rest and entertainment time—— There is no other reason. Good family conditions, broad horizons, and extensive contacts give him ways to obtain information and sources of income far beyond ordinary people.

He works just to keep himself from being too idle and not to become an otaku, not for the salary at all.Playing games and speculating in stocks can earn far more than wages. Who wants to engage in office fights with colleagues around them, or put on a hard-working appearance to win the favor of the boss?

But now, the situation is different. Iger's chief in the Night's Watch does not pay him a salary, but he can decide his life or death.If you offend them, you only need to call yourself back to the Great Wall and send him to patrol outside the Great Wall, or even directly declare yourself a deserter, and even if you survive, you will lose your skin.

Under the pressure of this invisible sense of crisis, Iger decided to start working immediately despite his physical and mental exhaustion.

Tyrion had already announced that he was going to rest. Iger naturally had to take care of this hit nobleman and benefactor. He decided to skip the first thing first and complete the step that is crucial to the follow-up work-go to meet Ask the only northerner in the council and ask him for something that Tyrion will never give.

***

"Tuk tuk." Iger knocked on the door of the next room.

Yoren opened the door. Because he was not used to the heat in King's Landing, he had already showered in the hotel's bathroom when Aigle made the arrangements. He was only wearing a pair of underpants at the moment: "What's the matter?"

"I'm going to see the Prime Minister now, do you want to come with me?"

"Now? Why don't you take a break?"

Yoren came out with business trip funds, but all the board and lodging expenses along the way were covered by the little man of the Lannister family. Now the money in his hand has not been moved, and he will suffer a loss if he doesn't finish it. He is not in a hurry.

"A prime minister surnamed Stark manages the kingdom. There is no better opportunity for us night watchmen to do business than this. I have a lot of work to do, and I dare not delay for half a day. If you don't want to come with me, then in a few days I’m going to find him alone today, although Duke Eddard values ​​the night watchman, it’s probably not good to cause him trouble like this.”

"Oh... that's fine, let's go." Although Yoren is old, his body is still strong, and the journey southward will not wear him down: "Wait for me to get dressed."

……

The temperature difference between Junlin and the Great Wall is fifty or sixty degrees, forming two extremes of zero and minus.The so-called wearing a piece of clothing is actually just putting a coarse black coat on the head, and then wearing a pair of outer pants of the same color.Just this is still enough to make the two night watchmen sweat profusely.

Leading out the unsaddled horses from the stables, they started heading towards the Red Castle.

The way is easy to find, you don't even need to ask - Aegon Hill, where the royal fortress is located, is located in the southeast corner of King's Landing. If you look east from the sheltered place, you can see the towers and walls built on top of the mountain, as if they were the residence of the gods.

Aegon the Conqueror was picky about places, and the Red Keep certainly felt like a ruler's abode.

After walking for a while, Iger slowed down.

"what happened?"

"Before we go to meet the prime minister, we should take care of ourselves."

Yoren shook his head, and said in the tone of someone who has been there to educate the younger generation: "Believe me, Iger, the Prime Minister will not give us a few more people or a few cars of supplies just because we have taken care of it."

Eddard Stark may not care about the image of the Night's Watch who went to meet him, but the people and nobles along the Red Keep and King's Landing will.Although the task of "improving the image of the night watchman" was planned to be ignored in the plan, Iger still couldn't bear to have such a dirty colleague by his side.

About how important the first impression is, and how great the long-term impact of improving the overall image of the Night Watchman organization is... Iger chose a more straightforward and effective rhetoric that could not be explained by a rough man like Yoren.

"Don't you feel hot with such a big beard and greasy black clothes?"

"Uh... I've been here for so many years, I'm used to it."

"Don't worry, I will pay for the expenses."

***

The bag that Robesey gave Iger contained a golden dragon and ninety silver stags—estimated from the items and services that can be purchased, the value of a silver deer is close to the red hair grandfather in the world before Iger traveled through the world, and One golden dragon can be exchanged for 210 silver stags...

This means: Iger now has more than 2 yuan in his hand, which can be regarded as a considerable wealth in this extremely low-productivity world.It's not enough to be extravagant, but if it's just daily consumption, it will last for more than ten months.

The night watchman does not have any source of income for the time being, so even though he is relatively well-off, Iger still deliberately starts looking for the shops he needs after staying away from the rich area.

He first took Yoren into a barber shop, and asked the owner to cut his and Yoren's hair short, shaved their beards, and washed their heads, so that their image became fresh and neat.

After paying a silver deer and taking a few copper coins in change, Iger quickly walked into a clothing store.

"Two sets of light and breathable black long gowns." He said, "Pure black is the best, if it's really not good, it can't have any too conspicuous bright color pattern decoration."

"Pure black?" The shopkeeper immediately put on an empathetic and sad expression: "I'm sorry, I don't know who passed away in the two families?"

"No one dies, we are the Night's Watch."

"night guard?"

"Why, are you still picking customers?" Iger frowned impatiently, and patted his pocket: "We will pay!"

"No, no... I don't mean anything else, it's just that it's the first time I've received buyers from the Great Wall of Despair, and it's a little rare." The owner of the clothing store remembered that kindness makes money, and after a moment of astonishment, he quickly put on a courteous smile: "Please Hold on, I'll try to find it."

Iger waited for a while, but he remained patient.

According to the customs of Westeros, pure black clothes are only worn as mourning clothes. How can there be a lot of them in ordinary clothing stores?One of Iger's long-term goals is to break away from the Night's Watch. He swears that no one in the world would want to wear a different color of clothing more than he does... but he doesn't want to be caught by anyone because he's just starting out on a shaky footing.

Not to mention, he was now going to see Eddard Stark, a dead-headed northerner.And to deal with this kind of character, the best disguise is undoubtedly a loyal night watchman soldier who is only for the Legion.

The boss struggled for a long time, and finally found two near-pure black robes from the corner. After covering up the obvious white stripes on the spot at Iger's request, they sold two silver deer at the price of one.Not only that, Iger also ordered several other pure black clothes for changing and washing.

Conditions were limited when he was on the Great Wall, and after leaving Castle Black, he never wanted to endure the days of wearing a piece of clothing for months.

Dressed in new clothes and looks, the two Night's Watchmen are back on horseback with a new look.Looking at Yoren who seemed to have been reborn, Iger smiled helplessly: Improving the image, a task that he directly removed from the schedule, became the first thing he really started to do.

……

They rode to the entrance of the Red Fort. After explaining to the guards in golden robes and waiting for the notification, they were able to enter the gate of the Red Fort and were guided down to the Prime Minister's Tower.

Further on, there were all guards from Winterfell. They knew and respected the Night Watchmen and did not obstruct them. The two soon met the new prime minister, Ed Star, who Iger had only met two months ago. gram.

-

Chapter 45 "Help" the Prime Minister

"Good afternoon, two night watchman brothers, how can I help?"

Duke Stark, who became Prime Minister, is still so polite. At least Iger now knows that this politeness is not a disguise, and this also makes him more sure of what he will ask next: "My lord, a hundred thousand wildlings outside the Great Wall are approaching the Great Wall, and already The small group that crossed the Great Wall is also seriously disrupting the law and order in the north, and we were ordered by Commander Mormont to come to King's Landing to ask for help from the Iron Throne."

Yoren coughed and interrupted, "I've come to find men to guard the Wall, my lord. I should have waited for the next king's court to explain our needs to him and see the king and his Hand in their presence. Is there any scum in the dungeon that you want to get rid of. But Iger insisted on coming to you directly, so we came here non-stop.”

The name Yoren used to call his companion reminded Lord Stark, and he turned his head to stare at someone who was also new in office for a moment. Iger's distinctive Asian features made the Prime Minister recognize him.

"It's right to come to me. If you want to see the king during the court, I'm afraid you won't be able to do anything until winter comes. So, Iger... What are you here for?" Ed asked with a pun, and he He no longer feels bad for the night watchman ranger in front of him, but this young man in black knows that Joffrey is going to assassinate Bran, and now he has come to King's Landing again. There is a big disturbance - not only harming others, but also harming oneself.

"I will be responsible for the collection of materials and equipment, the recruitment of follow-up manpower, and the mining of obsidian on Dragonstone Island, my lord." Iger spoke as smoothly and clearly as the last time we met, "Because these tasks require literacy, calculation and planning. , so I was sent."

***

A person like Ed Stark, who values ​​rules and legal inheritance, will never tolerate such outrageous and dirty transactions as "paying a ransom to let the Night Watchmen leave the Great Wall". The top three Night Watchmen must also know this, so they He would never tell the Northern Guardian in front of him about the deal with Tyrion.

And this is precisely the biggest advantage that Egger currently has—except for Mormont, Maester Aemon, and Benjen Stark, only Tyrion knows the whole truth about his being "sent" to King's Landing. Even the chief clerk and artisan only knew that Tyrion was going to provide a contribution to the Legion.Therefore, despite being made difficult and coerced by his own officials, he who left the Great Wall and came to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, in the eyes of everyone else in Westeros... is the person in charge sent by the Night Watchmen to the south to collect supplies, Jeo Mo Official representative of Ermon and the Blackshirts under his command.

This status will not allow Iger to be respected by the nobles of King's Landing, but at least it can guarantee that he will not be contemptuous and ignored-even if the decline is a mess, the Night Watchman is protected by the Iron Throne. The great lords are tied for independent forces at the same level.

***

"The collection of materials and equipment, the recruitment of follow-up manpower, and the obsidian mining of Dragonstone Island?" The Prime Minister repeated what Iger said hesitantly, and a smile could not help showing on his always rigid face: "Hey, you really have a heavy burden on your shoulders." , how many men did Jeor Mormont give you?"

"The Night's Watch is short-handed, we're the only two coming, and Yoren will soon have to return to the Wall with his recruits. I'll be alone in King's Landing, but Lord Mormont allows me to play it cheap and decide for myself how to proceed. " Egger put the certificate of Mormont's signature and seal on the table in front of Duke Stark, and thanked Tyrion for his foresight to obtain this document for himself. Without it, his plan might not be good. Expand: "So, I thought of you, my lord, now in King's Landing you are the only one who can help the Night Watchmen who are in a huge crisis."

Ed unfolded the parchment, didn't look at the contents carefully, only glanced at Mormont's signature and the seal representing the night watchman, and believed the other party's statement. There is absolutely no night watchman who would dare to be a deserter and run in front of him to die. The smart ranger must be telling the truth: "Well, how can I help you?"

Iger saw the expression in the eyes of the other party, and smiled inwardly. Even if Ed Stark read every word on this parchment carefully, he would not find any loopholes—— The proof documents are true, and what I say is true, the only change is that I have quietly distorted the meaning of what Mormont wrote "allowing him to act cheaply and work on his own".