The king on the Great Wall

Chapter 49 Busy

In the original world, what Iger wanted to do was undoubtedly grabbing business with the bank, which was equivalent to making trouble with the state apparatus. If a big hat of illegal fund-raising was deducted, he would have to walk around if he couldn't finish it.

But in Westeros, where the economy and financial industry are almost a blank sheet of paper, not to mention there are no relevant laws at all, even if there are, with Ed Stark as prime minister, the Night Watch Corps will definitely be able to obtain legal fundraising power.

Iger was not born to study economics. To be more precise, he should have known nothing about it.Fortunately, before time travelling, he often visited a forum called "Bihu". In that place where elites from various industries coexisted with story writers, and experts and habitual braggarts contended, he not only learned to make up stories quickly and be clever, but also really I have mastered some shallow inside information and cold knowledge that ordinary people often don't know-and these are now in handy.

What I really want to do is tear down the east wall and pay the west wall, commonly known as a Ponzi scheme - at least until I find a way to make money, Tyrion is also quick to realize this, and at first he firmly refused to participate .

But he had an idea at a critical moment, and explained to Tyrion the operation of a bigger scam in a not very accurate and professional, but still easy-to-understand form.A fact that most people don't understand, and even if they understand, they don't want to believe it. It doesn't matter whether they believe it or not, but it is absolutely true: modern society is indeed operating under this huge deception of using "non-existent money" to build itself In fact, this great play of human imagination is far more important than any technology and new invention, and when everyone participates, this cannot be called a scam.

What Iger did was to use this super deception, which is far more exaggerated than tearing down the east wall to pay the west wall, to broaden Tyrion's vision, and to increase his tolerance for his upcoming fundraising by using fire to fight fire.He didn't tell Tyrion the disastrous consequences that may be caused if he doesn't play well in finance, and he doesn't know whether his attempt to bring these ideas into this world is right or not, let alone whether his plan will be successful in the end... But he You have to put on a confident look—if you look skeptical and hesitant, how can you convince a feudal aristocrat who is new to this knowledge?

Having a Lannister in the team is not a requirement, but if Tyrion is willing to cooperate, everything will go much smoother.

He still wants to take off his black clothes and return to his original world. He cannot and does not want to be busy raising ransom money in exchange for his freedom every day. After thinking about it, "raising funds" is the only thing he can do at present. Think of a way to solve the financial problem once and for all.

***

Iger is really busy.

First of all, he has to go and see which two assistants the respectable Prime Minister Ed Stark has arranged for him and where the office is located. Although these two things can actually be solved with money, the fundraising has not yet started. The stage is naturally able to save a little bit.

Then, he would arrange to have the first 'ransom' paid to him by Tyrion sent to the Wall.

Finally, I have to prepare for a trip to Dragonstone Island to prepare for the mining of obsidian.

Things don't seem to be many, but in this era, it takes a lot of time to do anything just by commuting. When he first got free and took office as a new official, he was naturally trembling, and he didn't dare to steal even if he was lazy.

They rushed to the Red Castle with Yoren, and after finding a place to finish their lunch, they entered the royal castle again and came under the Prime Minister's Tower.The Hand of the King was much busier than the traversers. They failed to see Ed Stark again. Yoren was taken directly to the dungeon, and Iger also saw the two Stark guards who were ordered to assist him. Olden and David.

The two soldiers from Winterfell had the passive attribute of being friendly to the night watchmen in the north. After the three got to know each other in a harmonious atmosphere, Iger led them to the east camp of the King's Landing Guard.

Here, he met the current Captain of the City Guard, Janos Slynt, a stocky man with a bald double chin and a wretched face.

Iger didn't like the guy in front of him who was corrupt, peddling officials, and betrayed Eddard Stark in the original story, and the latter obviously didn't like a night watchman from the Great Wall who didn't seem to be able to bring him any oil. Lack of interest.Fortunately, this matter was ordered by the Prime Minister. Although he had a bad face, the captain of the garrison did not dare to obstruct or make trouble. After nodding his head as a greeting with Iger, he casually assigned a golden robe and brought Iger and the other three Went to see the house that now serves as the office of the Night's Watch.

……

The house is located opposite the gate of the East Camp of the Capital Guard, not far from the aristocratic district and the Red Fort. Since it belongs to the property of the Garrison, and it is located on a street with a lot of traffic, even Genos Slynt didn't dare to take the initiative to rent it out to others for business, so after being idle for a while, he was taken advantage of by the night watchman who happened to find Ed.

To be honest, Iger is very pleased with the results.Such a frontage house close to the street, and close to the security force of King’s Landing City, if you want to rent it with your own money, you may not even have enough gold and silver coins for a month.It is indeed right to ask Ed Stark for help, this is definitely taking care of the night watchman.

After seeing the house and taking the keys, Iger took the two guards from Winterfell back to the inn where he was staying, and met Tyrion. The sun began to set, and they set off from the Albatross Inn to the port of King's Landing near the Blackwater River. And merchant gathering places, began to purchase supplies.

After going south through Nun Street, Mud Street and Fisherman's Square, they arrived at their destination after exiting Linhe Gate, also known as Mud Gate.

……

The mud gate is not bad at all. The reason why it got this name is because the soles of the feet of people who disembark from the boat here are often covered with wet mud. There is a large flow of people, which leads to mud everywhere on the roads and squares. It's as bad as walking into a swamp.

300 years ago, this area was still completely covered by forests, and only sporadic fishermen settled on the north bank of the Blackwater River, where the currents flowed deep into the sea.Later, Aegon the Conqueror came across the sea from Dragonstone Island, and his army landed here. Now, this place has become the most prosperous area outside the walls of King's Landing.

Residences, pavilions, brick warehouses, wooden hotels and market stalls, taverns, cemeteries and brothels, all kinds of buildings are built one after another, and the noise can be heard from a long distance; more than a hundred piers line the waterfront, mooring in the port There were countless ships; deep-water fishing boats and river rafts, boatmen punting to and from the Blackwater Bay, and merchant ships unloading from Braavos, Pentos, and Lys.

This is the port with the largest foreign trade volume in Westeros. In order to provide space for the fisherman's square inside the city wall and the cargo distribution center outside the wall, the city wall gate here is the weakest position in King's Landing City, which also makes the Mud Gate the outer The number is more worthy of the name.

Tyrion knew almost every merchant of name in the port, and with his brains and reputation as the "little devil" of the Lannister family, almost no one would dare to kill him.Iger was very happy in this matter, just followed along, watching the dwarf negotiate all the transactions and arrangements for the ransom he paid for himself at a slightly lower cost than expected: from determining the price, delivery date, to hiring will The ship that sent the supplies to Donghaiwatch didn't worry about anything, and his freedom for at least the next three months was just like that.

And the first task of the two Winterfell guards was to ensure that the supplies arrived at Eastwatch on time and handed over to the Night Watchmen with both quality and quantity.

As night fell, Iger found a small merchant ship that was going to Dragonstone Island before dark. After paying a deposit of several silver stags, the captain agreed to wait for him to board the ship the next day before setting off... everything is settled , the night was dark, and the second day of Iger's arrival in King's Landing was so busy and fulfilling.

-

Chapter 50 Dragonstone Island

Under Tyrion's guidance, Iger found an old mine owner in the city who once managed the gold mine for the Lannister family. After "retiring", he moved to King's Landing with his children to enjoy his old age. He asked him to follow him to Dragonstone Island-to provide advice on mining dragon crystal.

Everything was ready, and it was close to noon on the third day after arriving in King’s Landing. In the slightly salty sea breeze, Iger took the old mine head and his young son on board the boat rented the day before, and embarked on the journey to Dragonstone Island, Journey to the land of dragons where the former rulers of House Targaryen lived.

……

Dragonstone Island is located at the estuary of Blackwater Bay. It happens to go down the river from King’s Landing. However, due to the sea breeze blowing towards the land during the day, the speed of the boat has been slow. Afterwards, the situation improved.

The distance between the starting point and the end point is hundreds of miles, and they only traveled less than one-third of the way before dark, so they must spend the night on the boat. Sailors are on night shift to control the ship, so they don't worry about wasting too much time on the road.The next morning, when Iger was awakened by the shaking, the light, and the shouts of the crew, the ship had already entered the port of Dragonstone Island and was trying to land.

***

Just go to the deck and take a look at "Dragonstone Island Harbor" to know why Stannis Baratheon is full of resentment towards his brother for enforcing himself here-it is more like a small fishing village than a port, Compared with the bustling port of King's Landing, this place looks so bleak: the sailboat Iger was on was actually the only moving object in the port at the moment.

Iger often said that the Great Wall of Impassable is a ghostly place, but in fact, this evaluation has a lot of subjective factors. Now that he left there and came to the south, he can no longer complain like a resentful woman: the land gift owned by the night watchmen... To be honest, The land is fertile and productive, but it's remote and dangerous, and the temperature is a little lower, so not many people are willing to farm there.As for Dragonstone Island, which was formed by a volcanic eruption, except for stones or stones, it can really be called a "ghost".

A small fishing village with a maximum of a hundred people, and as far as Iger knows, apart from this village and the castle where the lord lives, there is only a military port where the Dragonstone fleet is moored on Dragonstone Island—this means that history This small fishing village is the only people in the territory directly under Tanis.

In such a poor place, fishing alone is enough to support a knight, let alone a duke?

Of course, the lord of Dragonstone Island still governs the princes of the Narrow Sea theoretically. The problem is that these so-called "Princes of the Narrow Sea" are actually many small island owners whose total population does not exceed [-]—how can this be? Might it be possible to provide a duke with considerable troops, expense, and pomp?

It is said that Robert Baratheon was disheartened after losing Lyanna Stark, and planned not to marry for life and pass the throne to his younger brother Stannis.If the rumors are true, then it is no problem for him to make the heir the Duke of Dragonstone according to the tradition of the Targaryen family, but the fact is that Robert not only got married under the arrangement of Jon Arryn, but also had priority Higher heirs - Joffrey Baratheon and Tommen Baratheon.

Who cares about a Duke of Dragonstone who cannot inherit the throne?After Robert's "son" was born, Stannis asked his brother for his power over the Stormlands more than once. From an outsider's point of view, it can be said to be a reasonable and reasonable request... But I don't know if Robert is I am too lazy to toss or have other thoughts, until the end there is no explanation for this matter.

Renly Baratheon, who was still a kid during the War of the Reavers, had no credit at all, eventually inherited Storm's End and led the Kingdom of Storms, the ancestral domain of the Baratheon family; Stannis, the great hero who defended the city and held back the main royalist army of Highgarden for a year, and contributed no less to the victory of the war than Eddard Stark, was sent to this place where no shit, no matter how big-hearted he is People can't stand it.

Well, it would be wrong to say that the dragonstone bird doesn't shit, and it does.When Iger stepped off the boat and set foot on the land of Dragonstone Island, he saw countless seabirds flying in and out of their nests on the cliffs by the coast. many.Dragonstone, to be precise, is a place where only birds shit.

……

As the boat docked, a few residents of the fishing village soon gathered around, asking if they needed accommodation and meals.Dragonstone Island itself has an excellent geographical location at the estuary of the Blackwater River, but because it is too close to King's Landing, countless ships pass by without stopping every day.

Iger didn't want to waste time, so he rented three horses and found a guide, and rushed directly to the castle without stopping.The castle is built on the highest point of the island, and its scale is not small. It is majestic and magnificent from a distance, but it is covered with moss when viewed up close. It is obvious that it has been left unattended for a long time. There are only two listless guards watching at the gate of the city, and one of them even saw it coming. He stood up from the corner when he was alone.This dilapidated appearance made Iger feel more sympathy for Stannis...

A guard enters the door to announce the visit of Egger and others, but Stannis is not as willing to meet a little night watchman in person as Eddard Stark is.Ten minutes later, a young man came out of the castle on horseback, claiming that he was sent to lead the way for the visitors... Aiger didn't intend to meet the lord of Dragonstone Island, but he was quite at ease, so after some chatting, they Leaving the gate of the castle again, the survey and selection of the mining site for the dragon crystal mine began.

***

"A mine left over from ancient times?" The guide listened to Iger's description, sat on the horse and recalled it for a while, and said: "It seems that there is really one, I went in and looked, but there is nothing but some graffiti on the stone wall .”

Graffiti on the stone wall?Iger was overjoyed, isn't this the place he was looking for? Although Stannis put on airs and didn't even invite him in to the castle, the guide he sent was competent, and he couldn't help thinking of Robert, a meticulous brother The favorability has increased a little.

"Where is it, take us to see it."

"It's at the southernmost part of the island. It's a bit far away. I don't know if I can come back before dark..." The guide hesitated.

"Thank you for your hard work, let's go now, and I will treat you to a big meal when I come back." Iger still has some money in his pocket, so he is full of confidence when he says this. How high can the consumption level be on this broken island?

"It's not hard work...it's just that the road on the island is not easy after dark." Hearing what Iger said, the young man became a little shy and nodded: "Let's go then, try to come back early, but we It’s best to go to the village and get some torches first.”

……

After being blown by the sea wind for a few hours, Iger stood in the original plot until the end. The entrance of the ancient mine that Jon Snow took his aunt to visit, if there is no local as a guide, this place is really amazing. Hard to find.

After lighting the torches, the guide took Iger and the old mine head father and son into it.

In the dark hole, there is really nothing, and there are indeed some murals left on the walls, but for Iger, who once watched the birth of the Night King from the perspective of God on the computer screen, and killed the strange ghost himself , In all likelihood, there is no way to get any valuable information from it.

Things went better than expected, and that's it!

-

Chapter 51 Dragon Crystal Mining

"I want to mine obsidian here, what do I need to prepare?" Iger approached the cave wall with a torch, illuminating a large swath of dark volcanic rock.

"It turns out that's how the obsidian mine is... What's the use of the night watchman coming?" The old mine head muttered, handing the torch to his young son, took out a small hammer from his waist bag, and knocked on the cave wall. Tapping, studying for a while, straightened up, and shook his head: "The mine is ready-made, the structure is stable and higher than sea level, and the air circulates naturally - no need to worry about collapse, water seepage and poisoning; the ore itself is directly obsidian, No refining is required, and the difficulty of mining is almost zero. You can just find some strong people, and you don’t have to worry about workers hiding dog’s head gold like gold mines... Tsk, if there is anything to pay attention to, it must be Build a shelf and lay some boards to prevent falling rocks from hurting people during mining."

Iger nodded. In the field he is not good at, he is not hesitant to ask the experts in this world with a respectful attitude: "Can you be sure, what do you need? When can it be mined at the earliest? How much will it cost?"

"I need something, we can't tell here, we have to make a list; when it comes to mining, the condition of this mine is so good, if the money and tools are in place, it is not impossible to start work tonight." The old mine head He said ambiguously, "As for the funds, it depends on whether your need for obsidian is urgent, how much you need, and what your requirements for ore are."

"What is the requirement for ore?"

"For example, if you want to carve obsidian into the shape of the two dragon heads we saw on both sides of the gate of the castle just now, you need a large piece of rough stone, which is extremely difficult to mine. But if you just want to make some beads If they are made into bracelets and sold for money, then let the workers just smash them with hammers, and the difficulty and cost of mining will be greatly reduced."

It turned out to be such a thing, Iger touched his chin and thought for a while.After all, obsidian is just glass, and it is impossible to make such a huge weapon as a long sword. The dragon crystal dagger and arrowhead used by the children of the forest thousands of years ago have been the most feasible solutions tested in practice, which means that as long as the mined ore can be carved and polished It's enough to be a dagger, and it's a waste if it's bigger.In the face of intelligent magical creatures like the White Walkers, it is also very difficult to repeat the successful cases of killing them in hand-to-hand combat. The most reliable solution is to rely on a huge amount of dragon crystal arrows-using overwhelming Ranged weapons, quantity trumps quality.

"The ore doesn't need to be too big, just follow the fate."

"Well." The old mine head nodded: "I will make a list for you later. In this regard, you can give me the quantity you need after looking over it, and I will find someone to buy it. It is definitely better than yourself. Finding a way to save a lot of money. In addition, mining needs a person in charge, who manages and guards, arranges work, and prevents workers from grinding or stealing tools and selling them for money. My youngest son grew up in a mine near Casterly Rock City , although not as good as me, but I definitely know a lot better than laymen..."

……

Iger smiled. Although he had never been a leader before crossing, his ancestors had already summed up the truth very concisely: benefits can be shared by many but not alone, plans can only be found by few but not many.That is to say, when planning a big event, we must choose the most critical and most assertive small group of people to discuss, and we must not be "democratic". Do everything by yourself, for fear of letting others share the oil and water.

When the water is clear, there are no fish. Stannis Baratheon just doesn't understand this truth, so he is hated by almost all the nobles in Westeros.Iger admires his justice, but he doesn't want to learn from him to be a loner, discussing major issues-just talk to Tyrion alone, and the old mine head came to help him look at the obsidian mine, and then wanted to find a way out for his son, and even wanted to There is nothing wrong with taking a little bit of oil and water from tool purchases.

"Okay, since the expert has opened his mouth, I naturally trust you. Then appoint your youngest son as the person in charge of this dragon crystal mine, and take full responsibility for all matters related to the mining. The salary is one hundred silver stags a month. How about it? If you do well, you will be rewarded." Iger nodded: "But there is one thing, the purchase of tools, the employment of personnel, travel expenses, in short, all expenses must be recorded clearly, and I will use it to reimburse my superiors... the night watchman's Funds are not abundant, it’s too outrageous.”

"Thank you, my lord." The monthly salary of a hundred silver deer is already not low, not to mention that the person in charge has easy work and other lucrative opportunities?The old mine head patted his younger son, and the latter quickly followed his advice.

Hey, even the title has changed, Iger shook his head: "I'm not an adult, you can just call me by my name, the work here should start as soon as possible, the starting capital should be controlled within [-] gold dragons, and it will be delivered to Donghaiwatch within a month The first ship of obsidian, let's measure it .

"That's not much. It seems that recruiting a dozen or so workers directly from the small village on Dragonstone Island is enough."

"Well, you and your son should discuss all the details. Tyrion introduced you to me, and I trust you."

"Thank you sir."

"I said I'm not... well, forget it." Iger shrugged, "Let's go, before it's dark, let's go back to the village, and I promised everyone a big meal."

***

Iger soon encountered a super embarrassing thing. He wanted to invite the three people who accompanied him to see the mine today to have a big meal, which was a bit difficult to realize.

It's not that the people in the fishing village are talking about slaughtering customers. With Stannis' temper, if this happens in his fief, the murderer will be thrown into the sea in minutes.Iger’s problem now is that he can’t spend his money: I want to order pork, beef, and mutton, but I don’t have it. I want to order chicken, duck, and goose, but I don’t. I must be tired of eating here.

"Is it the same in the castle?" Iger asked a little puzzled: "If Lord Stannis wants to eat something other than fish, what will the chef do?"

"Every ten days and a half months, there will be a boat docking here. How many boats are there will determine the food in the castle until the next boat docks." The young man who led the way replied helplessly: "It doesn't matter. , Eat whatever you have, fish soup and grilled fish, as long as you are willing to add seasoning, they are both good."

"In the future, a ship of obsidian will need to be shipped out here every month. Let them not empty the ship when they come, but bring some chicken, duck, beef, mutton or something, count it in the food expenses, and give half of it to Lord Stannis. On his island It’s out of love that he didn’t talk about tax collection, and the night watchman can’t take it for granted.”

Have you never eaten pork or seen pigs running? Iger rarely dealt with these trivial matters before time travel, but he still knows how to do things decently and beautifully. Common everywhere.

The old mine owner said that the obsidian mine only needs a dozen or so people to operate at least. With such a small number of people, no matter how much they eat, it won’t cost much. If Tyrion agrees to join his fund-raising plan, the money will soon become even capital. The interest in the chain is not a small amount of money.Not to mention, the food expenses of the obsidian miners should theoretically be reimbursed by the night watchman.

……

In the end, Iger forcibly fulfilled his promise—he asked the villagers in the fishing village to kill an egg-laying hen as the main course at three times the market price, and served it with a few side dishes made of various fish. The young man who found the ancient obsidian mine by himself looked at him devouring the chicken legs, obviously he hadn't eaten chicken for two months.

***

After drinking and eating, the four drank ale and continued to discuss various aspects of mining.The drunken old miner has become the main character, he is talking about all kinds of stories when he was young when he managed the gold mine for the Lannister family, with great interest... Based on his experience, he is indeed qualified to be among the three young people. Bragging in front of you.

Now, he talked about the story that Duke Tywin returned to Casterly Rock from King's Landing after the death of his father Tytos Lannister, and ordered that his father's mistress who intended to get involved in the power of Casterly Rock was stripped and paraded in Lannisport. It became a topic of conversation when people got together. Even Iger, although he thought the topic was vulgar, he still listened to it with great interest... Just when the old mine head began to describe the woman's white body vividly, the door of the residence suddenly opened .

A woman walked into the house.

"It's the first time the Night's Watch has come to Dragonstone, and you didn't even notify me?"

Before Iger had time to look back at the people coming, the young man sent by Stannis to lead the way had already put down his wine glass and stood up in trepidation: "Ms. Melisandre, why are you here?"

-

Chapter 52 The Red God Sacrifice and the "Here"

Iger has to admit that Melisandre is an attractive woman. She has red hair, red eyes and a pretty face, and she wears a bright red robe that cannot be dyed by ordinary dyes in this era. , even if the current queen who is known as the most beautiful woman in the Seven Kingdoms is ten years younger than her, she can only be equal at most... If he didn't know her identity, he would definitely be very happy to meet such a beauty, and even regarded her as one of the targets of the strategy .

But at the current stage, Iger really can't think of this goddess stick who is unknown in age, lacks morality, and relies on the help of the flame reaction to pretend to be a ghost, deceive Stannis into ruin, and make the Baratheon family almost destroyed in the internal struggle. , How can it help his own plan... Besides, deep down in his heart, as a time traveler, he is also a little instinctively afraid of the other party - not only because she burns the living people if she disagrees with her, but also because the other party has the power of his own. There is something called "mana" that doesn't exist in the world.

People are always afraid of things they don’t understand. This is self-protection at the genetic level, and Iger is not ashamed of it—the brave are not fearless, but just able to overcome fear.He did have some awe and fear for Melisandre, and he was not ready to meet this important plot character, but since the other party came to him on his own initiative, he had no choice but to cover it up with soldiers.

……

Suppressing the tension in his heart, his reason soon began to play a role: Although the woman in front of him was scary, she was not as moody as the Mad King who was about to kill someone for no reason.If the enemy of the enemy is a friend, then Melisandre, who knows the existence of the White Walkers and serves the Lord of Light wholeheartedly, should theoretically be a friend of the Night Watchman, a comrade in the same camp—although she wholeheartedly wants to break away from the Night Watchman , but the other party does not know.

Having figured out the key in an instant, Iger felt relieved, stood up from the table, and looked at the visitor calmly.He even couldn't help guessing whether the other party's beautiful face was born like this or created by magic.

Melisandre took the initiative to find herself, probably because she wanted to inquire about the Great Wall and the situation beyond the Great Wall, so as to determine how far the White Walkers threatened human beings, so that they could formulate countermeasures.Should I tell the truth, or exaggerate to see if I can cheat some aid?

Wait, things have to be done step by step, let's think about how to say hello first.Have you heard of your name for a long time?If you don't know the plot, you probably don't know Melisandre at this moment, so you can only pretend that you don't know each other conservatively, and simply call her a lady.

"Good evening, ma'am."

"Good evening." Melisandre showed a soft and seductive smile: "The representative of the Kingdom's Shield came to Dragonstone Island as a guest, and they should have treated them well, but unfortunately the island is really poor in supplies, so please forgive me if there is any negligence. "

"You are too polite. I am here on business, not for enjoyment."

Melisandre nodded with a smile, and slowly approached the four people at the table.

Due to the hot weather, everyone basically rolls up their sleeves and bares their arms. At this moment, the exposed skin clearly feels a warmth that is not an illusion-this makes Iger's heart tremble, unless the priest of the King of Light She has a high fever of [-] to [-] degrees all day long, otherwise she would never be able to walk with such an astonishing hot wind. What kind of magic or ghost trick is this, or is the "god" she believes in really protecting her with this heat?