The king on the Great Wall

"I'm not a child anymore!"

"If you say no, it's not right, but do as I say, since you want me to teach you how to use a sword, don't cause trouble for me."

-

Chapter 66

Accepting the female apprentice who came to the door, Iger rubbed the center of his brows. There are more things to do, so tired.

Born in a peaceful and prosperous modern world, his food and nutrition level during his growth was no worse than most nobles in this world, and his excellent physical fitness allowed him to surpass the Great Wall Guard in terms of strength and reaction speed with a little training. Many veterans in the army are better...but that's all. In the eyes of the old, weak, sick, disabled, and ordinary wild people outside the Great Wall, I may be the backbone of the rangers, the elite of the elite; But looking at the whole of Westeros, I just have a little more discipline and actual combat experience than the young recruits.The gap between the short entry and training time—less than a year—and the master’s level—Allisa Thorne—could not be made up by the aura of the traverser and cleverness.

Not to mention those famous fighters, Ed left the captain of the guard, Jory, who was looking at Arya, and he was definitely not an opponent.

Fortunately, Arya is still just a little girl in the city with no plans. I only need to use half of my thoughts when I first attracted Tyrion's attention to study how to prescribe the right medicine to coax her, and then pretend to teach her some basic grasping skills. Skills of sword, standing, moving and even slashing and parrying... before her level is high enough to realize that she is not the master she imagined, she will definitely be able to fool her into thinking of herself as a reliable friend, Jon Snow Two.

Then, if she is not a 3-minute hotness but really wants to continue to learn swordsmanship, then at best, she can find a more suitable person for him to be a swordsmanship instructor.Like Jaqen, like that Aquaman's chief swordsman... Hey, what's the name of that damn guy, Leofer?Oliva?Forget it, don't want this anymore.

***

After negotiating with Arya about teaching her swordsmanship, the two left the room. The empty Night Watchman's office except for the tables, chairs and cabinets was really not fun. The girl looked around, and soon fidgeted again.

Fortunately, Ed Stark quickly came back with the original team to take away his daughter. Judging from the thoughtful expression of the king's hand, he had obviously "realized" under the guidance of Littlefinger What, if the shit-stirring stick is allowed to operate step by step like this, Ed's trust in him will soon be established step by step, and by then, it will be too late.

The estrangement plan must be carried out as soon as possible, and this takes precedence over everything else.

Today's work is almost done. After Iger gave Jack a dozen silver stags to buy some light practice swords, he was about to close the door and return to the hotel to think about how to provoke the relationship between Littlefinger and Ed.

"Egger!"

Tyrion rode to the door of the office with Maurice in what appeared to be a haste, climbed off his horse, and walked through the door.

"I'm about to go back to the hotel, what can't wait for this meeting?"

The little devil was out of breath, and waved his hands: "Come inside, let's sit and talk."

Iger didn't know what happened, so he followed in nervously, and sat down where he was talking to Arya just now, waiting for Tyrion to tell him what happened.

***

After some explanations, the Chief Logistics Officer of the Night Watch understood the reason why Tyrion came to him in a hurry: the paper merchants simply could not provide the "stable, cheap and plentiful" paper that the two of them needed. Appear!

The existing books in Westeros are all copied on parchment, but the parchment is really made of parchment.This leads to a high cost of books, and most of them are on the paper instead of the salary paid to the scribes as Igger and Tyrion took for granted before!It is impossible to make a huge breakthrough across the ages and earn enough money to fill the big pit of the Ponzi scheme just by playing tricks on the small cost of printing!

"To be honest, I didn't know this until I went to find out about it today." Tyrion said apologetically. Given his background, in the past, when he needed paper, he would throw a golden dragon to Morris or Jack for him to buy. stack, and the extra is counted as a reward—as for whether a piece of paper is worth one silver stag or two silver stags, what difference does it make to him?

But it wasn't until I got serious and prepared to do some big things that I realized that the funds or pocket money that I usually seemed to be quite strong were nothing at all.

And Duke Tywin...it is already generous not to deduct the expenses of his dwarf son, how could he still lend money to himself for "nonsense"?

Excitedly preparing to open a factory, print books, spread knowledge and make money by the way, but then find that I don’t even have enough money to buy paper, and it doesn’t feel good to be doused in cold water.

***

"It shouldn't be." Iger frowned suspiciously. The era of Westeros is similar to the end of the European Middle Ages. Papermaking should have been passed down a long time ago... Wait, pass it on!In this world, there is no Celestial Dynasty, no Cai Lun, and no Arabs who are porters and knowledge disseminators. Naturally, there will be no papermaking skills handed down!

Although he figured out the reason, Iger was still a little bit resentful: papermaking is not a high-tech, without the people of the Celestial Dynasty, wouldn’t the natives of this world invent it themselves?If you hate iron for steel, you hate iron for steel, but when you think carefully, because of the prevalence of the backward concept of "just passing by" caused by irregular seasons, the rulers of this world and the lower class civilians have little motivation to invent and create... It seems to be excusable .

"Iger." Tyrion asked him expectantly: "Isn't your hometown advanced in all technologies? How does Caina make paper?"

"I'm just an adventurer. The process of making paper has been matured thousands of years ago. It's a common technology. I can't think of a place in the world where paper can't be made." Iger scratched his head depressingly, bullshit prosperity And the budding of capitalism, the backwardness of Westeros has once again refreshed the lower limit of its prediction. The busy shops and workshops in King's Landing are just a special phenomenon.

Is it necessary to develop papermaking in this world?But my understanding of papermaking is only at the level of popular science, and I really can't be Cai Lun of this alien world.

"The paper merchant said that there was a young man outside the city who was doing something to make paper out of grass, but 'the things made can only be used to wipe buttocks'. I'm going to take a look and see what's going on."

"Using grass to make paper?" Iger was thinking hard about a way to break the situation, and his heart moved when he heard this: Although he didn't know how to make paper, he also knew that modern paper is actually made of plant fibers through chemical treatment. Is it possible for a young man who makes paper to become the Cai Lun of the world of ice and fire?

It may not be possible, but as long as the direction is correct and scientific research funds are poured in, it must be possible if it cannot be done!

"This is good news. In this case, you take someone to find this young man tomorrow to see what his idea of ​​making paper out of grass is. If you just put together the wide blades of grass and dry them in the sun, then there is no problem." Development value, but if the grass is crushed and used to make paper by other methods, hire him back and invest tens of hundreds of gold dragons in it, let him improve the process as soon as possible and select suitable raw materials in order to produce usable paper. "

"Mashing grass to make paper?" Tyrion couldn't understand, but he had developed an almost unconditional trust in his adventurer friends over the past few months, and he nodded without hesitation: "Okay, I'll go tomorrow. Happy From the point of view, this is not a huge opportunity. Using printing instead of handwriting can only reduce the cost of making books by a few percent, but if we hold the whole process from papermaking to book-making in our own hands, the profits will reach staggering degree!"

"Indeed, in mining, we call it a complete industrial chain." Iger also realized this, and quickly added after thinking of something: "If you find that the young man's idea of ​​making paper is correct, you must get him at any cost. Sign a non-disclosure agreement and firmly hold commercial secrets in your hands!"

"Complete industrial chain? Good words!" Tyrion's originally dejected face regained a smile, and things began to become more and more interesting.

-

Chapter 67 Chaos is a Ladder

Iger and Tyrion returned to the hotel together while discussing the details of establishing the book printing industry chain.When he entered the door, the boss told Iger that a young man came to him asking for money in the afternoon.

"It should be the son of the mine head you introduced to me." Iger thought about it carefully, and he hasn't borrowed a sum of money yet, so there is only one person who can come to ask himself for money: "Probably the Dragon Crystal Mine You can start over there, and you need funds... There are so many things that I almost forgot about this."

"Ask Jack to send a sum of money tomorrow." Tyrion said without hesitation, "Oh... for the first time I found out—the money seems to be insufficient."

"The signboard won't arrive in two days, but you can pick up the seal tomorrow." Iger said, "Let's get the first loan as soon as possible."

"That's the only way to go, cheating your own people... Well, let me think about it, where do I start?"

The two went upstairs while talking.After a busy day, everyone had dinner together and went back to their rooms to rest.

***

Tyrion may really be resting, but Iger is not so comfortable. For the little devil, all this may be just an interesting game. If the wealth of the previous generation is the capital of trial and error for the next generation, With the Lannister family behind him, he is one of the most qualified adventurers in the world.

But I can't do it myself, my parents are not even in this world, this deception is related to his future survival in this world...he has to go all out.Any guy who may endanger his own interests is an enemy.

Pacing up and down the room, he racked his brains for ways to stop Littlefinger from gaining Eddard Stark's trust.

Hour after hour passed, and one plan after another was abandoned. If it was a simple matter of sowing discord, then anyone would do it, but this time his opponent was a top player in Game of Thrones.Either kill him directly, or don't let him find out that he is against him-if you are not careful, you will lose your life.After thinking about it, Iger finally had to admit that fighting with others is not as fun as Grandpa Mao said.

The most direct and violent way is to inform Eddard Stark of the fact that Littlefinger murdered Jon Arryn, but this matter is somewhat different from the last time he framed Joffrey—Petyr instructed Lysa The fact that Tully poisoned her husband, Duke Arryn, happened while he was on the Great Wall, and the truth is only known to both the participants and the instigators.It's impossible for me to "hear" the news... Moreover, I can't use the trick of telling the truth again and again: a night watchman is not doing business, but keeps his ears up all day long to hear all kinds of top-secret information, Ai What would De think?

What I want to play is an upright and loyal soldier of the night watchman, not an octopus spider.

Then, maybe it's time to use the plan that was finally abandoned during the last Winterfell incident, the anonymous report letter?

But how would the anonymous report letter get to Ed... In the city of King's Landing, where there are many eyeliners, a single step of negligence may cause fatal consequences. Littlefinger may not have confidantes and friends, but at least he has money and connections... And for the time being, he But he still has nothing. If exposed, a glass of poisoned wine, a dagger or a cold arrow can completely erase his existence.

Sending letters through Arya is also unsafe. A ten-year-old girl has no intentions. She may not take the initiative to betray "Master", but in front of her dearest father, a careless word will expose herself.

It has become quiet outside the window, and there is no curfew in King's Landing, but in this era, unless there are major festivals, there is generally no such thing as a night market.Iger sighed, extinguished the candle and lay down on the bed, hoping to think of a way when he woke up tomorrow like he did last time in Winterfell.

It may be that he has been thinking about how to deal with Littlefinger. After closing his eyes, the opponent's motto is wafting in his ears.

Chaos is the ladder.

……

Chaos is a ladder. There is actually some truth in this sentence. In a world where classes are solidified to the point of freezing like ice and fire, the best way for people below to rise to the top is to create chaos. Chaos will damage the interests of people at the top of society, while If someone loses, someone must gain.

The problem is that in chaos, the beneficiaries should be quite random, even greatly unexpected.Littlefinger's ability lies in his ability to accurately reach the places where the great nobles were "injured and bleeding" by means of four or two strokes, catch their "blood" and become the biggest beneficiary of the chaos.At this point, he even left Varys, a player of the same level and good at long-term layout, a few streets away.Using the same analogy of the stock market, Varys and Littlefinger bought the same stock with a general trend of rising. The former made a profit by holding it for a long time, but the latter was able to profit by selling high and buying low through micromanipulation. Far more than the stock's overall rise.

This kind of talent made Iger amazed and admired from the bottom of his heart.

But Petyr is by no means without flaws. In the original plot, he vividly showed the limit of what a thorough realist can do, using court politics to manipulate almost everyone.But the problem is that, apart from pursuing his own ambitions for power, he didn't show any political ideals - that's fine in the early stage, until the end of the game, he didn't even "make up" a concept to attract followers or Consolidate the power you have already mastered.Reckless men like Chen Sheng and Wu Guang knew how to say "The princes and generals have a kindness" before the uprising. You have nothing, so why sit on the Iron Throne?

Littlefinger said that players who are strong, good at strategy and have no moral bottom line are indeed more likely to rise from troubled times to become winners.But that's all, he is the most powerful destroyer, but he will never be the ultimate winner - his best destination is to help a certain force rise to dominate the world and then eat meat, but he just wants to sit on the throne. The impossible goal finally ruined his life: Littlefinger's entire power is him alone, whoever comes along, even if he reaches the pinnacle of his life, no one will shed tears for him, Not to mention getting ahead or even taking revenge.

If Iger just wants to see his end, then he just needs to do nothing and wait quietly, and Littlefinger will play himself to death in the end.Without Arya, there would be Arya, and Belia would eventually jump out and kill him.But the trouble is: what I want to do now is to defeat Littlefinger on the battlefield where he is most comfortable, which is a bit difficult.

……

Chaos is the ladder.

Chaos is the ladder.

If Littlefinger wanted to create chaos, he had to keep the situation stable.Iger silently recited the motto of the imaginary opponent in his heart, preparing to fall asleep.

But a voice suddenly emerged from the subconscious: Why?Why is it necessary to create stability to protect peace? If we do the opposite and create chaos together, the chaos in King's Landing will intensify beyond the limit of control, so what will happen if we use fire to fight fire?The biggest advantage I have is that I know the inside story. Give up this and think about running to play tricks and tricks with Littlefinger. Only patients with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder will do this.Since the enemy wants to muddy the water, why can't they interfere and stir the water until no one can see clearly? Let's see how you benefit!

Iger was shocked by this bold idea, and for a moment even wondered if this was the idea of ​​the Green Prophet or a similar god stuffed into his mind, but after careful consideration, he found that this trick is feasible!No matter how intense the power game is, how fierce the undercurrent is, as long as the palace fight does not develop into a war in the end, the market and people's livelihood are not affected, and my deception can continue!

Stir this pot of muddy water to a boil, and make the situation so complicated and chaotic that it is difficult for any power game player to profit from it. At that time, "stay out of the matter", play the game of money seriously, and Tilly and I Ang, you can become the biggest winner!

Lots of things can cause confusion, but what's the cheapest?

rumor.

-

Chapter 68 The Unlucky Jaqen

Tyrion's enthusiasm for this game was beyond imagination, when Iger woke up from his sleep, dressed and went out to do business.He actually took Morris to find the young man who made paper outside the city...

Of course, the night watchman wasn't ashamed of getting up late. He was busy until the middle of the night last night. In terms of rest time, he probably had two or three hours less than the dwarf.

While eating breakfast, he met Yoren who also woke up very late. This fellow raven was really enjoying the life in King's Landing without the restraints of the officers. Thinking about how busy he was, Iger couldn't help but envy the other party.

"Youren, I have something to ask you." Iger was sitting in the hotel lobby eating breakfast, and suddenly remembered something: "Didn't you go to the prison a while ago to confirm a few recruits?"

"That's right, what's the matter?" Lang Ya came over and sat down opposite his colleagues, and ordered breakfast as well: "It's not a felony who has no hope of being released, and rarely chooses to wear black."

"Is there one named Jaqen H'ghar among them?"

"It seems that there is such a person, how do you know?" Yoren was wearing the new black clothes Iger bought, and the sour smell was no longer on his body.

"It's just heard, do you know how he was arrested and put into a black prison?"

"Well, I know, if you recruit someone as a recruit, why don't you ask about their backgrounds?" Yoren shrugged: "The two people in the room with him are murderers with abnormal nerves, crazy, even I saw They were all scared. But only this Jaqen, which is very interesting, was caught stealing books from the royal library."

"Stealing books?" Iger became interested. This is a plot that even he doesn't know. What kind of books do you need Braavos to send out such a top spy and assassin to steal?He had this doubt, and asked so.

"I don't know, I can't read!"

I forgot about this, and Iger shook his head with a smile, but then he had other questions: "But the crime of stealing books should not be locked in a dark cell with murderers."

"Hey, do you know where the Royal Library is? Between the White Sword Tower of the Kingsguard and the Prime Minister's Tower, in the Red Castle! That kid was arrested for 'stealing books', but 'trespassing the king's residence' , with bad intentions'!" Yoren gloated: "The reason why he was discovered is quite funny—originally, he hid in the corner of the kitchen in the Red Castle during the day, and sneaked into the library to look for things at night. He stayed in the fort for a few days. But no one else borrowed books during that month. A thin layer of dust gradually accumulated on the books and the ground, leaving his footprints and handprints. The administrator in charge of cleaning found someone coming in After touching the book, he casually reported the matter to the Kingsguard. That guy was unlucky, Barristan paid attention, and went to investigate with another Kingsguard that night, and sure enough, the only reader was blocked in, Wang Family Books There are no windows in the hall...the unlucky guy can only obediently catch him without a fight."

So it turns out that Jaqen may indeed be one of the strongest assassins in the world, but it is absolutely impossible to face the two Kingsguard - one of whom is currently recognized as the best swordsman in Westeros.In this way, Jia Kun was not caught on purpose, and it is even less likely that he went for the night watchman.

But he stayed in the Wang family library for a few days, what was he looking for?

……

Yoren's breakfast was brought up by the maid, and the old wave crow made a gesture to slap the girl's butt, which made her run away screaming, then grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing and adding: "And the last The point is, how long did it take for the former Prime Minister to die? Although he died of illness, isn’t this unknown person who was able to sneak into a place less than [-] feet away from the Prime Minister’s Tower not suspicious? Therefore, this unlucky guy was also sentenced to death. It is a funeral for the former Prime Minister."

"What a coincidence."

"What a coincidence?" Yoren snorted and lowered his voice a bit: "I think maybe Jon Arryn was killed by this guy or his companions, this guy looks like a gentleman Bachelor, but the two lunatics in the same room as him are afraid of him, why do you think this is?"

"He's good at fighting."

"I'm afraid it's more than just being able to fight...Of course, what I say is just speculation, and it's just chatting among us. After all, even if he really killed the prime minister, so what. Received."

Maybe Jia Kun really killed a lot of people, but this time he was really wronged, Iger was amused, such a powerful faceless man, he was just as unlucky as an ordinary person.

"You also accepted the other two lunatics?"

"Take it, 'As long as you are willing to put on black clothes, we don't dislike anyone', the commander-in-chief said."

"That kind of lunatic, don't even kill your brother in black in a flash of your brain." Iger said with a frown - this kind of tragedy has never happened before in the history of the Night Watchman, and it happened more than once. Mormont died later Is it in the hands of such a person?

Yoren shrugged: "I only care about recruiting people. The more people I receive, the better the task will be completed. As for how to adjust and train, it's up to the commander-in-chief and Alliser."

"Hey..." Iger shook his head. Even though he was forced to help out with this kind of accepting attitude, he really couldn't agree with it.

"Don't sigh, next time I come here, I can only hope to get a reliable young man from you, work hard."

"try your best."

***

After breakfast, with doubts about Jaqen's sneaking into the library, Iger came to the Night Watchman's office as if he was going to work.So far, there is still nothing in the facade, and it is naturally impossible to come to customers.He, the chief logistics officer, is still a bare-bones commander until now, and the disadvantages of this point have gradually begun to appear: no matter what, he has to do it himself.It's okay to only do one thing, and once something happens, he can't get away even if he wants to.

He also wanted a squire and squire who was as capable as Bronn, or as loyal as Podrick Payne. It would be great if he could be both loyal and capable... But everything It's just started, so don't rush.

After pasting the two notices written by Tyrion himself at the door of the office, his little apprentice came to class early.

……

Arya was sent here by a wolf guard he didn't know. The girl wore a neat ponytail and a fitted skirt that was obviously custom-made in Winterfell. It wasn't stunning, but it was enough to make her worry Iger smiled knowingly.

This girl is quite serious about what she says.

"You wait outside." Arya said to the guard who accompanied her, and then looked at her master eagerly: "Do as you said, when shall we start?"

"Please sit down as you please - does Duke Stark know that Miss Arya is here?" Iger didn't answer the girl directly, but asked the Winterfell guard politely.After getting an affirmative answer, he turned to his little apprentice: "Okay, come with me."

Holding the long object wrapped in clothes in her arms, the girl excitedly followed the night watchman into the inner room.