The king on the Great Wall

"Just took it away? What's the reason?" Iger stared wide-eyed and asked the workshop employee who came to report the news—he didn't do anything illegal: "Did they search for something?"

"No, the reason they arrested people was that Neil obstructed their search, and they even let the family members pick them up."

"Impossible, I told my brother specifically." Nina said anxiously: "I told him to hold back his temper when he met that Slynt looking for trouble, and don't give anyone a chance!"

"Neil didn't do anything. He just stood at the door and blocked it. He wanted to find out the identity of the person who came, but he was directly arrested by those two gold robes. This is obviously looking for trouble!"

Listening to the report, Iger scratched his head irritably.There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world... As a boss, while enjoying the leadership treatment, you also have to take care of things for the people below.

Using family as a fuss, this old-fashioned method... well, it fits this old-fashioned world.

It doesn't matter if you come here, there is only one who can be a thief for a thousand days, and there is no one who can guard against a thief for a thousand days. Instead of worrying about how this greasy middle-aged man will cause trouble all day long, it is better for him to jump out early. It also saves you from worrying about it later.Iger successfully saved Ed once, but now he is busy thinking about how to save Robert or Cersei, how can he have time to deal with such small characters?

"First go to the female spies in the brothel to ask about the situation, and get a full understanding of the origin and background of this Janos Slynt. I want to know what gave him a captain of the defense, so arrogant in a place like the capital of the Seven Kingdoms The capital." Iger's heart was dark, but his mind was still running fast.Nina is his own person, he will never let go, but if the problem can be resolved peacefully, it is better not to make a fuss after all, in troubled times, you should be more cautious: "Tell Tyrion about this, and see What's his opinion? In addition, get Nina's parents to live in the Night Watchman Industrial Park and ask the security team to take care of them!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Wait!" Iger suddenly changed his mind.

The night watchman industry already has quite a lot of power and contacts in King's Landing, but once these things are used, they will be owed favors.

He stopped the messenger: "You find a place to sit on the side for a while, and after a while, we will eat—that is, when I, Miss Stark and Miss Tyrell are sitting together, I will report again. Pretend it's the first time, when the time comes, just say that..."

-

Chapter 141

"Why is this person like this!" Arya exploded after listening to the reporter's narration under the guidance of Igger, and said, "Just because Sister Nina didn't eat with him, she held a grudge and arrested her brother. ?”

"This is an abuse of power, it's too bad." Margaery also cooperated quite well with a simple and outraged look, and at the same time stared at Iger meaningfully.She didn't believe that things would happen so coincidentally, but she didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in the night watchman's gourd: "You should let your father—Master Ed, beat this guy well."

"I'll tell father when I get back!" Arya grabbed Nina's hand: "Don't be afraid, let your brother come out tomorrow!"

"Thank you Miss Stark..."

"Don't! The Prime Minister has a lot of things to do every day, so don't bother him with such trivial matters." Iger hurriedly waved his hand, Ed Stark is a bit pedantic, but his IQ is normal - so ruthless use Arya, it is easy to arouse the resentment of this big man who holds real power.It is too extravagant to use such a big backer and hole card to get a Neil who is not in danger of life when he is in trouble. "We should deal with this matter ourselves, oops... Trouble... Miss Margery, when will you leave King's Landing?"

"Three or four days later, I don't really have much to do when I stay here." The girl said sadly. + The alliance of the five lions is suppressing, and the dignitaries with a little bit of real power are unwilling to openly contact with themselves.Among the people who can speak for themselves these days, Arya Stark is actually the highest status.

"Tsk, this is troublesome." Iger patted his thigh angrily: "Neil, I arranged to train the backbone of the technical staff. He is responsible for the development of the paper and printing industries for the two places of River Bend and Dorne. Cultivate them, and lead them back to Highgarden with Miss Margery... If I can't get him out quickly in the past few days, I will miss it!"

Nina looked at Iger unexpectedly, he obviously didn't arrange it like this, could it be...

……

It turned out that it was aimed at herself, Margaery narrowed her eyes.She stared at Iger for a second: "Since this is the case, please Mr. Iger quickly assign another manpower. You can't let customers who bought technology at a high price wait until you get them out."

"That's right, Miss Margaery and Lord Oberyn were the first customers to buy technology, and they paid a lot of money. I dare not neglect. That's why I specifically selected the inventor of papermaking technology, the formulation and improvement of the technology The person who fully grasps all the principles and techniques of papermaking will be the leader of the dispatch team. I only have two such people, one is Neil, and the other is his sister, the girl next to me, Nina .”

Iger made a distressed look: "Except for these two people, sending anyone else may not be able to solve the problem when encountering a situation at the scene. But now Neil has been arrested by that guy Slynt, and Nina is by my side again Help...I really can't pick the right person."

"Then what should I do?" Margaret asked innocently, but secretly thought something was wrong in her heart. She knew that she should only pay half of the deposit.This small-minded night watchman seems to be holding a grudge against the poor bargaining two days ago, and wants to get back the place?

"Either procrastinate for a while, Miss Margaret will go back to High Court first. After I try to get them out and get everything ready, I will send them to High Court to find you." Iger also looked helpless: "Or, just set off when there are not enough people, but when there is a problem and then communicate back and forth to solve it, it will waste a lot of time."

Margaery gave Iger an annoyed look.

(Why are you like this, you just came to you for two meals, and you just asked your apprentice a few words, and you didn't want to let him go until you used the network resources of the Tyrell family?)

She rarely showed emotions, but for some reason, this guy in black seemed to be able to see through her own performance.That being the case—well, at least there is no need to play tricks on him.

Iger pretended not to see the girl's eyes, and took a step forward talking to himself: "Miss Margery, why don't you try talking to your brother and ask Sir Loras to come out and say hello to the City Guards , Slynt dare not give the Knight of Flowers face, right?"

Arya also immediately agreed: "That's right, Margaery, my master is just a night watchman. Although he is powerful, he can't rush over and chop that bad guy. The character scares him!"

Aiger Dale: This little girl finally speaks something human.

Margaery rolled her eyes—just like herself, Loras Tyrell was a little famous in King's Landing, and she didn't even rank high in terms of influence and right to speak.Janos Slynt can not give face at all, Iger is not counting on the Knight of Flowers at all, but Renly Baratheon behind him.The king's younger brother, the Duke of Stormland, a powerful minister with a position in the imperial council... For such a person, it is easy to get someone out of the King's Landing garrison, and it is not even troublesome.

This matter is indeed a trivial matter to the Tyrell family. What Margery hates is the feeling of helping others to do work—if the two of them had a face-to-face meeting, Margery would definitely tell Iger clearly : There is no such thing, but now that Arya is inserted between the two, things become troublesome.

In order to maintain the character design in Arya's eyes, she was unable to use all kinds of means, and she was also sent to the army.

Although annoyed, it was not a big deal. She quietly threatened Iger with her eyes... Then her expression disappeared in a flash, and she returned to the weak girl in High Court who loved swordsmanship but had no foundation, with a hesitant and hesitant tone Slowly said: "Then... I'll go back and try to talk to Loras about it."

***

Margaery took this matter over, although she was reluctant, but with the cooperative relationship between the two, presumably this little rose would not turn her face over this matter—when the Tyrell family fished her out, Let Janos Slynt realize that his contacts and backers are far superior to him, and he will let people come to the door with some gifts to "make an apology"... The big stick and the carrot are put together, and I am afraid that he will not compromise ?

It would be best if the other party accepts the "apology" sensibly, but if you still don't want to give face, then pull it down—as long as you don't get caught, with a lot of connections and a special status as a night watchman, Slynt can make himself how?

After the office dealt with the business of the industry and arranged the production and launch of new products such as solid lipstick and soap, two unexpected visitors came to the door.

"My lord, two strange old men came to visit and said they were wise men."

"Oh?" The Pyromancer came. It seemed that the news that Robert had promised him a reward had already spread. Iger smiled and said, "Two wise men please come in."

-

Chapter 142 The Base

Robert has not yet returned to King's Landing, but his decree has been brought back to the capital of the Seven Kingdoms by his men.Just like Iger was appointed as the night watchman with the army two months ago-the king can forget what he said and the order he gave, but the person who heard it, the person responsible for issuing the order, and especially the person who received the order Never leave things behind.

Robert's decision on the handling of the Pyromancer Guild has been sent to the "wise men" of the Alchemist Guild through various channels.

Two old men walked into the house, one was the fireman Dak whom Iger knew, and the other was an older man who was already trembling when he walked.

"Good afternoon, two wise men." Iger put away his worries and smiled brightly: "If you don't come to look for me, I'm about to come to visit. Please sit down."

"Hmph!" The older pyromancer pulled over the chair and sat down with an expression of displeasure.

"Master Iger, this...is the wise man of Harlem, he can be regarded as my senior brother." Dak didn't have such a big temper, sat down peacefully, politely introduced the identity of the night watchman as a companion, and then said nothing.

"The Chief Logistics Officer is very capable." The wise man in Harlem said angrily with trembling lips and spittle: "Our Alchemist Guild has been reduced to such a bleak state now, you still don't think it's miserable enough, you want to kill us. Get it to the Great Wall of Desperation? Are you sincerely killing us old men!"

"The wise men discussed it in a meeting and reached an agreement - it is absolutely impossible to go to the Great Wall, anyway, it is an old bone, and it will be beheaded at worst..." Even though Dak had a relationship with Iger, his words were not so impatient: "I said Lord Iger, you want wildfire, there are so many in the cellar, you can use it for free, why bother to bring this matter to His Majesty, and make things difficult for us old men?"

……

It turned out to be the case, and Iger was wondering why the two old men were so aggressive, and immediately relieved: "Two wise men, where did this start, when did I say that I would get you to the Great Wall of Desperation?"

"Don't be stupid! Just today, King Robert's people came to send an order, asking us to seal up the wildfire as soon as possible, and leave assistants to manage it. All those who can make wildfires will go north to work for the night watchman. The little boy who came to send the letter, everyone Say—let us ask you specifically, it’s all up to you to arrange—do you dare to say that this is not your fault?!"

"Well, this is really my fault." Iger paused and waved his hand: "Wait a minute, what is it called a ghost? I did ask His Majesty the King for assistance from the Alchemist Guild...but—who said Serving the Night Watchman means going to the Great Wall? I don’t want to kill a few wise men, but I want you to regain decency, respect, and the opportunity to let the knowledge and abilities you have learned shine and contribute to Westeros ah!"

Harlem stared: "Don't play tricks! The messenger sent by King Robert said, let us obey your orders. Once we leave King's Landing, will we still be in your hands? I just want to ask , if you don’t go to the Great Wall, how can you serve the night watchman?”

***

Iger smiled, and what should start must start: "Nina, bring me the map of the northern border."

"Yes, my lord."

The little girl diligently ran to the cabinet next to the wall to search. Looking at her hard-working back, Iger sighed secretly.For such a girl, it is really overkill to keep her by her side as a secretary, but she can't find a good one to replace her if she gets used to it. In the current Westeros, where can I find a pretty girl who is smart, hardworking and smart? girl?Apart from being too young and naughty, Arya barely meets the requirements, and Margaery has a mind far beyond the standard, but these noble ladies are willing and patient, and their family members let them go to the Night Watch Office to help others ?

Just as he was thinking about it, Nina took what he wanted: "My lord, do you want to open it?"

"Well, open it."

The messy things on the desktop were brushed aside, and the A2-sized map of the North was spread out, and the rolled edges were pressed down with heavy objects.The entire northern region, including the Great Wall, was displayed on the desktop of the night watchman office.

……

"Two wise men, what I will say next, please go back and convey it to other wise men." Iger said, pointing to the edge of the map, and drawing along the dotted line: "Not counting outside the Great Wall, this is the northernmost point of the Seven Kingdoms , the Great Wall of Impossibility. The three strongholds of the Night Watchman, nineteen castles, and nearly a thousand soldiers are all distributed on this line. Most of our people and property are concentrated on the Great Wall. This is an irrefutable fact. The two wise men heard that To serve the Night's Watch, I could be forgiven for thinking I was going to the Wall, and I fully understand that, but it wasn't my plan."

Knowing that they were not going to the Great Wall, the emotions of the two old men stabilized a lot, and the Harlem wise man obviously didn't tremble or tremble his lips.This old slicker, whose seniority in the fire magician is obviously higher than that of Dake whom Iger has known for a long time, he asked: "Then where are we going and what are we doing, please let the Chief Logistics Officer explain it clearly!"

"From the Impassable Great Wall to the south, from the mountains on the west coast to the endless plains along the coast of Seal Bay, is an area called the Granted Land, which spans hundreds of miles. The rulers of the North and the Iron Throne want to support the Great Wall For defense, this land will be permanently donated to the Night Watch Corps." Iger made a gesture on the map and pointed out this place: "This land itself, including the crops on the ground and the resources buried under it, belong to the Night Watch people, and the inhabitants who live in it, pay taxes to the Night's Watch in the form of goods or labor to help us sustain ourselves."

"My lord, what you said is a well-known thing." Harlem knocked on the table to interrupt him, "I understand what you mean, serving the night watchman does not necessarily mean going to the Great Wall, just going to the land grant Yes, but what’s the difference? The gift land is a desolate and uninhabited place that is freezing cold. You may not be able to meet people even if you ride a horse for a day. There are also savages running around from time to time, burning, killing and looting! A group of 60-year-old old men In the past, how many days can you live?"

Iger sat up straight: "The difference is huge. Indeed, the land-grant is sparsely populated, but this is mainly caused by the harassment of savages. The climate and environment of the land-grant itself is much better than that outside the Great Wall. The Great Wall blocks the Land of Eternal Winter." The cold wind makes the temperature on the south side of the wall much warmer than that on the north side of the wall, although it will occasionally snow, but it won’t freeze to death.”

It is nonsense that a 200-meter-high wall can block the cold air, but it is a fact that the gifted land is warmer than outside the Great Wall. Anyway, the fire magicians do not understand geography and meteorology, so they just fool around: "There are mountains, water, and fertile soil, and they can grow crops." Be able to graze, let alone live. What I want the wise men to do is to settle down in the land-grant and provide a steady stream of wildfire for the night watchman army to resist the attacks of the wildlings. The night watchmen need you wise men, Will you freeze the old people on purpose, or watch you be hacked to death by savages?"

"Looking for a place to settle down? I'm an old man who hasn't even been to the north, how can I find a place?" Harlem's eyes widened: "Don't go around and talk about it! Hurry up and talk about your arrangement, or give us old bones Proper settlement and treatment, we will not go anywhere!"

"Okay!" Iger didn't want to talk nonsense with the two old men. If you have money in your pocket, you must be tough. He pointed with his finger: "The place I chose for the wise men of the Alchemist Guild is Houguan Town."

"Houguan Town?" Queen's Crown... What kind of place is this? The name of the place seems impressive, but I've never heard of it.

"This is a place located in the central core of the night watchman's territory, not far from the King's Road." Egger said: "Queen Alysanne Targaryen once slept in the tower here, so the residents put the tower on the top of the tower. The walls are painted gold and look like they are wearing a crown, hence the name."

"How many people live in this place, are the facilities complete, are there houses with food, drink and insulation?"

"Due to the harassment of the savages, the residents here ran away, leaving only empty houses and an uninhabited village." Iger explained, but then added: "But I will rebuild here! I will send people to go north first, and recruit stonemasons in the north Wait for the construction workers to renovate the house towers here, build walls, and build this place into the first stronghold of the Night Watchman's logistics department, so that it can not only provide warm and safe accommodation, but also configure a place for making wildfires. Afterwards, the wise men of the Alchemist Guild became the first batch of personnel to settle in. For a fairly long foreseeable future, Houcrown Town will become the only wildfire production place in Westeros, and even in this world. This kind of The weapons that were ignored and despised by King Robert and the people in the south will shine again in the defense of the Great Wall in the north of the North after countless years, and the wise men of the Alchemist Guild will also fight in the north far away from King's Landing. Regain dignity and reuse!"

-

Chapter 143 Race against time

When Commander Mormont decided to treat the helpers he hired separately from the "serious night watchmen", Iger was also slightly frustrated because his infiltration plan was seen through.But with the passage of time and the explosive development of the Night's Watch industry, his thinking has gradually begun to change.

The hundreds of full-time professional soldiers of the Night Watch Corps are certainly a force that should not be underestimated, but the quality of the soldiers is inferior, and it is doomed that only the rangers in the black shirt army have the combat effectiveness of a "true professional army".Rather than exerting influence on such a group of people with mixed backgrounds and complicated backgrounds, wouldn't it be better to have a clean force that is completely their own and has a better foundation?

Iger had already finalized his plan to find a place in the land-grant to build his first base, but it was not until the four thousand golden dragons were actually obtained a few days ago that he started the construction plan ahead of schedule with sufficient funds.And the reason is not what the two pyromancers said - it is exclusively for them to produce wildfire.On the contrary, "providing fire warlocks with a place to produce wildfire" is just one of the many pretexts for Iger to acquire Houguan Town.

Since Mormont intends to separate the power of the Night Watch's logistics department from the orthodox Night Watch, well, Iger will use his tricks and simply establish a family with the Night Watch Legion at first glance, but in fact has no direct affiliation. The forces of resistance come out!

Although I thought so in my heart, I absolutely couldn't say such outrageous words directly—cut out a piece of land from the gift land, and use it exclusively for the "logistics department" of the night watchman who actually didn't obey orders.If this is going to go online, it is equivalent to a simple version of cracking the soil outside the game of Westeros nobles. It is a big leap forward, but it needs to be done very carefully and carefully, and a bunch of legitimate reasons must be used as a cover of.

Iger mainly prepared three items.

[-]. Since the commander-in-chief said that the mercenaries of the logistics department must be trained outside of Castle Black, there must be a place, right?

[-]. As the fire warlocks said, it is impossible to send the wildfire from King’s Landing to the Great Wall all the way. Is there a more suitable place to prepare wildfire in a low temperature and stable environment, store and transport it than donate land?

[-]. A large amount of supplies, especially food and grass and meat to improve food, etc., are in huge demand but have a shelf life... After Nina's calculation, she directly brings the funds to purchase in the northern border and then send them to the Great Wall, which not only saves time, but also greatly reduces the cost .

These three reasons all point to one result - the Night Watchman's logistics department needs a place that is not only within the Night Watchman's sphere of influence, but also relatively close to the northern border, as a stronghold.

And Houguan Town, which is located directly south of Castle Black, close to the King's Road, and almost in the geometric center of the land-grant, is the location Iger finally chose.Since the roads to the east and west ends of the Great Wall are similar, starting from Houguan Town, no matter whether it is sending troops to any place along the Great Wall for support, or sending the wildfire produced, the stored supplies and grass to which stronghold...or even go to any territory in the northern border , are quite convenient!

This place has been abandoned, but Iger took a half-loafing look at this place when he and Tyrion went south. The infrastructure such as construction roads is almost intact, which can save a lot of construction materials and labor costs.The most important thing is that "abandoned" also gives Mormont almost no reason to reject Iger's application - the logistics department, which keeps providing a lot of supplies for the Great Wall, wants to settle in an abandoned village, even if he sees it What clues come, can you still not agree?

As Tyrion once said, it's a conspiracy.Unless Mormont has a sudden brain twitch and wants to fall out with himself regardless of the overall situation, he can only watch himself as Iger West moves forward according to the plan little by little, and finally climbs to be equal to him, left and right. Go to the height of your own destiny.

***

"It sounds good." The wise man in Harlem has witnessed the rise and fall of the dynasty, and he can be regarded as experienced in many battles, but he will not be fooled by Iger's vision of the future. You are the chief logistics officer, but you have to arrange the old men of our alchemist guild and the large group of apprentice assistants before we will listen to your arrangement!"

"Okay, if you need anything from the Alchemist Guild, please feel free to ask, if it can help, I will definitely solve it!"

Iger, who had money in his pocket, was full of confidence, but it wasn't until he heard the old man Harlem's narration that he realized that things were more complicated than expected. He thought he had picked up a bargain, but in the eyes of others, he might have avoided a trouble .

***

The current situation of the Alchemist Guild is worse than what the Night Watchman had imagined.During the chaos in which the Lannister army tricked the gates of King's Landing and ended the Targaryen dynasty, a large number of pyromancers were killed or disappeared, causing this group to suffer heavy losses.And after the war, Robert Baratheon ordered them to manage the large number of wildfires hidden in the ground-this order is mandatory, which means that at the end of the war, there are pyromancers and their apprentices and assistants. A group of people with no status will never be able to get out of this shit, and they must keep watch over these dangerous flammable liquids until they die.

There is no reward for doing well, and you lose your head for messing up.

There is nothing wrong with this arrangement itself, but what is unreasonable is that, as a punishment, Robert did not give any funds to the executors of this task-this work is not paid!

Alchemists are not immortal cultivators who can grow grains, of course they have to eat, and the huge guild has left little wealth after being ransacked by the Lannister army.Pyromancers and their people, who were once incomparably glorious in the Targaryen dynasty, have now been reduced to the point where they worry about their livelihood every day.

The nimble and well-connected ones ran away without a trace, and the remaining locals in King's Landing still have a large group of old guys who have no skills and can't run anymore, so they can only eat what they have - a little younger Some apprentice assistants or something, and you can find a part-time job in King’s Landing City to earn a little money. Pyromancers can make a living by reselling some wildfire occasionally.

Iger once participated in this kind of illegal transaction. Speaking of which, even Tyrion knew the way through hearing, and Robert, who has Varys as the chief intelligence officer, could not be ignorant of this, but the king himself did not know about it. Money, it's not easy to manage too much under reason.

……

The so-called resettlement naturally includes the two groups of people who stayed in King's Landing and those who went to the north to grant the land. After some "negotiations", Iger finally settled everything with the two old slickers.

The Alchemist Guild will irrigate and build walls to seal all the cellars in King's Landing where wildfires are stored, and the relevant family members will be arranged by the Night Watchman Industry to work in the upcoming daily necessities and cosmetics workshops as much as possible.All the facilities and equipment in the guild hall were also hired by Iger to clean them up and properly shipped to the north.

In addition, Houguan Town must build a reliable wildfire workshop - imitating the stone rooms in the King's Landing Alchemist Guild Hall, which will automatically collapse and extinguish the fire in the event of a fire. The fire warlocks only work under absolute safety conditions .

Then, there is still treatment... Robert ordered all the pyromancers to work for the night watchman, but the Alchemist Guild is not a subsidiary organization of the royal government after all, so even if they obey the order, they have to make people have something to do.This is simple. Iger directly copied the salary and reward mechanism of the grassroots leaders of the night watchman industry, and added a little bit, and coaxed the attitudes of these two old men who haven't lived a good life for more than ten years to make a 180-degree turn.

In order to show his attitude and show his strength, Iger also asked where the fire magicians lived, and promised to send the first settlement fee thereafter.

After finishing everything and happily sending back the two Pyromancers who came aggressively, Iger roughly estimated that the mess of the Alchemist Guild would be cleaned up and sent to the land grant, even if the follow-up wages and bonuses were not counted, at least It takes hundreds of gold dragons to invest in it... The establishment of power has just begun, and Iger has experienced what it means to spend money like water.

After a while, the king's herald finally arrived at the gate of the night watchman's office.

……

"Agger West, by King Robert's order, I have already greeted you at the Alchemist Guild, and they will probably report to you soon." The young Red Castle attendant announced proudly , completely unaware that the fire magicians ran faster than him: "In addition, I brought you a certificate signed and stamped by both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance-you and the activities you personally handled will be held in Weiss in the future. Tello is permanently exempt from taxes. In addition, the Minister of Finance asked me to pass on his friendly reminder that this order only exempts the duty to pay taxes to the Iron Throne. When it comes to the seven countries outside the royal territory, the taxes collected by the dukes in other names, you may You still have to pay part of it.”

"Understood, I understand. My little brother has worked hard. Take this little money to buy some delicious food for the horse. Today, I have passed around the order, and it is exhausted from running." Iger accepted the imperial decree and tax exemption certificate with a smile on his face, and handed it to the horse. The young attendant stuffed a few silver coins, "This thing came too timely. However, His Majesty's order has come back. I don't know our king... when will he return to King's Landing."

The herald coughed and put away the things in his hand: "I don't know what to say, but the matter in the valley has been settled, and it will only take two or three days."