The king on the Great Wall

He paused before continuing: "'Incompetents' are no better than other people in the same position in history, but they have not made more mistakes than them. While we have not brought more changes to the Great Wall, No mistakes have been made...and you, while doing so much to the Night's Watch, have killed a respectable Lord Commander and left our nineteen strongholds for the first time in an 'overcrowded' state. You are a radical and we are conservatives. It is too biased for you to use the advantages of the radicals to compare the disadvantages of the conservatives...bluffing and bluffing Ordinary brothers who are not in high positions can, but they cannot scare those insightful people who have their own judgment."

The old guy didn't get sprayed out, and even had a bit of a self-sacrificing demeanor... This made Iger's performance a little discounted.

After his outburst of anger, he was completely in the upper hand in terms of momentum. The reason can be summed up in a simple sentence: he threw Wang Bo out at the beginning.

Do it all at once, second time tired, third time exhausted.It is great to strike first to gain a big advantage, but the disadvantage is that there is no follow-up - he has no better cards to play in his hand.And if you want to keep the results of the battle, the best way is to let the dialogue stop abruptly after the appearance of "Wang Zhan"... Every additional sentence of debate may shrink the fruits of victory by one point.

Iger was thinking about how to get out, and at the same time he showed great spirit without giving in: "I don't deny it, it's useless to say more, let's respect the choices of the brothers, and use the votes and actions to speak."

"It's useless to say more." Mellist nodded: "But I'm afraid you have forgotten that Mr. Carter Pike and I control more than one-third of the votes of the entire legion. You have the right to participate in the election, and we—— I don't have the right to vote for you."

……

Nonsense, don't you know this?But today the opposition gathered their votes together to vote for Jon Royce, which almost made an opponent who hated him deeply his immediate boss... This almost wiped out most of Iger's hard work after crossing over. The accident of Dongliuzhishui was the biggest shock he had ever encountered besides the danger of his life.I was able to rely on Jon and Glenn's two warnings to think out countermeasures in advance, and rely on Sam's reminder and delay strategy, as well as the wide and smooth King's Road after the renovation to rush to the rescue at the last minute... It is already extremely lucky.

He was already thankful that he could prevent Royce from becoming the commander today, so how could he even think about it so much?

Jiang is really old and hot. This eagle, whose claws are almost worn out, can still maintain his rationality and come up with a solution under such criticism.I have already played all my cards, and if I continue talking, the onlookers will soon realize that the two commanders are not as useless as they said, and they must stop immediately!

Just as Iger was turning his head quickly and looking for an opportunity to end his speech and leave the venue, a crisp voice suddenly sounded unexpectedly: "So shameless! Just because my master told the truth, I won't vote for him Already!"

……

Hundreds of men in black turned their gazes to the source of the voice, trying to find out who was so arrogant, but Iger recognized the identity of the speaker the moment the voice rang out, and he felt happy: This girl really didn't hurt in vain She actually appeared at this critical moment to rescue her!

When I met Glenn who came to report the news on the King's Road before, the northern patrol team was less than three hours away from Castle Black. Although he took the bodyguards and left the main force and arrived at Castle Black ahead of time, the follow-up large force also came to Castle Black. It won't be too late, Arya's appearance is not completely unexpected, but I don't know how long she stood in the crowd, and how much did she hear herself?

More importantly, now that she's here, where's Robb Stark?

"Who is this lady?" There was no way Mallister didn't know how many people were in Castle Black after staying here for two months, and looking at the girl in front of her, she was clearly not a hostage sent by the wildlings who had surrendered.Mallister frowned, suddenly realizing something was wrong.

Before anyone could answer, there were heavy footsteps on the stairs again, and Jon was the first to walk down from above: "Arya, I told you not to run so fast, you fell and ruined your appearance, let's see how well you marry in the future." don't go out!"

Robb Stark followed closely behind with a dozen guards from Winterfell, filed in and walked into the hall.

The night watchmen of the entire Castle Black seemed to be here, but the atmosphere was a bit stiff, and it could even be described as tense.They didn't seem to be here to welcome him... The young guardian of the northern border looked around the house and cast doubtful eyes on Iger: "What are you doing?"

"Robb!" Arya ran back to her elder brother, and said first, "That old man... just because my master scolded me for being ineffective, I threatened that I would never vote for him!"

"Okay, my lord is talking, don't interrupt." No one knew his sister better than Robb, Arya could only listen to what she said emotionally, and never take it seriously.He smiled and patted the girl's head, and looked at several high-level Night Watchmen: "It seems that the election for the Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watch is going on here. May I have the honor to know the result?"

"Lord Stark." Maester Aemon nodded in the direction of the voice: "I am happy to help you, but so far, there are still more than 200 votes that have not been cast. If you have not voted before dinner, it will be automatically regarded as abstention. Only then will the elections be considered."

Robb didn't catch up with the scene where Egg sprayed people. Although he felt that the atmosphere in the room was a bit dignified, he didn't know what happened. In a word—the fate of mankind is facing an unprecedented threat, I hope that the brothers in black can put aside their prejudices and reach a consensus, and elect a commander-in-chief as soon as possible, so as to coordinate the overall situation and better play the role of the night watchman in protecting the kingdom!"

……

As the Lord of the North, it is completely reasonable and normal for Robb to visit Castle Black, and then make a speech to express his opinion, but after hearing this, Iger's heart moved, and a new idea popped up temporarily: No, it's not over yet. , I can take the opportunity to pursue to the end and push the conservatives one step further!

"Lord Stark!" He said loudly, staring at Sir Mallister, "I also hope that the Night Watchman can elect a commander-in-chief as soon as possible... Unfortunately, we have encountered some difficulties in reaching a consensus. The Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watch may not be elected for a while."

Robb was just saying routines purely procedurally, but he didn't expect to get a response at all, and asked subconsciously: "What's going on?"

"This matter has to start with the rules of the Night Watchman's election of commanders." Iger replied, "According to the rules, in other fortresses except Castle Black, brothers will entrust the task of voting to the commander or a representative. People who stayed behind and couldn't come to the scene to vote. And the candidate must get two-thirds of all voting brothers to win the election - the rules themselves are not a problem, but now we are facing an embarrassing situation - after many years After the decline and several times of dismantling, there are only three strongholds stationed purely by night watchmen. Among them, the number of night watchmen in the Shadow Tower and East Sea Watch has exceeded one-third of the total number of legions, and these more than 400 The right to vote is now in the hands of Sir Mallister and Carter Pike... If these two commanders cannot rationalize their emotions and maintain reason due to personal feelings and other reasons, they insist not to fight with the other candidates. If a consensus is reached, then...theoretically—only the two of them can prevent the Night Watchman from being able to choose a commander-in-chief forever! I am here to demand that this system be amended!"

"Oh?" Robb had never understood these situations, and nodded with interest: "How do you think it should be changed?"

"My lord, you will send people to supervise to ensure fairness. At the same time, elections will be held in the three major strongholds, so that every night watchman brother can vote in person!"

Iger has never been to the Shadow Tower and Eastwatch at all, let alone any connections and influence. In fact, he is the one who makes the Night Watchman unable to choose the Commander-in-Chief—and the purpose of making this suggestion is just to He wanted to disrupt Sir Mallister's counterattack rhythm, trying to make him mess up.

Anyway, the two commanders have been completely offended, since they can't get the votes in their hands, then simply flip the table.Everyone has one vote, no matter what, it is beneficial and harmless to oneself.

……

(Can you still play like this?)

Iger's unconventional playing of cards opened everyone's eyes again. This time, even Sir Dennis Mallister couldn't hold back anymore. He stood up in shock and anger, not caring about Robb... Stark retorted sharply, "Lord Stark, I don't intend to offend you, but you have no right to make any changes to the rules of the Night Watchman. This is the exclusive power of the Lord Commander of the Night Watchman!"

"It's the commander-in-chief's power to change the rules, and now you can't choose a commander-in-chief, what's going on?" Robb showed a displeased expression, "I don't intend to change the tradition of the Night Watch Legion, but now the situation is special, The security of the northern border is facing an unprecedented threat... As the lord of the northern border, I should put my own people first. Sorry, I really can't make a guarantee of "respecting the rules of the Great Wall first". If necessary, I will I will intervene." He seriously thought about Iger's proposal, but he felt that it was inappropriate but he couldn't find anything wrong with it, so he finally decided to think about it again: "Of course, I just arrived here today. The night watchman revises the rules... I will wait and observe for a few days, I hope that all the adults can seize the time and resolve your own internal conflicts as soon as possible, so that I can avoid the stigma of meddling in the internal affairs of the night watchman."

***

Is the rule that the commander can vote on behalf of all the soldiers in his fortress reasonable?

From a modern perspective, obviously not.But in fact things are not that simple: Even if every night watchman votes for a commander-in-chief that everyone expects, but when it comes to the daily defense and operation of the Great Wall, the commander-in-chief is still dealing with the commanders of each fortress— — After all, most of the night watchmen still obey the commander of the fortress they belong to, rather than being directly commanded by the commander-in-chief.

Information transmission ability has not yet reached that level.

The commander-in-chief's command of the Night Watch Corps is realized through the commanders of each fortress, and the control over the defense of the entire Great Wall is determined by "how many commanders are willing to obey orders sincerely".This means that a Commander-in-Chief who is supported by more Night's Watch does not necessarily do a better job than a Commander-in-Chief who is skilled enough to deal with more Garrison Commanders.

Even today, when only the three major fortresses are still stationed by night watchmen, the representative voting system still has certain value. Commander, if you can't mobilize the entire night watchman like using your fingers, how can you perform your duties as a night watchman?

If Ed Stark or any other older decision-makers were here, they would definitely reject Iger's proposal without hesitation, but Robb is still a little tender after all, and he can't easily figure out the depth of it reason.Not to mention... Compared with the other night watchmen who failed to choose a commander-in-chief after two months of tossing, he is not yet 20 years old, and he is still an older child. He is obviously more emotionally inclined to himself and is more familiar with him. , and Iger, who has been running around for the northern border for the past two months.

***

Robb's words brought Iger back to his senses, and he realized that he might have acted too hastily: this proposal was originally proposed to the other party in private and it is more likely to get support.Such a public proposal would be too much of a use, and it might force Robb to express his position immediately. Fortunately, the relationship between himself and the Stark family has reached the point where the other party will not regard this as an offense.

"What Master Stark said is that I suggest that you let the brothers vote freely now, and wait for the results to be known before making the next decision."

-

Chapter 284

In the dark cellar, the change in the sky was not noticeable, but it was actually getting late, and there was not much time left for the Night Watchmen of Castle Black to vote.

There are more than 200 votes left, and if no choice is made at dinner, the owners of these votes will be deemed to have abstained - if that is the case, Jon Royce may surpass the The line of "two-thirds" won the position of commander-in-chief in an alternative way.

Iger didn't want to rush all the way back to Castle Black and offend the leaders of the conservative faction to death, but lost the fight because of lack of time. It was a waste of time.

He stopped arguing with Ser Mallister, approached Robb, and led them out of the hall on the grounds of showing them around Castle Black and settling into their lodgings, leaving the venue for the voting.

Take it when you see it.

What should be said has been said, and there is no time to do what can be done before sunset today... The rest, I will leave it to Jon, Sam and other people who have been at Castle Black.As long as you leave the hall, no matter what your opponents say or do, if you don’t get a response in front of your face, they will all turn into the barking of a defeated dog, and you will never be able to erase or even overwhelm the impression and influence you left on everyone with your public rant. .

***

Robb went to the top of the Great Wall first.

The existence of ghouls is a recognized fact in the north, but the shock brought by watching the solitary one in the wooden cage and on the carriage by Commander Mormont through the railing... On the top of the wall, overlooking the ruins of the battlefield where ghouls attacked the Great Wall for the first time in thousands of years, it is simply a sky and a sky, which cannot be compared at all.

The active ghouls had been summoned by the ghosts to return to the ghost forest, and they were probably chasing and killing the only living people in the ghost forest.Although the north of the Great Wall is extremely cold, the climate is much drier than that in the south. Several snowfalls failed to completely cover the traces of the Great War, and corpses scorched black by wildfire and fuel oil were dotted in the snow under the corner of the wall. Either normal or distorted humanoid traces, the wooden fence that was originally built by the night watchmen to temporarily accommodate the wildlings was completely burnt to ashes under the dual effects of flames and spells, but the remaining traces turned into mud even with layers of thin snow Still revealing a clear dark color, looking down from the top of the Great Wall, it seems that some huge existence marked the position of the entrance with a huge ink dot outside the passage through the ice wall, reminding the attackers where the gate is.

……

It was Robb's first time on the Wall.

The superposition of the shock of witnessing the greatest creation of mankind and the touch of seeing the traces of the battle of life and death produces an effect far stronger than one plus one.

For thousands of years, no guardian of the north has ever faced such a situation. "Unprecedented crisis", at this moment, suddenly changed from a sentimental and public cliché to a real challenge right in front of us.At this moment, the clan language of the Stark family also changed from a motto to remind family members to maintain a sense of crisis to an objective description of reality.

"It really is...winter is coming." Robb's eyes became serious, and he realized that the situation that Iger had reported to him before was not exaggerated or alarmist. The actual situation may be worse than he had imagined before.

"No, my lord, winter is here." Iger shook his head: "Before we captured the ghouls alive and showed them to the king and the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms to prove that the crisis is coming, the people outside the Great Wall have already done something to these ghosts. It may have been a struggle for more than a year... They have experienced the whole process of the development of dead people from twos and threes to tens of thousands, and they are very familiar with how to deal with dead people. Therefore, when there is an organized group, even the White Walkers can only dare Attack after nightfall. But the day when the ghouls attacked the city was the last batch of surrendered wildlings to enter the city. Our enemies are smart enough to understand that when humans have a way to retreat, they will lose the will to resist and run for their lives. They Taking advantage of just the right timing of the attack, and almost rushing into the tunnel through Castle Black with the fleeing and defeated people outside the Wall, it was Commander Mormont who decisively ordered the gate to be closed at the most dangerous moment to avoid the danger from continuing to develop."

"I've heard about it. It seems that... the tribe that attacked Commander Mormont must have been locked out of the wall by iron gates."

Iger nodded: "I'm sorry for the loss of their loved ones, but this is not the reason why they violated the land-grant law and caused us big trouble. I have ordered that the remaining members who were also locked up that day The clans outside the gates have raised their guard and tightened their watch to make sure they no longer threaten the security of the land grant."

That's good, Robb nodded, and pulled back Arya, who was sprawled on the railing at the edge of the Wall, looking like she was about to be blown off by the wind any moment.

The girl looked worried: "Is there anyone outside the wall?"

"Theoretically, there are about a few thousand to ten thousand wildlings who choose not to trust the King Beyond the Wall and the Night's Watch, broke away from the large army, and went to find their own way."

"Then they are dead?"

"Maybe, but people are responsible for their choices."

……

The fate of tens of thousands of people was summed up in such a light sentence.Arya is protected by countless people, and she doesn't often come into contact with the cruelty of the real world. After listening to this, she was silent for a while, and then said in a whisper: "Those below...can't you send someone to collect the bodies of those people?"

"Yes, but considering that the White Walker has the magic that can freeze steel, several gates are not safe. After the last living person passed the Great Wall, we sealed the entrance of the passage." Iger replied frankly , not only answering the girl's question, but also expressing his position to Robb again: "I am a realistic person, and I care more about those inside the wall than those who have died tragically outside the wall, or refused to surrender and may still be struggling. People who are still alive. The weather is cold, and the remains of the corpses will not rot and cause disease or stench. In this case, compared to collecting the corpses of both the enemy and us under the city outside the wall, I think that all the policies of the night watchmen in the future should be The top priority is to guard the Great Wall, protect our Brothers of the Night's Watch, the land-grant residents... and the safety of the northern border."

He thought for a while, and then added: "Commander Mormont also agrees with my idea, so we have a land grant resettlement plan, a loan contract with Braavos... and even a series of arrangements along the Great Wall."

If someone other than himself is allowed to be the commander-in-chief, these long-term arrangements for defending the northern border may have to be greatly changed or even overthrown... It is too revealing to say this, the best thing is to let Robb himself Be aware of this.

"That's good. Tell me more about your other defense arrangements along the Great Wall."

***

To the Night's Watch, the Wardens of the North are the true kings.Although I am extremely afraid of the private relationship between Iger and the Stark family, I learned from the letter from Winterfell that the Chief Affairs Officer of the Northern Tour and other high-level officials of Castle Black are still ready to receive a group of people... to lead After Robb walked around Castle Black and settled the hundreds of people with the cooperation of Bowen Marsh and Oserell, the results of the voting finally came out.

No.1 is Eoun Royce, who got 580 four votes, No.2 is Warner Bookwell, 210 votes, No.3 Iger West, 160 three votes.

Dozens of votes were not cast in the end and were treated as abstentions.

Warner Bookwell’s 100 or so votes all came from staunch supporters of the reformist faction. These people either sincerely hope for reform, or are related to Iger’s interests. Naturally, there is no need to mention it... and Iger’s own 450 The many votes are the neutral waiters he won after showing his own words.As for the nearly [-] votes of his opponent, Jon Royce, almost all of them came from Iger before returning to Castle Black. He directly won nearly [-] votes in the morning, and then won a large number of Castle Black at an average rate of [-] to [-] votes per hour. The support of the soldiers...all the signs showed that he was about to be elected commander-in-chief. Unfortunately, this good rhythm was completely interrupted when Iger unexpectedly appeared in time and publicly questioned the ability of him and the two commanders who supported him.

Jon failed to seize the best chance to win, and with Iger's high-profile announcement of joining the election - it can be foreseen that even if the two commanders still support Jon Royce tomorrow, he will no longer be able to win the election.On the contrary, Iger will definitely get more votes than today.

The plan to prevent the birth of the commander-in-chief did not go bankrupt after several coincidences and efforts, but there is still a way to go.After taking care of Robb and his party and thoroughly settled down, Iger returned to the tower where he lived, and called all the key figures and think tanks in his camp to discuss the follow-up plan. The discussion continued until late at night... before it was confirmed Detailed arrangements.

The last one to leave was Sam. Before he left, he provided some supplementary details to Iger. When the broad back of the little fat man disappeared from sight, Iger let out a long breath to the cold night sky of Castle Black and turned around. Go back inside.

……

Before closing the door, a female voice suddenly sounded: "Master Chief Logistics Officer, your meeting is finally over."

Iger held the door with his hand and raised his eyebrows unexpectedly: "Ms. Melisandre? Uh... good evening."

It feels weird to say good night, it's already midnight and it's time to say good night.

The red-robed woman nodded in response to the greeting, then shrugged: "Are we talking here?"

"Oh, please come in." The night watchman hurriedly let the door open.

The woman smiled, pulled back the hem of her red robe, stepped across the threshold gracefully, and entered the room, which was full of heat and still smelled like a lot of men.

In the middle of the night, lonely men and widows... Iger was in a state of confusion for a few seconds and closed the door.

He is not afraid of gossip.

Melisandre was not polite at all. When Iger turned around, she had already sat down in the chair opposite her desk.

What is she here for?Iger was a little confused for a moment, but he walked back behind the table with a normal expression and sat down again.

"Ms. Melisandre, how are you recovering from the injury you received a few days ago?"

The ice spear that the White Walker threw to kill her only scratched a little, but it hurt Melisandre in a way Iger couldn't understand, so that she was sent back to the room for a long time. I didn't take it too far, so Iger asked this question.

"Thanks to your lord, I'm fine now." Melisandre smiled softly, looking very good, "Speaking of which, my lord, you really saved my life that day, but I didn't wait until you left Castle Black. I didn’t express my gratitude in person when I went south, so please bear with me if I’m rude.”

"It's serious, Ms. Melisandre possesses magical powers and is concerned about fighting against the enemies of mankind. It is a blessing for all the Night Watchmen to have you at Castle Black. Anyone else would choose to save you."

It's also really weird that a man and a woman are alone in a room late at night, and they're talking nonsense.Probably also aware of this, Melisandre sneered and chuckled: "Okay, speaking of it, the logistics officer and I should be considered old friends, don't act like a businessman, just be casual. "

Iger didn't know anything about Melisandre's origin, but the appearance of this mysterious woman was showing that she was in her 20s and approaching [-], fully mature but not yet aging.And she knows how to exude the charm of a mature woman, she behaves charmingly but not dissolutely, she is decent but reveals charm everywhere, this smile is really as beautiful as peaches and plums, bright and incomparable.

Could it be that she came to be with me tonight... Iger knew that was impossible, but to be honest, in a boring place like the Great Wall, it was hard for a normal man to share a room with such a woman late at night without having some thoughts.

He pressed down on Qi Nian, and also smiled: "Since you said so, then I won't be out - it's so late, what can I do for you?"

"The demeanor of the logistics officer angrily complaining about the two commanders in the cellar in the afternoon is really admirable. However, you are so happy to be scolded like this. The two commanders, Lord Mallister and Lord Carter, are absolutely not Maybe I will vote for you again, just now I noticed that there was a meeting in this room for a long time, I wonder if you and your friends can discuss the next step?"

In terms of pure motives, there are few people in the world who are more free of distractions than followers of the Red God. It is normal for Melisandre to be concerned about the affairs of the Great Wall.

It stands to reason that Iger should not tell outsiders what he just discussed with his supporters, but considering that the witch in front of her is likely to suspect that she is the child of prophecy, she should not do anything that is not good for her.

"Tomorrow, Warner Bookwell will withdraw from the election, and the votes that belonged to him will go to me... In this way, it is conservatively estimated that I will get between four hundred and five hundred votes. Even if the two commanders Even if someone succeeds in convincing the other party to support me, I am also very confident that this person will not be selected."

"Based on my observations in Castle Black these days, the situation you assumed is very difficult to happen. The length of time for the accumulation of grudges between the two commanders is probably no younger than your age. It is impossible for them to turn to support just because of your appearance. The other person." Melisandre nodded: "But what I want to ask is, what happened after that? The Night Watch Corps has not yet elected a commander-in-chief, and the Great Wall defense is in a very rigid and dangerous state without a leader... …It’s fortunate that the enemy didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to attack during this period, but this is not a long-term solution, you must quickly take down the position of commander-in-chief, and consider everyone!”

It was "you must quickly take down the position of commander-in-chief", not "someone must quickly take down the position of commander-in-chief", Iger stared at Melisandre with interest, wondering what this witch is Shi Shi became his own supporter, nodded, and continued to talk about his next plan.

"I hope one of the two commanders will suddenly wake up and vote for me, but that's unlikely. Now, the first thing I'm counting on is that Robb Stark agrees to a general election for all the strongholds along the Wall. , this can slightly expand my advantage, but unfortunately I can't go to the Shadow Tower and East China Sea Watch to scold their commanders one by one... Therefore, those who will vote for me in these two fortresses will not Too many. So, I was prepared to have four hundred votes that I would never get."

"The proposal of one vote per person is very likely to be adopted, but there is no reason for Stark to change the rule of getting two-thirds of the votes to be elected. Without the four hundred votes, what are you going to do?"

"Reverse thinking." Iger smiled mysteriously: "Getting two-thirds of the votes, from another perspective, isn't it 'suppressing the number of votes that do not vote for yourself to less than one-third'? We can reduce the number of opponents To do this, there is actually another way - to increase the total number of voters and make the four hundred votes a smaller percentage!"

-

Chapter 285 Trading with the Witch

"Increase the number of voters? You don't want to expand the scope of voting to land-grants, do you? The commander-in-chief of the Night Watch Corps was elected, not the land-grant king. This is the privilege of the sworn night watchmen."

"It's not that exciting. Even if everyone agrees, I don't dare to agree. If we do that, the winner will be Mance Rayder, the former King Beyond the Wall." Iger laughed and shook his head: "We are only playing around the corner , play tricks within the rules - if you want 400 people to account for less than one-third of the total number of legions, as long as there are more than 200 sworn brothers with voting rights, that is to say, you only need to try to get two A hundred people who will swear an oath to the Night's Watch and vote for me can turn the tables."

Can you do this?