The king on the Great Wall

***

"Joy, go pour a drink for the brothers from Houguan Town." Iger put down his hands supporting his head, leaned back on the back of the chair, and signaled the messenger not to be impatient: "Let me think about it and give you an answer." .”

As an employee of the night watchman industry, how dare the messenger dare to urge his boss?The attendant poured hot drinks for both of them, and the messenger held the cup and sipped while waiting quietly.

It is better to act first, and the focus is on the word "first".If you choose this path, you have to be quick... Iger cleared the irrelevant information in his head and began to devote all his brainpower to constructing plans.

Time passed by every minute and every second, and about half an hour passed in reality, but it seemed that a century had passed in the waiting person's feeling. Iger finally broke the sculpture state, raised his head and asked: "What did the messenger of the Iron Bank say? Does Castle Black know that the grain ship is about to arrive?"

"This time, my lord, they are the 'observers' mentioned in the contract you signed with the Iron Bank earlier. Their task is to supervise the operation of the Night Watch Corps and ensure that the loan is used to defend the Great Wall and protect the Seven Kingdoms, rather than be used Corruption and embezzlement by the upper echelons of the legion. There are eight people in this batch of envoys—groups of two and two. team, they are not affiliated with the Iron Bank.”

The answer was irrelevant, but Iger quickly extracted the answer from the other party's words: "So that's it--can I understand this, the news about the grain transport ship this time is just the result of one of the two 'observers' sent to Houguan Town?" A friendly reminder, isn’t it the Iron Bank’s official notification to the Night Watch Legion?”

"That's right, the envoy also said that the ship carrying them has little connection with the food fleet. They neither set sail on the same day, nor did they set sail from the same port... He just personally reminded you that you need to prepare in advance Prepare."

Great, if this is the case, Iger can assume a little more optimistically: Carter Pike, who is in Castle Black at the moment, did not get the news before himself.In the morning when he was still dueling James at the Tower of Harding, it would take half a day to pack his luggage and prepare. The weather along the Great Wall is now bad, and he is unlikely to choose to rush back to his lair in the evening against the wind and snow.

In addition, the news sent by the Raven had to be reviewed by the bachelor, and it was not honorable to use the home court advantage against oneself after all.Even if Carter learned the news of the arrival of the grain ship and decided to take the opportunity to launch an attack, he would probably choose to return to the main task by himself, and it was unlikely to use the flying crow of Castle Black to send a message to inform the subordinates who stayed behind at Eastwatch to prepare.

You still have a chance to seize the opportunity!

Thinking of this, Iger suddenly felt a little weird: How do you feel... the people in the Iron Bank can always help me by accident?Is it because Jaqen Hegar, who has changed his identity, met him so he acted righteously, or is it because of some other reason?

"How much is this batch of grain?"

"I don't know, but the messenger from the Iron Bank said that it's worth about [-] gold dragons... After careful calculation, it's enough to feed the entire land grant for two or three months."

The iron treasury is really generous, and the first batch of grain was transported so much... The land itself has meat, vegetables and other reserves. Hunting, gathering, and buying as much as possible from the northern border and Hejian is a little bit. This is the first Approval of food loans can make the entire land grant last for half a year!

With such a large quantity, absolutely nothing can go wrong, so don't hesitate any longer.

Iger raised his head and looked at the night watchman industry employee who he personally brought from King's Landing in front of him, who was somewhat familiar but couldn't name him, and realized that he seemed a little rude: "Very well, young man, what's your name?"

"Kent, my lord."

"Kent, ravens don't fly at night." Iger said with a serious expression: "Yam will send you to report to me today, indicating that he thinks you are a reliable person. Now, I want to give you a This is a difficult task, and I will give you a chance to prove your ability, which requires you to rush all night without rest, are you ready?"

It was the first time to talk face-to-face with the big boss, and he was about to be entrusted with a heavy responsibility. The young man was so excited, he clenched his fists and stood up: "I am willing to serve you!"

"Sit down, I will issue a few transfer orders and certificates now, you will need to rush back to Houguan Town as quickly as possible overnight, hand them over to Yam and Humphrey, and inform them of the details of my plan." Out of paper, pens, and seal ink pads, he started to work while talking, and finished the first sheet: "This one: let Yam mobilize all the troops that Houguan Town can use now, veterans and recruits, the more people there are The better—start at night and go north along the king's road, arrive at the castle black and surround it before dawn. Block the gate, watch the entire wall, and until I return from my inspection tour with the northern nobles, not a mouse is allowed to come out of the castle. Let the castle out!"

"Ah?" Kent was taken aback. He thought that the so-called difficult task was just another urgent message. Who thought this was a posture of mutiny?Under the nervousness, he stammered immediately: "But... lord... Your lord, what are we going to do? Are we going to fight the night watchman stationed there? Although there are only 500 people in Castle Black, they are all veterans. I'm afraid Houguan Town is not the same. Opponent."

"It doesn't need to be an opponent, this is not a combat mission, it's just a blockade! The most important task is to ensure that Carter Parker cannot return to East Seawatch!" No matter how tough a soldier is, a group of dragons without a leader is still a mess, not to mention the soldiers of East Seawatch. Can it be a dragon?Iger shook his head: "We need a reason to do this, and we declare that it is the order of Robb Stark, the Guardian of the North. No one is allowed to leave until Lord Stark returns to Castle Black to deal with today's internal strife among the Night Watchmen!"

"Duke Stark really gave this order?"

What stupid question?Iger turned a white face, but at this juncture, it is not easy to call him stupid: "No, but I can say that I thought he hinted like this. I guessed his thoughts randomly, 'it will be wrong', understand It’s very important that you can’t really do anything, if there are no casualties, then I can survive! Tell Yam, the kingslayer can participate in the support, but he must be led by a calm and cautious person, and no mistakes will be tolerated!”

Kent nodded tremblingly: "Understood, but what about the top of the Great Wall? With Castle Black sealed off, Lord Carter can still go back to the East China Sea to watch through the ice passage on the top of the Great Wall."

Indeed, it seems that this kid is not as stupid as Iger thought just now.

"That's not a problem, so the second task is: send a message to the two mountain clans who have settled in the Queen's Gate and Sable Hall, and also block the east-west passage on the top of the Great Wall of Castle Black." Iger nodded in affirmation of the other party's reminder, Swish Swish Swish finished writing the second document: "Not only to prevent Carter Pike from leaving Castle Black and returning to Eastwatch, but also to prevent the people in Castle Black from communicating what is happening there."

"Understood." The panic gradually dissipated, and Iger's decisive expression infected Kent.The blood filled his whole body again, and he nodded emphatically: "But there are many ravens in Castle Black, and people can't get out. What if they fly ravens to send messages?"

"Of the nineteen strongholds along the Great Wall, sixteen of the Ravencages are under my control. The only thing I need to worry about is Ser Mallister's Shadow Tower... But this old fox, he is more powerful than anyone else in the Night's Watch." I can see the situation clearly." Iger squinted his eyes: "I hope he can be a hero who knows current affairs, but if not, I will also have something to explain to Robb Stark, and you don't have to worry about it."

Iger decided to vaccinate Robb at the welcome dinner of the Flint clan later—disclose a little news about the arrival of the iron treasury grain ship, and at the same time veiledly express his respect for "that small group of violent people "Worry about possible tampering with food—and tell him that he intends to take steps to prevent it.In this way, if he still can't hide the news in the end and let him know in advance, he will have an excuse to explain.

But this is something that needs to be considered in the future. Right now, he has quickly signed the third transfer order without stopping.

"This is a plan for Eastwatch. After you return to Houguan Town, ask Yam to call up the soldiers who blocked Castle Black, and then ask Humphry to arrange a transport team overnight, and organize another meat delivery in the name of rewarding the defenders. Set off overnight to Eastwatch. When you pass Sable Hall and Beacon Tower, gather as many clan warriors as possible from these two strongholds. Eastwatch has two hundred night watchmen, and we need a similar number of people to ensure control. The port." Iger said: "If so many people go directly, it may cause alarm. We can consider letting the transport team enter Donghaiwatch first, and then cooperate with the inside and outside to open the gate... No matter what method is used, we must let our people enter. East China Sea Watch's wall, and controls the port, to ensure that the grain ships can control the situation when they enter the port."

Every fort along the Great Wall has built walls, so that Iger can easily prevent Carter Parker from leaving by simply blocking the gate of Castle Black, but he also has to face the dilemma that he may not be able to enter Eastwatch... Now, I can only pin my hope Yu: The advantage of taking the lead is big enough.

"Okay, repeat what I want you to do."

"One, return to Houguan Town overnight, and inform the two clans next to Castle Black to station fortresses along the way, and ask them to cut off the passage on the top of the Great Wall; second, after arriving, inform Lord Yam to mobilize troops to surround and block Castle Black overnight. Prevent Lord Carter Pike from returning to Eastwatch; third, let Lord Humphrey organize a transport team to go to Eastwatch, trick the gate of the fortress, control the port, and ensure the smooth unloading of the grain ship when it arrives."

"Very complete. Remember, troop deployment is a means of deterrence. I don't want any frontal conflicts and casualties. If it is unavoidable, the impact must be minimized... For this reason, I told Yam and Humphrey: In this operation, try not to use new land-grants. Those who participate in the operation are called from the logistics department and the employees of the Night's Watch industry, and the mountain clansmen."

"But... to ensure sufficient deterrence, we must mobilize at least a thousand warriors. The mountain clans to the east of Houguan Town and Castle Black cannot provide so many people."

"Then find a smart and reliable new land granter, and pretend to be a mountain clan, anyway, they look similar... But we still have to announce that everyone is a mountain clan warrior, so that no one will say... I didn't just release the savages Come in and help them deal with their brothers!"

"Understood." Kent nodded solemnly, but still seemed a little hesitant: "But my lord... it's just a batch of food. Do we need to take such a big risk? You have already taken the lead in the election and are about to win. At this time, will it be considered reckless by many night watchmen... and will lose a lot of votes?"

Kent's concerns are quite reasonable...but Iger knows that the one giving orders cannot show hesitation in front of his subordinates.

"If I want to feed 400 people, then the night watchman industry can occasionally buy food in bulk from King's Landing; if I want to feed 4000 people, as long as I have a good relationship with the North and the Riverland, they will also support I can afford this kind of food consumption-but I have to feed 4 people now, do you understand what this means? The northern border and the river have to save food for the winter, and there is a surplus in the river bay, and it is impossible to help. Once the loan If there is a problem with the food, even if I have great skills, I can’t change the food. I can only watch the Great Wall that I have worked so hard to build. It's quite risky, and it's very bad for my campaign for commander-in-chief, but compared to the risk of starving and rebelling tens of thousands of people, killing each other, and giving land to the people, I am willing to bear the consequences of doing so. Now, I want you to execute the order, understand ?"

Although he still had misgivings, the instinct of obeying orders that he had received in King's Landing and worked for more than a year came into play at this time. Kent stood up and straightened his chest: "Yes, sir! I will immediately Set off!"

"Don't worry, although the time is urgent, it's not too late. Since you have decided to stay up all night, you can't go hungry." Iger also stood up: "I'll take you to see Patriarch Flint now, Let him arrange a team of guards for you, so as not to cause accidents and ruin the event... Then, let Joey take you to the kitchen, eat whatever you want, fill your stomach before you go!"

-

Chapter 301 Change of Land Grant

At this moment, in Castle Black, more than a dozen miles away, three high-ranking Night Watchmen with the title of chief were holding back their stomachs and waiting for Robb Stark's reaction to James' actions this morning and his opinion on how to deal with it.As for Carter Pike, he had already packed his things with all his subordinates, and returned to Eastwatch only at dawn the next day.

They never expected that before today's incident was reported to the guardians of the northern border, the accused had already started planning an even more astonishing and crazier plan... so bold that no one would believe it even if they said it.

……

Iger took Kent out of the office.

From a formal point of view, what I am planning to carry out is a typical mutiny.If there is no prelude to do so rashly—sending troops to surround Castle Black and prohibiting anyone from leaving, it will inevitably anger a large number of Night Watchmen soldiers, who are considered to be planning to seize power by force, but at this time, the conflict that happened in the morning , On the contrary, it became a key factor in Iger's final decision.

With the violent conflict between Carter Pike and Jaime Lannister first, the night watchmen will regard his large-scale operation tomorrow as a demonstration and revenge against Commander Eastwatch, rather than against all night watchmen Offensive and disrespectful... Although the essence of the matter has not changed in the slightest, the emotional conflict will be much less.

It is true that no matter how small the resistance and antipathy will be, it will lead to a drop in the number of votes already in hand, but Iger still decided to do this: the less the votes, the less, and he can use the third batch, the fourth batch... endless recruits to join Slowly fill in the losses and forcefully reach two-thirds.But once there is a problem with the food from the iron bank, no amount of tickets can be used to feed the tens of thousands of newly donated land residents.

People who are hungry are the most dangerous creatures in the world.

……

It was completely dark outside the house, and there were fine snowflakes floating in the sky, which fell to the frozen ground and formed a thin layer... This is the result of someone sweeping it just at noon. It can be imagined that there is no one to take care of the outside of the wall. What kind of scene should it be in the vast wilderness at this moment.

Braving the cold wind and walking through ankle-deep snow at night, just thinking about it makes one's scalp tingle... But to be optimistic and think about the bright side, in the cold climate of the northern region where the ground is covered with permafrost, At least the snow will not cause mud, and the white reflective snow field also provides enough vision to see the environment ahead in the dark night without moonlight.

After several inquiries, they found the leader Flint, who was sweating profusely, and settled the issue of the escort team after some simple negotiations.Flint is the mountain clan with the largest number of people stationed on the Great Wall. If they can be mobilized to participate, there will be a lot of difficulties in terms of military strength. However, at the moment when the Nightfort is full of northern nobles and soldiers, I want to quietly mobilize them. Walking a group of 200 people is simply impossible.

Feng Jun's visit made the Long Night Fort more lively than any festival. Under the eaves, among the rooms, on the walls... there were torches burning everywhere, and the flames were flying in the wind, but they were unable to illuminate the largest fortress along the Great Wall. every corner of theWhen it was time for the dinner party, all the visitors from the north were invited into the hall. In the central courtyard of the castle, there was only cold wind and snow in an instant.

In the darkness, the well-fed messenger team came out of the kitchen, and under the cover of the noise of the welcome dinner, they quietly lined up to the east gate, slipped through the gap opened by the guards lightly, and disappeared in the In the dark night.

Inside the Long Night Castle, wine and wine were staggered, and all the guests cheered.Outside the Long Nightfort, the cold wind brought snowflakes to the faces of the task force... They started to walk towards Castle Black and the town of Crown Crown along the path that was almost invisible.

***

There is a joke in the modern world: Why did ancient people have so many children? Because there is nothing to do after dark, and they can only make people when they go to bed and lie down.

The jokes are vulgar, but they vividly depict the lack of activities and boredom at night in the world before the invention of electricity.And in the land grant, especially in Houguan Town, the situation is even worse than the joke: it's not just that there is no electricity here.Most of the employees and armed forces of the night watchman industry are ordinary boys who pursue their dreams and aspire to follow Iger to make a lot of money or make a career... Most of them don't even have wives.

Where there is a need, there are people who make a living by satisfying that need.While Houguan Town is known as the land-grant capital, it is also the area with the highest frequency and densest occurrence of "flesh business" in the entire north of the Neck except for White Harbor.The trading place is generally in the log cabin or cellar behind the core trade street in Houguan Town. Most of the women who provide services are women from outside the Great Wall who have lost most of their belongings and even the middle-aged male members of the family. The main customers are the night watchman industry. Employees, soldiers, and some mountain clansmen who are more affluent.

Jon Snow once reported this to Iger, thinking that this kind of chaos is indecent, it makes the land-grant capital smoky, and it also damages the image of the Night Watchman Corps, and asked Iger to order a ban on this kind of physical trading.

It was not a rude request, but Iger shook his head and vetoed it. The reason is simple: there are priorities.

In this small society that has not yet fully formed, it is impossible for me with limited resources to set up a welfare system and distribute food for free to feed everyone.The new land granters had to serve and labor in exchange for food to feed themselves.

Iger and his trusted subordinates have made every effort: let men build houses and build roads, enlist in military drills, let women clean, wash and cook... But after racking their brains, the logistics department can only create the equivalent of the newly donated land. A quarter of the number of positions and job opportunities.

This means that one-quarter of the new land-grants who were lucky enough to get a job had to support the remaining three-quarters of their compatriots and their families.Under such circumstances, if you follow the example of Stannis Baratheon and strictly prohibit the trade of flesh and blood, it is tantamount to disposing of those orphans and widows who have lost their family pillars in the battle with the White Walkers or the attack and defense of the Great Wall, and have no competitiveness themselves. They were cornered.

What's more, once the ban is issued, someone needs to implement it... and Iger really doesn't have the extra resources, energy and manpower right now to devote to solving this kind of non-fatal small problem.

Things that sound reasonable don't always apply anywhere, anytime.At least, when the land was granted, Iger was formally elected as the commander-in-chief, and he was firmly seated as the actual supreme leader of the land-grant, and he couldn't find a way to provide everyone with the opportunity to support themselves, so he rashly started to sweep H... It is putting the cart before the horse, regardless of the severity.

However, no prohibition does not mean complete laissez-faire.Iger still made several restrictive regulations: skin and meat business is not allowed to be done on the table, it is strictly forbidden to enter the fence of Houguan Town, and systematic organizations and roles such as brothels and professional pimps are never allowed to appear as middlemen Earn the difference and become a parasite in this nascent society.

***

Of course, the above has nothing to do with the variables that are going on right now in the land grant.

No matter how energetic and lustful he was, it would not be late at night, not to mention that Houguan Town had a closed-door curfew at night, and it was strictly forbidden to enter or leave the fence.

Therefore, when the welcome dinner at the Nightfort was at its climax, the bustling and busy Land Grant City during the day was completely darkened and fell into a dormant silence, only the sentry on duty on the top of the wall was still awake.

cold.

So cold.

It's so cold.

Standing guard on the top of the city wall in this weather, the human brain seems to be frozen, and there is no extra space to think about other things except this idea.Teeth chattering, Hutch wrapped the cloak tightly around his body, and shrank into a corner sheltered from the wind.

He is the squad leader of this group of sentries, and is responsible for ensuring that the group of sentries do their duty.If he, the supervisor, is caught sleeping or something while on duty, although he won't lose his head, he will be fired and sent home.

In theory, no one supervised him, but he did not dare to desert.

Although the armed force of the Night Watchman Industry is not a formal military organization, the military laws and regulations are stricter than any army in the world. The chiefs call it discipline.This kind of "discipline" is so strict...Even as one of them, he often has to enforce discipline and criticize and punish the soldiers under him, Hutch occasionally still feels that this is a bit of a big deal.

But no one complained... at least no one dared to complain publicly.

Salary determines the attitude of employees towards their bosses.

One silver deer every month, tomorrow all industrial employees in Houguan Town will run away clean.

At ten silver deer every month, at least half of the people would just go about their lives casually while thinking "Boss, I'm your father".

But if it was one hundred silver deer per month, that would be enough to force everyone to endure their complaints and work hard.

As for the soldiers of the "Night Watchman Industrial Security Team", their salary plus living expenses, subsidies for serving in land grants, etc., have a total income of close to one gold dragon per month.

What is the concept of a golden dragon?

In poorer places and villages with fewer people, the monthly tax that a knight-level lord can collect is of this order of magnitude.

With such a salary, in such a world, 99% of people will definitely be able to calmly accept thousands of miles away from home, the world of ice and snow... and a lot of rules that are strictly enforced.

What's more, in the establishment of the night watchman industry, they are soldiers, but in the land grant - dozens of them are actually officers.They have all received systematic training and drills in King's Landing's industrial park, and only with excellent grades can they be selected and sent to Houguan Town. Each of them has five to ten mountain clan or land-grant warriors at their disposal, and Once a situation arises that requires a large number of troops to be called up, this number can become fifty or one hundred at any time.

They are the qualified products of the military part of Aiger's grand blueprint. When necessary, the soldiers of the night watchman security team are used as the skeleton to gather the clans or land-grants who have received basic training, and an army can be formed overnight-and this, already It has been verified and practical in the battle to help the Northern Territory expel the Ironborn.

A commoner with no family background and no special ability, in front of such treatment, dare not casually say such arrogant words as "there is no place to stay here, but there is a place to stay".Losing the current job that is a bit difficult, but decent, well-paid and looks promising, back to the South, no big man will be like the night watchman industry: only value ability and attitude, and don't care about surname and origin.

If you go home to farm or go to flea nests to live by doing odd jobs, you will have to live a harder life without any future.

……

Hold on, hold on for another hour, and he will be able to return to the warm room with peace of mind and sleep until noon tomorrow.

Just as Hutch was trembling and counting silently, waiting for the next sentry to replace him, something happened outside the wall.

A row of several light spots appeared at the end of the northern field of vision, approaching along the King's Avenue, and crossing the street opposite the gate of Houguan Town with houses on both sides under the fierce wind and snow, and came to the bottom of the north gate.

It's not the enemy, it's obvious: the visitors didn't try to hide their whereabouts at all: more than a dozen people were walking heavily, panting like cows, and all of them looked exhausted.Less than half of them held torches, and all had snowflakes and icicles on their clothes, hats, eyebrows and beards.They laboriously "waded" through the snow, heading south from the King's Road, and trudged to the bottom of the city gate before stopping.

"Open the door!"

After working countless night shifts, it was the first time for Hutch to encounter such a blatant call at the door in the middle of the night: "Who? What time is this! If you want to go to the city, wait until dawn tomorrow!"

"I am Kent! Lord Yam ordered me to report to the Long Nightfort in the afternoon. I have brought back an urgent order from Lord Chief Logistics Officer!"

"Kent?" Hutch frowned. The Night Watchman Industry only has more than 100 regular employees in Houguan Town. Of course he knew each other.But understanding does not mean that you can break the rules: "Emergency order? At present, everyone in Houguan Town has fallen asleep except the guards on night shift. Even if it is true, who will accept and execute the order? I advise you, or Find a hotel to make do for one night, let’s talk about it tomorrow morning.”

"Can you understand the common language? An emergency order is an emergency order, and it needs to be executed before dawn. It is urgent and delays the chief logistics officer's important affairs. You can't afford it!"

"Rules are rules." Hutch wasn't frightened at all, but he didn't dare to take it seriously: "Well, I'll put a hanging basket down, hang up the military order documents, and I'll hand them over to the officer for you."

"The time is urgent, there is no complete document, and the details need to be conveyed by dictation! You pull me up, and I will explain it to Master Yam in person!"

"Well... that's fine too."

Hatch was not worried about what might happen to his well-know colleagues. What he suspected was the dozen strong men following Kent.What if they were wandering savage bandits who hijacked industrial employees and tried to sneak into Houguan Town to wreak havoc, that would be bad.

Worried that it would soon prove to be unnecessary, he called several subordinate sentries of the same class, and after hanging down the rope, Kent climbed the rope and was pulled up the wall by himself, followed by more than a dozen people who did not have the slightest intention or movement to obstruct him.

After slapping off the snow on his body, Kent greeted several sentries, hurriedly went down the city wall, and rushed to the accommodation area in Houguan Town.

Ten minutes later, Iger's instructions were sent to Humphrey Hill, the logistics officer of the Night Watchman in Houguan Town, and the mayor of the town, Yam.

Half an hour later, when the dinner party at the Long Night Fort more than 20 miles away was coming to an end, the participants gradually dispersed, and Houguan Town, which had already entered a dormant state, gradually woke up and became lively.

-

Chapter 302 Change of Land Grant

Carter Pike opened his eyes.