The king on the Great Wall

Iger didn't prevent Illyrio from escaping - in addition to a small miscalculation in the hasty preparation of the plan, it was also because: the planting plan was a conspiracy, but it didn't aim at Illyrio's life.On the contrary: at this extremely coincidental point of time, he suddenly left without saying goodbye, and immediately the gunpowder formula was leaked to everyone, but it was confirmed that he was the scapegoat of the instigator, making it impossible for the Queen to have half a ounce of trust and affection for him. At this point, even if Illyrio does not die, he will no longer be able to cause threatening interference to Iger's Great King's Land plan in the short term.

Whether Illyrio runs or not has little effect on the plan. This is why Iger was negligent. Who would have expected that the tiger would come out of the mountain and fight the mountain knocker?This cunning fat man just found a crack in an impossible place, and he dug it open to create a deadly net!

……

When Iger rushed to the Queen's temporary residence in cold sweat, Gray Worm, the leader of the Unsullied, and Tyrion Lannister, the newly appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and other important ministers had already arrived because of the advantage of the distance. Liz's personal questioning, in the not-so-wide hall, everyone was listening carefully to the most intuitive first-person perspective narrative, and no one even cared about the entry of him, the most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms.

"...At that time, the Prime Minister's herald rushed to me with a token, and ordered me to close the city gate to prevent Governor Pantos and his party from leaving without even getting off the horse. After I verified his identity and the authenticity of the token , and while ordering the gate guards to evacuate the residents passing through the gate, they led people to surround Lord Illyrio's carriage." Apart from the queen, the speaker was the only one in the room who had a seat, not because He has a special status or a high status, but because the gauze on his shoulders is still oozing blood, "The car is very luxuriously decorated and highly recognizable, and it can be seen that it is used by the powerful. I shouted to the team and the accompanying servants , the guards stopped moving and put down everything in their hands, and the people inside the carriage also left the carriage to accept the investigation—"

It may be due to excessive blood loss, he took a long breath before continuing to talk.

"The coachman and guards accepted the instructions very obediently. Only the people in the carriage refused to show up. I yelled one sentence, and another, and did not open the carriage door until I declared for the third time that if the other party did not come out, I would send someone to enter forcibly. , Illyrio appeared with a very beautiful and exquisite short bow. The shape of the bow was strange and reflected dazzling golden light. At that time, I was still guessing whether it was gold-plated or forged from pure gold. He... he just He raised his bow and nocked his arrow, and shot an arrow at me."

The captain of Linhemen’s garrison was still a little dazed. He was really a little confused when the incident happened... both confused—a diplomat like Governor Pantos would choose to initiate an attack without being threatened with his life; also confused— ——A fat and fat man like Illyrio can use a weapon so proficiently and fiercely, and the arrow shot between the lightning and flint can be so powerful and extremely accurate.

If it weren't for the experience of many battles, he instantly dodged half a step sideways under the muscle memory, that shot would definitely be nailed in the middle between his chest and neck, and hit the weak point of the armor to pierce the trachea and esophagus.

If so, he would not be able to sit here and report the situation to the Queen at this moment.

"Are you sure you just surrounded him with troops and ordered him to get off the carriage for investigation, and didn't make any threatening or insulting words or deeds?"

Daenerys stared at the injured captain of the garrison with piercing eyes—it wasn't that she didn't trust the cronies who followed her all the way from Astapor back to Westeros, but that the story he told was too bizarre: the war was not over yet In fact, Junlin City still maintains a high level of security. Each city gate is equipped with at least a hundred gatekeepers on duty, and an equal number of Unsullied are standing by, not to mention there are port guards and masters outside the Linhe Gate. The fleet that has commanded the sea.

With the scale and force of the Illyrio Mission, it is impossible to fight a bloody road to leave King's Landing forcibly... If it was not persecuted or threatened by some external factors, how could the extremely shrewd governor of a wealthy businessman take such an action? Suicidal behavior?

This is not reasonable!

It's not that she suspects followers of betraying herself, but years of experience in leading and ruling have made Daenerys understand: loyal people can also do bad things.It is theoretically possible for a class of heroes like the officers of the Freedom Militia to cause some disaster due to their favor and arrogance, and then put the blame on the dead to get rid of themselves. It is completely possible in theory, and she has to guard against it.

"Everything my subordinate said is true. Before the incident, there was no verbal or physical conflict between the two sides. This can be proved by the soldiers present, the night watchman brothers, and even passers-by and survivors of the Pentos Mission. Please, Queen Mingcha!"

Although the voice was weak, the tone was firm and affirmative... No matter what, at least the second half of the sentence was true.Staring into the speaker's eyes, I didn't see a guilty look. I decided in my stomach that I would send reliable people to investigate, but on the surface, Daenerys couldn't continue questioning, so she could only believe and end the topic for the time being. Iger, who had just stepped into the room and stood next to Tyrion, turned the object of questioning to another group of parties: "I don't know your name, tell me what's going on?"

"Back to Your Majesty, my Majesty, Harvey, former officer of the Night Watch Industrial Security Force, and currently the captain of the Night Watch Commander-in-Chief." Harvey bowed and saluted, and answered the question after introducing himself, "I was ordered by the Prime Minister to participate in the investigation of the Night Watch Industrial Research Institute. In the case of the theft of confidential blueprints, the clue points to the rich merchant governor of Pentos. Today, Illyrio and his party suddenly set off to leave. After urgently reporting to Mr. Iger, he was ordered to prevent the suspects from escaping. There is something about rushing to Linhe Gate to send orders to stop people."

He was still panicking and apprehensive, but with the presence of the backbone, he immediately became confident: "The officer of the garrison captain's account is roughly what happened, and I have nothing to add. Our original plan was to send Governor Illyrio and his party Stop it, if you don't find anything after searching, you will naturally report the situation to His Majesty and the Prime Minister, and you two will decide. Who would have thought... Illyrio just made a sudden move without warning, and put an end to an issue that could have been resolved peacefully. Searches, forcibly turned into bloodshed."

Hey, this is completely dismissed, Daenerys frowned, and asked sharply: "Governor Pentos is an emissary from across the narrow sea, even if my words and deeds are wrong, I should decide how to deal with them." That's right, why didn't you notify first, instead of doing it directly?"

On the way in a hurry, Iger had already learned the outcome of the incident from the informant: Illyrio tried to break through the door forcibly in the face of the interception, and had a public fight with the guards of the Linhe Gate, and was killed on the spot.After standing up and listening to the brief description of the process by the chief guard, and pieced together, the truth of the matter was immediately clear to the chest.

As the rich merchant governor of Pentos and the "benefactor" of the queen, even if Illyrio is convicted of stealing gunpowder secrets, there is a certain probability that he will be able to return home alive after being imprisoned for an indefinite time - it all depends on Daenerys' mood and The international situation will change in the future; even if he decides to commit suicide, there will definitely be less painful and faster ways to achieve his goal, such as taking poison and hanging himself, but he finally made an unreasonable death-seeking act of open resistance...Why?

Because this hidden boss of the original timeline of Binghuo, faced with the intervention and obstruction of outsiders who shouldn't exist like the time traveler, tried all his cards and tricks but failed to recover from the decline. At the cost of his own life, he did little Aegon one last big favor.

Because of this, the Queen's regime attacked the diplomatic ambassador of a country by force in public, creating a diplomatic incident that shocked and appalled the world.This incident will soon spread all over the world and even the whole world through the mouths of countless witnesses who enter and leave King’s Landing through the Linhe Gate, and travel between the capitals of the Seven Kingdoms and at home and abroad-the group of hostile slave owners will not pay attention to "what in the end is it?" "Which side will do it first?" They will only add fuel to the flames, and the more sensational the story, the better. With the advantage of stronger control over public opinion, the nascent Targaryen dynasty has fallen into such a bad state that it is difficult to speak words. Described as a bad diplomatic environment.

From the personal point of view of the real murderer of the "Winterfell Poisoning Case", Illyrio's death is undoubtedly a major victory - Iger successfully used the Queen's own armed hands to get rid of a major threat and intended planting target , not only is there no suspicion of participation and inducement (really no), from now on you can safely frame this person without fearing that he will prove his innocence, and you don’t have to worry about a sophisticated and shrewd conspirator hiding in the corner secretly thinking about it Try to trip him up.

This is simply as cheap as Varys' deputy committing suicide in the dungeon of Winterfell and being blamed by the poisoner.

But he wasn't just a murderer after all.

From the perspective of the "Hand of the Queen"'s public office, that fat man sacrificed his life to interrupt Daenerys and his plan, which was even halfway through... He was about to successfully disintegrate many of the city-state complexes. diplomatic effort.Not only did he slap the queen hard in the face with a tragic death, but he also left him with a lot of problems!

If it turns out that the "Mother of Dragons" alliance, the "Mother of Dragons", can only exist in the mind and letters, then after this bloody diplomatic accident, it is really possible that the over-stretched people who are suffering from neurasthenia may be overwhelmed. The rulers of the city-state picked it up from the garbage dump and promoted it seriously, and finally successfully formed it!

The situation was so complicated that Iger didn't know whether he should be happy or panic for a while...

But there is at least one thing he can be sure of: Harvey will never be able to perfectly answer the Queen's stern questioning without making any mistakes... Even if there are suspicions of disrespect and presumptuousness, he will have to bite the bullet this time Don't ask yourself to answer, spread your wings to resist this shit.

He frowned, coughed and stood out of the crowd.

-

Chapter 649

"I mishandled this matter." Iger caught everyone's attention with a cough, and explained slowly and steadily with his head held high, "I had ordered carriages and horses to report the situation to the queen and ask for advice on how to deal with it, but Illyrio The governor's departure was too sudden, and the secrets stolen from the arsenal were too important. Under the panic, he ignored his diplomatic status and hastily sent people to Linhemen to intercept him. At that time, he thought, "No matter what, block the blueprint first." Afterwards, how to deal with it in the future can be discussed in the long run', but unexpectedly: the governor acted so violently and decisively... Now that I think about it, I should let him out of the city, and then send the navy fleet to recover it. It is most appropriate to deal with it secretly in the Gulf Ocean.”

No one likes to take responsibility, but the nature of the matter this time is unusual: Although the scapegoat of "mistakes in decision-making leading to diplomatic accidents" is a big one, the Queen's hand can handle it well; Guards" is a serious crime, but his guard captain can't bear it.

Since you can't hide it, why not be more magnanimous and grab it with all your heart

"Your Majesty has traveled all over the world and seen the world, so you must have a lot of experience. You should know that a wine glass that looks the same colorless and transparent may be crystal or glass... Even if it is glass, due to the color, transparency, craftsmanship, etc. The difference, the value can also range from single digits to hundreds of silver coins - leftovers and defective products can occasionally be sold for copper coins, and the value of master crafts can even be comparable to crystal." Everyone is waiting for the prime minister with bated breath In the second half of the speech, he suddenly used an irrelevant topic to disrupt the tense and dignified atmosphere in the hall, "In the place where I come from, there is a method of defrauding laymen who do not understand the characteristics of the upper and lower limit gaps. ——Tricksters will walk on the street with some high-quality imitation utensils produced by small workshops, and they will pick passers-by who are not careful on foot or horseback to bump into them. It’s just to pull people to ask for compensation according to the price of the crystal. As long as the unlucky ones who are picked have a timid mentality or rush for time, most of them can only be slaughtered obediently.”

Everyone is discussing how to solve the death of Governor Illyrio, what are you doing with this deceptive science?

In this room, even the lowest-ranked gatekeepers, assistants, and clerks are still people in the power circle who are on the same level as the Queen. Walking on the street, who would dare to cheat?Fragmentary discussions resounded in the hall, buzzing and buzzing into a mosquito, but no one dared to interrupt because of the power and majesty of Prime Minister Iger, the illustrious martial arts of the commander-in-chief of the legion, and the fact that the queen had not yet spoken. His words.

"This kind of deception is called Pengci. You may not have heard of this term, but you have definitely heard of similar tricks." In a confused look, Iger slowly connected the two topics seamlessly, "Today Isn't Governor Illyrio's unreasonable act of seeking death on his own initiative a scam? It's just that the victim he used was not a fragile vessel, but his own life—that's why the whole thing looks unbelievable. I Boldly guess: He may have owed a large debt or favor, and then he contracted some terminal illness or fell into a desperate situation, and was secretly instigated and persecuted by the anti-queen forces, so he disregarded the old relationship, Come to touch our porcelain at the cost of your life, and let the queen fall into the suspicion of tyranny!"

No one would believe that Illyrio was the big boss behind the scenes, so Iger changed it to a more acceptable statement.A dead enemy is the best enemy, and Iger has never been afraid to give him some face or "tolerance" for enemies who are no longer a threat.

"Then here comes the question—in a Porcelain incident, who is more hateful, the liar or the victim?" Iger spread his hands, looked around the crowd and asked loudly, "I think everyone... There must be an answer."

"It's definitely wrong to walk without looking at the road. Whether you step into a pit, slip and fall, or hit a wall, you deserve to be unlucky, but no one is qualified to take the initiative to take the initiative to punish him personally... Let's 'teach him a lesson' , not to mention the purpose of defrauding money. The behavior of those who touched porcelain surpassed their own identities due to emotion, while Yu Li violated the law of the king. Each of us will inevitably have to walk on the street, and no one can guarantee every minute and every second They all keep their eyes on the road and the pedestrians approaching them, and of course they all have to side with the victim."

Not wanting his friend to be left alone, Tyrion boldly accepted the words and cheered, and he guessed how Iger wanted to make up the story while speaking.

Daenerys was stunned: "What do you want to say?"

"I want to say, Your Majesty, you are the queen of the Dragon Dynasty, the ruler of Westeros, the head of the big family of Daenerys I Targaryen, and we are all your family members and children. Now, your child has been touched by outsiders!" Iger deliberately used a slightly exaggerated tone, "Yes, as a parent, you have the right to ask us to keep our eyes and be careful when we 'walk', but what you should do first It is to try to reduce the overall loss of our big family, then to liquidate and investigate the purpose and responsibility of those who touched porcelain, and finally to blame us for not being careful, and ask us to pay attention after learning the lesson! How can we not do the first two things, first Holding on to your child and not letting go... Isn't this putting the cart before the horse?"

(Good guy, I can’t find someone responsible if I’m a child, I’m a young single queen in her early twenties, and I’m the mother of all of you if I disagree with you? If you don’t get to the bottom of it , Can I settle down and think about the method of stop loss?)

Daenerys was bewildered by this unheard-of flattery and flattery, and also upset at being accused of "putting the cart before the horse", mixed with the annoyance of suddenly encountering a bad accident, she felt mixed feelings in her stomach for a while, and said "unhappy" "I got stuck in my throat, but I didn't know where to refute... But after thinking about it, I suddenly came to my senses, and realized that Iger was trying to protect his shortcomings.With his status and status at the moment, even if he was strong enough to protect his subordinates clearly, he couldn't hold on to him even though he owed him a lot of credit and failed to honor the reward. It's all passable, it's considered intentional, and it's time for me to go down the steps.

The chest rose and fell slowly, and the Queen reluctantly made a compromise.

"That's all! What's going on, I'll send another person to investigate later." Daenerys didn't hide her anger, "But Governor Illyrio is a friend of the Targaryen family, and he arranged for me and Drogo Khal got married and gave me a dragon egg as a gift. Even Belwas, Grole and Petyr Baelish who helped me return to Targaryen were sent to me. By accident, he was coerced by some forces to sneak into King's Landing to steal information, and I can't accept the ending of him dying in the street on my territory and under my protection...I want this matter to be dealt with as soon as possible! Regarding this, What is your opinion, the Prime Minister?"

It is true that Illyrio had been kind to the Daenerys brothers and sisters to accept and protect them, but most of the favor had already been canceled because he "sold" himself to the horse king... Daenerys admitted that the other party was her former benefactor, But by no means to the extent of gratitude.There is another subtlety, probably even the queen herself is not aware of it: Although she claims that she must never repay kindness, what she thinks in her subconscious mind is already "never bear the label and notoriety of repaying kindness" —— The rest of the goodwill and closeness to Illyrio has long since been offset by Iger's repeated whispers to her ears and instilled various information, which caused associations and suspicions to ferment. When he was suspected of stealing secrets from the arsenal As soon as the evidence was presented, it completely disappeared, and there was nothing left.

She teased Iger unhappily, and threw the trouble back to him, with a clear attitude: You want to protect your shortcomings, I will bear it, but you have to settle this shit!

Iger took over the flying burden and sighed: "I didn't think carefully about this matter, and I should bear the responsibility for the accident. But people cannot be resurrected after death. Even if I can shoulder the responsibility for this matter, the tragedy has already been caused. However, I cannot share for Your Majesty or the Kingdom of Westeros where we all live together. Therefore, the first question we should discuss now is: how to plug this hole and reduce the impact of this matter on our court Adverse effects, bring the situation back on track."

"According to international practice, diplomats should enjoy certain immunity from jurisdiction, litigation and execution. Although no black and white treaty has been signed, it is still bad for the villain who broke the unspoken rules first. In this case, it is really Because the secret of artillery and gunpowder is far more important than the relationship between Pentos and the queen, I bit the bullet and ordered to intercept it, but it is irrefutable that Governor Illyrio was killed in the street in King's Landing... ...Since this is the case, then we should resolutely abandon the positions that cannot be defended, retreat to advance, and retreat to the front that can be defended before stopping to stabilize our feet."

Iger stretched out a finger: "Our top priority right now is to take the initiative to speak up, explain clearly, and occupy the high ground of public opinion in a timely manner. This incident happened at the gate of Linhe, where there is a huge flow of people. It is said that the scene was quite bloody and tragic. All kinds of speculation, and rumors flying all over the sky have always been the number one enemy of stability. I will immediately order the intelligence and propaganda departments to immediately prepare for the release of information, properly worded and sentenced, and try to tell the story as much as possible after omitting the details that are not good for us. Release it transparently and in detail, first admit that this happened, and then accuse the other party of violating the Queen's trust and friendship, using diplomatic status as a cover to carry out espionage that endangers our national interests and security."

"After ensuring that the public opinion does not get out of control, the second thing is to make the most of the situation and make it develop in a direction that is beneficial to me. It just so happens that the night watchman industry has taken root in King's Landing for many years and has completely controlled the newspaper and magazine industry here. After the news of the incident is announced, we The next step is to use the deep control over the media to focus on the Queen's insistence on the view of 'man is born free', her aversion to slavery... and the hatred and hatred of the slave owners across the Narrow Sea for the Queen, so as to mobilize The indignation and solidarity of the people."

"After these two things are completed, the attention of the residents of the Seven Kingdoms will be drawn from the embarrassing perspective of 'the King's Landing Garrison failed to properly handle the diplomatic incident, leading to a tragedy in the street', to the two systems and two classes on both sides of the strait. The confrontation and struggle with ideas came up. Once people stand in a team, their thinking mode will change. As long as this kind of confrontation is successfully created, our basic situation in the Seven Kingdoms will be as stable as Aegon High Hill, and it will never be shaken again." The solution became clearer and clearer, and the expressions of the listeners in the hall gradually changed, "But this is not a victory, at most it is an invincible position. The envoy of Pentos was killed in the street in the capital of the Seven Kingdoms." The international influence caused by it is by no means controlled by our ability to control public opinion in the country or even the royal territory. After stabilizing the base camp first, we must try to reduce the hostility and threats from overseas forces to us. First of all, we must make one thing clear: we It is absolutely impossible to go to war with the entire nine free trade city-states before the end of the Battle of the Bend. This will not only make the direction of the War of the River Uncertain, but also make the minds of the valleys that have not yet negotiated the terms of submission come alive, leading to the Seven Kingdoms The prospects and costs of unification have undergone too many changes and tend to get out of control."

"For the outside world, we have two strategies available: one is to divide and win over. The nine major city-states are not monolithic internally, not to mention Volantis, who is in a state of hostility with the queen, who once tried to swallow all of Valyria's inheritance and Half the world is at war, and there are enemies everywhere; in addition, there is Braavos, who clearly abandons and opposes slavery, but he can actually try to win over... It may be difficult to show favor with other slavery city-states , but it’s too easy to win over Braavos.” Iger showed a mysterious smile, “We only need to declare that we accept and inherit the debts owed by the usurper to Braavos, and we can make all the people in this free city-state The financial center gave up working with other slave owners, and without the financial support and transaction settlement assistance of the Iron Bank, even if the other eight city-states wanted to join forces to deal with the queen, they would definitely face troubles and difficulties one after another."

"Inherit the debt!?" Daenerys frowned, and she had to admit that even this option, which she once thought she would never adopt, was different from serious problems such as 'enemy against the whole world' and 'failure to conquer the river bay'. When the consequences were compared, it suddenly became less unacceptable, "Where do we get the money to pay off the debts, do we still use bonds? It is certainly a clever way to give people a white note, but even if you don't mention whether the other party will accept it or not... so this is not the case here." I owed everything, and in the end, I sold hot weapons to offset the arrears, and the bonds flowed into the hands of the night watchman industry, and I, the queen...wouldn't I have to work for the shareholders of the night watchman industry for the rest of my life?"

The queen didn't just think of this, but she had already held it in her heart, waiting for an opportunity to ask.She also said it euphemistically enough. It is true that there are many shareholders in the Night Watchman industry, but the arsenal is completely Iger’s private property. If the bond cycle is reversed, she will be working for the Commander-in-Chief of the Night Watchman for the rest of her life!

Coincidentally, Iger has already thought of a way to dispel the doubts and grievances in the Queen's heart. Although the original plan was to present the answer in the form of a surprise gift at the right time, but now there is a catastrophe and he has to make up for it in advance. Take it out to appease Daenerys' nervousness.

"Actually, I have discussed this with the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a long time, and I have come up with a solution." Iger looked up at the Queen, and spoke slowly with a smile, "The two of us have reached an agreement: the tax-free privilege of the Night Watchman's property is the reason for the Great Wall to face the White Walkers. The temporary expedient measures adopted during the threat period should not continue unreasonably in the new era. After some careful statistics and weighing, we have come up with a preliminary reform plan: the regular part of the night watchman industry, according to the normal Commercial tax rates are restored, and military orders that only accept payment in Targaryen bonds will be taxed at one-third of the bond payments received."

one third?

This astonishing number instantly attracted the attention of everyone present, and there was a burst of attention and exclamation. Even the Chancellor of the Exchequer who "participated in the discussion" in Iger's mouth and the Queen who sat at the front without any fluctuations were shocked. one jump.

Daenerys wanted to discuss this issue with Iger a long time ago, but she couldn’t find the right time and couldn’t be bothered to speak up. The psychological range of the tax rate she originally set was one-fourth to one-fifth. Who would want Iger to give The number that came out was actually a bit higher than the best expectation, which immediately washed away a lot of negative emotions on her face, and she almost showed a pleasant expression on her face.

I just don't know, is this the first fire that the newly appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Lannister family did his best to burn, or is it the benefit that Iger took the initiative to give in for the long-term vision?

Feeling the surprise or admiration of many people present, Iger secretly smiled in his heart: This is the crushing of knowledge and realm. This group of people has no concept of the scale and power of financial machines, and they have no idea about hot weapons and ammunition. How terrible the huge profits of the transaction are, it is inevitable to make a fuss.

How much tax should be levied on a money printing machine?

To answer this question is to fall into a trap. The correct answer is—the money printing machine should be in your own hands from the very beginning, rather than being controlled by others and then taxed.

The one-third tax rate looks amazing, but it is nothing compared to the profit from selling arms. After deducting the 33.33...% tax and the cost of a maximum of ten points, there is still more than half left, which is equivalent to For every 100 yuan bond printed by the queen, Iger can earn more than [-] yuan!

With this level of income as the confidence, even if Iger is a truly impartial, unselfish and iron-blooded prime minister, like Jobs who only gets a dollar salary, he will quickly accumulate amazing wealth and become more powerful than the man who owns the Seven Kingdoms. The queen is richer—really richer than a country.

Such a large amount of money will definitely attract jealousy, suspicion and covetousness, but Iger has already planned in his heart: this tax rate can be increased to half, two-thirds, three-quarters... until the night watchman arsenal is finally realized. Full nationalization of the Golian Royal Arsenal transformation.Even if the queen is not aggressive, he will ask for it at the right time, and every increase in tax rates or a step towards nationalization will be a matter of course for him to "ask the queen" Opportunity— —Whether it is purely to please her and favor, to apply for rewards for herself or her subordinates, to seek greater authority and deeper influence, or to ask for forgiveness and let go of some mistakes...

In this process of making concessions on the open side and gaining benefits in the dark, not only can he gain security and long-term benefits, but he can also earn a good reputation in the history books for "understanding righteousness". Isn't it wonderful?

How cool it is for the invisible rich and the powerful people in the shadows, whoever knows it!

far away...

The Night Watchman industry is Iger's second biggest confidence after the Land Grant Army. He already has a lot of plans and ideas for dealing with this pile of chips, but this is not the time to think about them.

"There is a second trick, which is procrastination! Even if the alienation and temptation fail, the nine major city-states are still determined to form an alliance against the Queen. As long as our diplomats can win the negotiations into the stage of sitting down and face-to-face negotiations, then Victory... As long as we can hold back the war on the Eastern Front before the war on the western front ends, we will have achieved a strategic victory!" Iger stretched out his index fingers of both hands together, and slowly separated them to the two sides, making a gesture A special signature speech move, "And this trick is divided into two parts. The first part is of course the diplomatic negotiations on the Eastern Front. Life is in danger. If the queen feels at a loss, she can ask Lord Tyrion for help and advice. The second part is naturally the western front. While not giving up on the strategy, try to make a quick decision and liberate the royal government from the threat of fighting on two fronts!"

"As for the latter, I have a duty to do so. Please trust Your Majesty and everyone, and wait and see!"

-

Chapter 650 Brother, come and wipe it for me...

After a while, the imperial meeting urgently held for the sudden bloodshed came to an end, and the first phase of the solution was released: the Prime Minister will take the lead to settle the bad influence of Illyrio's death at home and abroad; Return to the scene to investigate the Linhe gate guards, and learn more about the incident from nearby residents; after receiving further reports, Daenerys will decide whether to personally participate in the handling according to the actual situation...

After a short period of panic, everyone's emotions regained stability, but it's not so much that everyone's psychological endurance is strong enough, it's better to say that everyone has enough trust in the abilities and means of the Queen's Hand, and they all believe that Iger can handle this matter.

The queen left the meeting first, and then the officials attending the meeting scattered like birds and beasts, rushing out of the queen's temporary meeting hall like students after class and rushing to their respective vehicles. Only Tyrion complained to Iger because of his complaints about the ending.

"What are you doing! What kind of tax... One-third is one-third, anyway, it's your money, and outsiders don't need to feel bad. But I'm the finance minister, not the foreign minister, and I'm dealing with the shitty things like Illyrio's successful suicide attempt , why involve me?"

Tyrion's two short legs quickly staggered to keep up with Iger's pace. He is really a little angry now: the original [-]% arms tax rate was negotiated in the secret meeting, but Iger made it his own to increase it to one-third That's all--the act of imposing heavy taxes on the prime minister's property will be regarded by the outside world as his toughness and ability as the chancellor of the exchequer...but suddenly assigning him a mission outside of his duties without any prior communication It made him feel forced to work overtime, and he was very upset: "I am tired enough preparing for the central bank, resetting tax rates, and establishing the Ministry of Agriculture. Do you still think I am not busy enough? As agreed, I will be in charge of the inside, and you will be in charge of the outside world!? "

According to the division of labor principle of "interior and exterior", this matter is indeed not Tyrion's work. If Illyrio hadn't sacrificed his life for it, Iger would never have done such unreasonable shit for no reason. Yes.There is nothing more embarrassing than swallowing the cake he drew by himself. He has nothing to say but apologizes and explains the difficulty.

"Isn't this happening suddenly, and I'm about to go west, so there's no one else in front of the imperial court who can handle this job? But I didn't decide it was you at the first glance. My consideration is: rebuilding the tax system is a major project. This naturally includes the sub-item of formulating tariffs, and the accounts that the Minister of Finance has to manage include debts and claims at home and abroad... If you want to talk about these two things, you will have to negotiate with the representatives of the city-states sooner or later " Iger readily admitted that it was his own fault, and then frankly explained the reason for his move, "The queen did not go out with me. With her in King's Landing, not every envoy needs you to receive them. In this case, instead of Choosing a foreign minister will not only take away the power but also increase your internal coordination troubles during the negotiation, why not cut off unnecessary agencies and let you take the concurrent role temporarily?"

These words were obviously not enough to completely dispel Tyrion's dissatisfaction, he rolled his eyes: "The queen will show up at most once when the heavyweight envoy arrives for the first time, with your words before, the rest of the detailed talk and I must take care of more cats and dogs. I am only a mortal and a dwarf, aren't you afraid that such a heavy burden will crush my fragile shoulders?"

"Although your body is a dwarf, in the eyes of our night watchmen, your image is always the giant of the Lannister family." Egger quoted Commander Mormont's evaluation of him, a small flattery enlivened the atmosphere, " And the matter is not that exaggerated. It seems that you have an extra task, but in fact, you only need to discuss this matter with the outside world in the process of formulating tariffs and trade regulations, and make some concessions for this. .Besides—you calmly recall first, how did I become the commander-in-chief of the night watchman from a small soldier?"

Do you want to preach with reason and evidence again?Tyrion suddenly felt dizzy, but now that Iger is the prime minister, he can't help but cooperate: "You have completed every task Mormont entrusted to you, no matter how outrageous and difficult it is. After securing the chief logistics After turning the Big Three into the Big Four, you suppressed the other Big Three and the other two commanders by means of tactics, and finally got the position."

"That sums it up well, or rather, it's so condensed that it leaves out what I wanted to say. When I was logistics officer under Lord Commander Mormont, I looked like I was whimpering. Complete one task after another that he throws over, but in fact, every time he gives me a task, he must delegate the power necessary to complete this task, and after completing the task, I will get the corresponding power. influence, and the trust of the brothers in black." After explaining the actual difficulties, Iger strikes while the iron is hot, "As long as I don't take the initiative to let go of these powers, influences and trusts, if Mormont has no reasonable motives and arguments, it will be It will never and will never be taken away from me again. I am not only the head of logistics for the Night's Watch, but also the chief recruiter, image ambassador and 'the most widely trusted brother of the oath'. Only then can I suppress the other elders—do you understand what I want to say?"

It is true that once you get involved in diplomatic work, it means that you can also speak in this field in the future. This is indeed a big gain... But Tyrion has never been a person with a strong desire for power. He at least hopes to do a good job It just proves itself.Compared with any power influence, he is more interested in the "financial hegemony" that only exists in the imagination.

"The reason for me to work is to train me. After completing these tasks, I can gain the trust of the queen and stand firmly in front of the imperial court to suppress other people's doubts. Tsk... Do you think you are the only one who can play this trick? We have been too. The leader is good." Tyrion made a retching gesture, and then raised his thumb again, "But I have to admit that the same routine comes from your mouth, it seems to be more refreshing and convincing, as expected Prime Minister, I admire you. But you are assuming that I can complete the task, what if the guys on the other side of the narrow sea just don’t buy it and I fail to complete the task?”

The sarcasm of this praise is almost overflowing, and the last questioning is indeed on the point, Iger smiled wryly and shook his head: "This matter is you are wiping my ass, I promise you-if it goes well, The credit rests with you, and if something goes wrong, I will take the initiative to take the responsibility. Besides, as an extra thank you, after the incident is over, you can either discuss with me about recommending a diplomatic deputy, or After recommending someone else to be Chancellor of the Exchequer, I will go to persuade the Queen." After saying this, before Tyrion agreed, Iger dragged him on his own, "I don't have time to explain, get in the car first Let's talk about the rest of the details as usual, and it just so happens that I have someone you definitely want to meet waiting for you."

Someone I'd definitely like to meet?

A big question mark rose from Tyrion's head, secretly wondering who it could be, but he didn't guess the answer until he was dragged into the carriage.

-

Chapter 651 Expedient measures

Politics is the art of compromise.

Although Iger was born in a military organization, had a reputation for victories, and was undoubtedly a hard-core hawk in his stance against Hewan and the Golden Corps, he was never a war madman.

"I'm very busy, let's go together." Although this stalk is exciting to play, Iger is no longer a hot-blooded teenager, and he will never take the initiative to increase the difficulty for himself in order to achieve a broken achievement.His positioning of himself is very clear: a prime minister who can lead troops, not a marshal who fights professionally.He has already achieved success and fame, even if some people think it is not enough, "successful success" is not his pursuit in life... As a person with real power, the overall interests of the country can be regarded as his interests to a certain extent; Hand of the Queen, he has a moral responsibility to the monarch and the people of Westeros, and to ensure this, he has to uphold some principles.

Enemies that can be defeated one by one should never be dealt with at the same time; victories that can be won without war should never be fought with bloodshed.

Throughout the ages, it is not uncommon for two-line or even multi-line wars to win, but they all need to pay equal sacrifices. Westeros, which has just experienced a chaotic winter and finally waited for spring, should not suffer unnecessary pain and torture. .

If you want to stagger the timing of the two conflicts, you have to find a way to procrastinate, and if you want to procrastinate, you have to pay the price.

Talking on the knees in the moving carriage, the two hoped to roughly finalize a foreign policy in the early stage of the founding of the country.

First of all, they agreed: After the Linhemen tragedy, the diplomatic relations between King's Landing and Pentos will inevitably drop below the freezing point, and it will be impossible for the other side to send envoys in a short time. Beware of possible reprisals from the Pentos; at the same time, the state of war between the Queen and Volantis has not yet ended... Regarding the communication between the two places, the safest solution is to use neutral shipping or commercial giants to come forward Sending a message, relying on a middleman to mediate between the two sides, helps the two parties communicate across the air-to avoid the inevitable direct conflict when sitting down and face-to-face.

Apart from these two exceptions, the other seven of the nine trading city-states can communicate normally.

Iger first expressed his thoughts on the tone of diplomatic work: be tough first, then tough.

Specifically, it is: in the two stages before and after the end of the Hewan War, foreign policy was carried out according to two models.

Battle against the River Bend: In the public statements made by the Queen, except for insisting that Illyrio stole military secrets first, and resisted the law enforcement in the face of the search, which finally caused the tragedy, it never showed it in actual actions Too much tough.The diplomats of the Targaryen dynasty will not only take the initiative to visit and show a good attitude of willingness to negotiate, but will also slightly loosen their mouths on the originally expected tariffs and trade regulations, making a "although we can't admit it, but in fact we still know that there are make a mistake and decide to bleed to solve the matter” attitude; while negotiating and negotiating the “range of concessions”, they then dispatched public relations personnel to lobby and make large-scale moves...a large amount of money was distributed to the power class of the seven major trading city-states in a non-war state to pay The way of real money to buy the friendliness of the neutral elite, at the cost of creating internal division.

As long as this most dangerous period can be dragged over, the Targaryen dynasty, which has captured the Bend and integrated all the resources of the Seven Kingdoms, will immediately tear off its harmless mask to reveal its ferocious fangs, and become aggressive in all policies: Not only will the incident of Illyrio, which was actually admitted to be dead, be brought up again, asking Pentos to make an apology and compensation in the name of endangering national security, even the topic of abolition of slavery, which has been deliberately put aside, will be brought up again. It was brought out with great fanfare to put pressure on the nine major city-states... Even the "reconstruction of Valyria" that Iger once drew a big pie to the queen, in fact, you can try one or two depending on the situation!

……

"These city-states, which allow slave owners and wealthy businessmen to meet to decide on national policies and use 'elite' republics as their actual political system, have their natural weaknesses and disadvantages, that is: people with vicious vision and insight will never be the top rulers , no one can quickly implement any policy with one word, even if most people know that this move will benefit them in the long run.” Iger explained the considerations of his plan, what is beneficial to the enemy is naturally harmful to oneself, if you ask What is he afraid of now? Naturally, he is afraid that the group of slave owners and wealthy merchants will not take advantage of the soft and the hard. Just as ballots can prevent the winner from being born forever, we don’t need to persuade the city-states to abolish slavery and support the queen, we only need to make a small effort to prevent them from reaching a consensus quickly, and we will be invincible!”

"It's a good idea, but you assume the slave owners are too stupid. If I am a slave owner in a trading city-state, and every night there are bed slaves who are good at spring cries to warm my bed, then I know that the sea There is a hard-core anti-slavery queen sitting on the iron... When she sits on the throne, she will definitely have trouble sleeping and eating. If this queen sends someone to talk about foreign affairs and trade, I will definitely grab the messenger and have to ask. Does his queen have any further stance on slavery?" Tyrion shook his head in disapproval, "Maybe some slave owners will be greedy for profit, and they will be careless and only care about immediate enjoyment without a sense of vigilance, but as long as one in a thousand If a person decides to stick to it, someone will follow it, forming a trend and general trend!"

Iger frowned and reflected, realizing that what Tyrion said was not impossible: "I'm just proposing a general idea. If you have ideas and supplements, you can naturally propose them."

"The topic of slavery cannot be avoided. I think those who go to spread money must also appease the slave owners at the same time. The Seven Kingdoms also strongly oppose interfering in the internal affairs of the trading city-state. The slave master compromises..."