The king on the Great Wall

The flower of Gaoting who was in her twentieth year has lost her youthful aura. She is at the perfect balance between youth and maturity. Her physical condition has reached its peak. Her attire tonight is simple and simple yet elegant. Quite eye-catching... In normal times, Iger would probably start politely with compliments.

However, in fact, this beautiful lady in front of him is just a part of the stumbling block on the road of the Great King's Land plan, and the current active and passive situation of the offensive and defensive sides is completely one-sided.Whether in psychology or in fact, he didn't even bother to think of some witty words to appease him, and he was already very polite if he could maintain basic etiquette: "If you have to talk about friendship, of course there is. 'Known for many years' is exactly After you reported yourself as the 'wife of the false king', you were not immediately arrested and escorted to a cell, but the only reason why you can still sit in front of me. I hope you will cherish this friendly and preferential treatment, and don't waste time talking nonsense."

It is true that there was a "honeymoon period" of cooperation between Tyrell and the Night's Watch industry, but in the end it was just a mutually beneficial transaction.It is a fact that the Rose family did not take too much advantage of the Night Watchman due to their ancestral principles, but the Night Watchman industry is also a business-like business, and the Tyrell family plus Renly's cash contribution and network of contacts were converted into shares or technology doubled back. Yes, I didn't let my partner suffer.

There is friendship, but there is no debt of favor, Aigerba...turns his face and refuses to recognize anyone, so naturally there is no psychological pressure.

The emotion card was torn to pieces as soon as it was played, Margaret collected her thoughts and emotions, and drew out the relationship card: "Your Majesty, I surrender to her on behalf of Highgarden and Hewan, so she won't even disappear with her niece and daughter-in-law, right?" ?”

"If I were you, I wouldn't expect this to be a life-saving straw."

Iger sneered contemptuously, without revealing any flaws.

In her heart, the queen was already apprehensive about the authenticity of Prince Aegon's identity, but he would naturally not reveal this kind of information that would give the negotiating opponent greater confidence.

Standing up slightly, he became serious: "Appointed by the legal monarch of the Seven Kingdoms, Queen Daenerys Targaryen I Targaryen of Westeros, in the name of the Queen's Hand, I am solely responsible for the negotiations with the Rebels in the Riverbend. Now , let's get to the point."

Margaery's complexion turned extremely bad.

She went out in person on this trip, of course because both her father and brother went out to fight in the city and their whereabouts were unknown, and the only man left in the family line in the castle was a lame elder brother Vilas, so she dared not and could not send her out.But in addition, there are two important factors that have also become key considerations: First, Daenerys is also a woman, and the sentry clearly reported that she rode a dragon and landed in the camp; second, she is the wife of the queen's nephew , also crowned with the Targaryen surname-in the noble game, this kind of relationship is a very useful stepping stone and amulet.

Margaery wanted to make a "lady's treaty" with Daenerys to become a good talk, but now the queen is clearly in the camp, but she doesn't show up and makes Iger...not a nobleman or even a Westeros The prime minister in black came to receive him.

This not only failed Margaery's original plan, but also sent a dangerous signal.

Queen, it is very likely that she is determined to kill the Tyrell family.

Her heart skipped a beat, and Margaery suppressed her panic.

There are two possibilities, one is that the queen has made up her mind, and the other is that Iger is bluffing.

In the former case, nothing you can do will help, and panic will be in vain; as for the latter case, as long as you show the slightest sign of being bluffed, you will be greeted with a bloody lion's mouth.

"The Tyrell family has decided to give up supporting Aegon's claim to the throne, surrender to the queen and swear allegiance. Riverbend will compensate Her Majesty for all the war expenses of this western expedition. The amount can be finalized later, as long as she promises the following conditions." In the face of negotiating opponents who were not willing to enter, Margaery gave up playing tricks, "Killing on the battlefield is not counted, guarantee the safety and personal freedom of all surviving river bend nobles, and keep their castles, fiefs and titles, and those who no longer have Families with male members must at least leave enough property for their wives and children to live on..."

Margaery's first request seemed absurd and ridiculous, but it was actually just a necessary foreshadowing before repaying the money—exorbitant asking price.As the daughter of the Tyrell family, she knew very well that after the defeat in this battle, the Reach would no longer be able to resist, so she was fully prepared for the bloodletting when negotiating terms with her grandmother, the Queen of Thorns, and her brother Vilas. ...However, Iger didn't even want to wait for her to finish reciting the conditions, and quickly interrupted her speech.

"Queen Margaery, smell it, does this tent stink?"

Smelly?

Margery subconsciously moved her nostrils, but she didn't smell the slightest smell. She immediately realized that this should be a metaphor or an insinuation... However, even though she used her brain wildly, she couldn't figure out what Iger was referring to while breathing, and she didn't want to be tongue-tied. Feeling stupid, he could only shake his head in doubt: "No, what does the Prime Minister mean?"

"I'd like to persuade you, don't waste time talking nonsense, you treat me as fart, but say it doesn't smell bad, so contradictory, isn't it funny!" Iger snorted coldly, but his eyes looked fierce, "I am You can say you didn’t receive the declaration of conquest that was sent to the Twin Rivers, but two months ago, in the industrial park outside King’s Landing, you and I met in person for dinner, right? What did I tell you then? What did you see, with Gao Tingzhihua's clever little brain, how can you forget it in just a few dozen days?!"

He casually took out a small stack of documents that had been prepared, and threw it in front of the little queen: "It doesn't matter if you forget, this will definitely help you recall!"

With Margaery's memory, she didn't even need to pick it up to look at it, but she just glanced at it from a distance to understand what it was.

A list that registered the general situation of [-]% of the lord's families in the Reach. Iger once held it in King's Landing and uttered wild words, claiming to "invite" all the families circled in red to move to King's Landing and accept the Queen's Landing. So called hospitality.

At that time, Margaery thought it was an inferior and stupid humiliation and provocation, and secretly vowed to repay it twice in the future. Who would have thought that the clown was actually herself!

"Let me tell you what should happen next." Iger didn't force Margaery to read the documents he threw over, but continued on his own, "Due to the stubbornness of the princes of the river bay The original conditions for being indifferent and boldly rebellious have been abolished - one-third of the nobles drawn in the red circle will now disappear from the world - this is estimated to be almost satisfied after this battle, and the other one-third will be extinct. Go to plant potatoes outside the Great Wall, and finally the one-third who resists the least and surrenders the fastest can still be honored to be invited by the queen, and the whole family will move to King's Landing to accept the hospitality of the royal family."

"As for the Tyrell family, I would like to advise you as an old friend. Don't think about negotiating any conditions. Hurry up and open the door overnight to welcome Wang Jun, and then wait for the queen to deal with it. I hope she will give you a light sentence when she is in a good mood. It's the best way out!"

-

Chapter 697

Exorbitant asking price?

Iger will also, and he will be more fierce.

"Unconditionally open the door and wait for disposal" is of course nonsense. There is no such surrender. Even the so-called "unconditional surrender" in the modern world of the earth is not really unconditional, but just "the party that surrenders is not allowed to make conditions" - nothing else Talk, at least on the surface, decency and human rights must always be guaranteed.If he behaved well as a dog after surrendering, he might still be able to drink soup and eat meat.

Iger's original plan was quite satisfactory: take a rest overnight, let the artillery fire the last barrel of gunpowder in the form of a large interval and a single shot in the daytime tomorrow, while fighting with ultimatums to persuade them to surrender, and order the defenders to send representatives out of the city for peace talks... If you can't be intimidated They will bite the bullet and attack again the day after tomorrow.

Obviously, if the High Court should send a negotiating envoy after he issued an ultimatum, even if Iger is arrogant and powerful, he will never be too outrageous.

After all, that was what he wanted and demanded.

But now, before he even started to scare, the "Queen" on the opposite side came out of the nest and delivered it to her door.

Coming uninvited, this exposed his own weakness - Iger was worried that the siege battle would be difficult after the gunpowder ran out, but the Tyrell family was even more afraid that he would be thunderous once he made a move, and the dog would never stay!

No matter how calm and calm Mageli Ren behaved, neither humble nor overbearing, no matter how she argued with reason, articulate or eloquent during the negotiation, none of them could conceal the fact that they were terrified.

If you don't slaughter at this time, when will you wait?

……

I was shaking all over, my hands and feet were cold, and my mind was a mess.Margaery has always been good at negotiating and buying people's hearts, but she has never learned how to deal with psychopaths who do not play according to the rules.She considers herself not a villain, and she has never held any hostility towards the night watchman in front of her, but for some reason, this bastard is just as enmity with her in her previous life—every time since the first time they met, she would let him She has nowhere to display her abilities, and she is restrained as if encountering a natural enemy.

The last time when she felt being teased in the Night Watchman Industrial Park, she could still turn her head away confidently and leave without talking.But now, all the residents of the castle, plus the lives of all the fathers and brothers who went out to fight in the city and who are probably still alive at this moment, are all tied up in this negotiation tonight. How dare she and how can she walk away? Is it over?

"Lord Commander-in-Chief!" The flames of the oil lamp danced in Margaery's brown eyes that were looking directly at Iger, as if she was about to burst into anger. The titles are all wrong, "I hope...you can... put forward some more feasible and sincere suggestions, so that this negotiation can proceed!"

Even though she was furious, she couldn't say any cruel words such as killing a soldier and not humiliating her.

Firstly, she is not a soldier, and secondly... she is terribly frightening.

Life is so beautiful and the world is so colorful, why bother to live and die.

"Calm down, Ms. Margery, I don't intend to humiliate you." There are not many opportunities for the long-sleeved and dancing Flower of the High Court to lose her composure for a while, but in the final analysis, Iger also wants to reach an agreement to end the war.After a leisurely pause for a few seconds, he unhurriedly laid out the steps: "But at this moment, both Highgarden and Hewan are already in the Queen's pocket, and they are at your fingertips. Why do I want to accept your surrender... Instead of picking it up yourself? You want me to be sincere, so you have to give me a reason."

The old-fashioned but effective pressure method translates as "want my sincerity, what about yours?".Margaery understood instantly, and her heart suddenly fell to the ground: this is for her to quickly show her bargaining chips and benefits.As long as the price tag is right, a deal is not impossible.

She lost in the first round of psychological confrontation, and it was a crushing defeat.This feels very strange, but who let their men not win on the battlefield?As long as the other party has the confidence to turn the table and not talk about it, but you don't, it is meaningless to play on the negotiating table.

The ability to think quickly returned to normal. Margaery put away her angry face and narrowed her eyes. She quickly retrieved the speech she had already thought up, and decided to regroup and face the next second contest.

"Her Majesty has won the war, and the people of Hewan are convinced. But you still occupy less than one-third of the territory of Hewan, and for the remaining half, no matter how the Prime Minister divides the army and how the lords surrender, at least It will take another month to get everything in the bag. However, the spring planting has been seriously delayed, and now it is approaching the last time, if the delay continues, the first round of harvest will be greatly affected..."

It's true, but it's a cliché, and it's not very threatening. Iger shrugged slightly, noncommittal.

"Besides." Margaery raised her chin slightly, "As far as I know, the Slave Owners Alliance on the other side of the Narrow Sea has also reorganized and started to make efforts. The east coast of Westeros is facing an unprecedented threat of harassment."

Speaking of which, there was a voice within the Riverbend Army, asking the Tyrell family to throw Highgarden out as a bait and continue to retreat, and wait until the queen's east and west lines fell into the quagmire of war at the same time before launching a counterattack... But this suggestion was rejected by everyone Most of the nobles dismissed it as nonsense and let it go. Now it seems that this stupid idea...

"It is conceivable that the Queen must want to end the Battle of the Reach as soon as possible, and transfer your ever-victorious general back to King's Landing or Storm's End to take charge of the defense of the Narrow Sea, am I right?" She stopped pointlessly complaining, and threw He concluded, "Only when the entire river bends orderly surrenders and changes flags under the leadership of the Tyrell family, can the end time of the war be shortened to the shortest possible time, which not only avoids the occurrence of large-scale famine when there is no supply, but also saves time for adults. , to deal with the group of slave owners on the other side of the narrow sea!"

This line of thinking is quite clear.

If you don't have much negotiating leverage, start with the opponent's difficulties.Margaery not only exposed the challenges that the Queen's government is facing, but also showed her own soft power quietly: You see, even though there are constant battles on the frontal battlefield, my Tyrell family's intelligence network is still operating as usual and well-informed. Variables that are far away can also be quickly grasped.

But she clearly exaggerated the threat that a loose alliance of slave owners could pose to a newly centralized dynasty emerging from a sea of ​​corpses and blood.

Iger didn't hide his contempt, and asked indifferently: "What else?"

What tone!

Margaery gritted her teeth and continued to place chips: "The Tyrell family has been rooted in the river bend for a long time, and has been in business for many years. They are very clear about the military strength of the local forces, family culture, lord's temper, and even the type and distribution of assets. We know which family still has the strength to resist, and which family can accept the terms of surrender without being ruthless and desperate—as long as Your Majesty guarantees the title status of the Tyrell family, we are willing to provide this information to help the queen fight for it smoothly. to the best interest!"

Hey.

Is this going to sell teammates as vote certificates?Or do you plan to use the queen's hand to fight against the disobedient thorns?

Good conditions, but it may be a trap, so be careful.

Iger showed an interested expression-the shameless energy of the Tyrell family perfectly echoed their "endless life" language-in order to survive, everything is allowed.

He nodded slightly, motioning for Margaery to continue.

"When the Prime Minister led the land-grant army and civilians to fight against the White Walkers and the dead, it is a pity that the river bend thousands of miles away in the south was unable to contribute. To express our apologies and show our respect for the Night Watch Legion, we voluntarily undertake All the debts of the Night Watchman, on top of this, donate an additional [-] golden dragons to help Zengdi rebuild after the war!"

Paying back the debts is to help Iger support his power, and donating [-] gold dragons is almost an elegant way of saying bribery.

These two are real benefits, and Margery has also wisely chosen a way that will never make Iger feel disgusted... or fall into the trap of others.

To be honest, he was quite useful.

Iger's face turned better, but he still didn't say a word. He stared at Margaery's face and told her with his eyes: It's okay, but not enough.

The two looked at each other, and after a few seconds of stalemate, Margaery spoke again under the pressure of silence, biting the bullet and continuing.

"I can see that the prime minister's plan is not small, and he wants to help the queen strengthen the royal power and accomplish a great cause." And Hewan happened to be the target of the operation, and Margaret didn't say the bitter next sentence. , "But as far as I know, my lord has never visited Hewan before this Western Expedition. Information such as population, output, and ownership can still be obtained through public channels, but more details besides this ? Do you know how many villages and farms there are in the entire river bend? How many dialects do they speak? Which one of the seven gods do you admire the most?"

"I guess the Prime Minister can't say it, but it's not anyone's fault. What I want to remind you is: what the people of Hewan need is the same language and the same species, they can understand their complaints in their dialect, and they can understand and accept them. Way to give orders, willing to stay close and care about their real local rulers, not a dragon riding queen far away. Whoever sits on the throne and wants to quickly control the river bend to bring them into rule, the best The method is to allow the people of Hewan to govern the river, rather than killing, banishing and exchanging blood on a large scale!"

After all, as if to prevent Iger from continuing to press with silence, she took a deep breath after a pause, and made up the concluding remarks heavily.

"The Tyrells offer you all their sincerity, Prime Minister. Now, it's your turn."

-

Chapter 698 Knife or Shovel?

That's called negotiation.

Iger secretly drank the refreshing wine called "Union under the City", sat up a little, and began to give homework to the little queen in front of him.

"Ms. Margaret, after talking so much, your mouth must be parched. Let's drink some water to moisten your throat." He picked up the water bottle and poured a glass for the visitor, and placed it in front of her. He withdrew his hand before speaking slowly. , "First of all, I have to admit: a timely donation can greatly alleviate the financial difficulties faced by Zengdi in the post-war period. However——" After a moment of pause, he changed his subject sharply, "Speaking of which , the war between the Night Watch Corps and the White Walkers is aimed at protecting the entire human world, which naturally includes the Reach. Supporting us is the duty of every living person: from the perspective of 'ritual', I will represent the Night Watch Corps He Zengdi's army and civilians thank the Tyrell family for their kindness and donation; but from the perspective of 'reason', it is impossible for me to admit it as one of the conditions for negotiation."

Margaery felt her skin tighten.

She listed the conditions, and of course left room for negotiation, and was ready to be bargained.But she never expected that the opponent would pull out the dragon-slaying knife, and the first cut would slash ferociously to the end, digging out even the roots.

However, she never dared to say "since it's not a negotiation condition, then we won't donate".After all, there is still a crime against humanity that hangs on the heads of the river bend nobles, which can be used as a reason for liquidation at any time.

The dumb guy didn't contain any water, and after swallowing it, her mouth suddenly became dry. She couldn't help but picked up the glass of water Iger just poured... Thinking about the good, the other party didn't reject her donation proposal, at least it showed that she was low. With limited recognition, the worst will not happen.

"Remove this invalid item, and I will summarize the following part for you on my own initiative-you claim: the queen accepts the surrender now, and completes the peace treaty with the River Bend under the leadership of the Tyrell family, which can save time to carry out Rest and recuperate, concentrate on dealing with the offensive of the anti-liberation alliance; second, squeeze out the best indemnity conditions in a targeted manner, and suck up the wealth of the nobles in the river bay; stable governance."

He nodded and paused.Margaery’s sudden visit caught him by surprise, to be honest—who can just go through an epic decisive battle with 10 people during the day and be ready to negotiate with the enemy at night?

But unlike in the past when he was in a low position and had to rack his brains to prepare speeches in advance to fool those high-ranking big shots, this time he became the one who took the initiative and didn't think about how to bargain?It's okay, just think about it slowly, even she dare not be impatient.

Under this relaxed and comfortable condition, he quickly conceived the details of the next few cuts.

"The slave owners on the other side of the narrow sea are indeed ferocious, but they come from different city-states, have different intentions, and fight across the narrow sea. They can only be as fierce as the first wave. These people are both I have neither the will nor the ability to threaten the foundation of the kingdom. The Queen did urge me to speed up, but at the same time she also emphasized that the reinforcements must be resolved after the River Bend War has been completely resolved.” He half-truthfully said, “This means Comment: Either the situation on the Eastern Front is still under control, or His Majesty believes that the security of the eastern border and cross-sea trade are more important than the security of the eastern border and the cross-sea trade. The original team will continue to manage the river bay. , is of course the fastest and safest way, but why do you think that a quick but rough restoration of the rule is all the queen wants?"

This second knife was a little lighter than the first knife, but it still made the scalp numb.

But what Margaery didn't know was that before she had time to recollect and judge the truth in the words, the speaker changed his mind temporarily.

Iger doesn't want to bargain anymore.

His original plan was to refute Margaery's conditions one by one, adding layers upon layers.But then I thought about it again: this is not a debate contest, stereotyped essay test, or parallel essay writing. Why is obsessive-compulsive disorder obsessively following the "one-to-one correspondence" thinking as a questioner?

What he needs is not a knife, but a shovel. He wants to dig out all the negotiation foundations laid by Margaery in one go, and start anew!

……

"Ms. Margery, you are very smart, so smart that you can see that the queen wants to do something extraordinary."

Iger picked up the kettle again and started pouring water into the cup in front of him.

"However, your growth experience and living environment limit your pattern, and you can't even imagine what kind of great achievements can be called 'extraordinarily great'. Weakening the river bend and strengthening the kingship probably already seem to you It is a magnificent undertaking that is enough to make people breathless. But if I told you that the full name of the cause that the Queen really wants and is advancing is the 'Great King's Land Project', how would you feel?"

He planned to boil the frogs in warm water and concoct step by step to completely destroy the river bend, so of course he didn't dare to show Margaret the schematic diagram of the Great King's Land plan as soon as he came up--if that was the case, no matter how hard it was, how difficult it was, and how dangerous it was, the remaining The next two-thirds of the river bend lords, including the Old Town Hightower family, may have to grit their teeth and organize the next wave of counterattack.Fortunately, the term "Kingdom" itself is straightforward enough that anyone can immediately understand after hearing it: what the queen wants to do is not just to strengthen the royal power.

"Please forget that this is a surrender and peace negotiation, Ms. Margery. Concentrate, the next words are purely a friendly reminder from old acquaintances, and I will only say it once." Iger said crisply to Margery snapped her fingers, and then raised a finger under her gaze, "The queen is not only pursuing the restoration of the Targaryen dynasty, she has actually announced to the Seven Kingdoms by melting down the Iron Throne a few months ago. My intention—what she wants to do is to create a brand new era, an era that cannot tolerate the old forces!"

"The Tyrell family's legal advantages as the lords of the River Bend, the huge amount of valuable information, and the personal friendship between you and me...of course, plus a little bit of your own keen intuition and quick action, let you tonight Unlike other river bend nobles who are about to be unlucky—they have the opportunity to sit here and make the following choice, that is: in the coming new era, should they be reduced to ashes and become the dust of history, or open their eyes embrace it?"

It's a choice, but it's not a choice at all.

What Iger needs to worry about is not that Margaery will refuse his conditions, but how to try to prevent the Tyrell family from violating the law and agreeing on the surface but still doing tricks secretly.

"The birth of the Tyrell family was accidental and special. Aegon the Conqueror promoted you from mere stewards to lords of the Reach for the purpose of humiliating the princes of the Reach and weakening the cohesion of this fertile land. Today's history of more than 200 years is the history of blood and tears of the Tyrell family struggling to get rid of this identity, striving to be upgraded from a "pawn of the dragon family" to a "true master of the bay"... After more than [-] years of obedience, prudence and neutrality In the end, you have almost achieved your goal, and now you are only missing the last step of the proof of stepping into the center of power."

"After getting close to the goal, you are obviously in a hurry. Whether it's watching instead of going all out in the Reaver's War, sending you to fight for the position of Robert's second queen, and supporting Renly and then in the ensuing melee of the Seven Kingdoms. Little Aegon and the two kings have committed trouble, and they are all making wild bets to take this last step." Iger said something that pierced Margaery's heart in a sincere tone, and he sighed, "It's a pity that, This series of desperate and risky attempts all ended in failure, and unfortunately, I became the biggest murderer who killed the dreams of you, my old friends."

A seemingly reasonable analysis, but in fact it is all bullshit.

The victor has a reason to say anything, but if Renly Baratheon hadn't been assassinated by the witchcraft of the red robe woman, or the Allied Forces of the River Bend Golden Legion won the battle during the day, how could you be a night watchman here? The reason for criticizing and accusing Tyrell's family of rushing to the doctor?

Margaery snorted coldly in her heart, and instinctively wanted to put on a well-behaved expression that was deeply touched and even filled with regret, but in the end she restrained the urge.

The past contact with the guy in front of her has made her understand: in front of this bastard, acting is useless.

Iger didn't push forward in a hurry, but stopped, and slowly drank the water in his glass under Margaret's unemotional gaze, before returning to the conversation to continue.

"I sympathize and regret this, but I won't apologize, and I don't even want to hide my contempt—you are so limited by noble attributes and inherent concepts, you have huge resources and the orthodox status of the supreme lord, but you just want to Playing with the rules of the game set by the predecessors, follow the routine process to get rid of the label of 'upstart' and get the approval of those ancient families." Iger took a long breath and shook his head regretfully - this disgust is not bad You need to pretend, "Have you ever thought that even if everything goes well, the Tyrell family can only barely overwhelm those great nobles and win the respect that should belong to the highest lord of your river bend?"

"And now, an opportunity to go far beyond those old families, look down and even step on them is in front of the Tyrell family!" After a lot of time-delaying nonsense, Iger finally conceived his new conditions in his mind, "Next, listen to my thoughts."

-

Chapter 699 You Are Responsible For Leading The Way