The king on the Great Wall

And the best way to prevent this from happening is to temporarily detain all the members of the Golden Group, pay appropriate hush money, and bind their interests to the queen.

Only when their interests are aligned with the Targaryen dynasty, will this group of mercenaries voluntarily spread the story of "Harry Strickland was tricked and murdered Prince Aegon, and was later executed by the queen in anger".

As for the conspiracy theory version of "Queen Killing Her Parents", Iger can't prevent it from appearing in the future, but at least he must work hard to delay this time point until the end of the war against the Dragon Mother Alliance.

"Yesterday, Captain Harry saw a fake Hand of the Queen, but the Queen and I in front of you are completely fake! In front of the witness of Duke Mace Tyrell, on behalf of the Queen, I would like to express my respect to all members of the Golden Company. The members will give a real and official pardon, and except for the necessary investigations, no one will be held accountable for the crimes involved in this matter!" Iger stood up and stood up for Daenery, who had just finished venting her anger and was still in a violent turmoil Si wiped her butt, "As for the next step, I would like to ask, who is the leader of the golden group now?"

All the officers of the Golden Regiment who are still in fear look at me and I look at you, who would dare to do this?

"If you need time to discuss or recommend, then I will decide on my own, and I will appoint a...'temporary' one for you first." Iger didn't have the patience to wait for them to calm down and discuss. He activated the traditional arts—— "What's your name, the warrior who snatched the fake pardon from Commander Strickland just now?"

"Hei Baqu, Your Excellency Prime Minister." The black-skinned and white-haired mercenary wearing a feather cloak stood up, even if he was frightened by Dragon Flame, he did not show it, "I am from the Midsummer Islands, from the 'Black Heart' m Sir Stoyne has served as the archer commander of the Golden Regiment since the era when he was the captain. If the Prime Minister wants to prevent a bachelor from a certain castle from sending ravens, I am your best choice."

"Very good, it sounds like your qualifications should be enough to convince the public." Iger doesn't need a sharpshooter for the time being, and he is not interested in getting to know him in depth. Haiyuan came all the way but got nothing, so he definitely couldn’t just be sent back in such a disheartened way, now there is a new order in front of you, take it--you will not only have a job to do, but you may even have a job for the rest of your life. There is a settlement, are you interested?"

I'm not very interested, the Golden Group has been defeated and deflated, and at this moment, they are facing drastic changes, and this is the moment when they need to rest and take a vacation the most.

However, after witnessing the queen's cooking of the former head of the group just now, and being oppressed by the power of the real dragon in Iger's body at the moment, Hei Baqu couldn't utter the word "no" in his throat.

"What job? How to pay?"

"In the second half of the Western Expedition, there must be some die-hards in the River Bend who were stubborn and refused to obey the order of the Tyrells to 'surrender to the Queen'. Highgarden and the Queen did not have so many people to deal with them one by one. In order not to delay Delaying the spring planting, we need some help." Iger smiled, although this time he was serious, but he felt that the next words were a bit like fooling the other party, "As for the reward-land and castle. Stormland These two things are what Hebend lacks most at the moment. Whether to go back to the Narrow Sea to face the angry relatives of comrades-in-arms who died in the war demanding pensions, or stay in Westeros as a nobleman with a house and land, you have to Let's see what you do next."

……

How to control the beast of the Golden Group without suffering backlash is a technical job, but as long as you are cautious, in any case, the difficulty will not be greater than defeating the 10-strong River Bend Allied Forces.

In the original plan of the Great King's Land, after the start of the Western Expedition, the entire Queen's camp will no longer accept new entrants to share the fruits of victory. However, the disturbance caused by the Slave Owners Alliance is greater than expected, and the Western Expedition must be ended as soon as possible due to time constraints. It is not completely unacceptable to act in a hurry and spit out a little oil and water in exchange for greater benefits.

Fortunately, after years of wars and a severe winter, the size of the cake vacated in Westeros is enough for several people to share.

Iger has already figured it out: the most fertile land in the royal land, the eastern part of the river bend, and the northern part of the stormlands will be divided up by the queen and her own land-grant army faction. In the future, this will be the core "great king's land"; The Dornish land was eaten by the Dornish, so that the barefoot Martells could never stay out of it forever with their shoes on... the rest of the southern part of the Stormlands, the edge of the mountains between the Rainforest and the Kingswood. In the corners, there are still a lot of low-quality but not too barren territories left, which can just be cut out and used as hush money for the Golden Group.

As for whether they stayed after the war to be small lords who could not stand up or down, or sold the land and returned to Essos for cash, that was their own choice.

The Queen returned eastward to King's Landing, suppressing the loss of no relatives and anger at the mastermind behind the scenes, while Iger added another task of investigating the real culprit on the task list, and took the free trade team that was temporarily disarmed. The city-state's first mercenary group continued to march towards the old town.

There are not many wonderful stories to tell about the investigation of the "counterfeiting case" and the process of coercing and recruiting a group of mercenaries. In short, four days after setting off from High Court, they arrived at the old town along the very smooth Rose Avenue. outside the city.

-

Chapter 709 High Tower Family

Oldtown, as the name suggests, was built by the First Men long before the Andals invaded.Not only is it the oldest city in Westeros, it was also the largest city in the Seven Kingdoms before King's Landing was built (and even within a hundred years after it was built).Located at the southwest corner of the river bend, where the Mead River flows into the Whispering Bay and the Sunset Sea, it is one of the east-west traffic arteries in Westeros—the Rose Avenue corresponds to the other end of King's Landing.

Not affected by the war, the spring planting in the west of the river bend has already been completed.As we approach the terminal of the Western Expedition, the green crops in the fields on both sides of the road gradually become denser and taller, and more and more pedestrians and horses rush to avoid the army along the way... Continue along the last section of Rose Avenue On the way, the atmosphere of war became weaker and weaker, and finally almost disappeared, but the breath of spring became stronger and stronger, permeating the whole world.

Under the bright sunlight, the second largest city in Westeros unfolded in front of Iger like a scroll.

The huge and bloated body of the old town straddles the north and south ends of the estuary. On the side facing the land is a winding city wall densely covered with sentry towers. Inside and outside the wall are dense, complex and low houses like ant nests.And the side facing the ocean is the entire port, with countless warships and merchant ships and dotted wharfs...

In the center of the city silhouette, which is similar to King's Landing but only slightly shrunk, stands its well-known landmark building: the towering tower.

If the Impassable Great Wall is the largest artificial structure in the Ice and Fire World, then the Hightower Family Fort located on the Battle Island in the center of the old town is the tallest.It is both a castle and a lighthouse, so prominent and conspicuous, like a giant candle inserted by the gods on a pancake covered with various fillings, leaping into view from a long distance.In fact, it wasn't today—as early as last night when we were still twenty or thirty miles away, everyone could already see the fire on the top of its tower with the naked eye.

Under the pressure of the towering tower, the thick city wall of the old town, which is not inferior to King's Landing, is so low that it doesn't seem to exist.

The southeast gate of the city was opened as promised by the Hightower family. A stone's throw away from the gate, under the signboard at the fork in the road, a crowded, large and gorgeously dressed team waited quietly and obediently. The approach of the vanguard of the conscripts.

After flying around the city to confirm that there was no ambush, Iger patted Lei Ge on the back and fell towards the group of people.

Different from the seemingly relaxed and comfortable size ratio, flying with an extra weight of nearly two hundred catties is very strenuous even for an adult dragon. Iger also rode on the ground or drove on the road until he was close enough to be able to fly. The green dragon was exchanged only when the city wall of the old town was seen with the naked eye, and it was cut to the dragon knight state.

This move obviously had the expected effect. When it fell from the sky in a cloud of dust and landed in front of the welcoming Hightower family members, the horror and awe they looked up at was so strong that it could not be concealed.

Iger got down from the dragon's back to the ground, and was taking off his riding gloves while walking towards the crowd. A tall and handsome man in a light gray and green long gown, with a handsome appearance and a status obviously higher than the average, was quite courageous. Greeted towards him and Lei Ge, and opened his mouth with an eager smile as he walked.

"I've heard that the Prime Minister is a hero, and today I'm finally honored to meet him. He really deserves his reputation!" The man introduced himself first with a smile that was neither humble nor overbearing, "I am Baelor Hightower, the eldest son of Earl Leighton Hightower, my Father is ill and cannot go out, so he ordered me to lead the crowd to welcome you on his behalf."

"Finally lucky?" Iger said with a faint smile, "I remember that we had a chance to meet as early as outside the Blood Gate in the Valley, but someone was busy with other affairs and didn't have the chance to meet a little night watchman Just a logistics officer."

There is a reason for these words. Iger once lived in the king's camp outside the Blood Gate when he accompanied King Robert to the Alliance of the Righteous in the Valley. He took this opportunity to greet the nobles from the six countries Baelor Hightower was one of the many haughty nobles he "begged to see and couldn't get an audience with" had been a hard sell on the Night's Watch estate.

Baylor was so teased that he was speechless for a moment, and he kept an awkward but polite smile and thought of a reasonable explanation: "This... the Prime Minister doesn't know, my brother Gals is old and still unmarried. He is looking for ladies of the right age, how can he have the time to do business! However, he is not high enough to be low, and he is still single to this day—this matter, maybe he has to rely on the Prime Minister to make a bridge."

The King’s Camp outside the Blood Gate is indeed a rich family’s blind date, and the marriage of the male members of the Hightower family has always been a problem: the ruling family of Old Town is rich and powerful, and even the queen has been born. Quite a few (whether it is the Queen of the Bend or the Queen of the Seven Kings), the ordinary minor nobles are indeed not qualified to marry them.But the great nobles: Margaery Tyrell, Arianne Martell, Asha Greyjoy... These slightly better-matched ones, which one is not a title higher than the "Earl", but also their own stomachs. There are a lot of ideas here?Even the eldest son may not be in favor of him, let alone the second son - if the second son is more arrogant, beating a bachelor will become a high probability event.

This is indeed a reasonable explanation, and this person can think of an explanation so quickly and even make a relationship with a snake, he is really a social talent.

"Wait for me to make a match?" As an introducer, I'm afraid you won't be able to afford it, but as an inspector, I'd be more than happy to help you——Iger thought to himself, smiled slightly, and didn't reach out to hit the smiling person. "Then you have to wait. I personally suggest that you don't count on me."

"Hey, just a little joke. The prime minister has so many affairs to deal with every day, how can he have the time to take care of the marriages of little people like me!"

Baelor Hightower laughed, turned around and introduced the entourage to him.

"This is His Excellency the Archbishop,"

A fat man in a golden white robe nodded obsequiously to Iger.

"This is the younger brother Humphrey."

A young man looked at him with reverence.

"This is Dr. Perestan, the rotating supervisor of the school city this year."

A certain white-haired old man who looked very knowledgeable.

"This is the mayor of Old Town..."

……

It took more than a minute for "Laughing" Baylor to finish introducing the delegation members who went out of the city to greet them this time.This is the difference between the surrender of a city and the surrender of a castle: after all, a settlement of tens of thousands of people is different from a pure noble city. There are not only masters, servants and guards here, but also free residents.This time, the Hightower family gathered all the leaders from all walks of life to meet Iger. It is hard to judge whether they have any plans to show weakness in their hearts. At least in terms of etiquette on the bright side, Iger has nothing to say. .

Before he descended from the sky on a dragon, this group of people had already enjoyed the prestige of the forward body search of the Western Expeditionary Army, but what Iger admired was that none of them showed any resentment or resentment about it on the surface.Thus, the first meeting with a friendly and harmonious atmosphere ended quickly. Under the leadership of the heir of the Hightower family, Iger led the troops through the gate of the old town, and while listening to Sir Baylor's introduction to the city, he marched through half of the city City, until entering the extremely towering Tower.

The Hightowers have performed flawlessly in all procedures of surrendering, and no one can find any faults - 300 years ago, they relied on this set of operations to be completely impeccable in the great conquest of King Aegon I Targaryen Injured, and even benefited a lot.

However, 300 years later, Iger repeated his old tricks, and his first sentence after sitting at the head of the conference table shocked them like a slap in the face.

"Sir Baylor, are you and your family ready to move?"

-

Chapter 710 High Tower Family

"Move?" Baylor's heart trembled. He didn't dare to sit down when his butt just touched the chair. He froze and shook his head in a daze, "I don't understand what you mean, Mr. Prime Minister."

"I think you should understand." Iger squinted at the foolish person, "but let it be Lord Tyrell's negligence, and the news of the Hightower family is blocked again. The Queen intends to invite all the nobles of the whole river to King's Landing Stay here for two years to increase mutual understanding and cultivate the relationship between the monarch and his subjects—this is His Majesty's decision, there is no room for negotiation."

stay?two years?

The corner of Baylor's mouth twitched, and he forced a smile and asked: "But... isn't this the treatment prepared for the surrendered families? The Hightower family has never openly rebelled against the Queen, and has never used a single sword against the Prime Minister's western expedition. How can the active surrender be the same as those families that surrendered passively?"

"Active surrender and passive surrender?" This is an interesting starting point for the debate. Iger put down his arms and lightly held the handle of the chair, and tapped his fingers comfortably, "You think it is surrender without raising troops to fight the Western Expedition, but I think: You publicly swear allegiance to the queen before the outbreak of the decisive battle in High Court, restrain the formation and assembly of the Allied Forces in the River Bend, or lead the army to attack from behind during the battle, and cooperate with our army to attack from both sides-this is not after the victory or defeat. Standing in line after the division is called surrender."

"Of course, considering that in both cases you are backstabbing directly under the lord and not loyal to Hewan, I believe that the queen will not force others. I really look forward to the Hightower family with such standards." Duke Mace Tyrell, who sat in the second seat with a smile on his face, didn't want to waste any more time arguing with Baelor, "However, I personally don't think it's necessary to continue this discussion. The queen's meaning is very clear. : All the river bend nobles on the list must be invited, whether it is 'surrender' or 'surrender' is not important."

Baylor was a little confused by Iger's straight-forward and undramatic request.

From the perspective of the Hightower family, they did not send troops to resist, and the gesture of surrendering the city and the towering tower was so correct and obedient. No matter how dissatisfied the queen and her prime minister were, it should be hindered by the influence of public opinion and public perception. It is better to treat them more gently... Why is the black-clothed Prime Minister in front of him, as if he has the hatred of killing his father and taking his wife, and is biting them tightly!

There are rumors in the market that Iger West is a narrow-minded person. Could it be that... the resentment that he didn't take the initiative to buy his night watchman bonds back then is so deep?

"The failure to firmly support the queen at the beginning of the war is indeed due to the lack of determination of the Hightower family." It is easy to ask the gods to send the gods to the gods, and now Iger and his troops have entered the towering tower, and it is impossible to go back and chase the guests. Baylor knew that he would have to shed a layer of skin, so he gritted his teeth and said, "The Hightower family is willing to bear appropriate military compensation for this..."

"One yard is one yard." Iger interrupted directly, "I'll just say it again: Indemnity and compensation, the Queen may or may not ask for it, which requires you to talk face-to-face with Her Majesty. But, moving to King's Landing, there is no Negotiable. I'll give you a week to prepare, and if you're still not ready by then, I'll drop by and pick you up!"

"That's not right, Prime Minister." The fat archbishop frowned. The church has always been under the protection of the Hightower family, and he personally received a lot of benefits from the Hightower family. Of course, he must speak out for his friend's interests at this moment, "Since Your Majesty It's an 'invitation', so Hightower, who has always been loyal to House Targaryen, doesn't even have the right to decide whether to accept the invitation?"

"You have the nerve to say the word 'loyalty'!" Mace Tyrell growled in a low voice, "The Hightower family even dared to refuse and defy the orders and orders of the direct lord, but they had the face to face the queen. What did His Majesty say about loyalty! Pooh, I don’t think it’s loyalty, it’s disgusting!”

Although Mace Tyrell and Baelor Hightower are not only monarchs and brothers-in-law, but at the moment the former has only anger in his mind and no family affection: the Earldom that rules the most abundant and powerful river bend, the Hightower family can call With about [-] troops participating in the battle, with such a large number of elite soldiers, the war could have gone in another direction...

But this group of idiots who live in the tower, they don't want to learn, they just learn from their ancestors 300 years ago, ignoring the call of the king!

Fortunately, Tyrell's family had a great fortune, and he had some friendship with Iger, and Margaery, a girl with a bright head, quickly joined the queen and became the leading party, so she didn't end up as the last king of the river-the gardener family in the battle of the rage fate.Otherwise, who knows who will pick up the leak and sit on the throne of the next River Bend Lord?

If you don't want to fight side by side, then let's suffer together, and no one can be alone!

"Lord Tyrell, you have misunderstood." The archbishop continued to explain, and took the blame as agreed, "Lord Leighton Hightower did not intend to disobey the order of the High Court on his own initiative. After praying on hunger strike for seven days and seven nights in the church, she received divine revelation, and learned that Queen Daenerys is the chosen monarch of the Seven Kingdoms, and the enemies who resisted her would be doomed, so she rushed to the tower and persuaded the pious Lord Layton, don't join the battle..."

"Shut up, you fat pig full of lies!" The archbishop doesn't have the prestige and power of another world's Christian Pope, and Metz yelled unceremoniously, "Old-fashioned tricks, don't even bother to change it." Do you want to use it to fool people 300 years from now?"

……

Aiger liked to see the open and secret fighting among the people in Hewan, but let's forget about the scene.

"Enough!" Iger, whose eyes and ears were disturbed, reached out and patted the table, stopped the quarrel, and then slowed down his tone, "Lord Baylor, since the Hightower family is so loyal, why do you refuse the Queen's invitation to your family?" The hospitality of being a guest? Your titles and land will not be deprived or reduced in any way, this is just a simple and pure trip and temporary residence."

"My lord, the Queen's kindness, I think the Hightower family must want to accept it." The archbishop closed his mouth, but Dr. Perestan, the rotating supervisor of the Academy City, relayed his words, "It's just... The second largest city in the Seven Kingdoms is thousands of miles away from King's Landing. Its management and governance are not as difficult as a farmer's castle or village at a glance. Only the Hightower family, which has been sitting here for thousands of years, has Sufficient experience, prestige, connections and abilities to maintain its normal operation and ensure a smooth transition of order under the change of dynasty. If you rashly move the owner of the Tower to King's Landing, I'm afraid there will be some chaos in the city."

After a pause, the gray-haired old scholar concluded earnestly: "I personally think that continuing to guard the kingdom's southwest coastline for the queen is the way for the Hightower family to play its role and show its loyalty!"

Older and more knowledgeable.With these two halos, Dr. Perestan's words immediately attracted nods of agreement.

But Iger's face darkened perceptibly to the naked eye.

Afraid there will be chaos in the city?

If he said this to Iger, who was a young man on Earth before he came to this world, he would probably feel that the old bachelor was really thinking about the overall situation, but to his ears who are now the Queen's Hand, this is almost a naked fruit. threat.

I'm afraid that there will be troubles, it's fake, someone will make troubles, it's true!

The position of the Hightower family in the Reach is somewhat similar to that of the Bolton family in the North—the difference is that, in this correspondence, the gardener family that "matches" the Stark family has been wiped out by the conquerors.

In other words, there is no force in Hewan that is older and more powerful than the Hightower family.

As one of the most prestigious families in Westeros, the Hightower family has a long history that can be traced back to the Dawn Era, and the bloodline is so old and proud that it is rarely necessary to use the "descendant of the blue hand" to give yourself face. Put gold on it (because their ancestors were "married with Qingshou" instead of "born from Qingshou's lineage").They used to be kings, relying on the trick of "surrender and cooperation", they survived the invasion of the Andals, the change of the kings of the Reach and the Targaryen era. In the privileged position of "Old Town King".

Their influence in Old Town is deep and strong, far surpassing that of Egger in Houcrown Town, and maybe even the Stark family's control over Winterfell and its surroundings cannot be compared with it-after all, The population in the hinterland of the northern border is too small, and there are no such self-contained secondary forces as churches, school cities, chambers of commerce, and banks, which also have their own energy and influence.

The leaders of various industries in the city participating in the reception of Iger are all speaking for the Hightower family without exception, which is the most intuitive manifestation of this deep-rooted.

For those in power who are slightly weaker or who are afraid of trouble, this situation and difficulty are enough to make them retreat and choose the strategy of restraint. The fact that the Tull family spoke was precisely the reason why he had to move for the Gaota family!

-

Chapter 711 High Tower Family

Iger was not in a hurry to line up, but slowly sat up straight from the armchair, leaned his torso forward and put his arms on the table, crossed his fingers against his chin, and turned his face with his head supported by a tripod formed by his hands, like examining The looks of everyone here are also slowly sweeping across everyone's face with a gloomy gaze.

……

He didn't speak slowly until everyone noticed his displeasure and the scene gradually changed from noisy to quiet.

"It seems that the Hightower family is really prestigious and influential in Old Town, isn't it?" Iger said in a seemingly polite but eccentric way, his eyes swept over the copper ring worn by the old scholar, Confirming my memory, "Pere...Dr. Stein - I hope I am not mistaken, I remember that you are a very knowledgeable historian. I dare not question your authority and academic height in your field , just as I don't want to know your opinions and viewpoints in another field called 'Zhengyangtai' at all."

"If you really understand what the queen thinks, or have the ability to assist a king to govern the country well, why have I never read any of your official books and periodicals, and no king has invited you Serve as a grand maester or as the Hand of the King?" Iger shrugged, not hiding the contempt in his tone, "Queen Daenerys is the monarch of the entire Seven Kingdoms, not Old Town. Compared with the order and harmony of a city and a place, Prosperity, what she values ​​more is the loyalty and sincerity of the nobles of the Riverbend, because it is related to the stability of the entire kingdom. If you have to choose between Old Town and the Seven Kingdoms, I think, whether it is His Majesty or I would choose to focus on the overall situation without blinking an eye... Not to mention, with so many heroes present here, I really don't believe it: without the owner of the towering tower, this old town will immediately lose Crashed."

The middle paragraph was addressed to everyone present, and then Iger pointed the finger at the director of the school city and the master behind him: "I don't intend to offend, but on the matter of whether the Hightower family should be invited to King's Landing, I don't want 'you think' or 'he thinks', but only the Hightower family can answer: Can you accept it, and how long will it take to get ready?"

There was originally a sentence "I want me to think" in these words, but it was a little arrogant, and Egger jumped over it.

After finishing his speech, he removed the arms supporting his chin and leaned back in the chair again, arranging the most comfortable sitting position, only keeping his eyes on the heir of the Hightower family, waiting for Baylor's final statement.

Iger is clearly going to liquidate the Hightower family, and I'm not sure this is what the Queen means—after the Tyrell family has completely surrendered, the Hightower family made a mistake and opened the gates of Old Town and Towering Tower Under the circumstances, the people of Old Town simply have no means and methods to confront them head-on.

Here are all the leaders of various industries, which one is not human?They have just demonstrated their loyalty and loyalty to the Hightower family once verbally, but if they continue to beep, they may be affected by the dragon's wrath of the Targaryen family. The family was buried.

As a result, the entire hall quickly became silent, and no one spoke up for the owner of the towering tower.

Except for members of the Hightower family themselves.

Lord Leighton Hightower's youngest son, Humphry Hightower rose to his feet, flushed with anger.

As the youngest son in this generation, he is still young and doomed to have no chance of succession, so he never received any education related to officialdom when he was growing up... Among the defection delegation, he was considered the most innocent and innocent The make-up man of the city.It can be said that he is the only one, and the admiration and respect for Iger shown when he is outside the city is not acting.

But even if he is naive and innocent like him, he can see it now: the savior and hero in his mind, this trip is actually for his family!

"Master Iger, you said that the queen 'invited' our whole family. Does this include my father, Lord Layton? He has been ignoring government affairs for many years, and he is concentrating on academic studies with my eldest sister in the room on the top of the towering tower... Old and frail and weathered for a long time, it is thousands of miles away to go to King's Landing, if there is a mistake on the way, what should us juniors think!"

"It's a fact that the distance is long, so you can take care of the old man by setting off early, and drive slowly." Facing the angry young man, Iger remained expressionless. .”

It's not that he's unkind, but if he is willing to make an exception just considering the old age of the Earl of Cantian Tower, then the river bend will soon be full of "sick people" who can't get out of bed.Leighton Hightower may indeed be in poor health, but if he is left alone in the Tower of Towers, should he be accompanied by a few more children, servants and dozens of guards to protect him?

And as the patriarch and backbone of the Hightower family, he didn't accept the arrangement of separation of people and land to leave the old town, so what's the point of just pulling a few juniors to King's Landing as hostages?

Retreat a little here, give in a step there, come and go, don't engage in the king's collar plan!

"Prime Minister, you... are you speaking human words!" Humphrey Hightower was young and vigorous, and when he was aroused by these shameless remarks, the veins on his forehead bulged, and his body swayed, causing the surrounding Iger The guards all focused their eyes, "Don't you have parents!"

"Humphrey!"