The king on the Great Wall

Baylor made a sound in time before his younger brother got into an irreparable disaster, and called his attention back with a stern shout.

The atmosphere at the scene was already a bit on the verge of igniting, so Baylor stared at his younger brother while slowly standing up from the seat, so as not to cause misunderstandings due to excessive movements, until he was sure that his younger brother had received his gaze warning and woke up , before turning to look at Iger.

"Please forgive my brother for his extreme words, Mr. Prime Minister, he just loves our father too much, and his care is messed up. But no matter what, your request for the Hightower family to move to King's Landing is really beyond our reach I can't give you an answer right away, so I hereby request that the meeting be temporarily suspended, and after I tell my lord father what you and the queen have requested, he will communicate with you in person during dinner."

When faced with troubles that cannot be solved by his own experience and ability, instead of talking nonsense and making stupid moves on his own, he immediately called a timeout and reported to his superiors... This Baylor Hightower can be regarded as a sober person in the world.Iger's own team is almost all from the lower class, and the war is okay, and there are very few who can safely go out to do things alone. If it is not destined to be unable to stand on the same side, Iger really wants to make friends with this Sir Baylor and pull him into the team. own cabinet.

"Well, go—take your brother with you." Iger agreed to the request very readily, without any intention of pursuing the young man's words to offend—then the second half of the sentence immediately made Baylor feel cold again, "Except for two Hightower, the others stay here, I have something to discuss with you."

The leaders of various industries in Old Town who were mentioned looked at each other in blank dismay, while Baylor froze in place stiffly.

Talking directly to their vassals, bypassing the Hightower family—what kind of a good thing can this discussion be?

This is the first time Baylor has seen such undisguised poaching and undermining of the most basic unspoken rules of the noble game.

Because they had never heard of it, they didn't have any plans to deal with it!

But the words of farewell have already been spoken, how can he change his words at this moment and insist on staying and listening?

Dazed by this unexpected move, Baylor felt dizzy for a moment, and stood there blankly for a few seconds until Iger's urging sounded.

"Why, is Sir Baylor's leg numb and unable to walk?" Iger showed concern, "Do you need someone to help?"

"No, Prime Minister, please leave first!"

An extremely strong ominous premonition welled up in his heart. The black-clothed prime minister in front of him was definitely not a role he could handle. Right now, the only way to go was to invite his father out immediately.Baylor gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, winked at his brother, and the two left the room together.

……

This is the castle of the Hightower family. They have used it for generations to receive visitors and meet vassals. There is no guarantee that there will be some secret passage or secret hole that can be used to continue eavesdropping on the rest of the conversation.Even if not, with so many people here, there must be someone loyal to the Gaota family who tipped off the news.

But Iger doesn't care.

What he is going to use next is a plan to break through cleverness with force, and there is absolutely no way to resist or break it.

"Everyone."

Before the door was completely closed, he straightened his sitting posture and changed his earnest and sincere expression.

"The queen originally wanted to appoint a governor to take charge of the old town during the two years when the Hightower family was a guest in King's Landing. But I think this move is too blunt and rude-the airborne officials don't understand the local customs and detailed conditions, and must not It is impossible to rule and manage in the most suitable way. It is better to let nature take its course, and the residents of the old town can elect capable representatives to form an institution similar to a parliament to exercise or perform various powers and functions to fill the gap formed by the high tower family's temporary departure. management vacancy."

"Her Majesty is broad-minded and kind, and wisely accepted my proposal. I will briefly summarize this reform as 'Old Town Self-Government'-now, I need to discuss the details with you, clarify the relevant rights and obligations, and work together to jointly Promote the implementation of this plan."

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Chapter 712 Old Town Self-Government

Theoretically speaking, the whole Old Town - both people and things - is the property of the Hightower family.

People living in this city not only still have to pay taxes and perform feudal labor like serfs, but also have to endure the use of privileges by the lords of the tower to monopolize the most lucrative business and carry out various monopoly... exploit and plunder in every way imaginable.

To put it in a more fashionable way, the "business environment" in Old Town is extremely bad, and it is not a place for people to stay at all.

But in such an environment where the feudal order and the operation of the city are incompatible, the leaders of various industries in Old Town support the Hightower family so unanimously. Why?

There are subjective and objective factors that caused this abnormal situation.

Objective aspect: The unstable climate in the world of ice and fire makes it impossible for citizens to live a life with a clear rhythm and stable expectations by relying on individual ability and a small amount of private property-every time the winter gets longer, most of the people living inside the city walls still They have to rely on the winter reserves of towering towers to survive as they did in the past thousands of years... It is impossible for the people of Old Town to go on strike and engage in uprisings like the medieval citizens in the earth world.

There are many subjective reasons.

The Hightower family's family tradition of preferring business and trade and not fighting, and relatively enlightened and peaceful governance and management methods eased the conflicts that would erupt sooner or later between the two classes;

The climate has caused the relative backwardness of the historical process, which has prevented the citizens from generally realizing that they are a class, let alone awakening the "citizen spirit" that needs self-protection;

Last but not least: in this rotten world, the owners of Oldtown stand out from the crowd.

Compared with the lords of other cities in Westeros who have to participate in a war at every turn and then urgently collect all kinds of exorbitant taxes, the Hightower family's stable and restrained harvesting of leeks is simply a noble and benevolent king through the ages.Let alone Westeros—the so-called free trade city-states are still in the era of slavery, and living there must not only be "used" as a tool, but may even be "sold" as a commodity!

……

In a word - it all depends on the peers.

The people of Oldtown couldn't believe it in their hearts: the Queen's presence would make their lives better than they had been under the Hightowers.The instinct of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages drives them...to wear a pair of pants with the "natural enemy" lord.

And what Iger has to do is to use the big pie of "Old Town Autonomy" to smash the stereotypes of the people in front of him.

The Hightower family's exploitation and exploitation of the people of Old Town may not be severe, but their status as lords gives them the ability and authority to increase exploitation and exploitation at any time.It's like sharp swords hanging overhead—and "self-government" means taking these swords off the ceiling and shutting them into cabinets.

Ordinary citizens in the lower ranks may never have the opportunity to notice the scenery above their heads because they are busy with their heads down all day long, but the leaders of various industries who have climbed to the top of the civilian class and stepped on a lot of private property are close to the ceiling. You, but you can see the existence of these swords every day, so you can definitely immediately realize the great significance of this move!

Iger is not afraid of the plan being exposed at all, because he is borrowing the "flowers" of the Hightower family to present the "Buddha" of the people of Jiuzhen - and as the original owner of the flowers, the Hightowers will never offer better conditions!

The long but never boring "Urban Autonomy Program Seminar" began.

Due to doing a lot of homework in advance and even drafting the first version of the plan, everything is almost 100% carried out according to Iger's settings... Through fierce debates and discussions, this group of people who stand at the pinnacle of the common people but are still not nobles Heroes, (I think) struggled to win the following rights of autonomy from Iger.

Anti-monopoly - breaking unreasonable monopoly and opening up the market economy to a certain extent.

Freedom of Trade - Create clear commercial laws and reduce feudal interference with economic activity.

Freedom of the person—citizens are exempted from corvee, and can use appropriate tax deduction instead, and the city can exercise the "right to accept the law".

Private affairs + private property protection - the lord does not interfere with citizens' religious beliefs, marriage arrangements, and all control over property ownership, transactions, gifts, and inheritance.

Even excluding more judicial, administrative, financial and even military powers that have not yet been finalized (Iger does not plan to give them), just looking at these major items that have been agreed and signed, it is enough to make almost every representative who walked out of the conference room There are smiles on their faces: If the historical process flows naturally, any one of these rights may have to be united for more than ten or even hundreds of years of hard struggle before they can be taken away from the Gaota family.But now, taking advantage of the east wind of the Queen's fight against feudal separatism and expansion of royal power, they just fell into her arms from the sky!

In return, the people of Old Town need: [-]. Collect a huge sum of money to buy "Targaryen bonds" to support the Queen's war against slave owners; Offer absolute loyalty and support in the follow-up struggle.

……

After the meeting ended, Iger stood up from his seat and left the hall in a leisurely manner, and came to the corridor connecting the stairs of the towering tower.

He is probably the most irresponsible guest in the Seven Kingdoms—the Hightower family opened the door to invite Iger to enter the towering tower, but he turned his face and ordered to take over other people's hometown in a blink of an eye: come here now in the tower The usual people have almost all been replaced from the guards and servants of the Hightower family to members of the Western Expeditionary Army.Doing so is actually a bit of a violation of the rights of the guests, but on the other hand, it is actually protecting the owner's greatest interest-life safety.

As almost the only great nobleman in the River Bend who surrendered without raising troops against the Queen, Iger could not risk the disrespect of the world to hurt the members of the Hightower family.However, in the face of the fundamental interest shaken by "Old Town Autonomy", the Hightower family is absolutely impossible to sit still—rather than waiting for these nobles to do something stupid and get frustrated before entangled in "how to punish is more reasonable", Iger He chose to solve the problem from the source: take the bottom line and put the whole family of Hightower under house arrest in the upper part of the tower to prevent them from doing anything wrong.

As for the second half, he unceremoniously accepted it...requisitioned to serve as his palace and command post during his temporary stay in Old Town.

"Master Iger." Myrcella, who accompanied the whole process and even recorded the agenda of the Old Town's self-government seminar, finally couldn't bear it anymore, and said cautiously, "Is the self-government power given to the citizens a bit too much? I think it's only half of it. It is also possible to make them support the queen with all their heart. Give them all at once, isn't this against the principle of "slow grace" that you have always emphasized?"

"Good question!"

Iger appreciates Myrcella's... her ability to always get right to the point when she asks questions.Sometimes he even suspects that this girl has actually seen through everything, and she just purposely gives herself the chance to answer questions and pretend to be completely obsessed, in order to please herself in this advanced way.

They stepped up the stairs and headed for the prepared guest room on the second floor under the leadership of a soldier.There were people coming and going around, but fortunately they were all his subordinates, so Iger directly started to explain without avoiding suspicion.

"The principle of 'Give Slowly' targets a weakness in human nature: people always take what they are used to for granted. So when you want to win people's likes and affections, it is best to give as much as you can. The benefits are given out bit by bit and sustainably, instead of giving out all at once...but there is no follow-up. The implementation of this principle is for the people-because after offending many nobles, the queen's rule must be won by the people Support can be stable. For the people, this kind of demand is long-term or even eternal, but for the elites of Old Town, it is not. Think again and see if you can figure this out?"

"Isn't the queen's need for the support of the elites of Oldtown eternal?" This hint was too obvious, and Myrcella frowned, and then stretched out her two thin, light golden eyebrows, "Ah! Because after two years, Haita The Er family will be able to return to the fief!" Wait... She immediately fell into even greater confusion, "But, after the Hightower family returns to the fief, doesn't the queen need the support of elites from all walks of life?"

"In theory, but in practice things are not that simple. At that time, the queen is more afraid of the Hightower family's wise acceptance of the status quo of Oldtown's self-government than the need for support from the Oldtown elite - relying on The old contacts and relationships have re-integrated with the Autonomous Council, and they have established their position and authority to say the same thing here." Iger laughed complacently, "So, you think I'give too much' today, this feeling That's right. But in fact, this is exactly what I did deliberately, in order to bury the root of the conflict and completely prevent the possibility of the two factions reuniting!"

"No matter how much you give, it's still belonging to the Hightower family!" Myrcella's eyes lit up, and she finally understood, "When Earl Layton, who is used to being uncompromising, returns to Old Town after two years, he will definitely not be able to accept it calmly. The status quo that the authority and function of the autonomous parliament is still above them will cause contradictions!"

"That's right, by that time, not only will I not continue to pamper the Autonomous Council mindlessly, but I will even do the opposite and support the Hightower family in obtaining some...'reasonable' power." Iger revealed the standard answer , "At that time, the Old Town Council needs the Queen's continued recognition and protection of the Self-Government Act to avoid the 'restoration' of the small kingdom by the Hightower family; Recognition and the support of ruling power so as not to be completely empty or even driven away or eliminated..."

"Both sides have no choice but to rely on the Queen's support—isn't this state much more reliable and stable than one of the so-called 'love' for the Queen? Standing between the two is the mediation and arbitration of the superior Or, the old town, a free special zone, will also be completely brought under the rule of the royal family, becoming the last piece of the puzzle of the Great King's Land plan."

That's it!

Myrcella suddenly realized, her shoulders trembled slightly, her little face was flushed with excitement.She was already in admiration of Iger's plan to disintegrate the forces in the old town, but now she found that this majestic plan actually had a more delicate and grand second half, which seemed appropriate for a while. There are no words of praise or flattery to be found.

This feeling of standing next to great people, witnessing or even experiencing major events and historical turning points is simply amazing!

-

Chapter 713 Old Town Self-Government

While walking and chatting, the soldiers leading the way quickly led Iger to the gate of the destination.

Originally, the Hightower family thought they were going to receive a distinguished guest, so they vacated the largest guest room on the floor, but who would have thought that a hungry wolf would be the last one to open the door to invite in.

In fact, the meeting hadn't finished yet... even the brothers Baylor Hightower hadn't left the meeting halfway, the exchange of blood and house arrest in the towering tower had already begun in an orderly manner.Right now, the guest of honor is almost tearing his skin apart, but as a guest, he still has to stay in other people's homes, so the safety factor becomes very important.Iger's guards deliberately chose another secondary guest room with a similar grade but slightly smaller, instead of staying in the one originally reserved by the Hightower's house - in this way, even if something goes wrong with the security work or there are secret passages in the tower, No one can accurately threaten the safety of the prime minister.

Pushing open the wooden door, a room with exquisite decoration, complete furnishings, luxury without losing elegance, comfort and practicality in luxury is displayed in front of Iger.

Thick carpets, huge wide beds, lavish tables and chairs, sculptures and decorations everywhere... Needless to say, these ordinary objects, there is actually a piece of furniture in the middle of the room that makes him feel like he is in another world: A sofa-like low chair that looks like it could seat two people.

"Hey!?"

Feeling relaxed, he chuckled and exclaimed, approached and squeezed it, and then sat in.

It is soft and soft, enveloping the body, and there are still a few traces of elasticity that are obviously not weak.Looks like it, feels like it, even sits like it - it's not a couch, it's a sofa!

The sofa does not need a high technology tree. It is not uncommon for people in the world of ice and fire to have invented it, but what surprised him is: whether this sofa is soft and close to the flesh, or the exquisite and unique workmanship, or even wrapped in it The padding, which is not latex but has similar physical properties, makes it a bit close to the modern industrialized products he used to sit on before time travel.In this world where the chemical system does not exist, this thing is definitely a luxury among luxury goods - the kind that even nobles can use to show off their wealth.

Don't mention the North or the Great Wall. Even the guest room of Highgarden Tyrell's house doesn't have such good things!

Knowing the facts, the wealth and power of the Hightower family may be higher than expected.

"This group of earth emperors, really special mothers will enjoy it."

He moved his body, adjusted to a comfortable sitting position, closed his eyes and regained his composure.

Of course, Myrcella didn't know that Iger was already thinking about how much oil and water he could squeeze out of the towering tower. She closed the door gently, and when she turned around and saw that Iger was a little tired, she walked around the sofa and came behind him lightly and naturally. The little hand went over the back of the sofa, pinching the man's shoulders and neck familiarly.

The little princess's technique became more and more proficient, enjoying the royal massage, the man hummed in satisfaction, which was his affirmation and encouragement for her service.

"The archbishop looked very dissatisfied when he left." The second half of the old town's self-government plan just now opened Myrcella's eyes, but at the same time, she was very itchy. She still wanted to continue talking to Iger, "My lord just let him go back like this, aren't you afraid that he will manipulate the Holy See to play tricks behind his back?"

Afraid that he will play tricks?

Iger secretly smiled.

On the contrary, what I'm afraid of is that he won't play tricks.

Almost every participant in the meeting just now returned with satisfaction—except for the Archbishop.

Unlike giving the citizens a bunch of autonomy that they had never had before, Iger simply promised to protect religious freedom and give the church's old town ministry a seat in the autonomous council... As for the archbishop's request that he and Dan Neris publicly announced her conversion, and asked him to anoint the queen with holy oil for the coronation, but she decisively said no.

This move is of course because the Red God Sect has already been used as a substitute... But in fact, even if there is no such thing, he will not give the Seven Gods Sect any good looks.

Unlike the natural opposition between the bourgeoisie and the feudal order, the Holy See is the second largest beneficiary of the old order after the lords.Except for the unity of orthodox religion, most of the time the religious power is on the opposite side of the royal power like the feudal lords... After Stannis Baratheon, who was converted to the red god, was driven back to Old Town from King's Landing, the Holy See They have even formed a strong alliance with the Hightower family, and they are like fish and water.

Therefore, in the Great King's Land plan, combating the feudal separatism of the nobles in the river bay and suppressing the religious authority of the Seven Gods Sect is a two-pronged approach, two lines that go hand in hand, one is bright and the other is dark, and the other is indispensable.

Maegor and Jaehaerys, the two former Targaryen kings, made great efforts and sacrifices to weaken the Religion of the Seven Gods to what it is today. Iger would not let this vile dog out of the cage and become a sinner through the ages.

"Hmm." He asked back without opening his eyes, "Do you think I should control him like I did with the Hightower family?"

"It's not necessary, but you have to take some measures instead of waiting for him to make a move." Myrcella kept kneading her hands, and the hot air sprayed on the top of Iger's head during her words, "'Strike first is the best' —Didn't you say so?"

"Ha, you little girl, have you memorized every word I said?" Aiger opened his eyes happily, "You can say words upside down, but you must not apply them to everything mindlessly. I can't take the initiative to deal with the Holy See of the Seven Gods, and there are two reasons for this."

"One, I need to win over the elites of Old Town to fight against their lords—in this, although the archbishop and other leaders of various industries sit together, they seem to be subordinates of the Hightower family, but they are not all the same : The former belong to the lord class, and the latter belong to the burgher class. However, this must be discovered by the civic leaders themselves, and I cannot tell them. If I tell them before they realize that the archbishop is not an ally of the citizens Taking action against him can easily arouse the vigilance and fear of others, and make them doubt my sincerity in supporting the autonomy of Old Town."

Myrcella understood: "So, this time, you have to wait for the Archbishop to make the first move?"

"That's right, when other people are immersed in the joy of gaining autonomy, but find that there is an 'associate' who not only does not cooperate obediently, but picks troubles from it and wants to destroy the good situation where everyone wins, they will fire this person' City Ji’, put them out of the circle. Deal with them when they place an order, not only will they not arouse public outrage, but they may even have helpers.” Iger raised his arms and spread his hands, then clenched his fists and crushed them Object-shaped, "The second reason is that I am an open believer in the Red God religion. Even if the identity of the 'God's Representative' is concealed from the public, I am still a heretic in the eyes of ninety-nine percent of people in Westeros. I The Hightower family is under house arrest. Everyone knows that this is because the queen is dissatisfied with the lord of Old Town and wants to rectify it. She will not worry about being affected somehow... But if she rashly takes action against the archbishop, it will be a religious war. Play like this , but will sink into the vast ocean.”

"Um...understood."

"So you see, the saying that the first strike is the strongest is undoubtedly correct, but when it is actually substituted into practice, one has to consider whether the 'first mover advantage' brought about by doing so can offset and overwhelm it. The sum of other disadvantages. When dealing with a figure like the archbishop who stands behind the Holy See and thousands of believers, the answer is obviously 'no'." Iger put down his hand and closed his eyes again, "Or from another perspective, If it is said to be 'start first' if we are prepared first, then we have followed this rule this time."

Myrcella nodded understandingly: "But, even if he makes trouble first and then fights back, isn't this still a struggle between the Red God Cult and the Seven God Cult? I don't believe that the believers are so rational and fair that they would Support foreign pagan religions first."

"Indeed, so...the matter of dealing with the archbishop, there will be the right person, at the right time and place with the right reason, to do it for me." Iger deliberately kept it a secret, "I'm only worried now, always The bishop is very wise and foolish, he will see through my plan, and obediently cooperate with me in the transformation of the old town, so that I have no morals to do it."

Great Wisdom Ruoyu?

Myrcella recalled the resentment that couldn't be concealed on that chubby face when the archbishop offered to crown the queen was rejected, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.If this fat man had this state and city, he would not have been driven out of King's Landing by Stannis Baratheon.

However, who is the person who will come to clean up the archbishop for Iger at the right time and place?What means and methods will he adopt to clean up their Holy See without arousing resistance from believers?

The more she thought about it, the more curious she became, but this matter might be a bit confidential, so she couldn't ask more questions.The little heart was itchy, wishing to reach into the chest cavity and scratch it.

Guessing the candidates and methods, Myrcella's divergent thinking suddenly connected the two things with very little connection.

"By the way, my lord, you seem to have said that you want to control the Red God Sect to annex the Seven Gods Sect. Will this also kick off the confrontation with the Holy See in Old Town?"

Iger, who closed his eyes and stopped talking, almost sank into the sofa, opened his eyes suddenly, with a frightening look in his eyes.

Contrary to the fact that both the upper and lower parts of the Old Town Self-Government Plan are plots, it doesn't matter if they say it. On the contrary, the content of the Religious Revolution Plan has elements of conspiracy and surprise attacks, and there must be no leaks.Did this little girl overhear the conversation between herself and the two high-ranking priests, or did she simply piece together the fragmented information and guess it?

If it's the latter, then this intelligence and sensitivity are too terrifying!

Whether admitting or denying it is a leak. After a few seconds of silence, Iger reached out his left hand to his right shoulder and grabbed Myrcella who was still kneading Rou Yi, and patted a small piece of sofa chair beside him with his right hand. Said in an unquestionable tone: "Okay, let's take a rest first, sit next to me, let's talk about something else."

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Chapter 714 "Conversation"