The king on the Great Wall

"And the ship that was burned at that time was not the night watchman, but a battleship belonging to the northern border!"

"Of course I know what's going on." Asha raised her hand and pressed down, calming down everyone's chattering, "But the problem is, that person is after the Ironborn and wants to seek revenge from you all, what can you do?" What should I do? I have sworn allegiance to him and the Queen, and he ordered me to be ready to lead the River Fleet to land on the Iron Islands. It is absolutely impossible for me to break my oath and disobey orders. Everyone brought a pardon, let you change from 'enemy' to 'friendly army', and become the target that he can't attack."

More heated discussions and quarrels broke out. Most people didn't believe this statement, but no one dared to say that Asha was bluffing.In addition to the Unsullied soldiers standing against the walls in a circle, there is another very important reason: None of these new leaders, whose fathers and brothers died in battle, had the prestige enough to convince the crowd, and none of them held iron The ability of the archipelago to reunite to fight against foreign enemies, in short... No one can bear the consequences in case of a wrong guess.

"We are considering accepting pardon and surrender." Amidst the uproar, someone shouted, "But the queen always gave us some conditions?"

"The second gift." Asha opened another roll of parchment again, and said loudly in a crisp tone, "The Queen's plan for the future livelihood and development of the Iron Islands, referred to as the 'Iron Money Plan'!"

Iron money, the word in the culture of the Iron Islands is actually an elegant term for a sword, and it refers to the ancient roads of looting—the queen would use this word that is only popular in the Iron Islands to name a policy plan, which is amazing It really shocked the iron people.They paused for a moment to argue, and refocused their attention on Balon Greyjoy's daughter.

"The land under our feet is called the Iron Islands. It was originally named for the rich iron mines on the island. Of course, when it comes to this, some people here must want to refute me: it is not iron mines. Zhong’s strong and unyielding nature. I have no intention of arguing about this, but I just want to emphasize one point: the Iron Islands are indeed rich in iron ore, and the quality is quite competitive.” Asha rewound the parchment, Throwing it to the leader in the front row, anyway, there are always some literate among them, "It is only because the disadvantage of shipping cost overwhelms the not huge quality advantage, and the overall demand for iron in the seven countries is not large, which leads to the final result in the competition. Failed and failed to develop and utilize effectively."

"In order to solve the problem that the Ironmen have no other way of earning a living except fishing and plundering, the Queen promised me that the Iron Islands will be the royal family's exclusive steel supplier, and the royal government will use the market in the form of bearing transportation costs every year. Purchase steel from the Iron Islands at a price that is not capped but has a bottoming amount, so as to ensure that the archipelago has its own source of income, and there is no need to follow the ancient path to improve life..."

It turned out that this iron money was really iron money.

Asha briefly introduced the outline of the "Iron Money Project" on the stage, and a large group of leaders below had already gathered around a few literate people, listening to him say the key part of the contract—— purchase amount.

Someone soon discovered that this number was abnormal: "It's too fake, the entire Seven Kingdoms can't use so much iron in a year!"

"Whether it's useful or not, the Wang family purchases at least this amount at the market price every year to ensure that the Iron Islands have their own legitimate economic income—and the Ironmen must repay Her Majesty the Queen with loyalty. This is the core of the 'Iron Money Plan'!" Ah Sha stopped speaking, and first cleared this reasonable doubt for everyone, "The artillery can be made of iron, and it won't be used so much for the time being, which doesn't mean it won't be used in the future. Even if it won't be used in the future, the iron ingots piled there will be considered rusty." , rotten, and rotted into fly ash—that’s also the queen’s business, and has nothing to do with you. I said that, do you understand?!”

The questioning voice subsided, and the buzzing voice became the main voice in the long hall again—if this contract is true, then the Queen's handling of the Iron Islands' rebellion can be described as repaying kindness with kindness and being unbelievably lenient.

Such an unreasonable effect certainly has its own cause.

The iron money plan was true, and the only thing Asha didn't tell the truth was that it wasn't the queen's idea at all, but she got it from Iger.

The quality of the local iron ore may indeed be good, but it is by no means so good that mainland residents are willing to pay an extra shipping cost to buy it—the essence of this plan is to support the Iron Islands with blood transfusions from the royal government.And this, because of Asha's hard work and devotion, and the fact that he also presented a set of inestimable tile-steel armor, Iger specially took pains to tailor it for her.

The reason why these inside stories are not announced is that Iger will play a narrow-minded role in persuading surrender, and secondly, Asha is afraid that the generous policies that she sacrificed her life and body for will hurt the men of Iron Island. Valuable but paranoid and fragile self-esteem caused unnecessary twists and turns in this double-deception plan.

However, if someone thinks that the "iron money plan" means that Aiger used the public property to pay for the maintenance of Princess Iron Island, and used the gold coins from the treasury to pay for the tile steel armor he was wearing, they would be very wrong.

The essence of this strategy is actually the same as "cutting the fertile land in the south of the river bay to Dorne", it is to put shoes on the feet of barefoot desperadoes-create weaknesses that did not exist in Dorne and the Iron Islands, and use a small amount of resources to tame them. The unruly remote areas make trouble for the people, sacrificing a small amount of short-term interests in exchange for the long-term stability and unity of the kingdom!

"The third gift!" Asha called out everyone's attention loudly. Following her shout, several Unsullied soldiers brought up two large cloth bags, untied them and rolled out a large group of red and black cloth pieces , she mentioned one of them—it was a three-headed red dragon flag on a black background, "The sooner the Queen's flag is hung on the ship, the sooner it will be safe. In addition, I will recruit a hundred medium-sized longships to Go south as fast as possible to the old town, to join the combined fleet that Iger is forming... Use your allegiance to shut up that narrow-minded mouth, so that he can't even find a reason to oppose the 'Iron Money Project'."

She took a deep breath, and threw out the last big news: "The Greyjoy family will give up their claim to the leader of the Iron Islands, and who will get it depends on the next expedition to the Free Trade Cities Already!"

-

Chapter 717

Not only are the Iron Islands and Qingting Island separated by thousands of miles, but they are also in a state of hostile war. They have neither the time nor the channels to ask whether the other party has really surrendered. This is the objective basis for the two sides to cheat.

But the biggest key to the success of the strategy is actually that: Iger not only won the frontal battlefield victory, but also retained and demonstrated the power and willingness to kill and kill.

Even if a sober person among the two groups of deceived people sees through that this may be a trick, and guesses that this is probably a trick used to lower the price in negotiations... they can only keep their mouths shut and obediently pretend to be "terrified" , and then obediently walked down the steps given by Aiger, accepting the queen's conditions to end the war.

After all, to Iger, recalcitrance is just two more "troublesome things that need to take some time to deal with", but to the parties, it is an important choice related to the life and death of the family.

With the general terms of exempting from "being invited to be a guest in King's Landing" and retaining fief property and titles, but sending a fleet to participate in the war against the slave owners, the Redwing family and the Ironborn Council chose to accept the conditions and surrender in the two days following each other Change the flag and join the Queen's command.

With the conclusion of these two peace agreements, the ending situation of the entire Western Expedition became more and more clear. The Golden Regiment and the other two armies of the Western Expedition, the South and the North, began to mobilize and march intensively under remote control, preparing to fight against the last few who refused The stubborn enemies who surrendered were besieged and wiped out... In the far northeast, before the two super cannons "Royalty" and "Truth" were cast, the Ayrin family in the Valley, which had always been hiding behind the Blood Gate and remained neutral, also expressed their submission. will.

Everything is going according to the script, and at the moment when this unification war is entering the final stage, the archbishop in Old Town who is loyal to the Hightower family finally can't hold back, and uses the power of the Church of the Seven Gods to attack Iger aggressively. There was a move.

……

On the sixth day after entering the Old Town, Iger got up and washed up as usual, and began to listen to the incident report while having breakfast. At a glance, he noticed that Myrcella's expression was a little strange.

"What, is there a situation?"

"Today... to be precise, since last night, the city has been a bit chaotic. In the morning, a ragged ascetic monk in the market area gave a public speech, blatantly criticizing the Queen as a chaotic lunatic and a dirty blood It has led to a cruel and chaotic mood and way of doing things...it is an evil seed that cannot be tolerated by the Seven Gods." She stammered, "I also accused you, my lord...uh..."

Ascetic?It can't be the big sparrow.

"What's wrong with me." Iger didn't stop enjoying his breakfast, and said vaguely with food in his mouth, "But it doesn't matter."

"I said that you are a shameful and indecent thief. You were taken to the Great Wall for stealing eggs from the northerners. After leaving a life, you were not only ungrateful, but also despicably launched a rebellion and raided the Stark family's nest. Husband and wife and daughters in Winterfell, who do evil, will be punished sooner or later. Uh... also said, you and the queen are adulterers and prostitutes, working hand in hand with each other, a pair of... the restored Targaryen dynasty will not last long. "

"That's it?"

Seeing Myrcella's flushed face in a dilemma, he knew that the real lines must be a hundred times more rude and filthy than this, and they might even include real people's names, so filthy that even a good girl's vocabulary would not be able to convey it. Degree.

However, Iger sneered and didn't even froze for a moment.

"Is there any more? Continue."

"The guards encountered resistance during the process of going to disperse. There was a conflict between the two sides, and more than a dozen people were injured. The culprit took advantage of the chaos to escape and only captured dozens of fanatical believers." Myrcella breathed a sigh of relief, and the rest of it was nothing It's embarrassing, "There were also sporadic small-scale riots in other parts of the city, most of which were citizens throwing rotten eggs, rotten vegetables and stones at our patrol team...causing only minor injuries, bothering the main Insultingly, no deaths resulted."

"very good."

Very good - this is not only a comment on the ending where no one dies, but also a compliment to Myrcella for knowing what he cares most about.

However, Iger's thoughts were inevitably pulled back to the day when he entered this world in a daze.

***

He wore pajamas and went into the wilderness in the north where the temperature was close to zero. After discovering the human settlements, of course he also tried to communicate with the villagers and get their help... According to the general development of time travel, there should be noble people at this time (Guide for Beginners) Come to help.However, the place where he landed is a real and remote small village in the north. The villagers here are struggling with food and clothing. How can they help a foreigner who does not speak the language and looks weird, and is suspected of being a fugitive?

As night fell little by little, Iger, who was hungry and cold, did not wait for the kind-hearted village girl who came to accept him, nor was he seen and accepted by the nobles who happened to pass by with discerning eyes and talents.An adult who has been tortured by hypothermia and hunger for most of the day, of course, cannot just sit back and watch himself freeze to death on the first night of crossing, and take some inappropriate behaviors within the necessary limits for this reason, even if it is put on trial in a modern court, it is definitely a crime. Standard to the "emergency avoidance" that can't find any faults.

but--

Was he going to explain aloud in public that he hadn't stolen eggs but just two rags and potatoes?

Or even worse, admitting that he has fallen in love with a woman, but firmly denying that he has touched a wife?

Only fools fight in the battlefield arranged by the enemy, and the description becomes darker and darker.

***

Use real or fake black material, mix a little nonsense and embellishment, and sprinkle it on a full emotional output-this is the most effective and deadly rhythmic method in any era and world.

It is conceivable that if the "old town self-government" is not used to win over the main citizens in the first place, but the elite leaders of various industries and the church are allowed to participate in this first-hand attack of the people against the officials, Iger will face It will be full of crazy pagan believers and riots on a large scale and without stopping.Soon he had to release the Hightower family from the towering tower helplessly under pressure, begged them to "control" and "calm down" the situation, and then rolled out of the old town in a disheveled suit.

But now that there are precautions in place, the situation can be reversed in one fell swoop.

The people of Old Town did not starve like the residents of King's Landing under Queen Cersei in the original timeline, and not many people were incited except fanatics with low cognitive level; and the middle-level elite in the city had long been imprisoned by him. Not only will he not help the other party, but he will even act as his own eyeliner; and his white gloves are already ready...

Iger raised his head and drank the hot soup in the bowl, wiped his mouth politely, and turned to Myrcella.

"First of all, to correct you a little wording error: It is not the citizens of Old Town who participated in the illegal assembly and threw things at the soldiers of the Western Expeditionary Army, but 'thugs' and 'disorderly parties'."

This is an official characterization. As a source of civil servants, you must not use the wrong words. Myrcella immediately understood and nodded to record it.

"Then, all the ministries were ordered to switch to the first-level alert state, and a curfew will be enforced throughout the city tonight. The personnel of the Western Expeditionary Army should avoid leaving the camp unnecessarily, and the patrol personnel should not take excessive confrontation or counterattack measures without clear instructions. Do not act alone!"

This is to stabilize the position, and only when one's own side does not make mistakes can it calmly launch a counterattack.Whether rioters were killed in the process of deportation and arrest, or Iger's soldiers were beaten and assassinated in the streets, the level of trouble and the risk of losing control would explode.

"Notify all the 'members' of the old town, come to the Shentian Tower for a meeting in the afternoon, and I want to listen to their explanation."

Listening to the explanation is false, Iger knows what's going on better than anyone else.It is true that this group of people should ensure the normal operation of production and life in the city, and let them express their loyalty and cut off their relationship with the church.Before breaking down a big man, kill his social connections - this, as early as when the night watchman industry was fighting with the commander of the King's Landing Garrison Janos Slynt, Iger had already learned from Tyrion .

"Hmm..." He pondered for a moment, and after confirming that the defense was about the same, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth, "That's all for now, now, go and invite Lord Mace Tyrell and Miss Margery over here, it should be It's time for them to work."

-

Chapter 718 Fast, Accurate, Ruthless!

The sky is gradually brightening, and the first night of curfew that has not been enforced in Old Town for more than ten years has ended without incident.Vendors dragged their stalls and trolleys out of the warehouses to the market, and ordinary citizens walked out of their homes with baskets as usual, and soon the bustling streets were full of discussions about this inexplicable night control.

"It seems... yesterday's evaluation of the prime minister and the queen by the monk in rags is true. Otherwise, why would he suddenly impose a curfew at night after finishing his speech in the morning?"

"Hey, this is called a guilty conscience! Then Iger doesn't think about it, we can't meet each other at night, and we can't talk about it when we meet during the day? What's the point of the curfew?"

"Oh, don't mention it, in this hell-like world, only the wicked can stand out."

"Our Seven Kingdoms are ruled by such people. I really don't know when the good times will come."

"A good day? A chaotic evil sits on the throne, and a white-eyed wolf prime minister stands next to him. Thank God for not being cursed by the Seven Gods. How are you going?"

During the chatter, the crowd poured into the market in the center of the old town.Here, the mutual greetings among acquaintances, the loud hawking of peddlers, the quarrels during bargaining and the crowing of cats, dogs, chickens and ducks can be heard endlessly, which quickly dispelled the discussions about the scandals of Iger and Daenerys.Gossip about court affairs and big-shot scandals is exciting, but the life of ordinary citizens is made up of food, rice, oil and salt, and the queen and prime minister are too far away after all.

Not to mention, there are many more soldiers on duty around the market today than in the past.It is conceivable that if the unknown monk from yesterday appeared again, this refusal would not be able to easily blend into the crowd and escape.

With such thoughts in mind, the citizens shut up one after another about the Prime Minister and the Queen, for fear that if a misfortune came out of their mouths, they would be caught in the dungeon like those who threw stones at the soldiers of the royal army.

But the morning market seemed to be going on normally and peacefully. On the open space in the center of the market, around the high platform where the monks in rags made their accusations against the Queen and the Prime Minister yesterday, a circle of people gathered around at some point.The townspeople who had completed today’s purchase or sale glanced curiously at the stage when they passed by, and found a middle-aged man in a gorgeous white robe, escorted by several soldiers, onto the wooden stage, and walked to the edge of the center. Facing the direction where the crowd was densest, he began to straighten his clothes, as if he had something to say.

"Who is this?"

"It looks like a bishop, and possibly an archbishop."

"It's Lutzen Frey, the fifth son of Lord Walder Frey of the Twins, and he's indeed an archbishop!" some knowledgeable townspeople exclaimed in a low voice, "Is the church crazy? Wouldn't it be easy for Iger and the Queen to find revenge if someone came to make public accusations?"

In the rambling voices of surprise and nervous discussion, Luchen Frey did not keep the onlookers curious for too long.He cleared his throat, took half a step forward, raised his right palm forward, and made an oath: "In the name of the Heavenly Father, the Holy Mother, the Warrior, the Maiden, the Blacksmith, the Crone, and the Stranger, I hereby solemnly I swear, all the following words are true, if there is half a word of falsehood, you will go to hell after death and be tortured by the endless flames of eternal life!"

After taking the poisonous oath, he lowered his arms, and in a steady, slow but clear and loud voice, shouted out the purpose of his trip to the crowd whose noise was lowered by more than ten decibels.

"Believers and citizens, please stop and listen! Today, here, under the brilliance of the sun, I risk my reputation and my life to expose to you a heinous man who lurks under everyone's nose, and to cleanse the church. Portal, return the glory to the Seven Gods!"

Countless people closed their mouths and held their breath, but unlike anyone of them expected, the target of Archbishop Lu Chen's accusation was not the protagonists Prime Minister Iger and Queen Daenerys who were rumored in the city yesterday, but a 180-degree turn. , aimed at his own immediate boss: the supreme leader of the church, the first servant of the Seven Gods in the world--Master Archbishop!

Under the eyes and ears of countless people in Old Town, he listed a lot of extremely bad crimes in his accusation, including: impure belief, joking and blasphemy, molesting children, and having been in and out of King's Landing and Old Town The high-end women's branch, using the position to embezzle the congregation's offerings, playing with the power and using the church's property for personal profit, embezzling public funds to buy the bonds of the night watchmen and then taking the proceeds for themselves... The total wealth has reached the level of a million golden dragons!

If it is just an accusation, it can also be interpreted as malicious slander and slander, but every time Archbishop Lu Chen mentions a crime, he will follow up with a detailed narrative to support the accusation, the most exaggerated one is "money-gathering". Even the distribution of the archbishop's assets, the method of wealth transfer when he was expelled from King's Landing, and the current hiding place of the money in Old Town have all been revealed.

Its realism and credibility are so high that the audience has the urge to form a team to hunt for treasure after the show is over.

……

Unlike the attack and smear of Iger and Daenerys by the ragged friar yesterday, there are guards patrolling and maintaining order around the market today. Archbishop Lu Chen's speech was completely condoned and even protected. He talked endlessly like saying The storytelling continued for more than ten minutes without interruption.There were so many melon-eating audiences gathered around the podium on the inner three floors and the outer three floors, even the normal trade of the market was affected. At this time, in the direction of the entrance of the market, a small group with rose patterns embroidered on their chests Zhang's soldiers walked in, led by a middle-aged fat man.

With the script in hand, some actors soon "recognized" him.

"Lord Mace Tyrell! What brings you here?"

"Have nothing to do, stroll around." Mace Tyrell made an innocent appearance as he happened to pass by. Mr. Inflatable Fish has almost no skills, but his acting skills are considered top-notch. "What are you doing around here, Taiwan?" Who is that person?"

"That is Archbishop Luchen Frey, who is accusing the archbishop of committing a series of crimes, mainly including embezzling church property..."

The "enthusiast" quickly explained what happened to Duke Tyrell in detail, and then "had a flash of inspiration", turned his head and shouted around.

"Hey, everyone, look this way!"

Countless pairs of eyes with curiosity, suspicion or disgust came together, and Archbishop Lu Chen, who had been shouting for nearly 10 minutes and his mouth was dry, also stopped the performance in good time. He knew that he had completed all the preparatory tasks , the climax of this good show is about to begin.

"The Guardian of the River Bend - Lord Mace Tyrell is here, as the protector of all Oldtown people, he has both power and soldiers... why don't we ask him to do justice and take us to investigate the Archbishop Are these charges true?!"

-

Chapter 719 Seven Gods Twilight

In this world, it is always easier to transfer conflicts than to solve them.

It is impossible for Iger to travel to the past to erase his criminal record, and it is impossible for Daenerys to change the relationship between her parents and her siblings.These are all iron-clad fait accomplis, and it is impossible for anyone to "solve" them.When someone uses these unchangeable things as materials to attack, blindly defending and receiving moves will inevitably put yourself at a disadvantage. Only surround Wei and rescue Zhao to open up a new battlefield, as the teacher said, you fight yours and I fight mine, attack the enemy Weaknesses and weaknesses are the best way to crack them!

Some people must be wondering: why Lu Chen Frey, as the archbishop with one man under one man and over ten thousand people in the church, would stand for Iger's side who intends to weaken the teaching power?

In fact, the reason is very simple - individual interests and collective interests are not always completely consistent.The archbishop is arrogant and domineering within the church, and there are already several archbishops who have rifts with him. In addition, Luchen Frey, who was born as a nobleman, is greedy for the rise of power and status...

Using a series of promises such as the position of the archbishop and the restoration of the status of the Seven Gods as temptations, plus a little coercion of small tricks, even if there is no Luchen Frey to rebound, there will definitely be other bishops and archbishops who will stand up to be the queen pawn.

As a nomination certificate, the Tyrell family's network of contacts in King's Landing and Old Town provided most of the black information needed to bring down the archbishop, and the leaders of various industries who will soon become members of the Old Town Autonomous Council also volunteered what they knew All... In line with the tenet of adding insult to injury, the more the better, the night watchman industry is not afraid to intervene to add a fortune.Just like the accusations made by the monk in rags against the Queen and Iger yesterday were [-]% true and [-]% false, this time Archbishop Lu Chen’s exposure to the archbishop also contained some false elements, the most false of which was: once made the president The Bishop made a lot of money from the Night Watchman bonds. Iger was in King’s Landing when he half-sold and half-sold them to him in order to win over the church and prevent religious forces from hindering him from carrying out technological innovation. It was not someone who “used public funds to buy” .

Who cares whether these details are true or false?

Even if there is, who can stand up and refute on the cusp of this storm?

Even if someone stands up to refute, anyway, it is Luchen Frey who is talking nonsense. What does it have to do with me, Iger?

With real-name reports from authoritative figures within the church and most middle-level elites in Old Town remaining neutral, the public has no strong will to support and defend the archbishop.No one would hate the drama of "an unworthy big man stumbled"-as for whether the big man is Agger West, Daenerys Targaryen, or the head of the church, the Archbishop...

They don't care.

……

Amidst the uproar, several "righteous men" rushed onto the wooden platform and pulled Archbishop Lu Chen, who knew all the evidence, to Duke Mace Tyrell in the crowd, and then the crowd was in a wave of reckoning and fighting. In the voice of the trial archbishop, surrounded by several big figures and backbones in the center, they rushed towards the exit of the market in a wave.

At the beginning, the team only had a hundred or so people, and the composition was about half of the actors and trustees, plus the other half of the citizens who wanted to watch the excitement.However, as the participants who did not know the truth along the way were sporadically attracted and coerced, several patrol teams were "coincidentally" recruited and mobilized by Mace Tyrell as the guardian of the river bay. When they arrived at the archbishop's first When they were outside the stolen land, they already had four to five hundred people, and they crowded the entire street in a mighty way.

This is an ordinary, independent house that is neither luxurious nor dilapidated, and is usually used for the small and wealthy civilians with a little property.It doesn't look anything special, except that the windows are all tightly covered and closed from the inside, the front and rear doors are also somewhat stronger than the specification, and... the neighbors around can't tell who its owner is.

Under the watchful eyes of the 500-member anti-theft team and more residents living in this area, Mace Tyrell ordered to knock on the door and shouted several times, but no one answered. He opened the door of the house, rushed into it, and started searching and searching.

"What is this for?"

"I heard that they are investigating the evidence of the archbishop's embezzlement of church property? Do you know the owner of this house?"