Chapter 237
2021-01-06
Chapter 237 Peace Talk? surrender?Igor's words revealed the other party's details, Mance Rayder was speechless, his arms were crossed on the table for a moment, and he said with a sullen face: "The days are getting shorter and shorter, the nights are getting colder, and the forest is active. Those ghosts are also getting stronger. Not only are they moving closer and closer to the Wall, but the fire and obsidian are getting less and less effective at killing them. If you don't manage to get past the Wall, me and my people will all be destroyed. Died in the Haunted Forest, turned into a puppet of the Others..."
After being choked once, Mance finally stopped talking big and changed to a more candid new opening. Jon stood aside and pressed his sword hilt, everyone Night's Watch executives focused their attention on each other. The Chief Ranger shrugged, "That's really good news. From now on, Night's Watch and the residents of the Seven Kingdoms will no longer have to worry about the threat of wildling."
"I admit, Wall's defense organization It's very perfect and thoughtful, if you don't let it go, the free people will never be able to pass by the power of oneself." Mance did not reply to Jeremy's words, but continued: "But I dare to come here today, I have already done everything. Prepare - aren't you wondering why I chose the Frostfangs so far from the Wall as a rendezvous in the first place, and it took so long to get to the Wall after having gathered a hundred tribes? Guess, this paragraph What are I and my people doing on the north side of the Wall during the time?"
"Didn't you bring too many things and slow down the trip." Mormont said with displeasure: "A few months ago, Shadow Tower Qhorin Halfhand of Qhorin once tortured captured captives and warned me that you might be looking for some kind of mysterious means to break through the Wall. I was about to organize an expedition to find out, but ended up abandoning the plan for serial reasons. … Mention, I want to give you a suggestion first - stop using this kind of question to continue our communication, we are gathered here, not to chat with you."
"Okay , okay." The situation is stronger than people, Mance Rayder reluctantly raised his hand to show his understanding, and quickly revealed the answer: "Qhorin Halfhand is right, as my old boss, he really knows me too much. I bring a hundred This tribe, along the Frostfangs mountain range and Milkwater, slowly descended southward, digging three feet all the way, digging countless tombs, just to find a legendary item - Horn of Winter. This thing is also known as Joramun's horn, in the ballad In it, the King-Beyond-the-Wall Joramun a thousand years ago once blew it to wake up the Giant underground, and it is said that as long as you play it near the Wall, you can make The Wall collapse."
"Chee—— Jeremy laughed out loud, "I've heard this story too, but if this thing exists, why didn't Joramun blow it back then? Are you trying to say—you found the horn, if we don't take you back this time?" Put it back alive or open the gate to let the wildling enter the Wall, and the person you arranged will blow the horn and make the Wall collapse? Are you a fool to be Night's Watch!"
"The stories in the ballads, I have always been dubious, whether this horn will work or not, who knows if you don't blow it. Mance shrugged. "I did have a team that wanted to try, but I stopped it." If Wall does fall, what can stop the Others from going south to exterminate humanity? No matter what happens, I don't want that shit to get through the Wall and destroy the entire human world..."
Mormont was amused: "So, you found a legendary horn, but neither were sure about it. Is it possible to make the Wall collapse, and I'm not going to try... So what's the difference between this thing and not being there? "
"Because I know the severity, and know which is more important between my own safety and the survival of mankind. Mance said: "Yes, I was a member of Night's Watch, and finally escaped Shadow Tower to join the people of beyond the wall. In your rules, I am a traitor. But there are so many freedoms outside the wall." What about the people? They also have parents, lovers, and children... They also eat and drink water. What is the difference between them and those living in the south of the Wall? "
"What's the difference? Bowen Marsh interjected with disgust: "People who live south of the Wall don't do the same thing as raiders who climb over the Wall and go north to kill and snatch your women as wives." "
"That's because the climate south of the Wall is far milder than the north, and the resources are far more abundant, so you can live just fine without risking it!" Mance's voice rose a lot: "But even in such bad conditions, the raiders are only a very small part of the freedmen!" A group of hot-blooded men prove their courage and improve their lives by crossing the Wall and bringing back the spoils... This is essentially the same as those who swore to join the Night's Watch in the hope of honor, or those who were unable to live and who committed crimes before putting on black clothed. the difference? Not to mention, these guys have now almost died in the battle against Wall, and the rest are almost innocent! Why would you rather let the freedmen die in vain and become enemies of the living, rather than give a way to survive, let us fight death side by side with you through the Wall in the near future? "
"Well said, opening the city gates will make it easy for you to pass, but what's next?" Let the fortresses along the Wall become Mole's Towns, let the Giant camp in the ruins of Winterfell, the Cannibal Tribes slaughter the mountain clans and occupy Wolfswood, the raiders go south to White Harbor and The Neck to steal the North's daughter, the strong girl fuck their wives? Bowen coldly snorted: "Night's Watch doesn't need outside help to keep Others out of Seven Kingdoms!" "
"Probably, but it's the thousands of mountain clans who give you this confidence." Mance didn't answer directly, but instead turned to another thing: "Your allies do play a big role, but I have Skinchangers by my side, they can enter the body of the eagle and soar over the land grant and North, See the situation with its eyes. With their help, I know that while you are defending the Wall with the help of the Mountain Clan, you are facing enormous food pressure. And right now, North oneself is also facing trouble, it is difficult to continue to support Wall's consumption..." He asked with a serious expression, "Since you already know the existence of the real enemy, why would you rather hold on to your long-standing prejudice and hatred? Not accepting a new helper who wants to stand by your side in the fight against death? You win! Let's come in, we've brought our entire winter stockpile, and even if we give you a portion, there's enough for everyone to eat for a while. ”
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Igor relaxed: Fortunately, Mance adopts the method of selling miserable and convincing people... When I heard him mention Horn of Winter, Igor still I think this King-Beyond-the-Wall is stupid enough to use threats to force Night's Watch to open the door. If the other party adopts this plan, the negotiation will go to a dead end, let oneself want to conquer wildling, how much voice and new ideas There's no way to reverse the ending - oneself's words do have weight, but Night's Watch Legion is not his word after all. The black clothed Legion is an organization composed of soldiers after all, and even if Horn of Winter is real, the Wall defenders are very It is difficult to accept threats and open doors and let the enemy enter.
“No one would rather let you die than your help. "Mormont listened carefully to Mance's words: "But there are two questions - first, who can guarantee that the wildling will be safe after entering the border? Second, the wildling is known as 100,000, and the number is so large that even with food, it is difficult to feed oneself. "
"I've never controlled a hundred thousand wildlings, maybe North of the Wall did have that many, but not until the freedmen realized what kept sneaking attack in the woods and killing us , so when I picked up the group to protect myself, hundreds of people have been miserable, and many more people have fled and lost contact... When I finally gathered a hundred in the Frostfangs mountain range - in fact, this number is also an estimate - When we were a tribe, we had about 70,000 people in total, and we gathered many more on the way to the south, but at most we didn't reach 80,000. Mance answered the second question first: "And these people, after this period of consumption, have only half of them left. "
"You attacked the Wall and lost 40,000 people?" Mormont asked, "but we didn't kill that many people. "
"Only a few were lost in the attack, and the ones that threatened us the most were those who lurked during the day and acted at night. Mance's expression was uncertain, as if he was still reminiscing about the fear of being attacked by the Others: "In order to avoid them, we had to get as close to Wall as possible, but in order for you on the top of Wall to not see my movements, we had to get a little closer with Wall. Keep some distance. Although they have the know-how to deal with the living dead, they still launch sneak attacks almost every night under the leadership of Others. Good luck repelled the dead and had time to cremate the dead. If they fell into chaos in the dark and failed to win quickly, then the second On the day of the day, there are dozens or hundreds of our enemies... The casualties are part of it, and more are the people who left the large army and fled because of despair and fear. ”
Mance's tone was flat, but everyone present could hear the fear and hopelessness in it. Thankfully, it wasn't them who faced the Others directly outside the Wall.
"So, you have less than 40,000 people left? ”
“These days, after seeing that there is no hope of breaking the Wall, in order to give the next generation greater hope for survival, I have made a difficult decision-to let the wounded, the sick and the elderly to a certain degree of aging. They, take the life of oneself to lighten the burden on others. King-Beyond-the-Wall said with a blank face: "This is nothing new. In the past, every winter, some people who were incapacitated and about to go into the ground would take the initiative to enter the forest empty-handed and hand over the life of oneself to the Old Gods...but in batches This is the first time. In order to prevent becoming the living dead, we chose to take poison fruit and let the living burn the corpse after falling down. Now, we have 30,000 people left. "
So, Mormont nods: "But you didn't answer the other question, how do you ensure that the wildling can stay safe after passing the Wall, and not threaten us, or even invade North?" "
"I think I've answered that question just now." "Mance said: "30,000 people, although there are no old people, but there are still babies and children... In the case that a large number of Warriors have been killed in the process of attacking the Wall, we can't threaten the entire North. In addition, when the commanding attack on Wall failed and 20,000 to 30,000 people fled, I proposed to let the freedmen who might be a drag on others end themselves, and there were still hundreds of thousands of people who did the same. What's this? Prestige and control, I can and will manage my people! ”
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The wildlings rely on self-termination to reduce the burden and control the number of people to a certain extent, so as to ensure that the remaining resources are still enough for oneself to eat. Mance patted his chest and assured Night's Watch: he can help solve Wall's food crisis!
As soon as these words came out, all the Night's Watch executives in the hall were temporarily speechless. Some of them were like the chief executive. Affairs Officer Bowen Marsh and Chief Ranger Jeremy Lake, stunned by the decisive and tragic choices the wildlings have made to survive; while others, younger newcomers like Jon Snow, have no grudges against the wildlings, I couldn't help but give birth to a compassion.
Only Igor was very moved - the wildlings actually took the initiative to eliminate the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled from the population who lost their ability to work and battle strength! This kind of place is placed in a civilized society It's an incredible thing, they actually did it, the Mance who proposed this plan has not been killed by the oneself!
Imagine: a completely composed of youngsters, and extremely cheap, at least ten-twenty has no pension within a year Stressed high-quality labor force... This is how many nationals of the ruling class of the country yearn for something even in dreams!
The most important thing is: if what Mance said is true, then the number of wildlings has now been reduced to a level that Night's Watch can control. , the logistics department can also rely on the Braavos aid food to feed.
And now, the opportunity to take this near-perfect group to his own use is before him!
Mance Rayder had no idea, oneself's words inadvertently made one of the biggest voices in Night's Watch tickled. He threw all his chips, and now... it's just to see if Night's Watch will answer.
"No one doubts your prestige in the wildling. said the Chief Ranger, "but that's why I'm afraid - you're going to rely on this kind of influence, and after passing the Wall, you're going to attack us and direct the wildling to attack us." "
"The wildlings rallied around me because I promised them I would take them over the Wall to take refuge in the South." Mance replied, "But it turned out I couldn't, and in the end I negotiated to convince you to let us go through the Wall. In this case, I have no ability to convince the free people who have experienced blood and fire and have settled down through the Wall to take up arms and continue to fight... If you are really worried, then leave me in Castle Black, Good as a hostage. "
"Please allow me to interrupt." Igor raised his hand: "One thing, I don't know why no one mentioned it... I think, wildling simply is not qualified to negotiate with us, I prefer to use another word to describe the current conversation - surrender ceremony. "
"Does that make a difference? Peace talk, or surrender, whichever word you use, I just ask to let me and my people pass the Wall. "
"No, that's a big difference." Igor smiled lightly: "If the wild... free folks are going to surrender to Night's Watch, then I think we have the right to make various conditions." Mance Rayder, if you can promise me the following two, I can first represent the Night's Watch Logistics Department in support of letting you and your people pass the Wall. "
" said. "
"One, hand over all the weapons before passing the Wall, and keep them by Night's Watch; two, after passing the Wall, you will become new land grant residents, and you must fully comply with the land grant law formulated by Night's Watch." , obey our management. "
"The surrender of all weapons is negotiable, but the law? "Mance laughed, "The freedmen have the law of oneself, they won't kneel, and even if I say yes, I can't enforce it." "
"This is not about negotiating who's law to obey. I'm afraid it won't be their turn to choose freely this time." Igor didn't laugh, "If you don't want to follow the law of land grants, just stay outside the Wall with that bullshit 'freedom' and wait to die." To pass the Wall, you have to fully accept our terms! "
...
Mance put away his smile and stared at Igor. Judging from the fact that the other Night's Watch did not interrupt him, the words of the chief logistics officer in front of him were very useful, This confirms the fragmentary information provided by the subordinates: "I said, even if I promise, it will not be executed. "
"There will naturally be punishments for non-compliance in the provisions of the law. As long as you agree, whether it can be executed or not is the matter of the Law Enforcer, and it is not your turn to predict the future." "
"Since you are so confident, I promise, when will the door be opened?" "
"He's not the Lord Commander." Bowen interrupted, "If it's going to be a vote, then on behalf of the Night's Watch affairs officer, I'm against letting the wildling pass Wall. "
"I also think it needs to be discussed further. The Chief Ranger said the same, "but respect the Lord Commander's opinion."
Mormont and the Chief Craftsman did not make a statement. Igor had an idea and whispered to Mormont's ear: "Sir, agree first, once the wildlings agree." Gather outside the gate of Castle Black and wait to pass the Wall, when the time comes, how will the law of granting land be determined, or even open the door to let them in or sneak attack to grab a wave of food and let them fend for themselves, isn't it all up to us? ” The two had discussed this point in the previous conversation. Mormonter gently nodded, pretending to hesitate for a while, and as the Lord Commander, gave the final answer of Night's Watch Legion.
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[Da Zhang, make up the first two days. I’ve been busy recently, so I won’t explain it occasionally.]
(This chapter end)