Chapter 279
2021-01-06
Chapter 279 Procrastination is VictoryThe wind was howling outside the window, and it was another day as usual. Sam got dressed and put on his boots, walked out of oneself's room, looked up at the cloudy and gray sky, suppressed the idea of returning to the warm bed and fell asleep, and walked towards the lobby and election field.
There is no color in Castle Black, and even human skin looks pale against the black clothed; the ice walls are filled with cold, like a fire that emits heat. The cold wind tugged at the corners of his clothes and trousers and poured it into the gaps in the warm clothes. The cold feeling quickly came from every part of his body. Sam pulled up his hood and wrapped his cloak tightly, and hurried to his destination.
It's terribly cold, and this is the result of Castle Black's walls and dense buildings, and most of the formidable power of the cold wind is blocked. It's unimaginable how bad the temperature and climate can be in the wilderness outside the walls. As for the world north of the Wall that has been completely occupied by the Others and the dead... Sam's body shuddered just thinking about it.
The brothers who came to vote were gathered in the cellar as before. The election has been going on for almost three months. There are only three candidates who have not yet withdrawn, and the votes that can be drawn have long been exhausted. , this discussion has also been discussed light. The patrols outside the wall have already stopped, and the wildling through the Wall has also stopped very much; the Lord Commander has not been selected, and the ghouls have not continued to attack... All the soldiers and officers are in a state of slack, even the daily drills On and off.
Everyone usually votes while having breakfast every day, and then they go back to the tower or the top of the Wall to hang out.
But today, as soon as Sam entered the door, he felt something strange: Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! was buzzing before he walked down the stairs... The brothers crowded around the benches and tables, Some people were eating breakfast, some people were looking left and right to question their companions, and the voices echoed on the vaulted ceiling, making people feel as if their brains were tingling.
This kind of excitement only appeared in the first few days of the election. What happened?
Sam had a bad premonition, looked around and found oneself's friends.
"What happened?"
Pyp turned around and said: "Damn, why are you getting up now!"
"I am not every day all getting up at this time. Is it?" Sam replied in a muffled voice and looked towards Grenn - this big guy always answers questions, never shills or jokes, although sometimes he seems silly, but Sam likes him: "What's wrong, why? What are you talking about if you don't leave after breakfast?"
The big man nicknamed Stupid Bull answered honestly as always: "Ser Denys Mallister and Lord Cotter Pyke dropped out of the race and both voted for The new candidate -- Yohn Royce."
"Lord Royce got nearly 500 votes directly." Pyp shrugged and added details: "As long as there are more than 600 votes, he is the new Lord Commander It's over..."
"Six hundred and seventy-eight." Sam subconsciously said the exact number, and his heart froze: It's over, the worst is yet to come.
After a series of losses and additions, the total number of Night's Watch has slightly recovered from the minimum, and there are currently a total of 1,070 members. As long as 678 votes are reached, you can reach the total number of Night's Watch Legion on 2/3/2022 and win the election to become the next Lord Commander.
Having the support of the Commanders of Shadow Tower and Eastwatch does not imply a direct election to the Lord Commander, but throughout recorded Night's Watch history, every candidate who has received the support of the Commanders of both fortresses ...
In the end, they were all successfully elected as Lord Commander.
That's right, every one, no exceptions!
The reason is very simple. Shadow Tower and Eastwatch are at the two ends of the Wall. Since ancient times, they have been the two fortresses with the largest number of soldiers stationed outside the headquarters of Night's Watch. When Night's Watch also guarded nineteen fortresses, it was abolished. The downsizing and relocation of headquarters from Nightfort to Castle Black hasn't changed, with five remaining... not to mention 100 years after only three.
Although Commander Mormont reactivated a large number of fortresses along the Wall with the support of foreign aid when he was alive, the other sixteen fortresses were not completely garrisoned by Night's Watch. Up, there is no more Shadow Tower or Eastwatch.
Ser Denys Mallister and Cotter Pyke hold more than two-fifths of the voting power of the entire Night's Watch Legion. Right now, Yohn · Royce just managed to get a random hundred votes from Castle Black's sworn brothers to seal the victory.
Being shocked by the unexpected news, a tall Night's Watch Ranger approached the three-person discussion group and asked directly, "Hey, what do we do now? ”
…
The speaker is a Lanisport guard who followed James Lannister to the Wall, usually the Westerlands are a small group of their own and don’t disdain For dealing with other Night's Watches - especially "cowards" and "dumbs" like Sam and Grenn. But now they have to communicate with oneself's allies: Igor asked them to vote for Cotter Pyke before leaving to close the gap between the top two and maintain the balance, but suddenly the top two quit the election, and the people of the Westerlands were at a loss. , and only then took the initiative to ask the open-faced supporters of the reformists.
"What to do?" I don't know, Sam frantically looked around. Igor was on his way back from North, Jon was there to urge and warn him, and Kingslayer hated managing and using his brains the most... Now this huge Castle Black, oneself, this timid fatty, has become the leader of the reformists?
"Come on, vote for Buckwell, or re-nominate Ser Jaime and vote for him?" urged the Westerlands man in displeasure: "Can't be abstaining or throwing the vote to Royce?"
Abstaining is impossible. According to the provisions of the Night's Watch law, in order to ensure that the Lord Commander can be elected, the winner only needs to get 2/3/2022 of the actual number of votes. Even if half of the people abstain, the first place only needs to get 2/3/2022 of the remaining half of the votes will be elected... Every abstention will only bring the first place one step closer to being elected.
Oneself messed up and Sam felt like oneself was about to pee. But it's not oneself's fault, no matter who, as long as Ser Mallister and Cotter Pyke get the votes, they are invincible without any suspense... He resisted not trembling, and was silent for a while, trying to pretend to think to cover up his panic , but a voice suddenly came out from the bottom of my heart.
(No, it's not over yet.)
"Invincible" doesn't mean "victory" after all.
It is true that every candidate who has both Shadow Tower and Eastwatch support becomes Lord Commander, but not every candidate who becomes Lord Commander has the support of Shadow Tower and Eastwatch. There is no necessary causal relationship between these two events. In the final analysis, the key is still the proportional line of 2/3/2022 - as long as the Night's Watch of these two fortresses does not add up to 2/3/2022 of the total number of people, then " Having the support of these two commanders" is not the same as "becoming a Lord Commander".
Sam doesn't know if Yohn Royce used charisma, quid pro quo, or something else to convince Ser Mallister and Cotter Pyke to vote for him...but he and hundreds of others in the past rely on Shadow Tower and Eastwatch for support. As a result, the situation of the winning commander is different: he has only won the votes of these two fortresses for the time being.
Denys Mallister and Cotter Pyke, both old men who have been clothed in black for decades, are familiar to Castle Black soldiers even if they don't know him. But Yohn Royce, to most of Castle Black's Night's Watch, is just a former count and lost noble from the faraway Vale who was handed over by King Robert because of a conspiracy - just withdrew from the election with Osell, but could not let the Just like the hundreds of brethren who support oneself vote for a particular person, the commanders of Shadow Tower and Eastwatch can vote for him as much as the 400+ votes represented by oneself... but cannot order Castle Black to support them originally. The duo's brother also voted for Royce!
As long as you take advantage of this opportunity and let the lost tickets from the two commanders not all converge to the name of Yohn · Royce, things will turn around!
The reason is very simple, even a little child can understand it, but what should I do?
(Drag!)
Another word popped into my head, and before Sam could think about it, he stuttered and quickly gave the impatient Westerlands man: "Vote for Warner Buckwell. , there's no reason, anyway... it's the same anyway, just don't vote for Lord Royce."
The Westerlands glanced at Sam, who couldn't hide his panic, and understood that the other party had no idea, nodded, and turned around Went back to the small group of oneself.
"Hey, Sam." Dolorous Edd also came over: "If you don't have any good ideas, our new Lord Commander is Yohn Royce...Although I have no problem with this guy, but listen Saying he has a grudge against Igor, in case it's a sleight of hand, and we're Jon's friends, and Jon's Igor's friends, and he becomes the commander and wants to wear us shoes, that's a big no-no!"
"Oh, it's not that easy to come up with a good idea. Edd, don't you come here to make a mess, okay?" Sam was thinking about a solution, hearing this and hugged his head. Oneself has neither influence nor many friends in Castle Black, it can be said that the words of the lowly carry little weight It is difficult to stop the situation from changing, after thinking about it, I can only hope to delay time, wait for Igor or at least Jon to come back first Find another way later. "Grenn, please hurry to Queenscrown later, whether Igor arrives or not, at least call Jon back first."
"Okay." The big man shrugged nonchalantly. "Let's go now?"
"No, wait, I'll write you a note, if you see Igor, give it to him, and if you don't, give it to Queenscrown. Make sure that the Chief Logistics Officer can see it before returning to Castle Black." Sam looked around, didn't find the pen and paper, and was about to go back to the room to get it, but heard the comments of the other brothers who were waiting to vote.
…
"Who do you vote for?"
"Let's vote for Royce. It's been dragging on long enough, and I'm sorry. Enough is enough, Lord Commander is finally chosen, so what are you waiting for?"
"Enough? It's so comfortable without the Lord Commander, no one is forcing you to practice, and you don't have to worry about who will get caught. Sending the wall to die, I don't think I've enjoyed enough."
"Comfort is comfort, I watched the whole thing on top of the wall the day the ghouls attacked the city! Those ghouls are here now. The north side of the wall is thinking about how to kill us - I heard that the leader among them is still wise. I don't want to relax for a while, and then I don't know when I will be drowned by the dead."
"Damn, a little bit. It makes sense. But, I don't know this Yohn Royce at all."
"A bad commander is better than nothing, and besides, Ser Mallister and Lord Cotter Pyke support him, no matter how bad. Where are you going?"
…
"Wait a minute, wait until I give you the note before you go." Sam realized something was wrong. Sending a letter to Igor can be slowed down, but if no one stands up to say or do something at this moment, it will be meaningless to send any message to anyone... But he turned around and found that among oneself's friends, except for Jon , no one can take on this responsibility.
It seems that it can only be oneself.
Sam swallowed and walked into the aisle, shouting with all his might, "Everyone! Please listen to me!"
…
No one paid attention, everyone still discussed their own issues, and even intermittently, some people came to the stage to vote, and I don't know whether to vote for Royce or Buckwell.
"Stupid cow, come on." Pyp nudged the big man with his shoulder.
Grenn is not as stupid as he looks, he immediately understood, "peng peng peng" patted the table with his thick palms, and shouted in a voice ten times that of Sam: "Everyone be quiet. Quiet! Maester Aemon's assistant has something to say!"
Sam was disliked by his father because he was fat and cowardly, and there were few people in Castle Black who looked down on him, only Maester Aemon's assistant. No., can barely make people quiet and listen to him.
"Does our fat pig Ser have something to say?" someone said with a laugh, "Did you have something to say, or did Maester Aemon ask you to convey what he meant?"
Sam knows that oneself cannot answer this question. Seeing hundreds of pairs of eyes turning to oneself, he suddenly felt his legs go weak, but he continued to speak: "Ser Mallister and Lord Cotter Pyke are finally able to put aside their prejudices and reach an agreement, which is really exciting... .I don't know if Lord Royce will be a good commander, but I'm here to remind everyone: Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is a lifelong position, once you choose it, you can't go back."
He read Looking at the two commanders, he swallowed again before continuing: "No matter who you vote for, I hope you all vote because you know the candidate and support him, not because 'he voted the most, Vote for him to choose Lord Commander '...and make a hasty choice."
"Lord Tully." Denys Mallister, who was sitting at the front table, turned around with a look on his face. Looking at Sam mildly: "Is this an advice from Aemon master?"
No, Sam understands that he can't reply, he chooses his words carefully and gives an ambiguous answer: "Maester wears his neck Chain, swear...he said he would never vote for either side, that's my personal opinion: I don't know Lord Yohn Royce, I hope you all give him the In a few days, explain the policy he will adopt after taking office as Lord Commander, and prove that oneself is capable of taking on this responsibility."
Old Ser smiled slightly: "Aemon master is very thoughtful, I agree with this Opinion, brothers, before voting, you can sit at Lord Royce's table, have a drink, and listen to his experiences and thoughts."
(This has nothing to do with Maester Aemon. None of them, they had to associate, not oneself deliberately lying.) Sam did not intend to take away the fact that oneself accidentally like the fox which exploits the tiger's might, Maester Aemon's qualifications and prestige in Night's Watch are unparalleled, if Without such a relationship... no one would listen to oneself's "fatty" half-sentence.
...
"But who can we vote for?" Someone immediately asked: "We don't know Yohn Royce, but Warner Buckwell joined Night's Watch a few. Moon, how's it going!"
"Vote for oneself." Dolorous Edd replies, "At least you impossible unfathomable mystery became Lord Commander, Aemon master is clear- —Better lack than waste!"
"Vote for Lord Royce and he'll probably become Lord Commander, but we'll have time to think and judge when we vote for someone else." Sam caught a glimpse of sitting Yohn Royce, who was not far from Ser Mallister, looked at this side coldly, couldn't help shivering, and realized that oneself couldn't say more: "I have already said what I want to say, in order not to show bias, the rest should be It's up to the brave Night's Watch brothers...oneself to decide what to do."
The whole body trembled as if it wasn't oneself. Before showing his ugly face, Sam quickly turned around and motioned for Grenn to come with oneself. , and ran out of the hall at the fastest speed.
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(end of this chapter)