Chapter 449
2021-01-06
Chapter 449 (Part 2)"The Nightfort where Lady Stark is located has not been attacked, Arya is also safe in Queenscrown, and when I return to the land grant, I will urge them to go home on your behalf." Igor replied without hesitation, "Only my brother Bran, who is now a part of Night's Watch, has gone south with the army at this moment. At this point, but since the war is not over, I can't let him go home to save his relatives for the time being, and I also ask Lord Stark to forgive me."
It is very simple to swear allegiance to the Queen, and it will be done in one sentence; When she competes for the world, problems spring up.
The "solid backing" when leaning against the back becomes the "obstacle" when turning around. Igor turned his attention from the north to prepare to go south. The first thing he had to face was North, which was separated from the land grant and the six southern countries.
Whether it's purely self-interest, tradition, ethics, or rules, North has no reason to support or allow Night's Watch to drop Wall and join Queen's camp in the war. If House Stark decides to prevent Igor from fulfilling his promise to Queen, it's whether it's by relying on the "old big brother" influence and the network of connections he has built over the long-term funding of Night's Watch to overshadow and even oust him, or when he sends troops south , intercept, or wait for him to leave with his troops and go directly north to end his lair and base camp...
Relying on the excellent geographical location and size advantages that separate the land grant and the south, North has countless Ways to ruin Igor's good things and prevent him from participating in this grand poker game.
…
On the surface, it seems that the most beneficial and It's a simple and direct approach, but let's not talk about whether it can make House Stark buy in. Even if it can, Igor is also impossible to take this plan.
Public opinion is just a gust of wind for some people, but it is the foundation of life for others. Unfortunately, Igor, who is an outsider, is closer to the latter between the two - the identity of Lord Commander of the Night's Watch is neither divinely ordained nor automatically inherited according to tradition, but relies on Night's Watch soldiers "voted".
Igor does have considerable strength, but a considerable part of this strength is supported by image-for a long time, he has always played a positive role, relying on this image to strengthen His own control over Legion and land grants relies on this image to gain support from external blood transfusions - even if he is loyal to the Queen and breaks the neutrality rules and becomes a traitor, there are at least good excuses such as "a promise of gold" and "do what you say". To be a fig leaf, even if he doesn't get universal support, it can at least make most people understand and acquiesce...
However, once he starts to rely on "hostage-taking", it will be placed in which era and where He will not be recognized as a means to achieve his goal, and he instantly changed from "opposition" to "bu-phobic". The character collapse caused by this kind of change in nature is often completely and destructive. No matter how many good deeds he has done to benefit the country and the people and even his heroic feats will not be remembered, everyone will only say: Look, the fox's tail is finally exposed. !
At that time, let alone the mountain clans in North and the people beyond the wall who are not interested in the internal affairs of Seven Kingdoms, even the Queen who originally valued him may change his attitude towards him. Be vigilant and prepared.
The character is questioned, and it is impossible to make Queenscrown operate normally and output war weapons with the advantage of generation difference. Just relying on that level of popular science does not necessarily match the military and political knowledge of the Westeros local environment, How long can he continue to sway under Queen's command?
Since you don't plan to use your brains on House Stark members, it's natural to make friends without any hesitation.
Seeing Igor's happy reply, Robb breathed a sigh of relief, and soon noticed the details of the second half of his sentence: "The war is not over yet? But as far as I can see, there is no more action left on the battlefield. Others or ghouls."
"A few moments ago, a small group of single-digit enemies, taking advantage of the night, burrowed into Wolfswood under the delaying cover of a large number of ghouls. I have sent people to chase, but the terrain in the dark forest is complicated, so it is not possible to catch up. In addition, the enemy is suspected to have remnants in the beyond the wall. Although I have an appointment with the Queen, after all, it is the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch first. Then there are her supporters - before sending troops to fight for the Iron Throne for the Queen, I will organize a large-scale northward expedition. Through this expedition, at least all the remaining enemies in the Haunted Forest will be cleared away and the threat of Others will be completely eliminated. , and then fulfill the agreement with the Queen."
(It's pretty sweet.)
Robb cheek twitched ——Igor's devotion to righteousness that inspires "Night's Watch duty first" The reverence appearance made him unable to answer for a while.
"Before this expedition, I asked North to return all the Dragonglass weapons, collect the saltpeter that has been boiled, and deliver it to the Night's Watch Legion." Igor didn't wait for Robb to answer, and the next thing was the highlight: "When this last expedition returns to the land grant, I hope that North can provide a proper amount of food and armament funding, and allow the Night's Watch Legion to travel south via Kingsroad, through the Moat Cailin fortress to the south, and complete the return promised to the Queen."
"Give way out, provide food and armaments, and support Night's Watch's rebellion south?" The new Castle Cerwyn count immediately sneered, "Why don't you simply ask North to swear allegiance to the Queen and go south with you to fight King Stannis. Forget it!"
"It would be better if it was so natural, but unfortunately I know that it is the condition that everyone impossible promised, so I don't mention it at all." Igor continued with an attitude of almost ignoring, "Lord Stark, don't be in a hurry. Reply - Before the end of Night's Watch's next expedition beyond the wall, you will have a lot of time to investigate through various channels: Did Night's Watch deliberately let Others go south to harm North? Everything is to be found out , and then calm down and think about this problem: Queen lost the fighter to attack King's Landing and one of the three precious dragons in order to protect North. Such a gesture of goodwill and great sacrifice only requires North to remain neutral in this war and give Is a little help too much?"
...
Too much? Certainly not too much.
But Robb is the guardian of the North, the supreme ruler north of The Neck and the Duke of Winterfell, a great lord who controls nearly one third area of the Seven Kingdoms, not a knight who is happy and vengeful. And Knight - he thinks about problems, it is impossible to rely on emotions and intuition, but to analyze the interests and consider the long-term. Not to mention, Queen never came to him to discuss conditions before, and Robb did not bear any moral pressure in this matter!
The mind turned sharply, and the North guardian quickly thought about it.
Robb was born out of a typical political marriage to ensure the stability of the anti-Targaryen "Osprey" alliance. With such a background and growing up in Winterfell under the reign of King Robert Baratheon, Robb couldn't get rid of his instinctive perception that "Targaryen is the enemy". But on the other hand, he is a youngster with a relatively flexible mind and a strong ability to accept new things... It is an indisputable fact that Queen lost a dragon to protect the North soldiers in this battle. He did return to Winterfell safely, and the investigation results showed that Night's Watch did not deliberately release water during the Others invasion. Should oneself let Igor go to help the Queen of House Targaryen?
The first conflict between inherent concepts and emotional factors, coupled with the pain from the previous battle, made him unable to concentrate and think, and Robb, who was already somewhat lacking in judgment, could not make a choice at all.
Fortunately, Igor also said, oneself does not have to rush to reply.
Dragonglass and that "saltpeter" can only be used to deal with Others and the dead. Impossible can use it to help the Queen conquer the world. If Night's Watch really wants to go out for an expedition, it is completely reasonable to give them. But in the time opportunity when Igor put all his thoughts on the expedition in Saibei, oneself can calmly investigate the real process of this battle between humans and ghosts, and by the way gather the lords to hold a meeting to jointly fight against North's power struggle in the next continent. decision on the role to play.
"Dragonglass and saltpeter, I will order the transfer to Queenscrown as soon as possible." After some careful consideration, Robb stared at Igor and made a decision, "But whether to break the convention and tradition and acquiesce to the mixing of Night's Watch The internal conflict with the Seven Kingdoms is related to the interests of the entire North, and I can't decide it alone, it must be decided by all the North nobles."
Igor showed a faint look of disappointment on his face, but he was in his heart. Laughing wildly in the sky: This pass condition may seem excessive, but in fact, it is all smoke bombs, just to cover the saltpeter that is quietly juxtaposed with Dragonglass in front, pretending to be "harmless to humans and animals".
He made it, and Robb didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. A cautious early start on confidentiality protection has finally paid off.
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Among the three major raw materials of gunpowder, sulfur and charcoal can be obtained anywhere, but nitrate is always the one in greatest demand and the most troublesome to obtain. .
Qyburn Maester reminded Igor at King's Landing more than a month ago that in addition to the two long-term paths of finding nitre mines and improving the nitrification process, they can actually use the method of boiling nitrile on a large scale to make short-term problems. Quickly obtain a certain amount of saltpeter in the interior, and last for a period of time. After Igor was awakened and brought him back to the land, he asked Qyburn to teach the residents of many castles and winter towns in the North the simple technique of boiling nitrate through field training, so that they could do nothing in the cold winter. You can also contribute to the frontline Night's Watch with oneself's hands.
Night's Watch buys the nitrate boiled by the North people at a price - through this mutually beneficial method, Igor can turn most of the North into oneself's nitrification field, avoiding the niter that can only be purchased from Transportation and political embarrassment from King's Landing.
However, although the plan is wonderful, there is a fatal problem: the land grant is a barren land that cannot achieve self-sufficiency in resources, long-term mining sulfur from Dragonstone, collecting and refining saltpeter from all over the south... Large-scale resource introduction inevitably requires contact with outsiders, and it is impossible to hide from those who want to know. In the preparation stage, it is easy to say that when the invasion of the Others has been repelled and preparations for the Dragon Queen begin to fight for the world, what is the name of Night's Watch... Ask North to continue to send sensitive resources such as "weapon raw materials" to itself?
Igor's plan for this purpose is to keep secrets from the very beginning, and lay the foundation for "strategic cheating" as early as possible, so as not to spend more time and talk when things come to an end.
In order to keep the secret of gunpowder, in addition to setting the actual explosion test site in a remote place, he also asked the technical department to announce from the beginning: "Saltpeter" is used to speed up the melting speed of obsidian when casting Dragonglass weapons. Additives that strengthen the lethality of Others; and the powder that makes them explode in bombs is made of charcoal, sulfur, and "specially treated, air-dried and ground into a powdered Wildfire."
It is true and false, false and true... It is difficult to deceive professional spies who want to inquire, but it is more than enough to deceive a feudal noble like Robb Stark!
……
If Robb can conscientiously find out, voluntarily agreeing to oneself's series of conditions to provide convenience and support for Night's Watch to go south to support Queen, of course, it is best; but if he finally refuses, he will soon find out : In the case of Night's Watch with a lot of gunpowder in hand, it is not up to him to decide!
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"Thank you for your reasonableness, Lord Stark." Igor recovered a little politeness - the saltpeter was stable, but it was only verbal, only when it was really in the hands , he has the qualification to flip the table, "Then, I wish you a speedy recovery, there are still some things to deal with, so let's say goodbye."
No matter how much influence North has on the land grant and Wall , but the de jure facts have never changed: the land grant is an independent administrative region on the same level as North, and the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch has never been a subordinate of North's guardian. From today onwards, he will still maintain a minimum of politeness, but he will no longer continue to pretend to be a grandson!
Igor waved his hand and left the meeting place with a group of guards without waiting for Robb to express his intentions. The moment he turned his head, he saw Roose Bolton, who was standing diagonally behind Robb and said nothing during the entire showdown. Although he only looked at each other for a short while, he still clearly confirmed one thing: this fortress of terror count is staring at oneself meaningfully with eyes that reflect the faint torch light.
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(end of this chapter)