Chapter 451
2021-01-06
Chapter 451 Karstark's AbacusFor a moment, Igor thought it was Robb who saw through oneself's plan to slow down , Decided to lift the table first to fight for the strong land and the land grant, so I sent the army of the Karstark family to copy the oneself back way... But on second thought, this should not be the case.
Karhold is located in the northeast corner of the Seven Kingdoms, east of the Last Hearth, across the Mo River and Lonely Mountain from the hinterland of the North where Winterfell is located... Robb Stark received an alert from Wall a week ago and ordered the troops from all over the country to come to the Last Hearth Gathering, the Karstark family is of course heading directly west rather than making a big circle. Because the distance is far and the road conditions are not as smooth as the Kingsroad repaired by Igor, the marching speed is average, and the others' massacre attack on the Umber's house is missed... Until the ghouls crossed the border, the land-grant army also chased the former south without stopping. Went to the Long Lake battlefield and arrived a little late - I don't know if it was luck or go on an errand for nothing to take over this deserted castle and collect the body of House Umber who was left by Night's Watches.
Robb Stark will never be able to send a letter in Long Lake to the army that Karstark's family has left on the road, which means: the North army who occupied the last Hearth should not know that the war is over, oneself Break the neutrality oath and join the Dragon Queen faction!
Igor ordered the dragon sleigh to stop far away from the castle, and sent an advance troop to investigate the situation. Soldiers from the Karstark family came out to check the identity of the people who came. After confirming that they were indeed Night's Watch, they opened the door unprepared and let them in and out.
After confirming from his subordinates that there was no ambush in the city, Igor greeted the Queen, entered with the guards, and met the leader of the occupying army - Rickard Karstark count.
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"You Lord Commander, are you eating shit!" Rickard sprayed Igor on the head as soon as they met, "I received a message from Robb. After the letter, I immediately called the soldiers to come, but after three or four days, I can only collect the corpses! Are you sleeping when the dead people go south? If you are really dead, that's all. The key is that I even look for the bodies of people I know. No--Crowfood, Prostitutes, and Hamad Umber, where are they?! Did you escape and you haven't gone looking for them yet?"
Anyone from the Umber family? Most of them have turned into ghouls, and were turned to ashes by dragon flames in the battle of Long Lake.
Igor thought to himself that the Land Granter patrolmen who had previously scouted the last ruins of Hearth had indeed reflected this to him: Most of the corpses left inside and outside the castle were old and weak or women and children - eaten by the men of the Umber family. Well dressed and looks strong and strong, he must have been picked by the Others to become a puppet... Of course, he didn't need to explain it so finely.
"Lord Karstark, tens of thousands of Warriors were lost for the land grant to resist the invasion of the Others." Igor didn't have time to count whether there were so many, but he estimated that the difference was almost the same, so he simply exaggerated, "Even if The enemy couldn't take Queenscrown and decided to take a detour to the south. We also chased Long Lake all the way, and didn't stop until the enemy was completely eliminated... The sacrifice was so heavy, and the mission was finally completed. , it's not your turn to arrive slowly, if a soldier didn't die and half a ghoul didn't get wiped out, blame it!"
"What?" He really didn't know anything about the situation, and although he looked like a complete rude person, he still spoke at least the truth. Hearing this aggressive imposing manner was extinguished for the most part, and his expression softened a lot: "Is the fight over? What about Stark, who should lead his army here, and those who disappeared from House Umber... Where did they go?"
Igor had no choice but to be patient, and attacked the Wall with lightning bolts from Others. If you and Queenscrown are unsuccessful, you can only go south. After capturing the last Hearth, choose a male Warrior and turn it into a ghoul to take away. Robb Stark and Night's Watch flank both sides to cooperate in Long Lake to wipe out the remaining enemies. The war between humans and ghosts has basically ended. Home...and that Night's Watch is planning a beyond the wall expedition to completely wipe out the remnants of the enemy, etc., told the old Karstark without omission and in detail to make a reasonable preparation for the next request.
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"Well—that's the case, damn, missed." Rickard frowned after listening to his story, cursed angrily, and calmed down his anger. , "Well, I apologize for the rude accusation earlier, the Night's Watch brothers have worked hard, and you can't blame the Umber family. The vegetables and meat products they used to store in the warehouse are no longer useful, let you If you want to come and move, bring the land back, it will be a reward to the Wall defenders."
"many thanks for your kindness." This is simply textbook generosity, Igor didn't know what to thank him for, he blurted out and shrugged quickly: "One more thing, many of my soldiers were injured in the battle with the ghouls in Long Lake, and now I need a warm and safe shelter from the wind and snow. The environment is recuperating. The battlefield is too far from Queenscrown, so I can only find a place nearby in North - I hereby request to temporarily borrow the last Hearth, and then withdraw the land grant when the wounded are in better condition."
Rickard Karstark is a Notoriously stubborn, if you tell him that "Queen's dragon is injured and needs a place to recover, so I will now requisition your North people's castle", let alone doing business, whether oneself can walk out of the castle unscathed is a problem. Although the combination of dragon + land-grant army can form a crushing advantage against the Karstark army of less than 2,000, Igor still needs North to supply oneself's first batch of nitrate - he needs a period of preparation to be able to compete with Seven Kingdoms especially North turned his face. It would be best if the goal could be achieved through some small deceptions to prevent the conflict from breaking out early.
"The wounded? Then let them choose a house in the winter town outside the castle... Anyway, the previous owner doesn't need it." Rickard count was very happy about this, "If there is For the seriously wounded, our army has also brought doctors to live in the castle, and they will be properly treated.”
To be honest, this treatment is nothing to say, but what Igor wants is not this.
"You don't understand what I mean." He said with a bitter face, "Our army of more than 4,000 people, together with your Karstark family's army totaling nearly 7,000, will stay in the last Hearth together. It's very crowded. Now that the war is over, you'll be wasting time and food if you continue to lead your troops here, and I'd be grateful if you could return to Fiefdom for a few weeks to borrow the Night's Watch from the last Hearth."
"What do you mean?" Karstark count face changed, showing his anger again: "Lord Commander, pay attention to the identity of your oneself! Let's not mention that we can't make a conclusion for the time being, even if it is really all in this world Everyone in the Umber family is dead, and Hearth won't have anything to do with you in the end, you are trying to drive me away, what are you trying to do?!"
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The human-ghost war is over, but the Karstark army continues to stay in the assembly area fully armed... Of course, it is not because of too much food, but because of many considerations.
Others don't use fire, they slaughtered inside and outside the castle without much effort to deliberately destroy the building or destroy the wealth and resources stored in it - such a granary full of meat warehouses ready for winter. If you live in a strong city, you must not let any cat or dog come to loot and loot. As the first North nobleman to arrive after the fact, Rickard Karstark has the obligation to be optimistic about it, so as to avoid the "broken window effect" that will cause it to suffer unnecessary subsequent damage.
In addition to this high-sounding reason, there are other reasons that are not very human.
Similar to the fact that when the Others attacked, the land-grant military and civilians would not be crowded in Queenscrown - North residents did not crowd into the Fengjun Castle in a swarm to spend the winter. The distance determined by the living area belonged to different lords. Residents will be scattered but focused on gathering in several winter towns consisting of a castle + several larger villages, thousands or tens of thousands of people will gather together for warmth, and exchange and credit resources and labor to ensure that they survive alive. Over winter. In the end, Hearth passed through the slaughter of Others, although it was no man's land, but the Umber family still had more than half of the 50,000 to 60,000 residents. contention value. Rickard will have to occupy the heart of the Umber family estate in the last Hearth to ensure the Karstark family has the most benefit in this unfortunate follow-up!
Yes, it's for profit. But it would be too biased to scold Rickard for killing people and wealth. Years of experience tell the North nobles: When something like this happens, if oneself behaves as a Knight because of face and does not fight for it, then the benefits will be lost. All going into the pockets of shameless ambitious clans like House Bolton. The Karstark family and the Umber family have always had a close relationship, and the collapse of the latter is absolutely nothing good news or opportunity for the former... But since the tragedy has already happened, no matter how pretentious it is to show grief, it will not bring the dead back to life. Lord, Rickard has to consider the long-term interests of the family as a whole!
Of course, he didn't want to let the Karstark family swallow up the entire estate of the Umber family by occupying the last Hearth. Alive, then Rickard would of course hand over the castle and its contents without any complaints; but if it is really unfortunate, the Umber family has been completely destroyed, such a good castle and the land and people under its jurisdiction certainly cannot. It's just abandoned or turned into wildling, and the approximate way to deal with it... is nothing more than the following.
1. House Stark, as the emperor, annexed the Fiefdom of the original Umber family.
In principle, House Stark has the power to do this, but in this way Robb will instantly rule over a land that is too large to manage, and at the same time, the assets of such appropriation and destruction of bannermen will also get a reputation for greed and viciousness. ...In the case of the Wolf Family always attaching importance to honor and prestige, it is almost impossible to happen.
Second, Robb appoints a loyal and honorable follower to transfer the castle and Fiefdom that destroyed the Umber family to this new family.
Whether there is a suitable candidate, Umber, as a surname almost as old as Stark, a glorious family that was king in ancient times, ruled from the Bay of Seals to Long Lake and Lonely Mountain, A territory almost as large as a land grant... Even if House Stark elects a new and final Hearth City Lord, the latter is by no means qualified to inherit all the original territories of the Umber family and instantly become the dominant North pillar. In order to avoid such a situation of "virtue incompatibility", the territory of the new final Hearth count must be cut off a few forests and a few villages on the edge, and distributed to those with higher qualifications around the border. nobles for their subalternation to oneself's subordinate bannermen.
If this happens, then the family that actually occupies the last Hearth will definitely get an extra share of this distribution!
Third, and the most likely scenario: Even if all the people in the world with the surname Umber died in the attack of the Others, in the frequent marriages with other North families in the last ages, although no There are people with Umber bloodline in their surnames, but North is full of people... If Robb doesn't intend to let "Umber" disappear in the long river of history, it is very likely that one of these people with Umber bloodline will be picked out. Those who are closer in blood and who do not have a higher line of succession in the original family are ordered to change back to the Umber surname and take over the last Hearth - in a reasonable "adopted" way, so that this ancient and noble surname will continue to survive in North.
As the Karstark family bordering the Umber family's territory, there are still records of intermarriage with the Umber family within a hundred years, and there are several people in the family who meet this condition. The hard work of "receiving the corpse for the Umber family" and the fact of "physically occupying the last Hearth" will definitely add a lot of points to the candidates in the oneself family when the new Umber count is finally selected.
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No matter what aspect of consideration, Rickard Karstark has absolutely no reason to give up the last Hearth at this moment and leave!
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(end of this chapter)