Chapter 555
2021-01-06
Chapter 555 Unexpected DisasterCastle Cerwyn is less than a day away from winter, but Robb Stark spends several hours The genius brought back the North nobles who gathered here. After taking so long, it was not that he intentionally delayed, but that he did not raise quickly.
The first question was how to speak.
The bombed gates of Winterfell can be seen by hundreds and thousands of people, Robb can't follow Igor's eyes and tell lies... claiming that oneself was "convinced" by the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch . Since it is impossible to hide the fact that oneself was attacked by the land-grant army and oneself was forced to be loyal to the Queen, it would be difficult to convince the bannermen to follow and support the Queen under the premise that "oneself is not a sincere submission". Know.
Daenerys · Targaryen is the Mad King bloodline, the representative of the restoration of the old dynasty, with a lot of cruel and terrifying rumors - this series of identities and backgrounds are bad, but normal people in this world are more than thankless wretch after all. Many, along with her dragon control participation in the battle of Long Lake, spread the story of the North Army's rescue from the brink of destruction, her image in the eyes of the northerners has quickly changed from demon transformation to normalization, and the one she lost in the battle. Dragon has drawn a lot of sympathy points for him... As time goes by, Queen's reputation in North has unconsciously floated to above zero.
But whether it's a black turn or a turn to fans, the Heaven and Earth turning upside down of favorability can't get around a more realistic core issue: profit.
Because the harvest is completely disproportionate to the effort, the North people refused to go south after returning home to participate in the war between Stannis Baratheon and little Prince Aegon and the Reach... The same reason, to overthrow the Iron Throne The Erlu on the board sent a dragon up, what can North get?
Land, north of The Neck is most in short supply; population, the less mouths you need to feed in the winter, the better; food is a good thing, but if it is not the autumn harvest season, it may cost you more money than you can grab. There are even more; even the beloved treasures of gold and silver, when everyone responded to Robert's call to enter the Westerlands a few years ago, they have already robbed a lot, and now there is a lot left... As for the joy of victory and the sense of honor Such illusory stuff, it's not uncommon for this group of idiots who don't even respect the spirit of the Knight.
To sum up: North people now not only do not have a strong willingness and demand for war, on the contrary, they have experienced successive wars and chaos, and are in passive defense of the Iron Islands. Now everyone only hopes to guard their own homes. The piece of land lived the ordinary life of his wife and child's hot kang head - even if the temptation could normally impress them, at this point in time, they could not be persuaded to raise the army at all.
……
Young Wolf was beaten up in dirt by Night's Watch, and even had less confidence to talk to his bannermen. He tried his best to get the nobles Reluctantly accept the fact that "North has nominally allegiance to the Queen", but want to further persuade them to bring their own army and oneself back to Winterfell to support the Queen's southern expedition, they immediately hit a wall: even if Daenerys and Igor and the others have promised All the chips were thrown out, but they failed to impress any one.
The wife, daughter, mother and siblings are all in the hands of others. Robb can't and dare not go home empty-handed. After going out, I was mentally prepared to help Queen conquer the world without paying a penny for free, and I should spend money to buy peace.
However, this is not enough!
Now Robb is really at a loss... When he succeeded Early-Stage, he could rely on the prestige of his father. After his debut, he quickly gained fame and influence as oneself. Have you ever encountered such a situation where you can't command anyone once you lose power? Originally, I was nervous that most of the oneself would come back without success, but fortunately: Igor had already expected that he was not good at dealing with this kind of situation, and specially allowed him to bring a mature, prudent and resourceful retainer - Maester Luwin.
The old man put forward two suggestions to him:
Lower your body, put your mind right, stop holding meetings and try to order the princes, but calm down and think hard all night, and analyze each family's needs and family individually. patriarch character, make plans separately, communicate through private visits, equal communication, half-negotiation and half-request;
2. Give up illusions and stop thinking with family interests as the starting point. Against the background of House Stark's wrong lineup and a disastrous defeat in the confrontation, the overriding priority is to keep the family inheritance and North's position guarded, and if necessary, bleed to eliminate disasters - since the benefits promised by the Queen are far from moving The five nobles are still so close, so he has to cut the meat from House Stark itself to make up for the last gap.
Lu Wen's last words of admonition to Robb are this: "If you lose face, you can pick it up again, if you run out of money and food, you can earn and plant again, and when the land is divided, you can reclaim the land... There's no one left, but nothing else!"
With no other idea, Robb gritted his teeth and took his advice. .
Overdrafting the authority of the monarch, owed favors for help, putting down Winterfell's savings and family property, and even betting on the marriage arrangement of Rickon and Sansa, Young Wolf struggled with a lot of blood. To persuade four of the five noble families gathered in Castle Cerwyn... to agree to lead the army to obey the dispatch and fight for the Queen.
It took two days to straighten out the position and attitude, and sent away the Karstark count who insisted on holding high the banner of anti-Targaryen. The North Coalition Force, which returned to Robb's order, also carried out a personnel reduction: these thousands of people The original purpose of the gathering was to solve the siege of Winterfell. At that time, the local defense was considered. Naturally, how many people could ignore the logistics and pull in to make up the number, but if you want to follow Daenerys south to conquer the Seven Kingdoms in the winter, then no matter what. Whether it is the supply of grain and grass, the battle strength of morale, or the labor required for sowing after the beginning of the spring, must be taken into consideration and calculated carefully.
It took one day to calculate the logistical needs and repatriate some of the old and the weak, and another day for the army to set off on the road... The situation is sensitive, and to avoid rushing out of the city just in time to darken the Daenerys into a "can't let go" The embarrassment of "entering the castle" also prevented the coalition army from misunderstanding with the land-grant troops outside the city when they camped overnight or being seized by Roose Bolton to cause trouble. Robb also deliberately slowed down the marching speed and controlled the army's second day after departure. Arrived at the destination in the morning - Lang Lang's work under the heavens and the earth is both calm and safe.
Everything was just fine. Bringing five families back to four families may not be the perfect result, but it is definitely enough to hand over to the Queen in exchange for Winterfell's surface control and rescue the family from house arrest. However, outside the tall city wall of Winterfell, waiting for Robb Stark, who had returned from the ordeal, full of relaxation and anticipation, was a sudden shock.
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"What!" He stared at the black clothed rider who was blocking the way in front of him: "Winterfell is my home! The one who forced me to persuade the princes was You Lord Commander, you are the Lord Commander who told me to bring back as much as I can, how come I finally completed the mission, but I am not allowed to approach!?"
"It is inconvenient to explain the specific situation, anyway, North The army must not come within Winterfell's field of vision, and crossing the line is considered a threat, take responsibility for the consequences!"
"Take responsibility for the consequences?" Ankle, not wearing any gold and silver jewelry, as one of the few female aristocrats in charge of the family, not only imposing manner is compelling, but also has a firmer and sharper mind than ordinary men, "I bet a Silver Stag, your little bastard is The Dog acts fierce when his Master is present, with Lord Robb, who can't help your master now, and wants to knock some oil out of the wolf... Listen, you are the guardian of North, even if you're unlucky, it's not You can be bullied by a small character like you! Today's road, we have decided, I am curious, when your Lord Commander heard that a soldier under oneself dared to stop the North princes who came to surrender to the Queen, what would he do? How do you react?"
If the person blocking the road is really a self-assured soldier, after listening to this loud announcement, he will definitely be frightened and flee, but the fact is that the rider not only did not show panic, but also smiled wryly. Shaking his head: "I have brought the warning, if you adults still insist on doing your own thing, I naturally can't stop it, but I still say that - take responsibility for the consequences."
After that, black clothed The soldier didn't talk too much, turned his horse's head and prepared to leave without the slightest hesitation.
Isn't it bluffing? Barbrey Lady secretly thought that something was wrong, and quickly gave Luwin a wink.
"Wait a minute, my lord!" Old Maester understood, quickly played a white face, called the visitor with a slightly out of breath voice, dragged his aged and injured body, and stepped on it. The snow looked like she ran over a dozen meters with great effort, and rushed to the black clothed soldier's horse.
"A little money, buy wine to warm up." Panting, Luwin stuffed a small money bag into the arms of the black clothed rider, saying with a smile: "Barbrey Lady is in Just kidding, don't take it seriously. But forget me to speak bluntly, it's strange that the Lord of Winterfell is not allowed to be near Winterfell, even if it's "inconvenient to explain the specific situation", but what is going on, you have to give us a Believe it? Even if it's just a few words, let us give the soldiers an explanation."
The black clothed soldier twitched his lips disdainfully, he wanted to say no, but subconsciously weighed the weight of the purse , but was stunned.
The feel...the weight!
He freed his hand and ripped open the bag to take a look inside, and immediately resisted the urge to throw it back at old Maester's face.
"There's an accident in the city, it's under martial law, and outsiders are not allowed to approach." As he calmly took the money bag back into his arms, the black clothed rider replied with cherish words like gold, saying it was just a few words, it was true A few words.
"Something happened?" Lu Wen's face showed nervousness, he took out another Golden Dragon, and shoved it to the rider despite the pain, "It's Lord Robb's house, you must talk about it in detail. !"
The feeling of changing the army's salary for two months in one sentence is too frightening, the key is that this is not a leak of secrets that endanger the safety of the land-grant army! The rider put this Golden Dragon away again, and his face became much gentler: "Lord Commander, the Prime Minister, and the three adults of Master of Whisperers have been poisoned. Now the city is strictly investigating the poisoners, and no one is allowed to enter or leave or move without authorization, outsider Don't get too close... You have to know that the family of Lord Robb can't get rid of suspicion."
This really shocked Lu Wen, he put the last Golden one without the slightest hesitation. Dragon also took it out and stuffed it: "How could such a thing happen? Wasn't the castle completely taken over by the Lord Commander, the ladies have no ability to poison at all! What happened to the three poisoned adults? ?"
"The Prime Minister and the Master of Whisperers are dead, Lord Commander... It is said that he is still alive, but if nothing happens, even if you are sitting down, you should show your face to calm down the army. ? However..." The rider frowned, suddenly realizing that oneself unconsciously had said too much, and quickly stopped in horror: "Anyway, old master, please persuade a few adults over there, at this juncture, thousands of Don't do anything impulsive! Say goodbye!"
...
The black clothed rider clapped his horse and left, while Maester Luwin suppressed his fear and hurried back to what he was about to hear Telling it to the group behind him, he immediately blew up the nobles.
"Poisoning?" Robb complexion greatly changed, who of the three died he will not feel bad, but the trouble is: House Stark...to be precise, oneself's mother and Younger brothers and younger sisters are the biggest suspects of poisoning!
"How could such a thing happen?" Tallhart count looked at Robb suspiciously, "Sir, with what you know about oneself's family members and subordinates, who among them has the ability and the courage to do this?"
Maester Luwin answered the question: "Impossible, the only person in Winterfell who knows anything about poison is me, and no one else knows anything about it, let alone ... the kitchen is completely taken over by the Land Granters and Queen. Now, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have any chance to touch the drinks and dishes!"
"That's not what the North people did, but it's only our oneself who knows it, and she won't believe it if we say it to the Queen. Yes." Earl Ryswell stroked his beard, worried: "How can this be, can we find a way to save Robb's family?"
"What are you thinking, father!" Barbrey Lady Immediately interrupted the wrong direction of discussion. Although she is the daughter of the former, she now represents the married Dustin family, but he is no longer in charge of him. If you act rashly at this time, don't you tell the Queen that 'the poison is ours'?" After blaming oneself's father unequivocally, the count Lady looked at Robb: "Sir, I just ask you a question here: you have a way to deal with it. The Queen's two dragons?"
Although half forced, Robb's oath of allegiance to Daenerys was serious - at least temporarily, how could he have secretly prepared a way to deal with the dragons? Even if you think about it, it's too late!
With one hand on the rein and the other on the hilt, Robb trembled for a moment, then gnashing teeth admitted: "No."
"That's easy, you now If you don't have the ability to decide the direction of the situation, then you must not fall into the emotional trap of caring and chaos!" Barbrey Lady glanced at the crowd and said solemnly, "The only thing we can do now is to turn around and return to the temporary camp that we set off in the morning, without letting Queen The distance that feels threatened is far away from the garrison. Send someone to explain the situation to the city to show that there is no hostility, and wait for the matter to be seen. Your family is in an extremely bad situation. We can understand your anxiety, but adults must Sober - any action taken at this moment will not save them, but will only push them into a more dangerous abyss!"
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(end of this chapter)
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