Robb had already figured out that Egger was always easy to say things that sounded reasonable, and he was more interested in the details of the "edification" part than in the logic and thought of the words. Intuition tells the young new Guardian of the North that this is an important skill associated with "domination", and that if mastered, it can be beneficial and harmless.

"Ha, that's a bit unfortunate, Houguan Town has only been built for a short time, and the basic 'offering' function has not been played for long, and everything else is just a preliminary idea, and has not yet begun to be practiced. Iger snorted, this sentence is not a lie, "If the adults are really interested in the specific operation of the idea of 'indoctrination', we will have time to talk slowly during our tour of the northern border. After so many days of continuous travel from Winterfell, everyone is sleepy and tired, so you might as well go to the city to enjoy the hospitality, and wait until you have eaten and drunk enough, bathed and changed clothes, and recuperated enough spirits, and then come back to talk about this. ”

"It's fine. ”

In stark contrast to the bustle outside, the world inside the walls instantly quieted down, and all the square and tall buildings made of wood and stone were visible, and there were almost no idle people walking around the houses except for the guards...... This confirmed Egger's description of Crown's access to Crown, and it also put Robb and the rest of Winterfell at ease.

In this small town, at least there is no need to be on high alert at all times, for fear that a rock will suddenly fly out of nowhere.

......

Quite different from a typical castle, Houguan Town has no obvious inner and outer ring structure and center, and the buildings look the same, as if there are two types in total: storage warehouses and living houses. Egger was the builder and de facto controller of the place, but not a legal lord, and in order to avoid gossip and improve the use of space, he ordered that the construction should not be designed with obvious "main castles", "halls", or similar structures exclusive to the ruling family, but rather a more practical square layout.

Yam faithfully carried out Egger's instructions, and this "fully planned and then started" complex brought about a uniform "well" style of road, which as a whole exudes a different sense of regularity and modern charm. This made Egg feel comfortable, but it made the Starks who were used to the great labyrinths of Winterfell a little hesitant - the structure was simple and straightforward, but they might get lost if no one led them.

After walking a hundred meters and turning a corner, they arrived at the area that was not the geometric center of Houguan Town, but it was indeed the core building complex. Here, Iger saw Humphrey Hishan, whom he had met in prison and who was now the logistics officer of Houguan Town, who was waiting for him...... and Jon Snow.

What's going on?—Egg frowned in confusion and looked at Yam.

He traveled north with Robb Stark to donate land, intending to let the new northern family "see is believing", and the arrangement did not include the trick of playing the family card. The stake for the Wildlings in the Land Grant was a top priority for the North, and even if brotherhood was more important, Robb was unlikely to be influenced by Jon's opinion, and it would be self-defeating to let this unspoken young man be a lobbyist.

Amm, seeing her boss's confusion, quietly shook her head at Egger imperceptibly, signaling that Jon hadn't arranged for her to be here.

"Joan—Jon!" Before Egg could react, Arya ran first, jumped up and hugged her favorite bastard brother.

Robb also hugged his brother, and after greeting him, he asked, "Jon, aren't you supposed to be at Castle Black, what are you doing here?"

"There's an election for a new commander-in-chief going on at Castle Black, and there's no one to take care of the mess, so I'm here to see if there's anything I need help with in Houguan Town. ”

Robb smiled and shook his head: "You guy, always so warm-hearted...... But you must do your job well. ”

"Master Stark is taught. ”

The two brothers joked kindly, and Egg, who was taken aback, quickly calmed down: Jon must have an emergency to report, or he would never risk running to him when he had made his own arrangements. Although the answer didn't reveal any flaws, it couldn't let them continue to talk like this: "It's cold outside, let's go into the house, unload things and relax our bodies, and have time to catch up." ”

......

Dinner was sumptuous but not extravagant, and the bathing services and accommodations were not as comfortable as those of Winterfell with its hot springs, but everything was taken into account. After receiving the wind, the receptionist led the group from Winterfell to their ground, while Egger sat in his office and listened to the reports of the two Houguan managers.

＊＊＊

There is a lot of content in the report, which can be summed up in one sentence: Houguan Town's reserves are almost untenable.

When the wildlings went south to attack the Great Wall, they brought with them all the food they could, but the reserve food was water without a source after all. The original plan of the king of the outside was to "get" supplies from the north and further south after breaking through the Great Wall, so as to fight and fight all the way south to escape the bitter winter...... As a result, he was forced to surrender and settle in the land grant without even realizing the first step of passing through the Great Wall.

Without the vast Ghost Forest as a source of supply, the new land-granting people couldn't survive the winter just by bringing in the food from the land grant, not to mention that half of the food was stored in Castle Black and was controlled by the Chief Affairs Officer, who refused to hand it over to feed the wildlings?

It is an impossible task to use less than half of the grain of the entire land grant to feed nearly 80 percent of the new land donors and logistics employees, and the warehouse in Houguan Town is emptying at an alarming rate. It was only in order not to cause panic that Humphrey and Yamm continued to put food normally according to Egger's instructions......

"We have tried every means to delay the arrival of the last minute: to slow down the consumption of food by reducing the intensity of the work provided or even to suspend the works, to increase the price of the land at a slow pace and to increase the variety of other commodities for daily use to divert the funds of the new land-grantees to buy food, and to encourage the inhabitants to hunt and gather in the wilderness and mountain forests of the land-grants...... and even quietly hooked up with those mountain clans, and obtained the reserve food of the Black Castle through their change of hands, etc. Yamm ended his report with a sad face: "But the control of grain on the side of Castle Black is also very strict, and we have tried all kinds of methods, but we can only slightly delay the time when the granary is completely empty......"

"To tell you the truth, your lordship has been really helpful in taking 2,000 people south to the north for more than a month. With 2,000 more mouths, the granary might be empty. Humphrey shrugged as well, "Now we just need a definite number, when will it all be over?"

"Good work. Egger had a good idea of the general situation of the land grant and Houguan Town, and understood that the two subordinates were not nonsense. Food shortage is food shortage, even if you change yourself to stay in charge of the town, there is a high probability that you can't do better than them: "Now that the passage from the land grant to the north has been sorted out, the first batch of aid food will arrive just around the corner, do a good job in the last period of work, and wait for the arrival of aid materials from Braavos." ”

"Great. ”

"My lord, it's really reassuring! Can you tell us about the journey to the south to fight the fire?"

The two actual managers of Houguan Town were overjoyed and asked about the details of the matter. Iger spoke briefly, focusing on a few hot potatoes that Robb Stark had thrown at him, and explaining what he had planned for these troublesome people...... It had been a long time since the superiors and subordinates had seen each other, and it was a long time since they had been communicating with each other, and after about an hour or two, Jon Snow knocked on the door and walked in.

This young man had come from Castle Black, and the matters he wanted to inform or discuss with him must have been far more urgent than the miscellaneous affairs of Houguan Town. Iger stopped the trivial command he was making and looked at the comer.

I have confirmed the eyes, and I have something to say.

Egger turned around and nodded to the other two, "That's all for today, more things, wait for me to think about it before making arrangements." Go back early and get some rest - well, by the way, go to the reception and ask the guests in Winterfell if they need anything else before going to bed. ”

"Yes, then we'll go back first. Humphrey and Yam quickly bid farewell to Iger and left the room together.

......

"Jon, long time no see. Iger waited for the door to close again, and without delay, he opened the door: "Sit down, what's going on over there at Castle Black, let's talk about it." ”

Jon also sat down directly without ambiguity, and opened his mouth to report on the situation on the Castle Black side: "During your absence, the plan to prevent the birth of the next commander went quite smoothly, with Sir Dennis Mellister's votes fluctuating around four hundred, followed by Carter Pike, but always in the early three hundred, some of which we arranged. After half a month of stalemate, Otsell Yawick, who ranked third, and our chief affairs officer, withdrew from the election. ”

......

Iger breathed a sigh of relief, he left Castle Black at a critical moment in order to let his two rivals let their guard down and get into a fight with each other, buying time and space for maneuvering. It's a risky plan: if Dennis and Carter agree to elect the commander-in-chief for some unexpected reason, and they come back to find that the land grant has changed, then there really is no other way to turn the tables except to lead the wild people to rebel.

The North couldn't sit idly by and watch anyone take control of the land grant by force, and if they did get there, they would have to turn against the Stark family - it wasn't enough to control Robb, and the other four members of the big family who visited the land grant would also have to be placed under house arrest. Relying on the tens of thousands of new land-donors in the land grants, this step is theoretically possible, but the wild people are by no means their loyal and reliable subordinates. If you really got to that point......

On the one hand, he had to guard against the backlash of the wildlings, and bear the wrath of his brothers at the Night's Watch while continuing to manage the land grant under the sanctions of King's Landing. And once the Night's Watch property is confiscated by the Iron Throne, even Braavos' aid is likely to fail...... There is no doubt about the end of the road.

Rather than die, Iger prefers to abscond across the Narrow Sea with the money.

Thankfully, the worst didn't happen. Osser's withdrawal from the election was expected, whether it was ability or seniority, he was far under the command of the Shadow Tower and Donghai Wang, and decisively withdrew when there was no hope of being elected, freeing up about 200 votes for his support, in the hope that these 200 people could make the election a winner.

"How has the situation changed since he quit?"

After the third place left the race, the first two sides jumped up and down inside Castle Black, doing everything they could to pull the former supporters of the chief affairs officer into their camp...... After the election the day before yesterday, Dennis Mellister had four hundred and fifty votes, while Carter Pike was close to four hundred, and the gap had narrowed. ”

Iger passed the numbers in his heart, and soon found an abnormality: "This adds up to more than eight hundred, of which there are about sixty votes arranged by us, and the remaining nearly two hundred votes." ”

"Sir Warner Bookwell received more than a hundred votes. Jon replied, "Sam and I have not been idle during your absence, and have been secretly communicating with our brothers at Castle Black, patiently explaining to them the benefits and feasibility of the land grant resettlement plan...... And the Savages, no, the two months of keeping to yourself with the new land-grantees, and your efforts to raise food and grass for the land-grants in the North, have also earned more and more support for the reformers. After Oser withdrew from the election, many of the Castle Black brothers who had voted for him voted for your supporters, and if you ran in person, you would have had even more. ”

I see, the nearly 200 brothers of Castle Black who originally voted for Oselle were chosen because they believed that everyone's chief affairs officer would also become a qualified commander-in-chief, but those who "supported him" did not obey him. Oser can withdraw from the election, but he cannot order the person who originally voted for him to vote for another person who made it...... As a result, in the big change of the third place to drop out of the race, dozens of votes were lost from the conservative camp to the reformers, that is, to the side of Iger.

"Good. Iger nodded with satisfaction, Jon and Sam, especially the latter's mind, was one of the confidence that he was relieved to leave Castle Black and go to the North to find a way out and a turning point, and the two young men did not let themselves down.

But he soon realized that something was wrong: this was all good news, and Jon had come to Houguan Town on purpose, did he want to let himself know a day in advance, so that he could rest assured that he would be one day earlier?

"But the other party sensed your plan. Jon quickly dispels Egger's doubts: "After the Grant Army took back Deepwood, persuaded Carlin Bay to surrender, helped the Northerners take control of the Garden, and Robb was about to visit the Land Grant with you to visit Castle Black, Dennis Mellister and Carter Pike must have realized that you were not going to give up, and they began to send people to meet and communicate with each other frequently, probably planning something to deal with your victorious return." ”

"How many votes can we influence control now?"

"The votes of the Westlanders are definitely yours, and if you are optimistic, two hundred of the original brothers of Castle Black are willing to vote for you, and the total is less than two hundred and sixty votes. ”

Less than one-third of the Night's Watch members, in other words, the Conservatives still have more than two-thirds of the votes in control...... As long as either Sir Mellister or Carter Pike figured out how to vote for his old rival, Iger was powerless.

Jon shook his head: "Sam thinks it's almost zero, but I don't rule out other forms of compromise within the conservatives, and we don't know what they're going to do — but anyway, I think you have to know about it in advance and be prepared." ”

——