"What a sinister one!" Humphrey suddenly realized, "The queen will definitely be angry when she gets the news, even if the black dragon is injured and can't ride to burn Winterfell, she will definitely order your lord to take immediate measures." When the time comes, not only will we have to disrupt the original plan, but we will also be stolen by the Horror Fortress and take a lot of credit!"

Although he was indignant, Humphrey had the advantage of never losing his sobriety because of emotion, and he came back to his senses after scolding: "But, even if this is true, the Earl of Bolton is only playing tricks to get the greater good for himself, and even if it is hateful, it cannot be judged that the news is false from this, right?"

"That's right, Houguan Town's intelligence system has not yet been able to extend beyond the land grant, and the information I have now is not enough to judge the truth of this matter. So, we might as well consider this matter in two cases. Iger narrowed his eyes, "In the first case, this news is basically true. Well, then I really can't accuse Bolton of having any other plan to ventilate to me, after all, who of you is alive without any intentions, but don't forget, all the preparations that Houguan Town made in secret after the Battle of Long Lake were considered the worst-case scenario from the very beginning! Our plan did not contemplate any unexpected support, and the final result was that as the only professional army in the world equipped with gunpowder weapons and dragon support, as long as we were cautious, we could easily crush all attempts at resistance in the north and open the way south. ”

"Now that Luce Bolton has jumped out and offered to be my ally, it seems like a windfall to take advantage of, and it will indeed make it much easier for us to subdue the North. But then, he demanded something in return, replacing the Stark family as the new Lord of the North, and asking us to help support him, and how much resources and effort would it take to give him land?" said Egger indifferently, "The Stark family is popular among both the nobility and the commoners in the North and the Wall, while the Bolton family is the opposite. The latter wants to ascend to the throne, and it is impossible not to destroy the former, and even if it is eliminated, in the case of being hostile to the entire northern border, the rule will still have to walk on thin ice, and it needs the constant support and help of the royal government. ”

"Isn't this just enough for the royal government to strengthen its control over the north?"

"Listen to me. Iger tapped on the table, "In the case of the truth, we decided whether or not to cooperate with the Bolton family because of the balance between 'the help we can get from him' and the 'cost of making the North change hands.'" And if the news is not true, the nature of the matter will be extremely bad!"

"What is our purpose? to create a smooth north-south passage, so that the weapons and munitions at the Houguan Town base can be transported to the southern front line by safe and stable land, and in case of temporary setbacks, there will be a way back. The North and the rest of the Seven Kingdoms are separated by a neck, and whoever it is given will be divided over time - so, in my blueprint for the Queen, the North has been one of the four Dominions from the beginning, like the West, Dorne and the Vale: rather than a new ruler with an unknown role, it is better to remain in the hands of the old Stark, who is easy to control. As long as Robb bows his head and agrees to my terms, such a large area of vast and sparsely populated land will be in his hands and then fall into a protracted law and order war...... Give it to me, I don't even bother to take it. ”

"And if Luce Burton, through intrigue and fabrication of false news, provokes the queen who has just lost a dragon, provokes the two sides that are instinctively at peace, and turns what I could have done with a little trick to force the Starks to bow their heads, into a full-scale war, and then drag the elite troops and the two dragons who should have quickly traveled through the north to the south to conquer the Seven Kingdoms in the north...... What do you think of forcing a whole group of people who should have done great things to serve the selfish interests of his family?"

Humphrey opened his mouth: "This—if that's the case, it's really terrible, and it's not too much to hang ten times!"

"That's right, simplify the model of things and make it easy: if the whistleblower is true, it is already within our expectation and precautions, and we don't need the help of the Boltons to easily put the Stark family in a way that makes it easy to move forward with our original strategic plan. And if it's false...... It seems that there is a traitor in the northern part of the country, and it seems that we can use it to save some effort. But in fact, while you want to save a little effort, people are staring at your whole power, thinking about how to let us work for him for free and shed blood!"

Humphrey's eyes straightened, and he swallowed: "It's still an adult who is thoughtful, if I am asked to lead the party, I am afraid that I will be sold and still help the number of people." ”

"Don't be presumptuous, everyone has their own position and tasks, and you can do your job well is the greatest value and contribution. As for where to go and how to go, that's my business as the guide. ”

Iger casually comforted, ashamed to say that he had left Humphrey in this room, not to discuss with him the general trend and overall strategy of the land grant, but simply to provide a sense of security with a person who could be trusted with a strict mouth.

It would be too timid, to have a guard standing nearby, and to meet a stranger alone...... What if someone as capable as the Faceless One could threaten himself without a weapon? After all, this is a world of magic!

Standing on the high ground where the wind was howling, he could finally understand the kind of suspicion and caution that Cao Cao once had in the romance.

Although convinced, Humphrey soon had a new question: "However, if your Excellency already knew that no matter whether the news was true or not, he would not cooperate with the Bolton family, why did he reveal our true plan to that man and tell him that the so-called 'Expedition outside the Fortress' was actually fake?"

That's a good question, Iger nodded, "I'm asking you, if you're Burton, you can't send someone to report to the queen, and you can't get a response when you come to see me...... Will you give up your machinations and remain a loyal servant of the Stark family?"

"Of course not, I'll jump up and down and try my best to find another way. A Targaryen, who has a grudge against the Stark family for killing his father, rode a dragon to the north, and this opportunity to jump back is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

"I think so too, so what would you do if you were Burton?"

"Me?" Humphrey was trusted by Egger to be more important than the mayor of Houguan Town, Aarm, but he was only excellent in understanding and execution, and in terms of creativity and imagination, or the ability to come up with ideas, it was quite average. On a normal day, he would definitely answer honestly after thinking for a moment that he didn't know, but this time, he guessed the answer at once. Because—Iger had demonstrated the right thing to do not long ago: "Spread the word about this meeting of lords of the North, and let it spread throughout the Northland and the land grants." Your Excellency can order Sir Bookwell to prevent outsiders from seeing the Queen, but it is impossible to isolate His Majesty from the entire outside world, and once everyone, including the land-granting soldiers and civilians, knows the news, then war between the Night's Watch and the North is really inevitable!"

"That's right, Bolton didn't do this in the first place, because it would expose the fact that there are traitors within the Lords of the North, and it would be too risky. But if we don't give him any hope or reaction, then he will definitely take the risk and spread the news. Words are like the wind, but the wind can blow over ships and trees, and it is easy to use public opinion to inspire hatred and war, but even we have to be careful when using this double-edged blade. If we are carefully controlling the fire of public opinion for fear that it will get out of control, and suddenly an outsider steps in and throws in a bucket of wildfire, it will be out of control. Egger had seen a few notes he had dropped turn into a war, and then the same trick was immediately used by others to stir up the chaos of the situation, and his understanding of this was extremely profound: "Once the fire gets out of control, it will be our people who stand by and light it first!"

Speaking of this, Iger also suddenly realized that he had only released a little bit of a real plan, and he was afraid that he would not be able to stabilize Bolton's envoy for many days.

"You go and arrange to gather an industry teaching team...... Let's go to the trading station outside the city and meet up with this Currie Snow to find out how many people are in his team and where the crow cage is placed...... Then tell him that I already have a rough plan, but I need to wait for the news before I can act. When he has tied up this news and sent it out, I will invite him back to the Inner Fort under the pretext that I have something important to discuss with him, and then put him and all his entourage under house arrest, and don't give them any chance to do anything bad!"

"Huh?" Humphrey startled, "this...... After all, people are here to tell the peace and talk about the alliance, which is not appropriate. ”

"There's nothing wrong with that. Egger raised his voice, and his voice became serious, "What we are about to do is to seek the country, and if we succeed, the prince will be defeated, no matter how cautious or even despicable and shameless we are." The bad thing is often the little details that you don't think matter, remember!"

"Understood, I'll arrange it. ”

......

Houguan Town was busy, and an operation against the whistleblower began to take shape silently, and in Donghaiwang, the easternmost point of the Great Wall dozens of miles away, a secret envoy also from the north had just finished meeting with the commander here.

——

Wonderful Book House