"Good eloquence, Chief Logistics Officer, you really made the old man re-examine himself today. Even when he was humiliated to his face, Sir Mellister did not lose his temper, his face did not blush, and his tone did not change much: "You think that reform is needed in the face of an unprecedented crisis, and I think it is precisely because of the difficult situation that we need to be more cautious!"

He paused before continuing: "The 'incompetents' are no better than anyone else in history who has sat in the same position, and they have not made more mistakes than they have made. We didn't make any more changes to the Great Wall, but we didn't make any mistakes...... And you, while doing so much for the Night's Watch, have killed a venerable commander-in-chief, and for the first time left our nineteen fortresses in a position where they are 'overrun with former enemies' and 'probably facing attacks from the south'. You are a radical, we are conservatives, and you are too biased to use the advantages of radicalism to compare the shortcomings of conservatism...... It is okay to bluff and fool ordinary brothers who are not in high positions, but it cannot frighten those who have their own judgment. ”

This old guy was not stunned, and even had a self-drying demeanor...... This made Egger's performance a little less effective.

After a burst of anger, he was completely in the upper hand in terms of momentum, and the reason can be summed up in a simple sentence: he threw Wang Bang out at the beginning.

One blow of strength, then decline, three and exhaustion. It's great to have a big advantage first, but the downside is that he's not having a better hand to play. And the best way to preserve the results is to let this conversation come to an abrupt end after the appearance of "King Bang...... Every more argument threatens to shrink the fruits of victory by one point.

Egger thought about a way to get out, and at the same time showed the same atmosphere without giving in: "I don't deny it, it's useless to say more, let's respect the choice of our brothers, and speak with votes and actions." ”

"It's not helpful to say more. Mehlis nodded, "But I'm afraid you've forgotten that Master Carter Pike and I have more than a third of the votes of the entire legion." You have the right to run for office, and we — have the right not to vote for you. ”

......

But today's opposition pooled their votes for Jon Royce and nearly made an opponent whom he hated so much his immediate boss...... This almost made most of Egger's efforts after crossing over turn into water, and it was the biggest shock he had ever encountered, except for the danger of his life. He was able to rely on Jon and Glenn's warnings to think of countermeasures in advance, and with Sam's reminders and delays, as well as the wide and unobstructed King's Road after the renovation, he rushed to the rescue at the last minute...... It's already been a bit of luck.

If he can prevent Royce from becoming the commander today, he is already thankful, how can he think about it so much?

Jiang is really old and spicy, this eagle whose claws are almost worn out can still maintain his sanity and come up with a way to deal with it under criticism like this. All their cards have been played, and if they continue to talk more, the onlookers will soon realize that the two commanders are not as useless as they say, and they must stop immediately!

Just as Egger was quickly turning his brain and looking for an opportunity to end his speech and leave the venue, a crisp voice suddenly sounded unexpectedly: "It's shameless! Just because my master told me two truths, I won't vote for him!"

......

Hundreds of black-clothed people looked at the source of the voice, trying to figure out who was so arrogant, but Egger heard the identity of the speaker the moment the voice sounded, and his heart was happy: This girl, sure enough, didn't hurt her in vain, and actually appeared at this critical time to relieve herself!

When I met Gülen who came to report on the King's Road before, the Northern Patrol team was less than three hours away from Castle Black, although he took his bodyguards to break away from the large army and arrived at Castle Black in advance, but the follow-up army was not too late, Arya's appearance was not completely unexpected, but I don't know how long she stood in the crowd and how many words she heard?

More crucially, now that she's here, what about Robb Stark?

"Who is this young lady?" How many people are in the Black Castle, Mellister has been here for two months, naturally it is impossible not to know, and looking at the appearance of the girl in front of her, it is obvious that she is not a hostage sent by the surrendered savages. Mellister frowned, and suddenly realized that something was wrong.

Before anyone could answer, there was another sound of dense footsteps on the stairs, and Jon was the first to walk down from above: "Arya, don't run so fast, you fell and broke your appearance, see if you can marry in the future!"

Robb Stark followed with a dozen or so guards from Winterfell, and entered the hall.

The entire Castle Black's night watch seems to be here, but the atmosphere is a little stiff, and it can even be described as sabre-rattling. They didn't seem to be here to welcome themselves...... The young Guardian of the North looked around the room and looked at Iger with a puzzled look, "What is this doing?"

"Robb!" Arya ran back to her eldest brother and spoke first, "The old man...... Just because I was scolded by my master for doing nothing, I threatened to never vote for him!"

"Okay, speak, don't interject. "No one knows his sister better than Robb, and Arya's emotional words can only be listened to, never taken seriously. He smiled and patted the girl on the head and looked at several of the high-ranking members of the Night's Watch, "Looks like the election for the Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch is going on here, can I have the honor to know the result?"

"Master Stark. Maester Aemon nodded in the direction of the voice: "I'm happy to serve you, but so far, more than two hundred votes have not been cast." Failure to vote at the start of dinner will automatically be considered an abstention, at which point the election will be considered a result. ”

Robb didn't catch up with the scene of Egg's spraying people, although he felt that the atmosphere in the room was a little solemn, but he didn't know what was going on, and nodded when he heard this: "I see, friends of the night watch, here, I say a word in my personal capacity - the fate of mankind is facing an unprecedented threat, I hope that all the brothers in black can put aside their prejudices and reach a consensus, and elect the commander-in-chief as soon as possible, so as to coordinate the overall situation and better play the role of the night watch in protecting the kingdom!"

......

As the lord of the North, Robb visits Castle Black, and then makes a statement, which is completely reasonable and normal, but Egger was moved after hearing this, and a new idea suddenly popped up: No, it's not over yet, he can take the opportunity to pursue it to the end and take another step forward against the conservatives!

"Lord Stark!" he said, staring at Sir Mellister, "I also hope that the Night's Watch will elect a Commander-in-Chief soon...... Unfortunately, we have had some difficulties in reaching consensus. The Commander-in-Chief of the Night's Watch may not be elected for a while. ”

Robb was originally purely procedurally saying a cliché, but he didn't expect to get a response at all, and subconsciously asked, "What's going on?"

"It starts with the rules for the Night's Watch to elect a commander. Iger replied, "According to the rules, in the fortresses other than Castle Black, the Brethren would delegate the task of voting to the commander or a delegate, so that they would vote for all those who remained and could not be present. Candidates must obtain two-thirds of the votes cast by the brethren who vote in order to win—the rules themselves are fine, but we are now faced with the awkward situation of being left with only three fortresses manned by the Night's Watch after years of decline and several cuts. Among them, the number of night watchmen in the Shadow Tower and Donghaiwang has exceeded one-third of the total number of the legion, and the voting power of these more than 400 votes is now in the hands of Sir Mellister and Carter Pike...... If these two commanders are unable to sort out their emotions and stay sane due to personal feelings and other reasons, and insist on not reaching a consensus with the rest of the candidates, then ...... Theoretically, the two of them alone could make the Night's Watch never elect a Commander-in-Chief! I hereby demand that this system be changed!"

"Oh?" Robb had never understood any of this, and nodded with interest, "What do you think should be done?"

"Your Excellency, you will send someone to supervise to ensure fairness, and at the same time hold elections in the three major fortresses, so that every night watchman brother will vote in person!"

Iger hadn't been to the Shadow Tower or the East Sea at all, let alone had any connections or influence, and he was actually the one who kept the Night's Watch from choosing the Commander-in-Chief - and the purpose of making this suggestion was just to disrupt Sir Mellister's counterattack and try to mess him up.

Anyway, the two commanders have been completely offended, and since they can't get the votes in their hands, they just flip the table. One vote per person, no matter what, it is beneficial and harmless to oneself.

......

(Can you still play like this?)

Egger's distraction reopened everyone's eyes again, and this time, Sir Dennis Mellister couldn't hold back any longer, and he stood up in a fit of rage, not worrying about Robb Stark's unfathomable temper, and retorted: "Lord Stark, I don't mean to offend you, but you have no right to make any changes to the rules of the Night's Watch, this is the exclusive power of the Night's Watch!"

"It's the Commander-in-Chief's power to change the rules, and now you can't choose the Commander-in-Chief, what's going on?" Robb grimaced, "I have no intention of changing the traditions of the Night's Watch, but this is a unique situation where the security of the North is under threat like never before...... As Lord of the North, I should put my people first. I'm sorry, but I can't make a pledge to respect the rules of the Great Wall first, and I'll intervene if necessary. He thought carefully about Egger's proposal, but he couldn't find anything wrong with it, and finally decided to think again: "Of course, I have just arrived here today, and as soon as I arrived, I will turn against the guest and order the night watchman to change the rules...... I will wait and watch for a few days, hoping that your lordships will hurry up and resolve your own internal conflicts as soon as possible, so that I will not be saddled with the stigma of interfering in the internal affairs of the Night's Watch. ”

＊＊＊

Is it reasonable for a commander to vote on behalf of all the soldiers in his fortress?

From the perspective of modern people, obviously not. However, in reality, it is not that simple: even if each Night's Watch votes for a desired Commander-in-Chief, when it comes to the day-to-day defense and operation of the Wall, the Commander-in-Chief is still dealing with the commanders of the fortresses - after all, most Night's Watch people are still under the orders of the commanders of their forts, rather than under the direct command of the Commander-in-Chief.

The ability to transmit information is not at that level.

The Commander-in-Chief's command of the Night's Watch is achieved through the commanders of the various fortresses, and control over the entire defense of the Wall is determined by "how many commanders are willing to obey orders in good faith". This means that a Commander-in-Chief who is supported by more Night's Watch does not necessarily do a better job than a Commander-in-Chief who is skilled enough to level more Stronghold Commanders.

Even today, when only the three major fortresses are all stationed by the night watch, the system of voting on behalf of the delegates still has a certain value, and the core idea is very simple - even if the candidate who can't even handle the commander of the other two fortresses, even if he becomes the commander-in-chief, he can't mobilize the entire night watch like an arm, how can he perform the duties of the night watchman well?

If Eddard Stark or any other older decision-maker were here, he would never hesitate to reject Egger's proposal, but Robb was still too tender to figure it out easily. Not to mention...... Compared to the other Night's Watch who had not chosen a Commander-in-Chief for two months, the Lord of Winterfell, who was not yet twenty years old and was still a big child, was obviously emotionally more inclined to Egg, whom he was more familiar with and who had been running for the north for the past two months.

＊＊＊

Robb's words brought Iger back to his senses, and he realized that he might have been in a hurry: the proposal had been made privately to the other party more likely to be supported. Bringing it up in public is too meaningful, and it is also suspected of forcing Robb to take a position immediately - fortunately, his relationship with the Stark family has reached the point where the other party will not take this move as an offense.

"What Master Stark is saying is that I suggest that the brethren be allowed to vote freely for now, and then make a decision on the next step when the results are known. ”

——