After a moment of silence to digest what Luce Bolton had said, many of the nobles in the room, including the previous Muffled faction, quickly began a new round of discussions with a higher participation rate.

No one jumped out to rant and question the old skinner's intentions, because—at least he didn't talk nonsense about the inability of the North to be truly neutral. There are no new lords here who have no background, all of them are ancestral or hereditary "propertied classes", although most of the nobles north of the neck are not good at playing power tricks due to the great environment of the north, but this "not good" is only compared with the southern aristocracy. To be more serious, the people present were more or less educated and trained in the fields of domination and political struggle.

Luce Burton is right, even if the people in the North who don't play politics much can't think of it in the first place, if someone mentions it and just judges right and wrong, it is not sincere, but stupid. No, even Rickard Karstark only meditated on rebuttal arguments with his mouth shut, rather than stubbornly denying reason.

Could it be that the only choice left for everyone is really to take refuge in the dragon queen?

Half of the people in the room fell silent, and half whispered anxiously and helplessly.

Daenerys' journey north to support the Night's Watch did give her a lot of impression points, but it was still a long way from filling the hole that her Mad King's father had dug. Robb Stark's uncle and grandfather were both tortured to death by Elise Targaryen, and the North resolutely joined the battle to slay the dragon...... The amount of sacrifice and bloodshed can not be mentioned for the time being, but the point is that more than half of the people present participated in that war and were "traitors" in the eyes of the Targaryen royal family.

After a lapse of less than ten years, the Mad King's daughter returned, almost the same group of people from the North...... Do you want to rush to help her reclaim the throne?

What is this called!

"Master Bolton is right when he says that neutrality is a passive and unwise choice. But...... Who said that if you are not the opponent of the dragon, you must fight for her?" After a short period of commotion, it was still Horan Reed who was the first to speak to break the deadlock, "Lord Robb, do you remember what your father-in-law, Marquis Wade Frey, did in the War of the Reelers?"

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Wald Frey, patriarch of the Frey family, owner of Twin River City and lord of River Ferry, recognized as an upstart and dirt bun throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Due to the delay in responding to the call of the feudal lord Horst Tully in the War of the Retainers, the Battle of the Trident River had already been fought when he arrived at the battlefield, so he received a famous nickname of the Seven Kingdoms - "Marquis of Late".

Just as some people prefer to refer to Daenerys Targaryen as "Mad King's Daughter" rather than "Dragon Queen", the North's nickname "Late" has been used to refer to Walder Frey even more often than his name, as if that was the only way to draw the line between contempt. It wasn't until Robb Stark took the initiative to ask Robert to marry Roselyn Frey, and the "Marquis Late" became the "father-in-law of the North", that the light of her husband's family gradually began to improve and disappear.

So, the question is, why did Horst Tully have to humiliate Wald Frey, his most powerful vassal, to lay the seeds of instability for his future reign, when it was clear that military delays were commonplace?

Because Luanhe City is close to the Trident River and is extremely close to the battlefield, the Frey Army can reach the battlefield by going down the river, and there is no possibility of getting lost or going in the wrong direction...... It was as absurd as the Severn's house, whose castle was close to Winterfell and King's Route, had not caught up with the army in time for the recent battle of Long Lake, which had stopped the Wraiths.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that they are telling nonsense.

Holland Reed suddenly mentions Robb's father-in-law's black history at such a time, of course, not because he wants to humiliate himself as a king, but to remind everyone of the choices others make when faced with similar situations, and the result: even in this situation where "everyone thinks you are deliberately late", the Frey family still did not receive any fief or property punishment after the war, why? Because the Frey family did not publicly declare neutrality or hide in the castle before, but gathered a large army and rushed to the battlefield...... And claimed to be here to answer the call of the feudal king!

There is obviously reason to suspect that if Robert Baratheon had lost the Battle of the Trident, the Freys' army would not hesitate to declare to Rhaegar Targaryen that they were the protectors of the king. It's just that no one has any evidence.

Without real evidence, even if Robert Baratheon, Eddard Stark, and Horst Tully were angry with the anti-Targaryen triumvirate, they couldn't really figure out what the Freys were like - the Freys themselves were quite strong, and on the other hand...... "punish one of your own lords for mere suspicion" is far more harmful to the unfinished war and the entire feudal system in Westeros than to punish the Freys, who should be the priority of decision-makers when thinking about problems.

As a result, although Wald Frey had no share in the post-war spoils and received an insulting nickname, he managed to be the victor and kept his status as the lord of his river crossing without any suspense...... Without a single soldier or risk, you will be one of the winners!

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"Marquis Walde Frey collects bridge tolls at the river crossing, which is a business that is countless times better than farming and collecting rent, and he has no desire or need for a new territory, let alone who sits on the Iron Throne...... How similar is this kind of wantlessness and wantlessness to the current situation in our northern border? However, even if there is no reason to participate in the war, he did not dare to squat in the castle and be 'neutral' after receiving the edict of the Duke of Horst in the war of the retainers, does he understand that being in the game but not taking sides is actually choosing the loser......?

"Why don't you learn from Wald Frey, and then also get the nickname of 'Duke Late', and make up the 'Late Family'?" Count Weiman Mandalay said nervously to Robb: "My lord, no offense, but our northern territory is not a nouveau riche, and we want to be embarrassed!

This position was universally endorsed, and many participants who had previously been silent echoed it.

"Calm down, Lord Wiman, I'm not making Lord Robb late. Horan Reed's temper was clearly good, and he continued without anger when he was interrupted, "We could have said to the Mad King's daughter, 'We are willing to support her to repay the rescue, but the north has just suffered heavy losses in a series of battles and needs to recuperate,' and asked for a postponement of the army." Judging from the news from all sides and Jon Snow's description, this little queen is definitely an impatient, and she will never wait for us to recuperate. She couldn't wait to go south to attack King's Landing...... We can also contact King Stannis and tell him that 'the north is being threatened by the Queen Dragon, and as long as he holds out for a few days, we will send troops south to fight his army of the Unsullied in the north and south.' ”

"It is true that the northern territory has just experienced a great war and suffered heavy losses, and it is indeed forced by the threat of the dragon to dare not resist. Use these unfounded reasons to delay the time, wait until the end of the decisive battle between the two kings, and then lead the troops to the battlefield, with the advantage of a large number of new forces - if the victory or defeat has been decided, then take advantage of the situation to help the winner clean up the mess, if the male and female have not yet been decided, then which side will have the advantage to help which. In this way, it not only avoids the bloodshed of the northerners, but also ensures that they stand on the winning side in the big war, so why not!"

"When the two-faced?!" the house exploded, and it is certainly a good idea to finally join the battle and reap the benefits, but in this regional, humanistic and contemporary context, it is destined to be unsupported. "It's better to be late!"

"Phew, both of them are bad ideas, how can this be said that it is not as good as one of them? I support Lord Rickard's point of view, even if the people of the North die, they should die with dignity, and they will never use such dirty methods!"

......

"Everyone, be quiet!The North will never do this!" Robb slapped the table with his uninjured hand, calming everyone in the room. "Lord Holland, your suggestion is very feasible. But people live in the world, do something and don't do something, similar methods that seem ingenious but can't be put on the table, please don't mention it again!"

In a sigh of relief and approval, Luce Burton's heart returned to his stomach when he mentioned his throat.

In fact, he had already thought about the next step, but he originally planned to wait for the rest of the room to discuss it for a while before throwing it out, but he never expected that Holland Reed would be able to come up with such a "clever trick...... Neck Ze, a wet and gloomy place, is indeed more insidious and cunning than the rest of the north. If you only analyze the gains and losses without considering the face, whether it is "being a late duke" or "sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight", it is indeed a good idea. Fortunately, with the temperament of Robb and the princes of the North, it would have been impossible for him to adopt such a good strategy, otherwise, he really didn't know how to continue his calculations.

Frightened by this, the old peeler didn't dare to delay it any longer, and after quickly coughing, he came up with his own plan: "Ladies and gentlemen, in fact, things are not so complicated at all. It is true that I am not in favor of either a war with the land grant or a forced neutrality. But, who said that in this way, we have only one way left to join the camp of the Dragon Queen? In this world, there is another means of fighting the enemy-called strategy!"

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