The other party's unequivocal attitude kept Egger focused. Fortunately, as menacing as it may seem and sound aggressive, Stark Jr.'s words actually reveal an important message: Robb is not adamantly opposed to the land grant scheme, and everything is still playing.

"First of all, apologize for Commander Mormont and my unauthorized actions. It is indeed inconsiderate to put the foreigners directly into the Great Wall without consulting the princes of the north, especially the guardian families. But the truth is that the army of the dead was chasing the living fleeing south, and there was no time for us to inform the princes of the north and to counsel. "When the wildlings attacked the Great Wall, the Iron Folk were also invading the north. In this case, even if Mormont had advertised and asked for advice, Iger was skeptical that the nobles would have the heart to get involved: "One step too late to make a decision, and countless people would have been killed and transformed into ghouls outside the Fortress - leaving the Night's Watch and the North facing thousands more non-human opponents for the foreseeable future." Iger finally came up with this statement. "I remember that Commander Mormont must have traveled around the North with a ghoul in a wagon, and you're sure you've seen it, it's not fiction. ”

"Nobody says it's fiction, and that's a compelling reason. The Night's Watch are indeed facing enemies that are unimaginable to ordinary people, and this has raised the limit of tolerance for you in the North. Robb pouted, "But I don't think that thing has the intelligence and ability to climb the Great Wall...... As for the thinking and magical ghosts you mentioned in your report, no one has ever seen them, so they cannot be taken into account. ”

"I've seen it, I've killed one, and the Rangers killed another one during my trip to King's Landing, so if you don't believe me, summon your half-brother Jon Snow and ask about it...... This is a loyal and reliable young man who you have known longer than anyone else and should know him. ”

"I know him. Actually, I don't need Jon, I'm willing to trust you. Robb shrugged at Egger: "But what if the strange ghosts really exist? There are tens of millions of people in the Seven Kingdoms combined, I don't believe it, but these tens of thousands of wild people are gone...... We're going to lose the war with the dead?"

"There are tens of millions of people in the Seven Kingdoms combined, but what are these tens of millions of people doing? Throwing their energy and resources into one war after another caused by the palace scandal and the struggle for the throne! At this moment when the long night is approaching, what we need is to concentrate our energy and resources, and be prepared to deal with natural enemies!" Egger was slightly excited: "Ten thousand land-givers who are fully prepared for war are more useful than ten million people of the Seven Kingdoms who have not put their minds on business! And I am confident—— Under my leadership, the new landgivers will become the former!"

"It doesn't matter what I think, let me be honest - you're just a foreigner from somewhere we've never heard of, and Jon is my father's illegitimate son. Your faith and assurance in the matter of letting the savages, who have been our enemies for thousands of years, enter into a land-giving life, are of no value to the princes of the North, and I mean...... It doesn't make sense. ”

In a long sentence, to put it simply: in the social structure of the feudal lords, no one in the Egger or the Night's Watch was qualified to vouch for the princes of the North, and Robb had only just taken his position, and he had no prestige or ability to dismiss the public.

It's not very nice, but it's true. Iger frowned, and suddenly realized where the problem was: "Wait a minute, I think we need to rethink our thinking...... Otherwise, continuing the dialogue can only be a chicken and a duck, and you will never get to the point. ”

Robb gestured in agreement, then leaned back, leaning back in his chair and waiting for Iger to speak again.

＊＊＊

The night watchman calmed down and quickly forced himself into a state of efficient thinking.

During the whole process of setting out from the Great Wall to the south, solving the problem of the Iron Invasion, and returning north, he had already thought about how to convince Robb Stark not to immediately oppose the land grant and resettlement plan, and to start the next step of his plan to go north with him. But just now she was pestered by Arya, and after entering the study, she was interrupted by Caitlin, who had not expected to meet her in advance, and she was unprepared to hear Robb himself say the sentence "I will personally lead people north......

Today's conversation in the study didn't start the way Iger had expected, and there was even an important goal that was achieved without waiting for him to make a move. A series of unexpected factors made the situation as chaotic as a bug in the plot during a game, and he almost forgot how to fool those who were more powerful than himself after returning to the Great Wall after King's Landing returned to the Great Wall for a long time and his skills were a little rusty.

But it doesn't matter, just like riding a bike or swimming, the ability to analyze the benefits and take the right coping strategy is hard to forget once you master it. Robb Stark's relatively good personal relationship with Iger has made the situation remedy, and all he needs to do now is to quickly bring his original plan out from memory, find out what the problem is, and correct it according to the situation.

＊＊＊

After a while, Egger cleared his mind.

"What is the duty of the Night's Watchman?" he re-spoken, "and I conclude here as I understand it, that is—to serve as a buffer between the outside and the inside of the Stronghold, and to ensure the security of the Seven Kingdoms, especially the northern borders. ”

Robb frowned, thought for a while, and didn't find anything wrong: "That's right, that's it." ”

"But there has never been a law or provision on how the Night's Watch should do this, just as there is no documentation that the Great Wall was built to keep out the wildlings......"

"Wait a minute, if you're trying to say, 'As long as nothing happens in the north, I don't care what the Night's Watch do. Then the discussion came back to square one—I, or the people of the North, questioned the savages' ability to keep to themselves, and feared for their own safety. Above all, we have the capacity and the intention to intervene. ”

"I know what you mean, and you just said it: you have to be responsible to everyone. Again, let me summarize what I mean by my own understanding – by being responsible, you are responsible for the 'safety of all people in the North'. The demands of the Guardian of the North and the duties of the Night's Watch converge at one point: the security of the North. Egger's mind cleared: "In other words, the discussions we have just had about 'whether it is right to let foreigners enter the customs' and 'whether this should be done' are simply unnecessary and put the cart before the horse. Now it's not about arguing about right and wrong, it's about judging whether the Cypriots who have been put into the Great Wall will threaten the north – and if so, come up with a solution!"

"That's right, that's exactly what I meant. Robb raised his eyebrows, "That's what I'm talking about...... You give me an account, and I give the people of the North a guarantee. You summed it up well, so how are you going to give me this explanation?"

"I can't give it. ”

"What?"

"I can't sit here, so I'll convince the Guardian of the North by speaking that the tens of thousands of strangers the Night's Watch put into the Wall can't threaten the North—it's an impossible task. Iger shrugged: "Even if I could, I think it's a huge irresponsibility, and we shouldn't rely on it...... to decide the fate of tens of thousands of people. ”

"So?" this time it was Robb's turn to be a little confused.

"I've always believed that it's better to see than to hear. What better way to judge whether the Cypriots would threaten the North, than to walk among them...... Face-to-face contact with their lives and psychological state...... Is it more straightforward?"

......

"In my capacity as the Night's Watch Chief Logistics Officer, I now formally extend an invitation to the Guardian of the North, hoping that Lord Stark will deign to descend on the land grant and personally inspect the progress and status of the resettlement program. ”

When Iger set out from Houguan Town, his ultimate goal was clear: to try to bring Robb Stark back to the North, and trick him into visiting the land grant, and through his arrival, he created the illusion that the "Guardian of the North supports the land grant resettlement plan...... After the other party first suggested that he would take the initiative to go north to the Wall, the plan was chaotic for a while, and the reason came from himself: Egg actually subconsciously changed his goal, and involuntarily tried to convince Robb that it was the right thing to do to let the wildlings pass through the Wall here and in Winterfell.

It's human nature to throw the pot and try to prove that you're doing the right thing, and it's also a survival instinct to get an inch. However, this time, the new goal itself is difficult to achieve, not to mention, in case of a miracle, Robb believes that the wildlings will not threaten the north, so he gives up going north to investigate in person, and will completely destroy the follow-up plan at once.

When it is time to take advantage of the victory and pursue, we should boldly pursue, and when it is time to accept it, we must focus on the overall situation.

......

Robb was bewildered by the rapid change in the subject, but having already decided that he wanted to go north to find his brother, the answer was not difficult: "Hmm...... Well, I accept the invitation. ”

——