The aftermath of the Holocaust.

Along with the vigorous post-war reconstruction, the intense and orderly preparations for war are also going on simultaneously.

Due to its rebirth, the land grant has no culture of its own, and there is no story to tell other than the history of the night watch and the thrilling war that has just ended—the lack of heritage often leads to a lack of centripetal cohesion in an aggregate, but fortunately, the land grant has other advantages to make up for the shortcomings.

There are no intertwined and complex interest groups here, and the little friction and contradiction between the few tribes is also lost in the face of the big stick of the law and the common threat...... In the face of the natural enemies of all mankind, all people are each other's brothers and comrades-in-arms. With a clear goal and direction, everyone's energy will be in one place, and the resistance is so small that it is not worth mentioning at all. And at this moment, all the forces of this land, under the command of the commander-in-chief of the Night's Watch Legion, are working in the same direction.

After a "long and meticulous search and reconnaissance", the official spokesman of the Legion finally announced "helplessly" that according to the analysis of clues collected by the Rangers, the remnants of the strange spirits who had escaped the net in the Battle of Long Lake had escaped back to the outside of the fortress through the path, over the mountains and mountains, and through the holes in the Grand Canyon defense line torn during the attack.

In order to avenge the comrades who died in the battle, in order to restore the vast and rich land in Saibei into a habitable area, and for the survival and safety of all mankind for future generations, the High Command of the Night Watch turned the original rumors into a definite operational plan by issuing an official document: the legion will organize the elite next month to enter the north through the Great Wall to pursue the last remnants of the enemy until they are completely wiped out, and this magnificent war is completely ended!

The black-clothed soldiers who swore an oath, the red god believers who fought for the gods they believed in, the massive aborigines who wanted to return to the outside of the fortress to restore their "free bodies", and the land-giving warriors who had the intention of making meritorious contributions but failed to cut down the strange ghosts by mistake...... Thousands of hearts were beating for this exciting epic expedition, and their simple minds were unaware of this: they only had to put down the dragon crystal weapon and lift the ordinary sword, and then replace the obsidian fragments in the bomb with iron nails, and all the preparations made by the inhabitants of the land to exterminate the aliens could be turned to the southern expedition at the first order, and the new weapon that was said to be the nemesis of the aliens was roaring in the direction of the testing ground, and the efficiency and speed of destroying the masonry fortress by smashing the flesh and blood were much higher than the destruction of the aliens and the dead!

In an exciting and fiery atmosphere, the undercurrent has begun to quietly surge.

＊＊＊

Years ago, Egg threw down a few notes in King's Landing, using the power of rumors to lure up a Vale rebellion and drive Littlefinger away...... Not only did it exceed its goal in an unexpected way, but what was even more miraculous was that there was no second person in the world involved in this matter, and there was almost no possibility of leaking the news.

And now, he wants to start an unreasonable war, and "repay the Queen's help" gives the Night's Watch an excuse to abandon their neutrality...... But it was not enough to give the land-granting residents no reason to object, and while preparing physically, Iger also needed something else to make the people under his rule psychologically fully support the next southern expedition.

Dozens of small "Lightbringers" are already on their way to the Seven Kingdoms to serve as ambassadors, but in addition to their positive publicity, Iger once again needs the sword of rumors to cheer them on.

No one can always single-handedly spread the word, steer the wind, and expect God to be unaware. Egger is now in a high position, and there are countless pairs of eyes on everything he does, and it is impossible for him to still go out and do this kind of dirty work himself. So...... He has long been devoting resources and energy to cultivating his own media communication and public opinion control department. Before the official announcement of the Night Watch Headquarters, the news of the "Expedition outside the Seychelles" was the handiwork of the "Night Watch Propaganda Department" that did not exist in the open establishment.

In addition to testing the public's attitude and creating a momentum to strategically deceive the outside world, this move is also one of the many trial operations and actual combat exercises of the "Propaganda Department," which has been secretly built for a long time.

The exercise, as always, was a success, which once again proved the organizational soundness and the ability of the Propaganda Department to carry out its work. Egger boldly drew his new invisible weapon, wielding an invisible edge at his enemies.

Quietly, another new rumor, just like the news of the original "expedition outside the Sai Wai", spread among the inhabitants of the land grant who were preparing for the complete destruction of human predators: the king who sat on the Iron Throne in the south, and a large number of nobles under his command who had never even been to the north of the neck, while enjoying the protection of the military and civilians of the land grant, still did not recognize the night watchman's acceptance of the foreigners. They were even quietly planning to order the hill clans to move back into the mountains when the forthcoming expedition was over, and to force the Night's Watch to expel all the wildlings they had previously taken in.

......

Stannis has always been a master who can do things without beeping, he will not and cannot risk offending the North to veto something that has already been tacitly approved by Robb Stark, not to mention that he is now racking his brains about how to deal with the threat of "two Targaryens" to keep King's Landing and the throne, where is the time, mind and courage to care for a grant of land thousands of miles away?

This statement has no reliable source and is not logical in itself, and anyone with a little common sense and mind can see at a glance that it is a rumor. But people's sanity is always inversely proportional to their anger - when the land-givers who survived the war heard the news, it was already commendable if they didn't fry the pot in the first place, how many people could calmly analyze it?

The land-givers did not expect a group of nobles who had never even met to thank or reward them, but they could not swallow the breath of being crossed over the river and the bridge demolished;

Soon, the anger was centered on Houguan Town, and it swept in all directions like a tsunami.

The rumors have been spread, and the next thing Iger has to do is to wait for it to ferment naturally, and when it slowly expands to the point where it is about to lose control, he will stand up and poke it again, and harvest all its destructive power for his own use, so that it is reasonable and even natural that the "Expedition to the Outside the Fortress" suddenly becomes the "Seven Kingdoms of the Southern Expedition".

＊＊＊

Macro momentum is indispensable, and fine micro-manipulation cannot be thrown.

Asha Greyjoy wasn't the only one who came to the office to make deals with Egger, and in the days that followed, Iger continued to meet with the leaders of the land-grants, both large and small.

Of course, the content of the conversation was not to directly tell them that "the expedition outside the country is just a hoax, I am actually preparing to march south, and I hope that you will lead troops to follow up when the time comes", but to give these people a preventive vaccination first, and use all possible means to ensure that anyone who has the ability to influence or influence the situation is in the coming storm...... Even if you don't use it for yourself, you don't become your enemy.

As Sir Dennis Mellister, who had died in the Shadow Tower, said, anything in the world could be traded for money—at the right time and at the right price.

From this point of view, politics is often like doing business, except that businessmen can only trade goods and money, while politicians can use everything they can think of to form cooperation or alliances.

For those mountain clans who had been helping from the beginning, Iger chose to reassure and reiterate that the original contract was still valid and that the land grant would always have their place, and for those who were willing to give up their original life to settle down in the south of the Great Wall, and to exchange submission and conscription taxes for protection and livelihood, Egger promised to always recognize their status as residents of the land grant and never expel them, and to those who still wanted "freedom" Waiting for the small half of the people who refused to kneel, Iger agreed with them to gather and disperse: when the north side of the Great Wall was sure that it was safe, he would let them return to the outside of the fortress, and even give them a little necessary "family fee" so that they would not have to start all over again - if the transaction did not become benevolent, even if they did not become a family, at least to ensure that they did not become enemies or be used by the enemy.

Within the Night's Watch: For conservatives and opponents who were worried about the future, Egger vowed to never band the Blackshirts even if he fought for the Queen, and to those neutrals who did not oppose Egger's move but did not want to participate in the Seven Civil Wars, Egger promised not to force them to fight, they only needed to remain in the Land Grant and the Wall, and only those who ...... Having the will and the thoughts, the desire to escape from their pre-existing destiny, and the values and abilities that can be used for themselves, Egger will be cautious and a little more penetrating, promising them the reward they want, and at the same time preparing them for it—both physically and psychologically.

In addition to satisfying Daenerys' noble desire to "break the wheels", there is another important reason: the wealth, estate, and titles of these unlucky nobles have been written into real or empty "checks" by Iger along with all the things that have been given to the land. What the latter is doing is to throw out this pile of cheques seemingly aimlessly, but in fact with precision and unambiguously, to buy themselves support followers, allies, and power...... and the promise that the neutrals would not cause trouble at critical moments.

......

At the end of another day, Iger sat behind his desk, listening to his subordinates' debriefings while sipping delicious hot soup.

"The rumor is already being discussed everywhere in Houguan Town, and people have even begun to gather outside the Inner Fort Gate to demand your say about it, and the guards have dissuaded them...... So far, however, the impact has been confined to the periphery of the town. I expect it will take another week or two for it to spread throughout the grant. The Ministry of Propaganda can take action to speed up the process, but this will lead to the appearance of the tracks, once in the eyes of those who are interested......"

"No, don't do anything, let it spread naturally. "The so-called rumors open their mouths, refute rumors and break their legs, rumors are similar to yang conspiracy to some extent, and they are not afraid of external forces. Iger wasn't afraid of any bullshit, but according to his original plan, two weeks was just right, "Make a little semi-official statement in your own name, reduce the intensity of this rumor, and make sure that we don't burn ourselves before the time comes." ”

"Understood. Without further explanation, Humphrey quickly caught up in his thoughts, "Also, Miss Asha has drawn up a list of things she needs you to provide her without, as well as a handy handy hand. ”

Iger took the list and glanced at it, it was all ordinary things, not to mention that the land was inexhaustible, but there was no shortage of this. Instead, the list was filled with some of the Iron Folk crew who had followed her and had been captured together in the Battle of the Coast - it was clear that these were Asha's henchmen, people she trusted completely.

"Give them all, all the materials are counted as a thousand gold dragons, and you can mark a unit price for them later. "Actually, even if you count the skyrocketing prices due to the war, these things can be bought for a hundred gold dragons in the larger cities, but Iger is not charitable. "As for the manpower, one hundred golden dragons, as for whether it is 'escaped' or 'released' by us, you can discuss it with her and make a decision. ”

"Hmm. In addition, she also asked me: Is there any poison in Houguan Town, or people who can use poison and dispense poison?

"Poison?" said Egger, curling the corners of her mouth—it seemed that the woman was planning to stab and poison her uncle, "I don't know, did the healer ask?" ”

"I asked around roughly, and they all shook their heads, only the bachelor said that he 'knew a little bit about medicine and stone medicine'. But he's busy with the gunpowder granulation project, you see?"

Humphrey didn't say that Iger had almost forgotten that although Cobain was named and brought to give away land because of his ability to make nitrate, he was an all-round mad scientist at heart, and he said it slightly...... I'm afraid it's still modest.

"Let him give advice and help to Miss Greyjoy as much as he can, without delaying his business. Well, his advisers and staff officers are also discounted by a thousand gold dragons, and if they end up with poison, they will be treated as gifts. ”

"Oh, if you know that your labor is so valuable, you will be very happy. Humphrey made a innocuous joke, and then changed his words, "There is one more thing, a small caravan came from the south at noon today, and one of them went to the outside of the Inner Fort at dark to ask the guards to see you, claiming that there was an important message from Winterfell, and that he must tell you privately. I saw that his words were sneaky, and he didn't look like a good person, so I let people watch him first, you see...... Do you want to see or drive away?"

——

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