Ice and Fire: Conquering the World Starting from the Wall

"You intend to appoint me Governor-General of the Free People? Great His Majesty Lynn?"

After Jon and Dennis left, Mance immediately asked the question that had been bothering him, half-jokingly.

This is not only about his own status, but also about the position of the freemen in Lynn's vision of the future.

"Yes, what do you think of this position?"

Mans thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"To be honest, I don't know either... I thought you would send me to the front lines."

Lynn smiled slightly:

“‘Just leave us a place to survive,’ I remember you saying that.”

"Furthermore, I will definitely be leading my troops south in a while. After I leave, only you can keep the free people in check. I need you to keep them firmly under control within the territory I have been granted."

Mans had no objection to this, after all, it was something that had been agreed upon beforehand.

The savages were responsible for guarding the Wall, while Lynn was responsible for leading troops to collect taxes.

Lynn added:

"One more thing, you're about to become a father. If I remember correctly, Dana should be giving birth soon, right?"

Mans smiled and nodded; this was one of the reasons he had been so eager to promote Lynn to the position.

"That settles it then! You can stay here and be your governor, as for the free people..."

Lynn thought for a moment, then said:

"Unless they are willing to join my army and swear to obey orders, they are only allowed to move within the Great Wall and the granted land."

In the event of border crossings, conflicts, or injuries, then... the free people have their freedom, and the North has its laws. I will not favor either side, do you understand?"

Mans remained silent.

In this way, the free people will be separated and no longer as deeply bound to Lynn as before.

There was no other way; in order to make it easier for the nobles to accept the new king, Lynn had to make some separation from the savages.

Of course, there's nothing to complain about, since it's the freemen who need Lynn now, not the other way around.

If it weren't for Lynn's heroic efforts in the Battle of the Great Wall, the Savages would basically be driven into the Ghost Forest to die.

The most powerful Thane have long been like Lynn's private army, while other clans, though they also revere Lynn as gods, have become a huge burden in terms of logistics and politics.

"The old and new territories will be independent free city-states. I will not appoint lords here, nor will I promulgate any laws. All matters will be decided by you."

"Your obligation is to provide me with soldiers who can fight, in exchange for what I need for survival, as well as status and wealth."

Mercenaries.

This word was the first thing that came to Mans's mind.

Although on the surface it's still the same old system of exchanging military merit for survival, the essence of things has changed.

The Free People and the North will form two separate political entities.

"For specific diplomatic matters, you will need to discuss them with the new Warden of the North. I will only act as the mediator."

"The situation is changing, Mans, this is the best solution I can think of right now."

Lynn's initial idea was simply to march south under the pretext of defending against the White Walkers and forcibly "collect taxes" to support the wildlings' livelihood.

But with the fall of the Northern army, the decline of House Stark, the compromise of the Night's Watch, and Stannis's delivery of equipment and fleets from afar, these factors provided Lynn with a completely new perspective.

Demanding taxes? What taxes?

He directly seized the throne and became king himself.

If the prophesied long night truly comes, then only a truly unified kingdom can exert its greatest strength to resist it.

Mans thought for a moment and nodded, saying:

"I think it's fine. Those who want freedom can stay, and those who are willing to abide by the rules will also have their own places to go."

One hundred thousand people are still too crowded for the Wall. I will discuss this with Stark at the appropriate time.

Because Jon Snow currently only has the title, Mance emphasizes "the right time".

However, Lynn was quite satisfied with the fact that the ecological niche of the savages had finally been resolved.

That's the benefit of dictatorship.

Overall, the situation Lynn is facing is developing in a positive direction.

He not only captured Stannis's fleet and the entire court, but also gained the allegiance of the Duke of the North.

Although the current Duke of the North is merely a figurehead, and is no match for the Night's Watch, never underestimate the influence of the Stark name in the North.

From Brendan the Builder, a legendary figure from the Age of Heroes, the Stark family has been the kings in the North, ruling for over eight thousand years.

The surname "Stark" itself represents the legitimate government in the North, and the undisputed spiritual leader and rightful ruler in the hearts of the people of the North.

Even in the northern frontier, the ancient proverbs "The North will never forget" and "When the lone wolf dies, the pack lives" are known to everyone.

Lynn finalized the future political landscape, which can be considered as fulfilling his initial promise to the free people, and he couldn't help but feel much more relaxed.

"Let's leave it at that for now, and make adjustments as needed later."

"If I ever can't hold out on the front lines, I think we should just dig up the Great Wall and blow those bastards up."

He cursed with a chuckle.

In the past two days, in addition to Rams's letter, Lynn has also received a number of replies from nobles south of the Neck Marsh, but most of the letters are full of sarcasm and humiliation.

In comparison, Ramsay Snow's threats and insults seemed more direct.

This matter remained a thorn in Lynn's side.

The main problem was that communication was too backward, so he couldn't immediately return the body, which made him quite uncomfortable.

Mans, however, was already used to the strange words that Lynn would occasionally utter and didn't take them to heart.

"Some of the free men who participated in the pursuit of Stannis wanted to exchange their military merits for armor, but I refused."

Mans mentioned a small matter to Lynn.

"The refusal was the right thing to do. The armor is only supplied to the regular army. If they want it, they should go to the recruitment office to sign up."

Lynn agreed.

Recently, Lynn instructed Mans to recruit a new army. The wildlings who joined must swear an oath to their own god: to obey orders without question and not to be hostile or kill one another.

Therefore, this new army was called the "God's Oath Regiment," with a quota of 2000 people, selected based on merit.

There's no other reason than that we can't afford to support more, and we also need to leave some fighting force behind to defend the Great Wall.

The number of applicants was countless, but most were screened out by strict criteria, and only a little over a thousand have been recruited so far.

This includes both descendants of ancestors with normal appearances and strange clans whose appearances have evolved.

Lynn reserved 500 places for Tormund and prepared to hand over command of the Oath of God to him.

Among the free people, apart from the Thane, only his Redhall clan had any semblance of organization, and Tormund's reputation as the giant slayer could somewhat intimidate these still-wild recruits.

At the same time, the Oath of Gods will enjoy the same highest-level military merit titles as the Therons.

The Thane warriors were reorganized into a Royal Guard with a quota of 1000 men. Any qualified adult Thane male could apply to join, and all equipment and resources were allocated to them.

Currently, all members of the Royal Guard are equipped with steel armor and chainmail, while the discarded bronze armor and some chainmail have been given to the Divine Oath Corps.

Besides these three thousand main force soldiers, there were nearly five thousand scattered soldiers willing to follow in the battle.

They mostly lived in clans or families, and still followed the routes outside the Great Wall. Their overall quality could no longer be described as uneven.

Lynn eliminated half of them based on requirements such as height, age, and weaponry, retaining only two thousand able-bodied men to serve as logistical support troops.