Chapter 1: The Lord of Winterfell

Accompanied by the cry of an infant, the Lord of Winterfell, Eddard Stark, welcomed his fifth child.

Eddard Stark had black hair and grey eyes; his beard was beginning to turn grey, and his expression was as stern as the cold winter.

"My lord, congratulations, it is a boy." Old Nan held the swaddled infant and happily showed him to Eddard.

Eddard held the infant, and the baby cried even louder.

Maester Luwin fiddled with the chain around his neck. "My lord, have you decided on a name for this child?" Maester Luwin was thin and had grey eyes and hair.

Catelyn, on the birthing bed, had beautiful auburn hair, blue eyes, and slender fingers. She smiled and said, "Eddard and I discussed it long ago; if it were a boy, we would name him Rickon."

Before long, Robb, Arya, Sansa, and Bran, who had been guarding outside the door, swarmed in, surrounding their mother Catelyn and their newborn brother; the children were overcome with joy.

Bran had chestnut hair and blue eyes; he excitedly kissed little Rickon. "I'm a big brother now, this is great."

Arya laughed, "Another brother, the feeling of being a big sister is so strange." Arya had a long face, long brown hair, and grey eyes, resembling her father Eddard more; she was a mischievous and energetic girl.

Sansa smiled lightly, "Arya, don't get too excited. When you were born, I was also very excited when I first looked at you, who were a little cutie back then. But now? You make me more and more annoyed." Sansa inherited her mother's blue eyes and auburn hair, and everyone believed that Sansa would grow up to be a great beauty.

Robb took Rickon, "It's only fun if you bicker with your younger siblings all day long." Robb had auburn hair and blue eyes, resembling his mother more.

Eddard's ward, Theon Greyjoy, entered the room and stood by the door with a smile on his face. Theon was slender with brown-black hair.

After the Greyjoy Rebellion was quelled years ago, the ten-year-old Theon was taken in by Eddard as a ward and brought to Winterfell as a hostage to ensure his father, Balon Greyjoy, would kneel and submit.

Now sixteen, Theon had been separated from his parents and homeland for many years, living under another's roof. Seeing the new addition to the Stark household, Theon felt very uncomfortable inside, but he still managed to keep his habitual smile.

Eddard's bastard, Jon Snow, stood at the doorway and peeked into the room, but a single look of disgust from Catelyn made Jon flee in a panic.

Regarding the bastard Eddard had produced outside, Catelyn had always felt an indescribable disgust.

Maester Luwin leaned toward Eddard, "My lord, you have been blessed with a son; will you invite the nobles of the North to come to your home to celebrate?"

Eddard nodded in agreement, "Very well. Send out the ravens and notify them to come to Winterfell to celebrate in a month. By the way, don't forget to send a raven to Castle Black and let Benjen come too."

The people in the house were overjoyed, but Eddard could not feel happy.

Eddard was a Chuanzhe; he had originally been an ordinary office worker on Earth. Three days ago, he had traveled to Winterfell on the continent of Westeros and become the Lord of Winterfell.

Eddard discovered that even though he had become the Lord of the North, he often had to wear the "mask of a Duke"; after all, the identity of a Chuanzhe could not be exposed easily.

As a Chuanzhe, Eddard did not know if the course of history would be the same as in *A Song of Ice and Fire*. He would try his best to win the game of thrones, win the clash of kings, survive the storm of swords, participate in the feast for crows, and welcome the dance of dragons...

Eddard understood that all the beauty before him was temporary, just as the words of House Stark said: Winter is Coming.

That night, Eddard went to Maester Luwin's tower, where the maester was writing letters.

"My lord, as you instructed, I have already written many letters to all parts of the North, inviting the noble lords of the North to come to your home to celebrate the birth of young Rickon. As soon as the sun rises tomorrow, I will release the ravens."

"Thank you for your hard work." Eddard pulled up a chair and sat down. "Maester Luwin, I have some business plans. Do you have a map of the North?"

"Business plans?" Luwin was somewhat surprised, as Lord Eddard usually couldn't be bothered to manage even the accounts of Winterfell. "My lord, you have always had no interest in business; why do you suddenly have business plans?"

Eddard smiled, "After Rickon was born, there is one more mouth to feed in the house. Winter is Coming; finding a way to earn more money is always a good thing."

Maester Luwin brought a map, spread it out on the table, and held it down with a tallow candle.

On the map, castles and fortresses like White Harbor, Dreadfort, Deepwood Motte, Flint's Finger, Wolfswood, Barrowton, Last Hearth, and Karhold; rivers like the White Knife, the Last River, the Weeping Water, and the First Men River; the villages of the Mountain Clans; the fishing villages along the long coastline; and everything from the Neck in the south to The Gift in the north—all these places paid taxes to Winterfell.

Every month, Winterfell had a large amount of Gold Dragons and Silver Stags coming in. House Stark had never liked luxury; the noisy tourneys and court dances of the south were almost isolated from Winterfell, and the successive Kings in the North had accumulated considerable wealth.

However, this was far from enough. Winters in Westeros often lasted for several years. When winter arrived, not only would the income of House Stark plummet, but they would also have to spend a lot of money to provide relief to the people of the Winter Town and assist their vassals.

Even in summer, Winterfell still had to face various enemies. The "Rockborn" of Skagos would plunder the east coast from time to time, and small squads of pirates appeared on the west coast all year round.

Most of the pirates on the west coast were Ironborn from the Iron Islands. After Balon Greyjoy knelt and submitted to Robert Baratheon, Balon sent his only surviving son, Theon, to Winterfell as a ward to ensure that the Ironborn of the Iron Islands would not launch raids on Westeros. Balon also executed some raiders, but the Iron Islands never lacked outlaws who pursued the Old Way.

Wildling Raiders were also a major headache for Winterfell. Now that the Night's Watch was in decline, the frequency of Wildling Raiders climbing over The Wall had become more frequent. After entering the North, they would kill adult men, seize food, and abduct young women and children.

Under the harassment of the Wildlings, many villages in The Gift south of the Wall had been abandoned, almost becoming a no-man's-land. The Wildlings also frequently harassed the lands of House Umber, House Karstark, and the Mountain Clans, causing the income of these lords to plummet, and the taxes received by Winterfell to plummet along with them.

Over these past two days, Eddard had calculated in his heart that to strengthen the North, he must develop the economy. The first step was to make the Winter Town prosperous.

Eddard's gaze rested on Winterfell on the map, and he pointed his finger at the Winter Town next to Winterfell.

"How many people are in the Winter Town now?"

Luwin thought for a moment, "I estimate five thousand."

Eddard frowned, "Too few. I went for a walk yesterday, and four-fifths of the houses were empty. Fertile land is left uncultivated. Why do my people not like living in the Winter Town?"

Luwin smiled, "My lord, our North is vast and sparsely populated. Only when winter arrives do people gather in the Winter Town from all directions to huddle together for warmth. The hot springs here attract people in winter. Now it is summer, and many people have returned to their hometowns. These people come from the Stony Shore, Sea Dragon Point, some from the Mountain Clans, and others live in the villages outside White Harbor..."

"The Winter Town is just a temporary shelter for many residents. They have their own houses and land in their hometowns; people are always attached to their native land. Staying in the Winter Town requires paying taxes to Winterfell, and returning home requires paying taxes to their lords; for them, there is no difference. Rest assured, my lord, when winter comes, they will return."

Eddard clasped his hands together and placed them on his chest.

"I want them to come back now. I want every chimney in the Winter Town to have fireworks, I want the streets and alleys to be full of running children, and I want to hear the noise of the market."

"Maester Luwin, I want you to add a message to the letters notifying the lords of all regions to come to Winterfell for the celebratory banquet, saying that Winterfell welcomes residents from all over to come and live in the Winter Town."

"I want to build Winterfell into the next White Harbor, a prosperous city."

(End of chapter)