Chapter 110: Maester Division of Labor and Refining Fine Salt

In the past, Winterfell only had one Maester, Maester Luwin. Maester Luwin had to teach the children, manage the ravens, write letters, treat illnesses for the people of Winterfell and the Winter Town, offer advice to Eddard, and attend various meetings in Winterfell. The burden on Maester Luwin's shoulders was very heavy.

Nowadays, three Maesters—Duosite, Norman, and Farmer—have joined Winterfell, and Maester Luwin's tasks have been greatly reduced. Today, Maester Luwin teaches the children every day; Robb, Jon, Domeric, Theon, Sansa, Arya, and Bran are all students of Luwin.

In addition, there are more than twenty Rockborn wards and over ten Assistant Maesters and apprentices from the Citadel who also study under Maester Luwin. Among them, Lareza from Dorne performs exceptionally well. The dark-skinned boy Lareza has already become a star among the apprentices; he is very talented in medicine and history, and is even proficient in archery.

Whether it is Maester Luwin or the other Maesters, they all unanimously agree that it is only a matter of time before Lareza earns his Maester's Chain.

Eddard has Maester Norman, who is skilled in medicine, provide medical services for the people of Winterfell and the Winter Town, while Maester Farmer is responsible for research into mineral exploration and increasing crop yields.

As for Maester Duosite, who is obsessed with Magic, Eddard has him spend time every day listening to Old Nan tell stories. Old Nan is nearly a hundred years old; she even served as a wet nurse to Eddard's grandfather's generation. She is well-versed in all sorts of strange and bizarre tales, especially those about the Others, the Night King, and the Long Night.

As a Chuanzhe, Eddard understands that many of Old Nan's stories are true, especially the parts about the Others and the Long Night, but many people do not believe them, especially the learned Maesters. The Maesters consider the Others to be mere legends, and even if they did exist, it was eight thousand years ago.

In the future, the Night King will inevitably gather an army of the Others in the frozen lands Beyond the Wall to march south and attack The Wall. When that time comes, the North will be the front line for resisting the army of the Others.

Eddard cannot help but lament the unfairness of fate; why must the North be the front line for resisting the Others? However, complaining is useless; Eddard must make the Night's Watch and the people of the North increase their vigilance against the Others and the Night King.

A book about the Night King and the Others could serve as a form of propaganda, and Old Nan's stories are undoubtedly the most vivid and are a sharp weapon for publicizing the Others and the Night King.

Maester Duosite is obsessed with Magic and the occult, making him an outlier among the Maesters. He firmly believes in the existence of the Others and the Long Night; therefore, having Maester Duosite be responsible for collecting Old Nan's stories and compiling them into a book is most appropriate.

The Library Tower of Winterfell is the Maesters' favorite place, as it preserves a vast number of books on the North, ranging from records of the Barrow Kings, the Kings of Winter, the Red Kings, the Night's Watch, and even the Wildlings Beyond the Wall. The Library Tower is managed by Septa Chayle and the Maesters together.

This morning, Eddard brought the four Maesters—Duosite, Luwin, Farmer, and Norman—to the outside of the workshop, where a basket of coarse salt was placed by the door.

Eddard picked up a handful of coarse salt with his hand, "Do you think there is a way to refine coarse salt into Fine Salt?"

The chubby and slovenly Maester Farmer touched his chain, "Lord Eddard, refining coarse salt into Fine Salt is a beautiful dream, but it is not realistic. In fact, the Citadel has always tried to refine Fine Salt, but they have all failed."

The thin Maester Duosite said, "According to records in some ancient scrolls, the Dragonlords of Valyria tried to use Magic to refine Fine Salt, and they failed. Now that the dragons are dead, this is an era where Magic is fading; it is impossible to refine Fine Salt."

Maester Norman, who has silver hair and earned the nickname "White-headed Old Man" in the short time since arriving at Winterfell, said, "I have heard that the Alchemists' Guild in King's Landing also tried to refine Fine Salt, but they failed. Clearly, the Alchemists are only good at making Wildfire."

Eddard turned to Maester Luwin, "Some time ago, I had Maester Luwin build a Filter according to my design drawings. By using the Filter, Winterfell can refine Fine Salt."

Maester Norman, Maester Duosite, and Maester Farmer were all shocked. Maester Farmer asked curiously, "Duke Eddard is actually an inventor?"

Maester Luwin was a bit embarrassed; he took out the blueprints for the Filter, "I built the Filter according to Lord Eddard's orders, but I do not believe that the Filter can truly refine Fine Salt."

Maester Duosite, Maester Norman, and Maester Farmer all stared at the blueprints, their brows furrowed.

The Filter is composed of bamboo tubes, small pebbles, fine sand, fine gauze, charcoal, and reed fluff; its design is very simple. Maester Norman raised an eyebrow, "Can such a simple little gadget refine Fine Salt? Lord Eddard, please do not play such jokes on us."

Maester Luwin, Maester Craster, Maester Norman, and Maester Farmer all believed that Eddard could not possibly use the Filter to refine Fine Salt. In the eyes of these learned Maesters, Eddard is a noble, and nobles clearly do not have the talent of an inventor.

"Gentlemen, I will let you see for yourselves today." Eddard led the Maesters into the workshop.

In the workshop, coarse salt was piled as high as a small hill. Nearby were stone mortars, stone mills, soy milk, filters, wooden spoons, winnowing baskets, and sieves.

The Alchemist Ginter was directing a group of servants to work. Ginter is skilled in making Wildfire; in the short time he has been at Winterfell, Ginter has already produced several barrels of Wildfire for Winterfell, which are stored deep in the Crypts of Winterfell.

Besides Wildfire, Eddard had Ginter participate in the refining of Fine Salt. Ginter will even participate in the improvement of glass. In the past few days, Ginter has been studying with the Glassmaster Ortega on how to add Obsidian into the glass-making process to strengthen the quality of the glass.

Maester Luwin, Maester Duosite, Maester Norman, and Maester Farmer frowned as soon as they saw Ginter. This is because the Maester organization has always regarded the Alchemists' Guild as a competitor; the Maesters consider themselves to possess the wisdom of the Citadel and disdain to associate with Alchemists.

Under Ginter's direction, some servants were using stone mortars to crush the coarse salt and using winnowing baskets to transport it to the stone mill. Once the windmill-powered stone mill was started, it could grind the coarse salt into even finer particles.

In the next stage, servants poured the fine salt particles into water to dissolve them. After forming brine, the servants would filter the brine using the Filter invented by Eddard. Subsequently, the servants would put the filtered brine into two large pots in the center of the workshop to boil. When crystals were about to form in the pots, the servants added soy milk and used wooden spoons to scoop out the bean curd, leaving only clear brine.

Maester Luwin, Maester Farmer, and Maester Norman watched in astonishment as Eddard and Ginter directed the servants' operations. The workshop was bustling with activity, everyone was sweating, and the Maesters seemed to have forgotten the passage of time.

Thanks to book friends "20180928122622970" and "Great Pirate lg" for the monthly tickets, thank you for your support!

(End of chapter)