Chapter 126: The Value of Cinnabar Stone (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Votes)

There are hot springs around Winterfell, and the areas around hot springs often possess rich mineral resources.

Nowadays, the minerals discovered around Winterfell include coal, orpiment, quartz sand, iron, tin, and others.

With the help of the direwolf Sunshine, Eddard even discovered Cinnabar Stone.

In a pile of rubble beside the coal mine, Eddard held the Cinnabar Stone in his hands and said excitedly to Robb and Jon: "Our North is truly full of treasures everywhere! We actually discovered such a good thing as Cinnabar Stone."

Eddard took Robb, Jon, and the direwolves Night and Sunshine back to Winterfell and headed straight for the laboratory of the Alchemist Ginter.

"Robb, go notify Maester Farmer, Maester Norman, and Maester Luwin, and have them come to the laboratory."

Maester Farmer is skilled in mineral research, Maester Norman is skilled in medicine, and Maester Luwin is Eddard's chief advisor.

Robb turned and left, and Jon left with Night and Sunshine.

When Ginter first arrived at Winterfell, he could only make Wildfire, and he was a dabbler at being a Smith, a glassmaker, and a candlemaker. Now, under Eddard's guidance, Ginter has already shown the potential of a chemist.

Together with Ginter, Eddard added fragments of Obsidian into the glass-making experiment, and the efficiency and quality of the Winterfell glass workshop improved significantly. The Glassmaster Ortega claimed that after adding Obsidian, the quality of the glass rose, and the glass he made in Winterfell was better than during his time in Myr and Braavos.

"This is Cinnabar Stone." Eddard placed the Cinnabar Stone on the table. "Cinnabar Stone can be used as a dye, can be used for writing, and also has medicinal value. We found the Cinnabar Stone in the waste pile of the coal mine."

Ginter stroked the Cinnabar Stone. "Lord Eddard, you can always find good things."

Before long, Maester Luwin, Maester Farmer, and Maester Norman arrived at the laboratory. Maester Luwin said: "Lord Eddard, a Raven arrived from King's Landing today, sent by the Master of Coin Petyr Baelish. He is very dissatisfied with White Harbor driving away the customs officers sent by King's Landing. He has already raised a protest at the Small Council and hopes Lord Eddard will provide an explanation."

Back then, Saltpans caused the price of salt in the North to skyrocket, and the customs officers in White Harbor colluded with smugglers to smuggle salt from the Three Sisters, the Vale, the Crownlands, and even Braavos into the North.

These customs officers sent by King's Landing were all Littlefinger's men. Eddard took the opportunity to drive these customs officers away and replaced them with people from White Harbor and Winterfell to manage the White Harbor customs. Eddard had long anticipated that Littlefinger would sooner or later send a letter of protest.

"If Littlefinger wants to complain, he can go directly to the Hand of the King Jon Arryn or King Robert Baratheon. If there is an order from the King or the Hand of the King, Winterfell will naturally comply. A mere Littlefinger cannot shake Winterfell."

In fact, Eddard had long ago written to Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn. Jon Arryn replied that as long as the White Harbor customs paid taxes on time, King's Landing did not mind the personnel changes at the White Harbor customs.

"Let's not talk about Littlefinger anymore." Eddard pointed at the Cinnabar Stone with his finger. "I called you here to study the Cinnabar Stone with you."

The chubby Maester Farmer, the silver-haired Maester Norman, and Maester Luwin immediately gathered around.

Maester Farmer toyed with the Cinnabar Stone and raised an eyebrow. "Lord Eddard, I admit that when I was in the Reach, I rarely encountered this kind of blood-red stone, but I have encountered quite a few near Winterfell. You say this is Cinnabar Stone? What value could Cinnabar Stone possibly have?"

"Cinnabar Stone can be used to refine dyes." Eddard told the Maesters, "I will start experiments with the Alchemist Ginter immediately. Cinnabar Stone can not only be used as a dye, but it can also be used to treat illnesses."

This time it was Maester Norman's turn to be puzzled. "Lord Eddard, may I ask what illnesses Cinnabar Stone can treat? Using stones to treat illnesses looks more like a trick of a Forest Witch. What books have such records?"

Eddard feigned mystery and said: "I saw it in the ancient books in the Library Tower when I was a child, but I forgot which one it was. Maester Norman, you can trust me, Cinnabar Stone can be used to treat Seizure. You can look for a child suffering from Seizure in the Winter Town or nearby villages and use Cinnabar for treatment experiments. Remember, be cautious with the dosage."

Whether it was Maester Farmer, who was skilled in agriculture and minerals, Maester Norman, who was skilled in medicine, or the knowledgeable Maester Luwin, none of them understood the value of Cinnabar Stone.

However, as a Chuanzhe, Eddard was crystal clear about the value of Cinnabar Stone. In China on the Blue Star, Cinnabar Stone had been used since ancient times to refine elixirs, write official documents, and serve as a dye, among other things. Mining a Cinnabar Stone deposit in Winterfell was equivalent to digging up a treasure.

Over the next few days, Eddard and Ginter experimented with refining Cinnabar Stone in the laboratory and soon refined Cinnabar Ink.

Maester Duosite, who is skilled in occultism, has been in Winterfell recently, compiling the book "The Long Night and the Others" dictated by Old Nan. Maester Duosite became the first person to use Cinnabar Ink.

"Lord Eddard, Cinnabar Ink is eye-catching, has high clarity, and the handwriting can be preserved for a longer time. The Citadel has long been troubled by the lack of such ink, and now it has actually been invented by Lord Eddard."

Septa Chayle has long served as the administrator of the Library Tower, and he is responsible for transcribing books about the Seven. Septa Chayle also spoke highly of Cinnabar Ink.

"The Church has a large number of precious books and doctrines that need to be transcribed. Books from long ago will have blurred handwriting due to yellowing pages. Cinnabar Ink's handwriting can be preserved for a longer time. For this point alone, I believe monasteries everywhere would be willing to spend money to purchase Cinnabar Ink."

Maester Luwin is responsible for managing the Ravens of Winterfell, and he used Cinnabar Ink for the first time in a letter to the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch at Castle Black, the Bear.

"Ravens are the messengers of Westeros. I believe that in the future, all major castles and nobles will use Cinnabar Ink for writing. Lord Eddard has completed a revolution for the Ravens; even the Archmaester of the Conclave at the Citadel has no such feat."

Equally happy was the wool textile workshop in Winterfell. For a long time, Winterfell has been an important production area for wool textiles in Westeros.

However, because the North lacked dyes, wool clothing in the North could only be popular among the commoners. Now, Cinnabar Stone can provide red dye for wool clothing, and the sales of wool textiles in the North have increased significantly.

Catelyn personally made two wool dresses for Sansa and Arya, both of which were red.

In front of the mirror, Catelyn said excitedly: "Braavos relies on purple snails as dye, and the Sealord's purple-oared Warship travels all over the world; Tyrosh discovered sea snails to make various dyes, and the people of Tyrosh made a fortune because of it. Eddard, the dye from Cinnabar Stone can also make us a lot of money!"

(End of this chapter)