Chapter 127: Nurse, Shiitake, and Bean Sprouts

Winterfell has begun mining Cinnabar Stone; the harvested Cinnabar Stone is used to make dye, which can color wool textiles, and can also be used to make cinnabar ink. The Winterfell dye works opened soon after, primarily to color various wool and linen textiles.

Under Eddard's guidance, cinnabar is also used as medicine and has been collected into the Winterfell infirmary.

Today, the Winterfell pharmacy has collected thousands of types of medicine. Maester Norman, the "Pulsatilla," and Eddard have conducted in-depth research and documentation on the medicinal properties of each one. Maester Norman has begun using cinnabar ink to write the *Compendium of Herbs* on parchment.

One day, Eddard stood in the pharmacy with Maester Norman and Maester Luwin. The room was filled with medicine shelves, each divided into several medicine drawers, and each drawer contained a different medicine.

"Lord Eddard, our medicines are becoming more and more complete. Hunters, the Forest Clan, and the mountain clans have all sent many valuable herbs. Many people from Winter Town come to Winterfell to see the maesters for treatment, but it is a pity that we are short-handed; there are only four maesters in total, and the assistant maesters and apprentices are completely unreliable at treating illnesses."

Eddard thought for a moment, "If we train some nurses, we could treat more people."

Maester Luwin stroked his chain, "Professional nurses? My Lord, there is no precedent for this in Westeros! Only the Free Cities have professional nurses."

"That is why we in Winterfell shall set this precedent." Eddard flipped through a medical book, "We have medical alcohol and gauze. Once trained, nurses can directly stop bleeding and dress wounds for soldiers on the battlefield. With nurses, we can save many lives during wartime, and in peacetime, they can also assist the maesters in treating patients."

Maester Norman revealed a heartwarming smile, "My Lord, I admire your foresight and courage. Volantis and Braavos both have professional nurses. We in Westeros do not have professional nurses to save lives and heal the wounded, but we do have the Silent Sisters who are responsible for collecting corpses. I think if we train the Silent Sisters to be nurses, then more people will survive."

"I fully support your plan to train nurses, My Lord. If you can find a group of girls around fourteen years old and give me a few months, I can teach them how to disinfect and bandage wounds."

The recruitment of nurses soon attracted many girls from Winter Town to sign up. After screening, thirty girls entered Winterfell to begin nurse training; they were generally between twelve and fifteen years old.

Maester Norman was busy training the nurses, while Eddard focused his energy on food.

Food is the people's heaven; Eddard decided to contribute more delicacies to the people of the North.

Glass gardens were completed one after another, and many of Eddard's plans could be implemented. He chose one glass garden to begin cultivating shiitake mushrooms and wood ear mushrooms.

In fact, there are wild shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in the Wolfswood, but they are heavily affected by the seasons and all freeze to death in winter. Eddard decided to plant shiitake and wood ear mushrooms in the glass gardens so that there could be delicious vegetables even in winter.

Shiitake and wood ear mushrooms do not have high requirements for light, making them suitable for the North.

Eddard ordered the Winterfell woodcutters to fell some linden trees, use chisels to bore holes in the wood, and plant the spawn.

This day, Eddard was directing servants to plant mushroom spawn into the linden logs when Catelyn walked in. She looked at these logs lying on the ground in surprise.

"Eddard, what are you doing? Has the glass garden become a lumber warehouse?"

Eddard smiled, "I am planting shiitake and wood ear mushrooms."

"Can shiitake and wood ear mushrooms be planted?" Catelyn's expression was full of doubt, "The Wolfswood is full of them. If you want to eat them, you can send people to pick them; why bother planting them?"

"Winter is Coming!" Eddard pointed to the linden logs nearby, "In the glass garden, the temperature is constant, so as long as the moisture is guaranteed, these linden logs will be able to grow shiitake mushrooms for Winterfell continuously after a few months. The wood ear mushrooms are in the glass garden next door. Even in winter, they are not affected by the seasons."

Catelyn said helplessly, "I really don't know where you learned these strange ideas."

After the shiitake and wood ear mushrooms were planted in the glass garden, it would still take some time for them to grow. Eddard turned his attention to soybeans.

The poor favor soybeans because they are cheap, but in Westeros, the way to eat soybeans is very monotonous—there is only the method of boiling them. Eddard was determined to change this.

Eddard placed a winnowing basket of soybeans in a sieve, covered them with a white cloth, and placed them on a water bucket. He watered the soybeans every day, and after a few days, bean sprouts were cultivated.

When Eddard handed the bean sprouts to the Winterfell chef, Gage, neither Gage, the servants, nor the Wildling woman Osha recognized what they were.

Gage picked up a bean sprout, "My Lord, what is this?"

"These are bean sprouts," Eddard told Gage, "Just stir-fry them with lard and eat them."

Gage widened his eyes, "These beans have sprouted; can they still be eaten?"

The Wildling woman Osha chimed in, "Sprouted beans are no different from moldy ones. Eating them will give you the runs; everyone knows that."

Eddard smiled, "Rest assured, stir-fried bean sprouts are not poisonous; the texture is explosive. If you don't believe me, stir-fry them, and I will be the first to eat them."

That night, the first plate of stir-fried bean sprouts had just come out of the pan and was eaten up by the kitchen staff before it even left the kitchen. Both Gage and Osha praised the bean sprouts endlessly.

When the bean sprouts reached the dining hall table, the children and Catelyn ate them for the first time and also found them delicious. Robb, Jon, Theon, and Arya gobbled them up, while Sansa tried to maintain the posture of a Lady, but still ate a large bowl.

Bran said excitedly, "Father, these bean sprouts are truly delicious. I never thought beans could be eaten this way."

Eddard stroked Bran's hair, "There are more ways to eat beans than just bean sprouts! There is also tofu and soy milk. Father will make them for you tomorrow!"

The next day, under the gaze of Catelyn and the children, Eddard placed the beans on a stone mill.

Bran clapped his hands and said excitedly, "This mill is so small! It's much smaller than the mill at Windmill Mill."

Eddard introduced, "This is a manual stone mill. Today, we are going to use this manual mill to make tofu and soy milk."

This manual stone mill was specially commissioned by Eddard from a stonemason.

Catelyn raised an eyebrow, "Eddard, I have to admit that the bean sprouts you invented are delicious, but won't grinding these beans on a mill just turn them into bean powder? I have never heard of any tofu or soy milk. I warn you, if you mess up in front of the children, you will be embarrassed in front of them."

"In order not to be embarrassed, I must succeed!"

Eddard placed the soaked beans on the stone mill and then turned it.

"Children, you sweat in the training yard every day to build your strength; now it is time for a workout."

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(End of chapter)