Chapter 19: Large-Scale Construction, Broadening Sources of Wealth

The first project Eddard put Downs in charge of was the warehouse by the pigsty, intended for the storage of winter fodder.

The architect Downs complained to Eddard, "I came to the North to build castles, yet you have me building pigsties and rabbit hutches."

"Downs, the warehouse is just an appetizer; there are plenty of major projects ahead."

Eddard then brought out the layout plan for Winter Town, which listed a series of projects including barracks, stables, smithies, farms, a grand market, breweries, and more farms.

Downs was astonished, "So many projects? Although there is no castle, these structures are enough for me to show my skills. Lord Eddard, regarding the barracks, I have a preliminary idea: we could set up massive stone statues at the main gate of the barracks, depicting a Stark ancestor wearing the crown of the King in the North, holding the ancestral Valyrian Steel Greatsword 'Ice' of House Stark, with a direwolf by his side. As for the direwolf, we could build it out of granite and decorate the eyes with red garnets."

Eddard said, "Downs, I don't want these flashy things; what I require is practicality. Your first project is the warehouse. The stables and the brewery have already begun laying foundations. If you complete them diligently, I will entrust the other projects to you one by one."

According to Downs, his finished architectural works were mostly mansions and brothels across the Narrow Sea; Eddard was willing to keep Downs on, but he still wanted to see his actual ability.

Downs gathered craftsmen and laborers to begin building the fodder warehouse, while projects like the barracks, smithies, stables, grand market, and breweries were overseen by Eddard himself and started almost simultaneously.

Thousands of craftsmen and laborers began to bustle about Winter Town like ants on the earth.

Some of these skilled craftsmen were recruited from the North, while others came from the Vale of Arryn, King's Landing, and a portion from the Riverlands. Eddard had Catelyn request support from her father, the Warden of the Riverlands and Duke Hoster Tully of Riverrun, and Riverrun sent a group of fifty craftsmen.

Most of the laborers here were residents of Winter Town; the settlement project of Winter Town had attracted over thirty thousand people to arrive one after another, and they were allocated land to become tenant farmers under the protection of Winterfell.

Eddard conscripted these people to transport timber and stone and work alongside the craftsmen, with their wages offset by land rent. Under the direction of Downs, people felled trees from the Wolfswood and transported them to Winter Town.

The North was not lacking in wood, as the vast Wolfswood covered large swaths of land, but the collection and transport of stone were not so convenient.

In Eddard's plan, he had originally intended to collect stone from the territory of the Northern Mountain Clans, but the mountain roads there were too narrow, mostly sheep paths, making transport costs exorbitant, and there were too few people in the mountain clans, so he had to give up.

Hand of the King Jon Arryn sent three ships of stone from the Vale, which was a generous gift, but for the massive expansion project of Winter Town, it was still far from enough.

Eddard had no choice but to choose other places to collect stone, and he set his sights on Sheephead Hill.

Sheephead Hill was a large mountainous area between White Harbor, Winterfell, and Hornwood; Eddard dispatched stonemasons with laborers to enter Sheephead Hill to collect stone and ordered the lords of White Harbor and Hornwood to conscript laborers to assist in the collection.

Lord Wyman and Lord Hornwood quickly responded to Duke Eddard's order and sent men into Sheephead Hill to collect stone.

Fearing that the stone would not be enough, Eddard sent men to deliver a letter to Roose Bolton, ordering the Lord of Dreadfort, Roose Bolton, to send men to collect stone from the Lonely Mountain and transport it to Winterfell. Just like that, stone was continuously transported from the Lonely Mountain and Sheephead Hill to Winter Town.

Walking through Winter Town and watching the warehouses, barracks, and smithies being built bit by bit, and wooden houses rising one after another, Eddard felt relieved; however, on the other hand, the massive construction meant that a large amount of money was being spent.

The salt produced by the Saltpans had already begun to be sold continuously; the Saltpans on the West Coast transported salt to Winterfell, and after Winterfell settled accounts with the lords, it was transshipped to White Harbor for resale. The salt from the East Coast Saltpans was transported to White Harbor for direct sale, with Lord Wyman settling accounts for the East Coast lords and then offsetting it against the taxes White Harbor owed to Winterfell.

The Saltpans provided considerable income for Winterfell, but this money was still a drop in the bucket compared to the investment in the Winter Town expansion project; Winterfell's capital reserves had been depleted by ninety percent, and Vayon Poole warned Eddard that if the season suddenly turned cold and winter arrived, Winterfell would struggle to even maintain sufficient winter reserves, let alone support the people of Winter Town.

The Beehive Plan also earned revenue; honey collected from the beehives in Deepwood Motte, the Northern Mountains, and the Wolfswood Clans was transported to Winterfell—which was itself a honey-producing region—and this honey was taken to White Harbor to be sold, returning as hard cash.

The financial advisor Klar and Eddard adopted a series of policies to raise money; they dispatched stewards to every market in Winter Town to collect management fees, cracked down on the black market, increased tax rates for high-income groups such as goldsmiths and brewers, and focused on auditing the accounts of brothels, casinos, and taverns, imposing triple fines for tax evasion, which tripled the tax revenue in a short time.

Klar and Eddard also set their sights on the prisoners in the dungeons of Winter Town.

After the population of Winter Town exploded, public order declined, and thieves, poachers, and perverts were caught almost every day. At first, Eddard sent these people to The Wall to don the black, but later he felt it was too easy for the Night's Watch, so he sent them to the military farming colonies on the expanded lands, making the prisoners wear shackles and perform forced labor to atone for their crimes.

However, recently, Tomard, who was in charge of the military farming colonies, wrote to say that the colonies were overcrowded, Tomard had no housing to accommodate new prisoners, and the food reserves of the colonies were almost exhausted, so he had to seek help from the Night's Watch and House Umber. The Old Bear Mormont was very covetous of the scum in the military colonies, and he complained quite a bit about the fact that Winterfell was not sending prisoners to The Wall but instead settling them in the military farming colonies.

In the study, Klar suggested to Eddard.

"Duke Eddard, since we are worried about money and have to feed the prisoners in the dungeons, why don't we let these prisoners pay to atone for their crimes?"

Eddard agreed with Klar's suggestion in his heart, but wearing the mask of a Duke, he had to put on a bit of an act, "If we do this, wouldn't the laws of the kingdom become a mere scrap of paper? Once this precedent is set, the rich and powerful will commit crimes without any restraint, doing whatever they please."

Klar chuckled, "Duke Eddard, I am not referring to those heinous criminals like perverts or murderers; I am referring to those who fight in taverns and brothels due to drunkenness, and some who cheat in casinos. Such people's crimes are already minor; it would be better to let them pay some money to redeem themselves. And poachers too."

Eddard said, "I sympathize with poachers; many of them are poor people who cannot get enough to eat, but their crimes cannot be forgiven. If commoners all ran to the Wolfswood to hunt, the land would be left fallow on a large scale. Poaching itself is an infringement on the property rights of the nobility; once Winterfell forgives poachers, the lords of the North will all complain."

Klar said, "Lord Eddard, I didn't say to forgive them. How do you usually punish poachers?"

Eddard mused, "Either chop off a hand or exile them to The Wall to join the Night's Watch."

Klar curled his lips, "What a terrifying punishment! But after chopping off their hands, they become cripples, lose their ability to work, and instead become a burden on the North. I do have a suggestion: why not punish these poachers by making them servants of Winterfell? They can hunt for Winterfell and slowly redeem themselves."

Due to the Duke's mask, Eddard feigned refusal, "Calling them servants, but it sounds like there's no difference from slaves. I warn you, engaging in the slave trade in the Seven Kingdoms is illegal."

Klar said, "Not slaves, at most similar to the bondmen of the Iron Islands. Slaves have no choice, but we can let them choose for themselves: either have a hand chopped off, go to The Wall, or become a servant in Winterfell and hunt for Winterfell."

Eddard said, "Winterfell is not short of hunters."

"But not enough," Klar said, "Lord Eddard, there are plenty of deer, wild boars, wolves, roe deer, and wild rabbits in the Wolfswood. With so much game, we can organize a large hunting party to bring back game every day, open a canteen and a tavern at the gate of Winterfell, and more game can be slaughtered and taken directly to the market to make money. I believe many commoners will come to patronize our business."

In the Seven Kingdoms, the nobility looked down on merchants and even more so disdained doing business; however, as a Chuanzhe, Eddard was not the type of rigid person who did not know how to adapt, and he agreed to Klar's plan.

The poachers in the dungeons one after another were willing to sell themselves to Winterfell as servants to obtain forgiveness; after all, being a servant in Winterfell was much better than becoming a member of the Night's Watch or having a hand chopped off.

The next day, Farlan, the Master of Kennels of Winterfell, took a group of hunters who were former poachers, along with more than twenty hounds, into the Wolfswood to begin hunting. That evening, carts loaded with wild boar, roe deer, wild rabbits, and pheasants returned to Winterfell.

A few days later, the Wolf House Canteen, the Wolf House Butcher Shop, and the Wolf House Tavern officially began business, with fresh game becoming the signature dishes. The prices at the Wolf House Canteen were relatively cheap, suitable for the poor. The tavern had a better environment and higher consumption, where one could buy mead and ale, and even Dornish Red.

Eddard looked at the crowds in the tavern and canteen, "I never expected that I, a dignified Duke of the North, would become a businessman, fighting with the commoners for petty profits."

Klar laughed, "Lord Stark, only a trickle can gather into a river; wealth always grows from little to much."

(End of chapter)