Chapter 75: Negotiating with the Night's Watch

The Night's Watch has been in continuous decline for the past few hundred years; the Night's Watch is unable to sustain the maintenance costs of The Wall and its major fortresses. Of the nineteen castles and fortresses along The Wall, they have been abandoned one after another, with only Castle Black, Eastwatch-by-the-Sea on the coast of Seal Bay, and the Shadow Tower guarding the western end of The Wall still struggling to hold on.

House Stark of Winterfell and the nobles of the North are the greatest patrons of the Night's Watch. After all, the Others that The Wall guards against have not appeared in eight thousand years, and the only realistic threat the Night's Watch deals with is the Wildlings.

The Wildlings are poorly equipped and lack discipline; their raids cause severe destruction to the villages in The Gift, the lands of House Umber, and the territories of the mountain clans. Many villages are burned and looted, and every year, many women and children are abducted by the Wildlings.

However, even if a King-Beyond-the-Wall in history led a great army of Wildlings to breach The Wall, they would still find it difficult to pose a threat to the sturdy castles of the North.

Aside from threatening the North, the Wildlings cannot threaten the regions south of the Neck at all. It is precisely because of this that many southern nobles do not care about The Wall or the Night's Watch. House Stark and the nobles of the North need to rely on the Night's Watch to keep the Wildlings out of The Wall, and thus, House Stark and the northern nobles have become the greatest supporters of the Night's Watch.

The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, the Old Bear, Maester Aemon, Benjen Stark, and other high-ranking officers of the Night's Watch entertained Eddard and his retinue with fine food and wine. After the banquet ended, the tableware and wine cups were cleared away, and the Old Bear cleared his throat.

"Lord Eddard, I presume you have seen it; the Night's Watch is too poor. Castle Black is in disrepair, and the equipment of the Night's Watch is outdated. Now, this summer is about to enter its seventh year, but no matter how long a summer is, there comes a day when it ends. When winter arrives, the days of the Night's Watch will only become more difficult. We hope that Winterfell can provide some funds to the Night's Watch."

"Money is not a problem." Eddard waved his hand, and Jon handed over a map of The Wall, stretching from Eastwatch to Castle Black and all the way to the Shadow Tower, with the nineteen fortresses and The Gift clearly visible.

"Commander Mormont, for the Night's Watch to revive, donations can only solve temporary problems. The long winter has always been a difficult problem plaguing the North; therefore, I have a food storage plan. If the Night's Watch joins, they can work with the North to face the winter."

The Old Bear frowned, "A food storage plan? Lord Eddard, we of the Night's Watch have no money to invest." The Old Bear felt that the food storage plan would cost money and immediately cried poverty to Eddard.

"Rest assured, you won't have to spend a single copper coin." Eddard pointed his hand at the three fortresses on the map: Green Guard, the Nightfort, and Westbridge. "Just hand over these three abandoned fortresses—Green Guard, the Nightfort, and Westbridge—to Winterfell for use."

The high-ranking officers of the Night's Watch looked at each other. The First Steward, Bowen Marsh, smiled awkwardly, "Lord Eddard, The Wall is an asset of the Night's Watch. You asking to requisition it—I'm afraid that won't do!"

The stern and acerbic Master-at-Arms of Castle Black, Alliser Thorne, said, "Winterfell established a military colony at Crown Town, and the taxes distributed to us of the Night's Watch are so meager. Now, Lord Eddard still wants to requisition our abandoned castles? Is this an attempt to fleece us to death?"

Eddard said, "You have already abandoned these castles for hundreds of years. After Winterfell requisitions them, we will station troops in these castles. These are Winterfell's soldiers, not the Night's Watch, but we can help the Night's Watch guard The Wall together. After these castles are garrisoned, they will farm in The Gift south of The Wall, and the profits will be shared with the Night's Watch."

The Old Bear shrugged, "Lord Eddard, The Gift is an asset of the Night's Watch. I do not object to Winterfell opening up manors in The Gift, but they should pay taxes directly to Castle Black."

Eddard smiled, "Lord Mormont, I'm afraid you have forgotten that The Wall was built by Brandon the Builder, and The Gift was originally called 'Brandon's Gift'; these were all originally lands of Winterfell. As for the New Gift, back then, Jaehaerys I Targaryen and Queen Alysanne persuaded Winterfell to gift the land, but now that the Targaryen Dynasty has perished, the land gifted by the Starks can, of course, be reclaimed."

"Of course, everyone, rest assured, I do not truly intend to reclaim The Gift. My goal is to cooperate with the Night's Watch. You open three castles for Winterfell to use, which increases your own tax revenue, and you can also receive food supplies sent by Winterfell during the winter."

In winter, the prices of grain and food in many southern regions will rise, and the North is even more so. The Starks have always required their vassals in the North to set aside half of the autumn harvest as winter reserves. In winter, it is difficult for the Night's Watch to obtain aid from the northern nobles, and their days are even harder.

Now, hearing that they could obtain food supplies in winter, these high-ranking officers of the Night's Watch all felt they had misheard. The Old Bear touched his ear, "Lord Eddard, you must be joking, right? To be able to send food to the Night's Watch in winter—is there really such a good thing?"

Eddard pointed his finger at Seal Bay and the Shivering Sea east of Eastwatch, "This conquest of Skagos allowed me to see Seal Bay; it is full of fat fish and lobsters. On the land of the Rockborn, I captured dozens of Ironborn longships. Ships are being built at White Harbor; the Braavosi shipwright Malin is building large ships, and the Ironborn captains will build longships for me. In the future, Winterfell's fishing boats will fish in Seal Bay and the Shivering Sea, and these seafood products will be transported to Green Guard next to Eastwatch for storage."

Food storage is a difficult problem. The Wall is covered in thick ice, and the fortresses still in use, such as Castle Black, the Shadow Tower, and Eastwatch, all have cold storage rooms. After Eddard requisitions Green Guard, Westbridge, and the Nightfort, he will also build cold storage rooms under The Wall for storage. In Eddard's plan, there will not only be seafood but also ham, venison, pork, and so on produced by the Winter Town.

The Old Bear, Benjen Stark, and the First Steward Bowen Marsh all revealed smiles. Bowen Marsh said, "Every winter, the Night's Watch relies heavily on the fishing boats of Eastwatch. We do plan to go out to sea to fish, but Eastwatch has too few people, and the ships struggle even against maritime smugglers and slave traders; there is simply no manpower or ships to fish."

Eddard's hand pressed onto Eastwatch on the map, "Winterfell can send ships in the future to defend Eastwatch together. In this way, those businessmen will have no choice but to pay taxes obediently, increasing the income of the Night's Watch."

Eddard's hand swept to Bear Island and passed over the Bay of Ice, "Commander Mormont, you are a man of Bear Island; you know that the Bay of Ice is also a fertile fishing ground."

The Old Bear sighed, "Unfortunately, there are too many Ironborn Pirates, and the fishermen cannot fish with peace of mind."

It is those damn Ironborn Pirates again, only knowing how to bully the weak North at sea.

"I believe the Ironborn Pirates will be wiped out. I have discussed this with your sister, Lady Maege Mormont, and the coastal mountain clans. In the future, there will also be fishing in the Bay of Ice, and some seafood will be stored at Westbridge. I will also build a fortress at Skull Bridge to guard the estuary where the Milkwater passes through The Gorge. It will be difficult for the Wildlings to climb over The Gorge and invade the kingdom."

"In the future, if there is money, I will help the Night's Watch restart every fortress, and the Black Brothers on The Wall will restore their former glory."

Maester Aemon was filled with admiration, "Lord Eddard, regardless of whether your plan can be realized, you have at least included the Night's Watch in your considerations. You are the only great lord in the Seven Kingdoms who takes the Night's Watch seriously; Winterfell is the only hope for the Night's Watch in the winter."

(End of chapter)