Chapter 83: Strictly Prohibit Illicit Salt

In the study, Maester Luwin handed Eddard the letters from the Dreadfort and White Harbor. The Dreadfort's letter was sealed with pink candle wax and bore the Flayed Man sigil of the Dreadfort, while the envelope from White Harbor bore the Manderly sigil of a merman holding a trident.

Regarding the operation of the salt pans, in order to save on transportation costs, Eddard ordered vassals such as the Umber family of the eastern North coast, the Karstark family of Karhold, the Bolton family of the Dreadfort, the Flint family of Widow's Watch, and the Locke family of Oldcastle to transport salt from the salt pans directly to White Harbor, to be settled by Wyman Manderly at market price; the expenditure for White Harbor's purchase of salt from the salt pans would be deducted from White Harbor's taxes to Winterfell.

This decision caused dissatisfaction from Roose Bolton, Lord of Dreadfort, from the very beginning. When marching to Skagos, Roose Bolton often complained to Eddard, believing that Wyman Manderly would embezzle the profits from the Dreadfort's salt pans.

Lord Wyman Manderly of White Harbor, being too fat to go on campaign, remained in White Harbor. In a letter to Winterfell, Lord Wyman Manderly claimed that after Lord Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort left for the Skagos campaign, his bastard son Ramsay Snow, together with a servant named "Reek," had been requisitioning salt from the common folk in the Dreadfort's lands and mixing it into the salt pans to sell to White Harbor.

The bastard of the Dreadfort later led men to the Sheephead Hill area to forcibly purchase salt from the common folk; that area was the fief of a Knighted Landed Knight loyal to the Manderly family of White Harbor. When the White Harbor knight protested against the bastard of the Dreadfort, he was beaten and injured by Ramsay Snow and Reek.

Lord Wyman demanded severe punishment for Ramsay Snow and Reek, and he further pointed out that the Dreadfort passing off civilian salt as salt pan produce to sell to White Harbor for profit was an act of open deception against Winterfell.

After Roose Bolton returned to the Dreadfort, he immediately wrote a letter to Winterfell to protest. Although Eddard was still visiting the Night's Watch brothers at Castle Black at the time, the protest letter from the Lord of Dreadfort had already arrived at Winterfell.

In the letter, Roose Bolton denied that illicit salt had been mixed into the Dreadfort's salt pans. He also claimed that Wyman Manderly was a thief who stole from his own storehouse, alleging that Lord Wyman allowed salt from Gulltown, Braavos, and the Three Sisters to pass through customs and flow into the North, and that this black-market salt caused the North and Winterfell to lose a large amount of money while driving up salt prices.

As for Ramsay Snow and Reek, Roose Bolton claimed they were being framed. "Both are gentle and well-mannered young men, just like Domeric."

Roose Bolton did not forget to remind Eddard that the soldiers of the Dreadfort had fought bravely on Skagos, while Lord Wyman's two sons, Wylis and Wendel, "were captured by the Iron Bitch like two pigs and slept through the entire war in the dungeons of the Rockborn."

At the end of the letter, Roose Bolton sincerely requested Lord Eddard to severely punish Lord Wyman for his speculation on the salt pans, and hoped that the Dreadfort would replace White Harbor as the settlement point for the eastern coast's salt pans, on the grounds that "the Dreadfort is located in the middle of the eastern coast, and transportation is convenient from the estuaries of the Weeping Water and the Last River."

According to Maester Luwin's introduction, after White Harbor and the Dreadfort accused each other, many Northern vassals on the eastern coast sent letters to Winterfell one after another to declare their positions and pick sides.

Lord Greatjon Umber of Last Hearth and Lord Rickard Karstark of Karhold supported Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort, demanding severe punishment for White Harbor's act of smuggling salt through the black-market customs.

More than a hundred Knighted Landed Knights under Lord Wyman jointly supported White Harbor, accusing the Dreadfort of reselling illicit salt. In addition, Lord Locke of Oldcastle and Lady Flint of Widow's Watch also supported White Harbor.

As in-laws of Roose Bolton, Lord Ryswell of the Rills and Lady Barbrey Dustin of Barrowton wrote to Winterfell to support the Dreadfort, but did not accuse White Harbor.

Eddard finished reading the letters and smiled, "It seems Roose Bolton and Wyman Manderly both cannot stand each other. Salt has made the vassals of the North accuse one another; it's all in chaos. White Harbor accuses the Dreadfort of mixing illicit salt into the salt pans, and the Dreadfort accuses White Harbor of using customs and the black market to smuggle illicit salt. Who is lying?"

"I think they might both be telling the truth," said the financial advisor Klar. "White Harbor has many smugglers, and since White Harbor itself is the settlement point for the salt pans, it is not surprising that illicit salt would flood in from the black market if there is profit to be made from reselling salt."

"As for the Dreadfort, Lord Eddard, look at the production bills for the Dreadfort's salt pans. The Dreadfort's lands suffered from the ravages of pirates, and many salt pans were destroyed. Even if they rebuilt the salt pans immediately while the Northern Army was on the campaign to Skagos, this output is too terrifying, isn't it? Even a fool knows that civilian illicit salt must have been mixed in."

Eddard looked at the salt pan bills from all over the North and noticed that only the salt pan output of Bear Island was normal. This might be due to its remote geography, as smugglers were unwilling to go to Bear Island to smuggle, or it might be that the Acting Castellan of Bear Island kept a close watch on the salt pans and did not let illicit salt be mixed in. Lady Maege Mormont of Bear Island was on the campaign to Skagos, and the Acting Castellan left on Bear Island was one of her daughters.

The salt pan outputs of Deepwood Motte, the Rills, Flint's Finger, and Barrowton were all ridiculously high.

The highest outputs were actually those of the Umber family, the Karstark family of Karhold, and the Dreadfort. The territories of these three lords had previously suffered attacks from Ironborn Pirates and Rockborn Pirates, and many salt pans and fishing villages had been destroyed in the flames of war.

Eddard could not help but smile, "It seems Karhold, the Umber family, and the Dreadfort suffered huge losses during the pirate attacks, and they hope to use civilian salt, passing it off as salt pan salt, to make money and recover their losses."

Klar said indignantly, "Lord Eddard, merchants and vassals are colluding to drive up salt prices, earning a lot of money from Winterfell's treasury."

"That money is merely being kept temporarily by the black-hearted merchants," Eddard said confidently. "The black-hearted merchants have incurred public wrath. Once I catch those merchants who are smuggling salt, they will have to hand over the money obediently to save their lives."

Klar clapped his hands, "The trickle of salt, when gathered together, also forms great wealth. A large number of Gold Dragons will return to Winterfell."

Maester Luwin stroked the chain around his neck, "Lord Eddard, should the vassals who participated in the resale of salt also be punished? Winterfell strictly forbids the sale of illicit salt, which will certainly cause dissatisfaction among the vassals. If we pursue their responsibility further, I fear they will band together to protest!"

Eddard said calmly, "I believe many vassals are innocent. During the campaign to Skagos, the heads of many Northern houses chose to follow me on the campaign. When the salt pans were in chaos and salt prices were soaring, many heads of houses were not at home. I believe my vassals have nothing to do with the resale of salt; it is their Acting Castellans who are at fault."

"Considering that the Acting Castellans made mistakes while their lords were on campaign for Winterfell, these Acting Castellans can also receive Winterfell's mercy. However, those black-hearted merchants must be severely punished."

Maester Luwin left. Klar looked at Eddard with an expression of admiration, "Lord Eddard, I have always been curious why you would launch the Salt Farming Plan, which is full of loopholes and destined to fail. So you were playing a big game. Using the greed of vassals and merchants to drive up salt prices, causing public grievances to boil over, and then using the public's dissatisfaction to strictly forbid illicit salt, directing the public's anger toward the vassals and the black-hearted merchants."

"And your vassals, for the sake of salt and money, have taken sides and quarreled with each other, destined to be unable to unite against Lord Eddard's ban. The sale of illicit salt is not allowed among the people, and from now on, the management rights of salt in the North will fall into the hands of House Stark. In this way, Lord Eddard controls the lifeline on the dining table through salt, strengthening the rule over the vassals."

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(End of chapter)