Chapter 91: Inspecting the Breeding Farm

The toys produced by Douglas's toy workshop are all very exquisite. Eddard believes that once these wooden puppets reach the south, they will surely sell well in The Reach, the Riverlands, the Vale of Arryn, and the Westerlands.

A single wooden puppet can fetch several Silver Stags or even dozens of Silver Stags; lords of southern castles are always willing to spend money to amuse their children. The wood from the Wolfswood, having passed through the hands of the toy craftsmen, has instantly increased in value many times over.

In the toy workshop, Eddard fiddles with a wooden Knight puppet, "Besides Knight dolls, we can also make some female puppets, such as Nymeria of the 'Ten Thousand Ships', such as Qiongqi, 'the Fox' Floris, and others. Some young ladies of noble and wealthy merchant families will like them."

Douglas strokes his chin and muses, "In my impression, noble ladies like to play with cloth dolls. Will they like this kind of wooden puppet toy?"

Eddard puts down the Knight puppet, "Sansa has always dreamed of owning Qiongqi and Lady Xila wooden puppet toys, it is just a pity that they cannot be bought at all. I believe that in the south, noble girls who love songs and stories like Sansa will like female wooden puppet toys; it is just that carpenters rarely make them."

The financial advisor Klar snaps his fingers, "Lord Eddard, why not let Douglas make castle models? I see that children of both commoners and nobles like to play castle games."

"Just imagine, if we produce toy models of castles like Harrenhal, the Red Keep, The Twins, Highgarden, the Hightower, Casterly Rock, and the Eyrie, many children will surely cry and shout for their parents to buy the toy castles so they can have their own. By then, even if we price them at several Gold Dragons, noble and wealthy merchants will still be willing to spend the money."

Douglas's youngest son, lean and with black hair, aged fifteen, says, "I have always dreamed of owning a model of the castle at Highgarden. I have seen the daughter of Lord Mace Tyrell at Highgarden, that is Margaery Tyrell; Margaery is truly beautiful, she has doe-like eyes and brown hair. I want to marry her."

The boys around him let out a burst of mocking laughter.

"Douglas, can you make castle toys?" Eddard asks.

"Lord Eddard, castle toys can be attempted." Douglas looks at his calloused hands, "Actually, the wooden castles made by wood carvers are the true works of art, and they sell at a high price."

"I have seen the most stunning wood carvings in King's Landing and Oldtown; they were the works of Qohor wood carvers. The wood carvers use fine timber to carve with meticulous detail, and the castles they create are extremely intricate, with streets, chimneys, and a Godswood inside that are just like the real thing. The wood carvers are extremely picky about the wood they use, but fortunately, the North is not lacking in wood."

The North possesses vast forest resources; besides the Wolfswood, there is the Flint forest west of the Neck, and the Karhold forest on the Karhold peninsula. It seems Eddard can consider inviting a wood carver from Qohor. Whether in the Seven Kingdoms or the Free Cities, wood carvings are a type of luxury item for noble courts, and like the glass panes of Myr, they are deeply loved by nobles and wealthy merchants.

Eddard and the financial advisor Klar leave the toy workshop and walk through the streets to the breeding farm. The Breeding Farm Overseer Givon is plump, sporting a beer belly, and is amiable; he is currently leading a group of female workers to shear sheep.

Seeing Eddard arrive, Givon hurriedly stands up to welcome him, "Lord Eddard, the sheep in our pens have already exceeded two hundred, and we can harvest a lot of wool every day."

Klar adds, "This wool will be processed into yarn in the workshop and then made into wool coats and wool trousers."

The wool textile industry in the North is at a leading level in the Seven Kingdoms; wool products are cheap and have good warmth, making them deeply loved by commoners. Wool is also one of the important goods exported from the North to the south and the Free Cities.

The Breeding Farm Overseer leads Eddard and Klar to the cow shed, "Last month, an epidemic appeared on the farm, and some chickens and ducks died, but fortunately our cows and sheep are all healthy. According to Lord Eddard's instructions, after this animal manure is dried, nearby farmers will be allowed to haul it away for free to fertilize their fields."

In the distance, an emaciated, filthy old man is loading cow manure onto a small cart; he sees Eddard and immediately walks over.

"Lord Eddard, my name is Daron. My cow is sick, and there are so many cows in the cow shed at Winterfell; could you lend me a cow to use? Once I finish plowing the field, I will return the cow to you."

Klar frowns, "How can we just lend the cows in our shed to farmers? If every farmer comes to borrow a cow, what will we do if the cows are lost?"

Eddard looks at the farmer before him, "Daron's cow is sick; it would be no harm to lend him one to use."

The Breeding Farm Overseer Givon looks troubled, "Lord Eddard, I am a farmer's son, and I sympathize with Daron, but if you lend the cow to Daron, tomorrow there will be more farmers coming to borrow cows and plow horses. If that happens, the farm's livestock might be lost, or they might get sick from eating dirty things at the farmers' homes."

Klar echoes, "That's right, Lord Eddard, this precedent must not be set! Farmers must solve their own livestock problems. If it really doesn't work, he can borrow from his neighbors! According to my understanding, it is very common for these farmers to pool livestock and plowing tools to farm."

The farmer Daron is somewhat sad, "Lord Eddard, I used to live at the Lonely Mountain, which belonged to the territory of the Dreadfort, but our valley was very remote. Lord Bolton did not know we lived in the deep mountains, so naturally, there was no taxation. Later, I heard about Lord Eddard's expansion plan for the Winter Town, so I moved here. I am not familiar with my new neighbors, so how could they possibly lend a cow to me?"

Eddard says, "How many acres of land do you have in the Winter Town?"

"Three acres in total." Daron counts on his fingers, "I was allotted one acre, and I cleared two acres myself."

Initially, to attract farmers to move to the Winter Town, Winterfell sold a house and one acre of land to farmers for the price of 200 copper pennies. Because there was a lot of wasteland around Winterfell, to encourage farmers to clear land, Winterfell announced that farmers who cleared land could obtain the usage rights to the cleared land after planting on it for five years.

Eddard thought this would encourage the farmers' enthusiasm for clearing land, but later, not much farmland was opened up. Eddard asks the farmer Daron before him, "Why don't you clear a few more acres of land?"

Daron says helplessly, "Lord Eddard, we farm folk also want to plant more land, but I only have one sick cow, and the heavy plow used in the fields is something several families pooled together to get. How would I have the ability to clear more farmland? Besides, the more farmland you clear, the more taxes you pay. Winterfell doesn't care whether you have planted anything or not; as long as the land is yours, you have to pay taxes. Why would we farmers clear so much land?"

Thanks to book friend "Boy Buster" for the tip and monthly ticket, thank you for the support!

(End of this chapter)