Game of Thrones: Kings in the North

Chapter 1 The Duke of Winterfell

With the cry of the baby, Ed Stark, Duke of Winterfell, welcomed his fifth child.

Ed Stark has black hair, gray pupils, a beard that is starting to gray, and a serious expression like winter.

"Master, congratulations, it's a boy." The old nurse happily showed Ed with the baby in her arms.

Ed held the baby, and the baby cried louder.

Maester Luwin fiddled with the necklace around his neck, "Sir, have you figured out the child's name?" Maester Luwin was small and thin, with gray eyes and hair.

Caitlin on the delivery bed has beautiful auburn hair, blue eyes and slender fingers. She smiled and said, "Ed and I have discussed it a long time ago. If it is a boy, we will name it Rickon."

After a while, Robb, Arya, Sansa and Bran, who were guarding the door, swarmed in, surrounded by their mother Caitlin and the newborn brother, and the children were overwhelmed with joy.

Bran has chestnut hair, blue eyes, excitedly kissing little Rickon, "I'm a big brother, it's great."

Arya smiled and said, "I have another younger brother. It feels so amazing to be an older sister." Arya has a long face, brown hair, and gray eyes, more like her father Ed. She is a naughty and energetic girl. child.

Sansa smiled slightly: "Arya, don't get too excited. When you were born, I was very excited when I first saw you, who was still cute. Now? You make me more and more excited. I hate it." Sansa inherited her mother's blue eyes and burgundy hair, and everyone believed that Sansa would become a great beauty in the future.

Robb took over Rickon, "It's fun to fight with your siblings all the time." With auburn hair and blue eyes, Robb was more like his mother.

Ed's adopted son, Theon Greyjoy, came in and stood by the door, smiling.Theon is slender and has dark brown hair.

After the Iron Islands rebellion was put down that year, ten-year-old Theon was adopted by Ed as his adopted son and brought to Winterfell as a hostage to ensure the submission of his father, Balon Greyjoy.

Now Theon is 16 years old. He has been separated from his parents and his hometown for many years, and he lives under the fence. Seeing that Stark's family has a newcomer, Theon feels very uncomfortable, but he still barely has his usual smile.

Ed's illegitimate son, Jon Snow, stood at the door and looked into the room secretly, but a disgusted look from Caitlin made Jon run away.

For the illegitimate child that Ed made outside, Caitlin has always been indescribably disgusted.

Master Luwin approached Ed, "Sir, you have a precious son, do you want to invite the nobles from the northern border to celebrate at home?"

Ed nodded in agreement, "Okay, you release the raven and inform them that they will come to Winterfell to celebrate in a month. By the way, don't forget to send a raven to Castle Black so that Benyan can come too."

The people in the family were happy, but Ed was not happy.

Ed is a time traveler. He was originally an ordinary office worker on the earth. Three days ago, he traveled to Winterfell in Westeros and became the Duke of Winterfell.

Ed found that even if he became the Duke of the North, he had to wear the "Duke's mask" in many cases. After all, the identity of the traverser cannot be revealed casually.

As a time traveler, Ed didn't know if the direction of history would be the same as in "A Song of Ice and Fire".He will try his best to win the Game of Thrones, win the Clash of Kings, survive the storm of ice and rain, participate in the feast of crows, and meet the dance of dragons...

Ed understands that all the good things in front of him are temporary, just as the Stark family language says, winter is coming.

In the evening, Eddard came to Maester Luwin's tower, where the maester was writing a letter.

"Master, according to your instructions, I have written many letters and traveled to various places in the northern border to invite the noble lords in the northern border to come to my home to celebrate the birth of Master Rickon. I will release the ravens at dawn tomorrow."

"Thank you." Edla sat down on the chair, "Master Luwin, I have some business plans. Do you have a map of the North?"

"Business plan?" Luwin was a little surprised, because Duke Eddard usually didn't even bother to manage the accounts of Winterfell. "Master, you have never been interested in business, why do you suddenly have a business plan?"

Ed smiled, "After Rickon was born, there was an extra mouth in the family. Winter is coming, it's always a good thing to find a way to make more money."

Maester Luwin brought the map, unfolded it on the table, and held it down with a tallow candle.

On the map, White Harbor, Dreadfort, Deepwood Castle, Flint's Finger, Wolf Forest, Barren Tomb, Last Hearth City, Kahuo City, White Knife River, Last River, River of Tears, River of First Men, etc. The rivers, the villages of the mountain clans, the fishing villages along the long coastline, from the Neck in the south to the Land Grant in the north, all pay taxes to Winterfell.

Every month in Winterfell, there are a large number of golden dragons and silver stags. The Stark family has never liked luxury. The noisy tournaments in the south, court singing and dancing are almost insulated from Winterfell, and the kings of the North have accumulated a lot of money. wealth.

However, these are far from enough. Winter in Westeros often lasts for several years. In winter, the Stark family not only has a sharp drop in income, but also spends a lot of money to relieve the people in the winter town and help the vassals.

Even in summer, Winterfell has to face all kinds of enemies.The "rock species" of Skagos Island plunder the east coast from time to time, and small bands of pirates appear on the west coast all year round.

Most of the pirates on the west coast are ironborn from the Iron Islands.After Baron Greyjoy surrendered to Robert, Baron sent his only surviving son, Sean, to Winterfell as an adopted son, to ensure that the Ironborn of the Iron Islands would not plunder Westeros. Long also executed some raiders, but the Iron Islands were never short of outlaws seeking the old ways.

Wildling raiders are also a serious threat to Winterfell.Now that the Night Watch Corps is in decline, wildling raiders cross the Great Wall more and more frequently. After entering the northern border, they will kill grown men, rob food, and kidnap young women and children.

Under the harassment of savages, many villages in the grant land south of the Impassable Great Wall were deserted, almost becoming a no-man's land.The wildlings also often harassed the territories of the Umber family, the Karstark family and the Alpine clan, resulting in a sharp drop in the income of these lords, and a sharp drop in the tax revenue received by Winterfell.

In the past two days, Ed has made a plan in his heart. If he wants to strengthen the northern border, he must develop the economy. The first step is to make the winter town prosperous.

Ed's gaze stayed on Winterfell on the map, and Ed pointed to the winter shelter next to Winterfell.

"How many people are there in the winter shelter town today?"

Luwin thought for a while, "Estimated at 5000 people."

Ed frowned, "There are too few people. I went shopping yesterday, and four fifths of the houses are empty, and the fertile land is uncultivated. Why don't my people like to live in the winter town? "

Lu Wen smiled and said: "Master, our northern territory is vast and sparsely populated. Only when winter comes, people will gather from all directions to the winter town to report to the group to keep warm. The hot springs here in winter attract people. Now it is summer, Many have returned home. Some from the Stony Shore, Kraken Point, some from the Mountain Clans, and some from the villages beyond White Harbor."

"The winter town is just a temporary refuge for many residents. They own their own houses and land in their hometown. People are always nostalgic for their homeland. If you stay in the winter town, you have to pay taxes to Winterfell, and when you return home, you have to pay taxes to the lord. It makes no difference to them. Don't worry, sir, they will come back in winter."

Ed folded his hands and placed them on his chest.

"I wish they were back now, I wish there were fireworks in every chimney of Winterhaven, I wish the streets were full of children running, I wish I heard the noise of the market."

"Master Luwin, I want you to add a message to the letter informing the lords of all places to come to Winterfell to celebrate the banquet, saying that Winterfell welcomes residents from all over the world to come and live in Winterfell."

"I want to build Winterfell into the next White Harbor, a prosperous city."

(End of this chapter)