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How to Win with Trade
🕑 Added 2023-01-26 22:21:54 +0000 UTCSitting in the back of the forge on top of a wooden box, Hadrian wiped the sweat off of his face with a rag before taking a gulp of water out of his mug. He grimaced slightly at the warmth of the water but continued drinking it nonetheless.
Apprenticing for Winterfell’s blacksmith Mikken is not what he imagined it would be like to learn to smith. At first, Hadrian was excited to learn how to forge. He imagined himself learning how to make swords and armours quickly before he could push the technology used in smithing to further heights. His idea was to make steel easier and cheaper for the North to produce. Not just because it would be a great boon to have more armour and weapons but also to use the steel in some of the other projects he thought of. It isn’t something he would try to do anytime soon as not only would other kingdoms take advantage of the technology, the increase in pollution would be unwelcome too.
Hadrian decided long ago that if he was to take inspiration from the muggles from his old life he would do his best to avoid repeating their mistakes. Pollution was one of their biggest.
Smithing hasn’t really turned out to be as exciting as he thought it would though. For the first few months all he did was look at different ores and try and guess which would be best used for higher quality steel. Once he had finally started to get decent at doing that, Mikken had him spend another half year learning how to treat leather or how to sharpen a blade properly. Even after he had learned to do all that, he still wasn’t allowed to touch a hammer or go near the forge himself. It is all moving at an incredibly slow pace for Hadrian. Not that he can complain too much about it, it is pretty much entirely his fault after all.
There’s one crucial fact that Hadrian forgot before he started working in the forge. Blacksmithing requires strength. Strength his childish body doesn’t have yet.
That’s not to say that he regrets apprenticing as a blacksmith. The entire point of doing so was to increase the technological prowess of the North. If he just came right out and started creating inventions that did so, without having a plausible means of discovering the need for those inventions or having a basic knowledge of how to make them himself, he was afraid people might accuse him of being a demon.
That’s not something he wants in this society, even if he was protected by his lordship.
So while blacksmithing might seem like a waste of time for him right now, he knows it will be necessary in the future. Both to create some of his ideas and to have an alibi for others to point to, in regards to his inspiration for where his ideas come from.
Still, sometimes he can’t get rid of the irritation he feels when he wastes so much time just watching Mikken pound on a piece of metal with his hammer, while explaining why he does each strike in the way he does for the thousandth time.
With a small sigh he put down his cup before hopping off of the box he was seated on.
After waiting a moment for Mikken to take a break from striking the anvil so he can be heard over the noise, he speaks. ”That will be all for me today Mikken, I have a meeting with a few lords after the midday meal and have to look presentable.”
Looking up from the sword he was crafting with a face covered in soot and ash he waves me away. “Aye, I will see you tomorrow then Milord?”
Walking towards the door he calls over his shoulder. “Wouldn’t miss it Mikken!” Before continuing on his way out of the forge and towards the refreshing air outside.
Taking a moment to breathe fresh, cool air that doesn’t smell of smoke, Harry smiled contently. Working in the forge may be hot, uncomfortable work but it sure does make one appreciate fresh Northern air.
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“-portion of the gift will stretch from your lands, North to Brandons Gift, but fifty miles East of Moles Town. The land from fifty miles to the East of Moles Town and south to where your Northern border currently is will remain with House Stark for now. Brandons Gift still belongs to the Nights Watch. From fifty miles east of Moles Town all the way to the eastern coast will become the land of House Umber. The lands to the west will be divided up among the mountain clans but I will discuss that with them. “ Ned finished explaining to Jon Umber.
Hadrian was happy for his uncle to take point for the majority of this meeting with the Umbers and the Madnderlys. As far as he is concerned he did a decent enough job giving an impression of himself to his lords the previous night at the feast. Besides, if he were to be telling the lords what parcel of land would be theirs, they would probably try and argue with him and put pressure on him to give them more. He may have earned their respect with his actions so far but most lords would still try and take advantage of his age for their own gain. It is a lot harder to argue with a grown man though.
The Greatjon nodded quietly to his uncle. The man looked like he was struggling to function today after the feast last night. He had bags under his eyes and his skin was slightly paler than usual. He was even almost late to the meeting as he had slept in quite a bit. It honestly shouldn’t be much of a surprise to Hadrian, the man drank enough the previous night to knock four grown men uncurious. The fact that he was functioning at all was mildly impressive. Not that he was functioning all that well, the impression he had of Lord Umber led Harry to believe he was a loud exuberant man. To see him sitting so quietly while occasionally nodding or speaking softly while rubbing his temples was quiet amusing. Hadrian never failed to notice the pleased gleam in the man’s eyes though. It is safe to say that he was happy with what he was being given.
Feeling that his uncles part addressing the lords was over with Harry decided he would talk to Lord Manderly about his reason for being at the meeting himself.
Clearing his throat he began. “ Lord Manderly I’m sure you are wondering why I’ve requested you today.”
In opposition to Lord Umber, Lord Wyman Manderly looked about as fresh as he did the day before. He looked hale, hearty and ready for the discussion ahead. He had been quiet in the proceedings thus far, content to watch Lord Umber and my uncle speak with a small smile of amusement that Hadrian believed was due to the Greatjons obvious suffering.
Once Hadrian spoke the lord dragged his eyes away from his entertainment and brought his gaze towards him.” Aye, my lord. While it has been….amusing to watch Jon struggle through this meeting, I must admit I am curious as to my presence here. After all, what happens regarding the Gift has nothing to do with me. My lands are too far away.” He finished while tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
After taking a moment to decide how he wants to begin Hadrian started speaking. “True the gift has nothing to do with you personally, other than some of the food you might be trading from it. The reason I wanted to speak to both of you at once is something I will get to just now, for now this next part only involves yourself. What I would like to speak about involves my uncle.”
Noticing his gaze flicker to Ned Hadrian clarified. “My uncle Benjen. As I’m sure you are aware, the drastic increase in our agriculture will be a big boon for the North. Not just to feed our people, but also for our economy. What I want to do is make sure that most of the influx of coin we will be seeing goes towards improving the North further. More specifically, towards building a Western fleet.”
His eyes lit up in understanding. “You want me to host Benjen and teach him about running a city, sailing and commanding a fleet. So that he can start a hold on the Western shore.”
Nodding slightly, Hadrian continued.” Aye, the Ironborn have been pests on our Western shores for too long. I aim to fix that.”
I could see the smile on the lords face. No doubt this is a boon to him as well. Even if Benjen isn’t the Lord of Winterfell, it is well known I value my families opinions. Creating closer ties to my family can only be a good thing as far as the lord is concerned and a settlement on the west coast won’t have any negative impact on his own trade. So he has nothing to lose from agreeing and he might even be able to leverage his increased relationship with Benjen later down the line.
It seemed something occurred to him however and he decided to ask his question. ”You’re not giving the hold to Lord Eddard.”
His uncle decided to chime in. “Hadrian has a different hold in mind for me.”
Lord Manderly only nodded at him before bowing his head. “Then it will be an honour to host and teach him my lord.” He bowed his head slightly.
Harry smiled. ”Excellent my lord. That isn’t all I wanted to speak on however. But before I begin I need an answer to a question. How much does a trading cog cost to build and how long does it take?”
He hummed to himself. ”An average cog? About 1000 dragons or so. Maybe a little less. It would probably take about three or so months in my shipyard to build one, but we can build three at a time.”
Leaning back in his chair Harry stapled his fingers together. “Excellent. House Stark would like to purchase a dozen cogs for now. Do you think they could be ready in a year?”
He nodded, his many chins jiggling at the action. ”That shouldn’t be a problem my lord.”
Harry smiled. “Good, good. In a year or so, assuming my uncle is ready by then, I would like to send out a trade expedition.”
“A trade expedition?” He asked with a quizzical look on his face.
Hadrian hummed slightly. “Instead of sending out one ship on a voyage for trade, I would like to send a fleet my lord. A fleet that would travel all the way to Yi-Ti. This way the ships would be spared from piracy, as no pirate will want to take on that many ships. We can trade them things they cannot easily get, such as fur from some of our bears or wolves for a much greater price than it would be worth in Westeros or Essos. Once there the fleet would purchase some items that cannot be found on this side of the world and bring it back to trade for a huge profit in Westerosi markets. Neither of my uncles are too sure of the idea and so I thought it might be best to ask your opinion.”
Lord Manderlys eyebrows crunched together as he spent a few moments thinking about the idea. After about a minute of silence he spoke. “It…The idea has some merit my lord. I believe Corlys ‘The Sea-Snake’ did something similar when he was alive. But even then I believe it was only a few ships that went with him. It is known he got great wealth trading with Yi-Ti, but the actual number of ships he used is unknown to me.”
Hadrian shrugged. “To me as well my lord, the actual history texts speak only of the fact he did it. Not exactly how he did or how many ships he used.”
I could see that the lord was much more serious now than when we first started the meeting. Staring at me with an assessing, calculative gaze. “I would be very interested if I could add a few ships into this voyage my lord.”
He smiled slightly. “I thought you would never ask my lord. For the size of the fleet I would prefer to only have two dozen ships to start with. Just in case. We can increase the numbers next time. I would also like it if there were a three or four warships, to escort the fleet for extra protection.”
He hummed. “So a dozen ships from me and a dozen from House Stark to start with. That sounds agreeable. I would also be willing to add the warships into the fleet myself. Yes, yes that sounds agreeable.” The lord broke off there and started running some numbers under his breath.
Hadrian couldn’t help but smile. While it may seem like the Manderlys are losing out on this deal slightly, it is because they are. They are providing most of the ships, the sailors and the experience to the voyage. The voyage itself is also something that they could do on their own, with or without House Stark. But the fact remains it was my idea. I am the lord of the North and the Manderlys would not dare use an idea I came up with without my blessing. Lord Manderly knows he will lose out on some coin from this voyage as half the ships belong to House Stark, but he also knows that he stands to make more coin from this in the future. House Starks holdings are in the middle of the North, so while we may send a few ships every year for these voyages we will probably not focus on maritime trade very much, being content to collect the increased taxes from the trade. Not to mention sending the few warships we have on the voyage cannot be done without the blessing of House Stark.
Really, the Lord only stands to gain from this and he knows it.
Harry clapped his hands together. “Excellent. We will work out the full details in a few moons. I just wanted to see if you would find the idea interesting for now. “
After taking a small breath to brace himself for a conversation he knows will be difficult, Hadrian begins. “Now, for the last part of the meeting. I have been looking into the feasibility of conquering beyond the wall far into the future.”
Seeing Lord Umber start to perk up he rushed to continue. “It isn’t something I am decided on for the moment. I am just weighing options and seeing how likely my ideas are to work. This is the reason I wanted you here Lord Umber. As you know more about the wildlings than I or my uncles do.”
Calming himself slightly, Lord Umber asked in a curious tone. “And Lord Manderly?”
Shrugging Harry responded. “He is here to discuss the feasabilty of my plan.”
Narrowing his eyes at me, Lord Umber asks. “What exactly is your plan?”
Taking a deep breath he braced himself. “Trade.”
Harry wasn’t disappointed. Lord Umber practically exploded onto his feet and started roaring. “Trade?! You want to trade with those savages? I think you better explain my lord.“ He finished taking big gulps of air.
Harry just looked on impassively, not reacting in the slightest besides the slight narrowing of his eyes. “Are you finished?”
Just when he was sure Lord Umber was about to explode again he abruptly sat down and muttered. “Aye.”
Nodding slightly Harry continued. “Excellent. Aye, trade. The biggest issue with trying to truly conquer the lands beyond The Wall lies in the fact that the wildlings are unorganised. They’re uncoordinated. If I send an army up there, they might be able to destroy a few clans but the rest will scatter and attack us when we aren’t expecting it. They know the land better than we do, than we ever will. It will become a war for attrition that will last years, probably decades. While the North is about to have more wealth than it has had in a very long time, I am not willing to throw that all away to feed and supply an army in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Do you believe this is true my lord?”
He grumbled slightly under his breath but answered nonetheless. ”Aye. It will be damn near impossible to supply an army up there. Even if we get a fortified area the wildlings will still find ways to pick off our soldiers on the march.”
Hadrian inclined his head in agreement. “Hence my idea for trade. It is not possible to conquer a land without trying to get the support of the people who live in that land. If we go up there with an army they will never support us. While we may be able to just kill them all, that will be both incredibly difficult and is not something I will feel comfortable doing. They may be wildlings but the blood of The First Men flows through their veins as well. But if we were to fortify a port and trade them things they need, like food or clothes, for things they have, such as furs, out of said port, some may find themselves moving near the soldiers stationed there for both protection and to make their lives easier. After a while, and after they have become accustomed to our people and ways, some of them may be willing to bend the knee and become citizens of the North. Either in order to come South or so that they can get greater amounts of protection. Over time this will make the idea of bending the knee more agreeable for many of them. I’m not saying it will be easy, there will be many clans that will want to fight us to stop us from integrating these people. But at least they will come to us and fight us on our term. Instead of having our soldiers march through a land they know better than us and picking us off small amounts at a time.”
Lord Umber still had an incredibly sour look on his face but he seemed to be contemplating the idea atleast. “I still don’t like it. It may work but the wildings have been killing and raping people on my lands for thousands of years. Trading with them….I…it doesn’t feel right.”
His uncle Ned decided to press his advantage. “Not even if it means it might get them to stop raiding? At least in such numbers. Or to give a chance for some of our people who have been taken by the wildlings to find their way back North?”
Lord Umber still didn’t look happy but he was no longer angry atleast. He released a sigh. “Aye, perhaps if it stops them from raiding it can be seen as a good thing.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “It’s true that they have the blood of The First Men. While I may not like the wildlings, they at least keep to their word more than southerners do. Most of them don’t even know how to lie. Practically every one I’ve caught has always been proud to regale me with stories of their atrocities.”
Harry spoke. “Thank you for your input my lord. Lord Manderly, how feasible would it be to set up such a trading port.”
Lord Manderly rubbed his chin. “It’s certainly possible my lord. It will take a number of years to set something like that up however. We would need to find a place that is both defensible and that can host a harbour.” His eyes lit up. “Unless we use one that is already there. There used to be a city beyond the Wall, or at least the closest the Wildlings had to one. Hardhome. It’s found on the coast of the shivering sea. It was destroyed centuries ago. By slavers from Essos I believe. Although I don’t believe the records are very clear. But it should have some infrastructure we can use. I believe it might have also been built in a small bay, although I’m not too sure. I will have to research it again.”
Hadrian furrowed his eyebrows. “Why have I never heard about this?”
Lord Manderly shrugged. “ I read it in one of the older texts I have, I believe. It was mostly about tales and legends the wildlings have. I cannot recall the name at the moment though.”
Harry frowned to himself. He thought he had read all of the books about the lands beyond The Wall in their library for preparation for this meeting. This bears further investigation. Not at the moment though, he still has to wrap up this meeting.
“Very well. Hardhome sounds like a feasible option on the Eastern coast. I will have to put more thought into the Western one. It isn’t important at the moment though, all of this is just so I could see the likelihood of my plan working. It’s not something that will be implemented for years yet. If it is as all.”
Harry nodded to himself before he decided he could at least throw Lord Umber a bone, as he does have legitimate grievances against the wildlings. ”Excellent. Lord Umber, I understand you have legitimate reasons for your hatred towards the wildlings. Therefore if this plan does happen, with your blessing I will make sure it is a member of your family that secures Hardhome and turns it into a fortress to hold off against any raids there are. Perhaps Mors would be a good choice?”
He looked slightly mollified by that. A small grin even broke out on his face. Hadrian guesses it is easier for him to swallow if it is a member of his house that will tame the wildlings. “Aye, Mors hates them even more than I do. He will be happy to have a chance to kill the worst of the fuckers.”
Harrry smiled. “Good. One last thing my lord, before you leave. Giants. Are they real or have they gone extinct?”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “Most Maesters would tell you that they are nothing but myth. Either they never existed or they are all dead. I believe they are still there though, not in any great number but I believe they are real. I have had too many wildlings tell me stories about them for me to believe otherwise.”
He looked at me with curiosity. “Why do you ask?”
Harry just grinned mysteriously. “I’ve just been wondering lately if the North would have ever been conquered if we had some.”
He laughed boisterously at that answer. When him and Lord Manderly left the solar Hadrian could still hear him laughing as he walked down the hall. ”Giants! The lad doesn’t think small does he?! Ha!”
Once they left and it was just him and Ned in the solar his uncle spoke. “I believe that went about as well as it could have.”
Hadrian laughed slightly. “At one point I thought Lord Umber would reach across the desk and strangle me!”
Still chuckling Ned replied. “He is a very…passionate man.”
“That he is uncle. That he is.”
After a moment Ned became serious once again. ”Are you still sure about your plan to leave Winterfell?”
Harry just smiled. “It’s about time I travelled and saw more of the North. I’m sure the Lords would be happy to host me.”
Ned frowned. “Aye, but Greywater Watch? Lord Reed is a good man and a good friend but wouldn’t a more powerful Lord be a better place to start your tour?”
Hadrian chuckled. “Trust me uncle. It’s the perfect place.”
After all, it is about time he started learning more about the magic in this new life and the Neck is the best place to do so until he finds a Child of the Forest.
