Chapter 5.1 System Slaves

Wolfgang had ordered the forces of five thousand professional soldiers to be increased to eight thousand, so Beron had to start the training of the three thousand new recruits from scratch.

Although several months had passed, more and more houses were still being built. Not because of slow work or inefficiency, but rather because more and more people were coming to their territories, because of all the job opportunities in the Dustin territory. No longer just from the poorer northern regions, but many came from the south, driven by the gold rush that was sweeping through the Barrowlands.

Mining in these areas was far less conservative than in the Lannister lands, though the real reason was known only to Tywin himself; the gold mines of Casterly Rock were nearly exhausted.

Despite the building of more houses, and accelerated urban sprawl, planning was ever so neat for ever, and Wolfgang commissioned Qyburn, who proved very capable, to build sewers.

Hygiene was paramount in Barrowton; it was punishable by several lashes for anyone who left their refuse simply lying in the street, as was the practice on most of the continent, except for the odd more civilized town, such as Oldtown or Casterly Rock. It is for the same reason that Barrowton, despite its large concentration of population, smelled quite good.

Just as Wolfgang predicted, upon hearing the news of the gold, more and more miners left the Manderly silver mines behind, and came to the Dustin gold mines; it paid much better after all.

Wyman resented it for a while, and thought about breaking off the engagement, but then he realized something; the balances of power were shifting very suddenly in the North. 

House Ryswell had also begun to be very productive in their farming, growing many carrots, and the famous lettuce, which was finally found; a merchant was selling his seeds in White Harbor; seeds originating in the Summer Isles. Wolfgang had handed them the method of making the crops more productive, and with the extensive Rills of pure prairie they were able to take advantage of it quite well. This was in exchange for 15% of everything produced.

Rodrik Ryswell had copied his grandson, and the way farming worked in his manor was also changing. Commoners no longer had some allotted land on which to meet certain quotas, they now worked for a wage and in a structured way.

However, despite experiencing a similar change as House Dustin had a few years ago, the lands of House Ryswell did not receive massive immigration, as those desperate for food had already gone to House Dustin for shelter. And those who had not yet departed could not ignore the gold of the Barrowlands, so their decision was clear.

Wolfgang had also selected the most committed peasants, and started making soap. None of the peasants could read, and all of them had numerous families living in Barrowton, which was an important requirement.

Lord Dustin explained absolutely nothing to these workers, he just gave them clear instructions, mix such material, with such other material, and in such a way. That was all the men knew in doing their work.

The soap was for the proper use of the people of the Barrowlands, mandatory for those who worked in health care and cooking. At no time did it ever occur to the young man to put it to commercial use. There were very few people who cared about their hygiene in Westeros, probably, without exaggeration, less than 100. The most the noble ladies were interested in was good perfume, not good soap.

But Wolfgang had something new to announce, so his most important subordinates were present; Beron, Hubert, Ander and his own mother, Barbrey Dustin.

"It's difficult to implement, but if we manage to do it, it will be really fantastic" Hubert commented with a smile. "As always your ideas are amazing."

"It's not that hard" added Ander. "Not easy either, but people, now that they tasted what it's like to be welcomed and protected by the lord in exchange for sacrificing their freedom, want more and more shelter."

"That's what the state is for. A very wise person said a phrase some time ago. Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State."

"The State? What is that?" asked Barbrey, with interest in his eyes.

"Never mind mother, the important thing is that with the Jobs Point System we're going to make the workers totally dependent on Dustin House."

"But how would that work? It wasn't entirely clear to me," Beron commented.

"We are going to increasingly start decreasing the money we pay workers, both farmers, builders, and miners. In exchange, we are going to start paying them work points, which they will be able to redeem in different things in the territory. Food will no longer be sold in money, but will be sold in work points, to give an example."

"But my Lord, I doubt that they will voluntarily want to stop receiving money."

"It is that they will, entirely voluntarily. Nearly all of our workers have a house in our territory, correct?"

"Yes, but almost no one has finished paying for it, they will only be able to do so in several years of work, and that only because we deduct part of their salary. Although some of the miners coming from White Harbor were able to buy some outright, probably with the money they got from selling the ones they had there."

"That's the point. With the gold we won't have economic problems for quite some time, so we don't need that money back. We'll allow them to pay for their houses in work points, and much more cheaply, requiring only a quarter of the work of what it required earning a normal wage. All the inns in our territory, which will also be run by House Dustin, by this so-called State, will begin to offer their products with work points. We will seduce the common people that they will not need to pay taxes in this way, that will attract many. But taxes do not matter to us, the only suppliers will be ourselves. At the same time, by receiving less money in taxes, we will be able to justify lowering the tax we pay to House Stark. It's a... complete bargain."

"With this..." muttered Ander, wide-eyed.

"Yes, with this our entire population will be chained to our territory, like slaves, because the work points will be worth absolutely nothing outside of Barrowlands, so if anyone decides to leave our lands and migrate elsewhere, they will do so with no money at all."

"It's a macabre plan," smiled Barbrey Dustin. "But I approve of it. It's a very convenient form of economy for both sides. For the workers in the short run, but in the long run...for us."

"There's no point in expanding it for the whole territory at the moment, it would be too ambitious, My Lord."

"I agree with you Ander, we will focus on Barrowton for now, but almost all of our population lives in this city, so that's not a bad thing. However, by the same token, it is important to set up the Registry Office. It will be under your command Hubert, I want you to devote all your efforts in this new project."

"I will do so, My Lord. I will carry out your orders to perfection, flawlessly" the man said reverentially.

"That is good. I want you to register all the people living in Barrowton, all nearly 200,000 of them already, and have a record made of every worker's points."

"But that will be too cumbersome, son. We must find a way to transform these labor points into something physical, a new currency."

"That is a dangerous idea. The laws of men forbid the minting of coins without royal permission. It is understood to refer to coins set in Westeros, but it may be complex to produce something physical."

"But the other way would be unfeasible, you can't keep such a perfect record."

"Yes, that's a strong point you have, something physical is required" Wolfgang muttered, and began to look for an alternative. "I can think of creating bronze plaques, each with the name of the person it belongs to, and with a many digit number printed on it. This number will identify every individual in our territory; every worker. The office that Hubert will head will have the record of all these individuals and numbers. It is by showing these badges that you will be able to buy spend points, and the penalty for stealing one of these cards and impersonating someone else will be extremely serious."

"That seems more feasible, but it's still difficult."

"Well, but it only remains to try" Wolfgang replied with a smile, he had created a sort of debit card in the medieval world; much more rudimentary, but this would only work within Barrowton, in the city itself. By the time House Dustin's territories expanded, for yes, Lord Dustin intended to expand them in the future, either by reason or by force, he would have to create his own currency, representing these work points, but for the moment it was enough.

Initially, the work points could only be used to buy real estate, and that is because the Registry Office itself was the place from where the properties would be sold, but little by little it would begin to expand to the main centers where food was sold, specialized stores managed by House Dustin itself.

These stores, on the one hand, served as inns, to eat with some friends and have a drink, and on the other hand, they served as warehouses that sold food to the families. Nobody had their own animals or crops anymore, since they all worked for the State and needed to use these points to buy food.

After these establishments, came the sale of clothing. No one kept their furs anymore, but sold them to the Dustin House, and then the artisans of the Dustin House, who also work for work points, turned the furs into clothing and sold them to the same people who had gotten the furs, for, again, work points.

Whoever collected the furs now only hunted animals, and, unlike before, did not collect only for himself, his family, and perhaps to sell to a dozen people in his village; now he hunted and collected non-stop, every day he worked. By using his days for that, he didn't have time to make the clothes himself, as he used to do, so he gave them to other people, who dedicated their whole day to it. This was specialization and exchange as it had never been seen in the Seven Kingdoms.

In just a few months the point system was already ingrained in the territories of House Dustin.