Chapter 1: The lord of winterfell

Amid the cries of a small child, Eddard Stark, the Duke of Winterfell, welcomed his fifth child.

Eddard Stark had black hair, gray eyes, and a beard that was beginning to turn gray, with a stern expression as cold as winter.

"My lord, congratulations, it's a boy," said the old nursemaid as she carried the child in a cradle and happily showed him to Eddard.

Eddard embraced the child, and the baby began to cry even louder.

Maester Luwin fiddled with the chain around his neck. "My lord, have you decided on a name for the child?" Maester Luwin was short and thin, with gray eyes and hair.

Catelyn, who was lying on the birthing bed, had beautiful auburn hair, blue eyes, and slender fingers. She smiled and said, "Eddard and I have already agreed that if the child is a boy, we will name him Rickon."

Shortly after, Robb, Arya, Sansa, and Bran, who had been guarding the door outside, rushed in and surrounded their mother Catelyn and their newborn brother. Joy filled the children.

Bran, who had chestnut hair and blue eyes, eagerly kissed little Rickon. "I'm a brother now, this is amazing."

Arya smiled and said, "It feels great to be a sister with another younger brother." Arya had a long face, long brown hair, and gray eyes. She resembled her father Eddard more. She was a mischievous and active girl.

Sansa smiled and said, "Arya, don't get too excited. When you were born, I was just as excited when I first saw you. But now? You've become more of a nuisance to me." Sansa had inherited her mother's blue eyes and brown hair. Everyone believed Sansa would grow up to be very beautiful.

Robb took Rickon. "It's fun to fight with your siblings all day." Robb had auburn hair and blue eyes, resembling his mother more.

Theon Greyjoy, Eddard's ward, entered the room and stood by the door with a smile on his face. Theon was a slim man with dark brown hair.

After suppressing the rebellion in the Iron Islands, Theon, who was ten years old at the time, was adopted by Eddard and brought to Winterfell as a hostage to ensure that his father, Balon Greyjoy, would surrender.

Theon was now sixteen years old. He had been separated from his parents and homeland for many years and had been living under the care of others. When Theon saw the new member of the Stark family, he felt deep sadness, but he still forced his usual smile.

Eddard's illegitimate son, Jon Snow, stood at the door and secretly peeked into the room, but Catelyn's look of disgust made Jon flee in panic.

Catelyn had always felt an indescribable disgust toward the illegitimate child Eddard had fathered outside their marriage.

Maester Luwin approached Eddard and said, "My lord, you have been waiting for a male heir. Would you like to invite the northern lords to celebrate with you at home?"

Eddard nodded in agreement. "Yes, send ravens to inform them to come to Winterfell for the celebration in a month. Oh, and don't forget to send a raven to the Wall to request Benjen's presence as well."

Everyone in the family was very happy, but Eddard couldn't be.

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

Eddard realized that even though he had become the Duke of the North, he had to wear the "mask of a duke" most of the time. After all, the identity of a time traveler couldn't be easily revealed.

As a time traveler, Eddard didn't know if the course of history would be the same as in "A Song of Ice and Fire." He would try to win the game of thrones, survive the war of kings, endure the long winter, the feast of crows, and the dance of dragons...

Eddard realized that all the beauty before his eyes was temporary. As the Stark family motto said, "Winter is coming."

At night, Eddard went to Maester Luwin's tower, where the maester was writing a letter.

"My lord, as you instructed, I have written several letters to various places in the North, inviting the northern lords to come to our home to celebrate the birth of Lord Rickon. I will release the ravens at dawn tomorrow."

"Thank you for your hard work," Eddard said as he pulled up a chair and sat down. "Maester Luwin, I have some business plans. Do you have a map of the North?"

"Business plans?" Luwin was slightly surprised, as Lord Eddard usually didn't bother with Winterfell's accounts. "My lord, you've never been interested in business before. Why do you suddenly have a business plan?"

Eddard smiled. "After Rickon's birth, there's another mouth to feed in the family. Winter is coming, so it's always good to find a way to earn more money."

Maester Luwin brought out the map and spread it on the table, weighing it down with a tallow candle.

On the map, there were castles and fortresses like White Harbor, Dreadfort, Deepwood Motte, Flint's Finger, Wolfswood, Barrowton, Last Hearth, and Karhold; rivers like the White Knife, the Weeping Water, and the rivers of the First Men; and villages of the mountain clans and fishing villages along the long coast, from the Neck in the south to the Gift in the north. All these places paid taxes to Winterfell.

Winterfell received a large amount of gold dragons and silver stags every month. The Stark family had never been fond of luxury. The loud tournaments and courtly dances of the South were almost entirely absent from Winterfell. The Kings of Winter had amassed a great fortune.

But it wasn't nearly enough. Winters in Westeros lasted for many years. During winter, not only did the Stark family's income drop sharply, but they also had to spend a lot of money to help the people in the winter town and support their followers.

Even in summer, Winterfell still faced various enemies. The "Ryswell" tribes from Skagos occasionally raided the eastern coast, and small groups of pirates appeared on the western coast throughout the year.

Most of the pirates on the western coast were from the Iron Islands. After Balon Greyjoy bent the knee to Robert, Balon sent his only surviving son, Theon, to Winterfell as a ward to ensure that the Ironborn would not raid Westeros. Balon also executed some raiders, but there was no shortage of outlaws seeking the old ways in the Iron Islands.

The wildling raiders also posed a significant threat to Winterfell. Now that the Night's Watch's strength had declined, the wildlings were crossing the Wall more frequently. Once they reached the North, they killed grown men, stole food, and abducted young women and children.

Due to the wildlings' harassment, many villages in the Gift south of the Wall had been abandoned, becoming almost no man's land. The wildlings also frequently harassed the lands of House Umber, House Karstark, and the mountain clans, causing a sharp decline in these lords' incomes and a significant drop in the tax revenues Winterfell received.

Eddard had realized this in his mind over the past two days. If he wanted to strengthen the North, he had to develop the economy, and the first step was to make the winter town prosperous.

Eddard's eyes settled on Winterfell on the map, and he pointed to the winter town next to Winterfell.

"How many people live in the winter town now?"

Luwin thought for a moment and said, "I believe there are about five thousand."

Eddard frowned and said, "That's too few. I went for a walk yesterday, and four out of five houses were empty. The fertile land was uncultivated. Why don't my people like living in the winter town?"

Luwin smiled and said, "My lord, our northern borders are vast and sparsely populated. Only when winter comes do people gather from all directions in the winter town to keep warm together. The hot springs here attract people in winter. Now it's summer, and many have returned to their hometowns. Some of these people come from Stone Coast, Cape Monster, and some from the mountain clans, while others live in villages outside White Harbor."

"The winter town is just a temporary refuge for many. They have homes and lands in their hometowns, and people always long for their hometowns. Staying in the winter town means paying taxes to Winterfell, while returning to their hometowns means paying taxes to their lords. There's no difference for them. Don't worry, my lord. They will return in winter."

Eddard placed his hands on his chest.

"I want them to return now. I want fireworks in every chimney in the winter town. I want children running in the streets. I want to hear the noise of the marketplace."

"Maester Luwin, I want you to add a message to the letter informing all the lords to come to Winterfell for the feast, saying that Winterfell welcomes people from all over the world to live in the winter town."

"I want to turn Winterfell into a new White Harbor, a prosperous city..."

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