7 month
286 AL
Marcus had spent several weeks discussing the proposals he had put forth and how they would work. He was to begin road construction northwards as soon as he got back, however he did not know where the people for that would come from. Perhaps he could pull two dozen men from castle construction. Granted it would be slow going with so few men, but no one could accuse him he was not doing his part and that would have to be enough for now. There was actually not much discussion on that as it was a simple and straightforward matter. He imagined the complications would begin when the construction entered the fief's of other lords, but that wouldn't be for some time yet.
The bigger concern was the new crossings he had proposed. He had to explain more than a few times to both Lord Stark and maester Luwin what economic warfare meant, but after the first few tries Marcus had managed to simplify it enough so that there was no doubt that they understood the concept. Lord Stark was highly displeased with what he heard after he understood what the whole concept actually was and meant for the North. Privately Marcus thought that the former didn't matter to him as much as the latter. Granted Marcus had painted the worst case scenario and had told both men as much.
After doing a few concept sketches for Lord Stark on parchment that maester Luwin had provided on the barges themselves and how they would work and that was not easy to do on parchment. The barges themselves weren't overly complicated affair the were simply large wooden rafts big enough to fit ten carts with horses easily. The mechanism was a little more complicated as it would be almost impossible to use conventional means and by that he meant oars. It was to be propelled by a manually driven paddle wheel. He estimated that six men would comfortably be able to do the job. He had eliminated steering entirely by adding twin rope assemblies that would be anchored at both ends that would guide the rafts as they were being propelled.
Maester Luwin gushed over the design for the paddle wheel and asked all sorts of questions in regards to its use and whether it could be used on bigger ships to propel them much the same as the rafts. Here Marcus was careful to point out that yes it could if were able to power it, but the maester seemed undeterred. He didn't know what would come of that and didn't care. Marcus found the maester good company as the man was intelligent and quick witted, if a little reserved sort of a person. Marcus had talked at lengths to the maester about astronomy and had shared a few of his 'theories' regarding the subject. Such as the seven wanderers being planets or the fact that winter were caused, by an erratic orbit of our own planet. He had to of course first what an orbit was and that their own planet and the sun revolved around the sun. At one point the maester had began to follow Marcus and write these things down. He was quite excited about all this new knowledge and had told Marcus that he would write the Citadel and request they send to Moat Cailin the archmeater in charge of astronomy. To that Marcus responded that he had no problem with the suggestion. All in all it wasn't a particularly useful bit of knowledge to Marcus and it likely won't be relevant for a few hundred years.
A response had come during that time from Hoster Tully on the matter of the barges. The letter he had written said that he was agreeable to the idea, but was a bit hesitant. Marcus had no idea as to why and neither did Lord Stark beyond that it was politics of some sort. Marcus had suggested that there be a proposal for three crossings. One near Seagard, one near Fairmarket and one further south of Fairmarket, however Marcus doubted that the third would be done at all. It was more of a case of order three and get two in this case. At least Marcus was hoping to get two.
He had soon after that bid the Stark family plus Luwin goodbye as the Lady Stark has heavy with a child and was to deliver in the coming months. He didn't want be in their way and it was after all a family matter. He had however promised to send them a gift of a larger stockpile of firewater to top up their own stockpile once the child was born.
It had taken Marcus a little over a month and a half to make the journey back, but that was to be expected now that he somewhat knew the way so to speak.
That sight that greeted him once he reached Moat Cailin was welcome one, not that he minded Winterfell, but this here was already turning into a home for him and looking at all that he had accomplished from a nearby hill filled him with pride.
He was once again home and this little vacation of his was over. It was time to get back to work.
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Now that he was back in Moat Cailin Marcus took the time see how everything has been faring in his absence. The Still and the Steel Mill were doing well and in his absence nothing much has happened that he should be worried about. Finnegan and Daeron have been keeping a close eye on things it would seem.
The new port was completed in his absences as well as the river wall and the two towers that would eventually raise a metal chain to restrict entrance of unwanted elements into port when needed, but that was a long way from now. He didn't have the metal to waste on such a unnecessary project as of yet. The canal workers had completed the final leg of the western canal in his absence and as per his instructions were awaiting his orders to flood the canal. All this meant that they have been sitting on their asses for the last few months and still gotten paid for not doing any work.
Work on 'Twin Peaks' had resumed just last last month on the orders of the good captain. The outer walls were beginning to take shape now and the heavy steel monstrosities were finally in place at last. That amazed Marcus he had thought that no one around here would have the brain cells required to put it together even with his carefully written instructions on the matter. Apparently, however the good maester Daeron proved him wrong as he had overseen the placement himself. It wasn't so much as he thought no one would be able to move the gate in position as it was a matter of the gear assembly that would enable the doors to open and close. There were quite a lot of gears for each door that had to be made just right and put in an exact and specific place in order for everything to work. Maester Daeron had admitted to him that he found the work quite challenging and that he was amazed at how the gears worked. He was apparently currently studying gears and their properties. Whatever that really meant. At least he had the time now that all six lads were at a level he was comfortable with or so he claimed.
Speaking of the lads that Daeron has been teaching. He now finally had the time to put them to good use. Now that it would seem that there was nothing that would require his direct supervision. Marcus didn't know how to feel about that, but figured that it would change once he got a new project going.
Back to the lads in question. He would place one or two in charge at the new Stock exchange to buy and sell goods to passing merchants. It wouldn't take him more then an hour to make a list of what to buy and sell in what quantities and how much he was to pay for every good and how much to sell the town's own goods at.
Marcus would also put two in charge of something he had cooked up on the way back from Winterfell namely an employment office. Basically it would be a simple building people looking for work could go to and see what work was available. The place would make some profit by offering the same service to business owners. They would go there and pay a fee in order to be put on the list of places needing workers and the requirements for the individual workers. Marcus imagined that would come quite handy in the future.
The last two lads would go to the new school he would be building soon and teach simple things like reading, writing and numbers. It was doubtful that there would be many takers at first, but once the new requirement of needing does things in order to manage a place like the still or the steel mill in his name was issued he imagine that it would quickly change. Especially when it was discovered that the pedigree didn't matter one bit.
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It took a week for the canal to be flooded and there was much cheering when the water reached the town. It could also have something to do with the fact that Marcus had ordered half a ton of fire water to be distributed to all the watering halls and be given for free to any ho wanted it.
Captain Finnegan was quite put out by the news as it would be his job to keep order while all this was going around and there was no doubt in either men's minds that there would be quite a few disturbances and bar brawls during the festivities.
Marcus paid it no mind. Let the people have a little fun. In a week's time the construction on the eastern portion would begin and that is likely to take much more time. He estimated at least ten years. Probably more along the lines of fifteen, if he was being realistic about things.
There was another bit of good news that the captain had shared with him and it pleased Marcus immensely. While he had gone north in dribs and drabs people were coming to Moat Cailin to settle, both from the north and coming through the causway from the south. It would seem that news of there being work a plenty in Moat Cailin had spread among the smallfolk of both the Vale and the Riverlands.
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8 month
286 AL
Last month's celebration of the completion of the canal had a sad and unfortunate conclusion that mired the otherwise jubilant month for Marcus. Perhaps he should have taken Finnegan's concerns more seriously, but in the end it was bound to happen eventually. There were several murders that happened amidst the confusion of the festivities. They had caught the perpetrators of all, but one of the murders in question. Two of the murders had loudly proclaimed that they chose the black as the local saying goes once Marcus had sentenced them to death. It galled him to have them walk as it were even if it is to join the Night's Watch on the ever frozen wall at the end of the world. He was hoping they got eaten by the Thens. The other four murderers he had executed himself with a war axe given to him by Finnegan. It was a straightforward affair.
It was different then killing enemy soldiers. He was conditioned to kill people in war and this world had given him even more of an iron stomach for death the he had before. This however was the first time he had killed someone that wasn't trying to kill him in return. They were murderers sure, but given the state of the legal system it didn't matter really. There was even less of way to determine guilt here. Even in his old world innocent people got sentenced unjustly. Here guilt didn't really matter. Only the will and opinion of the presiding Lord and or King. It was another stark reminder of the dangers and cruelty of this new world he now found himself in.
Even though the month started with this unfortunate affair. It wasn't all bad news it would seem. He had received just yesterday news from Winterfell. It was said in the letter that Hoster Tully had decided on building two crossings on the Green Fork after some persuasion by Lord Stark. It was to be as Marcus predicted he would get the two more sensible crossings. It was unknown what the reaction of the Freys would be to the crossings at this time, but it was to early to tell.
Lord Stark had already sent a messenger with Marcus's sketches south to Riverrun apparently. Marcus privately estimated the completion of each crossing to take anywhere from three to six months, depending on how serious the Tully's and the Houses charged with the job were about said crossings. The letter had also said that the Lady Tully had given Lord Stark a daughter that they named Sansa. Wasn't that a big surprise? He had loaded a cart full of firewater and a cart full of panes of glass as a gift to House Stark. He had even spent the time in the small workshop himself to make glass wolf for the little girl as a present. That had taken the better part of a week given he wasn't that skilled when it came to the finer points of glass making. At a few points he was even given directions by the glassmaker that he himself had thought how to make glass. The irony wasn't lost on him, but it was all together a good thing as this meant that soon the operation could be expanded to produce glassware like cups and vases. Granted it would still be green, but it was progress all the same. In regards to the wolf statue he had made when finished Marcus wasn't sure whether it was a wolf or a dog. It would have to do as he wasn't willing to spend another week wasting time on something like that. He had loaded it on the cart and given orders as appropriate.
The rest of the month when he had the time Marcus had decided to use to improve his wool industry. It was currently going as well as could be expected. There were even basic looms already being used to weave the finished product as it turned out they did indeed have looms. It was stupid of Marcus to think that they didn't, but he could still improve the process immensely. The problem however remained. More and more wool was coming in and not enough has been going out. He had inspected the place and found the workers were quite diligent in their work. It could have just been the fact that his lordships presence was unnerving to the women. He had made the proclamation that there would be school starting soon and that they could go there in their free time and learn. That had garnered a laugh from the nervous women. The laughing stopped when he proclaimed that he would be looking for a supervisor of the factory and that if any of them met the education criteria they would be considered for the position and most likely given the position. This garnered more than a fair share of disbelief from the gathered women. This was likely to be the reaction of most of his workers he figured.
In any case he had decided to spend the next two months designing and building enough shuttle looms for the women to work with. That was likely to speed to process enough so that more finished product was produced in less time. The fact that it was likely to increase the quality of the cloth produced as well was merely an added bonus.
Marcus figured that this would at least get his mind off matters he didn't want to consider, or worry about other matters he shouldn't be worrying over.
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10 month
286 AL
It hadn't take out long at all to puzzle out the shuttle loom and the construction of enough looms to equip the nescient factory hadn't taken as long as he thought as it was still basically a loom and that is something the locals knew how to make. Even if it was a new design and the women already knew how to operate one and didn't need teaching. Not that he was able to teach them in the first place. All in all it had taken a little over a month. The production of woolen cloth has already picked up the pace and soon he would be able to sell it in bulk in order to make much needed money. There was little to be done while he was searching his thoughts for a new project to occupy his thoughts.
He had decided to do some accounting in regards to his pending and discovered that he was currently operating at a great loss. If he didn't fix that as soon as possible in a little less the two years' time he wouldn't be able to pay all the fancy salaries he had given everyone. The taxes could only go so far. The over land trade was all well and good and while it would likely expand due to the new crossings being build down south it wasn't enough to ensure he maintained the current standard let alone support growth. That was a matter that required further thought on his part.
In less gloomy news however Marcus was currently estimating that 'Twin peaks' would be done by this time next year. He was looking forward to that as it would free up the work force for other construction projects. The town was slowly growing and more housing would be needed soon, if this continued as it would appear that it was more than likely to happen. For now it could wait and there was the matter of constructing the road that he promised that he hadn't started to yet. He was going to re-task a few dozen workers onto that particular project sometime this week.
Further good news came from the fact that recently Moat Cailin had received its first ship by way of Barrowton. It was only a small trade galley and as her captain had put it they were merely browsing the wares. Marcus was however optimistic as a ship could carry far more goods than a simple cart. It is then that it hit him like a freight train. He needed a ship of his own in order to be able to sell his own wares at quantities that mattered.
One quick letter to Ser Davos requesting his aid in the matter of procuring a trustworthy captain and crew for a ship he would be building later and all he had to do is figure out what kind of ship he wanted to build. Even a simple galley like what the locals had would be difficult to build as he had no shipwrights in his town whatsoever. Then again he wasn't thinking of setting up a shipyard at the moment. Perhaps in the future, but right now it simply wouldn't be possible. Right now he needed to build one reasonably large ship to use as a trade vessel.
Unfortunately choosing the specifics of what type of ship to build wouldn't be easy. The planning stages alone were likely to take months. That is nothing to be said about construction of the vessel itself. Not that at the moment he could say anything about that.
There was much deliberation to be had in the near future about the various ins and outs, pros and cons. Of a whole plethora of things, but at least he had finally found an ambitious project to sink his teeth in. Marcus was already giddy with anticipation over all the possibilities. He knew quite a bit about ships thanks to his grandfather as the man had been navy man in his youth and served in World War two, but then again it seemed that practically everyone from his generation served in that particular war. Nothing drove the point home about how horrible a war could get like the details of that specific conflict.
The man had taken Marcus to a lot of navy yards and museums as a kid. The underhanded devil was probably trying to get him to join the navy when he grew up now that he thought about it. The man was very proud of him when he learned that Marcus was considering joining the military. When he finally signed on with the marines the man had reportedly said 'Well... at least it wasn't the army'.
These happy musings only spurred Marcus's desire to build something truly impressive that would make the old sailor proud. He had the knowledge of all manner of ships and their evolution crammed into his head from an early age after all.
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1 month
287 AL
It has been two months since Marcus decided that he would build himself a ship in order to increase the size of his economy. However two weeks into the planning of what ship to build exactly he had an epiphany. Building a ship of any size would require a great amount of workers in order for the ship to be completed in any reasonable amount of time. Fortunately the town has slowly been growing as time passed. While Marcus could no longer easily tell how many people lived in his town. He estimated the amount to be somewhere around fifteen thousand at the moment. This would more than likely allow him another thousand workers before he was again at the limit of what he could safely employ.
Marcus had gone ahead and sent another hundred men to speed up the road construction. He estimated that with the influx of new workers the construction in his territories would be finished in by the second month of 287. Then would come the hard part of cooperating with the other lords in order to extend the network further. Marcus doubted that there would be many problems on the matter, besides headaches. Lord Stark had commanded the other lords to comply on the matter and there was no doubt on the matter.
There was quite a lot of research that needed to be done before he even began construction on the vessel. He had sat down with maester Daeron and requested everything that the man had on ships and it turned out that it was quite the amount. It took Marcus quite a while to look through all the text, but it was a welcome distraction from his everyday regiment. Marcus enjoyed the time quite a lot, since it reminded him of a time long ago when he used to play couch potato. It was also enjoyable in a sense as he truly was learning something new and not learning about things he already knew.
It turns out that most of the ships were rather normal. Westeros employed galleys, longships, sloops, cogs and carracks. There were some minor design changes, but nothing that could easily be confirmed. There was one other thing that puzzled Marcus. Most vessels used for war were galleys whether small or large. Adding to this one of the few books that had any sort of navel tactics in it led Marcus to believe that the naval warfare of the time was depressingly simple and relying mostly on boarding. One of the largest ships he could find in the books was the Swan Ships of the summer islands. It was still larger than most ships of the age, but not impressively so.
It wasn't that the ships were large, but what worried Marcus was that there were many of them. The ironmen alone had over a thousand longships. The Redwyne had over three hundred ships of all sizes. Westernlands had somewhere between a hundred and two hundred ships most of those were moored at Lanisport. To the east the city of Qarth controlled over three thousand ships in all and was likely their biggest navel power in the known world. However many of the other free cities were nothing to look down upon as they mostly traded by sea themselves.
There likely were more than twenty thousand ships navigating the seas in the known world alone. That was a truly impressive number. Marcus knew for a fact that Europe in the medieval times didn't have half that amount. The most distressing thing however was that one ship no matter how impressive was unlikely to make much of a difference in the greater scheme of things.
While slightly disheartened by this news Marcus was no less determined to construct a ship worthy of admiration. At first he had thought to build an iron and/or steel steam ship, but the many headaches and challenges weren't something he was willing to tackle just yet. He had finally decided on a wooden steam ship and was in the process of designing it. The ship when finished would likely be one of the largest ships in the world at over eighty to a hundred meters in length and boasting a steam engine that would power twin paddle wheels. One on each side of the ship for better balance.
Going over the plans that he had already finished Marcus estimated that he could indeed complete the project if given enough time. All his plans came crashing down however when just yesterday maester Daeron barged into his study bringing a letter. Winter was finally here. Well to be fair it was going to be a month at worst and at best three before it finally settled down.
Those estimations did nothing to improve Marcus's disposition as of late. The entire thing has caught him flat footed. He had done some planning in the form of hot houses, but there was still a lot that could be easily accomplished that needed doing.
The two most pressing things that needed his attention however were the small mining town that over the last few years had grown in size and were now somewhere around two thousand people. Then there was the fishing village on the Bite the was supplying his glass works. Something needed to be done to improve their chances, if they were to survive the coming winter.
Closer to home Moat Cailin was most all set for winter as both the small hot houses on the roofs of the tenements and the larger walled hot house were completed. That combined with his current stores of food were likely to see the town through winter. Granted the still would need to draw down production, but considering that trade was all but going to stop during winter that was not likely going to be a problem.
Two things were currently on his mind as he was readying for his trip around the larger settlements in his land. The first was introducing closed hearths as that as it turns out was something simple and yet unknown that could improve survival chances for the average person. The second thing of note and this one was giving him much more trouble.
During winter only the steel mill, the still and the glass works would be operational. This left him with more than seven thousand people that would have nothing to do during the winter that was likely to last more than a year. He really couldn't remember anything about this winter ever occurring or at least being mentioned in the show or books. To his knowledge.
That was a lot of people with nothing to do during winter. It could turn into a huge problem, if he didn't think of something soon. After all idle hands are the devils play thing and all that.
He still had some time to ponder the issue before he had to make a decision on the matter. He was more troubled by the fact that both the castle and the moat would be in suspended animation until the summer and he had no idea how long that would last.
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2 month
287 AL
It had been a busy and frantic month as he prepared for the winter that was to come. He was hoping that since this was the south of the North that at least it would be somewhat mild compared to places like Last Hearth or Winterfell. The matters weren't helped by the fact that the days kept getting colder and colder any day now it was probably going to start snowing.
The people of Moat Cailin took to closed hearths eagerly once they were told why they were better than open hearths. It wasn't all that difficult.
Marcus had then loaded several carts with panes of glass and taken half a dozen of his guardsmen with him to the aptly named by the locals 'Mining town'. There really should be a law that says the locals weren't allowed to name anything. There was honestly no creativity around here.
At any rate he had built them a hot house he was hoping was big enough to last the two thousand people here through winter. The mines would thankfully continue to function as they have so far the only issue was going to be transporting the iron ore and coal to Moat Cailin, but Marcus was confident he would come up with something once winter was in full swing.
He was currently in the fishing village on the Bite. Marcus did not know what it was called as he honestly didn't want to know. It was likely to be something idiotic no doubt yet again. He was currently waiting on a shipment of glass panes from Moat Cailin to arrive in order to complete the hot house here. They were nearly done with the construction and simply waiting for the panes to be slotted in. The town itself didn't need the hot houses that much as it had its own small fishing industry to rely on. They could however sell whatever they don't need to nearby villages and even to White Harbor by boat.
He had taken the time to go out fishing on the Bite with a small fishing boat. With any luck the reverse of the event that brought him here and he could go home. Unfortunately he wasn't so lucky. The fishing was however enjoyable and he had managed to haul a decent catch for himself.
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3 month
287 AL
The little outing to the countryside had done him some good. He had let out some steam and got some work done. It was just the distraction from his ongoing troubles.
Back to the business side of things the construction on the main buildings inside 'Twin Peaks' was finished just a few days before his return. Those building were priorities as soon as Marcus heard that winter was coming. Most importantly the underground storehouses were ready to be used. Thus Marcus had ordered meats to be salted and all of the produce be moved to the storehouse. He was using salt to draw the humidity from the air so that the various vegetables and the few imported fruits didn't spoil as quickly as they would have.
Marcus wanted to do more in the way of preservation techniques, but there was simply not enough time to implement anything worthwhile. He could introduce canned goods, but metals were still too expensive for that to be economically feasible.
Lamenting missed opportunities would do him no good as there was still a lot that needed to be done and winter could come any moment now. There were the day to day affairs of running a not so small fief to consider as well as the dilemma he was having for the last few months of what to do with the now unemployed workers.
He had ordered work on 'Twin Peaks' suspended for the time being and redirected to workers to construct a pair of smaller apartment complexes. Marcus was hopeful that with over a thousand workers the work would be completed in time before winter. These two buildings while shorter where to be two stores higher than their larger brethren. Making the buildings six stores high and the tallest to date. They were however being built with the ability to house no more than four hundred people each. The benefit was that they slightly bigger and a little bit more luxurious and therefore more expensive. Each apartment had its indoor toilet as well as windows installed from the beginning and a closed hearth that was separate from the fireplace. The central heating was being built far more smoothly then the last few time as well.
The whole project about the improved tenement was not however his main focus at the moment. He had finally ordered work on the canal to seize as he had finally figured what to do with at least most of the workers.
A thousand of the workers would be trained by Finnegan and would bolster Marcus's forces bringing them to an even two thousand men. The strain that would put on his finances was for the moment not in consideration. The rest he had set to the task of constructing a building to house his next project. What would be housed within would be the main project for the winter that would hopefully employ most of the workers. The building itself while massive would be built out of wood as it need only last until the end of winter. Marcus was looking forward to building the massive building as it would be more than two hundred meters in length, a hundred wide and fifty high.
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4 month
287 AL
It had been the middle of the month when winter had officially began in full swing. Fortunately all the construction had concluded just in time. To be fair winter had officially began at the start of last month but that was far to the north and no concern of his.
Marcus could already see smoke rising from chimneys all over Moat Cailin as the central heating system was put to good use by the inhabitants. By the use so far he could determine that he had miscalculated the draw that would be put on his coal stockpile. At the present size of the won it wasn't anywhere near as bad as he had thought at first. Then again he has had four years to stockpile the precious resources and he had only begun to use it when the steel mill became operational. He likely had more than enough to last him a winter that lasted anywhere between two to five years. Marcus would however feel a lot more comfortable once he had figured a while to transport goods even in winter.
So far the time indoors had been boring and he was looking into projects that he could undertake during winter. Apart from his special project for which goods were being stockpiled at the verry moment. There wasn't much he could do during winter.
The winter even this far south wasn't that bad after all he thought that the region would turn into Siberia during winter for an undetermined amount of time. It was still cold and the snow seemed to be piling on, but it wasn't Siberia. Perhaps much further north that was likely the case, but he was as far south as you could get and still be in the North. Aside from the Neck of course.
Marcus thought to review his military as that was one thing he could do even in winter and he had neglected the military aspect quite a lot. Better he did this now then latter when he had a much bigger force.
His force for the moment was quite the mismatched affair. There was practically everything a medieval army employed from weapons to armor. He had set his mind to changing that.
He was of a mind for a light, but a well armored and equipped force. He had ordered all the heavy sets and pieces melted to be employed in the new standard scheme.
Marcus was thinking that it would be hauberk over boiled leather armor as the base of the new armor and was currently debating what to employ over this ensemble that would be light enough and yet still provide sufficient protection to the average soldier. He had finally decided on 'lorica segmentata' or segmented plates. It was what the Romans used in there legions and it was damn effective. No one could question that as the Roman Empire conquered pretty much the known world, or at least the part of the world they knew about and could easily reach.
For armament he had decided on a pike as the main weapon of choice accompanying that would be a gladius and a small tower shield. At least until he could bring something new to the table. He was going to have to look into that as well as it might be a good project to spend his time on.
Captain Finnegan was downright murderous at first, but Marcus had sat him down and explained the need to standardize military equipment and that it actually improved his current force as a whole. It took numerous tries, but he had managed to finally convince the man that it was necessary in order to increase overall efficiency. Marcus had also tasked the captain with improving the discipline of his forces and that there would be review at a later date.
This venture as a whole has so far been like pulling teeth, except in one case. Marcus had gathered the blacksmiths of the town and ordered three thousand gladius's and three thousand 'lorica segmentata'. This led to the blacksmiths being positively gleeful. Even more so when told that both would be made from steel. They were less gleeful when told that he would be supplying the steel and that the price would be reduced to compensate. This dimmed their mood a little, but apparently not enough as they had departed with a little more spring in their step. This was all likely to take months to outfit the whole force. There were also a thousand spares to be kept in reserve.
When captain Finnegan heard how much new equipment he would be getting soon, almost turned his frown upside down. Especially when he heard that it would all be steel.
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6 month
287 AL
It has been two months since winter came to Moat Cailin and the town is completely snowed over. Marcus had ordered the streets cleaned and salted in order to get rid of the ice underneath all the snow. Using snow was after all a technique used in his old world even in modern times.
Fortunately for the town the Fever River showed no sign of freezing and trade had continued to Marcus's satisfaction. Ever since that first vessel from Barrowton trade has been picking up slowly and has dwindle slightly since the winter.
Fire water has been a smash hit with the north thus far and there was even a trickle going south. It has thus far been very profitable. He had debated whether to keep production as is or to draw it down somewhat. After all winter was likely to be the season where it would truly be in demand, but as the storehouse was almost full and it ate up food that could be going into people's belly's he had decided to significantly slow down production. It would still be in production, but not at the previous levels.
The real money makers as he had predicted were the steel mill and his small glass workshop. Every time a ship made port all the stored panes of glass were instantly sold out. The cheap steel also received significant patronage, but considering that there were no significant threats to the west as of this moment. The amounts of steel sold were nothing impressive. That was likely to change when war broke out however. For now there was peace and if he remembered correctly it would last for quite some time. There was nothing to worry about and he could take his time with the modernization of the forces under his command.
He was considering expanding the glass workshop as the demand was turning out to be outstripping the supply. He would have to enquire whether the glassmaker knew someone trustworthy enough, or several someone, if he could manage that. After all the glassmaker has been teaching himself how to make vases and other glassware ever since Marcus's stint in the workshop in producing a birthday gift for little Sansa. The expansion itself would have to wait until summer as it would be problematic under the current weather conditions to improve the workshop. He could do it, but it would be slow costly and likely to risk the lives of the ones involved.
Speaking of his efforts into glass making a letter had arrived from Winterfell during his tour of the country side. Unfortunately maester Daeron had forgotten all about it, being too engrossed with his own projects and then receiving the missive about winter in order to bring it to Marcus's attention.
Anyhow the letter didn't require a reply fortunately. Marcus had given a stern talking to maester Daeron all the same. It wouldn't do for this event to repeat itself. Who knows next time the letter might require an actual reply and what might happen if he didn't respond is anyone's guess. The letter itself thanked him for the gift and was quite formal in that regard. The usual things one might say in response to a gift. He imagined Lord Stark got quite a few of those. The second part of the letter went on to detail events in the Riverlands. Fairmarket had actually built two ferry's one on the Blue Fork and one on the Green Fork. That came as a surprise to Marcus, but a welcome one. He was unlikely to feel the effects until summer, but was gladdened by the news all the same. The second crossing on the Green Fork east of Seagard was completed without problems as well, but seems to have come under attack by 'bandits' on several occasions. Fortunately they were driven off with no harm done to the boats themselves.
House Mallister had a passionate distaste for the Frey's as far as Marcus was aware. This recent round of 'bandits' was likely to make the matter worse, if it continued and it likely would. If not handled correctly the mater could escalate as neither house held much love for the other and were just looking for an excuse to cut to other down.
The matter at the moment didn't concern Marcus all that much as it was as northerners like to say a problem of the south and it was in the south therefore a northerner had no business sticking their nose in it.
Marcus was spending his days far more productively as he was trying to come up with an effective range weapon for his forces. He had of course immediately thought of producing muskets for his forces, but not only did that reduce the need for his current rearmament scheme and needing to rethink the issue altogether. He has after all spent more than ten thousand gold dragons on the new equipment. However that wasn't the real reason why he ruled out the musket. He could produce it even if it would require a specialized workshop that would require a considerable number of people in order to produce sufficient numbers in a reasonable amount of time and then there was the issue of ammunition. He simply didn't have the economy at this time to support the infrastructure that would be required in his estimation. Then there was the fact that the next war was more than a decade into the future as far as he knew and something told him that, if he introduced firearms now the odds of someone else being smart enough to see their value and implementing them into their own forces was more than high. Marcus could go so far to say that it was a certainty. It would be best to bide his time and first teach his men the associated tactics in order to make the transition more seamless.
Therefore he had decided to spend his time indoors trying to produce a repeating crossbow that was both easy to produce, handle and was relatively cheap. He was hoping to at least manage at least two, but given enough time Marcus was certain he could pull off all three. It was challenging as he knew a lot more about muskets than crossbow, but then again they weren't overly complex. He was enjoying the time tinkering and there was little to do other then supervising his special project, but that itself hasn't yet reached a point where it would require his direct involvement. There was little doubt in Marcus's mind that when the point came he would need to spend most of his time on that as it would be delicate work.
On a unrelated topic he had figured out how to transport goods even during winter. The solution was actually extremely simple. So simple in fact that he was wondering why no one had thought of that before now. Sleighs are after all something that he thought that people that suffered winters that lasted years would already have in use. Marcus thought that it probably had something to do with the fact that most if not all northern lordships were fairly self-sufficient at least for the basics, that they didn't really need them and considering the distances involved there wasn't much traffic to begin with and no road save the King's Road. The North was after all more than two thirds of Europe in width at close to one thousand four hundred and fifty kilometers. It was basically huge. Marcus was hoping to get more traffic going with the road network and canal. While he was less certain about the road network being that great an improvement than what he told Lord Stark, it was still likely improve matters. The canal would be a game changer however as even if there wasn't a big improvement in the North and he doubted that the south would likely take full advantage of it.
The sleighs were helping and they were even easier to build the normal carts. Seeing as they had a lot less moving parts. They have improved the situation thus far as traffic between Moat Cailin and the two towns he had improved with hot houses. The mining town was doing fine and were able to feed the population with no problem so far. The problem came from the fact that people from further north outside his own territory were hearing that there was food a plenty in his own territory and were making the perilous trip to either the mining town in the hills or the fishing village on the Bite. A smaller number still were making their way into Moat Cailin. He was fine with the last, but was becoming slightly concerned over the mining town. While he wasn't going to start turning people away. He might need to send people to construct a new hot house up there. Alternatively he could ferry the refugees for that is what they truly were from his own pocket and into Moat Cailin. The situation was likely to get worse as winter continued and people began hearing of how cozy it was down at Moat Cailin with the central heating providing warmth for the average person and not just rich people or nobles.
There was another bit of good news now that the school was up and running there were some people that were using its services. Apparently Marcus going around the factories and telling the workers that they could achieve something that was previously unheard of in Westeros might have spurred them into deciding it might be worth a shot. What it gave them was something simple hope and upwards mobility. Previously if a man was born a mason he was likely to die a mason. This was also the way with pretty much all other professions and callings. The obvious exception being Marcus himself, but no one needed to know that. Most of the older people were waiting to see where the catch is so to speak, but some of the younger workers were going to the school in order to learn what it could teach. It was also a perfect opportunity as there wasn't much to do during winter for most. The fact that the building was well heated was merely an added benefit.
Granted he had to wait and see what the benefit would be as the teachers themselves had only recently graduated themselves, but they would soon be able to turn out some people that were half decent at the required tasks.
Who knew, if this went well maybe in a few years he could construct a library. A more educated workforce would greatly simplify ruling, but unfortunately would create paperwork soon enough. Speaking of that dreaded demon. He was pushing the project of introducing cheap paper and the printing press yet again. He really had to get around to inventing those and the sooner the better. Maybe next year if time permitted. Right now he had plenty of other projects to occupy his time that were no less important.