As he promised his Father , Eddard started to think on his fathers words . He thought of politics and economics . He thought to understand why survival is the central point of Northern culture and not Honor like it was in Vale .
North has snows even in summer , and in Winters people could not even leave their homes , old men of North leave homes for hunting during Winter and never come back so they wont be a burden on their families . Many children die in Winters . So North has less time than South to grow crops , which means less food , which in turn means grain imports for Winter , which is very costly , even with that there is not enough grain , so smallfolk die in droves during Winter , that means less smallfolk to till the land that's available in Summers .
' This is a vicious cycle , brutal Winters keep Norths population down , need for grain imports keep North poor , we are one very bad Winter away from being a land of a dead people ' , that thought made Ned shudder with fear and dread .
' What does North need first ? ' , Ned thought , answer is easy enough , 'Money' .
' How do we make more money? '
To answer that I need to know how we make money now . So Eddard went in search of the new Maester of Winterfell , Walys , after the last Maester died of old age two years ago .
Ned didn't like the new maester . Old Maester Norbert was a kindly man , who always had a smile for Stark children , very much like a grandfather to them . The new one is a middle aged man of South , and seemed to have disdainful eyes for everyone that isn't his Lord Father and not very fond of the North . Even so he was a maester and he is there to educate Stark children . So he went to him with his question at Maester's Turret . Maester was looking over some parchments when he arrived .
" Maester Walys " , Ned called
" How can I help you Lord Eddard ?" , Maester questioned , smiling but his smile didn't reach his eyes .
" How does the North make money ? " Ned asked
" Interested in economics, are we ? That question has a very complicated answer , my lord , and some details only Lord Stark can share , but I will give a simplified answer for now and reference some books you can read later for more thorough answers . Moneymakers for North are obviously taxes from smallfolk , lords and trade , silver from mines run by Manderly's , a small trade of Iron , furs , and very exclusive trade of Ironwood as Ironwood only grows in the North . There are deeper intricacies to it , of course . Those you can learn from books I mentioned and when Lord Arryn's Maester teaches them to you at Eeyrie . Is there anything else you need my help with young lord ? "
" No , thank you for explaining , if you can point me to the books you have mentioned , I will take my leave for the day" , Ned replied .
" Of course , my lord . If you would follow me , I will show you where they are in the library ."