Winter is Coming (asoiaf)

Timeskip to 287 AC, Harvest Feast

A few months back, I also got the result from one of the farmers whom I told to test the four-field crop rotation last year continuously for a year and give me the update. He finally reported that since the last harvest the yield is increasing continuously. Now the method is being spread among the farmers and orphans who will go from village to village and will teach the farmers about it. And today the method will be spread amongst different lords of the North. As the process leads to initial decline in yield for the first 2 harvest, I have announced one year tax exemption for those farmers who will use this technique. It will take around 5 to 7 years for it to spread amongst all of North.

Symeon was sitting at the center of the high table, on his right sat his mother, grandmother and Uncle Rodrik. On his left sat Eddard along with his wife, Catelyn who is trying to hide a scowl behind a fake smile, and their children, Robb, with the two pair of twins, Sansa & Lyanna and Arya & Lyarra, and Benjen. Beside Benjen sat Diana and Lyanna which seems to be the reason for Catelyn's sour mood as she keeps looking in their direction, not Lyanna particularly but her secret daughter Diana, whom she thinks is the bastard of Rodrik and hence have no place in such esteemed company of lords according to her but she couldn't do anything as she is neither the Lady of Winterfell, nor hold any official power. Maybe that is also the reason for her sour mood, as Symeon decided to work on first making a way for Moat Cailin to earn revenue instead of making the castle itself and when she proposed her wish of having a sept built there, while Ned did supported her, it was immediately rejected by Rodrik, Barbrey and even Symeon and an official decree was passed that a sept cannot be built there without Lord of Winterfell's express permission.

Down at the table, Greatjon Umber, Theon Hard and Rickard Karstark got into a drinking game and are trying to drink each other under the table. Down the table Lord Manderly is eating to his hearts content while laughing and making merry with Lord Jeor Mormont and Lord Flint of Widow's Watch, who has expressed his wish for giving up lordship to his son and join the Night's Watch. Further along Lord Locke and Hornwood seems to be discussing something, while Lord Bolton keeps looking at everyone with his cold blue eyes.

On the other side Lord Ryswell is talking with his daughter and good son, William Dustin. Meanwhile Lord Frost, Black and Flint of Flint's Finger are discussing trade. The Mountain Lords under Lord Burley are talking and making merry among themself while Lord Reed silently observed everything. Lord Reed was silently sitting with them and seemed content in remaining silent. While all the other lords seemed to be in good cheer. Laughing, Boasting and Drinking in the typical northern fashion.

Symeon took his fork in his hand before looking back over the lords. In the next few seconds, a sharp noise sounded in the hall.

"Clink! Clink! Clink!"

In a moment the hall was instantly quieted as all those present looked towards the source of the noise. Symeon cleared his throat and began speaking.

"Thank you all for coming to this harvest festival my lords. I will try not to take up too much of your time as I'm sure some of you would rather get back to drinking." At this he sent a sly glance towards the Greatjon, who released a loud booming laugh and raised his mug in a toast while patting Lord Karstark on the back with one of his meaty hands. The lord almost stumbled over from the force of the blow but managed to right himself admirably.

While the commotion was going on Symeon walked around the head table to stand in front of the lords. A serious breach in etiquette, as most lords wouldn't deign to move to their feet to address their bannermen in their own hall. 

After taking a moment to look over the lords in the hall his nephews continued. "The first thing I would like to do is give thanks to all of you. When the Mad King burned my grandfather alive and murdered my father, my uncle called his banners AND YOU answered that call!" Sam's voice carried clearly across the hall. Not one lord made a sound. But Benjen could see most straighten up in their chairs.

"Many of you have been to Winterfell in the past three years and I've had the opportunity to thank you in person before today, but just as many have been busy with your own duties, so I never had that chance. Now that you are all here, I felt that I had to take the opportunity to thank you for the support and loyalty you have shown my family my lords." Symeon dipped his head down towards the lords as he finished his statement. Some lords puffing their chests out in pride at his nephew's words and actions.

While it is common for lords to thank their bannermen for their actions and recognise their feats during a war, most Great Lords will do that by assigning a few honours towards the lords and giving a brief word of thanks. Rarely will they give genuine heartfelt thanks to all the lords regardless of their feats in the war when it is those lords sworn duty to answer the call in the first place. It's basically unheard of for a great lord to humble themselves before their lords by rising to their feet while their lords sit. You will never see Tywin Lannister, Jon Arryn or Mace Tyrell doing so. Hells even Robert Baratheon would never be seen doing so. Most of the lords could be seen greatly appreciating the gesture if the slight smile on some of their faces was any indication.

The Greatjon stood. "What happened to Rickard and Brandon was a great crime! It was an honour to answer the call and avenge them!" He boomed. He then lifted a mug of ale in a toast. "To the Starks!"

All the lords quickly stood with their own mugs. "To the Starks!" They chorused before taking a sip.

Hadrian smiled while bending over to pour some ale into his own cup before lifting it. "You honour us my lords. I'm trying to honour you." He jested with a small chuckle before lifting his own mug of ale. "To the North!"

The lords raised their cups again. "TO THE NORTH!" They roared and the Starks echoed before everyone took a sip of their ale.

Placing his cup on the table Symeon watched the lords for a few moments. Once the commotion died down, he continued to speak. "I –No we-" he gestured to the head table where all the Starks were sitting. "are honored to have your faith and trust my lords. To that end I will be dedicating my life to making the North strong so the south will think twice before moving against us in such a way again."

A cheer rang out across the lords. After a few moments Harry raised his hand for silence. "I have already started plans to make the North stronger. Some of those plans have met success like The Gift. But for now, there is another topic I wish to speak about that will have as great, if not a greater impact on the North. Over the last year I have spent some time studying the farming practices of the North and have come up with a way to drastically increase the yield of our fields." Muttering rang out across the room. Most of the lords had skeptical looks on their faces. Symeon seemed to have expected this though, as he gestured for Rodrik to speak.

"It's true my lords. Following my nephews' instructions the farms around Winterfell have seen a fifty percent increase in yields over the last nine moons. The farmers expect this number to continue to rise for a time." The muttering grew much louder. This time it carried an excited air about it. Most of the lords know Rodrik Stark would never lie about such a thing. So, for him to say that the yield increased by that much most believe it had to be true. The muttering grew louder and louder before Symeon once again clinked a metal glass with a fork.

"Clink! Clink! Clink!"

Once he had the lord's attention and there was quiet in the hall Symeon started to speak again. "The process is pretty simple and will be written down for you to take back home to your Maesters, so they can make sure your farmers can learn how to do it. Basically, you divide a field into four equal parts, three of those parts will be growing whatever crop you choose while the last will grow turnips or clover. After each harvest the field growing turnip or clover will be rotated to one of the other three fields while the area, they used to grow in will now be used to grow your crop. Another advantage of this is that turnip and clover can be used as feed for animals allowing us to increase our number of livestock as well. I know it sounds like madness my lords, but it works."

Many of the lords looked like they were in between looking incredibly happy and still sceptical. Before they could start yet another commotion his nephew continued. "Now while I know many of you are still skeptical, I ask that you give this a chance my lords. I guarantee you will not be disappointed. There is only one more bit that I would like to speak on, but it is nowhere near as important as the previous topics. I have invented a new way of keeping an accounting of coin. It is simpler than the old methods and much harder to cheat as well. It will also prevent you from being cheated. To this end you are all to implement this method in your own households as soon as you can. My Maester will be sending out written instructions in the weeks after you have returned to your holds on how to implement this method." Symeon decided to reveal this knowledge as he had already made a deal with many Essosi banks for selling the method and a deal with southern kingdom and crown.

The lords barely even reacted to what his nephew said. Benjen believes it didn't even register as something important to most of them. Not when they were told the North would be gaining a large amount of fertile land and that his nephew has come up with a way to make sure all land grows even more food. Next to that a new way of keeping numbers must seem like something trivial to them. All except for Lord Manderly and Frost who knew about the method as they were the ones to make the deal with southern kingdoms earning a total profit of 2 million gold dragons.

"Thank you for your time my lords. Please get back to the feast. Lord Frost, Lord Grey, Lord Manderly and Lord Hard please present yourselves to my solar tomorrow at noon my Lords."

With that abrupt finish Symeonn spun on his heel and walked back around the table to his seat.

Only once Hadrian was seated did the commotion start up again. The lords all sat back down into their own chairs and began to speak loudly with each other about what this could mean for the future of the North. Most began to really drink in earnest and the mood of the feast got even more celebratory than it was before. Lord Umber could be heard repeatedly toasting to Symeon with Lord Karstark and downing drinks with even more zeal than he did before. As he watched he saw Lord Mormont join in with a toast towards his nephew before racing with Lord Umber and Karstark to see who could finish their drink the fastest. He also had a feeling that most of the Lords would be conspicuously absent the next day.

"So how did I do?" Symeon asked his family.

Barbrey looked at her son with a proud smile on her face. "You did very well son. It is important for lords to create loyalty with their bannermen. You did well in the speech in the beginning, thanking them for their loyalty during the rebellion. It can mean more to a man to get recognition than you think. I doubt many Great Lords would bother to thank their bannermen for doing their duty. Doing so certainly endeared you to many of them. The lords were certainly excited to hear about the new farming practices and the return of the Gift."

Benjen snorted. "That's an understatement. I doubt many lords here will be able to function until well after noon with how much they are drinking. Lord Umber looks like he has never been happier."

Symeon's eyes travelled over the hall and his smile widened slightly. "Good. They should celebrate. It is certainly a good occasion to."

Benjen looked back over the hall and felt a slight tug on his lips as he looked at how merry the people in it were. He laughed slightly as he saw Lord Karstark fall off his chair and struggle to stand back up with how much he was swaying as he did so. He guesses the Greatjon is still undefeated when it comes to drinking contests.