Sam decided he would talk to Lord Manderly, Frost, Grey and Hard in his solar with his mother, Uncle Rodrik, Uncle Ned and Benjen about his reason for the meeting himself.
Clearing his throat he began. "Lord Hard I am sorry, but you will have to wait a few minutes before I finish with an important topic with these three."
"It's okay my lord. Take as long as you need." Lord Hard said
"Thank you, milord. Lord Manderly, Lord Frost and Lord Grey I'm sure you are wondering why I've requested you today."
Once Symeon spoke the lords brought their gaze towards him." Aye, my lord." Lord Manderly said for all of them, while tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
After taking a moment to decide how he wants to begin Symeon started speaking. "The reason I wanted to speak to all of you at once is something I will get to just now, for now this next part only involves you, Lord Frost. What I would like to speak about involves my uncle."
Noticing his gaze flicker to Ned, Symeon clarified. "My uncle Benjen. As I'm sure you are aware, the drastic increase in our agriculture will be a big boon for the North. Not just to feed our people, but also for our economy. What I want to do is make sure that most of the influx of coin we will be seeing goes towards improving the North further. More specifically, towards strengthening our Western fleet."
His eyes lit up in understanding. "You want me to host Benjen and teach him about running a city, sailing and commanding a fleet. So that he can start a hold on the Western shore."
Nodding slightly, Symeon continued." Aye, the Ironborn have been pests on our Western shores for too long. I aim to fix that."
I could see the smile on the lord's face. No doubt this is a boon to him as well. Even if Benjen isn't the Lord of Winterfell, it is well known I value my family's opinions. Creating closer ties to my family can only be a good thing as far as the lord is concerned and a settlement on the West coast won't have any negative impact on his own trade. So, he has nothing to lose from agreeing and he might even be able to leverage his increased relationship with Benjen later down the line.
Lord Frost only nodded at him before bowing his head. "Then it will be an honor to host and teach him my lord." He bowed his head slightly.
Sam smiled. "Excellent my lord. That isn't all I wanted to speak on however. But before I begin I need an answer to a question. How much does a trading cog cost to build and how long does it take?"
Lord Frost hummed to himself. "An average cog? About 1000 dragons or so. Maybe a little less. It would probably take about a month or so in my shipyard to build one, but we can build three at a time. I think same is the case for Lord Manderly"
Leaning back in his chair Sam stapled his fingers together. "Excellent. House Stark would like to purchase 2 dozen cogs for now. Do you think they could be ready in a year?"
He nodded "That shouldn't be a problem my lord."
Sam smiled. "Good, good. In a year or so, assuming my uncle is ready by then, I would like to send out a trade expedition."
"A trade expedition?" He asked with a look of excitement slowly growing on his face.
Symeon hummed slightly. "Instead of sending out one ship on a voyage for trade, I would like to send a fleet my lord. A fleet that would travel all the way to Yi-Ti. This way the ships would be spared from piracy, as no pirate will want to take on that many ships. We can trade them things they cannot easily get, such as fur from some of our bears or wolves for a much greater price than it would be worth in Westeros or Essos. Once there, the fleet would purchase some items that cannot be found on this side of the world and bring it back to trade for a huge profit in Westerosi markets. None of my uncles, even Uncle Rodrik, are too sure of the idea and so I thought it might be best to ask your opinion."
Lord Manderlys eyebrows crunched together as he spent a few moments thinking about the idea. After about a minute of silence he spoke. "It…The idea has some merit my lord. I believe Corlys 'The Sea-Snake' and the ancestors of these two here, did something similar when they were alive. But even then, I believe it was only a few ships that went with the Sea Snake and the ancestors of these two led a dozen ships combined. It is known all of them got great wealth trading with Yi-Ti, but the actual number of ships the Sea Snake used is unknown to me." Lord Frost and Lord Grey also shook their heads as Corlys was dead before their ancestors ever got to meet him.
Symeon shrugged. "To me as well my lords, the actual history texts speak only of the fact he did it. Not exactly how he did or how many ships he used."
I could see that the lords were much more serious now than when we first started the meeting. Staring at me with an assessing, calculative gaze. "I would be very interested if I could add a few ships into this voyage my lord." Lord Manderly said, and Lord Frost and Lord Grey joined him in the request.
He smiled slightly. "I thought you would never ask my lords. For the size of the fleet, I would prefer to only have five dozen ships to start with. Just in case. We can increase the numbers next time. I would also be sending a dozen warships from the Northern fleets, to escort the trading fleet for extra protection."
He hummed. "So, a dozen ships from me and these two here and a dozen from House Stark to start with. That sounds agreeable. I would also be willing to add the warships into the fleet myself. Yes, yes that sounds agreeable." The lords broke off there and started running some numbers under his breath.
Symeon couldn't help but smile. While it may seem like the Manderly, Frost and Greys are losing out on this deal slightly, it is because they are. They are providing most of the ships, the sailors and the experience to the voyage. The voyage itself is also something that they could do on their own, with or without House Stark as they have done many times in past after stopping it during the conflict in stepstones after Daeron the Dragon's death. But the fact remains, I am the lord of the North and they would not dare use an idea I came up with without my blessing. These Lords know they will lose out on some coin from this voyage as 40 percent of the ships belong to House Stark, leaving them only 20 percent, but they also know that they stand to make more coin from this in the future. House Starks holdings are in the middle of the North, so while we may send a few ships every year for these voyages we will probably not focus on maritime trade very much, being content to collect the increased taxes from the trade. Not to mention sending the warships we have on the voyage cannot be done without the blessing of House Stark.
Really, the Lords only stands to gain from this, and he knows it.
Sam clapped his hands together. "Excellent. We will work out the full details in a few moons. I just wanted to see if you all would find the idea interesting for now. "
After taking a small breath to brace himself for a conversation he knows will be difficult, Symeon begins. "Now, for the last part of the meeting and this is the one that involves you Lord Hard. I have been looking into the feasibility of conquering beyond the wall far into the future."
Before they could say anything, he continued. "It isn't something I am decided on for the moment. I am just weighing options and seeing how likely my ideas are to work. This is the reason I wanted you here Lord Hard. As you know more about the wildlings than I or my uncles do."
Calming himself slightly, Lord Hard asked in a curious tone. "And these three my lord?"
Shrugging Sam responded. "They are here to discuss the feasibility of my plan."
Narrowing his eyes at me, Lord Hard asks. "What exactly is your plan?"
Taking a deep breath, he braced himself. "Trade."
"I don't understand my lord. The Northern lords already trade with them through me." Lord Hard said.
Nodding slightly Sam continued. "The biggest issue with trying to truly conquer the lands beyond The Wall lies in the fact that the wildlings are unorganized. They're uncoordinated. If I send an army up there, they might be able to destroy a few clans, but the rest will scatter and attack us when we aren't expecting it. They know the land better than we do, than we ever will. It will become a war for attrition that will last years, probably decades. While the North is about to have more wealth than it has had in a very long time, I am not willing to throw that all away to feed and supply an army in the middle of a frozen wasteland. Do you believe this is true my lord?"
Lord Hard agreed. "Aye. It will be damn near impossible to supply an army up there. Even if we get a fortified area the wildlings will still find ways to pick off our soldiers on the march."
Symeon inclined his head in agreement. "Hence my idea for trade. It is not possible to conquer a land without trying to get the support of the people who live in that land. If we go up there with an army they will never support us. While we may be able to just kill them all, that will be both incredibly difficult and is not something I will feel comfortable doing. They may be wildlings but the blood of The First Men flows through their veins as well. Now as you said we already trade with them but hey are only the tribes living in Storrold's Point. I want the whole lands from Frostfangs to Valley of Thenns. Now if we were to trade with the more landlocked tribes and bring them things they need, like food or clothes, for things they have, such as furs, ivory, leather and meat, some may find themselves moving near the soldiers stationed there for both protection and to make their lives easier. After a while, and after they have become accustomed to our people and ways, some of them may be willing to bend the knee and become citizens of the North. Either in order to come South or so that they can get greater amounts of protection. Over time this will make the idea of bending the knee more agreeable for many of them. I'm not saying it will be easy, there will be many clans that will want to fight us, to stop us from integrating these people. But at least they will come to us and fight us on our terms. Instead of having our soldiers march through a land they know better than us and picking us off small amounts at a time."
Lord Hard still had a contemplative look on his face. "It may work, as it is similar to what my ancestors did and now, we have good friendship with the tribes of Storrold's Point. But it will take time my lord, it took us generations to build good relations with them."
Sam spoke. "Thank you for your input my lord. My Lords, how feasible would it be to set up such a secured forts and trading towns there."
Lord Manderly rubbed his chin. "It's certainly possible my lord. It will take a number of years to set something like that up, however. We would need to find a place that is both defensible and that can host a town at the very least."
"Unless we use one that is already there. There used to be a fort there, now it is known as the 'Fist of First Men'. It is a solitary hill, located next to the Milkwater, surrounded by the haunted forest which could be cleaned to form a town. The hill was named so for its appearance, which looks like a fist punching up through the earth.
The hill's windswept heights are visible from miles away. However, it is highly defensible, as the hill offers commanding views, and its slopes are at a dangerous angle to the north and west, and only slightly less dangerous to the east. Crowning the top of the steep, stony hill is an ancient ringfort which is in ruins and only the stone ringwall remains. But it should have some infrastructure we can use. I will have to research it again." Lord Frost suggested.
"Very well. The Fist sounds like a feasible option for the outpost near wall. I will have to put more thought into the Western one. It isn't important at the moment though, all of this is just so I could see the likelihood of my plan working. It's not something that will be implemented for years yet. If it is at all." Symeon said.
Sam smiled. "Good. One last thing my lord, before you leave. Giants. Are they real or have they gone extinct?"
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Most Maesters would tell you that they are nothing but myth. Either they never existed, or they are all dead. I believe they are still there though, not in any great number but I believe they are real. I have had too many free folks tell me stories about them for me to believe otherwise."
He looked at me with curiosity. "Why do you ask?"
Sam just grinned mysteriously. "I've just been wondering lately if the North would have ever been conquered if we had some."
He laughed boisterously at that answer. When the lords left the solar Symeon could still hear them laughing as they walked down the hall. "Giants! The lad doesn't think small, does he?! Ha!"
Once they left and it was just him and Barbrey and Rodrik in the solar his uncle spoke. "I believe that went about as well as it could have."
After a moment Barbrey spoke. "Are you still sure about your plan to leave Winterfell, son?"
Sam just smiled. "It's about time I travelled and saw more of the North. I'm sure the Lords would be happy to host me."
Ned frowned. "Aye, but Greywater Watch? Lord Reed is a good man and a good friend, but wouldn't a more powerful Lord be a better place to start your tour?"
Symeon chuckled. "Trust me uncle. It's the perfect place."
After all, it is about time he started learning more about the magic in this new life and the Neck is the best place to do so until he finds a Child of the Forest.