In just over three months, Jason had sold more than ten thousand of his modern freight wagons, earning him a staggering profit of over one million Gold Dragons. This, combined with the relentless sales of plastic goods—buckets, cups, pots, and more—had attracted merchants from every corner of Westeros and even across the Narrow Sea. In a little over a year, his "Easter store" had netted him a fortune of more than three million Gold Dragons.
This immense wealth was the bedrock of his confidence, allowing him to expand his army and recruit laborers on a massive scale. For now, the gold sat in a warehouse in the inner city of Starfire, but a pile of coins was worthless until it was spent. He planned to invest it, building a network of factories to exploit the rich vegetation, minerals, and fisheries of the North.
His miners had already discovered a large iron ore deposit in the lands of Earl Meech of House Seven, north of the White Knife. Jason had negotiated a partnership to jointly develop the mine, but progress was slow. Skilled miners and blacksmiths were scarce, and the construction of Jason's planned iron smelting plant was still in its early stages.
Honestly, Jason wished he could simply transport a small steel mill from his own time. But without a power plant, the machinery would be useless. He had considered building a hydroelectric plant, but the technology required was far beyond Westeros's capabilities. A thermal power plant was also impossible; as far as anyone knew, there was no coal on the entire continent.
He had heard Dornish merchants speak of a foul-smelling "black oil," a fossil fuel that could be found in the deserts of the south. But Dorne, the domain of House Martell, was a world away. He was a foreign-born earl in the North; the Martells would have no time for him. Perhaps one day, after the wars, he could forge an alliance of interests to develop Dorne's oil fields. For now, with the realm in chaos, that plan had to be shelved.
Without electricity, his factories—the paper mill, the printing press, the cannery—would have to rely on the most basic of power sources: human labor. This created another bottleneck. He simply didn't have enough people.
Fortunately, he had a solution. By marching south with the Northern army, he could recruit from the thousands of refugees created by the war in the Riverlands. The labor problem would soon be solved.
Despite the shortage of workers, Jason had already used his considerable resources to acquire a set of manually operated paper-making machines from his world—backward by his standards, but miraculous by Westerosi ones. He had already established the first paper mill in Starfire City.
The forests of the North were vast and dense. Jason had struck deals with House Cerwyn and House Karstark to purchase timber at a low cost. Combined with the forests on the lands he rented from the Starks, a steady stream of logs and branches was already flowing into his new factory.
Jason rode to the paper factory for an inspection, accompanied by his loyal guard, Kent, and Qyburn. The disgraced maester, whom Jason had appointed as the official Scholar of Starfire City, was thriving. He had witnessed the city rise from nothing, and his loyalty to the mysterious young lord who had given him a new purpose was absolute. The endless stream of new knowledge Jason provided was a feast for Qyburn's inquisitive mind, and he was completely captivated.
They reined in their horses as a convoy of steel freight wagons, each piled high with logs, rumbled toward the factory gate. The drivers, seeing their respected lord, bowed their heads in salute before guiding their heavy carts through the entrance. Kent began to move forward, intending to order the wagons out of the way for Lord Jason, but Jason stopped him with a wave of his hand.
"It's fine, Kent," he said calmly. "We can wait. Let them bring the raw materials in."
"Yes, my lord," Kent replied, stepping back. Still, he shouted at the drivers to hurry up and unload their cargo.
"My lord, I must say, the machinery you've brought for producing pulp and paper is truly exquisite," Qyburn remarked, his eyes wide with admiration as he watched the massive quantity of wood being delivered. "Judging by the amount of paper already coming out of the factory, if it were fully staffed with more machines, you could likely supply all of Westeros!"
The last of the wagons finally cleared the gate, and Jason led his party inside. "You're right, Qyburn," Jason said with a laugh. "And if we expanded this factory to ten times its current size, we could supply not only Westeros, but Essos as well."
This was no idle boast. Rather than continuing to import paper from his world, Jason planned to build a manufacturing empire in the North. His reasoning was simple and multifaceted.
First, the resources were cheap and abundant. The cost of timber from the northern houses was negligible.
Second, he needed to grow his population to solidify his hold on his territory. The lands around Starfire City were technically rented from the Starks, but Jason now considered them his own. He had no intention of ever giving them back.
Third, to protect his vast commercial interests, he needed a powerful military. A strong army required a large population base to draw from—at least one hundred thousand people to start. The barren lands around Starfire City could not support so many people through agriculture alone. The answer was industry. Compared to farming, industry could absorb a much larger and more concentrated labor force. A factory could employ hundreds, even thousands, of people who would otherwise have no work. This was the foundation upon which he would build his army, his city, and his empire.
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