"...and that's why I know that every single year after you pay taxes to the throne, you spend all the remaining money to buy food from the Riverlands, Vales, or the Reach, to make sure that more people survive the harsh winter and don't have to die of starvation..."
Lord Stark was seated at his desk in the Lord's Solar, with Robb sitting in the chair before him. They were listening intently to Jon's proposal of how they could use this Mormont incident to their advantage and listening to him till now Ned could say proudly that Jon was a lot more eloquent than he could ever be.
"...That is also the reason I never came to you when I initially had the idea to sell Starkhouses to make a profit because I knew that you hate spending money frivolously as a few dragons may just mean that one more family survives in the winter. And I had no way of knowing that my idea may even work but now that we are making a steady profit in White Harbor, I can bring this to you as a profitable business..."
Eddard knew more clearly than anyone else that one of the main reasons for North being the poorest of Seven Kingdoms (except for the Iron Islands) was that they seemed to be stuck in some kind of a perpetual wheel where the harsh winters make it difficult for the North to accumulate wealth, as they spent much of their resources on food and supplies to survive the long, cold months.
They could never afford the luxury to spend coins like the other kingdoms on things like roads or ships to increase trade, or fancy armor and horses to improve their military might Even if they somehow managed to save some money after a short winter, someone, somewhere will start a war over some petty reason, dragging the North into it and leaving them with no choice but to focus on fighting instead of development.
It is as if every Northerner had accepted the reality in their heart that come Winter a great culling will happen where the weak will perish and the ones who survive will have to continue. And it seems that it will continue to happen perpetually unless they somehow instantly become rich enough to afford food for every single person in the North.
"...But if we continue down this path we never develop and will always be known as barbarians to those in the south but this... this is a chance for us to break through. If we can fully capitalize on it, we can improve the lives of Northerners like never before," Jon concluded his well-prepared speech with a deep breath, looking at Lord Stark expectantly for his response.
At the moment the whole of the planetos was an Agrarian civilization where wealth was measured by the amount of arable land one owned, protected by their army, with only a few exceptions such as the Lannisters who had a huge gold mine under their ass. So at the moment, the only way Jon could see a way to make some quick money before the shit hit the fan was through some kind of industry and he chose the most practical one that he could remember.
"I wholeheartedly agree with your point about needing a breakthrough," Ned said with a sigh, before leaning back and nodding at Jon. "So, tell me exactly what you need."
"As I've already mentioned, my plan is to sell Starkhorses in cities on the eastern shore such as Braavos, King's Landing, Pentos, and all the Essosi cities through White Harbor. Therefore, I was thinking that if we had a similar port on the western shore it would make cities like Lannisport and Oldtown more accessible, without having to go all the way around through Dorne," Jon explained.
Ned shook his head with a bitter smile. "While it's a noble idea, you might as well give it up because I don't think it's going to be feasible at all," he said.
"Why not, Father?" Robb asked immediately, "Not only could we sell Starkhorses through there it would also improve trade on the western shores," Robb had been the one most excited listening to Jon create a vivid picture in their mind about his future vision, and he was already on board with every single idea that Jon placed in front of Eddard.
"Ironborn," Jon said answering Robb instead of Ned.
"That's right," Ned nodded approvingly at Jon, "They would never let a port survive that close to them,"
"B-But they just lost the huge war," Robb said with wide eyes as if urging them to see from his point of view, "They must be lacking any kind of army at the moment, a-and won't they be afraid of retaliation so soon after the war if they tried anything again,"
"While you're right for the most. You've never fought them so you don't know them well enough," Ned calmly explained to his agitated son, "Ironborn are best explained by the Greyjoy motto, 'We do not Sow,'. They do not believe in money or trade— just pillaging and plundering,"
"So even though they just got out of a huge war, it won't be long before they are able to assemble a few wooden ships to start their pirating ways again," Ned continued, his nose crunching in disgust, "They will probably just change their targets for a while to Essos or maybe they'll hide their flags and disguise as pirates if they want to hunt on Westeros's shore to have deniability but they won't stop. So it is almost impossible for a port to survive in waters close to them as they won't let a single ship pass by without sinking and looting them,"
"But...But..." Robb appeared crestfallen at having the idea that he thought was brilliant being shot down due to those pirates but before he could dwell on his disappointment, Ned turned to Jon with a smile and asked him
"Jon, it seems you've already pondered this situation. Do you have a solution?"
"You are right, Father, I do have a solution," Jon nodded with a proud smile, "We simply take away their biggest weapon and it will be very easy to defend against them,"
"Their biggest Weapon? What is that?" Robb asked hurriedly and Ned also looked curiously at Jon.
"If you look at the history of most of the battles that ironborn have ever won, you can easily notice that the biggest thing going for them, their biggest weapon is SURPRISE. They always employ ambush tactics and they're sneaky and can move quickly on their ships. By the time their targets realize what's happening, they're already on their doorstep. Then their suicidal charge and sheer numbers take care of the rest,"
Jon's eyes lit up with excitement as he spoke, "If we strip away their element of surprise, the ironborn become just another band of pirates." He gestured with his hand, emphasizing his point. "Just imagine if the Lannisters had been warned about the attack on Lannisport even a day in advance. It would have made a huge difference. Removing the surprise factor is like taking the wings off a bird."
Ned leaned in, his expression serious. "That's all well and good, Jon, but how do we take away their surprise?"
"For that, I need to tell you something that I've kept a secret all this time..." Jon hesitated for a moment, exchanging a glance with his brother before finally taking a deep breath he said, "You know those stories about the wargs... Well, they are kind of true..."
Jon was in that room for a very long time, even past dinner and it was only when Lady Stark herself came that the three Stark males left the solar to eat. A few days later, Lord Stark and Jon left for the Bear Islands with their minds filled with a whole lot more than just punishing a Lord.