Northern Continent, early June. Luo La Xiao Shui. Error-free content.
The southern Empire.
Fields stretched beneath golden, rippling waves of grain.
Serfs swung their sickles, reaping the wheat in the fields.
The harvest was loaded onto carts in one load after another and taken to the workshops to be washed and dried.
The summer sea breeze turned the great windmills, driving the millstones. The serfs poured in the processed wheat and ground it into flour, then packed it into bags for storage.
Then they sorted the bags into batches.
They were divided into disaster reserves, Tax Grain, free grain, and Food Grain.
Grain was the foundation of the nation.
This was a policy established by His Majesty Charles.
Because of the various wars more than twenty years ago, the Royal Family's power had grown stronger. Although the various lords could still make their own laws, raise troops, and collect taxes,
the Royal Family could now intervene in many affairs.
The wars had left too many Knight Territories without heirs, and these had all become lands directly governed by the Royal Family.
This expansion had naturally made the Royal Family much stronger.
Taxation was one way the Royal Family had extended its influence.
Disaster reserves existed to meet the needs of war and famine. They would be stored in the cities of the various lords and left untouched unless absolutely necessary.
Tax Grain was, naturally, the tax revenue. In the past, lords had collected taxes without any Fixed Target, with far too much freedom. To ensure revenue, a new tax policy had been established. The Royal Family now intervened directly in the viscounties, adjusting taxes according to harvest yields and Population Ratio.
This had filled the Imperial Granary.
Free grain was grain that the lords could allocate as they wished.
Food