Audrey was rather puzzled. "What about the commoners, then?"
Altair thought for a moment. "The commoners?"
"When grain is expensive, they can't afford it."
"When grain is cheap, their wages get pushed even lower."
"No matter which side wins, they never get a share of the benefits."
Audrey sighed softly. "So this dispute that's dragged on for almost two years is essentially nothing more than-an unequal division of profits."
Altair nodded. "Exactly."
Seeing Audrey's downcast expression, Altair added, "There are still some benefits to repealing the Corn Law, though."
"Once cheap foreign grain comes in, grain prices will plummet and bread will become cheaper. Ordinary people will finally have enough to eat."
On August 25, 1348, as dusk settled over Bexland and laborers in its streets and alleys gradually finished work and headed home, the House of Lords chamber in the Saint George District, the city's administrative center, remained brightly lit.
The bill to repeal the "Grain Act" had barely been read out before the entire chamber erupted.
Duke Negan shot to his feet, his dark crimson formal attire heaving with his chest. Pointing at the bill, he roared furiously, "Betrayal! This is a betrayal of us landed nobles! A betrayal of Loen's very foundations! Once cheap grain is allowed to flood in, land rents will plummet and estates will gradually go bankrupt. A thousand years of landed order will be swept away! You are burying this country with your own hands!"
His voice shook the vaulted ceiling with echoes. Countless Conservative Party nobles slammed their hands on the tables and rose, their faces livid, curses ringing out one after another.
"Bowing to the capitalists! Shameful!"
"You're destroying the countryside! Destroying the farmers!"
"You're going to turn us all into beggars!"
The leader of the New Party rose calmly, his