Steel and Sorrow: Rise of the Mercenary king

Chapter 347: Arrival of August

Chapter 347: Arrival of August

The arrival of August marked a time of universal anticipation, one of the rare occasions when nobles and commoners—two groups divided by every conceivable aspect of life—shared a common joy. To the peasantry, who toiled tirelessly in the soil, August was the reward for their labor, the culmination of months spent sowing and tending to the fields. It was the season of the great harvest, the moment when the golden bounty of the earth, grain, would be gathered to sustain their families and communities through the year.

For the nobles, however, August was a season of prosperity of a different sort. While the peasants rejoiced in their hard-earned yield, their lords relished the wealth it brought. With the stroke of a quill and the weight of ancient laws, the fruits of others' labor flowed steadily into their coffers. Their entitlement to the harvest—typically set at 25–30%, which usually changed between lordship and lordship, represented a steady stream of grain or its worth in coin. To the nobility, this was no mere transaction; it was a reaffirmation of their status and privilege which were gods' given, dressed up in justifications that made their parasitic lifestyle seem not only natural but worthy of admiration.

Thus, while nobles and peasants might differ as vastly as two species of men, August united them in a fleeting harmony. One celebrated the yield of their toil; the other rejoiced in the wealth it bestowed upon them. 

Even so, there was one exception that set a different tone between lord and monarch in this case: the lands directly owned by the crown had much lighter taxation. Here, the taxation of the harvest was capped at 15%. This policy endeared the throne to its tenants, as it allowed them to keep more of their grain to store for leaner times or to sell in town markets without fear of starvation should the following year prove less bountiful.

There were two primary methods of taxation: one paid in kind and the other in coin. Nobles often favored coin-based taxation for its practicality in financing wars. Unlike grain, which required the extra step of selling to be converted into usable funds, coinage could be spent immediately. However, both methods came with their own drawbacks.