On the isolated planet that stably revolved around a young star, a world that had been named Independence by its first outsider since the native species first formed, a harvest festival ceremony was currently being conducted on the small nation of Athens.
"Tell me, Bishop Mark, how helpful will the method the Primordial Unity bestowed to you be in growing the crops?" King Alexandros questions softly to Bishop Mark who was standing behind the seated king.
"It should increase it, that is a certainty. Depending on the weather and possible accidents, the increased amount should be anywhere between an extra third for each unit of crops, all the way to triple the crop production."
"That should increase the amount of tax we collect by a lot."
"My king, I would like to recommend another aspect. The reduction of taxes on the common folk."
For the first time, the king who had been watching the proceedings and waving at the hundreds of common-folk that were passing by on the streets below in celebration paused in his actions. However, he quickly resumed his act while softly gesturing to Mark, "I'm listening."
Bruce, the personal aide to the king, and also the captain of the city-guard, frowned. He did not understand much of the financials of the country, but he knew reducing taxes would cause reduced budgets for the rag-tag group of part-timers they called as army, further weakening their nation. Which was… bad?
"Well, the only thing you earn from the peasants is food, and a lot of it is just stored and used as currency, which is incredibly wasteful. Using a perishable good as currency, and one that everyone can create if bound to cause a lot of problems. Like in seasons where a lot of crops are produced, exchanging grain for anything like a pot made of mud could require up-to a large sac of food."
"Meanwhile, in times of bad harvest, the same pot could be bought with but a hand-full of grain. This causes a lot of confusion as to the real prices of things. As such, I would also like to propose a system of currency for Athens, which is already in the works. But more importantly, the tax needs to be reduced, especially if you are no longer using grain as a currency."
"Introducing a new form of currency… it will cause a lot of problems."
"In the short-term, my king. But in the future, especially for your descendants, if would create a powerful control they can have over the nation, a control not instilled through the fear of armies like in the other nations, but fuelled through our own greed of possessing."
"By wanting to own the currency instead of needing to own grain, since it is more valuable than grain, and being the only source of the currency, the royal family would be able to control a lot of the nation without forcing the peasants!" King Alexandros softly exclaimed as his eyes widened in understanding.
"Yes, my king. But more importantly, reducing the taxes will increase the living conditions of the peasants."
"And why would I want to improve the living conditions of the peasants?"
"…"
A brief moment of silence ensued before Mark spoke again, "Are you fond of riddles, my king?"
"Why? Am I about to hear one?" King Alexandros leaned back in his high-back throne and asked with a nasal voice.
Mark chuckled a bit before continuing, "Three great men sit in a room. A rich man, a priest, and a wise man. Between then, stands a peasant, but that peasant has a sword. And what do you know! He knows how to wield it!" Mark exclaimed in a slightly exaggerated manner causing a slight chuckle to leave the king's lips, while Bruce simply frowned at the absurd thought.
"Each great man bids the peasant to kill the other two. Who lives, who dies."
"That depends on the peasant, I would assume," King Alexandros responds with a hand on his chin.
"Does it, my king? He has neither money nor knowledge. He does not even have favour with their false gods."
"He has a sword!? He can kill any of the three of the great men." The King exclaimed in exasperation at the stupid point Mark was trying to make.
"But if it is swordsmen who rule… why do kings hold all the power?" Mark asked, causing the king and Bruce to pause for a moment.
"Bruce here, for example, could stab you through the heart and proclaim himself the king. The 'soldiers' would follow him."
"…"
"And yet the peasants wouldn't. They might accept him as the king on the surface, but changing the lineage of the royal family, one that has been ruling over them since their birth… would not be something easy to accept. Plus… I'm fairly certain the kingdom would be in ruins within a few months…" Mark threw out a joke to lighten the suddenly tense atmosphere, and the three men chuckled for a while.
"My king, power lies where people believe it lies. For this, you must show them that not only do you hold all the power, but you also want them to live prosperously. By doing this, we would not only attract peasants from the neighbouring countries to come into our nation and increase the population, we would also get traders."
"Instead of taxing the citizens of the nation 70% of the crops they grow, we could reduce it to 30%. Alternatively, we could impose a trading fee. The more they trade, the more tax they must pay."
"You see, the strength of a nation comes from the people. Quite frankly, we have too few people and too much infertile land infested with vicious beasts and monsters I had never even heard of until recently. However, we do have something that none of the neighbouring nations have, which came as part of that very monster-infested land."
"I have called it ironwood. It comes from the large tree monster that the records of the kingdom had named Indestructible Vine Beast. This iron wood is almost as strong as the iron that makes up swords, but as light as wood. Trading this for other important materials that Athens currently requires would be vital."
"And my king, we would only be making more money by doing this."
"… We shall see. But only if this crop rotation idea of yours works. Till then, do not implement anything."
"As you wish, my king."