God of Systems: Maker of Heroes and Villains

Chapter 192 Nobles and Taxes

"Baronets and Knights aren't true nobles. They both have a right to be called as Sirs or Ladies, but the Empire doesn't give them any land to govern.

Baronets get the title by donating a large sum of money to the empire while the knights take a different approach. They are technically offering their life to the empire by accepting the title of a knight.

Or should I say a Royal Knight? Most of the so called knights aren't exactly official like the ones at our church. Anyways, let's move on to the others." he said and turned to look at the trio before he began explaining.

He knew that the reason Amelia asked this question was to both test the two of them while also wanting the trio to learn from their answers.

"The lowest noble title is Baron or Baroness. These nobles have a small land to govern like a small district like a small town. Their territory is called the Barony.

Next is the Viscount and Viscountess. They are stronger nobility titles compared to the first. They usually have enough land that can occupy three medium sized towns and their land is called the Viscounty.

Count and Countess are the next. They control land that holds upto five towns and their land is called the county.

Marquess and Marchioness are a higher level than a count and they have control over seven towns or cities. The land under them is called a Marquisate.

Things take a leap from the next one, which is the Dukedom. The ones in control of a dukedom is either a Duke or a Duchess and they can have control over ten to twelve towns or cities.

Grand Duke and Grand Duchess are a level above but there's only three in our empire. They have control over fifteen to twenty five towns, cities and villages.

And lastly, the Emperor... he's basically the one who owns everything in the empire."

Amelia heard his answer and nodded before she began to speak.

"You got everything right but there's a huge line that differentiates the dukes, grand dukes and the emperor from the other nobles.

It's the ability to have other's territory under them. Just like how the emperor owns everything in the empire, this is the same for Grand Duke and the Dukes.

They can have Marquesses, Counts, Viscounts and Barons in their territory and this is what usually happens.

It's like the Empire has three levels. First is the nobles below the duke.

They collect taxes from the people in their land and give it to the Dukes or Grand dukes who are above them as long as their own territory is a part of the Dukedoms.

The Dukes and Grand dukes on the other hands, pay taxes to the emperor.

The way the taxes are paid depends on the owner of the land. Some of them just buy the grains and other produce from the farmers directly for a lower price. The discount can be considered as tax in this situation.

Usually, this is done by the lower four nobles and they then use these grains to make money. This money is then used to pay taxes to the Dukedoms while they also keep a part of the profits for themselves.

The Dukes keep a part of this money before sending the remaining to the Emperor."

"So the farmers are basically getting ripped off. Dukes and the other nobles keep a part of the money and this happens twice before it goes to the emperor. This is blatant corruption." Keith said as he did not really know how the system worked until now.

This was because the novel never mentioned about it and this was due to Clark originally being from Morose Kingdom. There was a lot of info on Morose, but not much on Kazak.

Amelia shrugged, "They need this money though. They have to feed their soldiers, their horses, they have to buy weapons and there are a lot of other things to consider.

Also, it's not just the farmers who pay money. The regular workers also do the same but instead of grains and produce, they just directly give money.

We're just exempted from all taxes since we're official members of one of the churches."

Looking at Keith's unsatisfied expression, she sighed and continued. Stay tuned for updates on empire

"If a war pops up, the ones who are supposed to fight in the war isn't the common people, but the nobles and their soldiers. Morose Kingdom uses their civilians as soldiers but we have rules.

We don't force civilians to go into a war unless it's absolutely needed, which happens if a lot of soldiers are losing their lives while not being able to give much returns.

When this happens, the empire sends out a messenger who tells everyone about the situation at the borders and the people will voluntarily join as soldiers.

This is the second stage and if the situation worsens, that's the only time when the empire will force people to fight. Though, it's only able bodied men who are sent into war.

Two hundred years ago, we had four times the women compared to men and now, the difference has reduced. Out of a hundred, there are thirty five men and sixty five women now.

This is all because the men are sent to war and most of them lose their lives there. And a few hundred years back, we got into a war with a bunch of kingdoms and it was very brutal.

One of my ancestor, the one who managed to get the title of a Duke from the past emperor, was a commoner at first and he was forced into the war.

He returned with just one hand, but he was one of the exceptional soldiers back then and the Emperor noticed his contributions. So yeah, don't blame the nobles too much for keeping some money for themselves.

In the long run, it'll only help us in case a war springs upon us but there are also a few nobles who splurge this money on useless things. I personally have no respect for them, but I also can't do much about it."