Experiences
Experiences
"This is a unique little town." Tilly thought, and the more carefully she observed, the stronger this feeling grew. It was vastly different to anywhere she had ever been... and if there was one thing that impressed her most, it was the unparalleled vitality which the town radiated.
Even the newly developed Sleeping Island could not compare.
"Are these people not afraid of the cold?" Watching people on the street come and go, Andrea asked curiously, "What's it that your brother promised them, for them to be willing to work on this cold winter day?"
"It's still mid-autumn," Ashes shrugged her shoulders. "You can't even tell the seasons apart?"
"There isn't much difference from winter. I was merely using an analogy, which is a technique that is regularly used in the book "Her Dream, His Nation"." Andrea elegantly lifted up her long hair. "Of course, barbarians will never understand."
"What's that your dream my dream book..."
"Deary me, it's simply difficult to talk to a barbarian who has never appreciated theatre. I'm sure Lady Tilly has watched this famous play which originated from the Kingdom of Dawn."
"Quit bickering, you two." Sylvie let out a sigh. "I imagine that the reason is simple indeed. Most commoners refuse to work in winter because energy consumption is high, while they are short on food and susceptible to catch a cold. However, these problems don't exist in Border Town. Over here, the price of food is inexpensive, there is more than sufficient firewood, and Miss Lily is able to treat chills and colds. Therefore, people are able to continue working hard despite the wind and snow - a day's work for a day's pay, after all.
"I can understand why firewood is sufficient; Mist Forest is just over to the west, and there are woods in the surrounding as well. But the low prices of food... how is that possible?" Andrea asked questioningly, "My family was involved in the food business before, and whenever natural disasters or other factors caused poor harvests, the prices of food would go through the roof. When there is bad weather, don't the nobles and merchants here raise prices?"
"Nobles? Merchants?" Sylvie chuckled silently. "Over here, only one person controls the food business, and that's none other than His Highness Roland."
"Are the fields along the river all his?" Tilly frowned.
"No, those belong to the serfs." Sylvie gave an account of everything that she had seen and heard about the town, and described the scene during a bumper harvest. "Roland sets the buying and selling prices of food. These two prices are fixed, and the latter must always be higher than the former."
"Isn't this considered hard buying and selling?" Ashes said, looking unsurprised. "If he's selling the food at a high price, why is he preventing other people from doing the same?"
"It's not the same." Tilly muttered. "After the wheat is collected, it requires threshing, grinding, and storing. These processes are costly and therefore it is perfectly normal for prices to be increased."
"Lady Tilly's right. I only understood after consulting Teacher Scroll." Sylvie laughed. "She said that after these extra expenses are collected, they can either be distributed as wages to the workers who process the wheat, be used to build a new granary or to expand the scale of production. These provide the town with new..." she paused and thought briefly, "jobs, yes, that's what she told me. I heard that His Highness is very concerned about jobs."
"But still, it IS hard buying and selling." Ashes emphasized. "Shouldn't trade be free?"
"Perhaps yes, but the prices which His Highness sets are largely affordable. If these prices never change, the people are able to feel at ease.
"Sometimes, freedom doesn't represent the best state of affairs." Tilly said with a sigh. She had made sense of the purpose behind Roland's measures. "Prohibiting other people from selling food may seem dictatorial and unjust, but in practice, it eliminates hoarding and profiteering and therefore is effective in preventing prices from skyrocketing during a food shortage. Taking King's City for example, if snow falls in autumn unexpectedly, the prices of food will inflate by a factor of five or six, and more than half of the commoners will starve. If this persists for a long period of time, the people may start to riot, and the only solution then would be either sending relief grain from the palace or mobilising the guards. In either case, it will come at a significant cost to the national treasury."
"Although Roland's policy looks impressive, it's not implementable just anywhere. In most places, the people controlling the food business are the nobility and wealthy, who own many serfs and fields. Therefore, the royalty is unable to hard buy the food produced by these people, or prohibit them from hoarding the food. However, in Border Town, with the exception of Roland Wimbledon himself, there is no other noble family, and therefore he is able to have the final say on all matters."
After Tilly provided her opinion, Ashes still had a few grievances. "What about the serfs? When prices of food increase, the serfs will probably be able to earn more income. The fixing of prices prevents them from doing that."
"Pfft,"Andrea sneered, "you speak as if in a city with free trade, these people aren't exploited. When there's a bumper harvest of wheat, they not only have to turn in a larger amount of wheat, but even the portion that they keep for themselves will drop to a very low price. And when there's a poor harvest, after subtracting the portion that they turn in, the remainder that they have left is insufficient for them to tide over the famine. By comparison, having a fixed price is more reasonable. It'll always be that the greater the production, the higher the earnings."
"And over here, they can choose not to be a serf." Sylvie's words captured the other three witches for a brief moment. "His Highness has said before that when production output reaches a certain target, serfs can be promoted to free citizens. Then, whether to continue working in the fields or choose to find a new job is entirely up to their wishes. However, as a free citizen, they'll only need to hand in one-fifth the amount of food they usually do to earn a considerable income, if the buying prices of this year's bumper harvest are anything to go by."
"Pro... moted?"
"Yes, in fact, during a public speech, His Highness even spoke of his desire to make Border Town a place without serfs in two or three years' time."
"That explains it." Tilly felt a sudden jolt in her heart. "This is the reason why the town is so full of vitality... When setting policies, Roland took into consideration the views of the citizens, and implemented an incentive system which encouraged the people to do more and better, which was completely different from how any other noble lord did. Incentive is given not only by way of speech but by practical means that allow the people to obtain benefits and rewards through hard work. The riches of the town are not just stashed away in the castle's underground vaults."
It was only at that time that she truly understood the meaning of the slogan on the riverside red banner.
"Yet, while in the palace, Roland Wimbledon wasn't a generous person... therefore, could this also be a change brought about by 'that' portion of 'Sudden Memory'?" Tilly was also fascinated by the lesson content of the night classes for elementary natural science and mathematics.
She had thought that after reading through the palace's book collection, there would be little else that could arouse her curiosity and interest, but now, she realized that she still had so much more to learn.
A feeling suddenly swelled up in her heart. "Even if I do nothing but remain in the town castle, flipping through the books that recorded magic knowledge, and at the same time, observe the changes happening in the town, it will be immensely pleasurable."
Suddenly, from the direction of the city wall, a bell started to chime. This was the warning for an attack by demonic beasts.
Tilly suppressed her ongoing thoughts. It was a pity that she was no longer the free-spirited Fifth Princess that she used to be, but was now the leader who was responsible for the fates of the witches of Sleeping Island, and therefore she could not simply do what she liked capriciously. "Let's head to the city wall and have a look. We may need to give the guards a helping hand."
"Certainly."Andrea smiled. "This is the real reason why we're here. Let's give them a good look at how witches fight."