End of Feudalism

A month had passed since King Roland asked Will and Dean Trevor vont Lawrence to help him write the book on mercantilism. The Peasant Rebellion had not long since ended. Peace returned to Fermion.

Every day for the past month, Will, Trevor, and Roland sat in the library thinking, debating, and writing.

Will's 30th birthday was fast approaching. His once youthful features were long gone. His sleek face now sported a trimmed beard. He now stood close to 2 meters tall. His adolescent hair was cleanly trimmed to a classic taper cut.

The book had progressed quickly. It was thanks to Will, plagiarizing what he remembered of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.

Dean vont Lawrence was surprised at the speed and erudite arguments. On several occasions, the Dean plead for Will to teach a class at the Royal Academy.

With the king and dean, following Will's direction the book's completion was near the endpoint.

Dean Trevor vont Lawrence was skilled at Socratic discourse and writing. Frequently he ask Will probing questions or offer a word or syntax changes.

King Roland listened and would add his opinions as Will and Trevor talked.

The book was expansive and addressed the division of labor to the inherent rights of man.

The book weighed in on controversial topics of slavery and non-human relationships.

Everything was going smoothly until they began discussing the symbiosis of religion and mercantilism. Will argued for, and Trevor against the ideas of mercantilism and religion working hand-in-glove.

Trevor and Will fundamentally disagreed on whether a good work ethic and earning money were morally good. And thus, the book's progress had stalled.

To help mediate King Roland asked Cardinal vont Clermont to send a disciple.

And to Will's sheer torment, his sister Rebecca entered the King's library.

Like a devil in disguise, she came dressed religiously as a Disciple of Aether. She looked very pious, dressed like novitiate. She wore a necklace with the alchemical symbol of air, and both hands held onto the Gospel of Aether.

She looked very convincing, she almost fooled Will if not for the obsessive look in her eyes, when she noticed Will.

"Welcome Disciple vont Ballard. Thank you for joining us," King Roland said.

"I humbly greet your majesty," Rebecca demurely said, then she gracefully bowed.

"Viscount vont Ballard are you related to Disciple vont Ballard," Trevor asked curiously.

"Yes, the disciple is my older sister," Will replied.

"Your parents are very fortunate to have such distinguished children. Disciple vont Ballard, I am Trevor vont Lawrence, I'm a Dean at the Royal Academy," Trevor bowed to Rebecca.

"Then shall we get to work," the king said.

Rebecca made her way to Will and snuggly sat next to him on a couch. Rebecca moved a pile of books next to Will to sit directly next to him. Will had stacked those books, for the express purpose to barricade himself against Rebecca.

Watching the two siblings eyeing each other, the old Dean laughed. Seeing the adults acting like children, made him miss his deceased siblings.

Once Rebecca was settled, it was Will's responsibility to update her on the book.

Will began by defending mercantilism as economic nationalism to build a wealthy and powerful state.

The goal Will told her was a favorable balance of trade between imports and exports that would bring gold and silver into the country and also maintain domestic employment.

Will explained how lords were to run their fiefs like businesses paying people for their labor.

In exchange for paying levies and taxes to support the kingdom, the king's duty was to enact policies that would protect their business interests against foreign competition.

For example, the king would supply the capital to new industries, exempt new industries from guild rules and taxes, set up monopolies over domestic and colonial markets, and grant titles and pensions to successful producers.

Regarding trade policy, the king would help local industry by imposing tariffs, quotas, and prohibitions on imports of goods that competed with local manufacturers.

Will parenthetically paused to tell Rebecca that he and the king disagreed on his point. The king chuckled hearing Will tell his opinion to his sister, "that 'would', should be changed to could." The king 'could' tell the counsel was meant for him as well.

Rebecca was perceptive enough to recognize this as well and intelligent enough not to comment.

After pausing, Will continued to explain it was the king's duty to prohibit the export of tools, and emigration of skilled laborers. This policy was meant to discourage other countries from competing against Fermion in the production of manufactured goods.

Simultaneously, it was the king's job to encourage foreign manufacturers to move to Fermion.

Lastly, Will explained mercantilism sought new markets. Thus, it justified the military conquest of other nations to expand trade opportunities.

Rebecca thanked Will for the summary overview.

Looking at Will she asked, "what do you like about mercantilism?"

"I like that people are paid justly for work. I believe this can lift people out of poverty. I like the idea that the wealth of our kingdom is measured not by the size of the treasury, but by the productivity of its citizens," Will said.

Observing her little brother's strong passion, made Rebecca's passion well up inside her too.

"How can I assist your majesty?" Rebecca said her eyes filled with determination.

"Dean vont Lawrence please explain our most recent debate?" King Roland asked.

"Yes, your majesty," Trevor bowed his head.

Dean vont Lawrence explained their debate as a code of values.

Unlike the churches that supply clear messages about how people should behave in society, political values were more abstract.

The debates stemmed from the Gospel of Aether parables around brotherly love.

"Your brother believes the idea of love was a private one, whereas I believe love deals with social behavior in public places," Trevor surmised.

"Forgive me, but I do not under the deeper meaning?" Rebecca sincerely asked.

"We are debating well the code of value in the modern world. Your brother takes a more conservative approach than I.

Your brother believes it immoral for the king to govern the private lives of individuals. He argues it's a person's responsibility to govern their self-control.

For example, correct behavior lay in the observance of correct procedures.

And the kingdom should only punish individuals who do not control their behavior.

True to his nature, your brother believes all humans are rational and capable of logic.

I disagree," Dean vont Lawrence finished.

"And what do you think Dean vont Lawrence?" Rebecca asked.

"I believe people have a shared, intuitively obvious understanding of right and wrong. I don't believe people act rationally all the time. I believe some people act against the rationale for a myriad of reasons. Thus, it's the kingdom responsible to educate the public on behavior," Dean vont Lawrence finished.

"If I may, the Dean and I are arguing about broad governmental power. I believe people know what's best for themselves, and he argues the government knows what's best for people. It's that simple," Will said.

"There you have it Disciple vont Ballard, now tell what the Gospel of Aether says," the king asked.

"The Gospel strikes a balance between Elysium and the kingdom of man. The gods have provided humans with guidelines that we must follow, that's all I can contribute at the moment," Rebecca said.

"A balance…how am I to find a balance between these contrasting views?" King Roland looks quizzically at Rebecca.

"Consider free will, your majesty. Some say our life is destined before we are born. Others say the gods let us make our own choices. How can you tell which is real?" Rebecca's question stunned the king.

"I don't know. You can only find out the answer after you die," the king decided.

"I believe that is the balance you seek," Rebecca replied, this time stunning all the men to silence. Even Will was impressed.

"Leave, I need to think on some things," commanded the king.

Outside the library, Dean vont Lawrence said goodbye before running back to the academy.

"You want to get some lunch?" Rebecca asked Will.

"Can we make a stop first," Will asked?

"Of course," Rebecca said tightly squeezing Will's arms.

They walked out of the castle and took a carriage to Will's old general store. The sign had been replaced. It now read Carlsberg and Sexton, Co.

The newly remodeled exterior was three times larger than his original store. Will would often check on the builders' progress during his breaks. When Will and Rebecca walked inside, the builders didn't stop him.

The interior was almost finished. The two-story building was sectioned into departments. The women's section covered the whole first floor: 70% of the first floor was devoted to clothing. The other 30% were accessories such as shoes, bags, makeup, and jewelry.

Jewelry was a luxury. And the best jewelry could only be found at Will's store. Only the Royal Family knew that Will was the largest importer of jewelry in the kingdom.

Will's shop in the Dwarven capital, From Trash to Treasure, paid Dwarves for their failed products.

Will was swimming in luxurious Dwarven reject jewelry. However, his customers thought they were buying a flawless treasure. Will purchased Dwarven trash for silvers and sold it gold.

The new department store even featured the jewelry department by locating it in the middle of the store. Will laughed at his good fortune.

Will was happy to see the barons had taken his advised and organized the clothing by designer.

Will and Rebecca walked to the second floor.

The second housed the men's, children's, and household supplies. The department store felt modern and looked exquisite.

Better yet, no other department store afterward would have as wide a selection, unless they paid Will. Even the barons were surprised by how much Will could supply them.

Furthermore, Will was thrilled to move from warehousing to supplying. In ten years, Will planned to reduce his holding to 20% and make a boatload of cash.

"Do you own this?" Rebecca asked looking around impressed.

"No, this is owned by two barons. I'm just helping them. Are you ready to have lunch?" Will asked opening a spatial gate to the manor in Gadreel.

Rebecca and Will arrived at the manor, Elizabeth, the children, and their parents were eating roasted lamb chops.

"Rebecca!" Helen exclaimed jumping up to hug her youngest daughter.

"Will why did you bring Rebecca?" James asked.

"She arrived today to help his majesty with the book," Will said as the servants brought another chair and tableware for Rebecca.

"How wonderful! To think, two of my children are helping his majesty. Our family is blessed by the gods!" Helen exclaimed.

"Does Will come home often?" Rebecca asked Elizabeth.

"Yes, he usually comes home for dinner and leaves after breakfast," Elizabeth smiled.

"Was Rebecca a big help today?" James asked.

"Yes, she provided an answer so philosophical that it stumped the king, Dean vont Lawrence, and me," Will said.

"Tell us, Papa," Camille said.

Then Will recounted the story of what happened in the library. Afterward, everyone marveled at Rebecca.

Then it was her turn to them about the Carlsberg and Sexton department store she and Will toured.

"It seems you too had a fun day," Elizabeth said.

"Mother, how's Jason, Katherine, and Marcus?" Rebecca wondered.

"Jason's well. We stayed with him all last month. The barony is doing very well, it's close to becoming a city. You should go back, it's changed a lot since you left," James said.

"Katherine's a dowager now. The Peasants Rebellion destroyed much of her husband's fief. She and her six children were able to escape but her husband and his family were all killed.

I told her to move here, but she wants her eldest son to remain in the barony," Helen said sadly.

"Marcus is Marcus, when he's not drinking, he's brawling. He's still seeing that blasted prostitute. But, everyone raves what a great job he's doing as vice-guild master. I don't understand him," James said.

After a fine meal, Will and Rebecca returned to the castle. When they opened the door, they saw the king writing furiously. It was Bryson who suggested instead of interrupting the king, they should meet again tomorrow morning after breakfast.

A month later the book, On the Philosophy of Mercantilism by King Roland Godwin Fermion III was given to every literate man.

Although Will and Trevor's names did not appear in the book, they received generous compensation. Many considered the book to be the greatest masterpiece of political and economic discourse ever written in Fermion's history.

A month later, Will and Dean vont Lawrence published their novels. The dean's book was titled, On the Morality of Man. And Will's book was titled, A Treatise on Classical Economy. The two books were considered important compendiums to the king's book.