The Horsepower Tax.
The origins of that historic tax trace back to the era of the 5th Holy Emperor.
Even after the Holy Empire of Delcross was established, for quite a long time, there were no other nations on the continent with a strong centralized government. In other words, it was a period when the power of local lords pierced the heavens.
Back then, a lord was practically an omnipotent being, second only to the Main God. To them, the notion of a “social contract” was nothing more than the drivel of philosophers ignorant of the ways of the world.
Everything in the domain belonged to the lord, and all authority rested in the lord’s hands. Thus, inspecting what they possessed and levying ingenious taxes upon it was as natural as a merchant keeping ledgers and counting coins.
Lords devised all sorts of methods to squeeze taxes and increase their wealth. Fishing taxes, hunting taxes, reservoir taxes, and river inflow taxes were prime examples. If you wanted to hunt or farm on my land, it was only reasonable to pay a usage fee, wasn’t it?
Some lords even came up with the groundbreaking idea of taxing those who owned a lot. Thus, they began imposing taxes on what they deemed “luxury” items.
The “Hearth Tax” in the north, which taxed the number of hearths,…