Two Rivers Tabac

[jwillis7]

So i am re-listening to the books and i had a thought. So the Two Rivers has not seen a tax collector in generations they don't even know they are in Andor. But they produce something that is sought after all over randland. How could Andor not tax this, i would understand if they did not make anything but their area is know by everyone this side of the Aryth Ocean for having the best tabac around. This just does not make sense to me

[Whatsie]

Hmmm... That's a good point. I seem to remember reading that they hadn't been taxed in like six generations. So perhaps Two Rivers tabac became popular since then; perhaps, say, 2 generations ago.

 

Perhaps, after not sending tax collectors for nearly a century, the Queen didn't see a good way to start recollecting taxes without sending soldiers into Manetheren. Could be an intimidating thought.

 

Then... Tigraine vanishes, Laman cuts down the Tree, the Succession... Morgase was busy.

 

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[Kaznen]

In FoH Morgase was thinking about how trouble started many years ago and the Queen of Andor was having trouble maintaining her authority in the West. I was decided the mining operations out of Berloan(?) was more important to collect taxes from then the wool and tabac produced by the farms south of the city.

 

And it could be the tax man collects the tax from the merchants when they get to Whitebridge (the closest river port in western Andor).

[buckeyebull64]

I would think it's the fact that the Queen's been busy in recent generations, added to the fact that the wealthier nations seem to be west and south of Andor, and the only way out of Two Rivers is north and then west. The tax collectors likely as not are able to collect plenty of taxes from the peddlers as they go through Andor to Illan, Tear, and Chairien.

[Demiandre]

The Two Rivers haven't seen a tax collector in a while, but merchant/peddler who went there and bought tabac and wool won't be exempted from the taxes. As soon as they leave the territory, I suspect they will be charge with duty fee.

[dovien]

Well the thing is, in a feudal style system you're not as likely to get tax men as you are to get levies. It's not so much that paperwork is kept as much as the fact that when taxes are due the Queen can send soldiers around to collect it. In the case of the Two Rivers; no soldiers means no taxes.

[Durinax]

I think its easier to tax the merchants who come out of the TR, almost all of them head to Baerlon I believe, then they are taxed. rather than have to tax every farmer in the area

[Demiandre]

And also the currency market. Some coins are heavier and more valuable. Bankers trade gold as well as keeping money for clients. Merchants and peddler, traveling a lot, are using bankers often. And nobility too. They likely gain a lot in this all, like speculation on our current market places. They are making coin out of money. So the crown just has to tax them accordingly, and by a way or another, they are collecting taxes on tabac and wool from the Two Rivers.

 

Or how to use economic/sociologic and geographic studies in an essay about Andor. : )

[Dagon Thyne]

I think its easier to tax the merchants who come out of the TR, almost all of them head to Baerlon I believe, then they are taxed. rather than have to tax every farmer in the area

 

 

 

That makes sense... merchants can charge a little more than they usually would for the things they sale and pay the taxes fopr the wool and tobac using the extra gold.

[jwillis7]

I think its easier to tax the merchants who come out of the TR, almost all of them head to Baerlon I believe, then they are taxed. rather than have to tax every farmer in the area

 

 

 

That makes sense... merchants can charge a little more than they usually would for the things they sale and pay the taxes fopr the wool and tobac using the extra gold.

agreed

[Ashaman_Axel]

I wonder how Perrin would react if Elayne starts to demand payment for back taxes....

[didymos]

So i am re-listening to the books and i had a thought. So the Two Rivers has not seen a tax collector in generations they don't even know they are in Andor. But they produce something that is sought after all over randland. How could Andor not tax this, i would understand if they did not make anything but their area is know by everyone this side of the Aryth Ocean for having the best tabac around. This just does not make sense to me

 

The Two Rivers itself doesn't have (or didn't have) a clue how much its tabac is in demand though, so they're not making a killing on it. There's wasn't much profit for the Crown to take a tax out of, and they didn't produce tons of the stuff either. The ridiculous prices all came later, when it was resold in other lands. The characters are really quite surprised that the stuff is so famous, and no merchant that traded there was going to tell them exactly how profitable the stuff really is. And also, the Crown wasn't likely to point it out either: why inform a bunch of famously stubborn and independent people that they're sitting on a goldmine? It's just asking for trouble, unless you tax them into the ground once you've let them know how much wealth they could have, and that's also asking for trouble. They'd likely revolt and probably burn most of it in the fields and only keep local stashes. Great: now you've got to send troops in and you still don't get all that lovely tax revenue. And you'd have merchants far and wide seriously annoyed with the Andoran Crown, and some of those merchants would be highly influential politically.

[Kaznen]

and they didn't produce tons of the stuff either.

No, they do. Even in the 18th century (when WoT is based) you couldn't be a professional farmer if you didn't produce a few tons of your crop. Every farmer grows fields of the stuff it isn't like they have it stashed in their closets with a grow light.

[didymos]

and they didn't produce tons of the stuff either.

No, they do. Even in the 18th century (when WoT is based) you couldn't be a professional farmer if you didn't produce a few tons of your crop. Every farmer grows fields of the stuff it isn't like they have it stashed in their closets with a grow light.

 

I was speaking figuratively, not in literal measurements. In any case, tabac and wool may be the main products of the Two Rivers from an outsider perspective, but the majority of what those farmers actually grow is food for themselves. The wool and tabac were viewed as supplemental income, most farms only had a single curing shed for the tabac, and the Baerlon merchants only showed up once every year. Compared to the total volume of tabac grown continent-wide, or even Andor-wide, it was not that much.

[Evoke]

Another question! What kind of smoking experience do you accredit with tabac? Just simple tobacco, or something with a little more kick? Since tobacco can have vastly different qualities depending on where it's grown, do you think the soil being soaked in the blood of Manetherens heroes contributes to its flavor? : P

[Dagon Thyne]

and they didn't produce tons of the stuff either.

No, they do. Even in the 18th century (when WoT is based) you couldn't be a professional farmer if you didn't produce a few tons of your crop. Every farmer grows fields of the stuff it isn't like they have it stashed in their closets with a grow light.

 

I was speaking figuratively, not in literal measurements. In any case, tabac and wool may be the main products of the Two Rivers from an outsider perspective, but the majority of what those farmers actually grow is food for themselves. The wool and tabac were viewed as supplemental income, most farms only had a single curing shed for the tabac, and the Baerlon merchants only showed up once every year. Compared to the total volume of tabac grown continent-wide, or even Andor-wide, it was not that much.

The quality of the tobac grown in the two rivers is better than most...and because they don't grow it as much as other areas, it is also rarer than other types......so it is more sought after.