Traditionally, the highest social class on Freia was the nobility, which included fief nobles and honorary nobles, followed by freemen, craftsmen, merchants, and small farmers. They owned their own property and lived in towns, paying taxes to the lord or king for protection. However, they would often suffer losses when their private property was coveted by fief nobles and local officials.
The third class was the commoners or fief nobles. Commoners were also townspeople. They worked in towns and received assignments from local officials to make ends meet. Even though Hasby was a farmer, he didn't have his own land and could only work in the town's public fields in exchange for food and clothing.
The fief nobles were the vassals of the fief nobles. They didn't have private property and couldn't leave their fief. Their freedom was limited and they could only rely on the fief nobles to survive.
The last class was the slaves. Their life and death were in the hands of their masters.
Even though slavery had been abolished in many countries on Freia, the slave trade continued despite repeated prohibitions. The outbreak of war made prisoners of war the best source of slaves.
After Prince Kargath won the civil war and became Stellin IX, he quickly carried out a series of reforms. He introduced a series of economic, educational, administrative, and military reforms, as well as a complete sociopolitical reform of the kingdom.
Stellin IX first announced the withdrawal of the fief nobles of the kingdom. There would be no more fief nobles in the kingdom.
This led to a rebellion among the remaining fief nobles, but it was quickly quelled. The corpses of those nobles were hung on the gallows beside the road.
After that, Stellin IX issued the Four Classes of Rights and Interests Act. It clearly defined the boundaries of the four classes of society, as well as their rights and freedoms. It caused a huge uproar on Freia.
The Four Classes of Rights and Interests Act stipulated that the first class in Aueras were nobles. Naturally, Stellin IX's nobles were honorary nobles, the kind that only had a noble title and annual income, but no fief.
The second class was the citizens. They were the commoners who made outstanding contributions to the kingdom, the soldiers who made contributions but didn't have a noble title, and the civil officials who worked hard enough to meet the required number of years.
The third class was the commoners. This was the largest class in the kingdom. They were responsible for paying taxes and serving in the military.
Stellin IX overturned the traditional classification of the four social classes on Freia. He grouped free folk, commoners, and vassals into a single class. At the same time, commoners were given more personal possessions, freedom to marry, work, and migrate. Most of the commoners were exempted from labor and replaced with remunerative labor.
At the same time, Stellin IX announced the abolition of slavery in Aueras. All slaves, both public and private, were released to commoners. Selling slaves within the kingdom's borders became a heinous crime.
The fourth class was the slaves, the lowest class. They were mostly captured bandits and criminals. Stellin IX valued the strength of the people. Apart from the unforgivable sinners, criminals who didn't deserve to be sentenced to death, debtors, vagrants, and beggars were all part of this class. All the large-scale public works in the kingdom were completed by these slaves. It was a form of labor reform in the otherworld. A slave had to complete his term of service before he could become a commoner again.
After Stellin IX ordered the invincible Marshal Dubok Man Duncan to lead his army to conquer Berkeley, he ordered the thirty thousand soldiers of the duchy to be slaves. It wasn't until five years later that they were pardoned and regained their status as commoners.
The Four Classes of Rights and Interests Act had been in effect for more than fifty years and became the cornerstone of Aueras's social stability. It was also a policy the kingdom firmly followed.
While it defined the four classes of the kingdom's citizens, it also protected the rights and interests of the four classes and supervised their duties to the kingdom.
As nobles of the kingdom, even though they lost their fief, they still had the title of nobility. Their income was guaranteed, and they wouldn't suffer from natural disasters. Economically speaking, they didn't suffer too much.
In terms of political rights, they were also compensated greatly. All the officials in charge of the kingdom's civil service were nobles of the kingdom. It had even become an unwritten rule.
Stellin IX also set up two houses of parliament to support the king's administration.
The upper house was made up of nobles of the kingdom and was in charge of judging noble cases as well as censoring cases brought by the lower house against the kingdom's officials. It also supervised the implementation of the policies the prime minister was in charge of. It also had certain legislative and judicial powers and could veto certain bills submitted by the lower house.
The lower house was made up entirely of citizens. Most of its members came from the various regions of the kingdom. The king and the upper house held a portion of the lower house's elected members.
As a member of the lower house, he was in charge of supervising the kingdom's and local administration, censoring the kingdom's officials, examining the local budget, and supervising the allocation of funds. He had the right to propose bills and received a generous amount of administrative subsidies.
As a preferential treatment for the kingdom's staunchest supporters, the Act of the Four Classes of Rights stipulated that citizens were given priority in taxation, education, military recruitment, and local civil service.
Generally speaking, the people in charge of the kingdom's and local government were either nobles or citizens. In the kingdom's army, civil officers were a powerful guarantee for building a strong army.
In times of peace, as a member of the conscription after the implementation of the new military service system, a civilian had to serve in the army for 15 years before he could become a member of the national class. Of course, if a war broke out, this process would be shortened very quickly.
If they were to join the civil service, a commoner would have to work diligently for 20 years before they could be promoted to a citizen. That was Morssen's experience.
The young Morssen keenly noticed the changes brought about by the Act of the Four Classes of Rights. From a certain point of view, it gave the commoners a way to raise their social status and political rights.
It was rather dangerous for him to serve in the army. In the 20 years after Stellin IX reformed the kingdom, he fought three wars with his archenemy, Nasri. While Aueras emerged victorious in all three wars, the casualties numbered in the tens of thousands.
That was why Morssen was willing to spend 20 years in the civil service to earn himself a citizen's status. While it was a long time, it was safe. He was only 22 now and would be in his forties in 20 years. He was at the prime of his life and he believed he had a bright future ahead of him.
The young Morssen had won the approval of his colleagues and the trust of the previous mayors with his shrewdness and meticulous work attitude. To the townspeople, his service was friendly, patient, reasonable, and distinguished between public and private interests.
To his colleagues, he was a trustworthy friend who was gentle, generous, and willing to help others.
To his superior, Morssen, who could always complete the tasks assigned to him meticulously, was a person worthy of training.
When Morssen was twenty-eight years old, Old Sunny, the town sheriff who was about to retire, admired the young man's talent and married his twenty-four-year-old daughter, Bertisia Sunny, to Morssen.
Back then, someone asked Old Sunny why he didn't marry a citizen as a son-in-law since he was a citizen.
Instead, he married his precious daughter to a commoner.
Old Sunny replied with a chuckle that he believed in his foresight and that Morssen would definitely become a citizen through his own hard work. When that happened, his daughter would also enjoy the honor of being a citizen's wife.
The old sheriff did not misjudge Morssen. In the next nine years, Morssen received five administrative commendations. For a local civil official of the kingdom, especially an administrative clerk in a small town, it was almost a legendary honor.
That allowed Morssen to become a citizen five years earlier and he was immediately promoted to the position of chief executive of Whitestag.
Morssen was only thirty-seven years old back then. He was highly respected by the townsfolk and the local officials of Whitestag.
He also had a happy family, a gentle and considerate wife, an eight-year-old son and a four-year-old son.
It could be said that Morssen already had the perfect life he wanted when he was young.
Only by standing tall could one see far. Morssen, who was now the chief executive of the town, wasn't willing to stay in that position for the rest of his life. He wanted to advance further in his career and become mayor, councilor, or even prefect.
Only then did he realize how difficult it was for him to advance further in his career.
Whitestag was known as the number one town in the three southwestern prefectures, but it was still a small town and was under the jurisdiction of the southwestern prefecture of Pallevia, Baromise.
Even though he was a popular figure in Whitestag, he lacked connections in the prefectural city of Baromisee. Without the help and support of some influential figure, he wouldn't be able to leave Whitestag.
'If only my father, Hasby, had asked for a noble title instead of this big red brick house when he was promised a handsome reward by the prince …' Mr. Morssen often thought so, and he often told his children the same thing.
The identity of a citizen was the foundation of being a local official in charge. If one wanted to go one step further, they would need connections and connections. It was not enough to just rely on hard work.
But of course, if he was a noble, Morssen's troubles would be easily solved.
In the kingdom, it was much easier to appoint a noble as a local official than a citizen. The problem with the latter was that there would be a large number of competitors for every position. Behind them were countless connections and interests, so much so that the official in charge would have a headache.
Ten years passed in the blink of an eye. Morssen was still the chief executive of Whitestag. Even though he couldn't advance further in his career, that setback didn't extinguish his ambitions.
In the past decade or so, Whitestag had become more and more prosperous. That was a good opportunity for Morssen to take a shortcut.
If Whitestag could be upgraded to a city, Morssen, the representative of the local officials who had contributed greatly to the development of the town in the past three decades, would definitely get the credit. His name would spread to the capital and he would appear before Stellin X. He might even be bestowed a title and be bestowed with a courtesy name because of that.