Wealth

The Merebian Empire has a carefully constructed system of taxes that pays for the Army and all the major contruction projects (such as Cinnibar) which helps to maintain its position as the dominant force of the Known World. However, so that the burden of taxes are not so great as to cause rebellion the Empire also tries to maintain a strict control over the wealth of its citizens.

The primary mechanisms for this are standardised wages, taxes and tithes.

Wages

The administration of the Empire regularly calculates and publishes lists of wages that officials, soldiers and crafters should earn (note that "should" often does not equate to reality). The aim of this is to stop those professions that are vital to the running of the Empire from expecting to be able to increase their earnings. It also allows the common people to know what they should be paying and to be able to compare that to their own income - and if lower than these professions to encourage them to enter them.

These lists are quite comprehensive and available for viewing at many town marketplaces or army forts. However, a sample is given below;

Occupation	Monthly Pay	Annual Pay*
Stable boy	30 Unari	40 Denari
Army Grog	40 Unari	45 Denari
Legionary (1st)	150 Unari	17 Centari
Stable master	250 Unari	30 Centari
Carpenter	400 Unari	45 Centari
Centurion	5 Centari	55 Centari
Stonemason	6 Centari	70 Centari
Inquisitor	15 Centari	160 Centari

• note that the Imperial calendar has 10 months but the last is 60 days in length - hence the annual pay is roughly equivelent to 11 months pay