One of the most remarkable transformations that Sartar made is that in less than 30 years he manage to transform the local economy from almost entirely commodity exchange to one where copper and silver coins freely circulated.
He did that in basically six steps:
- Sartar established five cities, with markets where farmers and herders could exchange their grain and livestock for coin.
- Sartar required that the tribal tax payments (and all other payments and renders) be paid it him in silver. That meant the tribes had to exchange part of their agricultural product in the cities for coin – which also meant the cities had enough food to support crafters, scribes, and mercenaries.
- Sartar made sure there was a steady supply of coinage, minting coins in the cities.
- Sartar made most of his payments to scribes, mercenaries, and crafters in coin. Those coins could be expended in city market places and helped keep the system going.
- Sartar got the tribes to agree to make him annual payments in coin, as well as imposed tolls on his roads and markets. He supported the Issaries cult, building temples, and protecting merchants and traders.
- Sartar patronized the Lhankor Mhy cult to create scribes who could collect revenue and track expenditures.
By the end of his reign, if not before, Sartar had transformed his kingdom. His heirs continued this process, and after a century, even transactions at village markets were often made with coins (although copper more than silver). And that is one of the many reasons Sartar is a god!
And this is also why King of Dragon Pass (and Hero Wars books like Thunder Rebels) is simply not a good model for understanding modern Sartar.
Think of that – in little more than a generation we go for cattle as currency to Gringle’s Pawnshop in Apple Lane.
And although his kingdom was transformed the most, some of this transformation reached the Grasslands and even Tarsh.