Post by ^.^ Harleen Quinzel ^.^ on Jun 23, 2020 2:46:34 GMT
When the men chose to leave the castle , they were given marked shells, rather like ostraka. These could be exchanged for things in the villages, fish, rice, sake, a fermented drink made from rice, and such, and, in the stalls, beads, cloth, trinkets, and such.
These shells were not typical Pani currency, which, for the most part, consisted of metal coins, of silver, gold, and copper, of various certified weights, struck by various shoguns. As on the continent there is no common currency, but a variety of currencies , which often entails rumors, scales, bargainings, and such.
Many of these coins, not all, were perforated in the center. One threads one or more such coins on a string, the string fastened about the bottom and top coin, or loops a string through several coins, and ties the loop shut above the top coin. In this way the coins are kept together , perhaps tied about one’s waist, under the clothing, or put about one’s neck, under the clothing, or simply dropped into a pouch, usually of silk.
Lesser Pani sometimes, on errands, carry the coin or coins in the mouth, rather as slaves may on the continent, and on the islands, while marketing for their masters. The marked shells, then, I gathered, were rather in the nature of a form of script. I also gathered that if the villagers did not accept them they risked the loss of an eye, a hand, a foot, or a head. As long as they were unquestioningly exchanged, of course, at least in the local villages, the nature of the material made little difference.
The marking on the shells , in part done in dots, presumably for our benefit, stipulated the value to be assigned to the shell. One bargained, of course, with such things , much as one might with pieces of metal, or, in the Barrens, with beads, strips of leather, furs, blankets, arrowheads, bowstrings, slaves, and such. In one village there was a slave hut, as alluded to, popular with the men, whose occupants I looked in on, but did not put to use. Their use cost a two-dot shell.
--Mariners of Gor
Most rice is grown in village fields, several villages often under the rule of a single daimyo. These villages pay the rice tax, supplied primarily in produce, rice itself, to the daimyo , and the shogun receives his tax, usually in kind, as well, from the daimyos. Sometimes, too, the tax is supplied in terms of men, serving as porters, workers, and Ashigaru. Some villages, on the other hand, are under the rule of the shogun himself, so he profits both in virtue of a direct and an indirect tax. To be sure, silver , gold, and copper also function as means of exchange in the islands, either in the form of marked coinages or as plates and bars. Similarly various forms of produce other than rice may be taxed, exchanged by bartering, and so on. Fishing villages, of course, share portions of their catch, fresh, or dried, with their patrons and protectors, these goods gathered by low-level administrative officials. A great deal of the exchange in the islands is effected by barter. It was thus not all that unusual that many of the slaves of the holding of Lord Temmu had been exchanged for rice. What was unusual was the desperation on the part of the besieged to obtain rice, and the ratio of exchange, often as surprising as one fukuro for a slave.
--Rebels of Gor
That I supposed would be something in the nature of one hundred and fifty slaves. “For what were they sold?” I asked. “Rice,” he said. “Lord Yamada is generous,” I said. “He is a great lord,” said the Ashigaru. “Much rice?” I said. “Most,” he said, “were exchanged for one fukuro of rice, some for two.” “That is not much,” I said. The most common fukuro of rice, or bag or sack of rice, as I had seen it measured out in the holding, and at the encampments, would weigh less than a half stone.
-- Rebels of Gor
Even a pot girl, a kettle-and-mat girl, would most likely bring between twenty and thirty copper tarsks in most markets. And, in better times, one might buy the common fukuro of rice, to its usual measure, for as little as one or two tarsk-bits.
--Rebels of Gor
The large shed housing the pens was but a short walk from the courtyard; it was not unlike such sheds elsewhere in the vicinity, rudely planked, and low roofed, used for storage, and the stabling of beasts , verr, tarsk, and slaves. Some such sheds are also used for the housing of rice seedlings, which are later transferred to designated paddies, or wading fields. Harvested grains are commonly dried in the sun in Se’Kara, before the Seventh Passage Hand. Most rice is grown in village fields, several villages often under the rule of a single daimyo. These villages pay the rice tax, supplied primarily in produce, rice itself, to the daimyo , and the shogun receives his tax, usually in kind, as well, from the daimyos. Sometimes, too, the tax is supplied in terms of men, serving as porters, workers, and Ashigaru. Some villages, on the other hand, are under the rule of the shogun himself, so he profits both in virtue of a direct and an indirect tax. To be sure, silver , gold, and copper also function as means of exchange in the islands, either in the form of marked coinages or as plates and bars. Similarly various forms of produce other than rice may be taxed, exchanged by bartering, and so on. Fishing villages, of course, share portions of their catch, fresh, or dried, with their patrons and protectors, these goods gathered by low-level administrative officials. A great deal of the exchange in the islands is effected by barter. It was thus not all that unusual that many of the slaves of the holding of Lord Temmu had been exchanged for rice. What was unusual was the desperation on the part of the besieged to obtain rice, and the ratio of exchange, often as surprising as one fukuro for a slave.
--Rebels of Gor
These shells were not typical Pani currency, which, for the most part, consisted of metal coins, of silver, gold, and copper, of various certified weights, struck by various shoguns. As on the continent there is no common currency, but a variety of currencies , which often entails rumors, scales, bargainings, and such.
Many of these coins, not all, were perforated in the center. One threads one or more such coins on a string, the string fastened about the bottom and top coin, or loops a string through several coins, and ties the loop shut above the top coin. In this way the coins are kept together , perhaps tied about one’s waist, under the clothing, or put about one’s neck, under the clothing, or simply dropped into a pouch, usually of silk.
Lesser Pani sometimes, on errands, carry the coin or coins in the mouth, rather as slaves may on the continent, and on the islands, while marketing for their masters. The marked shells, then, I gathered, were rather in the nature of a form of script. I also gathered that if the villagers did not accept them they risked the loss of an eye, a hand, a foot, or a head. As long as they were unquestioningly exchanged, of course, at least in the local villages, the nature of the material made little difference.
The marking on the shells , in part done in dots, presumably for our benefit, stipulated the value to be assigned to the shell. One bargained, of course, with such things , much as one might with pieces of metal, or, in the Barrens, with beads, strips of leather, furs, blankets, arrowheads, bowstrings, slaves, and such. In one village there was a slave hut, as alluded to, popular with the men, whose occupants I looked in on, but did not put to use. Their use cost a two-dot shell.
--Mariners of Gor
Most rice is grown in village fields, several villages often under the rule of a single daimyo. These villages pay the rice tax, supplied primarily in produce, rice itself, to the daimyo , and the shogun receives his tax, usually in kind, as well, from the daimyos. Sometimes, too, the tax is supplied in terms of men, serving as porters, workers, and Ashigaru. Some villages, on the other hand, are under the rule of the shogun himself, so he profits both in virtue of a direct and an indirect tax. To be sure, silver , gold, and copper also function as means of exchange in the islands, either in the form of marked coinages or as plates and bars. Similarly various forms of produce other than rice may be taxed, exchanged by bartering, and so on. Fishing villages, of course, share portions of their catch, fresh, or dried, with their patrons and protectors, these goods gathered by low-level administrative officials. A great deal of the exchange in the islands is effected by barter. It was thus not all that unusual that many of the slaves of the holding of Lord Temmu had been exchanged for rice. What was unusual was the desperation on the part of the besieged to obtain rice, and the ratio of exchange, often as surprising as one fukuro for a slave.
--Rebels of Gor
That I supposed would be something in the nature of one hundred and fifty slaves. “For what were they sold?” I asked. “Rice,” he said. “Lord Yamada is generous,” I said. “He is a great lord,” said the Ashigaru. “Much rice?” I said. “Most,” he said, “were exchanged for one fukuro of rice, some for two.” “That is not much,” I said. The most common fukuro of rice, or bag or sack of rice, as I had seen it measured out in the holding, and at the encampments, would weigh less than a half stone.
-- Rebels of Gor
Even a pot girl, a kettle-and-mat girl, would most likely bring between twenty and thirty copper tarsks in most markets. And, in better times, one might buy the common fukuro of rice, to its usual measure, for as little as one or two tarsk-bits.
--Rebels of Gor
The large shed housing the pens was but a short walk from the courtyard; it was not unlike such sheds elsewhere in the vicinity, rudely planked, and low roofed, used for storage, and the stabling of beasts , verr, tarsk, and slaves. Some such sheds are also used for the housing of rice seedlings, which are later transferred to designated paddies, or wading fields. Harvested grains are commonly dried in the sun in Se’Kara, before the Seventh Passage Hand. Most rice is grown in village fields, several villages often under the rule of a single daimyo. These villages pay the rice tax, supplied primarily in produce, rice itself, to the daimyo , and the shogun receives his tax, usually in kind, as well, from the daimyos. Sometimes, too, the tax is supplied in terms of men, serving as porters, workers, and Ashigaru. Some villages, on the other hand, are under the rule of the shogun himself, so he profits both in virtue of a direct and an indirect tax. To be sure, silver , gold, and copper also function as means of exchange in the islands, either in the form of marked coinages or as plates and bars. Similarly various forms of produce other than rice may be taxed, exchanged by bartering, and so on. Fishing villages, of course, share portions of their catch, fresh, or dried, with their patrons and protectors, these goods gathered by low-level administrative officials. A great deal of the exchange in the islands is effected by barter. It was thus not all that unusual that many of the slaves of the holding of Lord Temmu had been exchanged for rice. What was unusual was the desperation on the part of the besieged to obtain rice, and the ratio of exchange, often as surprising as one fukuro for a slave.
--Rebels of Gor