Treasury, Trade, And Market
Treasury is the crown's gold, trade routes are ongoing economic channels, and the market should become a barter surface for turning resources into gold.
Treasury View
The treasury deserves its own tab because it is one of the primary collapse paths.
A useful treasury view should show:
- current gold
- recent income and expenses
- tax level
- forecast or trend
- route income
- major upcoming costs
- warnings when the crown cannot afford common responses
The treasury should not be confused with the market. Treasury is accounting. Market is interaction.
Taxes
Taxes generate crown income but can damage loyalty, legitimacy, and mood when pushed too hard.
Tax choices should be read with:
- crown need for cash
- house loyalty
- current unrest
- recent relief or concessions
- trade-route health
- war spending
Trade Routes
Trade routes connect the realm to foreign nations and economic flows. A route can have status, volume, tariff pressure, diplomatic consequences, and blockade or disruption risk.
Trade belongs with treasury because it affects income, but it also belongs with foreign policy because tariff choices can change diplomatic posture.
Tariffs
Tariffs can raise revenue but damage relations or provoke casus belli pressure. They are not free money.
Read tariff changes as a political action:
- who pays
- who notices
- what route volume does
- whether the treasury needs the money now
- whether foreign relations can absorb the pressure
Market Intent
The market should be a barter-style interaction surface, not just another treasury readout.
Intended market behavior:
- choose a resource
- choose an amount
- see estimated gold proceeds
- see price signal
- understand route demand
- trade resources for extra gold when the backend contract is ready
If execution is not wired yet, the UI should say so directly rather than pretend the sale happened.
Resource Stockpiles
Stockpiles are strategic buffers. Selling grain for gold can help the treasury and hurt famine resilience. Selling surplus can be smart, but selling core reserves before winter can be reckless.
Market decisions should eventually carry consequences into resource warnings and docket pressure.
Treasury Red Flags
Treat these as danger signals:
- repeated negative cash flow
- treasury below common docket response costs
- large active war costs
- high tariff dependence
- blocked high-volume route
- legitimacy too low to raise taxes safely