The tribute system... now I know where great grandpa Cattolo got his ideas... You come over to my place, give me a bunch of fine gifts and I will let you walk away with all of your limbs, and I may not bother your sister, you hear?!
I think it is funny that historians have choosen to call it the "tribute system". I think what they meant to call it is extortion... which I guess in the big scheme of things against a backdrop of barbarians cutting out each others eyeballs or boiling each other alive, doesn't seem so bad, really. I liked the line in the text book that went something like...
I will swing bye, check out the silks and grains you are supposed to give me to make sure they meet my satisfaction. If the stuff is good, and you haven't shorted me, cool... if it's not however, I am going to come to your village and destroy all your food so you, your family, your families family and everyone else you might know will starve... Capiche? Could easily be mistaken for a modern day Colombian Drug lord, no?
Another form of "tribute", again, such a nice word is...
We conquered you.. ha ha suckers... we let you live... now how about you contribute by giving us labor, or goods, or other goods to help the empire along... after all, we have others just like you we need to pillage from and with your small contribution of only 19.95 to help fund our barbaric military, this will be possible. With your donation, you are free to live... under our rules of course....
Have a nice day...
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Good description...
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