Conflict between Hu nobles and burghers

In the Kingdom of Hu little love is lost between the burghers/merchant class and the landed nobility.

Baronial Class (full article)

The landed nobility (traditionally referred to as the baronial class) are central to the functioning of a feudal society. The king relies of the loyalty of his barons who pay taxes to the crown and provide military support. For a king to effectively rule a feudal state he must have the consensus of his barons. If a king’s unpopular policies, military defeat, or excessive demands turned enough of his vassals against him, they might stop paying their taxes and/or refuse to provide troops which would render the king impotent. If the situation worsened, the baron’s might revolt, rallying their collective power around another figure to put on the throne.

Within their fiefdoms the barons exercise plenary authority checked only by the crown. Provided the barons meet their obligations and remain loyal to the king, the crown is unlikely to scrutinize the internal affairs of their fiefdoms and even when they are the subject of attention only egregious misrule will be rebuked or punished. A cynic might say that cruel treatment of the peasantry and neglectful stewardship of land only rises to an offense when it harms the martial levy (and to a lesser extent the taxes) that the province can produce.

High offices in the civil administration and military are traditionally reserved for members of the nobility--this is a way of occupying younger sons and other unlanded members of noble families. Burgher Class

As far back as the Smilodon Dynasty, the burghers of the kingdom’s free cities were exempted by law from the authority of barons and from the associated agricultural and military obligations owed by peasants. Burghers also enjoy certain other privileges such as immunity from corporal punishment and freedom of movement as well as creating city governments answerable only to the king.

Modern Era

Hu can now be considered a late feudal society. With the rise of technological advancements and the increasingly affluent merchant class, who owe loyalty directly to the king and pay taxes in gold, the power and influence of the baronial class is slowly waning. The barons are relics of the past while the merchants are the wave of the future.

Recently, members of wealthy, patrician merchant families and other commoners have begun to assume a small number of those offices previously reserved for nobles.

Animosity

The burghers view the landed nobility as haughty, with an undeserved sense of entitlement. Prominent members of the merchant class refuse to recognize nobles as their betters or to kowtow (particularly to members of the lower nobility); they will sometimes make a conscious effort to demonstrate their lack of deference. Many burghers speak proudly of the fact that their cities expelled nobles from residing with in the city walls (usually at some point during the Smilodon Dynasty).

The barons view the burghers as rude, upstarts. They see the burghers’ lack of deference as part of a general lack of social propriety and etiquette. The legitimacy of hereditary wealth and wealth deriving from land is established by its ancient roots, whereas wealth deriving from dealings in commodities and from gold is petty and dirty. The nobility moreover has a tradition of military service for the kingdom while the burghers’ only contribution to war efforts is in coin (In reality supplies secured with monetary resources are as important for conducting modern warfare as troops and the contribution of nobles holding elite combat or leadership roles.

When a burgher is appointed to a high office, nobles will accuse him (or his family) of buying the position. Meanwhile, burghers view the old order as nepotism.