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the power of the “country” is based on how well it can coordinate and motivate a bunch of vassals who are independently powerful. taxes are a no no because that is just viewed as theft.

hence the invention of the government bond. instead of reigning in a mandate of heaven through taxation, the central government prostates itself before and infinite God and claims the right to be sued. this was an incredible divine weapon

why though? why is borrowing money with promise of interest so much better than taxing for money? because it exponentially grows the power of hooman coordination

a strong central gov that can snap and collect taxes is like a fat landlord. with such easy money there’s no pressure to innovate or shake things up.

if the emperor sells bonds however, there is an implicit pressure to do something with that money. win wars, innovate, trade, whatever. it can’t be wasted.

in a Godless culture the emperor IS the interpreter for Heaven. no one is going to buy a bond from an emperor and go “hey man, you gotta pay me interest.”

in chinese traditional culture, the concept of government bonds sacrilege!! the mandate of heaven is NOT something to be questioned.

the bond based culture on the other hand has cemented its protocols of coordination into its culture. even asshole enemies will work together as long as they can trust each other to honor debts. this make war logistics easier but also greatly increases pace of innovation