How did the king get salary?
Answers
Kings were not elected officials — therefore they had no salaries. Kings were born to Kings — it was an inherited title.
A Royal Family was based first and foremost on Land Ownership. A thousand years ago, the principle economy of Planet Earth was Agriculture. Owners of the largest farms ran the nations.
This was true as far back as we have historical records — from Arabia to China to Russia to England to Greece to Palestine to Egypt and beyond.
The common people believed that a good farmer would increase his farm, while a mediocre farmer would eventually lose his farm. Therefore, the farmer with the largest farm must be the best in the nation.
The farmer with the largest farm was also the richest man in the nation. He also knew how (and when) to apply military force to protect his large farm from rustlers, thieves, boundary-movers and to protect his neighbors’ farms from invading armies.
Therefore, the richest farmer in the nation was — by default — the King. Naturally there would be challengers — but if the King survived all these deadly challenges, this only confirmed that he was truly Royal — he was a survivor.
So — the King was the richest and most powerful man in the nation before he was recognized by the people as the King. Once recognized, his eldest son (usually) would become the new King in time, because commoners a thousand years ago believed in inheritance — that the Son of a Great King would be equally Great.
Well — he was equally rich…