Empty coffers

With the danger of the plague averted, the our ruler turned to revenue administration. The treasury was dangerously depleted, so he attempted to demand an extraordinary tax, with nobody escaping it. No one was exempt from this tax, as it was not only Jews and Christians that were taxed heavily, but even mosques and religious organizations. In Cairo the tax-gatherers were chased away, and in Damascus the governor was slain. The money wrung from the people was spent on the Mamluk elite, on buying new slaves from abroad, and finally on public improvements like fortification in Alexandria and a grand mosque in Cairo.\nWhat shall we do?