What are Counties of Cyrodiil in The Elder scrolls?

[Ushakanta]

Hello while playing Oblivion I started to wonder: why are they even counties in Cyrodiil; what are their purpose? In medieval Europe the reason for the feudal system was the lack of a working monetary system, the lord could not raise any army since he had nothing to pay them with, the solution was to give what had, land, to his servants, which became the nobility and in return the would raise armies for him. The monetary system appears to be working fine in Cyrodiil so my question is what does the emperor gain from the different counts/countesses in return for giving them land?

[Cruzz]

I believe that is the area of jurisdiction for the counts and countesses, and probably also for census purposes. The Emperor gives the counts land to preside over, and the Counts take care of local affairs so the Emperor can deal with other things than local governing. Yes that is indeed correct, like my reserve, the government just gave us 150 acres of farmers land last month in the past 5 years we have had the biggest reserve in Canada, in Oblivion there is County Anvil, County Kvatch, County Skingrad and so on.

[Pierson]

Good question. The Colovian Estates do seem to have a history of being ruled by counts and lesser lords, but most cities in the Niben region weren't even there before Oblivion. So I don't think it can be answered. You'd have to ask the devs what ideas they had about Cyrodiil when they made it. Cyrodill seems to be divided up by what used to be different kingdoms. For example i remember reading that two cities/counties/kingdoms of Colovia warred with each other at least once. This may be a way to incorporate the kingdoms into the Empire while at the same time allowing the families to keep their status.

[Abenaki]

I disagree with your hypothesis. The reason you gave knights land was not just because you needed to pay them, but because If you give a horseman gold, what stops him from riding off after you pay him? But if you give him an estate, he is literally bound to the land. Even if he doesn't like you, he will fight anyone who invades his land, which is technically your land. Gold is temporary, and will be spent quickly on horses, weapons, food, etc. Land can grow crops year after year, providing a stable income.

[Januarius]

Curious, though is it acceptable, in your opinion, to set a game in the capital of a continent wide empire during a period of strife and crisis and not create a politically dynamic situation, despite the fact that every single yes, every single and I defy you to find an exception mention of said capital involves dynamic politics. Especially considering that a wide variety of people can wear the Amulet yet the design team is too disjointed to take this into account even when its better half is aware of this politically dynamic little detail.

[Beothuk]

First of all, Cyrodiil does not have a regional leader, it has an Emperor who rules all of Tamriel. The Emperor must be chosen by the Elder Council. As for intrigue, the threat from Oblivion means that nobody wants to risk the empire breaking up into infighting while a bunch of immortal daedra wish to kill them all. Finally, also because of the Oblivion Crisis, the only hope for Tamriel is that somebody with the Amulet of Kings lights the Dragonfires and stops the invasion, which would also cement their place as the new Emperor. And unfortunately, not a lot of people can wear the Amulet, but nothing short of that will suffice.

[Gajendra1]

I believe that it was one of the countesses that mentioned that this crisis has given Cyrodiil the chance to unite against the Daedra. Aside from that, it's more reasonable than people fighting over the throne while the Daedra are destroying the cities and invading the lands. Kvatch was proof of the danger that Cyrodiil was facing. When a greater threat surfaces, those who would normally be enemies often band together. It's no more wrong than your previous post. Blood relatives of the Emperor seem to be able to wear the amulet with no problem, but it also appears that the Emperor may be able to designate an heir who thereafter could wear the Amulet. But the last emperor appointed no such non-relative and his sons, save for Martin, were killed. Not much else to do than to find Martin.