On Nov 23, 2015, at 12:56 PM, Grimmund <xxxxxx@gmail.com> wrote:

 
The merchants were land-poor, and lacked the numerous legal rights and priviliges of the nobility, but they were generating income based on manufacturing or processing (or financial speculation), which generated a significant income without the investment and expense of feudal land.
 
The 3I seems to include the merchants in the nobility, and allows for promotion into the nobility.  Land itself is no longer the limiting factor.