Which is true for both feudal and capitalist economy, the lord just taxes the peasants and the merchants and craftsmen.
It's also true, they get the grains from your labour and sell to somebody else, or they even sell back to you in case of really bad famine. You get something out of it, but it is just wage.
But they never wanted to just survive, the children need toy, the wife needs new dress, the man needs new tools and weapons, all of this are bought by money in the local market.
I'm pretty sure you need to back that shit up with proof, because the furniture market has existed since ancient times, people don't just make shit like mirror drawers by themselves, or dresses, or potteries.
Except to defend themselves against pests, wild beasts and robbers which were more prevalent in that era than they are now, and the fact the lord requires them to own weapons in order to be levied.
They actually homeschooled their kids if they lack money, for the wealthy peasants, they sent their kids to school, for the middle class, they sent them to the church or the local merchant/craftsmen for apprenticeship, these were all traditions started by feudal men.
They HAD to hire farmhands in harvest time because without the manpower, their crops would be lost to pest or winter.
All of these are basic goddamn histories, something you ought to fucking know when you argue about feudalistic life. Your version of feudal exists in some kind of anarchist fantasy land where the peasants are poor but they make everything by themselves and don't need money.
Serf as in the feudal serf in Russia did not own shit, they just farmed and the lord/boyar allowed them to keep some shit for themselves, that's all. They still get paid and their source of income is why they had stuff like furniture.
Their taxes were the grain/produce they had to give to the lord, they were also required to pay church taxes too, so this is another nonsense shit you are pouting.
Just another reason in a shitload of reasons behind peasant revolt.
And somehow slaves are "free" to leave their farm and join a legion? What, the roman legion is for free men and mercenaries, not slaves.
On the contrary, the medieval serf is required to be armed so they can be levied into an army, and get paid doing so.
All this thread is convincing me that Holla Forums has no fucking idea about the feudal peasant.