Hi GMVS.
Thank you so much for playing and for taking the time to leave such detailed feedback! This is incredibly helpful for me to balance the game.
Regarding Population & Gold: I will definitely take a look at this. Population is supposed to scale based on several factors to keep your taxes flowing and your mercenaries paid. If it's completely stuck despite having enough food, there might be a bug under the hood that I need to fix.
About the Battle Drops: There is actually a background mechanic where getting too many duplicate items of the same rarity automatically merges/upgrades them into a higher rarity drop (normal to rare, rare to epic). However, it sounds like this mechanic might be causing a visual conflict or a bug that prevents you from looting at all. If you happen to remember any more details about exactly when or how this happened, it would be fantastic if you could share them!
As for the Merchant: His gold pool is designed to regenerate every few days. That being said, I totally understand that draining his pockets after selling just a few pieces of wood feels restrictive. I will definitely review his economy balance.
Thanks again for helping me improve the game!