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Vol 06 Chapter 192: Lezado II

First and foremost, it hasn’t been decided how Lezado will be governed from here on. Currently, it’s a directly controlled territory, so I could manage it directly.

However, the people of Lezado have a strong spirit of autonomy and independence. If they are not allowed to participate in politics to some extent, they will become dissatisfied.

That said, allowing complete autonomy is not an option. The port of Lezado is highly valuable both as a naval base and as the Adernian peninsula’s largest and King Rosais’ Country’s only port.

Therefore, it is necessary to continue governing it as a directly controlled territory.

I’m considering establishing a somewhat complex political system of setting up an assembly and governing indirectly while respecting the decisions of this assembly.

Regulation and tariffs on goods coming into Lezado need to be monitored by the country. Similarly, maintaining the naval base as a military port is the country’s responsibility.

However, it is not necessary for the country to directly oversee everything.

The locals will likely understand the necessity of infrastructure and special laws for the city of Lezado better than officials dispatched from the central government.

Moreover, I am promoting local self-government. This is because it saves various costs.

As long as we can control the military, the infrastructure, and taxes, it doesn’t matter what the local areas do.

The low taxes of our country are also based on the premise of local self-government. Our country has the one-tenth land tax, also known as land leasing fee, and the one-twentieth sales tax, along with inheritance tax and other miscellaneous taxes.

Even when combined, the taxes in our country are not high.

So, if the local areas want to hold festivals or build special structures, they are free to collect a poll tax or additional taxes to do it, I’m not going to pay for it.

Well, currently, the law to approve this is not yet established, so the local officials dispatched to the area are merely implementing what the residents request.

I want Lezado to serve as a model case for local self-government in our country.

Now, the issue at hand is the establishment of the assembly. Setting up an assembly is not just about constructing a parliament building.

Establishing an assembly means determining the method of electing representatives and defining their powers. The powers to be given to the assembly have already been decided.

The problem lies in the method of election.

The tax system in King Rosais’ Country is based in a proportional rate, not a fixed amount. In other words, the more one earns, the more taxes one has to pay.

Thus, the wealthy end up paying more taxes.

「This leads the wealthy to think: ‘Only we, the wealthy, should have the right to participate in politics!’ Isn’t that right?」

「Indeed, that’s correct.」

Currently, the former members of the Lezado council, who are extremely wealthy, effectively control the city’s administration. Thus, they aimed to reform politics based on the idea that only those who pay a certain amount of taxes should have the right to vote. They wanted to change the previous system where ‘the number of votes per person varies depending on the amount of tax paid’ to ‘everyone who pays above a certain amount of taxes gets one vote.’

This can be considered a significant advancement from Lezado’s previous political system. However, some second-class citizens opposed this.

The second-class citizens cried out, ‘We pay taxes too!’

Of course, the second-class citizens neither own land nor run businesses. Therefore, they are not subject to land rent or sales tax. However, they are subject to conscription.

Blood tax is also a form of tax.

Moreover, during the recent battle with Pofenia, the second-class citizens played a significant role. Without their cooperation, Lezado would have fallen.

However, from the perspective of first-class citizens, allowing second-class citizens who haven’t paid a single copper to have voting rights is unacceptable.

Hence, the issue is causing a lot of disputes.

「However, there is no middle ground. We can only choose one or the other.」

「That’s right. But the discussion isn’t progressing… So, could Your Majesty make a decisive decision with a single authoritative word?」

「Grant the second-class citizens the right to vote.」

Second-class citizens outnumber first-class citizens. From the perspective of first-class citizens, this might indeed seem terrifying.

But that’s how democracy works.

As I’ve said many times, as long as the central government manages the main taxes designed by the law, conscription, and the maintenance of militarily important facilities, I don’t care about local politics.

Well, if they start something like freezing the assets of first-class citizens and distributing them equally, I would step in to stop it.

「Well, election campaigns require money. In the end, only the wealthy can actually run for office.」

Therefore, second-class citizens cannot wield the power of numbers alone. Besides, second-class citizens won’t be easily organized.

The balance will likely remain slightly in favor of first-class citizens.

「Is there anything else I need to decide?」

「No, nothing in particular.」

I see, then there’s no problem.

◇

While Almus and Alexios were discussing the city administration of Lezado… Ron was dealing with the post-war processing in the newly acquired territories.

There were several reasons why Ron was entrusted with the maintenance and management of this region.

Firstly, Almus wanted Ron to gain more experience. However, this was also true for Roswald and Gram. So why was Ron chosen over Roswald and Gram?

Starting with Roswald, he held the position of Praetorian Prefect, the leader of the Praetorian Cohors. The role of the Praetorian Cohors was to protect the king and defend the capital. Hence, he couldn’t leave the capital for an extended period.

Next was Gram. Gram was tasked with the development of the Romalia Forest. The Romalia Forest was strategically important to King Rosais’ Country, and only those close to Griffon could undertake its development. Therefore, Gram couldn’t be absent from his duties.

So, does this mean Ron didn’t have responsibilities? Not at all. Ron was in charge of domestic drug enforcement and the elimination of spies.

However, Ron had already established his organization, and there was no need for him to issue orders from the capital. He could communicate with Almus within a few hours using hawks.

Most importantly, Ron’s organization had not yet penetrated the newly conquered regions. As the head of the secret police, Ron needed to expand his network into these new territories.

Thus, it was decided that Ron would also be responsible for internal administration and defense.

◇

Almus assigned Ron four thousand soldiers, considering that he would need force to enforce various decrees.

The first thing Ron did upon entering the former Mieharis Family mansion with his four thousand soldiers was to maintain public order. In other words, he began by eradicating bandits and robbers.

The aftermath of the war had left the region in chaos, with deserters causing disorder and transforming into bands of bandits. Additionally, some patricians had exploited the plebeians, leading to the impoverished people turning into thieves. Some areas were already suffering from extremely poor security conditions.

「Surrender and you will be spared.」

「Really?」

「Yes, really. Your life will be spared.」

「I surrender! I promise to work diligently from now on!」

「Good, please do. Ainz-san, take care of them.」

「Understood. This one has some good muscles; he should sell for a high price. This one could fetch a decent amount if sold as a male prostitute…」

「Wait, weren’t you going to spare us?」

「Your lives are spared, aren’t they?」

It seems Ron and Ainz made quite a profit.

Next, Ron conducted a census to gather data on the population and survey the land. These steps were essential to begin proper governance.

Given that the area was small and not heavily populated, the census proceeded smoothly.

「Hmm, as expected, there are a lot of tenant farmers. It’s a problem that 80% of the plebeians are tenant farmers,」

Ron said, frowning as he read the report.

The military system of King Rosais’ Country was based on conscription, with military roles determined by one’s wealth.

Big landowners and wealthy merchants served as cavalry. Plebeian landowners served as heavy infantry, and tenant farmers and propertyless citizens served as light infantry.

Among these, the main force of King Rosais’ Country was the heavy infantry. Therefore, the quality and quantity of heavy infantry were directly linked to the country’s military strength.

Thus, having few plebeian landowners posed a significant issue.

「In addition, there is a lot of undeveloped land and abandoned farmland. Well, we can solve that by recruiting immigrants… For now…」

Ron issued the following decrees:

• The land owned by landlords will be confiscated and distributed free of charge to tenant farmers.
• No taxes will be collected for one year; thereafter, a ten percent land rent will be imposed.
• Tax collection will follow the system of King Rosais’ Country.

A big blow was dealt to the landlords who had been exploiting the plebeians through their collusion with the patricians.

The landlords lost significant portions of their land due to the redistribution. Additionally, they lost their vested rights as tax collectors, where they had previously been able to pocket a portion of the taxes.

Several rebellions seemed likely to erupt, but Ron, being in charge of the intelligence of King Rosais’ Country, managed to arrest and punish all conspirators before any unrest could materialize.

「Long live Ron Aemilius-sama!」

「Long live the new lord!」

「Marry me!」

「What a wonderful person… Just a glimpse of his profile makes me swell with desire.」

Thanks to Ron’s popularity-boosting policies, the newly acquired territory was smoothly integrated into King Rosais’ Country. For the foreseeable future, there was no fear of a peasant revolt.

「I’m not their new lord… I’ll be leaving after my one-year term ends.」

「Doesn’t matter, ‘new lord’ sounds cool.」

Soyon praised Ron lavishly.

In contrast to the capital, where familiar eyes were many, the couple openly displayed their affection more than usual in this less familiar setting. The day they would have children seemed near.

「Alright… Next, we need to start the renovation of the mansion.」

The mansion of the former Mieharis Family was to be renovated and repurposed as a fortress and a base for the Western Conquest. Overseeing this renovation was also Ron’s job.

「What about the labor force?」

「We’ll hire from the plebeians. I’ve received funds from Leader.」

Even though taxes had been abolished, living conditions wouldn’t improve immediately. The plebeians had to wait for the harvest. There were many impoverished plebeians in this region, some were even on the brink of falling into slavery.

Ron’s plan was a two-fold strategy: protecting these people and simultaneously turning them into a labor force.

When Ron issued a large-scale proclamation, many plebeians sent their second and third sons to Ron. He assigned them to tasks such as the renovation of the mansion, the maintenance of roads and bridges, and the improvement of irrigation and flood control systems.

The compensation for their work was paid in copper coins, this was to help hasten the spread of a monetary economy.

「Well, I must say, I’m quite good at governance. Though, I’m just mimicking what Leader did.」

「That’s impressive, Ron!」

The moment when the two would be blessed with children would arrive soon…