The Estates Assembly

Kanon studied my face and hummed thoughtfully.

"You seem quite confident. The straightforward approach would take an eternity."

"We can't exactly tell people we need to verify the household register because it's unreliable. That would be the worst possible outcome, it'd breed distrust toward Her Majesty Tianis."

Queen Tianis had ascended to the throne despite not yet being of age and was working hard for the nation.

Thanks to that, she enjoyed high popularity among the people.

Not quite on Princess Yupe's level, but being her sister meant there was no ill will toward her as far as I'd heard.

She'd also successfully repelled the Sky Whale that had loomed over the Royal Capital, and welcoming Evalin, a key figure in that effort, as a guest at the palace had helped as well.

"If anyone speaks ill of Her Majesty, I'll set them straight. So do you have a plan?"

"Well, I've always wanted to try gathering people using someone else's money. When it's out of your own pocket, you have to turn a profit or you're in trouble."

"You… what do you think tax money is for?"

"Combining hobby with practical benefit, as they say. I'll do the job properly, don't worry."

"You'd better! But what exactly are you planning?"

Her expression shifted to one of suspicion.

If this failed, it would be her reputation on the line, so naturally she'd be concerned.

"I have a bit of an idea, but first let's make sure we're on the same page about the fundamentals."

"Hm."

"The most important thing for running the Royal Capital is its citizens, the people who hold citizenship, right? I don't like ranking people, but…"

"It's not ranking, it's distinguishing. Citizenship means fulfilling the obligation to pay taxes and gaining the right to vote for members of the Citizens' Assembly. That's what keeps this city running."

The Citizens' Assembly.

As the name suggested, it was an assembly composed entirely of citizens, with representatives elected from among them.

You could call it the heart of what citizenship meant.

Unfortunately, its political standing was far weaker compared to the Crown or the nobility.

However, it was permitted to submit agenda items even to the assembly where only the privileged classes, royalty and nobles, participated.

Practical proposals, like reorganizing districts, apparently did pass from time to time.

It was also possible to petition the king directly, making it one of the few avenues for citizens to bring their voices straight to the throne.

The reason citizens didn't give up and rebel against the nobles' self-serving behavior was precisely because this system existed.

When wronged by a noble, the first thought was to consult a Citizens' Assembly member and file a formal protest.

In places like Kassad, where the Citizens' Assembly held little power, it was questionable how effective it really was against the nobility…

But even there, it at least served as a safety valve.

"Because there's an obligation to pay taxes, they hold the right to vote. People without citizenship are free to live here but don't have that voting right."

"Exactly. Having representatives who can voice opinions to royalty and nobility is a privilege beyond what commoners deserve, but if it motivates them to work and pay taxes, it's not a bad system."

"I'm a commoner too, you know… Though I don't pay taxes to the Royal Capital."

Nobles made up only 2.3% of the nation's total population.

The rest were commoners.

The nation's industries functioned precisely because these commoners were the ones doing the work.

Soldiers, too, were commoners.

Nobles merely managed land and people.

Commoners were not their property.

That said, debating this with Kanon, a noble herself, would only lead us in circles, so I shelved it.

The main topic was something else entirely.

"When exercising voting rights to elect representatives, they do verify identities, correct?"

"… They should be."

Her answer was less than reassuring.

A subordinate in charge was called over and gave us an explanation.

"Verification using the registry was being conducted. However, if the registry itself was tampered with, then we can't say the verification was done correctly."

"Can you tell whether the registry was falsified or forged?"

"The master copy itself is already suspect, so it would be meaningless."

"It always comes back to that, doesn't it."

A thorny problem.

So let's flip the approach.

If paying taxes was what earned you citizenship, then we should take that literally.

"This year's citizenship tax collection hasn't been carried out yet, correct?"

"Normally it would be about time, but it's been pushed back due to the meteorite incident."

"Then let's lower the tax this year with a stated reason and require in-person payment. Something like: 'The Royal Capital has been through a lot, so we're reducing the tax. Hang in there.' That'll improve Her Majesty Tianis's public image, and if taxes are lower, people will actually come. However, anyone on the registry who doesn't show up will have their citizenship placed on temporary hold. We use this to build a fresh registry. If they pay the full amount properly next year, their citizenship gets reinstated, so there shouldn't be complaints. Assuming the registry is accurate, that is."

The Royal Capital had nearly recovered from the meteorite incident's damage.

Queen Tianis had implemented various measures to stimulate the economy, and the influx of craftsmen from the Empire and elsewhere who came to repair buildings had brought both vitality and prosperity.

But not everyone had benefited from this.

There had to be people who held citizenship but had lost their jobs and were struggling.

This plan would exempt those people from taxes while simultaneously updating the registry.

"That's… not a bad idea. I have reservations about lowering taxes, but we can't spare the time and effort to collect them right now either. If this solves that problem, it would drastically reduce our workload. But with this approach, wouldn't people try to sneak in to obtain citizenship? What about those who desperately want it but haven't been able to get it?"

"Just give it to them. They'd gladly pay."

"And what if foreign agents infiltrate through this!? If the Citizens' Assembly gets compromised, it'll be a nightmare!"

"They already have plenty of ways to do that if they wanted to, and the Church of the Sun God was already running rampant doing whatever it pleased. So wouldn't it be better to at least get money into the nation's coffers? It's complicated from a citizen's perspective, but the Citizens' Assembly's power is limited. Against the Crown's authority, it's practically powerless."

Of course, keeping an eye on citizen activity would be necessary, but that wasn't specific to this plan.

It was something that needed to be done regardless.

The fact that it had been neglected was precisely why things had gotten this out of hand.

For better or worse, the authorities had simply been uninterested in the citizenry.

"If infiltration is going to happen either way, might as well collect money from it. What a merchant-like way of thinking. I'll submit a proposal for Her Majesty's approval, but… the Treasury Bureau won't stand for a tax reduction. The Finance Minister will intervene. If Her Majesty doesn't back down it will of course go through, but souring that relationship is unavoidable."

"It's for the nation's sake. Let's go through with it. There's no point hoarding gold in the national treasury. And in my estimation, the total revenue will actually increase."

In a way, this was something of a social experiment.

And if anyone tried to block it, at least I'd get to see the Finance Minister's face.