Chapter 27: Establishment of Parliament (2)

As Carolus left after announcing the bomb, the Royal Palace audience quickly became chaotic. The nobles and royals were loudly discussing the meaning of the words just spoken.

“Parliament, huh? Is it an organization like the Imperial Parliament of that Allied Empire?”

“If you say that, the structure and functioning are almost identical to the Estates-General. Only a few details are different.”

“Perhaps it means they won’t handle national affairs unilaterally anymore…”

The documents Carolus handed over upon his departure contained specific plans, making them not difficult to understand.

1. Clergy of the First Class: 100 individuals.
2. Nobles of the Second Class: 100 individuals.
3. Commoners of the Third Class: 100 individuals.

Select representatives from the three classes that constitute the kingdom to discuss national affairs and deliberate on important matters in the capital, Rahator.

The representatives will be composed of talented individuals recommended from various parts of the kingdom, with a term of four years.

There is no limit to consecutive terms.

In the decision-making process, each representative has one vote, and decisions are made based on the majority opinion through voting.

Approved matters gain practical effectiveness upon receiving approval from the King or the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction.

However, during the first term, there is insufficient time to gather nationwide public opinion.

The Supreme Council for National Reconstruction will recommend three representatives from the third class, and the nobles will independently select two representatives from the second class.

Although there are many other minor explanations, to summarize the main points:

“Read this. They have also allowed us some discretion, haven’t they?”

They quickly realized that this was an improved version of the Estates-General.

The existing Estates-General, which had over a thousand members, was reduced to one-third its size, and the final approval authority was expanded to include both the Supreme Council and the King.

The decision-making process introduced the principle of majority rule instead of class-based voting, ensuring that the opinions of all representatives were reflected.

Although there were three major changes, everything else remained almost the same.

To use a metaphor, it was somewhat improved to be more democratic and efficient, perhaps?

In the previous system, if the king nitpicked, nothing could be done about it.

“But….. wouldn’t this completely block Your Majesty’s power institutionally?”

“The veto was clearly the monarch’s inherent right. This is to openly make Your Majesty unable to do anything.”

Of course, there were some unsatisfactory matters.

Deciding whether to accept the courtiers’ petitions was clearly the king’s freedom and authority.

However, if the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction holds equal power, that authority is lost. Because even if one side refuses, the other side can approve and pass it.

Does that mean the king no longer has a reason to reign?

Having stripped away his value as the supreme decision-maker of the state, isn’t this officially making him a mere figurehead?

However, the opposition didn’t last long. King Carl VII himself pointed this out in a firm voice.

“Carolus von Royten. That person is already ruling the country like a king in place of me. Even if we create such an organization, he probably still thinks the power is his own.”

“Your Majesty! Does that mean we have to just leave it as is and watch?”

“Count von Haime! How dare you raise your voice–“

“No, this will rather become an opportunity for us to turn the tide in our favor.”

The king, holding the documents left by Carolus, spoke.

“According to his plan, we can send 100 people to the parliament. That alone would secure 33% of the votes. If we bring in the clergy, wouldn’t we easily exceed the majority?”

Those who understood his words immediately became envious.

“Are you saying the principle of majority rule actually benefits us blue-bloods!”

“Indeed, since the votes are overwhelming, we will also gain a solid advantage in the parliament!”

Blue-bloods. The noble class, named because their pale skin makes their veins prominent.

It’s just an expression.

Usually, it refers to privileged classes like royalty and nobility.

Here, it referred to Carl VII and the group opposing Carolus and his faction.

“Exactly. It’s been difficult to get in touch with the cardinals these days, but once the parliament opens, we’ll have plenty of opportunities to meet them. We can take this chance to contact and win them over.”

“What conditions will you set? Since the right to ordain bishops has become an exclusive authority of the parliament, we’ll have to accept other terms.”

“Let’s meet and discuss it first. Winning them over as quickly as possible is our top priority.”

These were the clergy who, even when engaged in power struggles, always actively cooperated to protect their vested interests.

Sure enough, they would act the same this time. Their position had become somewhat awkward, so some level of concession was inevitable.

Well, it didn’t matter. The key was to seize control of the parliament no matter what. Once we can lead the national affairs based on the votes, the power that was taken away will gradually return.

We will reclaim the authority that the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction had seized and weaken the power of the aristocrats.

“I don’t know what traitors were thinking when they created such an institution… but if it’s useful, we should make use of it. It’s a perfect opportunity to cleanse the corrupted kingdom.”

End.

To Carl VII, who inwardly mocked, thinking he was so foolish he might as well set himself on fire, a rough duke asked:

“However, Your Majesty. Wouldn’t those traitors also struggle if they think they’re losing power? For example, by shutting down the parliament.”

“Then, it would rather be beneficial. Wouldn’t it prove that they are ugly scions who crave power?”

Since they were given this opportunity even once, there were various ways to utilize it—from political battles to public opinion wars and propaganda.

They could debunk the justification for the revolutionary army’s rise to power and reduce them back to mere rebels.

The institutions they created for the convenience of governance would instead backfire, eroding their own foundation.

“Quickly select talented individuals to send to the parliament. I leave the methods to your discretion.”

King Carl VII issued the command and then closed his eyes, imagining himself once again seated on the throne, restoring his royal authority.

“…I wonder if he’s deluding himself like that.”

Upon returning to the office, I leaned back into the plush chair, inwardly mocking the noble lords who were probably busy indulging in their happy thoughts.

“If it were an organization that could be easily manipulated as you think, why did I even create the parliament? How hard we’ve worked on the preparations all this time.”

The courtiers would undoubtedly assess the situation and devise strategies based on the information they knew—information I had secured before they were confined within Rahator and before I orchestrated the coup to seize the capital.

Because they had been detained and the influx of information had been controlled, the aristocrats were unaware of the current state of affairs.

Even when contacting the clergy, it was only barely possible by deploying trustworthy confidants to meticulously plan operations.

Even those efforts were tainted by my interference on their way back.

Therefore, they might have thought they could conspire like during the old Estates-General era, with the two factions joining forces…

What should I do about this? I initiated a cultural revolution.

“The Goddess Church is a complete mess now—there’s barely any capacity to even select representatives, let alone gather opinions.”

The religious sector was in complete disarray thanks to my meddling.

Across the nation, including major dioceses, there were a total of 98 parishes, and there were roughly that many bishops or higher-ranking clergy? Now, all of them have turned into mutilated corpses.

I had instructed the priests to arrest them whenever possible or deport them to the capital, but they didn’t follow through at all.

The Red Guards, enraged, carried out all sorts of atrocities like burning at the stake and impaling, so it’s rare for any corpses to remain intact.

At least, most of the damage was concentrated on high-ranking clergy, with almost no civilian casualties, which is a small mercy amidst the misfortune.

Anyway, the Goddess Church was utterly incapable of participating in politics at the moment. We had to reelect all the bishops and cardinals from scratch.

“That means the first-term parliament has to be formed without the first class, only the second and third classes.”

It’s now a 100 vs. 100 bipolar structure.

As it stands,

Any proposed agenda would likely be rejected with a 50% yes and 50% no vote.

However, a variable arises here: the unity among the second-class representatives isn’t strong.

“No matter who comes forward, two or three will inevitably defect.”

Not all the nobles were solely focused on exploiting the lower classes.

Some harbored thoughts about reforming the country beyond just protecting their vested interests and privileges.

Though they weren’t numerous enough to become the mainstream… still, it didn’t matter.

If even a few of those individuals were elected to the parliament and switched sides, it would break the balance of voting power.

On the other hand, the third-class forces we were electing were carefully selected talents.

Starting with high-spec Agari fighters specially chosen by Miss Arschach, and including anti-royal figures invited through connections, republicans, current officers, and more.

“We’re a suicide squad, you bastards.”

Each one was a crazy combination, only gathering scions who were completely opposed to the current vested interests.

There might be internal disagreements, but they were destined never to defect to the opposing camp.

With about 51-52%, securing roughly that number of seats and appointing all the bishops to our side?

Well, from now on, the royal family would have to legally cede power to us.