The Rise of the Black Plain

'Voting? What is he talking about?' The former president thought to himself upon hearing that. 'Any vote he takes now can be undone in two days... What's the sense in wasting his time on this?'

Other individuals were also thinking the same as this level 69 fellow. Still, the more experienced ones there were a bit worried, considering Minos' track record.

'What will he do?' The matriarch of the Guzman family wondered while keeping her expression serious, staring at Minos.

Minos then picked up a piece of paper that Abby had finished writing and placed it on a support that was there in front of him.

He smiled as he read it, noticing that, as he had thought, the leaders of the Assembly had been acting a bit far than they should.

It was not enough to make other families punish them, but it was enough to create doubt in the minds of those harmed by it.

That was enough for Minos right now!

"Representatives of Vogel, I have in hand documents that prove that the representatives of the strongest families of Vogel have been increasing their own powers and benefits at a rate above acceptable."

"The houses Guzman, Francis, and Presley are acting on the sly to lower tax collections for their families while maintaining the same costs for houses like Caroll and Burke." He first quoted the names of the largest noble families in the territory and then spoke the names of two of the smallest.

Not every issue was voted on in the Assembly. Only the most important ones, with significant weight for the state. But this house had some duties similar to those of the royal family, which gave it room to administer part of Vogel.

That is, not only Minos could change a fraction of the state's tax collections, debt collections, and transfer of territories. The Assembly could do some of that as well, which was basically in the hands of the President and Directors.

That was a less bureaucratic way of doing things so that this house could more quickly take measures that were effective in fulfilling a short-term goal.

For example, suppose a noble family went through a calamity, and the local leaders felt it was too important to be abandoned. In that case, such a measure could quickly decrease the pressures on that family.

But this was a mechanism for abnormal events and should be used to not create unnecessary tensions in the state. At the same time, it should be used openly, not hidden, as had been the case with this issue.

Minos continued as he showed the papers to the people in that place. "For the past three years, the three largest organizations in this state have received over 3% tax exemption!"

"House Burke, meanwhile, has had three exemption requests denied after their experts died in the war against Abe."

When Minos did this, the members of the most prominent families in the state immediately became even angrier, forming icy expressions on their faces.

Simultaneously, the members of the smaller houses, many of whom were still in doubt about whether to support Minos, began to get angry as well, only for the unfair acts of those houses.

Minos continued. "So, I propose this vote to decide whether the acts of Mister Guzman's management are relevant to Vogel, whether they are in line with the interests of this house."

"I have the impression that part of this house disagrees with that. Thus, I propose a vote on an amendment to the house rules to remove from the president's hands the management of fee rebates and allocation of free state lands."

"Further, I propose that future votes decide this privilege in this house transparently and fairly."

"What? That's unacceptable!"

"That would make the process more difficult and bureaucratic!"

"Yes, how will we deal with urgent matters if we are plastered by Assembly business?"

Several voices defending the side of the most powerful in this state argued for things to continue as they were.

Minos then said. "The imperial family is willing to control that privilege and use it appropriately if that house prefers."

"Nonsense!"

"That is a way for His Majesty to take benefits from us and increase his powers!" A level 76 elder said aloud, looking at the people in the surrounding area.

Whatever Minos did there, it could be reversed after those two days by new votes in the future. However, considering the exposure of that problem, something proven by data, it changed the whole situation for those powerful people interested in continuing to be privileged.

After all, if Minos won the vote, even after he left, it would be complicated to reverse such a thing based on the feelings of injustice of the smaller families.

Also, as much as the Assembly had relatively more powers than the local sovereign, in extreme cases, the imperial family could take over these families if they threatened peace in the territory. So even if these greater powers threatened the smaller houses, that could justify for Minos to act directly against them!

And hell, that was all Minos wanted right now.

With the support of the Gray Cloud Sect elders, it would be a walk in the park for him to defeat some of these families.

In this situation, the local high-level powers were naturally worried about Minos' attack.

Minos' defenders there began to counter-attack those trying to make him look like the fox trying to take control of the hen house.

"His Majesty is trying to rid the state of abusers of power!"

"Yes, high-ranking families want to develop at the expense of our homes, even when they already have the best equipment, land, resources..."

"Tsk!"

"As expected! This house's privileges should increase equality between the powers in the state, but the damned are acting like royalty!"

One of the angriest of the Guzman family then said. "You people are naive. That is the world of the strong. So what if we increase benefits for our homes? Our families are the strongest in the state and keep things in order here!"

Minos smiled upon hearing that.

It was true that the most powerful could do as they pleased in this world, and the weaker ones could not complain much, or they would be at serious risk. But none of these families in Vogel were as strong as a royal house, an organization that naturally had more power than the others and, therefore, could have such privileges.

At the same time, the sovereign house of this state was getting stronger by leaps and bounds. So the position of these major local families was somewhat unstable for that man to justify himself in such a way.

The strongest people there soon realized this man's mistake and closed their eyes the moment before the tempers of the other elders in the area exploded.

"Hahaha, very funny. Does your Guzman family, by any chance, think they are the royal household? I will not accept my Skeldon family being subjugated by people of your level, Guzman!" An old man stood up and let part of his spirit escape.

A black-haired woman added. "I accept that your families are important to Vogel. But you are far from the level that I will get down on my knees and agree to sacrifice myself for you."

"Your Majesty, I want to be the first to vote!" She walked toward the place where the representatives could go to speak. "I make it a point to be the first to vote for Your Majesty's proposals!"

...