When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 625 - 588: Constitutional Convention (Mid-Mid)

What is the definition, obligation, and rights of the citizens? Permanent tenure?

Venice and Abazi exchanged a glance, and both saw surprise in each other's eyes.

Within the Empire, the concept of "what is a citizen" and "their rights and obligations" has always been vague.

This is a manifestation of the unwritten laws criticized by the El Scholars, which, among other things, facilitates the small maneuvers of notaries, judges, and lawyers.

This is even in the civilized world west of the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range!

In the east, the Great Monarchs of Norn treat their citizens as livestock, and would habitually send knights to forcibly capture a batch of citizens to sell to arms dealers and slave traders.

This has led to the Norn people making up nearly half of the Empire's mercenary market and demon hunter groups.

And this small Thousand River Valley is actually attempting to legally define the status of citizens?

Lupher blinked, revealing quite a bit of surprise in her eyes.

Just having heard Venice's words, she was a bit afraid that this constitutional meeting would discuss some lowbrow topics or argue incessantly over something trivial, but instead, it started with such high-level statutes.

She immediately took out pen and paper, preparing to take notes.

"According to the first article of the 'Holy Charter,' the power of the lord comes from the dual recognition of the citizens and the Holy Father, so we must determine what constitutes a citizen, hence deriving what citizens own and bear.

Yesterday, we passed the definition of a citizen, meaning those born or who have resided for a long time in the Thousand River Valley, loyal to the country, and abiding by the constitution and national laws, are considered citizens of the Thousand River Valley.

The most basic right of a citizen, as the faithful, is the power given by the Holy Father – life and freedom, which must not be illegally infringed.

The public register farmer system clearly violates this standard, but directly abolishing it would infringe on the rights of the lords, who are also the faithful, so Their Highnesses have proposed the 'Public Register Farmer Permanent Tenure Act.'

Thus, the human rights of citizens and the permanent tenure of public register farmers are bound, entering today's agenda session."

The ceremonial officer loudly read out today's agenda and opening speeches.

"Both Their Highnesses have doubts about this, so they hope the representatives can provide answers and offer reasonable suggestions to the distinguished Their Highnesses."

For the three El youths, although the term 'permanent tenure' is niche, it is not unheard of.

In the Southern Falan region, this model has been implemented in some grand noble's estates.

The so-called permanent tenure divides the land into ownership and usage rights.

Once a permanent lease contract is signed, unless the public register farmer voluntarily relinquishes it, the lord is not allowed to confiscate or arbitrarily raise the rent.

However, local great lords, including mountain knights eager for estates in Pingyuan County due to their military achievements, would not accept the abolition of the public register farmer system.

Because public register farmers are, to some extent, personal dependents and fixed assets.

Some public register farmers work as laborers in cities, and the lord forces their land plots to be cultivated by other public register farmers.

The public register farmers farming at home have to pay more rent for cultivating more land, while those working as laborers in cities still need to pay rent for their plots.

A piece of land is taxed twice.

Otherwise, the lord could use the 'Fugitive Slave Act' to forcibly confiscate all of a public register farmer's property, even their life.

Stripping away this benefit equates to a sharp income reduction for the nobility and lords, prompting the right seat representatives to lower their heads and discuss strategies.

In this newly established Advisory Council, their goal is not to convince the other two seats, but to convince the person on the throne.

Whoever can persuade Their Highnesses on the throne will win, a conclusion reached over recent days.

The victories and defeats of the three-seat representatives in debate may not necessarily translate to victories in legislation; the two Masters Wan are the legislators.

Therefore, they must consider the interests and goals of the two Masters Wan and compromise for this purpose.

A noble representative from the right seat stood up after a cough: "Your Highnesses, you see, the life of citizens cannot be arbitrarily taken, I agree, but the freedom they have already used up, no?

Your Highness the Despot, His Excellency the Great Shepherd, the land is mine; without this plot, they would starve, they have no surplus freedom because they exchanged it for life!"

"Indeed."

"Well said."

The surrounding nobles immediately began to fawn upon him flatteringly.

Recognizing that public register farmers' lives cannot be arbitrarily taken was already considered a significant concession by the nobility.

Unfortunately, the left seat representatives did not see it that way, and soon Armand was pushed forward.

Lupher blinked from the audience, wondering where this child came from, but soon her puzzled and amused demeanor vanished as Armand began to speak.

"Life is a gift from the Holy Father to the faithful; they labor for you, so you must protect the life of the faithful. This is not an extra grace but what the faithful deserve; where does this 'freedom for life' come from?"

The noble's face stiffened, thinking for quite some time yet unable to respond, simply sitting down under the left seat's jeers.

The initial debates and rebuttals left Lupher continuously surprised, as she delightedly looked at Venice's embarrassed expression, as if saying, "How is it now? Still crude talk, is it?"

Logically speaking, this debate was quite rigorous and reasonable.

There was no occurrence of the rural court's common saying of this era: "Pete killed a person, Pete is a person, so Pete killed Pete, sentence Pete to hanging, case closed."

With a feather pen writing swiftly, Lupher quickly summarized both the dialogue and logic on paper.

At that moment, the second round of confrontation had already begun.

Seeing their inability to debate basic rights, the right seat representatives tried to attack the issue of permanent tenure.

"So what if they have permanent tenure? Do they know how to farm? Public register farmers just need to bury their heads and work, we nobles have much more to think about!"

Armand immediately stood to rebut: "Who farms more, you or them? Even the armed farmers can farm well, why can't the public register farmers do the same?"

"Armed farmers are a branch of the nobility, they are the minority, even if chaotic, they cannot affect the overall situation." Clovin jumped up to retort, "We used to be able to adjust rent based on land yield, collecting less in lean years and more in bumper years. Turning it into a fixed share every year is too rigid."

"Nonsense!" Legion Commander Rudilo jumped onto the table, pointing at Clovin's nose and cursing, "I am from your territory as a public register farmer, 'collecting less in lean years and more in bumper years,' in bumper years, you did collect more, but in lean years, I never saw you collect less."

Count Sanboli sat in place, lamenting repeatedly: "If public register farmers ruin the fields, I bear the consequences. Who will compensate me for the lack in land yield?"

"Then you can charge a fixed rent."

As the discussion deepened, representatives rolled up their sleeves, banging on tables, sweating profusely, even loosening collars and fanning themselves with copies of the constitution.

In this chaotic scene, Lupher saw the dwarfs in both left and right seats dozing off, and the representatives in the middle seats secretly having breakfast.

Listening to the chaotic shouting, she stopped writing awkwardly, realizing there wasn't much she could record in such a chaotic scene.

She even avoided looking at Venice's face as he struggled not to laugh, wondering how it went from being so impressive at the start to changing midway.

"Order! Order!" Moliat's iron fist hammered the table, and Horn snapped his fingers to the side.

With the click of a finger and Moliat banging on the table, the arguing among the many representatives gradually subsided amid the clear ringing of a bell.

"Ding——" rang the crisp bell, and a noble representative from the right seat stood up, momentarily dazed, before bursting with joy, raising his hand: "Your Highness the Despot, Your Excellency the Great Shepherd, your territory is mine; without this land, they would starve. They don't have extra freedom because they exchanged their freedom for life!"

"Precisely so."

"Well said."

A chorus of nobles immediately began to flatter in a bootlicking manner.

Admitting that the life of public register farmers cannot be taken lightly was already considered a big concession by the nobility.

Only the representatives from the left seat did not think so, and soon, Armand was pushed forward.

From the audience, Lupher blinked again, wondering where this child had come from, but soon her puzzled and amused expression receded, because Armand began to speak.

"Life is granted to the faithful by the Holy Father; they labor for you, so you must protect the lives of the faithful. This is not an additional grace, but what they deserve. How can you trade freedom for life?"

The noble's face stiffened, and after a long moment of thought, he couldn't come up with a reply. He eventually sat down with his head bowed amid jeers from the left seat.

The initial debates and retorts left Lupher repeatedly surprised. She looked at Venice with a smug expression, as if to say, "How about now? Still think it's lowly drivel?"

Logically speaking, this debate was reasonably airtight.

It didn't resort to the common fallacy of this era's rural courts: "Pete killed someone, Pete is a person, so Pete killed Pete, and thus should be hung, case closed."

Lupher quickly jotted down and summarized the dialogues and logic of both sides with a quill.

At this moment, the second round of debate commenced.

Seeing their failure to argue basic rights, the right seat representatives began to challenge the concept of permanent tenure.

"So what if they have permanent tenure? Do they even know how to farm? Public register farmers just work the fields, but we, the nobles, have much more to contemplate!"

Armand stood up to argue back: "Who farms more, you or them? Even free armed farmers can farm well; they manage fine even if things become chaotic."

Clovin leapt up to counter: "They are only a few people, even if they cause chaos, they can't affect the overall situation."

"Rubbish!" Legion Commander Rudilo leapt onto a table, pointing at Clovin's nose and cursing, "I came from working your land, and even in a disaster year, I've never seen you collect less than in a good year."

Count Sanboli sat in his place lamenting endlessly: "If public register farmers grow more land, they have to pay more rent. Although laborers work in cities, they still have to pay rent on their plots."

The argument deepened as representatives rolled up their sleeves, knocking on tables and sweating profusely, even loosening their collars to fan themselves with draft copies.

Among the chaos, Lupher noticed the drowsiness of both the dwarven representatives, one from the left seat and the other from the right, while those in the middle seat were secretly having breakfast.

Seeing the chaotic scene, Lupher reluctantly stopped writing, realizing that it was impossible to record anything amidst such disarray.

She even hesitated to look at Venice's strained expression, wondering how the heated discussion could have changed so much from its seemingly serious start.

"Order! Order!" Moliat's fist pounded on the table, and Horn, standing to the side, snapped his fingers.

The disputes among many representatives gradually subsided amid the crisp sound of a bell.

"Ding——" a clear ringing sound came through, and the noble representatives from the right seat were momentarily stunned, then overjoyed, eagerly raising their hands: "Shall we allow him to take on the challenge, Your Highnesses?"

The representatives quickly whispered among themselves, glancing at Dean Martin, but saw him quiet, so readily consented. Why wouldn't they accept? He was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy, not a seasoned strategist. If it was Dean Martin they would need to consider more carefully.

Seeing Armand step into the center of the hall with a smile, Lupher couldn't help but feel worried as she looked on.

"For most of you, the permanent tenure is good news, isn't it?"

Indeed. Armand's opening statement couldn't help but make the nobles excited, causing them to excitedly raise their hands and voices in agreement.