NOVEL NEXT Chapter 76: Recreating the government
"Surely, what you said out in the open was just for the sake of the crowd, am I right?"
With the most emotional part of the entire rebellion now over, it was the time to decide what would the future order of the city look like. And that was the main reason why the heads of all the influential families gathered in the town hall, awaiting my opinion on the matter.
"Joke? What do you take my cult for? We got rid of the governor for how he was abusing his position, and now you want to create a system where all those who helped to achieve the current result would get a fair share of the cake? No way."
In one instant, the relative peace within the room broke down as everyone started arguing. They didn't care about the fact that it was me and the people who came to my rite that did most of the heavy lifting. While Governor's desertion wasn't something they could know in advance, ultimately they did absolutely nothing outside of showing up to the victorious march.
But that didn't mean I could just leave them with nothing. In the end, I never had any intention of taking all the power for myself as it was the easiest way to bind my hands in the political game.
Only once the heat in the room turned up yet another notch with some of the bodyguards openly resting their hands at the handles of their weapons did I decided to step in. Raising from my seat, I tapped the wood of the huge desk placed in the middle.
For some strange reason, this silent tapping was more than enough to calm the people down. While it took a while for everyone to calm down, I didn't bother to make any other, excessive movements.
"Don't get me wrong. I do not wish to leave you guys all with nothing. But first off, let me assure you about one thing. I have absolutely no interest in taking part in the elections."
That was most likely the major point why everyone was anxious. With how I intentionally did everything to become the focal figure of the entire uprising, there was no doubt that no matter what kind of election would be thrown, I could easily claim the winning spot. Openly declaring that I would back away from it was the simplest way to calm everyone down and actually achieve my own objectives.
Because after giving up on nearly absolute power of the city, it was time for me to make my concessions.
"To make it simple for everyone, here is my proposition. Right now, we need to deal with several problems."
Moving away from my chair, I started to move around the entire room.
"First off, we need to somehow split the power between everyone gathered here so that the city won't devolve into an anarchic state. Next, I need to ensure that no atrocities that the previous regime was known from will ever repeat. And lastly, I want my own, fair share of the cake."
Throwing those simple sentences at those heads of the big families and crimelords that ruled the city from behind the scene, either way, I watched how their faces changed with a trace of a smile on my lips. Some were satisfied with how the things were going so far, some were flustered by bringing the shenanigans of the power to broad daylight, all the way to some of them rejoicing at their chance to make it big.
"For those reasons, I suggest as follows. We will establish the city council along with a mayor to oversee its work. This seat I will take for myself, but the only power I expect is that of a civic veto. Meaning, if I disagree with something the council will decide, a popular vote will be conducted as to whether to implement the new policies or not."
Looking towards the doors of the room, I nodded my head to Pavlo. Seeing my gesture, he quickly approached the table before placing a huge map of the city right on top of it.
"Speaking about the council, I suggest splitting the city into the number of wards fitting the number of people gathered here. Just to speed things up I took the freedom to paint the borders of the districts according to the influence and seat of power of everyone gathered. This proposed division takes into account factors like the wealth of the land its populations, prospects and a lot of other stuff."
Taking a momentary break to let everyone take their time to scan and analyze the map, I could see how some points of conflict appeared instantly. Just as expected, the lords of the underworld saw a lot of cuts to the lands they already controlled, instantly learning that they would receive the relatively shorter straw.
"We cannot accept…"
Seeing how one of the bosses of the underworld stood up, I only glared at him coldly, forcing him to take his seat back.
"Every single of those wards will receive big autonomy, all the while allowing its governor to hold a place in the council. I know most of the owners of… less official businesses might see some territorial losses here, but you are receiving legitimisation and access to the ultimate local power in exchange."
My voice was cold and so were my eyes. Even though I didn't really care about the city outside of the borders of the sacred ward that I carved out of the map for my cult, I had to ensure it would prosper. Otherwise, the population of the city would turn their backs to me.
That's why I couldn't allow the crime lords to act out of the line. For them, just the ability to legally operate on their areas was a huge benefit, something they would never achieve in any other scenario outside of conquering the city themselves. Thankfully, from the lack of reactions of the other bosses, it seemed that they also understood this point.
"Okay, I understand everything. In other words, the council holds the real power over the topics concerning the entire city, you as a mayor, sir, can veto the stuff that you think citizens wouldn't like, putting it under a public vote. But from what I see, the areas where that church of yours is located is marked in different colours than the rest of the wards. Mind explaining why?"
From the shadows of the opposite end of the table, a voice belonging to a young man appeared. Only after straining my eyes for a bit did I manage to actually see his face. Even though I didn't know him personally, the briefing that Baskars prepared for me before this meeting allowed me to recognise him.
Jerem Mastow, a young heir of the Mastow company. According to the official files, it was a family that made the use of apocalypse to quickly grow in power, only slightly lagging behind those who established themselves way in the past. What Pavlo told me in secret though, was how they were rumours of them being just stand-ins for the Sarate family, tasked with managing the matters of the conglomerate without involving the family itself!
"That's pretty simple. First off, I won't involve myself in the politics of the city. I have too much on my hands already to bother with something so boring. That means I don't care about the council, nor about the position of mayor. I need it just for the sake of appearances."
Turning towards Jeremy, I smiled gently before finishing my demands.
"That's why, the area marked with the different colour, the area consisting of the current edge of the town and the plains outside it, will be turned into a sacred land of my cult and will receive complete autonomy. While you can expect me to invest in the city quite quickly, outside of the autonomy of those lands, I only want one thing."
Raising from above the table, I moved a few paces to the back of the room, before turning around and returning to my seat at the table. Leaning over the map, I pointed at the small part of the urbanised area that was within the lands I wanted for myself.
"Even though I want autonomy, I'm not going to separate those lands from the rest of the city. What I expect though, is a complete lack of taxes, customs or other deterrents from conducting business or freely travelling between the old city and the sacred lands of my cult."