Two days after my conversation with Gilbert in the office, I found myself surrounded by high-ranking officials. We were in a conference room in the outer palace. Every single aspect of this room—which was specifically designed for high-ranking officials—was luxurious.
The one who held most authority in this kingdom was me, of course: the queen. Next in line were the five ministries: Foreign Affairs, Finance, Justice, Defense, and General Affairs.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealt with diplomatic relations with other nations. The Ministry of Finance was responsible for budgeting, financial reports, accounting, and taxation. The Ministry of Justice oversaw the establishment and maintenance of the kingdom’s legal system. The Ministry of Defense managed the kingdom’s army and the palace mages. Lastly, the Ministry of General Affairs handled tasks unrelated to the other four ministries.
The high-ranking officials consisted of all the ministers and vice ministers. With so many seasoned veterans in one place, there was a certain gravitas to the occasion.
“Well… Now that it’s time, we shall begin. Today, we will be discussing reforms to the organizational structure of the government.”
“Government reform, you say? Is that truly necessary? I believe the current system is functioning adequately,” the Minister of Finance said.
“If it is functioning adequately, does that mean we should stop striving for improvement?” I countered, meeting each person’s gaze in turn. “To not even consider improving is negligence. Is there truly nothing in our kingdom we can make better? Is our government truly working as needed? I don’t believe so. Therefore, I have decided to restructure our kingdom in this first phase of my plan. In the second phase, we will be discussing new policies. A simple explanation, but that’s the gist of it. Does anyone have questions so far?”
“It’s clear that you want some achievements to your name now that you’ve claimed the throne, but aren’t you being too hasty? As the Minister of Finance pointed out earlier, our country is functioning adequately. Please be aware of the risks involved in unnecessarily disrupting the government.” These blunt words from Minister of General Affairs elicited mumblings from a few in the room. If I recalled correctly, his name was Nate Velnatti.
The two men from the Ministry of Defense—who knew what happened during the coronation—watched me warily. I let them know they had nothing to worry about. The others in the room tilted their heads in unison, confused by their seemingly excessive reactions.
“You also believe it’s functioning adequately?” I asked.
“Indeed,” said Nate. “This country has been operating under this system long before you rose to power, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm… Very well. Then do explain why we haven’t received the report on our crop harvest for the past decade. If I remember correctly, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of General Affairs are responsible for it.”
Nate’s face twitched in discomfort. “I won’t know for sure until I confirm, but the Ministry of Finance used the data in its annual financial report, so—”
“What?!” the Minister of Finance cut in, seeing the comment as an accusation. “The financial reports reflect the crop yields, yes, but we merely require the quantity.”
“Oh… In that case, is it entirely the Ministry of General Affairs’ responsibility to compile crop reports from each region, assess trends in crop yields, appraise the national reserves, and take appropriate measures in the event of a poor harvest?”
Neither Nate nor the Minister of Finance replied.
“Am I mistaken? I suppose I won’t know if you’re doing your job unless I have the report. In my opinion, there is no need to continue allocating personnel and budget to something we can’t see. What are your thoughts?”
“I cannot say anything further until we conduct proper investigations…”
I held back from sighing at Nate’s response. I never had any expectations for him. Before the meeting, I investigated the progress of the report from all avenues. I gave them the benefit of the doubt—maybe it was only the final report that hadn’t been handed in, and they were halfway through the work—but it turned out they hadn’t worked on it at all. Even if the Minister of Finance had been aware of this situation, it was unlikely that he’d be able to provide such an answer in this setting.
“If you cannot provide an explanation right now, it suggests that you have no understanding of this matter whatsoever. In short, you have failed to fulfill your duties,” I said. “Now…Minister of Finance, you mentioned that you only required the quantity of crops, but have you ever verified the accuracy of those numbers? Surely you didn’t blindly accept the data provided by the Ministry General Affairs.”
“W-well, I cannot comment unless I confirm it… Besides, even though we are different ministries, we should trust information from others who share responsibility for running the kingdom.”
“Hah! How can you still say that after listening to this entire conversation? General Affairs has probably never inspected the accuracy of those numbers. Besides, if you need the quantity for your duties, shouldn’t you be confirming the accuracy of the numbers in your own ministry?”
Unfortunately, reports from each region—that is, from the Great Five—could not be trusted. There was a possibility that the numbers were manipulated or underreported.
“Now then, Minister of General Affairs,” I said, turning to Nate. “If I recall correctly, you were confident that our organization was functioning adequately?”
“N-no! That was, um, a mere guess…”
“I see. In that case, I believe it is necessary to clarify each ministry’s responsibilities and the scope of authority of each person in charge. What do you think?”
“I-I think that is a wonderful idea,” Nate said.
“Is this what you referred to as the ‘first phase,’ Your Majesty?” asked the Minister of Justice.
“Indeed. In front of you are documents outlining the responsibilities of each ministry. First, I’d like you to confirm if anything is missing, and then clearly state who would be responsible for any overlapping tasks. For example, regarding the crop yield report mentioned earlier, Finance can be in charge of compiling and verifying the accuracy of the reports from each region, and General Affairs can assess the reserves and implement measures in the event of poor harvests. I believe we should subdivide each task and clearly identify the one in charge.”
“In addition to subdividing tasks, it may be best to assign leaders,” said the Minister of Justice. “And about the authority of the people in charge… Could you please temporarily entrust it to our ministry? We have already begun to discuss the issue of power imbalance.”
In a government as large as this one, it was a struggle to identify who made decisions and how they were made. Moreover, it was difficult for high-ranking individuals to effectively communicate with all their subordinates. Therefore, it was crucial to establish clear guidelines on decision-making authority and to develop a chain of command.
“Ensure that your responsibilities are clarified by next week and report back to me. Understood?”
Everyone nodded in acknowledgment.
Having gotten their assent, I returned to the office, then read through some additional documentation.
“Mm…”
There was a veritable mountain of paperwork on my desk. Since computers did not exist in this world, all documents were on paper. That said, I had always preferred reading on paper—even in my past life. I found it easier to absorb the material that way. The medium wasn’t the issue; it was the sheer amount of work.
Once I finished reading, I leaned back into my chair and looked up. I organized my thoughts while following the patterns up the wallpaper and onto the ceiling.
A knock came at the door, and Gilbert stepped into the room.
“Pardon my intrusion,” he said. “How was the meeting?”
“It went very smoothly,” I replied.
“Oho. I thought you-know-who might give you a headache.”
“Indeed he did…but I managed to convince him in the end.”
I already knew the Minister of General Affairs would protest. That was why I had Gilbert’s students gather information in advance to counter all of his arguments.
“That’s great to hear. We also need to switch up the power structure inside the palace sooner than later so we can support Norman. He is fighting alone in the Radfords’ region.”
I nodded in agreement. “Once we sort out the redundant tasks, we’ll have completed the second phase. Your students will be all finished with their investigations, so we can assign some of them to assist the ministers. And with the remaining students, we will discuss whether we need additional duties and departments.”
“Understood.”
“That said, we’re quite pressed for time. I wish things could progress faster for Norman as well, but…”
“Haste makes waste,” Gilbert said. “Establishing a solid foundation for our government is crucial for future reforms as well. It is also essential for the centralization of regional governance and decentralization of the national government you desire.”
Centralizing regional governance and decentralizing national governance… That was the final form of the political institution I envisioned.
“I’ve found your vision intriguing from the very first time I heard about it. The idea of decentralizing national governance in particular.”
“Regrettably, I’m just one person, so I can only dedicate so much time for each task. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to delegate additional authority to the ministers and have them make the necessary decisions? My role would be to maintain the overall balance,” I said.
Currently, regional lords were responsible for making decisions in their own regions. My goal was to shift that authority to the ministries of the national government. Each ministry’s tasks would be reported to the minister, and decisions made in the ministries would be implemented across regions. The ministers would keep each other in check, while the queen and regional lords would be responsible for monitoring their work and maintaining the general balance of power.
That was the basic picture.
“I hope we can make it a reality soon. I don’t ever want to deal with this much paperwork again.” I chuckled dryly at my heap of work.