"I admit to despairing at the prospect of attempting to pass reasonable tax reforms under the circumstances, particularly if the Archmage refuses to permit the commoners to leave."

Well, if they want to bankrupt themselves, that's their business. "As you say, my lords."

He's not saying don't do it, he's just saying that you need a plan robust to some commoner proposing that actually they should get a permanent exemption from taxation and also a pony, and it needs to rely on neither everyone being bribed actually voting how they're supposed to nor the Church of Iomedae being sensible.

"When our creativity fails us, tradition may save us. The Thrunes did what they could to destroy the history of this fair country, but many convention delegates were brought to the present from the time of Gaspodar. Perhaps before the convention resumes, we could have recorded the traditions and principles of law such as existed at that time, and present them to the convention as a starting point. 'There are six noble ranks, as follows:' instead of the Thrune's nine, and so on. If we're in great luck, they already wrote such a constitution for us, and we just have to find a book that survived."

"This does not settle Montcada's point; this may tell us who can ban growing sugar, but not whether or not they will ban it. I doubt we wish to simply return the code to the position it was a hundred years ago."

"Either an issue is critical for all of Cheliax, and the convention can contest the old constitution, or it is not, and it should be properly settled by that ruler, instead of this convention. We should perhaps set a deadline for them to issue new codes, but not reach further."