--
Every city is managed by a city lord and his/her team, their own council, if you will.
Since each city had a minimum of hundreds of thousands of people, some even having millions at once, there's no way a single person could manage a city full of people alone. Especially with martial artists involved.
Every city lord was jointly appointed not only by the royal court—the king's council—but also by the Grand Martial Union. Anybody who's running for the office must meet the criteria of both camps to be officialized.
The requirements of the Royal Court and the GMU are different. The former's standards are flexible; they could change depending on the people currently sitting at the court.
Although ultimately, the final decision was for the king to decide, the king is only a man and could be swayed or convinced through numerous means. Kings can even be pressured by their own court when things go out of their control, so this was to be expected.
