Do you people want proposal 1, 2 or something different?
We could also make it as it is now, but where people own regions completely. That's sort of how it is in practice now anyway, so whatever. There could be a few regions which aren't that way, like The Battleground, which is a special region. Maybe that's the best. And you can rule that region how you like and trade if you want, I'll just make roads and railways, and will gladly help other people with resources, and they're also welcome to pay taxes when they want.
Since you're using gold as a currency, I guess I could just trade some resources you need for your gold, if I wanted, and then spend the gold as I want (AKA on rails).
I think I'm going to plant some flags in the Battleground. Then an objective is to make your own flag and change all the flags in The Battleground, so we can see who has control of it. I'll maybe make some obsidian areas for them, with space for a 8x8 or 4x4 flag, or something.
Here's a new map with some proposals: