Chapter640 The Contradiction between Twin City-States
The twin city-state, Piltover, has an already prosperous port full of large ships, which brings a lot of berthing fees to Piltover.
As the much-anticipated day arrives, the annual city festival, [Evolution Day] is held as scheduled.
During this period, the 100-meter steel arch bridge Hinanomon, which connects the upper city and lower city, will lift most of its traffic restrictions, allowing residents on both ends to pass freely.
Even the Zaunites who live in the stinky ditches have the right to enter Piltover as long as they can get some decent clothes and take a good bath to deodorize - although most of the time they hate the high-ranking people in the city.
The people of Zaun prefer to use this kind of power to make a fortune, and just find something to do for Piltover's law enforcement officials.
The city is full of colorful flags, banners and balloons, and even the bright brown-red tiles reflect the excitement of the Zaun people under this circumstance.
Every shop has prepared a sufficient quantity of goods in advance to avoid selling out, and overnight hotels are always full. Even a few brass gears on the ground can be sold under such circumstances.
Young craftsmen and technician apprentices who are eager to be appreciated by big merchant families energetically wear craftsman clothes that best reflect their abilities, carry tool kits and go to different merchant families to recommend themselves, looking for their own life opportunities.
There are also some outstanding talents who focus on technological innovation who choose to enter the Academy of Science and Progress to conduct technical exchanges and brainstorming with other scientific researchers, hoping to become famous in the Academy of Sciences, become newly admitted students, or be hired by Dean Heimerdinger as an honorary
lecturer.
For most people, Evolution Day is a festival that must be treated with caution. As long as you work hard, opportunities and wealth are indispensable. However, for Lester, Evolution Day is just a little more festive hustle and bustle in the ordinary.
That's all.
Lanxun Manor is located in a single-family villa to the west. Lester is enjoying breakfast with his favorite little apprentice Sindra, and the old butler Smedelai is standing beside him, like a sleeping sculpture.
"I'll take you around for a while, and stop by the Academy of Science and Progress. During Evolution Day, the shops will sell many interesting souvenirs. If you're interested, buy a few more."
"Well, teacher, should I change into evening clothes?"
After swallowing the food in small bites, covering her mouth to ensure that no food residue would appear in her mouth, Syndra asked.
It was completely different from a month ago. During her time away from Lester, Syndra learned a lot from Dorothea, the tailoring expert of the Philos family, including makeup techniques, Piltover lady etiquette and aristocracy.
The lady’s daily life,
At least in Sindra's own opinion, letting the teacher take her out will definitely not embarrass the teacher in terms of etiquette.
Naturally, he saw the changes that had taken place in Syndra, who looked even more flawless after putting on light makeup. Lester smiled, shook his head, and said softly.
"You don't need to wear an evening dress, just wear something more ordinary. You can wear the evening dress at the Philos family banquet in the evening."
Nodding, Sindra put the tableware back in place and wiped her lips with a napkin.
I don't know whether she didn't notice it or didn't care after noticing it. Her teacher didn't praise her today. This made Sindra a little disappointed, but she didn't show it.
"Ok, I see."
"You look very beautiful today, Syndra. It seems that you have studied hard with Dorothea."
The compliment that followed brought a smile to Sindra's face, and she instantly felt a little more confident in herself.
After breakfast, the two of them left Lanxun Manor without much delay. They politely declined the suggestion of the old butler Smed to drive the carriage himself and act as an attendant. Lester felt that it would be more down-to-earth for Sindra to walk more.
Syndra walked on the clean and tidy stone road and looked curiously at everything in front of her. Lester was also silently observing the familiar yet unfamiliar city in front of him.
For example, there are a few more drainage culverts on the road, or a Fidelite-style clock tower was built on the east side. These changes are not only reflected in the architectural design, but also in the clothing style of the Piltover people and the weapons and equipment of the law enforcement officers.
and steam carriages on the streets, it can be said to be progress in all aspects.
From this point of view, Piltover can be called a progressive city.
Generally speaking, the benefits brought by opening up the strait far outweigh the losses. Although the coastal ports in the southwest of the Emerald Territory diverted part of the profits from the fleet trade, after more than a hundred years of development, Peel is now
The prosperity of Twov is still far higher than the average level of Runeterra, probably catching up with Fidelite four hundred years ago.
It is not easy to achieve this in just over a hundred years. Heimerdinger, the soul of Piltover, has put in a lot of effort.
Just because Ziggs and Corki were "forcibly recruited" by Tristana to become members of the Bandel Expeditionary Force, the two yordles did not join Heimerdinger in the Academy of Science and Progress and become members of the City of Progress.
Scientific cornerstone, otherwise Piltover's development would be even better.
The only problem is that Piltover's progress is based on Zaun's fall.
The famous crystal processing factory, the metal chemical factory, or the infamous alchemy potion purification factory, whatever, are all built in Zaun, an underground city-state in the south. These environmental killers have brought great success to the Alchemy Baron.
of unimaginable wealth,
According to the information Lester has obtained, many of Zaun's alchemy barons are also secretly carrying out human body modification and the development of biochemical poison gas.
These alchemy barons rose up in the market, had dark backgrounds, and had many blood debts on their hands.
To put it simply, the Alchemy Baron may be a gangster who engages in vicious competition through various cruel methods, and finally becomes the regional winner and the gangster, obtains the authority of the factory industry agent, and obtains the power to suck blood from the alchemy factory and workers.
that power,
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! And with the 'local security guards' 'spontaneously selected' by the locals of Zaun, the real owners of the factory, the upper-class businessmen, are also happy to have their leisure time, and they only need to cooperate with the Alchemist Baron.
Giving up some of the benefits can play a unique role, so why not do it.
For one thing, there is no need to consider the damage caused by the natural saboteurs in Zaun to the factory. The Alchemy Baron pays more attention to the hens that lay golden eggs than the owner of the factory. When dealing with the saboteurs who are also Zaan, the Alchemy Baron starts to use evil methods.
too much.
Secondly, there is no need to consider recruiting workers from Zaun itself, because the Alchemy Baron himself is a black intermediary with control over manpower channels. It is normal for him to know how to recruit hard-working Zaun people at low prices to work in the factory.
Third, if something big happens to the factory, such as worker casualties caused by a general strike, or a terrorist attack, the finger will be pointed at the Alchemist Baron, not at the big businessman living in the upper city, so there is no need to get his hands dirty.
You can just lie down and make money, this is the meaning of Alchemy Baron's existence.
The Alchemist Baron and the owner of the factory reached an invisible cooperation agreement, and both parties got what they needed.
But as a result, the alchemy barons who have the right to speak are inevitably greedy. They expand their territory and add factories without limit, making Zaun's already suffocating and cramped space even more scarce. They even have to combine factories with residences to spread out in all directions.
Create a unique living environment in the underground network.
The urban environment originally located below the sea level was very bad, and the air circulation could only be maintained by erecting additional well-developed ventilation ducts. Now the environment is even worse. After several chemical explosions, either man-made or accidental,
Many low-level workers living in Zaun already live in thick industrial waste gas, and lung disease has become the main culprit for the high mortality rate among Zaun people.
During the time when the Gate of the Sun was first built, Mrs. Piltover was willing to spend her own money to help the Zaans improve their environment. Now the residents of the two twin city-states are full of gunpowder and hostility.
The people in the upper city have had enough of the liars, robbers and thieves in the lower city, while the people in the lower city hate the upper city people who rely on sucking blood from the lower city to maintain their wealth, and they can't wait to have a comprehensive zero-dollar purchase. The two sides can be said to look at each other.
Disgusted.
Just as he was thinking about the current situation in the twin city-states, Lester slapped the unexpected hand on the hand, and knocked the blade held in the hand of the skillful hand to the ground.
Sindra, who almost had her pocket cut open by the blade, was stunned, as if she hadn't realized what happened.
"Hey! Did you steal something here? Young man, you have to find a suitable target to start with."
"Tch! How many things did you Piltover bosses steal from us?"
The not-so-tall thief fled as quickly as he came, disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye.
Lester had no intention of chasing or looking for the Piltover law enforcement officer. He just took Syndra to a drink shop and ordered two vanilla ice creams, so that his good apprentice could calm down.
Syndra now has enough power to protect himself, but because he protects himself so well, he seems somewhat inexperienced in these emergencies.
It's time to teach Syndra how to face the deep malice from her own kind, which is not comparable to the ridicule brought by Syndra's peers in the village.
"Teacher, why didn't you catch the thief just now?"
After sticking out her little tongue and licking the ice cream twice, Sindra calmed down and regretted that she had not reacted in time.
"What's the use of catching him? He will be released in a few days. In order to let him stay in jail for a few days, I have to go to the law enforcement officer. It's really not a good deal."
Nodding her head lightly, Sindra held the ice cream and whispered.
"Teacher, I don't quite understand. I heard from people in Pi City that this is a civilized and progressive city. Why would someone choose to commit crime? Won't this have a negative impact on this beautiful city?"
It was no surprise that Syndra would ask such an innocent question. Lester smiled and pointed at the palm-sized piece of vanilla ice cream in front of the table.
"Do you think the thief just now can afford this ice cream?"
Syndra frowned and recalled the clothes of Zaun's dwarf just now, and nodded hesitantly.
Even though the thief just now had a lot of patches on his clothes, he still couldn't afford to buy an ice cream.
"Can you afford to eat every day?"
This time Syndra shook her head without hesitation.
"That's right. The reason why he came to the city to steal things is because of this."
Lester sighed softly, took a bite of the ice cream, and scratched Syndra's dazed little nose.
"Don't you understand? To put it bluntly, it's the jealousy and revenge caused by the uneven distribution of wealth."
"The Piltovers and Zaans are like two Siamese brothers living in the sun and shadows. One is bright and famous for civilization and progress, while the other is huddled in the darkness and staggering under the weight of life.
Forward,
Most of the pressure in the lives of the Zaans comes from their brother Piltover. Under such circumstances, you cannot expect the Zaans and this civilized city that symbolizes progress to be proud. Hostility is inevitable.
things,
No matter how good Pi City is, it's Pi City's business. It has nothing to do with Zaun. The people of Zaan can't enjoy the so-called civilization and progress. Because of this, they naturally don't care whether they will lower Pi City's reputation.
, to commit a crime in Piltover unscrupulously will make them proud."
"Then whose fault caused this situation? Was it Piltover?"
Syndra's expression was serious, but Leicester shook his head.
"It's human nature."
"human nature?"
This extraordinary answer stunned Sindra, but Leicester did not continue to delve into how sinister human nature is. Most of the time, people are always unwilling to believe the words of others. Only after experiencing it for themselves can they understand deeply.
Realize that people are inherently evil at first, because at this time they have been hurt and feel pain.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! This is also human nature.
"The most fundamental contradiction between the Piltover and Zaun people is the uneven distribution of wealth. The direct reason is the inequality of power. The Piltover people have a council that controls the law enforcement officers, while the Zaun people only have the alchemist baron who is good at internal fighting in collusion with the big businessmen.
.
Piltover, which occupies the advantage of the seaport, is like a gold-sucking behemoth, devouring all the wealth that reaches the Sun Gate, and what can the Zaans get?
In this feast, they could only be assigned factory jobs in Zaun that were opened by Piltover people with only a fraction of the trade tariff. They could not enjoy the products they processed, and could only wait for their lives to be destroyed in a harsh working environment.
After the pain is taken away, if you want to turn around, you can only sell yourself to the people in the city.
The people of Piltover can decently enjoy the wealth and materials brought by foreign visitors, but the people of Zaun can only call themselves the factories in the upper city. They think that they are machines in the factory, but they do not know that in the eyes of the people in the upper city, they are just workers in the factory.
A piece of consumables, if a batch is broken, you can still replace it.
There will never be a shortage of people in Zaun. This is why there are so many brothels in Zaun that prohibit abortion. Those children who do not know who their fathers are will be raised in orphanages in the name of charity by wealthy people in Piltover.
Become the new generation of labor force that succeeds their fathers,
And they will find a prostitute to have a child in their confusion, so that their child can live the miserable life they once had."
Syndra shuddered, and she shuddered just thinking about Syndra. Compared with the Zaun people in Lester's mouth, the poor life in Scarcias Village was as beautiful as heaven.
"Teacher, you still haven't said what this has to do with human nature?"
Staring into Syndra's beautiful eyes, Lester lowered his voice.
"From the day when the people of Piltover trampled the people of Zaun under their feet, but the people of Zaun did not resist, the people of Zaun were destined to be stepped on by the people of Piltover and become a stepping stone.
Never-ending greed is the evil root and original sin of mankind. As long as mankind itself is responsible for distributing wealth, mankind will never be able to escape from reincarnation."
