Lux's Magic Penetration Rod

Compared with the constant strife in the past few years, in the fifth year of the Forsbane Calendar, the entire Runeterra experienced a rare year of peace.

The end of the Battle of Tobitsia, like the previous Battle of Presidence, greatly changed the international situation in Runeterra.

The most direct point is that the bellicose Noxians finally became completely honest after their defeat in the Battle of Tobitsia.

For a whole year, the Noxians were shrinking their power and licking their wounds. Although it is said that there had been several small-scale coups within the Immortal Fortress, in the end Darius miraculously gained a foothold. ——It’s hard to imagine that this big boss from Besilico could one day become the real leader of Noxus.

The active shrinking of Noxus' power made the principalities and city-states of Valoran breathe a sigh of relief. They quickly turned to Demacia and began to adapt to the new order of Valoran proposed by Jarvan IV.

However, unlike the previous generosity during the two-pole struggle, Jarvan IV, who was tight due to military expansion, reduced subsidies to his allies. Although they could still buy food from Demacia, the price of bulk food increased significantly.

If the Noxians are still strong, many outsiders will have different thoughts at this time, but after the Battle of Tobitsia is over and the Noxians themselves are unable to save themselves, even if Germany The price of exported food from Marcia has increased, and these principalities and city-states can only hold their noses and say "good price increase", and then welcome the increase in food prices with tears in their eyes.

In addition, due to the overall shrinkage of the Noxians, the city-states on the north coast of Shurima that had previously raised the Noxian flag have now all reversed the chaos - even the cities of Bergun and Belgion, which were most affected by Noxus. Talishni, all once again claimed to be Shurima Zhengshuo.

The reason why they tore down the Noxian flag was that, in addition to the fact that the Battle of Tobitsia exposed the empire's weakness, there was also the fact that compared to the Noxian claim, the Shurima claim seemed to be more profitable. .

In fact, in the past few years after Lux arrived in Forsbarrow, it seems that due to the stimulation of Prince Feather, the previously silent continent of Shurima miraculously glowed with some vitality.

It is interesting to say that before Vazuan was rebuilt and took out Prince Feather, the banner of "Shurima Orthodoxy" seemed to have lost its appeal to the Shurima people long ago. The city-states on the north coast defected to Noxus. The city-states on the south bank are self-reliant, and the banks of the Shurima River are full of kings. The entire Shurima seems to have been completely divided and shattered into dregs.

However, when Vazuan took out Prince Feather, quickly opened the trade barriers of various city-states in the name of Shurima Orthodoxy, and completely expanded his trade business, people discovered that even if the empire had collapsed Thousands of years have passed, but the Shurima people still miss that ancient and glorious country in their hearts.

Even though Vazuan's Hex Technology Expo was a bit unorthodox, pilgrims from all over Shurima still packed the city's hotels.

Even though it has become normal to build high trade barriers between city-states, wherever the envoys holding feathers go, local businessmen are willing to sit down and talk.

The Shurima Empire has collapsed. This collapse comes from external pressure and irreconcilable conflicts at the top.

But this ancient empire still has a desire for unity and glory engraved in the bones of the Shurima people.

The fairy tales and novels once written by the prince, even if the medium and text have changed, will still appear on the bedside of children in the form of bedtime stories.

The animals and plants that were once cultivated by the empire are still the livestock and crops that countless Shuriman people need to make a living, even if there are no state-owned farms and breeding farms.

There are many things about the Shurima Empire that the current Shurimans cannot understand. They cannot understand the greatness of Shurima University, the power of the Ascended Ones, and how proud the original Shurimans were.

But at least they would occasionally think of that empire when they were adding fodder to the pan sheep, milking the pan sheep, trimming the hooves of Skalash, digging potatoes from the sand, and weaving oil silk and ramie in front of the loom. , and think about "how wonderful it would be if I could live in that time."

Unfortunately, reality is always cruel.

The collapse of the empire brought heavy suffering to the Shurima people. After the Rune Wars, with the rapid rise of Demacia and Noxus, ancient Shurima seemed to be completely behind the times.

The Shurima people seem to have completely lost their former glory, and even seek refuge under the banner of Noxus.

However, when the prince's feathers appeared again and Varzuan claimed that he had driven away the influence of the Noxians and rushed towards the glory of Shurima again, this ancient country seemed to have once again ignited hope. of flame.

The power of hope, just like a germinated seed, looks extremely fragile, but in fact it is enough to crack a stone!

From this perspective, Tariq's feeling is correct. This ancient land does contain power beyond imagination!

……………………

When Shurima gradually woke up and began to show its powerful power little by little, Tarik, who made this judgment, finally landed from Kalamanda with a professional "inspection team". Arriving in Shurima and conducting a critical preliminary inspection for possible future Shurima trade in Demacia.

In order to collect as much information as possible on Shurima, Jarvan IV arranged many professional deputies for Taric. In this investigation team, in addition to the elite Dauntless Vanguards who served as guards, there were also professionals who were proficient in accounting. Butler, outstanding representative of the Artists Guild, experienced military officer, popular bishop of the Illuminati...

Although Jarvan IV has not yet had the forward-thinking idea of ​​"globalizing Runeterra", his horizons have broadened a lot after experiencing the journey to the summit.

Now that the Noxians have been taken care of, as long as we open up the road to the Shuriman people and expand the royal family's treasury through Shuriman trade, the resistance to reform within Demacia will be minimized - from my father. Through his experience, Jarvan IV has deeply realized that the more he asks for, the more compromises he needs to make, and compromise is an important reason for the inability to centralize power.

When the internal suppression of the nobles is approaching its limit, if he wants to take the next step, he must look for forces that can be used from the outside. Shurima seems to have great potential.

In this way, when the water grid in the north was connected to the grid, Tariq came to Kalamanda.

Determined to find out the "source of Shurima's power", Tariq specially prepared a notebook, intending to record in detail what he saw and heard in Shurima in the form of a diary, and organize it to find the key points. ——In fact, he had already started writing his diary as early as when he took the boat to Kalamanda.

Life at sea is dull and boring, but this does not prevent Tariq from discovering things worth recording from this boring and boring experience. For example, he left two useful records on the issue of pirates. : Either Demacia will form a navy to maintain the waterway, or Demacia will establish a good relationship with Bilgewater. This once notorious pirate city seems to be seeking transformation recently.

As the first stop on the Shurima journey, Kalamanda is the focus of Tariq's records. It is likely to be the first stop for Shurima trade, so whether it is the customs, specialty resources, price levels, or The background of the lords, the division of power, and the military forces all need to be recorded and summarized by Tarik for subsequent analysis.

In order to understand this, Tariq simply took a day's rest and walked into the market in Kalamanda with his notebook, talking to people and recording his findings.

Then, on the first day of the inspection, Tariq clearly sensed that something was wrong.

Taric himself - or rather the Demacians - was not very popular with the Kalamanda people.

Although the businessmen here were always polite and enthusiastic when facing him, Tariq was still keenly aware of the unspeakable gap between the two parties.

This gap that ordinary people can't notice, but Tarik can't ignore, seems to remind him all the time that he and these Kalamanda people are not the same kind of people.

There is no doubt that this is a very strange thing.

This feeling was even more clear when Tariq saw a vendor who had been polite to him turn around and talk happily with another Wazuan.

What's happening here?

Obviously that Wazuan man's Shurima language is not as good as mine!

Why do I feel like I can't talk to those Shurima people to go together, but they can have such a happy chat?

Such a subtle situation made Tarik slowly realize that something was wrong. After a few more days of experiments and confirming that this was not an illusion, Tarik finally determined that even if he had learned Shurima, he still Much different than a Shuriman.

After having this idea, Tariq gradually began to talk less and listen more, hoping to find the key.

Then, just when Tarik seemed to vaguely discover something, but could not sum it up yet, the butler, as the "economic expert" accompanying the team, came to a conclusion after figuring out Kalamanda's trading model. It finally dawned on Tariq.

The way of thinking of Kalamanda people is completely different from that of Demacia people!

In Demacia, merchants are merchants. As long as merchants pay taxes on their transactions, no matter what they buy or sell, it is the merchant's own business. Only a few special products (such as forbidden magic stones) need to be controlled by the official. Others are almost unlimited.

In Kalamanda, however, it is here that the market arbiter is very visible.

Every transaction contract needs to be stamped by the arbitrator and a stamp tax must be paid. Unlike Demacia's transaction tax, the Kalamanda market arbitrator will not only stamp the contract, but also review the contract itself. ——From the transaction items to the amount and the default clauses, they all have to look at it.

Once the contract is signed, the violator will be punished directly by the arbitrator. In addition to compensation according to the contract, individual breaches will also be required to pay fines. If they do not pay, they will be banned from entering Kalamanda. Large-scale transactions must be carried out in advance. A deposit must be paid. Those who do not pay a deposit are not allowed to trade bulk commodities in Kalamanda.

This also directly resulted in a large number of arbitrators in Kalamanda's market. According to the professional butler, the number of arbitrators in Kalamanda's market was simply more than the tax collectors in a small Demacia city!

After hearing this, Tarik thought for a while and tried to see the problem from the perspective of a civilian or a small businessman, and then quickly realized the biggest difference between Kalamanda and Demacia.

So, in his diary that day, he wrote these few paragraphs.

"Kalamanda is a strange city, and the number of officials here is simply beyond imagination."

"The lord of Kalamanda seems to have to take care of everything - not only the things that a normal lord should take care of like collecting taxes and recruiting soldiers, but also some trivial things. Even the size of boots must be according to his requirements. .”

"I don't know whether this kind of micromanaging is due to an amazing desire for control or simply voluntary. What I just don't understand is why the Kalamanda people can tolerate such annoying things. The lord, even spoke of her with a clear reverence in his tone.”

"Yes, it's [her]. The Lord of Kalamanda (according to the local name, it should be Korazane, a direct translation is... the Harbor Governor?) is a woman, and it seems that Shurima has no regard for women in the world. There is a special kind of trust in the political field, and many people even regard her as [the mother of the entire city]."

"On this issue, the Kalamanda people always take it for granted, as if the lord should be like a mother, or control the entire city in more detail than a mother. I really can't imagine these Kalamanda people. What exactly do the masters think - but at least I have a clear understanding of the fact that we can’t talk to them and go together.”

"Kalamanda is different from Demacia. The lords here have a lot of influence on everyone. It's hard for me to say whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but what is certain is that if every Shurima city was like this , if you want to trade in Shurima, it is more important than ever to establish a relationship with the local lord..."

Perhaps because of his experience as a protoss, Taric's observation skills are surprisingly good.

After spending less than half a month in Kalamanda, he was keenly aware of the astonishing color difference between Shurima and Demacia at the level of civilization background.

Unlike Demacia, an alliance-style kingdom composed of refugees, Shurima, which grew up from a small tribe little by little, has amazing control over the grassroots - even if Shurima is divided, even if Shurima is destroyed , this power has not dissipated, but has been firmly grasped by the lords everywhere.

In Demacia, lords who want to manage their fiefs often can only rely on side relatives or a few close stewards. New nobles without such connections often have to find tax-farmers to manage their fiefs.

But in Shurima, although the university that Kalya worked so hard to build has been submerged in the yellow sand, the examination he first proposed and standardized has been passed down from generation to generation as an important talent selection channel.

Kalya’s Little Classroom·Shurima’s Exam:

In Shurima, examinations have become a common method for selecting talents - even within some religious orders, those who want to become missionaries need to pass the examination.

It is no exaggeration to say that although Kalya is a venomous, petty, and evil-minded bastard, the most scolded Kalya has received over the years is because of the invention of the "examination" system.

Of course, gratitude is almost also because of this system.