"Our land return policy... is outdated?" Irelia looked at everyone present blankly.
She didn't quite understand.
Didn't everyone unite together in the first place just to drive out the Noxian invaders and give those displaced people a home to return to?
Now Noxus has not left yet, the war is not over yet, there are still so many people who are homeless, so many compatriots who are enslaved by Noxus, looking forward to the resistance to help them regain their land and homes...
How come the land return policy they insist on is outdated?
Irelia cast her eyes towards everyone present, expecting these respected masters and seniors to help her solve her doubts.
"This..." The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became subtle.
The masters looked at each other, and although they all seemed to have something to say, no one spoke.
There's nothing we can do about it.
Because the land return policy has always been an absolutely unquestionable political correctness within the resistance army in the past.
If we trace back to the origins, this resistance army was united under the banner of "expelling the Nolu and restoring balance" from the very beginning.
This so-called "restoration of balance" means restoring the war-torn Ionia to its pre-war state of peace, stability and balance as much as possible.
Under this basic spiritual guidance:
The land was to be returned to its original owners;
Power must be returned to the original local self-government institutions;
After the war, the property should also be distributed to compatriots in the name of restitution;
The historical mission of the resistance is just to resist. After the Noxians leave, it will no longer need to exist.
As for the major sects, religions, and landlords present here, theoretically, no matter how great their contributions were, how many sacrifices they made during the war, how much land they occupied, and how many resources they controlled, after the war they had to give up everything, return to their homes, and return to their pre-war life.
When the work is done, he will leave, hiding his achievements and fame.
The masters do not want power or money, they just want the country to remain the same and the world to be at peace.
This sounds incredible, and people outside of Ionia may not be able to understand it.
But this is the original intention of the resistance:
Restore balance, restore tradition, and let Ionia return to the social state that has been successfully functioning for 10,000 years and has been proven by history to be able to maintain peace and balance for a long time.
It is because of this common original intention that the heroes of the resistance army can gather here.
Because they all had this consensus, the rebels implemented a land return policy at the beginning, returning the land they had conquered to the original owners free of charge, or using it as public land free of charge.
"Then..." Irelia was confused: "Since this policy was formulated , why is it changing now?"
She blinked her big, pure and flawless eyes and looked at the masters and seniors present in confusion.
"Uh..." Somehow, the masters were afraid to look at her.
But the issue has been raised, and what needs to be said must be said.
“Because it’s outdated!”
Finally, in this subtle and awkward atmosphere, a master stood up on behalf of everyone.
Irelia remembered him.
That was Master Ravi of the Sharma family.
Master Ravi was one of the first heroes to rise up and raise the banner of rebellion against the Noxian Empire when the situation in Ionia was at its most difficult - much earlier than her.
When Presidium was attacked by the main force of the enemy, it was Master Ravi who desperately served as the captain of the suicide squad, fighting to the death to tie down Swain's flank army, creating a precious opportunity for her to fight.
After several years of arduous struggle, Master Ravi was seriously injured four times, was on the verge of death twice, lost three sons and one daughter, and paid a huge sacrifice that others could hardly imagine.
He is undoubtedly a hero.
He is a hero that Irelia also admires.
"Master Ravi." Irelia nodded to him respectfully and said, "Please tell me what you have to teach me."
"Master Irelia." Amid the encouraging and approving gazes of everyone present, Master Ravi finally spoke: "It's time for you to realize this."
“Our resistance’s land return policy is indeed outdated.”
Why do I say so?
This has to start with the land return policy, why it worked well in the past and why it has not become "outdated".
"In the past, Noxus always had the upper hand on the battlefield. We, the rebels, had a hard time even holding our base, let alone recovering lost territory and expanding outward."
In the past, the rebels could not conquer much territory, so there was not much new land to be divided.
If there is no land, there will certainly not be too much conflict over land distribution.
"On the other hand, the fighters who join our resistance, including myself and many of the masters present here, are Navori who lost their lands to the invasion of Noxus."
"The rebels advocated returning the land to its original owners and helping everyone regain their homeland. Naturally, everyone was enthusiastic and not afraid of sacrifice when fighting."
"But……"
But now the situation has changed.
As the Imperial Army's decline became increasingly apparent, the war between Noxus and Ionia began to change into a battle of offense and defense.
Especially in recent months, the Noxians began to lose ground on the battlefield of Navoli and continued to shrink their front lines.
The large tracts of land originally occupied by the enemy have now been reclaimed by them.
The rebels also took this opportunity to expand outward and recover lost territory. In just a few months, they almost recovered half of the Navoli province.
So, here comes the question...
All this newly added land will be returned to the original owners?
"With all due respect, the warriors are very unhappy about this."
"These lands were taken back from the enemy with blood, sweat and desperate fighting. How can we just return them to the so-called 'original owners' who did not work hard?"
Master Ravi said this very cryptically.
But Irelia is just young and inexperienced, not a fool.
In connection with what Master Ravi said before, she soon realized a problem:
Why did everyone support the return of the land before the expansion, but have objections after the expansion?
The reason is simple:
Because before this major counterattack, the masters had not even taken back their own land, so they naturally supported the land return policy.
But after this great counterattack, the masters not only took back their own land, but also seized large tracts of land belonging to other people from the enemy.
For example, this time the Vastaya people asked them for land.
In short, everyone supported the land return policy before because they wanted to take back their own land;
The reason they don't support it now is that they have not only taken back their own land, but have also occupied other people's land.
It seems a bit harsh to say this.
But Master Ravi didn't think there was anything wrong with this. It was only Irelia who was wrong.
"Master Irelia, don't forget, we have an old saying in Ionia:"
"He who shares the benefits of the world will gain the world. He who monopolizes the benefits of the world will lose the world."
"The reason why our resistance army was able to succeed on the battlefield before was because we showed the soldiers the 'benefits' of returning to their homeland, which gave them the motivation to fight."
"And now, the 'benefits' we promised have been almost fulfilled, but the enemy is still far from being completely eliminated."
"You let everyone follow you and fight the Noxians, but you don't reward them with more land and power. If the warriors don't benefit from it, how can they be motivated to fight?"
"If the soldiers have no enthusiasm, how ?"
Master Ravi advised earnestly.
"I..." Irelia was speechless.
The master's words sounded very reasonable, and she didn't know how to refute them for a moment.
But she still instinctively felt that something was wrong.
"Master Ravi," Irelia asked subconsciously, "You sold your property to organize an army and risked your life to fight the enemy. Was it because of profit that you were motivated to do so?"
How great a benefit would it take to make a person so motivated that he would not even risk his life?
"I..." Master Ravi's face turned red.
But he quickly calmed down and explained seriously: "Master Irelia, you have to know that not everyone is like me back then."
"Are there more martyrs of justice or profit-seekers in this world? Do I need to remind you of this?"
"If you talk about justice but do not benefit the people, and do not satisfy the interests of the people, how can you win their hearts?"
"This..." Irelia was confused again.
But when she thought about it carefully, she felt something was wrong.
Suddenly, the girl realized the crux of the problem:
"We originally returned the land to the original owners for cultivation, and distributed the ownerless land to the refugees to manage. Isn't this also benefiting the people of the world and satisfying their interests?"
"Master Ravi, you keep saying that everyone in the world, everyone in the world..."
"Who is this 'people of the world' that you are talking about?"
Master Ravi: “…”
He didn't seem to expect that Irelia could ask such a sharp question.
After an awkward silence, Master Ravi said, "Among all living beings in the world, there are also some who are close to you and some who are far away from you."
"Of course, the benefits must be distributed first to those who fight with you, rather than to outsiders who have not contributed to the war."
"For example, the civilians who hid in the back and reaped the benefits."
"For example, the Vastaya this time."
After these words were spoken, Irelia did not hesitate.
She just looked at Master Ravi with a look of disappointment and shock, and asked: "How can it be called 'sitting back and enjoying the fruits of others' when the common people cultivate the land for us and provide us with food and supplies in the rear?"
"And the Vastaya, although they are not our people, they are also heroic warriors who have been fighting against Noxus. Why can't they take back their land?"
"Because they are 'they' and we are 'us'!" Having said that, Master Ravi no longer pretended to be polite.
He asked pointedly: "Master Irelia, please wake up--"
“Ask yourself, who has fought alongside you in the past two years and who has made the greatest contribution to this war?”
"Whose demands should you satisfy first to justify everyone's bloodshed and sacrifice?"
Irelia was silent.
She finally understood.
But looking at the people present, the dozens of masters with eyes that seemed to share a common hatred for the enemy, she became confused again.
Maybe she was really wrong?
"Senior..." Irelia hesitated for a long time before muttering, "How do you want to change?"
The masters looked at each other in silence. Finally, it was Master Ravi who expressed their demands:
"Cancel the land return policy and distribute land to each army corps according to their military merits."
"The land will be distributed directly to the legion leaders. As for how to distribute it later, it will be up to the legion leaders to decide."
The "legion" mentioned here is actually the independent army under the resistance army, including dozens of sects, religions and powerful families.
The so-called "legion leaders" are actually the dozens of masters present here.
"This..." Irelia was stunned.
Because this policy of rewarding people based on merit and dividing up the land was not new, she was very familiar with it.
"Isn't this the way of the Noxian Empire?"
Yes, it was Noxus that the masters copied.
To put it bluntly, Noxus's policy is a disguised feudal system.
Because in the Noxian Empire, in addition to the professional army directly controlled by the imperial center, there are also many independent war groups whose status is comparable to that of "vassal states".
For example, the Midarda family is a warlord in Noxus.
This system of distributing military merits is a special preferential policy created by Noxus to motivate these warlords to fight hard.
"Master Ravi, you, you guys..." Irelia asked in disbelief, "Are you trying to gain the same status as the Noxian warlords?"
"You, like the Navori Brotherhood, want to turn Ionia into the second Noxus?"
“Master Irelia!” Master Ravi did not hesitate this time. He said calmly, “You are exaggerating.”
"You can learn from others' experience. Noxus has advanced aspects and aspects that are suitable for Ionia. Why can't we learn from them?"
"No!" Irelia reacted violently.
She was not stupid. She knew that learning from Noxus and distributing land might really inspire everyone's enterprising spirit.
“But this will destroy our tradition!”
"When everyone fights for their own interests, and gets used to using force to seize more land for themselves, they may even become a fierce army like Noxus..."
"Then this piece of nascent land will never have peace again!"
Ionia was able to maintain overall peace for nearly ten thousand years because all forces followed ancient traditions and were willing to maintain the status quo.
Anyone who tries to seize land and expand power by launching a war will become the target of public criticism in Ionia and a sinner for all ages, and will be attacked by all kinds of bigwigs.
But now, the Noxians have broken this tradition with absolute violence.
However, the masters did not want to restore this tradition, but wanted to learn from Noxus and establish a feudal system in Ionia and become local emperors.
If a piece of land is full of warlords, how can it restore peace and balance?
"No, absolutely not!" Irelia objected strongly.
The Noxian Empire, the Navori Brotherhood, they all went this way.
And then? Look what they did!
How can we maintain a good balance with these insects?
"Master Irelia!" Master Ravi did not flinch: "You are so naive!"
"It's not that we don't uphold traditions, but that traditions have long been broken! The Navoli Brotherhood has learned from Noxus, the Vastaya Freedom Army has also called for taking back the land from humans, and there are other forces that have risen in the troubled times. They are all coveting more vast lands—"
"Even if we don't take this path, Ionia can never go back to the past!"
Master Ravi has a resolute expression and a solemn appearance, and his voice is like the sound of a huge bell, which is thought-provoking.
But this time, the look Irelia gave him was no longer one of admiration and respect.
She just murmured in disappointment: "Yeah..."
"Ionia." Irelia looked around, her eyes fixed on the familiar faces: "There's no going back to the past."
The girl's voice trembled, but Master Ravi remained unmoved.
He said: "Master Irelia, please reject the Vastaya's invitation to visit and do not risk your life to negotiate with them in the Navoli Mountains—"
"Then distribute this land to the legion that performed meritorious service in this battle!"
“…” Irelia understood.
The Vastaya have a feud with humans.
There is something inherently racially just about humanity in refusing to give back their land. Everyone will support it.
Master Ravi obviously wanted to use this as a breakthrough point and began to gradually abolish the previous land return policy and replace it with a military merit system.
"What about you?" Irelia looked at the senior masters present.
"Lotus Temple agrees with Master Ravi's opinion." Soon, a voice sounded.
"Yagakure sect, agree."
"The Tividi family agrees."
"The Vyas family agrees."
“…”
Almost everyone present stood on Master Ravi's side.
Instead, the leader Irelia became a lonely person with no support.
"Master Yi of the Gale Sword School." Irelia looked at Master Yi, who was sitting in the corner, with a look as if asking for help.
He was one of the few people present who did not express his opinion.
"What do you think?" Irelia asked.
"I..." Master Yi felt embarrassed.
He is not a member of the Gale Sword Sect at all, so how can he express opinions on behalf of the Gale Sword Sect?
"We object." Yongen, who was behind Master Yi, answered the question for him.
"If Elder Su Ma were here," Yong En said with a stern expression, looking at them with disdain, "he would definitely be ashamed to be associated with you all."
"You?!" The masters glared at the arrogant young man.
But unexpectedly, the young man's younger brother was even more arrogant.
"How shameless!" Yasuo cursed directly: "I was thinking of sacrificing my life to fight the devil and defend the way, but now it seems that I should let the devil eat you hypocrites!"
Although Irelia had expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction before, the aggressiveness of her words was ultimately too weak.
It was the first time that the masters were scolded and blamed, and they became angry and embarrassed.
If they were not in a meeting and had to consider their decency, they would probably have to teach this ignorant young man a lesson.
"anyway--"
Master Ravi kept a straight face and ignored Yasuo's contemptuous look:
"It's 29 to 2 now, the people are on our side!"
"Master Irelia, people's hearts are like this, why do you go against the world?"
Irelia didn't answer, she looked at someone present.
There were 32 masters attending the meeting, 29 of them were in favor, 2 of them were against (Yi and Irelia), and 1 person did not express his opinion.
And that person's attitude is important.
He is Master Qingxia from the Shuoji Monastery, one of the four ancient sects in Ionia.
"Master Qingxia." Irelia was a little nervous: "What about you?"
Master Qingxia is different from all the masters present.
Because the Shuoji Monastery is not only on par with the Hengjing, Changcun and Xilana Monasteries in terms of status, but their doctrines are also similar to those of these three hidden sects.
The Order of the Balance emphasizes not getting involved in the mundane world, and the same is true for the Shoji Monastery.
As a high monk of Shuoji Temple, Master Qingxia has never had any worldly desires from the beginning.
He did not collect money or own land, and even donated all the military pay given to him by the rebels without keeping a single cent.
To what extent has he become selfless?
"The only two pure souls that Mr. Tam mentioned, is he him?" At this time, Master Yi was also muttering in a low voice.
Tam previously said that "these souls are almost corrupted". The reason why "almost" is added in this sentence is because:
Master Qingxia is like Irelia, their souls are still pure and flawless, and have not been corrupted .
Such a master who is completely free from vulgarity should stand with Irelia and the Wind Sword Sect, right?
This is what Master Yi thought.
Irelia thought so too.
However, Master Qingxia looked at the whole audience and finally just sighed deeply.
"Irelia." He advised in the tone of an elder: "Master Ravi is right about what he said."
"People's hearts are like this, and it cannot be reversed."
"Master Qingxia? You..." Irelia's face looked extremely ugly.
30 to 2.
That’s how human hearts are.
Even though Master Qingxia himself did not occupy land or fight for interests, he ultimately chose to stand on the side of the majority.
"Irelia, I know your personality," he said. "You usually don't have your own opinions and are easily influenced by others. But if you are really determined to do something, no one can stop you."
"I've always hoped that you could become a qualified leader, make more decisions and listen less to opinions."
"But this time..."
"Don't go to the Navoli Mountains." Master Qingxia looked around and sighed helplessly: "Listen to everyone and don't go."
…
"What's the situation now?"
Offstage, Master Yi was whispering with the Yasuo brothers.
"Didn't the message Jie sent back to us using his Bluebird avatar say that they were in the Navoli Mountains?"
Now that the Brotherhood has made all the plans, they are going to kill Irelia in the Navoli Mountains.
Based on this clue, those who actively supported Irelia to go to Mount Navoli and pushed Irelia into the trap must be undercover agents of the Brotherhood!
But now...
Of the 32 people present, 30 expressed strong opposition.
There were only two people who supported Irelia in going to the Navoli Mountains to negotiate with the Vastaya.
One of them is Master Yi.
One is Irelia herself.
"Who is the traitor?" Master Yi was a little confused: "Wait..."
"Am I a traitor??"
This is impossible.
"Could that be Irelia?"
"Irelia is a traitor?" Master Yi couldn't figure it out: "We are traitors??"
"In a sense, it is true." Yongen watched coldly: "30 to 2..."
"Yes, we are the 'traitors'."