Chapter 350: Demolition and Window Opening
"Don't go, Irelia."
"Don't go!"
"Don't go!"
“……”The masters all advised her like this.
Irelia was silent.
Those familiar yet unfamiliar gazes were all cast on her, waiting for her answer.
"I'm sorry, seniors." Finally, Irelia clenched her fists and said, "I can't betray tradition."
"Irelia, you..." Master Qingxia looked complicated.
The expressions of the masters present also changed color. Their disappointed, gloomy, angry, and helpless faces were all presented to Irelia without any concealment.
The air was dead silent.
But Irelia remained undeterred.
She took a deep breath and said, "I always listened to everyone before, but this time, I want everyone to listen to me for once."
“The laws of our ancestors cannot be changed, and the way of balance cannot be abandoned. To restore balance and maintain peace, Ionia needs to return to its former self, not become a second Noxus.”
"Master Irelia!" Everyone looked embarrassed and tried their best to dissuade her.
"I have made up my mind." Irelia gritted her teeth and said, "If everyone opposes my opinion and does not agree with my proposal to return to tradition, then I don't want to be the leader anymore!"
"Anyway, I was elected as the leader by everyone. At worst, I can just give the position back to everyone and form another team to fight the Noxians!"
"You?!" The masters' faces suddenly turned ugly.
Even Master Qingxia rebuked him solemnly: "Irelia, don't say such willful words!"
"I..." Irelia bit her lips tightly, looking very aggrieved.
She didn't understand why even Master Qingxia, whom she trusted and relied on the most, didn't help her.
"Irelia." Master Qingxia sighed: "Because you are the leader."
The leader, Irelia, looks like a puppet with no real power.
But in fact, she has real power.
Not only is there, but it's huge.
This power comes from Irelia's extraordinary achievements and great reputation, and from the almost infinite worship and admiration that the people of Navoli have for her.
In this live meeting, Irelia was in the absolute minority with a 30 to 2 ratio.
But outside this venue, Irelia has an absolute majority supported by tens of millions of people.
If Irelia really resigns from the rebels and forms another team, it will inevitably cause a severe shock within the rebels.
At that time, will everyone continue to follow the resistance or support Irelia?
This is a terrible problem.
To put it bluntly... Irelia can die, but she must not part ways with the resistance while she is alive.
Her fame is so great now that the masters can't do anything to her.
"How can a leader just give up his responsibility?" Master Qingxia urged, "The war isn't over yet. Do you want the rebels to fall into civil strife because of your willfulness?"
"Leaders should put the overall situation first. Don't say anything that is not conducive to unity!"
"I... I'm sorry." Irelia blamed herself and apologized.
But at the same time, her attitude did not waver in the slightest.
She still insisted, "Seniors, since you still regard me as your leader, please trust me this time!"
"History has proven that Noxus' path can only bring chaos to the world; if we work together, we can definitely restore Ionia's balance, return to tradition, and return to the long-lasting peace that has been successfully maintained for nearly ten thousand years."
"..." The masters fell into silence helplessly.
Everyone looked at each other, as if they had completely lost their way in dealing with this stubborn leader.
"Alas..." Master Ravi sighed deeply.
"You are wrong, Master Irelia!" He stood up, as if trying to convince her one last time.
"Ionia, it's impossible to go back to the past."
"We are not 'becoming' the second Noxus, we are already the second Noxus - even worse than Noxus!"
Noxus has warlords, but at least their warlords are controlled by a powerful imperial center.
But Ionia is now a place where many heroes are competing for supremacy and no one force has gained absolute advantage.
In terms of chaos and disorder, Noxus is not as good as Ionia.
"The ten-thousand-year-long balance of power on the Ionian continent has been completely broken, and the era of great strife for the newborn land has arrived."
"Master, times have changed!"
"What's the point of clinging to those outdated traditions?" Master Ravi advised again: "What we should do now is not to restore traditions, but to learn from Noxus, divide the land among meritorious soldiers, encourage everyone to fight hard, end the chaos and restore peace as soon as possible!"
"Only by establishing a new order in this way can the Ionians truly get rid of war and turmoil and live a peaceful life again!"
Master Ravi's words were powerful and full of sincere emotion.
He seemed to be genuinely thinking about the future of Ionia and the happiness of the millions of Ionian people.
"That makes sense." Master Yi also felt that what Master Ravi said made some sense.
"Giving land to soldiers can indeed inspire their fighting enthusiasm and further enhance the combat effectiveness of the rebels."
"Master Irelia's policy of returning the land seems to be somewhat out of touch with reality now."
"Master, since you are also considering the overall situation of Kangnuo and the happiness of the Ionians, you are making this suggestion." Master Yi suggested seriously: "Why not do this..."
"Let's listen to Master Ravi and redistribute the land."
"Well said!" Seeing that the young man from the Gale Sword School suddenly got the idea, Master Ravi couldn't help but nod his head repeatedly.
Unexpectedly, Master Yi said next:
"Since everyone's goal is to make Ionians live better, we masters and leaders should take as little as possible."
"Don't follow Noxus' example and divide the land - how about the resistance army, as the official, directly distributing the land to the majority of resistance fighters and landless farmers?"
There are no middlemen to make a profit from the price difference; the discounts are directly transferred from the central authority to the grassroots accounts.
If we do this, the soldiers' enthusiasm will definitely be boosted.
However……
"No!!" The masters' faces turned green.
"You, you..." Master Ravi blushed and was too embarrassed to refute because of his previous speech pleading for the people.
But his eyes, wide open, clearly said:
"Are you fucking crazy?!"
The land distribution policy proposed by Master Yi is even more outrageous than Irelia's land return policy.
Irelia will at least return the land to its original owner - no matter whether the original owner is a warlord, a landlord, or a poor self-employed farmer.
Master Yi is better.
He wanted to wipe out both the warlords and the landlords in one go and carry out a thorough redistribution!
The masters want to divide the land, they want to get more land, not to divide their own land!
"Why?" Master Yi was still playing dumb: "Isn't it good to let the tillers have their own land?"
"Distributing land to the vast majority of soldiers and civilians like this can not only inspire the soldiers' enthusiasm for fighting, but also completely avoid the problems of warlords and chaos that may be caused by the feudal system."
"In this way, the problems that Master Irelia and Master Ravi are worried about can be perfectly solved."
"This..." Irelia thought about it seriously, and there was some interest in her brows.
That makes sense!
To be proactive, we need to divide the land;
To avoid fighting among the princes, we cannot implement feudal system.
If we put these two conditions together, the answer is to divide the land directly!
"Master Yi, can you please tell me more details..." Irelia was curious and wanted to ask.
"Don't listen to him!" The masters were immediately furious.
They objected fiercely, "This guy is just talking nonsense! He wants to completely destroy Ionia!"
Even the selfless and honest Master Qingxia tried to dissuade him after thinking for a while: "Irelia, the method Master Yi came up with is indeed too unrealistic."
"Yes!" Master Ravi immediately added: "Even if the combined strength of 10,000 mortal warriors is combined, it may not be possible to achieve the results that any of the comrades present here have achieved on the battlefield."
"so……"
Therefore, the land must be distributed to the masters first to stimulate their enthusiasm!
What's the point of giving it to those useless peasants?
If mortals get the land, can they generate magic out of thin air and drive away the Noxians?
This statement was a bit harsh to hear, and it was not in line with the resistance army's political correctness of putting compatriots first, so no master present dared to say it directly.
Master Ravi had no choice but to say: "In short, Master Yi's method simply won't work!"
"Yeah!" Everyone echoed, "It won't work!"
"Ha." Master Yi just sneered and said something that no one could understand: "It won't work? Then let's wait and see."
"Okay!" Irelia stopped the quarrel between the two parties with some headache.
Although Master Yi's saying "He who tills the land owns it" somehow suits her taste.
But since even the wise and selfless Master Qingxia said that this method was impractical, she would not adopt it easily.
"Whether it's about enfeoffment or land division, if you have different opinions, we can leave it for discussion later."
“This time, let’s follow our original rules and return the land to those Vastaya people, okay?”
Irelia used euphemistic words, but her attitude remained firm.
And this time, the masters' opposition was inexplicably much smaller.
"Okay..." They looked at Master Yi.
This madman!
Compared with Master Yi's radical land distribution plan, Irelia's land return policy is acceptable.
Although Irelia was stubborn, at least she hadn't gone crazy with this guy.
and ……
Everyone looked at Irelia again.
That still youthful fair face now already showed some mature and resolute leadership qualities.
Just like Master Qingxia said before, Irelia usually has no opinion of her own and is easily influenced by others.
But if she is really determined to do something, no one can stop her.
"Irelia." Master Qingxia sighed: "Have you really made up your mind?"
"Yes!" Irelia replied solemnly: "I will accept this invitation to visit the Navoli Mountains."
“……” Another silence.
After a long time...
" Irelia." Master Qingxia said, "I'll go with you."
"Huh?" Irelia was slightly stunned.
Master Qingxia looked at the masters present with different expressions, and finally fixed his gaze deeply on Irelia.
He said: "The Vastaya have always hated humans, and their attitude may not be as friendly as you think."
"It's not safe for you to go alone."
Irelia thought about it and was about to nod in agreement. But then...
"I'll go too!" Master Ravi also stood up immediately. "Even if we want to return the land, how to return it, how much to return, when to return it, and what conditions the other party can take in return for returning the land... these are all issues that need to be discussed in detail."
"Excuse me, if Master Irelia is left alone to handle the negotiations, I don't think she can handle these issues well."
"That makes sense." Another master said, "Even if we want to negotiate, we should select a few representatives to go together."
“…”
In total, including Master Qingxia and Master Ravi, there were seven masters who asked to accompany us.
Irelia thought about it and felt that it would be difficult for her to make a decision alone on such an important task as negotiation, which concerned the core interests of the rebels, so she agreed to everyone's request.
"This..." Master Yi felt something was wrong.
He thought about it, then took Yasuo and Yongen and stood out amidst the ambiguous looks of the crowd:
"Master Irelia, let's go too!"
