Looking at the "A Brief Account of Janna's Thought" in the middle-aged man's hand, Taliyah and Sivir's expressions were very subtle.
They had never expected that they would meet the organization’s “propagandists” in Vikaola, deep in the desert.
"Are you the leader?" Taliyah couldn't help but ask.
"You also know the Leader?" The middle-aged man suddenly became interested.
Then he took the initiative to spread out his palms, secretly mobilizing his divine power, and proudly displayed his thread of faith:
"Yes, I am a leader—"
"You can call me Kassadin."
"Mr. Kassadin..." Seeing the other party's thread of faith, Taliyah confirmed that this was a comrade.
She looked at the dry skin of the Shurima people and the unique patterns of the Mo Nan on his robe, and asked curiously, "Are you from the Mo Nan?"
"Yes," Kassadin said, "I live further south, in a small village in the southern valley."
"Southern Valley?" Taliyah instinctively felt close to it.
Her tribe also roamed the southern hills all year round.
Although the scope of this "Southern Mountains" is extremely large and can be divided into several provinces according to the division method of the ancient Shurima Empire, both parties live in the same geographical unit and can barely be considered fellow villagers.
"But...how can you, a southerner, become a leader?" Taliyah became more and more curious.
Zaun is at the northernmost tip of the Shurima continent, and the Southern Desert Mountains are almost at the southernmost tip of the continent, with a distance of several thousand kilometers between them.
It was by chance that Taliyah was captured by the Noxians and put on a ship passing through the Twin Cities, which is how she became the leader.
She was very curious about what kind of legendary experience Mr. Cassadine, who was from the same hometown as her, had.
"It seems that you know about the Wind Leader." Kassadin noticed something from the expressions of Taliyah and others.
So he answered more enthusiastically: "Actually, this matter is not that complicated..."
Kassadin started out as a lowly foundling, employed by caravans in the deserts of the Great Cyclades, protecting their precious cargo and acting as bait to lure away predators.
He had managed to cross the desert alive many times, so he was no longer just a bait, but gradually became a guide for the caravan.
Whenever someone speaking a foreign language sought his assistance, they would say "Kas-sai-a-Deen?" which means "Who does the desert know?" But their Shuriman language was always unclear, so he was affectionately called Kassadin.
Later, during an expedition to the southern desert, he fell in love with a woman from a desert tribe.
Kassadin, his wife and infant daughter, settled down in a small village in a rocky valley in the south.
In order to make a living, he often traveled and often had to escort very valuable ancient relics to distant sponsors.
These wealthy "sponsors", the big money men he serves, are mostly tycoon businessmen from Piltover.
After all, the Shurimans now have trouble even getting enough food.
Only the rich men of Piltover and the nobles of Noxus have the mind to plunder, no, "protect" the artifacts of ancient Shurima.
Therefore, Kassadin needs to follow the caravan north to Piltover almost every year.
"Piltover is a great place. Food and water, which are as precious as life in Shurima, are like growing from the shelves there, inexhaustible." Kassadin recalled and sighed.
Every time he went to Piltover, he couldn't help but feel envious when he saw the rich and elegant life of the people of Piltover.
He also hoped that his daughter could study in a spacious and bright classroom like the children of Piltover, instead of raising cattle and sheep in the Gobi Valley of Shurima.
But this is too difficult to do.
Piltover only opens its doors to the rich. Even the people of Zaun, who live just across the river, can't afford the Piltover dream, let alone a Shurima from thousands of miles away.
Even though Kassadin was the most experienced guide in the Shurima Desert, he still couldn't afford this dream.
Every time he led a caravan, he risked his life in the desert, traveling thousands of miles and running for months to deliver those priceless Shurima artifacts to Piltover, to the hands of those wealthy Piltover masters.
Although the reward he received each time was not small for the Shurimans, it was not enough to buy even a toilet in Piltover, where every inch of land is valuable.
So Kassadin could only go to Piltover again and again, and leave with his Piltover dream again and again. His daughter was destined to be a Shurima, destined to herd sheep for the rest of her life - the best would be to grow up to be a caravan guide working for foreigners like him.
"But this time when I went to Piltover, everything was different." Kassadin sighed again.
It was only after he went to Piltover this time that he discovered that things had changed in the Twin Cities.
After Swain led the Piltover garrison back to the capital to "serve the king", the Zaun Leader officially took over the government of Piltover and launched a series of social reforms in Piltover based on their experience gained in Zaun.
Of course, these don’t matter much to Kassadin personally.
For him, the most important changes are:
"Now the Twin Cities have completely opened their doors to foreign immigrants. Whether they are from Zaun, Piltover, or Shurima, they can all enjoy equal working treatment."
"In the past, if foreigners wanted to settle in Piltover, they had to invest a lot of money in business and buy real estate to prove their financial strength."
“Now, you just have to find a job there.”
Kassadin was lucky. Not only did he encounter good policies, but he also encountered good timing.
The newly established Alchemy Fuel Group of the Leader is planning to launch a full range of resource exploration in the Shurima region in the future.
As the most experienced guide in the Shurima region, he easily passed the interview and was hired as a full-time employee of the Zaun Alchemy Fuel Group.
In fact, similar resource exploration work was also done by the people of Piltover in the past.
But the merchants in Piltover prefer to hire cheap "temporary workers" as guides in Shurima, rather than spending a lot of money to formally employ these Shurimans and give them the opportunity to settle in Piltover.
“So, I naturally became the leader.”
Zaun Alchemy Fuel Group is a state-owned enterprise. In a state-owned enterprise managed by a leader, faith is an important factor affecting job promotion.
In fact, even in private enterprises in the Twin Cities today, leaders with devout faith are often the confidants who are more favored by the bosses.
This is because private company bosses are also afraid of personnel problems, are also worried about internal corruption, and are worried that office politics will drag down business efficiency.
And the leaders are such a group of people - no matter where they appear, they can make the environment clean and efficient.
Kassadin has found a job in Zaun. Even if it is not for lofty ideals, but only for his personal career prospects, he has to study Janna's theory well and strive to become a more progressive person in thinking.
"At first, I just wanted to integrate into the Zaun environment. I also studied Janna's theory for utilitarian purposes."
"But once I really understood it, I became a leader with true faith."
Kassadin recalled with emotion. He is now a leader. And he has a job in Zaun.
"And this time I came back to take my wife and daughter away from Shurima and move to Zaun to settle down."
"I brought these 'Jana Thoughts in Brief' back especially for my daughter to read."
Schools in Zuan like to select three good students, which emphasizes good study, good health, and good moral character. This also depends on personal beliefs to a certain extent.
He also wanted his daughter to learn to adapt first and not lose at the starting line.
"I see..." Taliyah nodded secretly.
Mr. Cassadine's experience was not complicated. After she briefly understood his story, she had no intention of continuing the conversation.
But at this time, Nasus stood up with great interest.
"Mr. Kassadin." He politely addressed the junior as Mr.
In the past, Nasus talked with Taliyah mostly about the theories of the Wind Leader.
As for the specific practical operations and governing policies, he had no way of knowing because he had never been to Shuangcheng.
So, after listening to Kassadin's experience, he was very curious and questioned: "You just said that the Twin Cities have completely relaxed immigration restrictions and treat everyone equally in terms of employment treatment, right?"
"This... is true." Kassadin nodded seriously.
He was just planning to explain to these unfamiliar Shurima compatriots the superiority of the Leader's policies.
But Nasus shook his head and sighed deeply: "This is too idealistic."
“Does it really work?”
"Yeah..." Perhaps because she had been taught too many lessons by Nasus, the strict teacher, Sivir also began to think unconsciously.
Although she was not as educated as Nasus, she understood one thing:
“Everyone longs for an oasis, but the oasis is only so big and can only be shared by so many people.”
"If we open the door and let outsiders in to drink water, won't everyone die of thirst?"
"This..." Kassadin was slightly stunned.
He obviously didn't expect that Nasus and others could ask such profound questions.
When he was promoting the Janna ideology to his compatriots on his way back home, most people asked him whether the goddess Janna was really that powerful, whether the Twin Cities were really that good, and whether there was really a copper coin loaf of bread and a silver wheel of dahaus.
In short, the Shurimans generally do not understand the true leader, but they have an instinctive yearning for the material life of the Twin Cities.
But this time... the other party actually started discussing the leader's immigration policy with him right from the start, and even raised targeted questions.
Kassadin was suddenly at a loss.
He thought about it seriously before answering, "I discussed this with others when I was in Zaun."
"This is actually... nothing can be done about it."
Just like Sivir said, everyone longs for Oasis.
Opening the border without any restrictions like Leader has done will only result in a large influx of foreign immigrants into the Twin Cities in a short period of time, creating vicious competition with local residents.
In the past, Piltover strictly restricted immigration and adopted extremely discriminatory policies against migrant workers, thereby helping the local residents of Piltover, who served as the ruling base, to "solve" this problem.
But now, the leader certainly can't do that.
As a Janna-dominated regime whose goal is to liberate all of Runeterra, the ruling base of the Wind Leader Association is by no means a single nation or a single city.
If Zaun treated immigrants as strictly as Piltover, then there would be no difference between it and the original Piltover.
When the time comes, foreign comrades will come and see:
Let them find out that Zaun still has a discriminatory policy against foreigners. After they find out that the people of Zaun themselves don't want to be apprentices, they start hiring foreigners to come to Zaun as apprentices...
Given the contrast between this beautiful ideal and the cruel reality, how can foreign comrades continue to uphold Janna's rule and obey the leadership of the Zaun Leaders Association?
Therefore, for political reasons, Zaun had no choice but to relax immigration restrictions and treat everyone equally.
"Then how do we solve the problems caused by the influx of immigrants?" Nasus asked curiously.
He didn't want to know why the leader wanted to relax immigration .
He just wanted to know how the leaders would solve the problems caused by liberalizing immigration.
"So many immigrants entering the city will inevitably lead to vicious urban expansion."
"After a rapid population expansion, cities will not be able to provide enough suitable jobs, and a large number of people will inevitably fall into unemployment and poverty and end up in slums."
In the past, Piltover had the big slum of Zaun. The slums of the Immortal Bastion have become a scene in the empire, the best reflection of the Noxian philosophy of the survival of the fittest.
It is actually normal for slums to appear in big cities.
But... since you, the Leader, call yourself the Liberator of Humanity, there are still such a large area of ​​slums in the city. Isn't this inappropriate?
It is not politically correct to keep immigrants out.
Is it acceptable to let people live in slums?
"This..." Kassadin was really stumped by Nasus' question.
As a leader who has just started, he only understands the theory and has little knowledge of practical issues.
"Let me say it." Taliyah sighed.
Since Kassadin is a member of the Line of Faith, she is not worried about being discovered.
So she stepped forward to answer, "Regarding the issue of foreign immigrants causing rapid population growth and vicious urban expansion, we have actually discussed this issue within the Leaders Association a long time ago."
"Huh?" Kassadin asked suddenly.
He looked at Taliyah in confusion, then responded with surprise: "You, you too?"
Taliyah did not answer directly, but responded with action.
She continued to explain to Nasus:
"One group believes that Zaun's limited resources cannot support an unlimited population. This is an objective fact. Overly idealistic policies cannot resolve this objective contradiction."
"so--"
"Leaders should learn from Piltover's past and fully restore the market-oriented operation of the land industry."
Don’t let companies and units distribute housing to their employees anymore. Reopen the real estate market and drive up the prices of land and floor space.
By doing so, the cost of living for outsiders in Zaun will rise sharply.
Although there is no overt discriminatory policy against new immigrants, the invisible hand of the market will naturally discourage a large number of foreigners who want to settle here.
"This will ensure that the city's population does not grow indefinitely."
"If we combine this with some targeted policies to improve the city's appearance, there won't be large-scale slums in Zaun... well, at least on the surface."
"In this way, the Leader can also use land finance to extract a large amount of labor surplus from home buyers in Zaun, and use it for the rapid industrialization construction of the entire Runeterra."
How to extract surplus labor from people is a sophisticated science.
Directly collecting more taxes and asking for more money, or cutting benefits and paying less money, will cause strong resentment among the people.
But if we take a detour and use land finance to extract surplus labor, the resistance will be much smaller.
Indirect taxes are always easier to accept than direct taxes. Although this is the difference between "three in the morning and four in the evening" and "four in the morning and three in the evening", the direct feeling it gives people is different.
It can solve the problem of vicious urban expansion and quickly accumulate raw seed benzene for the industrialization of Runeland. This...
"This is obviously the best choice for the Leader Association." Nasus nodded secretly.
Although this is somewhat less idealistic, it is more in line with his understanding of the real world.
So he felt that there was nothing wrong with the way the leader handled it.
This, in turn, allowed Nasus to realize the political maturity of the Guild of Leaders .
"No." Taliyah shook her head: "In fact, President Levi eventually rejected this plan."
"He believes that the industrialization of Runeterra does require a large amount of original seed benzene accumulation, but we don't need to use such a radical method to speed it up."
Because in Runeterra, the leaders occupy an absolutely dominant position in technology, economy, and military.
In the future, the whole world will unite under the banner of Janna. Leaders have no competitors, so they naturally do not need to ensure their own safety and development through rapid industrialization.
"Once the real estate market is fully liberalized, it will be difficult to put the brakes on in the future."
It is easy to attack the rich, and that is what leaders do.
The team of leaders is always pure and will never be afraid of change.
But if countless small citizens and small property owners were also kidnapped and put on the war chariot because of the commercial housing they bought with great effort...
If the leaders want to take reform measures in the future, they will not only offend a small group of landlords and powerful people, but also a large group of small property owners.
These small urban property owners are the main force that controls public opinion.
If the leader earns quick money from selling land now and only thinks about remedying the problem when it becomes serious in the future, he will surely be criticized.
It would be difficult for Li Wei to say what will happen at that time. Let the common people suffer first, and let him bear the blame, right?
“So what are you going to do?” Nasus asked. “How are you going to solve the population explosion caused by opening up immigration?”
Taliyah replied: "According to President Levi's idea, we adopted a more compromising plan."
The universal housing distribution that the leader initially implemented in Zaun was definitely not going to last long.
After all, if anyone was given a house in Zaun as a gift when they came, wouldn't Zaun be overwhelmed by immigrants lining up to get houses?
This city is so small, there is not enough for everyone to share.
"The policy we are implementing now is to provide housing security for migrant workers, low-income people and families with housing difficulties by building a large number of public rental housing and low-rent housing."
“At the same time, a large number of affordable housing units will be built and put on the market at low prices.”
"As long as you have a job in Zaun, it won't be difficult to own a house given the current per capita income in Zaun."
This is the basic protection for ordinary people.
"At the same time, we, the leaders, have also opened up part of the real estate market to those high-income groups."
Land finance does make money quickly. Li Wei is also doing it. But he is targeting the wallets of the rich.
Most people have limited financial resources, so they buy affordable housing supplied by Zaan at low prices according to the indicators.
Those rich people have money and like to compare with others.
Leaders specially launch a batch of high-end commercial housing, and then drive up the housing prices to make it a luxury.
It keeps ordinary people away from the consumption trap;
It also allows the wealthy to fully demonstrate their financial strength and support the construction of Janna's main city in Runeterra.
"In this way, high-end and mid-range properties in Zaun are supplied separately and divided into two independent markets that hardly interfere with each other."
"Ordinary people live in affordable housing that costs 100 silver wheels per square meter, while rich people live in high-end commercial housing that costs 1,000 silver wheels per square meter..."
Although it cannot be said to be absolutely fair, it can be said that everyone has a house to live in.
“This…” Nasus frowned secretly.
The method Taliyah proposed sounded good, but when he thought about it carefully, he still felt that something was wrong.
"Affordable housing also needs to be purchased - like you said, 'As long as you have a job in Zaun, it's not difficult to own a house of your own'."
"What if many people can't even find a job?"
Completely liberalizing immigration would lead to a large increase in the population of the two cities in a short period of time.
If the Twin Cities cannot provide so many jobs, then won’t these unemployed people even be unable to live in affordable housing?
"Employment. The key to the problem lies in employment," Nasus said incisively.
"Yes." Taliya nodded secretly: "But this has to do with another policy of the Leader - that is the second-line construction and the second-line construction talent training plan."
The second-line construction is to gradually help backward regions such as Ionia, Noxus, and Demacia to achieve industrialization.
So, unlike what Nasus was worried about...
At this time, Zaun actually does not mind having a large population.
Because the second-line construction will build a large number of factories all over the world - this will require a large number of industrial workers as technical backbones to support various brother countries.
"So, the 'Second Line Construction Talent Training Program' came into being."
Zaun can't provide so many jobs now, and it doesn't matter if immigrants can't find jobs.
If you really can't find a job and have no other options, come to Leader to receive vocational skills training.
The leaders will provide them with food and accommodation, and will be responsible for training them to become qualified industrial workers.
Once the second-line construction is fully launched in the future, these people will naturally be put to good use.
"President Levi said that the Twin Cities will be the heart of the future Janna-led Alliance."
"The heart pumps blood from all over the body, and it also pumps blood from the heart to every part of the body."
"So whether you are an immigrant or a local resident of the Twin Cities, everyone should actively participate in the construction of the second line, go to Ionia, Noxus, and Shurima, and make those places as developed as the Twin Cities."
In this way, Zaun's employment problem will be solved and the population explosion problem will be curbed.
Because Zaun's population will continue to be exported along with the massive wave of second-line construction, and they will find a way out outside Zaun.
As industrialization progressed in backward regions such as Noxus, Ionia, and Shurima, cities such as the Immortal Bastion, Presidium, and Beljur gradually became wealthy, eventually forming many central cities around the world with an economic status close to that of Zaun...
Then people would no longer have to travel far to the Twin Cities and squeeze into the tiny Zaan to make a living.
Although Zaun will still be the economically developed "city of world desire", at least it will no longer be the only industrial center of Runeterra. In addition to Zaun, people are not without other big cities to choose from.
In this way, when Zaun's population expands to a certain extent and local industries can no longer provide sufficient employment, people will naturally go to other more livable cities to seek opportunities driven by life.
"Mr. Giant." Taliyah said a lot in one breath: "Are you satisfied with this answer?"
“Hmm…” Nasus pondered in silence.
The leader's method is actually not that brilliant.
To put it bluntly, it means "make the rich suffer first", trying every possible way to get more money from the rich, and then subsidize the poor in disguised form.
This would not work in any society in the past, because the rulers in the past were wealthy themselves, so how could they possibly cut some of their own flesh and blood to subsidize the poor people they looked down upon?
Aren’t you afraid of “public outrage” if you do this?
The leader is really not afraid.
The leaders are blessed by the goddess Gana. For the sake of safety, they are still pursuing a market economy and allowing the existence of "people's rich", which is already giving these rich people face.
If they are unwilling to even give up this little bit of flesh, then it is not just ordinary reactionary. We must strike hard.
The most important thing is that the leaders are not afraid that these rich people will transfer their assets and run away with the money after suffering the pain, thus causing the local economy to lose its vitality.
Because the entire Runeterra will be under the jurisdiction of the Wind Leaders in the future, no matter where they go, their policy of "cutting flesh" on the rich will be similar.
Under this globally unified policy environment, countries and regions in Runeterra will no longer need to fall into a vicious spiral of competition, competing with each other on how to favor entrepreneurs, lower labor costs, enhance local competitiveness, and attract industrial transfer and investment.
"This is indeed a policy that only a leader can implement." Nasus sighed.
He still missed his great empire.
But at this moment, Nasus couldn't help but think:
Even if we make the most unrealistic fantasy and revive the Shurima Empire - then between the Leader and the Shurima Empire, who will the Shurimans choose?
The answer seems self-evident.
Somehow, he remembered Taliyah's words again: "Only the Wind Leader can save Shurima..."