Chapter 215 Who Can Save Noxus? (Part 2)

Levi immediately poured a bucket of cold water on Riven.

A military coup will not save Noxus.

Why do you say that?

Because a military coup, to put it bluntly, is an internal reshuffle, which is to snatch the cake from the old land nobles and distribute it to the dissatisfied new military nobles.

It is nothing more than a redistribution of resources so that a new generation of grassroots extraordinary people can share in the benefits.

But what happens after the division?

Extraordinary people will continue to emerge from the grassroots and demand from the empire the economic status and political power they desire.

It will only take one or two generations for the land to be insufficient for distribution.

And the new military nobles who are now seizing power from the aristocratic families will then become the aristocratic families in the eyes of the next generation of extraordinary people.

The conflicts between the grassroots extraordinary people and the old aristocracy will soon accumulate.

By then, Noxus will have to expand outward to divert conflicts.

If external expansion fails and the transfer of contradictions fails, the empire will have to face a new round of rebellion and a new round of reshuffle.

"This approach only eases the conflict, not resolves it."

"If the coup in Noxus in the future is intense enough, and the new military nobles and the old land nobles are exhausted enough in the confrontation, and the reshuffle is thorough enough, then Noxus can maintain peace and stability for another generation or two."

"But the problem is..."

"Will the future coup in Noxus, or the liquidation of the old noble families, really be so thorough?"

In order to completely settle accounts with the old aristocracy and make these old guys spit out all the benefits, the strength of the new military aristocracy must of course be strong enough, and the strength of the old clan aristocracy must be weak enough.

The destruction of any old thing begins with its own corruption and degeneration.

Are the old aristocrats of Noxus in decline now? Yes, but not completely.

"The Darkwell family, the Kekao family, the Midalda family... the old nobles who hold the power of the empire are still very energetic at this time."

Noxus emphasizes strength above all else and respects the strong.

Even if you are a noble family, you still have to rely on your strength to maintain your privileges.

The kind of dandy guy who only puts on makeup and does nothing all the time will never survive in Noxus.

Therefore, those aristocratic families that have been able to successfully survive in Noxus to this day are all full of talented people and elites, and each of them possesses considerable strength.

The new military nobles are indeed powerful, but do they really have the ability to completely eliminate these old nobles?

Not to mention...

Levi did not mention in the article the mysterious wizard society called "Black Rose" that secretly controls the current Noxus and hides behind the empire in a low-key manner.

Leblanc and Vladimir, these two old monsters who have lived for thousands of years, are the real representatives of the interests of the old aristocratic families.

How could they be easily eliminated by a group of young people?

"Now the conflict between the old and new nobles is inevitable, but the strength of both sides is hard to distinguish."

"So I can boldly predict that—"

Levi starts to spoil the plot here without any reason:

"The so-called reform that will take place in Noxus in the future will inevitably be an incomplete struggle."

"The new military aristocracy cannot completely eliminate the old aristocracy, and the old aristocratic aristocracy cannot do anything to the powerful new military aristocracy. Both sides must reach some kind of compromise in the struggle."

"Personally, I think the most likely form of this coup would be for the new nobles to unite with a part of the old nobles and eliminate another part of the old nobles—"

"Both sides joined forces to take out a few of the old and unpopular clans, thus easing the conflict a little."

"Finally, a reconciliation was reached between the old and the new. The old nobles ceded most of their power to the new nobles, and the two sides took charge of the 'new' Noxus in the form of a joint government."

This analysis made Riven completely give up the idea.

Of course she could read that Noxus would not be reborn just because of a coup d'état.

An incomplete coup is just a temporary solution.

Even if the old noble families were completely wiped out and new nobles were installed, it would still be a change of name. In a few decades, the empire would still collapse.

"So what should we do?"

This question obviously exceeds Riven's cultural level .

Levi tried to give a solution in the article:

"Readers who are familiar with Janna's theory may ask, can we resolve the contradiction through a bourgeois revolution by launching an industrial revolution in the Noxian Empire?"

There isn’t enough cake to go around, and I can’t grab other people’s cake.

Then let's adopt some seed benzeneism, develop productivity, and make the pie bigger!

If the new military nobles cannot obtain fiefs, they can start companies. If they cannot become lords, they can become business owners.

"If you think industrialization and benzoinism can save Noxus, you are making a mistake by not analyzing the specific problems in a specific way."

Just when Riven thought this seemed to be a promising idea, Levi quickly crossed out this answer.

If it were a world without supernatural powers, an agricultural country could resolve its internal conflicts through industrialization and the development of benzoinism.

Because the main contradiction in the mortal kingdom is the contradiction between the feudal nobility and the peasant slaves.

As industrialization developed, the overflow population was absorbed by factories and enterprises, and the contradiction was naturally alleviated.

Farmers and slaves could support themselves by working in the city. With the ability to survive without relying on the land, the personal dependence between them and the noble landlords was naturally broken.

They were free and had jobs. Although this job was probably not much easier than farming, at least they would not starve to death due to population overflow and lack of land to farm.

"For the two cities, which are weak, this can indeed ease the conflict."

"But we have analyzed before that the main contradiction faced by Noxus is fundamentally different from that of the Twin Cities."

Industrialization saves mortals, but Noxus doesn't care about mortal lives at all.

If the population exceeds the limit and cannot be fed, they will naturally starve to death.

Anyway, ordinary people have no ability to do anything except starve to death.

So even though the Industrial Revolution began in the Twin Cities 300 years ago, Noxus and Demacia are still like the Qing Dynasty, which was isolated from the outside world, with a lack of enthusiasm and slow progress.

Because as the two most powerful supernatural kingdoms in Runeterra, they do not need industrialization to resolve conflicts.

Industrialization cannot solve their main contradictions.

"The main contradiction Noxus faces has always been the contradiction between the grassroots extraordinary people and the aristocratic families."

After industrialization and the advent of socialism, will the aristocratic families be willing to share power with grassroots extraordinary people?

Of course not.

Industrialization can make the cake bigger, but if the grassroots extraordinary people do not rush to grab it, then the cake will only be divided up by the old nobles.

The Twin Cities are the best example.

Most of the wealthy families that control Piltover today are aristocratic families that have dominated this place three hundred years ago.

Later, the newly emerging families either became dependent on them or were acquired, annexed, or even physically eliminated by them early on.

The alchemy barons of Zaun firmly control their territories and, like feudal lords, are wary of any grassroots transcendent who might challenge their status.

If you want to gain power and benefits from these old money, you still have to fight for it through force.

"Because this is a world where extraordinary power exists, personal strength is the foundation of all assets."

In Runeterra, mortals can indeed make fortunes.

But what’s the point of getting rich? Without strength, money is just a mobile wallet for extraordinary people.

"So there is no free market in the true sense, no fair competition, only monopoly businesses based on supernatural power - armed groups."

"Whether a seed benzene company can grow big and to what extent does not depend on the competitiveness of its products, but on its personal strength and family background."

"So, even if Noxus ushers in an industrial revolution, there will never be a new bourgeoisie - or rather, a new bourgeoisie can only be born from the old aristocrats who have both seed benzene accumulation and extraordinary power."

"And if the grassroots extraordinary people want to get a piece of the pie, they still have to use force to challenge the status of the old nobles."

After all this talk, we are back to the same place again.

Even if we carry out industrialization and implement seed benzeneism, the contradiction between the new and the old is still irreconcilable.

The counterintuitive thing is:

For the Noxian Empire, developing industrialization and socialism is even worse than feudal military imperialism.

Why?

Because in a feudal military empire, land is the greatest resource.

The newly conquered lands were generally directly controlled by the imperial center, and could be very clearly and explicitly awarded to new military nobles who had made contributions, satisfying their desire for political power.

This piece of land belongs to you, that piece of land belongs to him, it is clearly divided.

A piece of land can accommodate a new elite and ease some conflicts.

The cake is divided relatively fairly and accurately, which can maximize the placement of those grassroots extraordinary people who are unwilling to be inferior to others.

But how should we divide the big pie created by industrial development?

Since it is Zibenism, of course it is distributed according to capital.

As for "wealth", how can a grassroots extraordinary person who started from nothing compare to the wealthy aristocratic families?

If the distribution is done completely according to the rules of Seed Benevolence, in the end the chaebol aristocrats will be the winners and take all, while the grassroots extraordinary people will follow behind and eat the leftovers.

"Can they accept this distribution method? Of course not!"

"Industrialization will not only fail to save Noxus, but will deepen the conflict between the grassroots supernatural beings and the old aristocratic families."

"And those grassroots extraordinary people who can't get fiefs, or whose fiefs are worthless, and who can't compete with the old noble families in business, will only raise the banner of rebellion against the empire at the first opportunity."

"So both Noxus and Demacia resist industrialization to varying degrees - perhaps because they understand that industrialization will cause the land to depreciate severely, making the land nobles lose their meaning of existence, and destroying the foundation for the stability of the empire -"

“That is, a system of profit distribution based on land feudalism.”

"..." Riven looked at him for a long time without saying anything.

She tried hard to understand, but only became more confused.

Liquidating the powerful families will not save Noxus.

Industrialization and zealotry cannot save Noxus.

Is Noxus really hopeless?

"Yes," Levi wrote.

Riven scrolled down eagerly.

Turning to the last page, I saw the following words:

"Considering our friendly and cooperative relationship with the Noxian Empire, I will not elaborate on this here."

"Non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries is a diplomatic principle of peaceful coexistence that we have always adhered to..."

Then comes a long paragraph of empty words and clichés.