Chapter 256: Li Wei angrily rebukes the "ministers"
Swain had just thought that Noxus must not disappear, when Levi, as the supreme governor of Zaun, came on the radio with an article titled "We should make Zaun 'disappear'".
This not only startled Swain, but also caused a discussion among the guests in the snack bar.
"What does it mean to make Zaun disappear?" Everyone was a little confused.
The rise of the Windwarriors and Zaun's independence movement occurred simultaneously and are strongly related and bound together.
Many people among the Leaders, such as Wei and Shilko, chose to contact and join the Leaders from the beginning because of their strong hatred for Piltover and deep love for Zaun.
So in today's Zaun, in the hearts of most Zaun people, their love for their hometown and their love for Zaun is no less important than their support and respect for the leader.
But now, Levi, as the number one figure in Zaan, actually said that he wanted to "make Zaan disappear"?
What does this mean?
For a moment, the whole city seemed to be silent. Everyone was waiting in front of the radio, waiting for Levi to reveal the answer.
Finally, Levi's voice appeared.
But he did not even mention the title of his article at the beginning. Instead, he used a calm and clear voice to talk about the achievements of the Leader in Zaun over the past two months:
"In the past two months, the Zaun community has made tremendous achievements under the leadership of the leader."
"We have successfully cleared half of the accumulated garbage in the ditch area, built three landfills, two coal-fired power plants, and built schools and hospitals..."
"The per capita income of Zaun people has increased tenfold, and their meat intake has increased fivefold..."
Levi started praising Zaun as soon as he came up, as if he wanted to show off his achievements in governance.
The customers in the store did not think this was just some official document praising the city, because Zaun had changed so much in the past two months, and each of them had personally experienced the changes.
So everyone only recognized the achievements that Levi mentioned, and felt infinite happiness and pride.
It was then that Levi asked them a question on the radio:
"When I was at the council meeting, someone was very optimistic and said that if we continue on this trend, it won't be long before we succeed in our struggle in Zaun."
"Do you think this statement is correct?"
Swain thought.
The snack bar owner beside him and the guests listening to the radio nodded secretly and talked to each other: "Yes! Why is it wrong!"
"How good are our lives now? Salaries are higher than before, life is better than before, and we don't have to worry about food, clothing, and daily necessities - this is a great abundance of material things!"
"The leaders in charge are so fair and just, everyone doesn't steal or rob, abides by the law, and works hard - this shows that people have a high level of ideological awareness!"
Although it is not yet completely free from the constraints of material conditions like Bandle City, it is not yet a true utopia.
But at least we are getting close to universal peace, right?
"Yes, we have succeeded!" The people of Zaun thought so excitedly.
Then they all waited for Levi's answer.
But Levi did not answer, but raised a second question:
"Some people have recently expressed the opinion that more and more people from Piltover have come to Zaun to work, which has affected the employment situation of local people in Zaun."
"So we should reduce the number of entry permits issued to Piltover residents, and timely transfer low-end manufacturing industries such as textile factories and parts processing plants to the other side of the canal, and keep high-end manufacturing industries such as Hextech industries, alchemy and pharmaceuticals, and the automotive industry in Zaun."
"In this way, the average income of Zaun people can be greatly improved compared to before, and even raised to a level much higher than that of Piltover people in the past—"
"Everyone, is this a good idea?"
What? If we just get rid of those annoying Piltover guys, our income will go up again?
That’s great!
The people of Piltover used to treat the people of Zaun like dogs, but now that Zaun has become prosperous, they shamelessly come to steal the jobs of the people of Zaun.
Everyone has long been displeased with these Piltover guys!
"Does anyone think it's good? I think there must be some. Not only that, but a lot of them."
"Among those who want to drive away the Piltover people, I'm afraid there are still many who support the Windleader and his transformation and construction of Zaun."
On the radio, Levi's voice suddenly became serious.
He asked the third question:
"So, what these people are thinking is—"
"Should we use the Leader's tactics internally and the Piltover tactics externally, or even the Noxus tactics?"
" ..." The air suddenly became quiet.
Because the guests in the store, everyone listening to this speech, suddenly realized what they had just done:
They use the same way of thinking as the people of Piltover in the past, the Piltover people they hate the most!
“Now we can answer the first question – are we successful now?”
Li Wei revealed the answer in a serious tone: "No, far from it!"
"We are now wealthy and have money, but have you ever thought about where all this money comes from?"
Where else could it have come from?
Of course, it comes from the excess profits that Zaun has reaped from globalized trade by leveraging its military and technological hegemony.
"Now, it only takes 100 total man-hours to produce a Hex radio in Zaun."
"And when this radio was shipped to Noxus, to the Immortal Bastion, do you know how much time it would take an ordinary Noxian farmer to buy it?"
"10 years!"
"Yes, you heard it right. A Noxian farmer needs to work non-stop for 10 years to earn the same as a Hextech radio that a Zaun worker spent 100 hours making!"
"That is to say, the life of a Zaun worker is worth 876 times more per hour than that of a Noxian peasant!"
"I just want to ask, why?"
"Why are the lives of us Zaun people 875 times more valuable than the lives of Noxian people?"
Levi asked questions repeatedly during the broadcast, questioning those Zaun people who had answered the first two questions incorrectly:
"Some people may say that we deserve to make so much money because we have the technological reserves and industrial accumulation in Zaun. These excess profits all come from our hard work and inventions, and we have earned them without any reason."
"But the problem is, according to this logic--"
"Inventions mainly come from the research results of scientists. Shouldn't they make as much money as possible with their inventions?"
"And if they can make as much money as possible, why would they hire Zaun workers instead of Noxian workers?"
Although manufacturing radios is a technical job, the technical difficulty is not that great. Even if we don't build a factory in Zuan, we can go to a new place and train workers from scratch.
If it is just an economic consideration, then the leader should open the factory in Noxus, where labor is cheaper, or recruit a large number of foreign apprentices to replace local workers like Piltover did.
"Why should the workers in Zaun have to earn this money?"
"Because you are Zaun? Are Zaun people inherently more noble than Noxians, or people from other places?"
The people of Piltover believed this. They called themselves civilized and advanced, the beacon of humanity, and they deserved to enjoy their lives in this city on the top of the mountain.
But the Zuan people...
The people of Zuan have been living like beasts of burden all their lives, and have only become prosperous for a few months now.
Do they have the nerve to say that they are born noble?
For a moment, all the customers in the snack bar fell silent.
Only after being scolded by Levi did they realize where they were wrong.
"You've only become rich for a few days, and you've already started to think of yourself as 'people of Piltover'?"
"You don't really support the leaders at all, and you don't understand what kind of success we are pursuing."
"If you really understand, you will clearly realize that we are still far away from real success."
"If you think that we have succeeded by building Zaun well, and there is no need to make further progress; if you think that we, the people of Zaun, are rich, you can feel at ease watching others suffer from poverty."
"Sooner or later, the Noxians, Demacians, Ionians, Shurimans, and even the Piltover people..."
"All the poor and suffering people in Runeterra will unite under the banner of Goddess Janna, and come and destroy us just !"
