Chapter 284 [0281] Vazuan's Trojan Horse

Although the two cities have not reached a complete agreement on a few issues, at least in front of outsiders, they have become one.

Witnessed by hundreds of guests from all over Shurima, the reconstruction ceremony of Vaz'uan has just been successfully held - the Piltover Council and the leaders of various departments of Zaun swore an oath in front of the Golden Feather, the regent of the Shurima Empire, and swore to inherit and carry forward the supreme glory of Shurima in the name of Vaz'uan.

In Shurima, there are many cities that claim to inherit the supreme glory of Shurima, but only this one dares to say that it will carry forward the glory of the Shurima Empire.

The guests watching the ceremony couldn't wait to know how Vaz'uan, a small city that was not in the mainstream circle during the Shurima Empire, carried forward the glory of the Shurima Empire.

Then, they were invited to participate in an "archaeological exposition", where they saw a series of various objects belonging to the "Shurima Empire".

When the people who were responsible for displaying these objects manipulated these delicate objects in the same way as in many novels and myths, many people's breathing became rapid, and some even had red eyes on the spot.

Because when the Shurima Empire collapsed, the Great Library sank under the yellow sand, and later many official libraries were destroyed in the Darkin War. Therefore, although the Shurimans all yearn for that once glorious era, they actually don't know what that era was like.

Even those who have studied history only know some sporadic fragments, such as attaching importance to education, digging underground ditches, expanding the area of ​​oases, etc.

However, due to the reasons for the dissemination channels, although a large amount of official materials were destroyed, the novels that began to develop in the middle period of the Shurima Empire have preserved the former style of the Shurima Empire from another perspective.

To this day, many novels and works from the Shurima Empire period are still the cultural source of the various city-states in Shurima today. The various descriptions and records of the Shurima Empire period in the novels may have been written by the author to increase the word count at the beginning, but now they have become a piece of the glorious era.

In today's Shurima, no one can rebuild the empire again.

Therefore, each city-state that claims to be the orthodox Shurima will imitate that era as much as possible to attract more desert wanderers to join and obtain valuable human resources.

Objectively speaking, this behavior of blindly worshipping the ancients has largely locked up the development prospects of these Shurima city-states, because there is a powerful Shurima Empire in front of it. If the current Shurima city-state wants to develop, the first priority is "whether it is like the original Shurima Empire."

Most Shurimans know how prosperous the former empire was, so when the ruler of a city-state wants to reform, the obstacles it faces are unimaginable.

Military reform, can you reform an army that exceeds the Ascended Legion?

Architectural reform, can you rebuild countless oases that run through the continent?

Economic reform, can you afford the basic security of the empire?

Political reform, can you build a greater empire?

The glory of "ancient", even after thousands of years, is still dazzling, and worshipping the ancient has naturally become a popular necessity.

Even to this day, the Shurimans are not without centripetal force, but no one can be recognized as that heart now, that's all.

Therefore, every city-state with a little ambition will claim to be the orthodoxy of Shurima, because if there is really a regime that is truly recognized by most Shurimans, then it really has a chance to unify Shurima.

It's just that although everyone is imitating, due to the fault of civilization, this imitation looks closer to a kind of "spectacle cosplay", and because of the lack of technical support, this cosply is quite clumsy and can only deceive people with little knowledge.

But now, the situation is different.

Vazuan took out a lot of instruments recorded in the novel that can fully realize their functions!

To make an analogy that is not particularly appropriate, this is just like a belt that can really transform into a Kamen Rider, or a VR suit that can really enter the oasis. Even if it is just a very ordinary object, the cultural value behind it still makes these guests unable to control themselves.

Then, just when they were excited, Vazouan announced that these will be opened to all Shurima cities along with the subsequent Vazouan trade, "Let everyone join hands and find the lost glory together."

If cities like Nashramei and Zurita came up with these things, I am afraid that other cities would tacitly resist or even discredit them, but Vazouan is different. It was a remote place during the imperial period!

Those who really care about this culture look down on Vazouan, so in this matter, Vazouan is just a producer and does not participate in the subsequent competition.

In everyone's view, Vazouan has deviated from the way of the former Shurima Empire, so even if it is very rich, it is not a competitor!

After figuring this out, the attitudes of the envoys watching the ceremony quickly became warm.

And Vazuan also provided everyone with a quotation sheet.

After receiving the quotation sheet, many envoys from Xiao Chen State began to feel uneasy after just a glance.

For example, this set of night lights, although the patterns on it are indeed impossible for other city-states to do it by hand, the material is also reliable copper alloy, and supporting power generation facilities can be built, which can completely achieve the appearance of "street lights reflecting the clouds, and old friends coming outside the window" like the former Shurima Empire, but each lamp plus a lamp post costs a crazy three gold hexes, and the power plant is another price!

Piltover has tried to sell street lights, but the demand for this thing in other city-states is too limited. Except for a few really rich cities such as Nashrameh and Beljum, other cities are dark at night, and at most there are a few locked oil lamps on the main roads!

For them, street lights are not important at all.

But for big cities like Nashrameh, things are completely different-compared to the sun disk, which is useless except for its good looks, at least these things provided by Vazuan are really useful!

Although the guests of Nashrameh didn't understand how Vazuan could restore so many objects from the Shurima Empire era with an empty shell, he had confirmed it repeatedly. This thing is exactly the same as the record.

Other cities don't have money, but Nashrameh, as a transit port and a rich source of silk and gems, is very rich. A rough estimate shows that the price of the sun disk is enough to build such street lights in half of Nashrameh!

And if the method of investing in batches and developing little by little is adopted, maybe one day, Nashrameh can really transform part of the city into the ideal country in the hearts of Shurimans.

The people of Nashrameh may not be rich, but the governor of Nashrameh's port is not short of money at all. If spending money can give her the opportunity to become the second ascended empress, she will be sorry for the Setaka bloodline (self-proclaimed) if she frowns.

As for those small city-states that can't afford a set of objects to build an ideal country, Vazuan also has countermeasures.

I can't afford a complete set of things, but I can always settle for the next best thing - ordinary people can't afford it or use it, but decent people like the port governor or the city governor can buy a set for themselves, right?

Although it is difficult to book orders with too small specifications, don't worry, our caravan will pass by with various products. As long as we give normal tax treatment, we have sufficient spot goods. If there are not enough spot goods, we will give discounts next time. This clause can be written into the contract!

For a while, the envoys who watched the ceremony were excited and wanted to buy a large number of various products on the spot.

However, these envoys who were immersed in the joy of buying, buying, and buying did not realize that these objects that could make people feel like they were in the glory of Shurima were actually just poison covered with honey, a terrible Trojan horse.

Vazun didn't make much money on these things. Although they were expensive, they were absolutely conscience prices and cost prices.

From the beginning, Vaz'an never thought about making money from this stuff. To Vaz'an, these things are just a stepping stone to open the door to trade and a giant wooden horse to deceive Troy.

Inside this wooden horse, it is full of cheap goods made by industrialized production.

Once the door to trade is opened and the exclusive walls are occupied, Vaz'an's subsequent goods will completely overwhelm their local market.

……………………

On the third day after the end of the Expo, the port terminal of Piltover was crowded with people.

Today is the day for envoys from various countries to leave.

After the Expo, even the smallest city-states reached a specific plan for caravan cooperation with Vaz'an. Rich cities like Nashrameh and Kumangla have introduced a considerable number of "Shurima Empire products" with a wave of their hands.

So in the past two days, the president of the Zaun Trade Association, Big Nose Sandro, and the chairman of the Piltover Trade Union, Nondo, have been busy almost all the time.

Seeing the last ship to Kalamanda finally leave the port, the two looked at each other and decided to have a drink together to relax.

Finally, at Sandro's invitation, Nondo went to Fulgrim's Tavern with him and drank happily at a table in a corner.

When they were having fun, the two guys were even warned for howling without wine - Fulgrim's Tavern had been sold when Vandel took office, but it is still a landmark building in Zaun. Howling in such a place is not something to boast about.

The waiter who came to warn them must have been unable to imagine that just a few days ago, the two men were like enemies, arguing over the economic order of Vazuan, and even almost staged a fight at the negotiation venue.

Facts have proved that in the face of huge profit margins, businessmen are often the first to let go of their grudges - and compared with businessmen, even Caitlin and Wei, who had a good relationship before, could only look at each other in embarrassment when they met again after Vazuan was established.

Before, the two of them belonged to two different cities, but they could often communicate without worries. But now that they are colleagues, they have no topic to talk about.

After the security work for the guests was completed, the two came to the Poro Cafe, which was reopened. After a long silence, Caitlin finally found a topic.

"Can you tell me about Miss Lux? Her story should no longer be a secret now, right?"

"Of course." Wei nodded and drank a cup of coffee directly. "As for Lux... She is a very amazing person. When I first met her, we even had a fight-"

...

...

Zuan and Piltover merged into one, and raised the banner of Shurima heritage.

In name, it spread the glory of the past, but in reality, it contained a commercial Trojan horse plan.

Sandra and Nondo admired each other, and Caitlyn and Wei became more intimate.

Victor's treatment went smoothly, and Jayce and Mel set a wedding date.

Bomb sorted out the documents left behind, and Ekko planned to surprise her.

Hilko quietly hid behind the scenes, and Fandel was disliked by the children.

Renata learned Hextech theory, and Zelie's course turned into self-study.

Camille still walked in the dust, and Heimerdinger returned to education.

From confrontation to war to peace, from division to opposition to unity.

Lux, who directed this whole Tale of Two Cities, quietly left the city with Ino on the eve of the farewell dinner, quietly boarded a cargo ship to Beljuin, set sail in the night, and headed west from then on.

To Mount Targon, there should be 20,000 miles of yellow sand!

Karya's small class·Trade barriers of Shurima city-states:

Piltover started maritime trade a long time ago, but in fact few city-states are willing to engage in large-scale transactions with Piltover - heavy import and export tariffs, various currencies that are difficult to exchange, local protectionism that is not assured of outsiders, and unfair competition from local merchants with connections, etc., together constitute the original trade barriers of Shurima.

Extra update 29/30!

Damn, this chapter was sent to the wrong volume... but it's almost the same.