But Niya doesn't actually fully understand that in her concept, lords are naturally higher than their subjects, and mages are naturally higher than ordinary people, but it only changed after coming into contact with Shado.
The reason why she wants to extend the Bactrian Code to the entire territory of Netheril is more because this is what Shado wants to do, and she knows what Shado wants, and she also wants to see the one that can fully satisfy everyone. What does the new world of development look like?
But as for why she must do this, she actually doesn't fully understand. She wants to do it just because she wants to do it, rather than "treating every individual equally and respecting their rights" as Sha Duo said.
There is always a gap between ideals and reality, and as a pillow person, she actually understands that Xia Duo himself may not be able to achieve that ideal state, but Xia Duo consciously takes the initiative to do it, and she is more just following Xia Duo. And go.
Thinking like this, Niya's expression gradually became serious and serious. She knew that if she could not figure out why she had to reach that ideal world, then sooner or later she and Xia Duo would have differences in the future.
Thinking of this, she had no intention of considering what new issues to submit to the first meeting of the Sevington Parliament. Instead, she stared into Sha Duo's eyes and asked a question very seriously:
"Why did you choose this path? Is there no other way?"
Hearing this question, Xia Duo sighed secretly in his heart, how could he be willing to accept the darkness after seeing the light? Regarding this issue, he had actually discussed it with Niya a long time ago.
It's just that his level at that time and even now was not enough to completely answer this question, but he still wanted to answer it again, not only to win over Niya as a comrade, but also to remind him of his true intentions.
After thinking about it, he told Niya: "Is there any other way? There should be, but I still prefer the current choice. As for the reason, I can explain it from three angles.
“Selfishly, I don’t like the current environment of Netheril and want to change it. This reason is fine for me, but it’s not enough to convince others.
"So I have another perspective, from the perspective of fairness and justice, if you are an ordinary person, if others are superior to you because you have learned magic, are you willing to accept it?
“Or, we are all humans, and as humans, are you willing to accept that elves are superior to us because they are born with longevity?
“Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance. Just because we are now the strong, we cannot ignore the thoughts of the weak and the fairness, justice and respect they want.
"So is it difficult to understand why it is difficult to choose a path that allows everyone to be liberated and fully developed? Of course, this reason may convince you, but it still cannot convince some people.
"So I have another angle to explain it from the perspective of the development of the times. But I am still trying to understand this aspect myself. If you are willing to listen, then I will tell you."
"Yes, I do." Niya nodded quickly.
As Xia Duo said, she can be convinced from a moral perspective. At least she can be convinced by this reason now, but she can't guarantee what the future will be like, so she also wants to hear Xia Duo's other explanations.
"Before I explain this angle, let me ask you a question first. Do you think slaves are efficient at doing things?"
"How efficient is the slave in doing things?" Nia suddenly fell into deep thought.
There are currently no real slaves in the Daxia Territory. Even the Mulan people who bought them from Imasca in the name of slaves actually treat them as quasi-territory citizens.
As for the Savile Territory, slaves do still exist. Niya recalled the several types of slaves that existed in the Savile Territory - orcs, humans, and dwarfs that existed in the past and exist now but are gradually redeeming themselves.
Needless to say, the orcs were mostly prisoners of the orc wars in the past few years or lone orcs that could not be caught by clearing the forest. It was very difficult to make the orcs obey, and they were also dishonest.
Human beings are mostly those who violated the lord's prohibitions in the past. During the process of the Bactrian Code being spread to the Saville Territory, the vast majority of human slaves were liberated. Afterwards, they were severely sentenced according to the Bactrian Code, and they could be dealt with how they should be dealt with.
Only a very small number of people who committed serious crimes were not released from slavery. Some of them were directly executed according to the new law, and some were sent to the mines to continue doing the work they had done as slaves before.
Niya didn't know much about what the orcs were like when they were in the tribe. It was true that their efficiency was not high after becoming a slave, but without comparison before, it was hard to say whether it had improved or decreased.
As for humans, those slaves have never been engaged in mining before, so it is difficult to make intuitive comparisons.
Only the dwarfs, the contrast between before and after is very strong. The work efficiency of the dwarfs during the slave period was higher than that of human miners, but they were all slaves, and the racial differences alone were not much higher.
In the past, the reason why Savile Territory used dwarfs for mining was mainly because dwarfs lived longer. As slaves and tools, they were more durable than human miners.
However, after the Sevington Parliament promulgated a decree prohibiting the use of dwarfs as slaves and allowing dwarf slaves to redeem themselves, the Savile Territory was unable to refuse, and with the support of Shado, it also implemented this decree.
Then a strong change occurred. At first, the dwarfs did not believe in the existence of this decree, but when the first dwarf successfully redeemed himself and received the travel expenses given by Savileland, all the dwarf slaves went crazy. .
The mining volume in a single month has quadrupled compared to the past. If Xia Duo had not requested to limit the mining volume of silver and iron, the output might have been even higher.
Thinking of this, Niya seemed to have the answer, "If the cost is not considered, it is indeed more efficient to not use slaves."
“It’s good that you can think of the cost, but the gains from efficiency can completely cover this part of the cost, so I think even if the Severington Parliament does not enact a law, as the times develop, various places will eventually gradually abandon slaves. "
Seeing Niya's thoughtful expression, Shado continued: "If there is only one country and one territory in the world, then whether it uses slaves will not have obvious and foreseeable consequences.
"But the reality is that there is more than one country in the world, and even Netheril has more than one territory. Slaves are inefficient at doing things. Can it be understood that using slaves' territories to produce various resources and goods is inefficient?"
"Yeah." Niya nodded.
"This is just the production of resources and goods. What if there is a war? Can it be understood that a lord who treats his subjects from a slave perspective is more likely to lose the war because the slaves are not strong in fighting will?"
"Yes, but there is magic in this world. What if the lord who uses slaves is a great arcanist, and the lord who is hostile to him and does not use slaves has not even passed the threshold of casting spells?" Niya also put forward her own point of view.
After hearing this, Xia Duo couldn't help but shook his head, "You are just quibbling. We conduct thought experiments to demonstrate the pros and cons of slavery. Naturally, we must try our best to eliminate other factors. Of course, the enemy of the Grand Arcanist must also be the Grand Arcanist."
"Okay, then I still have a question. Even if the slaves are inactive and the normal citizens are active, it will be difficult to have an impact on the battle between the great arcanists, right?" Niya continued to argue.
"Why not? Since it is a thought experiment, anything that is feasible can be used as evidence. Let me tell you a scenario where the citizens of both sides each hold a large number of universally inspired 10-ring directional spell scrolls. Who do you think will win?"
"Of course it depends on the timing of both parties using the spell scroll! How can we generalize!" Niya said without hesitation.
"Think again!"
"That's true when I think about it."
"Alas. Have you forgotten what I just said? Where there is oppression, there is resistance. Once slaves are given the power to determine the fate of slave owners, do you still expect them to be willing to continue to be slaves?"
"this--"
Niya was immediately speechless.
(End of chapter)
