Chapter 243 The Great Depression in Piltover

Swain led his direct battle group and set off from Noxus by boat. After a long voyage, he finally arrived at the port of Piltover more than a month later.

Amistan greeted him at the port.

Her mood when she saw Swain's reinforcements arriving was probably like Camille's when she welcomed her into the city.

But this time, the group that came here was a direct lineage that was personally trained by General Swain. The combat effectiveness of this group was firmly on the front line within the empire, and its strength was far superior to that of Amystan's group.

It stands to reason that the soldiers and civilians of Piltover should be cheered by the fact that Noxus has sent such strong reinforcements this time.

But this time when the imperial army moved in, the atmosphere was obviously not as relaxed and relaxed as last time.

The last time the Noxians came, they were as relaxed as if they were on an official trip.

But this time, the Noxian soldiers who stepped off the ship had solemn expressions and determined eyes. It was as if they had come not to the most prosperous city in Runeterra, but to the most terrifying and brutal battlefield in the world.

The only person who greeted him on the pier was Amystan, and there were no other atmosphere groups such as Pi City citizens, businessmen, and reporters.

On the contrary, there were many people on the other side of Zu'an looking across the bank, chatting and laughing, making the atmosphere very casual and lively.

"General Swain, you are finally here." As if seeing a savior, Amystan hurried forward to greet him.

"Cough cough cough cough." Swain had a tactical cough as soon as they met.

He was shaking all over from coughing, holding a cane in his hand, and an ominous red-eyed crow standing on his shoulder. He looked as if he was too sick to walk.

Almost anyone who sees him will sigh, has the heroic commander of Noxus actually fallen to this?

"General, are you okay?" Amy Stan's face was filled with concern.

Swain only replied lukewarmly: "It's okay."

Amystan is the military leader of the old aristocratic faction.

Although he was born into an old noble family, he was actually a representative of the new military aristocracy.

Swain knew that Amystan had no real respect for him.

But her concern for his health is probably genuine - Amystan must be worried now that he will suddenly die, and then no one will come to pick up the Piltover plate that was thrown into her hands.

So Swain stopped being polite to Amystan.

He skipped those useless aristocratic etiquette and went straight to the point: "Amistan, I have to go to Zaun."

"This" Amystan's fake smile was a bit unsustainable.

She asked nervously: "What are you going to do in Zaun?"

"Issuing a formal diplomatic warning to Windbringer regarding their illegal interference in Imperial military operations in the Ionian province of Barua."

Amystan understood.

This is going to stir up trouble and conflict from the very beginning.

"General Swain, your reinforcements have just arrived in Piltover. The soldiers have not yet become familiar with the battlefield. Isn't it too hasty to rush to break up with the leader now?"

It was too hasty.

Amystan originally planned to find connections to operate after Swain became the receiver, and transfer herself away from the Twin Cities as soon as possible, far away from the leader.

Now, before she could run away, Swain came to "defend" on behalf of the empire.

"Rush? Yes, I feel rushed too." Swain was also helpless.

How can he not see that this is the Black Rose gang of bastards, forcing him to come over and trigger a local conflict with the leader?

These insects clearly wanted to use him to test the leader. At the same time, they wanted to use the leader's hands to get rid of him and the direct lineage he cultivated.

It's just a replica of the Battle of Presidium a year ago.

In order to avoid this conflict, and to buy more preparation time for the "countermeasures" he secretly planned, Swain has worked very hard to delay the trip.

The emperor ordered him to rush to Piltover as soon as possible to take office, but he said that it would take time for the battle group to prepare for war.

After finally reorganizing the battle group, the army boarded the troop transport ship in Noxus. The fleet experienced "various accidents" at sea and had to dock again and again for repairs.

After more than a month of procrastinating, Swain's army finally arrived at the Twin Cities.

But once the army got here, he could no longer delay it.

"This is an order from His Majesty the Emperor," Swain said.

"Okay, I will help you negotiate with the leader and arrange a meeting." Amystan sighed helplessly and had no choice but to agree.

"No need to make arrangements." Swain had his own idea: "I want to go to Zaun by myself and take a look on the way."

"I understand." Amystan nodded: "I will prepare a car for you now."

She arranged a car for Swain, and the two of them drove to Zaun together.

After getting in the car, Swain did not discuss the upcoming conflict.

He was just "taking a look" along the way, as he said.

"Piltover seems to be a lot depressed." Swain looked out the window and suddenly said: "The last time I led the army to pass by for supplies, there were many more pedestrians and shops on the street than now."

Today's Piltover can only be said to be stronger than most cities in Runeterra.

But compared to the progressive city in Swain's memory, and even compared to Piltover just two months ago, Piltover now seems so depressed, even desolate.

The ornately decorated shops on the streets have closed down one after another, while humble stalls have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

There are few well-dressed, elegant and energetic citizens on the streets like before. Instead, there are many dejected drunkards who have nothing to do and wander around.

Those elegant ladies with elegant BMWs and fancy cars have completely disappeared from the streets of Piltover.

The gangster who only appeared in Zaun before and seemed to exist only in the imagination of the people of Piltover began to swagger through the city in a majestic manner.

The "Hoover Hut", which has disappeared in the Zaun community, has also appeared in Piltover's city park one after another.

The most striking thing is

Ordinary Picity citizens who were not very interested in the leader theory in the past actually took up the Blue Bird flag, picked up the leader's slogans, and started publicity in the streets.

And the Piltover law enforcement officers didn't dare to take care of it at all, so they could only turn a blind eye.

"How did Piltover become like this?"

The state where Pi City used to be full of vitality and everything was in full swing is still before our eyes at this moment.

But what Swain saw before his eyes was only ruin.

"Can't you blame those damn leaders?" Amystan gritted her teeth with hatred.

When the leader came last time, he packed up all the high-tech enterprises in Piltover, and even the university research institutes supporting the enterprises, including the factory leaders and brought them back.

Factory and equipment were moved to Zaun.

Workers and engineers also changed jobs and received high salaries provided by the leader, and moved to Zaun to settle down.

Piltover instantly lost a huge amount of excess profits and also lost a large part of its high-income people.

Without the driving force of these high-tech enterprises, the supporting small manufacturing industries would be doomed.

Without the consumption of these high-income people, the resulting high-end service industry will not be able to continue.

And the worst thing is

"Those Piltover merchants have also run away."

Yes, the Ziben family in Pi City were completely frightened by the supreme power of the goddess Janna.

Even if they were not caught and liquidated by the Wind Leader in the last war, they would never dare to stay in Piltover again.

Seed benzene has no borders.

As long as there is need, the Ziben family can be borderless.

In order to escape the unstoppable leader, those surviving Piltover merchants naturally tried their best to sell off their assets in Piltover and then move them to a place where they could safely live and earn money.

And their escape this time was not some cunning self-preservation tactic, but actually removed the entire root system of the Piltover Conglomerate.

The amount of wealth these merchants and wealthy families took away from Pi City was incredible. They almost emptied most of the wealth accumulated in Pi City over the past three hundred years overnight.

Therefore, Picheng not only loses its high-end manufacturing industry.

Almost all of the money-making industries originally run by wealthy merchants and aristocrats, as the ballast stone of Piltover, and the mid-range manufacturing and service industries that accommodate the largest number of employed people, collapsed and came to a collective halt in just two months.

In this way, the defeat of the war triggered Ziben's flight.

The escape of benzene led to an industrial avalanche.

The industrial avalanche led to a wave of unemployment.

then

"The Great Depression is coming." Amystein spread her hands helplessly.

Today's Piltover is like the bankrupt Jiangnan Leather Factory. The boss ran away with 300 million and his sister-in-law, leaving only a bunch of unemployed workers who cannot get paid.

Fortunately, Shuangcheng used precious metal currency to maintain its value; and Leader took over the bank and treasury in time when Ziben's family ran away, maintaining the most basic financial order.

So that the wealth of the citizens of Piltover would not be wiped out in this Great Depression.
To be continued...