Chapter 1180 Aiwass: Anyway, let’s put some advertising first
"The original spring in Rock Cellar City collapsed, the new lord, 'Aivaz of Hope', moved in, and Dawn City was established—"
The shouts, accompanied by the calls of hawks, echoed melodiously across the desert.
When Dawn City restored its water supply and resumed normal life... the surrounding city-states that were watching were finally convinced that Dawn City did have its new benevolent master.
So they temporarily stopped and gave up the idea of sending or hiring slave knights to eat at the buffet.
The benevolent lords of these city-states were all in contact with each other. Although their relationships might not necessarily be good, as long as one of them encountered trouble, the nearby benevolent lords would definitely respond—for example, by "taking care" of the citizens on their behalf.
These spies would pass on information and, at the right time, instigate rebellions against the lord. Because every city had these spies, if a lord started a large-scale purge of spies, it would be considered a problem on their side, and the others would intensify their efforts, or even join forces to resist.
Trekking through the desert required a large amount of supplies. Since the city-state's water supply was limited, sending troops would inevitably require residents to limit their water use in advance, which would be reported by spies. Therefore, war had "omens" that could be responded to and prevented in a timely manner.
Furthermore, with this type of tribal warfare, supply lines were essentially impossible to deploy. As long as they could defend against one or two waves of attack, the enemy would retreat due to lack of supplies. Therefore, regular armies primarily relied on harassment and raids. Truly capturing a city-state was difficult without internal and external support.
But if the inheritance of a good master somewhere is cut off, then slave knights can be sent to capture people immediately.
With their benefactors already dead, there was no one left to defend an empty city. Without someone to capture them, it would be difficult for them to reach neighboring cities, and they would be doomed to death. In this situation, capturing them as slaves would offer them a chance to survive, and there would naturally be no danger.
Slave knights do not necessarily belong to the good master's own property, and there is a high probability that they do not belong to him.
It is similar to the "construction companies" such as Avalon or Star Antimony, mainly undertaking official outsourced projects.
Because the good masters usually want to maintain their reputation - although this is ridiculous, the desert people do care about this - so they don't send their men to capture people directly, but buy them from the slave knights. In this way, these slave knights have a stable income... and the good masters also cultivate a mercenary army of extraordinary people through this method.
For tasks like taking down a city, if we let our own men go, it would be too painful if a few of them accidentally died. It would be better to send some men outside the city to supervise the battle, and let the slave knights charge. If they wanted to retreat, we could help them cover their retreat or force them back to the front lines, depending on the situation.
With just a little money, water and useless status, you can exchange for a standing army of extraordinary people, and there is no need to manage them at all, and you don’t have to be responsible for the other party’s reputation - for the good master, this is an absolutely cost-effective deal.
It's ironic.
In this desert where people are easily taken as slaves, the most valuable treasure is actually people themselves.
—For example, these messengers who deliver messages in the desert.
Besides delivering letters, they also spread various intelligence and news across the desert—sometimes for a fee, sometimes for free. For example, news about Paradise City spread throughout the desert in this way. After all, relying solely on word of mouth from caravans wouldn't allow for timely updates, let alone reach every city-state.
A female harpy, topless, covered in feathers and with her face painted red, preached on the streets: "The Good Lord of Dawn City has enacted new rules. Slaves can also be promoted to freemen! The recruitment of freemen has been expanded!
"Anyone who signs a twenty-year free work contract, and a ten-year free work contract for their offspring, will enjoy the treatment of a free citizen! Each family will receive three free education places, and food, lodging, and drinks will be provided during the contract period!
"Transcendents only need to sign a ten-year contract plus a five-year contract for their offspring. Transcendents above the third energy level only need to sign a five-year work contract. They no longer need to pay water taxes. After the contract expires, the work can be renewed and income can be obtained! 'Hope Aiwas' promises that all types of work will receive wages no less than 80% of the city-states!"
These sounds like advertisements, speeches promoting welfare policies...
In fact, it was Aiwass himself who placed the advertisement.
These messengers come from the same organization called "Voice of the Desert".
The vast majority of them are harpy men, who are best adapted to the desert environment. There are also some lizard men who have mutated to have the ability to resist dust, which humans cannot do.
The harpy people can fly in the desert, thereby bypassing various phantom demons and bandits hidden in the sand, and directly avoiding quicksand traps that are invisible to the naked eye, thus moving at high speed in the desert.
In addition, they can glide on the wind, easily crossing the dead river in the desert and successfully reaching another oasis. Lizardmen can also swim in quicksand and even dive into the sand to move quickly.
The only drawback is that their effortless movement is due to their unique body structure, so they cannot transport other people, only small, important and inexpensive goods, and letters.
The Desert Voice's primary clients are the benefactors of various cities, and only benefactors can afford such a price. Because of their special mission, even slave knights won't easily capture them... lest they delay the powerful benefactors' mission and bring themselves into unnecessary trouble.
So even if you are deep in the desert, you can write a letter and send it outside the desert.
But with the exception of Paradise City, the lords of other city-states rarely cared about "publicity." After all, due to the lack of education in the desert, the lords' family inheritance essentially relied on the tutors who served as domestic slaves, and the quality and comprehensiveness of their teachings were inevitably insufficient. Therefore, "Dawn City" immediately became a hot topic.
People were discussing the price offered by Aiwass.
Working for free for twenty years to escape slavery—that wasn't too much, it was more like it was too generous. Not to mention that food, lodging, and water were provided during the work period, and education and jobs could be arranged for three offspring... Didn't this mean that the family could save three people from food and water, and still ensure that at least two generations would have jobs?
Compared to the unrealistic promise of Paradise City that "as long as you enter Paradise City, you can get free food and water forever, and you don't need to work at all", the price given by Dawn City is a little bit more demanding, but it feels more realistic!
——This is Aiwass’ strategy.
Although he ultimately wanted to make everyone free and abolish slavery...this couldn't be done overnight.
If Aiwass had simply granted them free citizenship, the benefits would have come too quickly and easily, and they wouldn't have cherished them. Furthermore, if all the slaves were gone in an instant, these newly freed desert people would have been unhappy.
And if Aiwass promises a future that's too beautiful, too unreal, they'll become suspicious - this isn't some conspiracy theory, because this kind of thing really happens in Anxi. Everything is promised beautifully, but once people arrive, they're captured and sacrificed to the Yuantiansi, or they're taken as slaves and sold.
This is something that many city-states still do today. The Parthians' disbelief in such talk stems from a self-preservation instinct, not from excessive paranoia. Without this level of defensive awareness, they would have perished long ago.
So if Aiwass really advertised this way, he would just be lost in the noise and wouldn't make any waves. Even his own residents would tremble in fear and be full of resistance to him.
So Aiwass's idea is very simple.
Since they can't stand or believe in things that are too good, then give them something inferior.
The Good Lord of Paradise City has an overwhelming advantage in Parthia, mainly because he has developed a feudal-level management system in the slave society.
In a shabby place like Parthia, feudalism was considered advanced and civilized.
And Aiwass went a step further - he started to engage in capital!
Although capital is not a good thing, it is like a great man sent from heaven in a slave society!
There will be a second chapter in the afternoon.
After sleeping for two days, I feel a little more energetic!
I was planning to post everything as soon as I finished writing it, but I saw someone asked about updates, so I'm posting one chapter first. Chapter two is already a thousand words! I'll probably be able to post it before dark!
(End of this chapter)
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