The land resources in Wuji Village are limited. The Wuji villagers have a cultural tradition of maintaining balance, and they also have technical means to limit the population. Therefore, in order to avoid destroying the balance between man and nature, the Wuji villagers actively limit the number of people in the village——

This logically forms a closed loop.

The mystery of Wuji Village’s population balance seems to have been answered.

But Riven, who was born in a rural area and had done research on the untouchable groups in rural Ionia, knew that this answer was simply not true.

Because in the countryside, even if there is a cultural tradition of balance, and even if they know that having more children will cause conflicts between man and land, the villagers will still actively reproduce.

Why?

There are many reasons.

The first is the technical means issue mentioned before.

But this is not the main reason. What's more, all kinds of wild spiritual grass grow in abundance in Ionia, and the technical method of avoiding Yun is unlikely to be the exclusive patent of Wuji Village.

The second is the issue of medical conditions.

In the rural areas of Noxus, where conditions are harsh, children in the village may die from a simple illness.

So to be on the safe side, the villagers would give birth to more children.

But this is not the main reason.

Moreover, the situation in Ionia is different from that in Noxus. Ionia is full of magical energy, and even the air can be regarded as a tonic.

Children here rarely get sick, and the mortality rate is not high.

The third point is the most fundamental reason:

The countryside is also a private ownership society. It is a private ownership society, and people are divided into rich and poor.

There are rich and poor people, so people naturally have the desire to get rid of poverty and get rich.

In rural areas, having children is actually a low-risk investment with stable returns.

Yes.

According to Riwen's understanding, having more children in rural areas will not make people poor. On the contrary, the poorer they are, the more they have to rely on having children to survive.

This is actually a matter of making money.

Because the cost of raising children for farmers in Runeterra is extremely low:

It is enough to feed them enough food at ordinary times, and there is no need to send children to school or spend money to develop other skills for them.

The minimum is to keep the children from starving to death, and the maximum is to let the children have enough food and wear new clothes.

The benefits that children can bring to parents are relatively high:

For example, in Riven's hometown, a Noxian farmer's child can help the family herd cattle at the age of 5, help the family cut pig grass and feed livestock at the age of 6, and cook and help with the cooking at the age of 7 or 8.

There are many household chores. Even in his early 10s, he could help his family with the farm work...

And when the first two children grow up, the parents can even afford the time cost of spending time with the children.

As long as the older brothers and sisters are asked to help raise the younger brothers and sisters at home, it is possible to create and educate children at almost zero cost...

"If you regard a rural family in Runeterra as a 'small business', then the father as the head of the family is the boss of the company, and the children are the employees of the company."

"Who is the boss who doesn't want more cheap employees who are down-to-earth and willing to work?"

At this time, Riven remembered the theory mentioned by President Levi in ​​the relevant article.

Levi also mentioned another reason:

"For farmers in Runeterra, reproducing offspring is not only a valuable investment with stable returns, but also a zero-risk lottery game."

Levi described having a baby as buying a lottery ticket.

Because in Runeterra, if a farmer farmed the land honestly, there is a high probability that he would not be able to complete the class jump in his lifetime.

Not to mention being promoted, it would be good if he could not be destroyed by natural disasters and become a serf of the landlord.

The only way they can change their destiny is to have children, and have more children.

If one of these children is successful, the fate of their entire family will change.

In particular, Runeterra is a magical world - the probability of "promising" for poor children here is much higher than in a world without magic under the same social background.

Because there is no guarantee that you will give birth to a genius warrior, a natural mage, or a scientific genius born with extraordinary mental power.

Just like Riven.

If her poor parents had not died early, they would have followed her warrior daughter to heaven and transformed from a serf into a Noxian military master.

So everyone is enjoying themselves and drawing cards. If you draw an SSR like Riven, you will gain blood, and if you draw a minion, you will not lose anything.

And the above are just positive incentives for having children.

In the rural society of Runeterra, those who do not have children will face serious negative penalties.

Because the human civilization here is generally backward and primitive, the fact that the royal power can be extended to the towns is already considered to be an incredible administrative capability of this country.

Therefore, there has never been any real law and order in the countryside. In the final analysis, it still follows the natural law of the weak and the strong.

No one here will protect your private property, you have to rely on yourself.

If you don’t have children, you’ll have fewer people at home, and you’ll have to go 1v5 against the wind.

If you compete with your neighbors for land or water, you will suffer losses, and it is easy to lose control of your meager family fortune.

Because you don’t have to wait until you are too old to move. When you are a little older, your good neighbors and relatives will come to your house with a smile.

If you don't want to be bullied and kicked out of your house, you can only give birth to your child with all your strength.

This trick may not work. But other than this trick, as a farmer living at the bottom, you can't come up with any better way.

Raising children to provide for old age, this saying has never been true in the vast countryside of Runeterra.

"But most of the areas in Rune Land are still in an agricultural society." Riven continued to recall Li Wei's article: "So the vast majority of people in most areas of Rune Land are fanatically pursuing the reproduction of offspring.

"

"Except for two places——"

"Piltover and Zaun."

Neither Piltover nor the Zaans are very fond of creating humans.

The reason is also very simple.

Because unlike agricultural society, in industrial society, creating people has become a loss-making business.

"In an agricultural society, the family is an independent production unit. Parents can obtain the labor surplus of their offspring."

"In an industrial society, the surplus value of a labor force is taken away by the family, but the cost of cultivating the labor force has to be borne by the parents."

In this case, reproducing offspring is no longer a value investment with stable returns, but has become an irrational investment with emotional benefits greater than material benefits.

It's like a game. No one expects to make money from this.

But there are only a few people who are willing to do business at a loss, so the people of Zaun and Piltover don't like to create humans very much.

Yes, not only Zaun, but also the developed and wealthy Piltover don't like to create humans very much.

As society becomes richer, the cost of raising offspring also increases.

If the only criterion is to feed the children, then it will not be a problem for Piltover's middle-class families to afford the upbringing of dozens of children.

But if the standard is to raise children well, and to do a good job in learning and education, it is best to allow the children to be admitted to Picheng University and have a great future after graduation...then the cost will be high.

Not to mention, developed industrial societies are different from agricultural societies.

Even if the people of Piltover do not have children, they will still have laws to protect them when they grow old, welfare guarantees to take care of them, and countless social services that can be purchased with money. As long as they have money, they can still live a very prosperous life alone.

If you have too many children, you won't be able to raise them well, and if you don't have children, there will be no negative consequences. So the people of Piltover are not willing to have more children.

The two industrial cities of Zaun and Piltover have always relied on a steady stream of immigrants to maintain population balance and stability.

"The only place in the world that can maintain a balanced population is the developed industrial city-states like the Twin Cities..."

"Then how does Wuji Village, an agricultural society, achieve a balanced population?"

Riwen thought deeply for a long time and summarized several key points before finally asking Master Yi:

"Yi, since people in your village don't have many children, aren't you afraid that if you don't have enough people at home, those families with a large population will bully you?"

"Huh?" Master Yi looked confused.

"Bullying people? How is this possible? We are all from the same village, how can someone bully others?"

"Really?" Riwen didn't believe it.

There are more than 1,000 people in Wuji Village, which can be considered a small society.

How can it be possible for so many people to be united and harmonious all the time without even having the slightest dispute?

"There will be small frictions..." Master Yi thought for a while: "But it is absolutely impossible for that kind of thing to happen."

"Our village chief will not allow it."

"Village chief?" Riwen still didn't believe it.
To be continued...