Volume 10: Our Journey Chapter 319 Kronin Strategy
"Using war to plunder population is the most stupid, inefficient and disastrous approach."
Xiao Yun first set the tone before continuing, "Whether it's the Prairie Flame Country or the Utopia of 'J', if we want to develop our base, we cannot do without a sufficient population base. So how do we get more people? There are two ways. One is to rely on our women, females, to give birth one by one, and breed generation after generation."
"Reproduction requires time. In this regard, human women have an advantage over orc females. They can reproduce in their teens... However, premature reproduction will damage the mother's health and even consume her lifespan. If we encourage or even force human women to become mothers at the age of fifteen because we need population, then we will have to face unbearably high infant and maternal mortality rates." Xiao Yun said seriously, "This is putting the cart before the horse. It is treating human women as consumables, which does not meet our ultimate goal of increasing the population base."
All countries on earth, after experiencing wars or epidemics and losing a large number of citizens, will come up with various policies to encourage childbirth... In ancient China, there was a policy that older unmarried men and women had to pay a single tax. Especially for women who were over 18 years old and unmarried, local officials would even forcibly intervene in the marriages of these unmarried women.
As for promoting heroic mothers, saying that women without children are incomplete, infinitely elevating the sacred halo of mothers, imposing on mothers directional propaganda that only sounds good but has little practical significance (benefit), and even restricting women's basic rights as human beings, stripping them of their property rights and labor rights, treating them only as reproductive machines, etc., these means have never been lacking from ancient times to the present... (When it comes to Japan's post-war baby boom, everyone only cares about the joys and sorrows experienced by this generation of people born in large numbers, and their role and significance to Japanese society. No one cares about the mothers who gave birth to these babies. Mothers are sacred, important, and great, but in fact they are just cheap lip service)
This phenomenon of women having no sexual freedom and no control over their uterus is still prevalent on Earth in 2018... This also shows that, although it is inhumane for women as a group, such an approach is indeed a proven, feasible and quick way to increase a country's population as quickly as possible.
But the prerequisite for implementing such a policy is that the ruler has a sufficient base of supporters who respond to the policy of not treating women as human beings.
After all… let alone giving birth before the bones are fully developed, even women who have given birth to one child have a high risk of dying in the delivery bed when giving birth to a second child… modern people have no concept of the risks of childbirth. In the final analysis, it is just survivor bias. Those women who died during childbirth cannot stand in front of people and speak. (During the Republic of China, the maternal mortality rate was 1.5%. If men were asked to accept the 1.5% mortality rate for marriage and childbirth, they would have rebelled long ago…)
The Eastern Confucian cultural circle and the Western world religions on Earth have been brainwashing the entire population for thousands of years before they broke and ground the bones of women on Earth.
Break the bones of the lower-class women, make the lower-class men become their masters, and join hands with the rulers to tame them. When the social status of women is reduced to "property" (property of the lower class and playthings of the middle and upper classes), it will be more effective to implement this policy that treats half of the people in the group as consumables.
In this world, humans can do this openly in their territories. Many human royal families do the same in order to gain access to the lower-class population. They deny women's labor and social contributions, do not recognize women as citizens, and do not allow them to inherit inheritance or own property. Once they are transformed from girls into someone else's wife, they are automatically downgraded to second-class citizens... and are as good as their Earth counterparts.
But if it's the territory of the orcs... then it's a pity. Xiao Yun dares to do this. If things go wrong, he might die before he reaches adulthood...
The orcs are more like beasts than humans. The females have not evolved in this direction specifically for the purpose of reproduction, and they are not willing to sacrifice their individual survival ability (individual force) - Yangmao, who is two years younger than Xiao Yun, is fully capable of tearing him apart alive.
Chief Grassroots, Chief Arthur, Red Leaf, Green Grass, and Big River are not dead people!
Not to mention that the female senior officials on their side would not agree (the time travelers surrounded by female supporters can still use women as tools, which is a group intelligence reduction aura that makes all female wise men and knowledgeable women ignore the most basic skill of political creatures, which is where they sit on their butts), Mr. Sean and Hodgson, spellcasters who have transcended vulgar tastes, will not agree!
After Xiao Yun said this, Hodgson's unchanging coffin face relaxed a little, and he touched his chin and nodded slightly.
Hodgson, who had lived as a neighbor of the lowest-class villagers for many years, knew very well how serious the gender imbalance was among the lower classes of the human race. Especially among the human men and women of childbearing age, the number of females was more than 20% less than that of males, and this sudden drop in the female population was mostly due to death during childbirth - even if the delivery was normal, without dystocia or heavy bleeding, death was common during the postpartum wound recovery period because there was no condition to pay attention to hygiene and infection. (This world does not have Confucian culture, nor the "excellent" tradition of drowning baby girls, but only the problem of whether or not one can afford to raise them)
If Xiao Yun encouraged members of "J" to force human women to give birth prematurely for the sake of population, Hodgson would definitely suspect that this guy simply couldn't stand to see his allies become bigger - the vision of spellcasters would not be fooled by survivor bias, and they also have advice like "those who do not plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for the moment, and those who do not plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a region."
"My suggestion is to try to ensure the safety of women in your territory during childbirth." Xiao Yun continued, "It is too wasteful to provide every expectant mother with life-saving alchemical potions. Your funds cannot afford such a consumption. Even if you are willing to do so, you cannot supply everyone. If a welfare policy cannot be directed to as many audiences as possible, it will only cause resentment among the people, which is not good. So I think it is necessary to establish a medical system for the public."
The human race needs doctors. Xiao Yun invited doctors when he recruited female and male workers from Kroning. Now the number of factory doctors in the two factories has expanded to four, and they are on duty in pairs. When the workers have a headache or fever, they can go to the doctor for treatment.
And the Earldom of "J", with a total population of nearly 300,000, including the local natives and immigrants from outside, doesn't even have a hospital. This must not be allowed...
But if you say you want to build a hospital in the earldom of "J", it is not practical. Because these 300,000 people are not concentrated in one place, and "J", who is still relatively shallow in the level of territory governance, cannot build a city that can concentrate more than 100,000 people... The financial resources and infrastructure conditions do not allow it. If the city residents who do not farm do not have blood transfusions from the countryside, they will starve to death in a minute.
Then the most practical way is to set up health clinics in towns and villages (mainly maternity centers) and train barefoot doctors - although it is a bit rustic, but in the first thirty years of extreme poverty in New China, national medical care was supported by barefoot doctors!
Kroning had no shortage of doctors who had fled to escape the persecution of the Church. Of course, the better doctors were all in big cities like Valentine, with annual salaries calculated in gold coins, and they would never go door to door to serve the poor. So Xiao Yun's suggestion was to hire these doctors as teachers, and then select smart young men and women from the people to learn how to diagnose common diseases and dispense medicines.
Xiao Yun did the math for the two "J" leaders. The cost of building township clinics, maintaining them later, training barefoot doctors, and supporting them with medical resources would be required every year. Although it was more cost-effective than the fantastic idea of providing alchemical potions to women during childbirth, the expenses were indeed not small... Alman went over the figures in his mind and his face turned a little pale.
"The investment in medical care is indeed a bit scary, but if we are not willing to invest in this area, then there is no way the territory can be stable and peaceful in the long run." Xiao Yun knew that J was only trying to gain a foothold and needed to spend money on many other things. But since he hoped that this ally could take root in the human territory and grow into a big tree, he had to persuade the ally to work hard on medical care. "Pregnant women need medical care and need to be able to survive the delivery bed, so that after a one or two year recovery period, they can have a healthy body to give birth to the next baby."
"The average life expectancy of the lower-class civilians in Boyle Territory is 32 years old. This is what you found out through your personal investigation. Then how many of those people who fell into eternal sleep at a young age could actually be saved with just a little medicine powder? Thirty years old is the prime of life and the time when people can work. Isn't it a greater pity that people of this age lose their lives just because of a minor cold or inflammation of a small wound?"
"From the perspective of the lord, the more people there are and the longer their lifespans, the better. From the perspective of the people, having someone to turn to when you are sick is better than lying at home and waiting to die, regardless of whether the treatment is successful or not. We are competing with the Kronin royal family to see who can more effectively utilize civilian labor and win the hearts of the people. If we don't work hard on this, where else can we work hard?"
"You're right, Mr. Ayun." Adrian had never been as broke as Alman. He always had some gold coins in his pocket, so he was not as stingy as Alman when it came to spending money. He nodded vigorously and said, "The money to train a barefoot itinerant doctor is not enough to buy two bottles of alchemical potions, and this doctor can continue to use cheaper herbal medicine to treat diseases and save lives in the future. No matter from which aspect, this is much more effective than relying on alchemical potions."
Xiao Yun smiled and said, "Of course. Well, I have another suggestion for this place. The medical system is implemented as a public welfare of the territory, but it is best not to make it free medical care. Free things are just good to say, and the marked prices will be compensated from other places, which is more likely to cause problems. My suggestion is that since J has so many outstanding talents, it can set up a pharmaceutical organization and develop targeted pills and powders on its own, and sell them at prices that the people can afford. The costs that cannot be covered by the selling price can be filled with the funds recovered from the export of drugs with the increased selling price..."
There is no mature pharmaceutical industry in this world, and the reason is very simple: the lower levels who need cheap mass-produced drugs to save their lives cannot make their voices heard, while the middle and senior levels have the conditions to turn to more convenient and effective alchemy.
There are large tracts of land on the grassland that can be used for growing medicinal herbs, but the Kingdom of Fire, which is composed of orcs, goblins and gray dwarves, really cannot develop a pharmaceutical industry for humans... This thing can determine the life or death of a patient. It is not food, it is just a matter of taste acceptance.
In other words, if Xiao Yun wants to make money in the pharmaceutical industry, which has been proven to be a highly profitable industry on Earth, he can only get his human allies to work together - the grassland provides the herbal raw materials, and the Boyle territory of "J" provides the research and development personnel, and that's it!
Alman, who was originally covering his chest with his hands in pain, suddenly came to life when he heard that he could make money by doing medical welfare in the territory. He listened very carefully with his neck bent... It's not his fault that he was so stingy about money, but he didn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt were if he didn't manage the household. It's not that easy for the lord to get by!
Having successfully tied his allies more firmly to his own economic chariot, Xiao Yun patted his thigh with satisfaction, but he couldn't help but think of another question: It seems that our hatred with the Alchemist Association will never be resolved... First he stole their alloy formula, and then he ruined their financial resources. It can be considered that those alchemists are well-mannered if they don't send people to assassinate him.
Xiao Yun talked about population growth, pregnancy and childbirth, pharmaceuticals, and communities of interest. After finishing the topic, he brought the topic back to the fundamental policy of population growth: "We have said before that it is not cost-effective to plunder the population through war. So what is the most cost-effective way to accept the population? I think everyone should have a hunch - the lowest cost and most efficient way to expand the population is definitely to accept war refugees when others are at war or in civil strife."
The room suddenly became quiet.
At first glance, the spellcasters all looked quite calm, well, only at first glance... in reality, even Hodgson's mouth corners were twitching slightly.
——You actually said it out loud!
——Then you just drove Aisha out!
——You can say what others can say, right? !
Xiao Yun was very calm, without the slightest shyness or embarrassment… Even if that young man Aisha hadn’t come to expose the “color revolution” that Prairie had carried out in the Far East and instigated civil strife in the Far East before happily accepting Dingkou’s matter, he would still have dragged this group of idealists of “J” into the water - the so-called allies are to advance and retreat together, I am pitch black and you are as pure as a white lotus, how can our friendship remain evergreen?
If a hero goes to Liangshan without giving his name, who would want to be your brother?
Therefore, Xiao Yun would never tell "J"'s spellcasters about the hardships of the grasslands and the difficulty of orc reproduction. He just wanted to let these magicians piss in the same pot with him... ahem!
At that moment, Xiao Yun smiled very kindly, and his expression was very calm: "The number of free people who lost their land due to the emergence of agricultural machinery is limited, and the landless farmers have other choices besides fleeing to Boyle Territory, such as swallowing their anger and working as hired farmhands for the nobles who took their land. Whether it's the human race or the orc race, the lower class has strong endurance, and they will remain silent unless they have no way out."
When Lao Tzu said, "The people do not fear death, so how can they be frightened by it?", the background was the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, a period of continuous wars and insecurity for the common people.
On Earth, Westerners revere heroes, while Easterners’ feelings toward so-called heroes can be accurately described in one sentence: “Once a hero draws his sword, the common people will suffer another ten years of disaster.”
In troubled times when heroes emerge, it is a hell where only one civilian is left and nine out of ten houses are empty!
Eastern Confucian culture has fallen behind the times by the 21st century , but over a long period of global history, the core values of Confucian culture such as restraint, forbearance, and moderation were indeed more friendly to the lower classes of the population - in certain international frictions, no matter how loudly some idiots shout, East Asian countries are more inclined to resolve issues on the premise of ensuring domestic stability.
This is also the main reason why Xiao Yun always carefully maintains relations with surrounding neighbors and tries his best to ensure that his people do not live under the shadow of war. Born in New China, he is naturally deeply influenced by Confucian culture.
The warrior who draws his sword and charges forward is certainly heroic, but the fool who is willing to drag his people into war just for the sake of his own heroic spirit and reputation is better to be killed secretly in a corner... The longer he lives, the greater the danger he will cause.
If we change this logic, it means that other people just have a fight or a fire in their family...what does the death of other people's children have to do with me!
"The third prince of the Kroning royal family, His Royal Highness Prince Morris, has great ambitions." Xiao Yun said with a kind smile, "My suggestion is that both of us should consider how to give this prince the 'necessary' support."
Mr. Sean couldn't hold it in anymore. He looked at Xiao Yun bluntly and said in surprise, "Didn't you say six or seven years ago that it would be best if the struggle in the Kroning royal family was limited to the top leaders?"
Adrian & Alman: “???”
The two old men stared at Sean in horror, then looked at Xiao Yun in horror, "No, you guys never had any good intentions towards Kloningan all those years ago?!"
"It's a different time now." Xiao Yun, who was as thick-skinned as a city wall, was as steady as an old dog, without any sign of embarrassment. "At that time, we were not in a position to benefit from the war of internal strife in the royal family, but now, our allies have already established themselves in Kroning. Why should we waste such a good opportunity?"
Adrian & Alman: "..."
Hodgson, who was sitting in the corner, tried to hold back but couldn't help it and secretly cast a detection magic at Xiao Yun.
Xiao Yun was certainly not a demon... So Hodgson revealed a very confused and indescribable complex expression...
Alman was also in a very conflicted mood... In the past two years, Boyle Territory has taken in landless farmers from surrounding territories, and arranged for them to reclaim wasteland and build new villages. This year alone, hundreds of thousands of acres of land have been reclaimed. It goes without saying how much profit the labor force that can be organized and utilized can bring to the territory. From his standpoint, he really couldn't bear to miss the "good opportunity" to quickly expand the labor force.
After a fake cough, this spellcaster, who had indeed experienced poverty and was more willing to bend over, said with a thick face, "Mr. Ayun, can you be more specific?"
Adrian, who had a relatively low standard, looked at his old brother silently, his lips moved, his face twitched, and finally he resisted the urge to stop Alman with difficulty - to establish an ideal country on the territory of the human race is the common dream of all "J" members, which naturally includes Adrian.
Xiao Yun noticed the reactions of the two old brothers, chuckled, and told them about the changes in the internal situation of the Kroning royal family.
This confidential information came from his fourth disciple Isaac who infiltrated the capital of Kroning.
Isaac handed over the trade channels with the grassland people and entered the royal capital and walked into the upper-class social circle. He discovered with almost no effort that Prince Maurice was challenging the authority of the eldest prince. The king seized his financial resources just to save the eldest prince's reputation. Prince Maurice, who had promoted the popularity of Cronin War Ball in the past few years, not only had a large amount of liquid funds in his hands, but also had a large number of connections, which had made the eldest prince lose face!
Initially, Prince Maurice only sought the earldom and earldom title, but after holding the two "weapons" of fame and fortune, it was impossible for His Royal Highness's ambition not to expand... and it was obvious that the play "Sheriff Holmes's Coffin Puzzle" had a profound impact on him, so not only did he not challenge the old king's authority, he also respected his father the king even more, and concentrated all his firepower on the first heir to the throne, the eldest prince!
It is not easy for Prince Maurice, who makes a fortune by traveling around the country hosting war ball competitions and has the highest recognition among the people as a member of the royal family. He has a deep friendship with the young nobles of the kingdom and has woven an amazing network of contacts based on interests. For such a Prince Maurice, it is not easy to challenge a prince who never leaves the palace and even the citizens of the capital don't know what he looks like. To give an easily understandable example, the boss of a company is going to retire and let a young man who has never been seen take over the company. At this time, the deputy general manager who is in front of everyone every day and known by everyone stands up to question and says that he is more suitable to be the boss. Who do the employees and shareholders support?
"Prince Maurice has money and connections, so we don't need to add icing on the cake in this regard. It won't be very helpful." After introducing the background, Xiao Yun smiled and said, "My idea is that we can give this prince some help from the sidelines... People like heroes, dragon slayers, knight legends. As long as they are crowned with such halos, the public will have a good impression of them for no reason."
At this point, the devilish, almost adult Snow Wolf sage's eyes flashed with brilliance: "The current King Kroning supports the eldest prince. He forcibly seized my disciple Isaac's trade channels with the grassland in order to give the eldest prince more bargaining chips so that the eldest prince can also grab money and people. Prince Morris wisely did not confront King Kroning directly and chose to give in in this regard. We need to create opportunities for this prince, so that he can become the first hero of Kroning. If we start in this regard, King Kroning will not be able to take sides... The eldest prince has already walked the path of Prince Morris once with the help of the old king. If he continues to imitate Prince Morris, then there is no need to wait until the old king passes away. The eldest prince will completely lose his authority as the first heir!"
"When role models are also available, no one would be willing to trust a crown prince who only knows how to imitate others!"
The five spellcasters present all showed expressions of having their worldview refreshed...including Hodgson who couldn't see.
——Can the battle for the crown prince be fought like this?!
Xiao Yun laughed. This was nothing. It was just a trick used by Zhu Di's two sons when they were fighting for the throne...
Besides, we don't really want to help Morris. To put it bluntly, Chinese rulers only treat heroes as tools!
"Of course, everyone needs to remember that intervening in the Kronin royal family dispute does not mean that we have to pledge allegiance to any royal family member." Demon Cloud said coldly, "Our goal is to allow Boyle Territory to obtain sufficient population and labor in this political struggle. This is our ultimate goal. Please don't confuse the priorities."
The two "J" high-level spellcasters looked stern and nodded in agreement.
Unconsciously, although they did not have the title of master and disciple, the two old brothers had already assumed the postures of disciples... It was really because the orc in front of them, who was about to become an adult, was too old and sinister, and too chilling!
Xiao Yun didn't care that the eyes of several spellcasters present looked at him a little differently, and he smiled and mentioned how to conduct a "deification movement" for Prince Maurice...
From the perspective of the Prairie Kingdom, Xiao Yun’s personal expectation for “J” is that this group of spellcasters can establish another Saint Bridge in the northern part of the southern continent.
This time, they were not operating this pro-grassland force as a retreat, but as a dumping ground for products and a supply ground for raw materials. The corn seeds given by the elephant tribe failed to be planted on the grassland. Obviously, although this crop from the subtropical region is also cold-resistant, the climate of the grassland exceeds the threshold of this cold resistance.
The climate in Kroning is better than the grasslands, and it is closer than St. Brigid’s… That’s very cheap…
Another purpose that cannot be said out loud is that the magicians of "J" will help stir up trouble in Kronin's mess, so that Isaac will have a better chance to obtain ship technology, and the third disciple Laura will have more space to secretly develop her own Bolton County - didn't you see that Mr. Sean closed his mouth tightly after questioning? He also thought of this!
