landbeastnovel #679 - Slaves were the cornerstone of the Black Snake Bay economy
#679 - Slaves were the cornerstone of the Black Snake Bay economy
After hearing Havel's story, Horn looked at the kind old man in disbelief. How could someone with such thick eyebrows and big eyes be a slave owner?
But after thinking about it carefully, these Black Serpent Bay Mystics were never good people, so it's normal for their moral standards to be low.
However, Horn really needs to consider the issue of slaves.
In the traditional narrative of the Empire, races that can intermarry and reproduce with humans, such as dwarves, beastmen, and Elves, are often called orthodox races, the darlings of the Holy Father, and the masters of all things.
Vampires, ogres, centaurs, and snake people, who cannot intermarry, are called heretical races, or alien races as Havel calls them, demonic creations unworthy of believing in Messiah.
If the Thousand River Valley people are orthodox heretics, then the Black Serpent Bay people are orthodox pagans, and snake people are the alien heretics at the bottom of the chain of contempt.
In such a cultural background, alien slaves often appear in many parts of the Empire.
For example, there are centaur herders in the north of Leia, dwarf forge slaves everywhere in Norn, and snake people serfs common in the Lilac Corridor and the Griffon Horn frontier.
Of course, with the current moral and civilization level of this world, it is normal for everyone to enslave each other.
The Flesh Court has human slaves, centaurs also have human slaves, and even humans themselves have human slaves, which is not a strange thing.
However, after Horn's Holy Axis took freedom and equality as its纲领, it would inevitably put forward the idea of religious tolerance, thus taking on the color of a universal empire.
Whether or not alien races can be accepted as citizens is also an important matter. The narrative of the Holy Axis in this regard is quite vague and ambivalent, so it can only be put on hold for the time being.
Starting from the Thousand River Valley's own atmosphere of freeing slaves, Horn felt that he could not give the nobles a handle, so he finally rejected Havel's proposal: "Sorry, I cannot agree."
Currently, in a state of war, these snake people prisoners of war are just wasting food if they are left idle. It's better to send them to the rear to repair roads, and then send them away after the war.
"Those snake people who have eaten human flesh can be selected as slaves." Horn thought of the big pot in the center of the village, "You can take them away, no money needed."
Seeming to sense Horn's thoughts, Havel smiled kindly and slowly explained: "Your Excellency, I know, you think I'm cruel, but you know too little about Black Serpent Bay. This is already the best solution.
Black Serpent Bay is sparsely populated, the environment is harsh, and it is blocked by the church, but we need manpower to grow food and maintain our lives.
If we don't rely on slaves, no one can work for us except for the local aborigines. A system like a manor is too expensive for us.
We have tried it, but no one wants to live in this green prison. All the farmers are thinking about escaping all the time, so we have to brand them and put them in shackles - but what's the difference between this and slaves?
You may think that the Black Serpent Bay people are too hypocritical. Since they advocate equality, why do they still insist on keeping slaves?"
Speaking of this, Havel smiled helplessly twice: "Your Excellency, people always have to eat, and the church often comes to wipe us out, so we have to survive.
We still have a burden for human slaves, such as beastmen and forest savages, but are these snake people considered people?"
Horn frowned, looking at the docile snake people on the ground: "They have their own language, are they intelligent beings capable of communication?"
"Your Excellency, I am a demonologist, and no one knows the species of the world better than I do. Looking like a human does not mean being a human.
Apes look more like humans than they do, but are they humans? Whales and dolphins also have their own languages and clans, can whales and dolphins be considered intelligent beings?"
Havel pointed at the snake people on the ground with his cane: "These snake people are no different from livestock. Do you remember how many steaks you've eaten?"
At this moment, Horn's face finally became serious: "Within the Empire, there are so many bankrupt and wandering farmers in the coastal areas. Are they willing to starve to death rather than come here to be self-sufficient farmers?"
"Haha, who would come? Aren't they afraid of not being able to go to heaven? Aren't they afraid of being abused and tortured by the Mystics? Even if they are willing, who will pay for the travel expenses?" Havel shook his head, "Your Excellency, I have seen your efforts to unite Black Serpent Bay, and I support it, but the slave system is the cornerstone of Black Serpent Bay's economy and cannot be touched."
Looking at the back of this human supremacist old wizard leaving, Horn was in a daze for a while.
These Mystics, who use equality as their banner, widely use the most unequal slave system as a production system.
It can be seen that in the eyes of Havel and these Mystics, humans are more equal than snake people.
From the information obtained by the Cheka and Horn himself along the way, the behavior of many Black Serpent Bay Mystics is quite human-like.
The slave problem is widespread in Black Serpent Bay. Many wizard families' plantations and Mystic alchemy workshops have a considerable number of savage slaves.
Unlike serfs, these slaves are real slaves, who can be beaten, scolded, slaughtered, and sold at will.
In addition to the slave problem, many Mystics are also involved in various criminal activities, such as kidnapping and trafficking in human beings, terrorist attacks, opening gambling dens and brothels, and raising demons.
According to the investigation results of the Cheka and the Holy Father Society monks, some Mystics have no choice but to do so, while others even take pride in it.
This is contrary to the stable production environment required by the Holy Axis.
Horn looked at the Divine Punishment Army soldiers who were prying open the snake people's mouths to look at their teeth, and his eyes narrowed involuntarily.
If the Thousand River Valley people have no "self-awareness" and "spirit of resistance", then the Black Serpent Bay people have too much "self-awareness" and "spirit of resistance".
This kind of thinking has even given birth to a kind of primitive anarchism, so Horn had no choice but to compromise on a federal government.
Before the previous problem was solved, the slave problem of Black Serpent Bay itself appeared again.
Just as Havel said, the slave system is indeed the cornerstone of Black Serpent Bay's economy, and Horn can't move it for a while.
But at the very least, those customs and Mystics that affect the production and economic environment must be eliminated in the Black Serpent Bay Federation.
Before that, Horn's most important task is to completely drive out the church army in the Southern County and prevent the important Sweet Branch and Spice producing areas from falling into the hands of the Lilac Corridor nobles.
After pondering for a moment, Horn beckoned and called Mormont over: "How is the concentrated artillery tactics test this time?"
"From the current situation, the effect is very good." Mormont seemed to be looking at his own children looking at the eagle falcon cannons gleaming in the sunlight, "If it is a small stronghold's wooden fortress, I think three rounds of artillery fire are enough to penetrate the wall.
It's not that the walls are too thick, but the concentration of the shells is not enough. If you are unlucky, four, five, or even seven or eight rounds are possible.
After the artillery bombardment, the Holy Musketeers and Eagle Falcon Cannons will suppress the enemy's archers, and our infantry can quickly approach the fortress and break through the walls. The entire battle took 3 hours, and only seven or eight of our people were slightly injured."
"Very good." Horn nodded in satisfaction, "After returning, summarize all these data and the on-site situation and hand them over to the Privy Council."
This tactic of concentrating the entire battle group's 24 Eagle Falcon Cannons when attacking small settlements is one of the new tactics Horn is preparing to test.
Otherwise, it is really unnecessary to cause casualties every time such a small stronghold is attacked.
Horn's use of a new tactical system in this Black Serpent Bay campaign is actually a combination of artillery and infantry.
This is an extension of the infantry and cavalry combination in the Thousand River Valley War, and it is also a rehearsal for the future Leia Kingdom invasion.
This should have been accompanied by cavalry troops, but the terrain of Black Serpent Bay is really not suitable for large-scale cavalry deployment, so it can only be temporarily abandoned.
After taking this village outside the city, as long as infantry is sent to clean up the nearby small strongholds, the north and east sides of the Avis Temple can basically be occupied.
But before that, we must first determine the mechanics of the water-powered stringing machine, otherwise even if the four sand sculpture cannons in the rear are transported, they will not be able to continue shelling.
"Leonardo, how is the water-drawing cart situation?" Horn asked, looking at Leonardo who was trotting over.
The mechanical engineer with a hairline like the horizon gasped for breath: "I've checked it, the damage is a bit serious, and the time is tight, but your early capture of the village just made up for this part. We should be able to complete the改造 before dinner."
"Okay." Horn looked in the direction of the Avis Temple outside the field of vision, "Officially start the siege tomorrow."