Before the rise of modern industry, fur was an important raw material for warm clothing.
Once when she was in Carites, another chamber of commerce gave Loran Hill a specially made winter skirt, which left a deep impression on her.
The furs placed on the table feel quite soft and look relatively clean, with little dust and blood stains. It can be seen that the stall owner has put a lot of thought into the processing of the materials.
After stroking and feeling several pieces of fur with his hands, Loran Hill withdrew his hands.
"How about it, young lady, are you satisfied?" The stall owner looked at the girl eagerly, thinking that she must be a customer and he should curry favor with her, maybe he could make a big deal.
Loran Hill shook his head and said nothing. Instead, he turned his head to other stalls and looked at the furs in front of the stall.
Then she returned to the open space beside the market where the caravan's carriages were parked.
Near noon, the young people accompanying the caravan also returned, and only then did Loran Hill appear again.
She sat under the parasol, and the people in front of her began to report the gains of the inspection.
First, a young official from the Ministry of Agriculture said: "The price of food here is three times that of inland provinces, and there is even a shortage of supply."
Then came the people from the Ministry of Commerce, "Many necessities produced inland are in short supply, such as iron utensils, salt, coarse cloth, etc."
The Armament Department's perspective was different. "These orcs are tall and strong. Although their nutrition is not as good as that of the inland provinces, their strength should not be underestimated. In addition, the fur they sell can be used to make many military supplies."
Luo Lanxier picked up the black tea that Mira had brewed for her, took a sip, and then continued to ask.
"If you were the supreme leader of Cransia, how would you treat these orcs on the grassland?"
Upon hearing this question, the young officials below immediately became interested and various whispered discussions arose.
Some of them wanted to use it as a dumping market, some wanted to use these orcs as cheap mercenaries, and some wanted to conquer this land.
"Putting aside other things for now, if we conquer this land, what price will Crancia have to pay, and what benefits can we gain?"
Loran Hill actually didn't have much ill will towards the orcs of today. Perhaps humans and orcs once held deep hatred, but after nearly two thousand years of war and purges, that hatred had long since been avenged and dissolved.
Especially after learning about the origins of the orcs from the ruins, there is no longer any barrier. The intelligent creatures on this planet, tracing their origins, are actually different branches of ancient humans.
But she also knew that relying on her own ideas alone would not be enough. She had to understand the current views of the people of Crancia and convert and convince the majority of people in the country before she could implement some policies.
"Considering the orcs' size and strength, it would take approximately 300,000 regular Cransian troops and one to two years of conquest to defeat them."
An officer from the Armaments Department estimated, but he was not very clear about post-war affairs.
A young man wearing glasses adjusted his glasses and helpfully added, "To maintain order, we must station at least 80,000 standing troops, and that's under a good security situation. We also have to build castles and establish supply lines."
“The benefit is that we can turn the grassland into pasture for Crancia, providing a large number of cattle and sheep.”
"Large quantities? No, no, no..." A young man from the Commerce Department stood up.
"Not that much. We have to transport food for these people on the grasslands, otherwise they won't hand over their cattle and sheep. Those are their last reserves of food, their lifeline. If we really force it, we will spend more military expenses, which is not cost-effective."
"So I suggest we make it a vassal. We can just use a small amount of food in exchange for a large amount of furs. This way we can save a lot of unnecessary military expenses."
The others began to argue again, and at this time a radical young man said: "Why not be ruthless and just clean out these orcs and let our people open up the country..."
Although he did not directly mention killing but used the word cleansing instead, the understatement in his tone still made others feel frightened.
"This is not right." A clear voice came from above.
Loran Hill put down the teacup in his hand and sighed in his heart, no matter what era, there are always some cruel and extremely direct people.
"I'm not simply saying this idea is bad from a moral perspective, but this approach will have extremely dire consequences."
"If it's not a life-and-death struggle or a blood feud, this approach is not good."
"Perhaps you think it's simple, that everything will be fine once you kill all the enemies."
“But it’s not one person, it’s a race, and it’s not one person, it’s a race that bears this sin.”
"A person's mistakes can be cleansed and repaid by his death or punishment."
"But a race cannot repay in this way, because repayment means genocide."
"Of course you can say I killed him, and that's it. But killing an entire race is something that is difficult to conceal. Sooner or later, it will be known by your descendants, outsiders, and so on."
"How will you let the other party accept this fact then?"
"If you teach your children to be good people from a young age, but you, as a predecessor, do something that goes against your teachings, it's like smashing the fine porcelain you created yourself. Your other words become untrustworthy."
"Or if you want to defend yourself, you could say you taught your children to be cruel, disregard rules, and do whatever they want. Then, descendants like that will find it difficult to trust and cooperate with each other."
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