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Chapter 1165 - 1165 184 Upgrading Productivity_3

1165: Chapter 184: Upgrading Productivity_3 1165: Chapter 184: Upgrading Productivity_3 Just two years have passed since the war on the continent ended, and the Kingdom of Elf can only be said to have caught its breath, nowhere near ready to wage war abroad.

The Kingdom is like this, and the Orc Empire, with its backward productive forces and internal strife, is estimated to be no better off.

Hudson is not clear about the losses of the Orcs.

Anyway, the number of orc slaves counted in the Snow Moon Territory alone has already exceeded the one million mark.

Based on this data as a template for regression, the population loss of the Orc Empire is at least upwards of eight million.

The actual loss of population will only be greater, after all, these slaves were selected from among the young male and female prisoners of war, any with injuries, those not meeting human aesthetics, or not strong enough could have been excluded.

Drills, large-scale military exercises, continuously unfold across the Near East Land.

Besides the Kingdom’s standing army, a myriad of Noble’s Private Armies have also been incorporated into the Reserve, included within the scope of training.

However, this is just a beginning.

A training plan aimed at arming the entire population has already been taken out of the dusty cabinet.

“It’s not yet the right time, the population in the Near East Region is too small.

If there were a million able-bodied youth, immediately convert them into a million soldiers, that would truly mean we’re standing on solid ground!”

Hudson muttered to himself.

The number of new immigrants in the Near East Region is already a lot.

Within just two short years, the local population has already surpassed 570,000, and they are mainly young men and women.

The number could have been even higher, but due to the large influx of orc slaves, the Kingdom found it cheaper to use slaves directly rather than drafting serfs to work on the front lines.

Serfs suffer heavy casualties and losses, followed by protests from the Noble Lords.

No matter how big the loss of orc slaves, it’s just an economic issue.

In the Kingdom, killing orc slaves is not illegal, one just needs to compensate the slave owner for the loss.

If there’s a reason behind it, even compensation can be waived.

There are no laws in the Kingdom that protect the safety of orc slaves.

As the core of the Near East, the development speed of the Snow Moon Territory is even more rapid.

Out of the 570,000 people in the Near East Land, half reside in the Snow Moon Territory, including 200,000 immigrants and 30,000 Kingdom troops.

Far from the envisioned prospect of a million youths and a million soldiers, it’s still too far off.

“Jacob, why did the number of immigrants entering the Near East Region suddenly drop last month?”

Hudson asked with concern.

Logically, the number of people flowing into the Near East Region each month should be gradually rising.

After all, as the infrastructure continues to improve, more people can be accommodated.

Plus, with the Near East Region currently in a period of rapid economic development, there’s plenty of motivation to send immigrants there.

Even the most down-on-their-luck minor Nobles can mobilize their connections to scrounge together a population of hundreds or thousands.

With loans provided by the Near East Development Bank, they have the full capacity to pay for the costs of settling immigrants.

“Duke, the slowdown in immigration speed is mainly due to the decline in demand for labor.

Perhaps influenced by us, all the Noble Lords in various parts have followed suit in developing animal husbandry, thus limiting the demand for labor.

Considering costs, as well as the fact that they already have a large number of slaves, there isn’t much need for immigrants in the short term.

In fact, it’s not just them, even the Snow Moon Territory is the same.

We just have fisheries and salt industries, which have absorbed some labor.

In order to increase job opportunities, the Government Affairs Department has decided to develop the wool textile industry and meat product processing industry, expected to create thousands of job positions.

Still, this is but a drop in the bucket.

To solve the employment issue, we have also provided serf leasing services to the merchants and travelers in the city.

Now that the water conservancy project is almost completed, we’re just waiting for the extensive cultivation of cash crops before developing corresponding processing industries.”

Jacob said with a look of difficulty.

We’ve truly done everything we can.

In the agricultural age, the only sector that can absorb a large labor force is agriculture.

The labor absorption by handcraft industries, which are based on agriculture, is extremely limited.

What can Snow Moon Territory develop?

The answer is: a lot!

But currently none are suitable, and what can be developed in the short term is still primary processing industries based on agriculture and animal husbandry.

It’s not that Hudson can’t produce good products, but there’s no matching market.

No matter what is produced, the moment industrialized production begins, there’s a risk of overcapacity if not careful.

Before he crossed over, the origins of the industrial era stemmed from the cotton textile industry combined with the benefits of the Age of Discovery, but now the situation is completely different.

Hudson is also at a loss on how to push for the upgrade of productive forces.

To learn and transform the Orc Empire into cotton fields seems quite unreliable.

Putting aside the question of whether it could be planted, just the suggestion is very anti-human.

Regardless of how low the sale prices go, these products are dispensable to the self-sufficient feudal noble economy.

Not pushing for the development of productive forces would indeed rid these headaches.

But then, how to topple the Orc Empire becomes a tough problem.

With the production capacity of the Kingdom of Elf as it is, no matter how much they push to their limits, they do not have the strength to completely crush the Orcs.

The insufficient comprehensive national strength to support the Kingdom’s Army on long expeditions, dictates the offensive and defensive posture of both parties, is not something Hudson can change by himself.

“On behalf of the Eastern Front Command, issue a public notice:

Remind all Noble Lords to control the ratio of orc slaves to domain people within their territories, to guard against orc slaves joining an uprising should the orcs invade.

The official recommendation is that the number of orc slaves should not exceed half of the population of domain people.

Noble Lords who exceed this should supplement their population with immigrants as soon as possible!”

Hudson ordered impassively.

On this issue, the Snow Moon Territory is a severe case of exceeding the ratio.

The number of orc slaves amounts to as much as 400,000.

According to this ratio, Hudson needs to supplement more than 500,000 people to fill the gap.

This is no joke; he is seriously planning to do so.

Without job positions, then create them.

Snow Moon Territory lacks mineral resources, but that does not mean the entire Near East Region is lacking.

As far as Hudson knows, in the past two years, Noble Lords in various areas have successively discovered gold mines, silver mines, copper mines, iron mines, coal mines, and other types of mineral resources.

Regardless of whether the reserves are rich, at the very least, there are mines.

Having mines means there’s a foundation for developing the corresponding industries.

Especially with gold, silver, and copper mines, the output can be used directly for minting coins.

Not only is there no worry about sales channels, but it can also alleviate the Kingdom’s currency crisis.