Chapter 1054: Chapter 997: Consumption and Desire

Horn took a sip of iced tea, and his previous glare at Saphie and Kesuku seemed to vanish like a change of face.

For these barbarians, it’s Black Snake Bay’s first encounter, and naturally, they can’t find a way to deal with them.

But Horn has it, isn’t it just a formula?

History offers many formulas for solving these types of problems; just apply them and it’s done.

Even if applying a formula fails, Horn still has the vast Holy Alliance as his backing, with enough margin for error.

"Simply using eradication and suppression isn’t enough; similarly, merely using appeasement through pacification isn’t sufficient either. They should be used together."

Louise sneered: "We know that, but the problem is they are self-sufficient, what can we use to appease them?"

"You see, it’s urgent again..." Horn spread his hands, intending to joke a little with Aunt Louise, but a glimpse of Jia Li’s unfriendly look in his peripheral vision made him hurriedly change his tone.

"Cough— the El people have an ancient saying, ’Without desire, one is strong,’ these natives have no weaknesses precisely because they have no desires."

Without desire, one is strong? Catherine was quite taken aback by this.

In Catherine’s view, Jia Li, Jeanne, and others are just big brutes.

They didn’t think it was strange, but Catherine, who perused El classics, had never heard of this saying.

She figured she’d have to ask afterward where it came from.

"Yet desires are things that can be created even if they don’t exist." Horn raised a finger, "Have they eaten cheese bread? Worn silk? Lived in houses that are warm in winter and cool in summer?"

A Beastman chief, dressed even worse than a Holy Alliance civilian, doesn’t he want to show his authority?

Beastmen in the jungle, sometimes hungry, sometimes fed, don’t they wish for a full meal every time?

Moreover, we can entice them to compete, like all the chiefs around him having crystal glass cups.

These chiefs invite other chiefs who have the cups to attend gatherings, guess who wasn’t invited?

Seeing Kesuku’s dawning realization, Horn continued with a cheerful smile.

"Alright, after eating white bread, wearing silk clothes, and living in brick houses, if I then stab you in the belly, does it hurt?

I take your white bread, burn your silk clothes, occupy your brick house, and drive you into the jungle.

At that point, can you still get used to eating sweet bean porridge, wearing linen, and living in a treehouse?

People often find it easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult from luxury to frugality; it’s easier to manipulate them at that time.

Therefore, you should not block them, but rather encourage trade to let them see the outside world.

Right now they see us like a frog in a well looking up at the moon, but once they get out of the well, they’ll see us as an ephemeral creature seeing the vast sky."

As the saying goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch; all free stuff has a hidden price tag.

These natives, seeing how sweet bread is, eat it but forget they’ll eventually have to pay for it all at once.

Even though Horn merely hinted, everyone present, including Lupher, had a moment of realization.

But after the realization, Louise’s expression turned strange.

She always felt Horn’s method seemed familiar, like déjà vu.

"So this means we start peace talks with them now?" Kesuku perked up, almost worn out by these natives.

"No, no, no." Having explained the principle, Horn was about to explain the action, "Right now you should exert full force to fight, spare no resources, and hurt them badly in a short time.

Because you initially need them to do things, if you want the upper hand, you need cards, if you don’t have cards, you must create cards."

"We’re not here to play cards." Saphie was confused, spoke through clenched teeth.

"It’s just a metaphor. Let me put it this way, you need to use warfare to promote peace; if you don’t beat them to submission, they won’t sit down for negotiations."

From battlefield performance, when Beastmen and Holy Alliance soldiers go to war, they serve consistently and loyally, there’s no worry.

But Beastmen and human natives always hide in the forest when the army arrives, few casualties, limited gains, costs exceed benefits.

That’s why Horn asked them to recklessly lower the strategic value of the Beastmen, to weaken them before negotiating.

"When negotiating, hold a convention, invite weighty chiefs, choose a neutral area to hold it.

Then sign trade agreements, their territories must allow preaching.

Caravans must enter to conduct business, we might even hire them, sell goods to them, perhaps enlist them.

As for those chiefs’ children, we can let them study in middle schools, cultivate guides... friendly figures from a young age.

Previously, they were carefree, but now with possessions, it’s naturally not practical to roam around.

For powerful upper-echelon chiefs, we might invite them to invest in our Spice Company, perhaps even run for Congress in the future.

Of course, the premise is their area must join the federation, comply with federal laws and taxation..."

Horn is uncertain if Snake-men and Vampires count as sub-humans, but for Beastmen, he is sure they’re sub-humans rather than other kinds.

Sub-humans are precisely the targets which Horn aligns as wise life forms to be allied with, the more friends, the better.

Believing in the Republic nation or the new El community doesn’t bind to blood or land.

It’s bound by culture, faith, and human lineage.

Thus Horn wants to invent a sub-human to blur the physiological differences between Beastmen, Dwarves, and humans into distinctions like skin color and eye color.

In the future, Beastmen will stand equally alongside humans.

Truly multicultural, Horn, the boy with morals, is almost moved by himself.

"Then what if there are diehard elements?" Kesuku asked again, "For example, they might not attend the convention and insist on opposing us?"

But this time he was courteous and did not dare to be negligent.

"Diehard elements, if they’re not both dead and hard, why call them diehard?"

Horn ate a piece of melon, rubbed his round belly, leaned against the cool stone bench, and made a throat-cutting gesture to Kesuku.

"But you don’t need to dirty your hands.

Have Beastmen kill Beastmen, have chiefs kill chiefs, settle grudges and vendettas.

If there are no grievances, no need to create hatred, just let the mighty army pressure, don’t use dirty tricks like agitators."

Having explained his entire strategy, Horn watched Louise, but she was no longer pulling a sour face.

She looked cheerfully at Horn, as if looking at a refined dish on the table, making Horn’s skin crawl.

"Anything you want to eat? I’ll personally cook for you tonight." Louise stood on the stone bench, picked up the teapot and poured tea for Horn.

"How dare I trouble you." Horn quickly feigned to wave, verbally refusing her offer, but immodestly let Louise pour him tea.

However, Catherine frowned and asked: "Isn’t this still a losing trade?

Look, what they produce, we can’t use; what we produce, they can use.

So if we entice them to consume, isn’t it equivalent to giving away things for free?"

If such a policy is to be implemented, it must draw from the fiscal budget on the Black Snake Bay Federation side.

This is bound to affect the industries of the Holy Alliance in Black Snake Bay, necessitating a revision of next year’s development plans.

As to why Catherine is so certain, it’s because Black Snake Bay’s finances are virtually tied to spices and sugar.

Black Snake Bay itself only has these two organs for generating revenue, and other places have no ability for generating revenue.

Using Ottatila’s self-mockery, "Black Snake Bay Federation isn’t really a country, we’re merely a transit terminal for the Holy Alliance’s Spice Company."

"Who said it’s not a loss?" Hearing this question, Horn couldn’t suppress his grin, "These Beastmen themselves, aren’t they wealth? They are precisely what Black Snake Bay currently lacks most — labor."

Kesuku’s previously silly laughter froze, cold sweat dripped down his back.

For some reason, the previously sunny laugh of the Saint’s Grandson now seemed exceedingly cold and harsh.