Chapter 3066

War absolutely means people will die.

Even the God of War cannot avoid casualties; ordinary lords certainly cannot.

When one's own subjects die, aside from relying on daily replenishment, the only options are capturing prisoners or buying prisoners.

But the speed of converting prisoners is truly hard to describe.

Even one month is extremely fast.

Normally it takes several months; during these months, they can only be kept and fed.

If not converted, they can be beaten into slave soldiers through means such as beating.

But slave soldiers have poor combat effectiveness.

They cannot play a significant role in subsequent battles, and many will still die.

In this way, the lord must again use spoils of war to exchange for prisoners, leaving almost no money.

Moreover, equipment needs repair, equipment needs crafting, medicine needs purchasing, morale needs maintaining, and loyalty needs maintaining; all of this requires money, a vast amount of money.

Being an ordinary lord is indeed difficult.

Rather than being a lord, one might as well be a craftsman honing one's skills; one can always earn a living.

The only ones with any real combat power are the family lords.

But the nobility are very wary of families.

Furthermore, the World Stone is very valuable, so the nobility are even less willing to part with it.

They are all willing to keep it; at the very least, it counts as a fixed asset.

Various factors together have formed the current situation.

Zhao Chi did not know what to say.

The reasoning is all correct.

But the outcome is bad.

The world should not be like this.

At this moment, Gu Qing asked, "What happened to the Dragon Emperor before? What about the remaining Dragon Clan? Is there any connection with the Bone Dragons?"

Li Ruanyu said:

"The Dragon Emperor died not long after splitting the World Wall. At that time, the world was already in great chaos, and the entire Dragon Clan suffered heavy casualties.

"Not only did the Dragon Clan fight each other internally, but the Demon Beasts also severely damaged the Dragon Clan.

"Other races under the Dragon Clan's rule felt this was a good opportunity to overthrow the Dragon Clan, so they all rose up in resistance. Since they could not resist the Demon Beasts anyway, they might as well overthrow the Dragon Clan first.

"So those races plundered the Dragon Clan together, obtaining vast supplies and spoils of war.

"And thus the Dragon Clan was destroyed.

"After all, during the Dragon Clan's rule, other races also lived very bitterly, so they would rather huddle within the city formation arrays than return to the era of Dragon Clan rule.

"Just like now; the nobility are like the Dragon Clan, the werewolves are like the Demon Beasts, and we... are like the other resisting races.

"The Dragon Clan and the Bone Dragons have no relation; they are not the same race.

"The Dragon Clan possesses high intelligence, more like the divine beast Azure Dragon, rather than the inferior dragons such as Fire Dragons or Flying Dragons.

"Oh, right!

"Zhao Chi, do you know which were the main races that fought against the Dragon Clan back then?

"I'll give you a hint: there were five major races."

Li Ruanyu suddenly began to ask questions.

Zhao Chi felt a bit dazed.

It was as if he had returned to the classroom half a year ago.

Facing Li Ruanyu's hint, Zhao Chi's heart stirred.

"Five major races? Could it be Humans, Elves, Orcs, Goblins, and Skeletons?"

Li Ruanyu smiled and said, "Basically correct, but not Skeletons, rather the Blood Clan."

Zhao Chi exclaimed in surprise, "It really is so? Then what connection do these five races have with the default races of the territories?"

Li Ruanyu smiled:

"Of course there is a connection.

"After all, the Dragon Clan was annihilated, leaving a power vacuum.

"These five races succeeded the Dragon Clan, controlling most territory cities that possess formation arrays, though this cannot compare to the world truly ruled by the Dragon Clan back then.

"But even so, these five races feasted on the Dragon Clan's enormous inheritance and developed rapidly.

"At that time, everyone was an ally. For the five races to maintain long-term friendship, and also because the five races indeed each had unique characteristics and combined for stronger combat power, the supreme leaders of the five races all agreed to allow the use of each other's races.

"Among them, the Orcs are the strongest.

"Orcs are suitable for melee infantry and meat shields; their forging is also excellent.

"Elves are the most agile.

"Elves are suitable for serving as archers and light infantry; they have an advantage in sewing.

"Humans are the most comprehensive.

"They are all-rounders, also versatile in production; they can do anything and are most suitable for farming and producing food.

"Goblins are numerous.

"Especially their reproductive ability is extremely strong; often it only takes a few generations for the Goblin clan to become very vast, incomparable to other races.

"Unexpected, right? Goblins are actually a late-stage race.

"The Blood Clan is somewhat arrogant; they are unwilling to let their own clan be used, so they made their servant race, the Skeletons, the default race.

"Skeletons have the largest replenishment numbers, and they have no fear; they can completely execute any order."

"Including orders to die.

"Though skeletons are fragile, they are very useful.

"So the other four major races agreed to let skeletons replace the Blood Race as one of the default races.

"These were originally part of this year's curriculum; now I'll make up for it for you."

Li Ruanyu smiled at Zhao Chi.

So that's how the five major races came to be.

Zhao Chi had known some of this before, but not in such detail.

After all, the courses taught knowledge on how lords develop, along with extensive knowledge of magical beasts.

This knowledge is what lords must learn first.

As for history...

relatively speaking, it can only come later.

Zhao Chi sighed, "Understood. Thank you, Instructor Li Ruanyu."

Li Ruanyu laughed, "Not Instructor Li? Now the name has become intimate?"

Shangguan Ting said, "We're talking about serious matters; how did you start flirting?"

Zhao Chi smiled, "In a moment, we won't just be flirting; I'll make you cry. None of you will walk out of this door."

Shangguan Ting looked at the made-up large bed, then whispered, "Oh~"

Having chatted until now.

Zhao Chi basically knew the causes and consequences.

But today's focus isn't on these things.

It's whether or not to join Zhao Quan's side.

For Zhao Chi, of course, the hope is to stay here with the White Tiger Regiment.

But this decision is actually very weighty; she fears her own consideration may not be comprehensive enough.

She needs advice from the two mature female captains, Li Ruanyu and Shangguan Ting, even though they belong to the White Tiger Regiment, that doesn't matter.

Gu Qing and Fu Yao and the others are also meticulous in their thinking.

When these women gather together, even boring topics get discussed from every angle.

For such a weighty matter, their consideration will surely be far more comprehensive than Zhao Chi's alone.

Zhao Chi also wanted to hear their opinions.

Indeed.

As soon as Zhao Chi raised the question, the discussion grew intense.

This kind of discussion isn't like historical knowledge, where only Li Ruanyu and Shangguan Ting can speak.