Working in a mine is a standard dirty and tiring job, especially in Sara where the industry is not as developed as on Earth. They don't even have decent dust prevention equipment, and workers who work in mining all year round will quickly lose their health.
Lieutenant Colonel Kabu said that this was why they turned a blind eye to the population trade - the core demand was too great, the barren land lacked appeal, and they could not learn from Fellington to build a dramatic capital. They could either target the market of adventurers and mercenaries or maintain the high demand and high consumption of local miners.
There is also the desire and need of these people to start families. These are big problems that are pushing Xixinna to actively embrace population trade.
This is the limitation of the times, and it cannot be easily denied by saying it is immoral. Hitzfeld did not intend to delve into it here. She only cared about how Dickert died.
"He was beaten to death."
Lieutenant Colonel Kabu's words shocked everyone.
Beaten to death?
Is he kidding?
Ramian Dicket was a bishop after all, not to mention his status as district head. How could such a bishop be beaten to death?
"Where is the knight of your parish?" Frick frowned so hard that he could hide beans. "What's going on? Is there no one to protect him when he travels?"
"Bishop Dicket died in an armed conflict with the 'Dab Human Resources Company,'" said Lieutenant Colonel Kabu.
"Human resources? They're selling slaves?"
The local human trade is actually traded under the guise of "human resources". After all, it is a semi-legal thing. If you want to open a store or a company, it is impossible for the certificate you apply for to directly state that you want to buy and sell people.
There must be an elegant name that is worthy of respect.
"Not all human resources-related businesses are about buying and selling slaves," Darent said quietly. "According to the information I have investigated, more than 5% of the business in the entire human resources market is about 'slave trading', but of the remaining less than 4%, more than 80% belongs to some family groups allocating manpower to local - or should I say hometown - resources."
"Dalent." Frick looked at him helplessly, "Speak Sara?"
"Are they the natives from the mountains?" Xia Yibing understood what he meant. She might not have been very clear at first, but as soon as Darent mentioned the word "family group", she immediately understood.
The only family group that can allocate the human resources of the hometown can only be the natives in the mountains.
The natives who came from overseas didn't have this ability. It wasn't that the Sicinians and Manionians deliberately discriminated against them, but -
There were some things she only wanted to think about in her heart.
Rather, due to the obstruction of the gray fog, the civilization of many countries in the previous dynasty was cut off, and they did not even have the opportunity to naturalize the nearby deserted islands. This resulted in the animals, plants, and ecological chains on many deserted islands being completely different from those on the mainland.
The natives on these islands are the same... For some of their races, no matter how hard you try to teach them to read and write, it is useless. They can't even speak. Some extreme races are even unable to reproduce with the Sara people.
How can they gain status then?
The Xixinna people were willing to integrate with the mountain natives, and after years of getting along, the two sides had integrated fairly well. They were willing to give the mountain natives equal status, and even let them form local communities, and simply let them handle the "manpower allocation" for the mountainous areas.
The natives in the mountains are also happy. Sicinna may be a remote place in Sala, but it is a symbol of civilization for the wilderness residents in Burro Canyon. Who wouldn't be happy to use running water and electricity? Not to mention that it is so lively here, with colorful clothes, good operas, stories in books... They are very happy to bring the tribesmen out and rent them to other companies at a reasonable price.
This in itself is also an opportunity to broaden your horizons, and it is no longer the same as the slave trade.
"Bishop Dicket is 84 years old." Lieutenant Colonel Kabu nodded. "He is a kind and easy-to-talk old man. He has always been concerned about the filth lurking in the human market... although Xixinna does not have much power to deal with it."
"He often interferes in disputes between these resource companies?"
Hitzfeld finally understood - she finally understood why Colonel Cab had mentioned so many premises at the beginning.
Because this matter is complicated, very complicated.
She remembered that before she left, she had corresponded with Fu Rong in Hei Mu City. Fu Rong reminded her that if she came to Manion as Count Xi Yang, the local administration would definitely cooperate with her investigation.
But this is not necessarily the case for some "civilian activity organizations that are officially registered with the government", and their investigation may encounter resistance in this regard.
This involves the issue of population integration and conflicts. For example... Bishop Dicket sounds like a good man who likes to stand up for the weak. During the years he has been in charge of the diocese, he has been committed to balancing the conflicts among the mountain natives, the local Sara people and the overseas native slaves. No matter how fair and kind he is, in the eyes of some people he is of Sara origin - this is something he cannot change.
If they look at the problem with this understanding in mind from the very beginning, wouldn't they think that some of his judgments are unreasonable?
For example, a dispute led to a fight between a company owned by the natives of the mountains and a company owned by the Sara people. He arrested and fined people from both sides, which was indeed fair. But in the end, the Sara people might hate him, thinking that he, as a Sara person, sided with outsiders. The natives of the mountains would also hate him, thinking that he was a Sara person after all, so he would definitely consider the issue from the Sara people's perspective, and his punishment would definitely be too heavy.
How to deal with this kind of thing?
It is difficult to define right and wrong, and it is a mess to deal with.
Hitzfeld could almost guess what was going on... Bishop Dicket was probably an impatient person. He felt that since nothing had happened in the past few years, there would definitely be no trouble this time, so he hurried over when he heard that there was any dispute.
The situation got out of hand and some young man beat him to death in the chaos.
Lieutenant Colonel Kabu continued to tell the story...and it was exactly what she had guessed.
"The source of the conflict is that Dab Human Resources is dissatisfied with the deduction of commissions by Kerkinson Integrated Mining Company. The two companies have been grudges for a long time. I heard about their quarrels last year and the year before last. I didn't expect it to be so serious this time."
The young officer was also helpless.
"The people have been locked up... The impact of this incident is too severe, and we haven't decided how to report it yet."
"I don't understand why this is a difficult decision." Frick frowned.
The one who died was none other than the bishop of a district!
What do these mountain natives want to do?
Sarah took them in and integrated them, which was a favor. Is this how they repay Sarah?
He thought they were going to rebel!
What else is there to say? Suppress...must suppress!
"Don't you think about the impact this will have on Xixinna?" The lieutenant colonel pursed his lips. "Although I am just a rough man, I haven't read many books, and I don't have noble sentiments like Bishop Dickert, but I don't want to see the parish I have run for many years destroyed because of this."
Frick responded.
If this matter is expanded, it will completely turn into a conflict between different ethnic forces.
Suppression?
How to suppress?
Do we need to lead a legion of several thousand people into the mountains to fight?
This could turn into a real war.
But then he thought: What does this have to do with me?
At least he still retained the purity of a knight, although his reputation among the knights was not very good. Some ascetic knights thought he was too smooth and "could even have good relations with those officials." But at the very least, he believed that "a knight should just do his job well."
How to deal with it, whether to start a war or not, is your Majesty's business.
But you concealed the truth and did not report it (Dicket had been dead for almost seven days), so you, Lieutenant Colonel Cab, were derelict in your duty.
"I have a responsibility."
Lieutenant Colonel Kabu said calmly.
"After Bishop Dickert's accident, these responsibilities should have fallen on the local administration and the original regional defense chief, but some people went too far, and I had to cut off the connection between them."
"You mean Haydn?" Hitzfeld asked.
"He has received a lot of black money from those companies." The lieutenant colonel answered the question indirectly. "If he were to write the report, he would definitely put all the blame on Dicket."
"What about you?" Hitzfeld didn't believe it. "From what I know, even if these two people are not good enough, there is still a colonel above you."
"He's sick," said Lieutenant Colonel Cab.
"Waxbend."
“It’s a terminal illness.”
Hitzfeld felt that the name of cerebral flexion was somewhat familiar, but she was not a doctor after all, so she did not have much impression of it.
After asking about the locations of the two companies involved and where they were being held, she was pleased to be told that these places were in the city of Manion.
"What are you waiting for?"
After bidding farewell to Lieutenant Colonel Kabu, she turned around and looked at the others.
"It's time to go to Magnon."
The team naturally had no objection to her decision. They quickly packed up and except for thirty knights who stayed to guard the ruined administrative building, everyone else drove to Manion.
On the road, most people were silent. Some were sleeping or sitting with their eyes closed.
Hitzfeld was no exception. She went over the information she had just learned in her mind again and felt that something seemed familiar.
Oh, right……
It suddenly occurred to her.
The contradiction between the integration of the mountain natives and the Sara people.
How come they look so similar, the Yalais and the citizens of Homo sapiens...
Chapter 24: Tit for tat (two in one)
On the surface, there are differences between the two. For example, although the Yarai people had a low status in the society of the Mithros civilization, they were indeed of the same origin. They had the same culture and the same language from beginning to end, and no Yarai people ever thought of having a conflict with the citizens of Homo sapiens.
But Sicinna and Manion...the peoples here were different from the beginning.
The main ethnic group is of course the Sara people, followed by the mountain natives, and finally the overseas natives. Not only did they not live together at the beginning, but even now they have merged into one parish and have not been able to eliminate the cultural barriers between them, which is very different from the Misros people.
For example, Hitzfeld had heard that the natives in the mountains had the custom of worshiping some animals. These mountain people were firm supporters of "animism" and believed that "gods were hiding all over the world", perhaps even in the body of a mosquito or fly.
On the way to Manion she also read a number of local newspapers printed in the parish. Even now she could see several news reports about the worship of the natives in the mountains.
This kind of worship is very easy to spot, and it comes from the initial tribes when those people came out of the mountains. Generally speaking, each tribe and village will erect a statue of a "god" after years of development. They will use clay to mold the statue and then worship and offer sacrifices. They will burn all the offerings in front of the statue, and they will also perform a special dance around the statue before nightfall, in order to pray for the gods behind them to protect them.
In fact, many conflicts arise from this custom. Many Sara people think this is a "crazy behavior" - even if they believe in yang, they are not so extreme, at most they go to church on the sixth day of the week.
And these natives? You're going to do it twice this week, saying that there are two "terrors" this week in your calendar... Fine, we accept it.
But could these people stop making so much noise? Who can stand being kept awake all the time? Not to mention the weird smell of cigarette smoke coming in from the window will further destroy their sanity.
Hitzfeld flipped through the West Side Metropolitan News in his hand and found that there were six small news items reporting on this kind of sacrificial activities.
Five of them explain where sacrificial activities were held in the past period of time, and the remaining one is about a dispute between the sacrificial party and nearby residents.
This is almost a 20% dispute rate... Although the statistics are definitely not accurate because they only count this time, she just touched the newspaper casually, and the resentment behind it can be seen.
Then why, despite this differentiation, does she still insist that the contradictions on both sides are very similar?
Because of discrimination.
She explored more places in the world of Misros than Xia Yibing, and saw and understood more comprehensively.
The place where Xia Yibing woke up, "Outpost 104", was basically a front-line military camp. There were almost no Homo sapiens citizens there, including Sergeant Bird, who called her "Yalai" in a derogatory way. They were all Yalai people.
Hitzfeld was different. She had been to cities where Homo sapiens citizens and Yalai people lived together. There she could clearly feel the gap between the two sides, and the origin of this gap was that Homo sapiens citizens had fear and discrimination against Yalai people.
To put it bluntly, the Yalais were tools created by the Mithros people to fight against evil forces after they came into contact with them. They had no right to reproduce, receive education, or speak, and were restricted in every aspect. No matter what they did, they had to report to their superiors and get permission before they could proceed.
So what if they have the same ethnic culture?
They are essentially two different civilizations and species - the Yalai can merge with "Lana" to survive in the universe, but the citizens of Homo sapiens cannot do that. The Yalai can expand to a hundred times its size and self-destruct after losing control, but the citizens of Homo sapiens cannot do that.
The Yalai people can even go to the Mother of the Void alone, willing to be driven by crazy pollution, and after that they can still survive in another form, which is something that Homo sapiens citizens cannot do.
There was not enough time, so she did not check whether the two sides could still intermarry and reproduce, but the gap was already too terrifying.
They were essentially the same, and she had to admit that many of the local Sara people felt superior when facing the natives.
When they wear neat and clean clothes and select "employees" in "human resource markets", those inferior races are like cattle and sheep in a pen and can only play the role of "selected goods". Don't they have a sense of superiority?
There have been some cases where the mistress fell in love with the slave, and both were hanged or eloped together... We will skip this as it is not the point.
The essence is "discrimination". The locals discriminate against outsiders just as the citizens of Homo sapiens discriminate against the Yalai people. Some of them think that the two sides are "not really the same species". Even if the natives in the mountains have a higher status in the local area than before through integration and management, it is nothing in their eyes.
Just descendants of slaves.
Even though you can start a company now, that is the result of our Majesty's grace. Otherwise, you and your family are just goods for sale in the slave market. How can we have an equal dialogue with goods?
Hitzfeld didn't think she was that omnipotent. She could easily solve the problem that Ramian Dexter had spent most of his life and his life trying to solve.
She can't fix it. This thing can only be fixed with time. When people who hold old ideas die out, new ideas that are more equal can begin to become popular.
She had no intention of getting involved in this matter, but she had to pay attention - judging from the information provided by Matt Hillay, it is not ruled out that an evil organization had coveted Fran Middle School a few years ago, and the occasional missing slave cases might be these people using the human black market to launder their identities, which meant that there was likely a group of evil forces lurking in the vortex where the two sides intersected.
There is even a big question mark as to whether Bishop Dickert's death was an apparent accident.
Can Belmullen find out?
Different from the actions of other golds, he is the only one here who attaches so much importance to the "impact on religious faith".
Hitzfeld suddenly thought that the most intolerable thing for people who were close to fanatics was heresy. Even though the Sara people were actually natives, they would not react too much to the sacrificial activities because their faith in the goddess was not firm. But Belmaren was different. If she let this mad dog go on, she suspected that he would kill people all by himself.
"Where are we going now?" she immediately asked the driver.
"Fran Middle School." Darent, who was sitting in the front seat, answered directly, "Didn't you say that place is the most important? Of course, we should go to the important places first."
