When Kayal walked into the Lord's Hall, Artoria, who was discussing something with Beowulf and others, was overjoyed, but Kayal suppressed her with a single glance.
First, Kayal bowed to Artoria as a subject, then smiled, nodded slightly to Beowulf and the others, and finally asked, "How are things now?"
"Very good!" Beowulf grinned, his whole body like a giant bear, his smile resembling a gaping maw: "The natives in Ireland are still gathered in tribal totem forms, and we easily wiped them out. Although there were many magical beasts, we've brought all those natives back. Don't even get me started, those natives are really dark!"
The Irish natives, probably leaning towards the Eskimo race, despite being East Asian, had unusually dark skin, likely due to sun exposure.
Kayal shook his head and smiled, but he wasn't asking about Ireland. In his mind, Ireland was never a problem. Even two thousand five hundred years into the future, with rapidly advancing technology, Ireland had never achieved any significant accomplishments. Without naval dominance, they were like cats without teeth or claws, at anyone's mercy.
Instead, it was Scotland that frequently produced rebellious individuals, causing turmoil for England.
In such matters, position determines stance. As a Camelot person, Kayal had no right to blame Scotland's rebellion, just as the Scottish had no right to blame Camelot for launching invasions for upward mobility and resources.
Different positions, different stances.
The sand table was already complete.
Kayal's more than a decade of teaching and planning had finally resulted in him obtaining the topographical map of the largest island in the entire Britain archipelago.
The information provided by the rangers played a very important role.
And everyone present was knowledgeable about warfare, naturally understanding the immense value of this item.
For a moment, they all praised it.
"Gentlemen," Kayal stood beside Artoria, pointing to the area abbreviated as KL and asked, "First, a question: do you know the maximum limit of military strength a country can draw?"
"All the men in the country? Young adults?" Gareth asked hesitantly. His premise was in the context of national annihilation, which was Scotland's current situation.
"Those who can ride a horse!" Beowulf, coming from the continent, was more fierce. Back when their entire nation resisted the Roman invasion, truly, anyone who could carry a load or fight got on a horse to meet the enemy. Although they ultimately lost to the Roman heavy infantry, it could still be considered a glorious defeat.
"Wrong!" Kayal mercilessly criticized their level of thinking: "For a country, if one soldier corresponds to more than twenty civilians, it already causes great pressure, because the income of these twenty civilians can barely support that one soldier after they've just eaten their fill. And if it's a Knight, that number needs to be doubled." What Kayal was referring to now was the principle from the'Sima Fa': 'Though a country may be large, if it loves war, it will perish; though the world may be at peace, if it forgets war, it will be in danger.' This is also what Lu Xun's son, Lu Kang, called 'exhausting military resources.'
It doesn't mean that a country's army can be recruited endlessly.
Instead, it is closely related to the country's economy.
After thousands of years of warfare in the East, it was once concluded that the best ratio of soldiers to people in cold weapon warfare should be 30:1. The limit is 20:1. As for 10:1 or similar unconditional recruitment of young adults, that can be considered 'exhausting military resources' and 'loving war leads to perishing.'
The Three Kingdoms period was precisely because they didn't understand this, with warlords exhausting military resources, wishing they could use one young adult as two. It was truly a crazy era, but it was also precisely because of this crazy era that the later Sixteen Kingdoms' chaos and the Han people being treated like pigs and dogs occurred.
And now, Camelot... pointing to the KL region, Kayal said: "Camelot currently has six million people, but there are over one hundred thousand Knights! One Knight is equal to five soldiers! You do the math!" This is equivalent to six million people supporting five hundred thousand soldiers! The pressure on the entire economy is extremely heavy!
Artoria was well aware of Kayal's words. Although Kayal managed the treasury and economy for her, as a strict teacher, Artoria was forced by Kayal to study economics every night, which was truly agonizing.
She, of course, knew how empty the national treasury was. Although it was taken from the people and used for the people, having no reserves at all truly made her tremble with fear.
Kayal's 'loving war leads to perishing' theory struck everyone's hearts like a solemn bell, making them feel heavy. Kayal's words directly pointed to the excessive number of Camelot Knights, as if he intended to reduce the army.
Kayal had vaguely hinted at this idea when they became Knights of the Round Table, but for some reason, it was never brought to fruition. Had the time finally come...? Gareth and the other official Knights felt a deep sadness, inevitably experiencing a sense of 'the fox mourns the death of the rabbit.'
Seeing that he had played with them enough, Kayal smiled slightly: "However, there isn't no way to solve this..."
He paused, building suspense, which piqued the interest of several Knights of the Round Table.
"Firstly, we must encourage the people to produce more offspring!" Kayal's words made everyone present laugh, while Artoria blushed, wanting to scold him but not knowing where to begin.
"Secondly, to plunder people." This would be somewhat difficult to achieve. The European continent is different from China. China, in the end, is still one nation. Although warlords fought and regions differed, the common people would follow whichever warlord gave them a good life. Here, however, nations, countries, regions, cultures, and races are all different, making it truly difficult.
That is why Kayal had to pursue the extermination of culture and civilization.
When a large number of men are lost, providing Camelot with a large number of women and children, these children, when they grow up without cultural influence, will be Camelot people. These women will bear children and heirs for Camelot's warriors and youth, contributing to the continuation of Camelot's lineage.
This is also why Kayal needed the rangers to carry out inhumane operations.
As a Camelot male, can you say he was wrong? As a Camelot person, can you say he was wrong?
There is no right or wrong in the world! There are only different thoughts arising from different positions!
"And the last resort is to reduce the army!" A great nation, if it loves war, will perish; though the world may be at peace, if it forgets war, it will be in danger! For Camelot to start reducing its army with so many enemies still remaining would be to court disaster!