Lack of manpower was not a problem unique to Snow Moon Territory. Nearly all lords across the kingdom's Northern Frontier and Near East Region faced the same shortage of population.
The larger the territory, the greater the labor shortage. Even old noble houses could not scrape together enough workers.
By now, all immigration efforts from the Mountain Territory had come to a halt. There was simply no surplus population left.
The Alpha Kingdom's labor shortage stemmed not only from its insufficient population base, but also from war.
Before Hudson rose to power, the kingdom had suffered a string of defeats, losing more than a million soldiers in total.
Although there had been no major defeats afterward, war still killed people. Even victories came with unavoidable casualties.
The heavy losses of young and able-bodied people caused by war had directly thrown the kingdom's demographic structure out of balance.
Even the Southeast Province, which had suffered relatively little impact, had seen an alarming rate of population growth in recent years.
After the Great Prairie War, the kingdom's hawkish faction proposed launching an offensive while the Orc Empire was still reeling from heavy losses.
The proposal was immediately rejected by the kingdom. Aside from the government's lack of funds, the domestic situation was also a major factor.
A regime could endure three hundred years of reckless militarism. The Alpha Kingdom had plenty of experience in that regard and knew exactly when it should do what.
The kingdom's nobles had racked their brains trying to increase the population. One only had to look at the price of human slaves on the international market to see that everyone had done their best.
Hudson had the most say in this matter. When it came to purchasing slaves, he was undoubtedly the most generous lord.
That was