Perfikot’s toughness was not out of unreasonable arrogance, nor did she lack the time to properly explain and persuade the plantation owner of the situation.
It’s just that Perfikot really didn’t want to be troubled by such matters now, along with her disgust for plantations and the slavery system.
Whether in the original world before crossing over, or in this world, while enjoying the benefits of technological advances and productivity in technologically advanced countries, slavery remains prevalent in these colonies.
This is a very primitive and backward production system; never mind the fact that slavery itself offers no incentives for productivity, the mere inefficiency of production methods is enough to show that this should be an obsolete system of production.
Those plantation owners and farmers obviously wouldn’t let slaves use advanced mechanical farm tools, and those slaves could never learn how to operate these advanced tools for labor; they could only use traditional and primitive tools for work.
What this results in is heavy physical labor.
Added to this is the farmers’ bottomless exploitation in pursuing production efficiency comparable to machines; slaves are, in the literal sense, worse off than livestock.
Two hundred gold pounds, in Langton, is not a trivial sum of money, enough to buy a carriage with two ordinary draft horses, a two-story house in the new district, a small farm on the outskirts... or a silk shawl, a sumptuous feast, an alchemical maid automaton.
But likewise, two hundred gold pounds can buy 50-80 slaves, or even a hundred if buying female slaves.
Generally speaking, if a slave owner doesn’t intentionally work a slave to death, a healthy adult slave can be used for ten to twenty years, generating a cumulative value enough to buy about ten more slaves. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by novel-fire.ɴet
And in Langton, the price of an ordinary rideable horse varies from 20 to 50 gold pounds, while a purebred horse with a good pedigree can easily be several times more expensive.
A noble’s pet dog, if of a prestigious breed, can also sell for several hundred gold pounds.
So humans being less valuable than beasts is quite literally a social reality of this era.
In some sense, life is so cheap, and people are so worthless.
Although slavery is not legal in the Empire’s homeland, in the colonies... we can only say that the darkness of human nature is far deeper than imagined.
Of course, if it were just this, Perfikot would not display her disgust so clearly.
The reason she loathes that plantation owner so much, seizing his plantation from the start, is largely because James’ investigation clearly showed that this person used to be a pirate.
During the colonial pioneering era, exploiting some legal loopholes and clauses of the Empire, he came to the New Continent and transformed into a pioneer.
However, he did not venture deep into the New Continent to develop but resumed his old trade, continuing to plunder at sea.
Only now, the pirate who had a hard time legitimizing his identity did not raid merchant ships but chose to target the indigenous people.
Back when he was still a pirate, he knew about the existence of Sweet Berry Island, so under the guise of a colonial pioneer, he occupied this island and, in a mock show, raised the Empire’s flag, declaring the island as Empire territory.
He also used some of the Empire’s legal clauses to become the island’s owner, turning all the indigenous people on the island into slaves.
Although nearly twenty years have passed, and the once fierce pirate has become a bloated plantation owner, this matter was not forgotten; the intelligence bureau still uncovered these facts.
Perfikot saw this information while reviewing relevant documents earlier.
This led to Perfikot having no good impression of this plantation owner from the start, not to mention that in the intelligence bureau’s files, there was a specially noted line: "Due to colonial authorities’ recent policies to improve slave treatment, this person has been publicly claiming that there are no slaves in his plantation, stating that the indigenous people are all hired workers, thus swindling a significant amount of subsidies from the colonial authorities."
To Perfikot, she can accept the social reality of slavery’s existence because the darkness of human heart and the imperfect laws of this era allow those exploiters to act recklessly; for the most part, it wouldn’t make much difference in exploitation between the local workers and the slaves.
But this kind of exploitation of the indigenous people’s land, turning them into slaves, and not forgetting to gain more benefits while oppressing them, deeply enraged Perfikot.
She considers herself not a good person, as she does not oppose the social realities of this era and instead enjoys the privileged life they afford as a beneficiary, at peace with herself.
But even so, she finds some intolerable things hard to stomach.
You could say Perfikot is hypocritical, but she continues to act as she pleases, even though it’s hard to say that the incidents in New Shaker City haven’t influenced her psychologically, leading her to vent her emotions.
But anyway, just a guilty plantation owner; no one would criticize Perfikot for this, for she had just orchestrated a massacre.
Some even think Perfikot was merciful and lenient for not beheading the plantation owner on the spot or turning him into a statue.
That night, Perfikot had dinner at the plantation owner’s manor, which she used as a temporary campsite for the exploration team.
Large amounts of supplies were stacked in the manor’s open space, with exploration team members and security personnel enjoying the bonfire and food, showing rare expressions of relaxation.
But despite finishing dinner and heading to the bedroom to rest, Perfikot was in a bad mood because, earlier when entering the manor, the old butler found three female slaves in the plantation owner’s bedroom: a mother and her twin daughters.
They served as the plantation owner’s nightly bed companions, and what was particularly appalling was that the twin daughters were born after this mother was violated by the plantation owner.
"Hang that beast! Hang him from the flagpole outside!" Looking at the mother in her twenties and the two twin daughters, younger than herself, with their bodies covered in scars, Perfikot was utterly furious.
Her command was carried out, and as she listened to the screams coming from outside, Perfikot finally began to feel somewhat at ease internally.
The mother and her two small twin daughters in front of her finally understood what had happened, their faces showing fear but also undeniable joy.