part of the job of the military was to create good trade relations with the natives. new france relied heavily on the fur trade given that it was the only valuable commodity in the entire colony, which cost more to operate than it brought in, in profit. however, much of the military hierarchy was not based on merit but rather on internal family connections, which allowed unqualified young ambitious and greedy men to take positions of high rank. this resulted in many soldiers leaving their post for weeks at a time in order to illegally trade with the natives. the natives had an understanding of how the trading system worked and considered the military as "trading-goods chiefs" and because of their dereliction of duty came to recognize many soldiers as dishonest people who went against their code. in addition there were even times where the presents the king would send to keep friendly relations with the natives were often taken and sold to them for profit instead, the only presents they would give them would be mere trinkets. therefore, the lack of discipline amongst some of the higher ups resulted in losing face amidst the natives and subsequently losing some of their business and their allegiance to the english.