Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 207 - One Year of Development
Chapter 207: Chapter 207: One Year of Development
Chapter 207: Chapter 207: One Year of Development
Two weeks later, this news release with a unique perspective made its way back to the spaceship from the surface, detailing the progress of the entire project and highlighting the spiritual demeanor of the workers.
“…My name is Shi Dapeng, a member of the Industrial Party. I can do without a girlfriend, but a digger is a must-have. I love sleeping in the cockpit of the excavator every day—it feels so secure!”
“What message to share… I hope within our lifetimes, our civilization can surpass Earth Civilization! Then we could fly spaceships, and everyone would have one! Sleeping inside, it’d feel so secure.”
“That’s all… Not enough? Stop recording, cough cough, get someone else, really… I’ve got nothing more to say!”
In the video, a bunch of men in space suits were causing a ruckus, making a loud commotion.
The camera then shifted to another astronaut.
“I’m Li Wu; what would I most like to say?”
A female voice said, “Yes, what would you most like to say to your friends?”
“Wife, I love you!”
This guy has an incredibly loud voice, startling the camerawoman so much that the entire frame shook.
More raucous cheering ensued.
The examples of various minor figures were still quite authentic; with no false grandiosity, they even carried a hint of educational significance, yet they weren’t off-putting…
Below the news item, all sorts of shares and comments quickly exceeded the twenty-thousand mark—an impressive number considering the current population size.
“Not bad, the people in the propaganda department are pretty capable…” Zhang Yuan was sizing up the news item critically.
Though the propaganda department was small and understaffed, its responsibilities were extremely important. The current cultural environment was very beneficial for everyone’s enthusiasm.
The progress of the surface projects had always been a matter of great concern for Zhang Yuan. The expedition team members had discovered several good mining sites, and various smelting factories were still being built in an orderly manner. Due to the shortage of manpower, they were struggling to keep up with mining the discovered minerals.
The second and third batches of surface workers were eagerly signing up, with a tremendous number of volunteers, to the point that they had to turn away some less-skilled individuals… The risks of working on the surface were significant, and if professional skills weren’t up to scratch, it was better to not deploy them.
Meanwhile, within Earth Era, people were also working overtime and busily engaged. On one hand, they were preparing and transferring the large machines stored in the inventory to the surface. On the other, they were producing various materials to support the construction on Earth. The components and material resources stocked in the warehouse, brought from places 20 light years away, were now being put to good use…
After three months of overtime work, the first phase of the project was finally completed. Cement factories, metal smelting factories, and other heavy industrial factories began normal operations, and another six thousand people were urgently put to work on the front line…
After six months, the second phase of the project was finished. Various plant cultivation bases were completed, and the number of surface workers grew to thirty thousand!
In twelve months, the construction of the biological chemical extraction plant was completed, with the workforce rising to sixty thousand! The completion of the chemical extraction factory meant that people’s clothing, food, housing, and transportation all improved a whole level.
And so, a year just passed like that…
From the spaceship, looking through a telescope, you could see that the buildings on this area of the surface had changed drastically. Rail tracks connected various mining areas, with trains running non-stop day and night, transporting minerals to the smelting projects.
Various robots and work vehicles bustled back and forth in the industrial zone, as busy as ants.
The residential area and the central industrial zone were hidden deep underground, the deepest reaching down a hundred meters, divided into 16 floors, each with an area of about 120,000 square meters—a veritable complex underground kingdom.
The central industrial zone was able to produce a variety of resources, and in turn, support Earth Era.
Seeing the continuous rise in various data, the sense of achievement in my heart couldn’t be overstated.
But at this time, the anticipated issue occurred: the population number began to constrain the development of various industries.
The 60,000 people engaged in surface activities was not a small figure, after all, with only 500,000 people in the new civilization, allocating more would result in an imbalance in other developments. A civilization cannot consist only of heavy industry; it also requires light industry, service industry, education, medical services, and other sectors. But compared to the needed manpower, even if all 500,000 people were employed, it still wouldn’t be enough to scratch the surface…
In the year-end government work report, this point was also summarized. With only 500,000 people, the scale of a small city, to fully form all the industrial chains was nothing short of a pipe dream.
The population issue was important and a long-term problem: ten years, twenty years were not enough, not even a hundred years might solve it.
Zhang Yuan took a deep breath and recalled his conversation with Academician Ding, feeling extremely exhilarated.
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The first major problem that civilization encountered, the population issue, had emerged!
“How so, are you planning to play the villain and implement your social foster care system?” Lin Xuanyuan patted his collar, trying to smooth out the old clothes a bit more. The clothes had been worn for who knows how long, and it was high time to buy a new one.
“Ha ha, indeed it’s like the villain… the grand villain of all humanity.” Zhang Yuan pondered for a moment and said, “However, what we’re currently advancing isn’t a social foster care system, but the artificial incubation of a large number of infants… This matter is the foundation of civilization reform, and we will certainly accomplish it, even if it takes decades or a century!”
“We won’t have children in the future; you won’t be mad about that, will you?”
Lin Xuanyuan smiled, “You’ve asked me a hundred times already, I’m not mad! Not mad! Not mad!”
After straightening out Zhang Yuan’s clothes, she said, “Sometimes I do think about having a child. But then I think about how troublesome it is, the poor conditions for raising one, plus there’s the examination. From this perspective, your policy is quite successful… You’ve successfully reduced the natural birthrate.”
“Although people are calling for everyone to procreate, that appeal isn’t very effective.”
Zhang Yuan took her hand: “These policies aren’t my work, they’re done by an old man named Wang Tianwei in the Human Resources Department…”
“So… you villains have already taken control of the entire high echelons of civilization?”
Lin Xuanyuan rested her head on his shoulder, suddenly sentimental: “Ah, sometimes I think, a child only spends a dozen or so years with their parents. Then they go to school, become adults, have their own lives, and leave our world. It’s most fun when the child has just been born. Later, when they develop their own ideas, it becomes less interesting. The joy gained in the process isn’t much different from raising a dog.”
“We can’t possibly control their thoughts to keep them with us forever… In this light, what’s the meaning of having a child and raising them to adulthood? The next generation, I always feel, seems rather insignificant.”
“Significance? Of course there’s significance.” Zhang Yuan sighed, “It’s these instincts that have continued our species. Without them, the species would have vanished. Continuation itself is the significance, the greatest significance of all.”
“On our Earth, there are no shortages of powerful but low-fertility creatures, so they all disappeared.”
The difficulty in promoting the social foster care policy lay in… the complete disconnect between the thoughts of the civilization’s upper echelons and those of the ordinary citizens, including the vast number of middle-level cadres.
Girls who had been completely brainwashed by Zhang Yuan, like Lin Xuanyuan, were after all rare. Most people, even if they currently do not want to procreate, would instinctively resist these policies.
Even those in high positions like Captain Zhao and Zhang Yuan could not force the promotion of these policies. Authoritarian rule would undoubtedly harm the foundations, weakening their own base. Under the current high survival pressure, to provoke internal strife would be no different from suicide.
Therefore, a roundabout way of saving the country was adopted.
First, to suppress the birth rate of natural persons through various policies.
Second, to try to promote artificial womb technology and massively produce infants.
