Deep Space Wandering Fleet
Chapter 563 - 560: Private Gathering

Chapter 563: Chapter 560: Private Gathering

A week later, nearly all the population had moved above the Big Ice Ball.

It was bustling, truly bustling.

Zhang Yuan really liked this feeling of celebrating victory. A group of old folks were organizing a victory chorus, and celebration sounds could be heard everywhere. A mega project unparalleled in human history had been completed, which indeed warranted a grand celebration.

Due to the significant excess production capacity, the idle workers built several more glass covers on the surface and installed sanitary facilities, providing people the opportunity to drink tea under the dome of the sky.

People periodically came to the surface, looking towards a particular area in the sky—the direction where the interstellar trading market was located...

Everything was ready, just lacking the east wind!

Of course, the interstellar trading market was too far from here. Even a Fourth-level Civilization couldn’t accurately calculate the time of arrival, whether it be a day early, a day late, a month early, or a month late.

"Hey, when exactly are the Huantai people’s spaceships coming? Can we rely on them?" This was what everybody was most concerned about. People didn’t want to do anything but wait for the spaceship from the trading market—whether students, workers, or even professors in the university, all were a bit too impatient.

Zhang Yuan, looking at his anxiously waiting companions, joked, "Don’t worry, I wish they would come a bit later!"

"Why?" Li Zhendong widened his eyes, feeling a bit annoyed.

"We agreed with the Huantai Civilization on the maximum delay period initially. If their spaceship arrives a day early, that doesn’t cost us anything, and we don’t have to pay extra Amoeba Points. If they are a month late, then the Huantai Civilization has to compensate us and return a portion of our Amoeba Points."

"It’s roughly like that... If they are late, they have to pay."

"But those insects are so calculating; they will definitely arrive early! They absolutely do not want to lose money!"

This was a private gathering, with approximately seven or eight first-generation Pioneers gathered under the glass dome, drinking coffee, laughing, and chatting in a spirited atmosphere.

"So it’s like that..."

"Now that we’ve mentioned it, Old Zhang, you’re really lucky, born in a wonderful era, immediately enjoying the fruits of victory!"

Li Zhendong, feeling unreconciled, said, "I re-entered this world, eagerly wanting to accomplish great things... and what happened? Good heavens, the people revolted, nobody wanted to work, everyone wanted to escape. I had no choice but to lead by example and set an example!"

Being teased to his face, Zhang Yuan also felt a bit annoyed: "What do you mean I took over the fruits of victory, the first four hundred years, I also worked until death! Do you think I was playing idly in the office every day?"

Everyone laughed loudly, the atmosphere filled with joviality.

Since none of them had experienced that time period, only Zhang Yuan had, they listened intently to him as he narrated the stories from those years.

Even though all these historical materials could be found in the database, hearing them recounted by the person involved had a different flavor.

This included dialogues with the Sixth-level Hicks Civilization’s "Abel Ring," the Superdimensional Perception Ability of that time, and the now semi-mature Magnetic Field Sensing Ability.

This enhancement of Intelligence was subtle and imperceptible most of the time, only by comparing with the past could one truly appreciate such implicit advancements.

Suddenly, Engineer Ye Kaifu asked, "Zhang Yuan, do you still want to be Captain? Honestly, with so many Captains, some have high governance levels, while others are low. If each one had an exceptionally high level, then that kind of thing wouldn’t have happened, and perhaps humanity would have survived."

The escape plan from 400 years ago had ultimately still damaged the entirety of human civilization.

Zhang Yuan thought for a while and shook his head, "Not anymore, there’s no fun in it, always worrying about this and that and neglecting the things I enjoy. Our society has many talented individuals; we should leave some opportunities for the newcomers..."

"Being a middle-level cadre isn’t bad either!"

In fact, the discussion about this system has always been a key topic of discussion throughout the civilization. It’s obvious that the Transcendents are superior to ordinary people, a complete surpassing in all aspects.

This led to another consequence—if everything is based purely on abilities, then social stratification becomes a matter of minutes...

How to prevent so-called "social stratification"?

Some believe it’s essential to reserve a portion of significant positions for ordinary people, such as a certain proportion of members of the Scientific Council, or maybe some department heads, even Captains can be ordinary people, and so on.

However, this method was not very sound.

Here’s a simple example: there once was a country on Earth that was a former "Quasi-developed Country." However, this quasi-developed country had an issue: foreign colonizers controlled the national capital and occupied most of the upper classes of society, creating sharp social tensions between the natives and the colonizers.

After a certain Ruling party came into power, the policy-making began to favor the natives.

Under various policies, the natives’ social status in the country markedly improved, and their standard of living gradually increased, seemingly thriving.

But soon, everything collapsed, and the economy significantly regressed. This once-prominent country completely fell out of the competition among developed countries.

Why? Because the country mandated that: support natives in holding company shares, government procurement contracts favored native enterprises, increase the proportion of natives in management and staff within companies, and prioritize hiring natives under the same conditions.

Starting a company, there also had to be a certain proportion of native management. However, natives weren’t comprehensive enough in quality and lacked sufficient managerial abilities. Many were just nominal employees who didn’t bother showing up at work, yet their salaries still had to be paid, and they couldn’t be dismissed.

Because the law required a certain population proportion, otherwise, it would be illegal. How could the companies continue to operate under such conditions? Soon, major companies either went bankrupt or relocated to other countries.

On the other hand, the government officials also required a certain proportion of natives. Raising the quality of the nationals isn’t an easy task, it can’t be accomplished in just a year or two.

With a huge proportion of lazy and incompetent individuals among the civil servants, who were just listed to draw a salary, how could the country possibly prosper?

The situation of the New Human Civilization differs from that of the countries on Earth, yet there are similarities.

New Human Civilization practices a dynamic planned economy. Planned economy involves constantly selecting targets and making plans, an aspect that cannot be automatically completed by Artificial Intelligence. It places high demands on the governing abilities of the leadership class.

The quality of citizens in the New Human Civilization had been greatly enhanced, and there was full competition among ordinary people, a scenario where no one earned money without working. But many issues weren’t about their quality being inadequate, but rather them having insufficient experience, lacking some considerations on certain levels.

In the end, Zhang Yuan still felt that a minority of the positions are indeed better held by the Transcendents.

But a portion of significant positions should also be left for ordinary people, for the newcomers. They definitely need opportunities for nurturing... If all the important positions are held by Transcendents, then undoubtedly, it is easy to create social divisions and brew larger conflicts.