Deep Space Wandering Fleet-Chapter 210 - Voting Results
Chapter 210: Chapter 210: Voting Results
Chapter 210: Chapter 210: Voting Results
Gazing at the silent crowd, Captain Zhao let out a slight sigh. In fact, it’s like this with many things—if you take too big of a step, it’s not easy for people to accept. But this big step cannot be broken down into smaller parts, even if it means biting the bullet and crossing over with difficulty.
Therefore, their entire school of thought adopted a strategy of one playing good cop and another playing bad cop. He had said earlier that civilization lacks population, encouraging everyone to have ten or more children, the more the better, which to a certain extent, eased everyone’s tension, serving as the good cop.
As a result, Zhang Yuan followed up with the proposition to “mass-produce artificially gestated infants,” making everyone draw their swords and take up their crossbows, tremendously anxious over the matter.
For such decisive measures with great dissent, forcefully implementing them is not a wise choice, as it could easily lead to class conflict and social unrest.
As things stood, although Zhang Yuan had debated the scholars into silence, whether or not it could be done remained an unknown.
Seeing that no one else stood up to voice objections, Zhang Yuan directly said, “Since there are no problems, please consider seriously for a few minutes and then proceed to vote.”
“Everyone present here represents the elite of various professions. I believe you all have felt whether the population issue has constrained us in this year’s development. What will happen if the population is too small is all written in this report, whether or not it is an exaggeration, I leave to your own judgment and deliberation.”
“The vote you cast represents the future of our entire civilization. I hope you will not only consider your own life, nor just the next year or two. Our entire civilization needs to continue here for ten years, a hundred years, or even… a thousand years!”
“We came here to complete a far greater task, not to become a second Earth Civilization.”
Time ticked away, second by second…
A faint sound of discussion rose in the meeting room, which did not escalate.
It was truly… very difficult…
Half an hour later, everyone quieted down and cast their precious votes.
The computer’s tallying was very fast, and since it was a real-name voting system, it was impossible for the government to commit a huge crime against all people by cheating.
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The voting results were out! When Zhang Yuan saw the outcome, he couldn’t help but clench his fist tightly, breathing a deep sigh of relief in his heart.
51.2% voted in favor, 22% voted against, and the rest abstained.
Before the formidable power of an era, democracy seemed… so fragile…
The victor was not him, but the force of the era!
In this debate, although he had used some sophistry, those seated were elites, and they would not waver in their resolve because of a few words from Zhang Yuan.
However, all the objective factors combined, left the people with no choice but to make such a decision. Failing to choose thusly, the entire civilization would perish in a few decades—a visible, predictable outcome.
Moreover, it takes time for children to grow up, and acting too late would be irreversible, forcing people to reluctantly accept.
Otherwise, without these objective conditions, even if Zhang Yuan was more eloquent, blooming with flowery speech, it would still be to no avail.
In the end, Captain Zhao announced the result of the vote.
“I declare that the ‘Proposal on the Use of Artificial Wombs for the Mass Production of Infants’ has passed!”
When the results were announced, it caused a huge uproar, especially among the reporters in the back, who were visibly agitated.
“Actually, it really passed…”
“Incredible.”
Anyone with a normal IQ realized that this was a super big piece of news, even comparable to a billion-ton nuclear bomb, capable of shaking the entire society to its core!
Click, click, click!
The flashes from various cameras were recklessly bright, even brighter than the lights in the meeting room itself.
Immediately following, a few emotionally charged opponents couldn’t believe the fact. They even suspected that the voting had been manipulated behind scenes and demanded to check the voting procedures and publish the voter list.
As a result, things blew up. After the voting list was indeed published by the staff, those individuals were red-faced and sheepishly escorted out by two soldiers.
What a joke, the government would definitely not tamper with such an easily criticized matter, otherwise, what would be the difference between it and a dictatorship or the underworld?
After this farce, the vast majority remained silent, and the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. Some who had voted in favor started to regret their decision upon seeing the results; others simply breathed a sigh of relief in private.
The vote that would permanently affect the course of civilization had just happened, in a way that was reasonable yet unexpected!
“These people, they say one thing with their mouths but their actions tell the truth,” Li Zhendong giggled as he passed Zhang Yuan’s seat, “I thought they had the courage to fight to the end… Would rather face the extinction of their species than compromise their principles, to maintain their purity? To keep pure, they could have stayed on Earth, continue to be exploited by the upper class, that’s what a pure Earth person would do.”
The number of votes in favor was larger than imagined; those who abstained, the neutrals, were also more than expected.
“The neutrals just didn’t want to take responsibility…”
Zhang Yuan returned to his seat, in a good mood, and replied, “Shut up, will you? Don’t talk nonsense after a victory! It’s not good if people overhear!”
Li Zhendong made a mockingly defiant face as if saying “come hit me if you dare”. He immediately reverted to a serious demeanor when people around started to look over.
Next, the Minister of Human Resources took the stage to announce the supporting policies. To properly implement the policy of artificially incubating a large number of babies, a massive batch of complementary policies needed adjustment, including agriculture, animal husbandry, robotics manufacturing, education, and more. The resource allocation of the whole society had to lean towards this new nurturing program; otherwise, to give birth to these children without proper care and education would be a sin.
Except for a few high-end robot-related issues that Zhang Yuan was responsible for, he couldn’t meddle with the rest. So he just sat quietly in his seat, listening to others.
He pondered the various dilemmas: “Caretaker robots are quite mature on Earth, and the new civilization has the relevant materials; theoretically, the difficulty of replicating them isn’t great.”
“However, we can’t currently produce high-end chips… We can only temporarily invest the high-end chips brought from Earth.”
“The production of precision components is also tricky; I wonder if the precision of heavy metal 3D printing is sufficient… Well, it will hold for thirty to fifty years without issue, but beyond that, it’s hard to tell.”
Indeed, it could only sustain for thirty to fifty years, so massive population growth and rapid development were inevitable choices!
This step had to be taken, no doubt about it.
Glancing at Captain Zhao, although still stern-faced, it was clear he was in high spirits.
Zhang Yuan was not fighting alone. Many in the upper echelons who believed in the New Civilization History supported him silently; his was simply the most prominent voice out front. After all, his popularity and influence were even greater than Captain Zhao’s…
Anyway, now that the voting results were in, the policies had to be implemented in earnest. This meeting wasn’t just for show; with a decision made, there was no room for second thoughts.
