vrcanaries Chapter 397 From Dream to Reality
Chapter 397 From Dream to Reality
"The most important thing to solve now is to appease the public." Simothers hadn't rested for the past few days, working through the night to create a detailed statistical chart, which he handed to Lin Xuan.
"It's easy to conquer a country, but difficult to govern it." He said in a heavy tone, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the conference room. "As a border planet of Mechanical Earth, the inhabitants of Revelation III are, in a sense, exiled. Even the few wealthy merchants who came before us fled long ago during our attack. The rest are mostly people from the lower classes. They have long harbored resentment towards the rule of Mechanical Earth, but just as much, they also distrust us."
Simothers paused, then brought up the holographic projection to display the statistical charts he had compiled: "According to our investigation, the planet's inhabitants are currently divided into three main categories: first, the original working class, who make up 20% of the population; second, small merchants and artisans, who make up 30%, although they have a certain economic foundation, their living space is constantly being squeezed under the exploitation of the mechanical Earth; and finally, the 50% unemployed and homeless, who are the most unstable factor and could trigger riots at any time."
Lin Xuan nodded, signaling him to continue.
"Therefore, I propose that we adopt measures of mandatory conscription and unified militarized management," Himothers' voice was firm and powerful. "We will incorporate all eligible citizens into our management system and uniformly allocate tasks and resources. In this way, we can not only reduce the chances of them causing trouble, but also rapidly enhance our combat effectiveness."
He paused, then added, "This model actually draws on the production distribution system in the communist theory of Gene Earth. Although this planned economy may have many drawbacks in peacetime, it can maximize the concentration of resources and improve efficiency in wartime."
Everyone in the meeting room nodded in agreement. Several other core members of the Spark Organization also expressed their support. After all, the current situation didn't allow them to slowly implement a moderate policy; they had to take a tough approach to quickly stabilize the situation.
But everyone present knew that there was only one person in the meeting room who had the final say, so everyone turned their attention to Lin Xuan.
"Mr. Lin Xuan, what do you think?"
Simothers was quite satisfied with his plan. He revised it for several nights before finally coming up with it. He thought Lin Xuan would agree with his idea, but to his surprise, Lin Xuan shook her head.
“No, Simothers, there’s a big problem with your plan.”
As he spoke, he pointed to the unemployed people who made up the largest proportion of the holographic projection.
"Look at this population structure chart, don't you see any problems?"
"what is the problem?"
"Nearly half the population of the entire planet is unemployed. Doesn't that say anything?" Lin Xuan retorted.
"Tell me first, why don't these people go to work?"
Simothers thought for a moment before speaking.
"It's because the means of production are occupied by a small number of people. This... this is what was written in the book you gave me."
As Simothers spoke, he took out the copy of "Das Kapital" that Lin Xuan had given him. After receiving the book, he treasured it and read it several times almost every day.
"The basic calculation formula is m=Wcu, where W represents the value of the commodity, c represents constant capital, that is, the value of the means of production, and u represents variable capital, that is, the value of labor power."
"For example, a worker works in a factory. The factory provides the means of production, such as machines and raw materials, which is constant capital c. The wages that the worker receives for his labor are variable capital u. The value W of the products produced by the worker, after deducting the cost of the means of production and the wages paid to the worker, is the surplus value m that is appropriated by the capitalist without compensation."
Lin Xuan nodded: "Yes, but the problem now is that there is no longer a shortage of labor. The productivity of machinery far exceeds the value that workers can create, but the way machinery is used is firmly controlled by a small number of people."
"Therefore, the means of production controlled by the mechanical earth, which appear to be these machines, are actually the ways of using the machines."
"If you follow this line of reasoning, take another look at this population structure chart. Is the distribution really correct?"
Upon hearing this, Simothers stared intently at the structural diagram he had written. After pondering for a long time, he suddenly slapped his thigh.
"Holy crap, I see!"
The production method of Gene Earth relies entirely on human labor, so their means of production are machines. This is not a problem; in fact, it can be said that most civilizations are like this.
But the mechanical Earth is completely different; their means of production are not those large machines at all, but the way they are used.
"The machine uses a lot of AI algorithms to control the production line, but these AI algorithms are only mastered by a small number of workers. In fact, they may even actively set up barriers to reduce competition."
"So here's the problem: you're always trying to unite these workers, but think about it carefully, in this kind of social structure on a mechanical Earth, are these workers really your allies? I doubt it."
"This is metaphysics; it's just mechanically copying formulas without doing any rational analysis based on the actual situation." Lin Xuan tapped her fingers lightly on the table.
“At first, I actually made the same mistake. I thought your situation was the same as other Earths, but it wasn’t until I saw Felix and his crew that I realized something seemed off.”
“If what you lack is the tools of production, I can completely help you solve that problem. But the fundamental problem now is that many people have the idea of self-sufficiency, thinking that if one person is full, the whole family is not hungry.”
Simothers nodded, agreeing with Lin Xuan's assessment. This was the source of his long-standing conflict with Felix; he always felt that Felix and his group were a bunch of pure antisocial personalities who only knew how to fight and kill.
He couldn't even imagine the extent of the harm that would befall the planet if these people were to take over Revelation III.
"So what we really need to solve is to get them to want to learn on their own initiative, to learn the production methods of those machines, and to change their deep-rooted small-farmer mentality."
“This… I’m afraid it will be difficult, Mr. Lin Xuan.” Simothers hesitated, “Those people are completely impervious to reason. I’ve explained many principles to them, but they simply won’t listen. Sometimes they even call me a madman.”
"It's pointless to just reason with them; you have to exploit their weaknesses."
"Human weaknesses?"
Simothers didn't understand, but he saw Lin Xuan smile mysteriously.
"greedy!"
"Human nature is inherently greedy, just like the famous saying often heard in casinos: 'It's not that we're afraid you'll win money, it's that we're afraid you won't play.' You need to make reasonable use of human greed."
"Don't they think they can live a good life by just drifting through life? Then I'll let them experience the gap between the rich and the poor first."
Himothers was startled and quickly shook his head.
“Mr. Lin Xuan, what you’re doing will probably discourage many people. Haven’t the people in the Spark Organization felt the gap between the rich and the poor enough over the years?”
Lin Xuan smiled and said, "No, what I mean is to create healthy competition among them. Send someone to find two reliable workers and have them teach Xinghuo's group tomorrow. Tell them that whoever learns how to operate these machines first will get land and houses."
"Is this...really useful?"
Simothers remained skeptical. After all, everyone had gotten used to living in the dungeon over the years, and this thing probably wouldn't be as tempting to them as they imagined.
Lin Xuan waved her hand.
"Just do as I say. You have to believe this: if you're worried that your brothers are suffering and that they're driving Range Rovers, once one of them gets the reward, others will naturally get envious and start copying them."
Upon hearing this, Simothers had no choice but to go and do as he was told. He absolutely trusted Lin Xuan's words. In the past, he only trusted the utopian theories of Gene Earth, but Lin Xuan's appearance made him feel that those utopian ideas were gradually becoming reality.
After Simothers left, Lin Xuan sighed and looked at the watch that Tomoko had left him.
The current situation is extremely unfavorable for him. Bai Bing is clearly trying to make him a scapegoat. If Zhi Zi hadn't intervened, he would probably have really fallen into Bai Bing's hands this time.
However, Lin Xuan only believed half of what Zhi Zi said. The world is not black and white. Bai Bing could deceive her, and Zhi Zi could deceive her as well. The only way to verify the other party's identity was to go and talk to the final producer, one of the consciousness entities of Number One.
A three-way standoff always allows one to discover something new.
But that's where the problem lies. Number Three thinks he is Bai Bing, and the Final Producer also thinks he is Bai Bing. Now everyone knows that the Final Producer has an ultimate weapon to deal with the managers, and it can only be used once.
Therefore, if Lin Xuan wants to avoid triggering this trump card while sitting down and talking with the final producer, the best way is to clear herself of suspicion as Bai Bing.
Lin Xuan is now facing the same predicament as Taylor back then. He has no way to prove that he is not Bai Bing. Just like the smile of the Wallfacer, no matter what he does, it seems to be covering up the fact that he is the manager.
Given this, the solution becomes clear.
What Lin Xuan did back then, he should do now.
When Lin Xuan was first appointed as a Wallfacer, he immediately chose to join the Trisolarans. Now, he has to do something completely inconsistent with his role as a manager—to interfere extensively with the experimental processes of the three Earths.
To put it more bluntly, it's about causing trouble, causing crazy trouble, until the final producers believe that this guy is definitely not the manager.
This reminded Lin Xuan of a classic discussion question on a forum from her previous life: If Sun Wukong and Erlang Shen transformed into each other's appearances, how would Erlang Shen prove his identity?
There was a highly upvoted comment below, where someone lay on the ground and shouted, "I am the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses! I am the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses!"
……
Luo Congmin arranged temporary accommodations for Zhang Beihai and his group on Earth. They hadn't been back for so long and wanted to see how Earth had changed.
As for the Human Alliance's fleet, it was left to Bi Yunfeng to handle.
This is truly a difficult task for Bi Yunfeng. Settling these millions of people is even more difficult than annihilating them all.
He now deeply regrets it. When Luo Congmin was the president of the Earth Federation, he could leave these complicated problems to her to solve. Now that the presidency has fallen on his shoulders, she has become a hands-off manager.
Bi Yunfeng suddenly felt as if he had been tricked. Luo Congmin had deliberately allowed him to seize power so that he could leave the mess of the Earth Alliance to Bi Yunfeng alone.
"You mean Lin Xuan has already gone in first?" This was Shi Qiang's third cigarette since entering the room. Liu Chang was choking on it and quickly turned on the ventilation fan.
"Yes, Number Three arrived here before you and took Lin Xuan away." Zhang Xiang explained the details of that day to the group. After listening, Shi Qiang couldn't help but shake his head.
"That little brat is really being ridiculous. He dares to go in alone. If our intelligence is correct, there are at least three observers in the Elbato Cluster right now."
"So we need to speed up our journey. Nobody knows the specific situation in that star cluster. If something happens to Lin Xuan, things will get complicated."
After a long silence, everyone looked at Luo Ji, only to see that he was just sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting.
"My dear Dr. Luo Ji, say something!" Shi Qiang stood up, stood on the sofa behind Luo Ji, and patted him on the shoulder.
Luo Ji then opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.
"I think you're being too tense. You and I both know Lin Xuan's situation. Given his strength, he shouldn't be in any trouble."
"Moreover, the fact that Number Three has a way to get out of the Elbato Cluster means that Lin Xuan can do the same. If there is any real danger, given Lin Xuan's personality, he will not hesitate to withdraw."
“That’s true.” Wang Miao nodded. “I discussed the situation of that star cluster with Ding Yi before; the situation inside is quite unique.”
"It's like a small, independent universe. All visible waves on the outside can't directly penetrate that entrance to detect what's inside. And because of the asynchrony of the speed of light, according to special and general relativity, the flow of time is usually different in two regions where the speed of light is not synchronized. This is the main reason why we lost contact with Lin Xuan."
"But objects can pass through easily, whether going out or entering this microcosm, without any hindrance."
“No, perhaps there are obstacles,” Ding Yi added.
"I have a hypothesis that this area is actually an arena, and all Earth civilizations are contestants."
"Since they are participants, they should have their own tickets; otherwise, wouldn't anyone be able to participate in this competition?"
As Ding Yi spoke, he pointed out the window.
They were currently in the underground area of Los Angeles, and from there they could see the giant building buried underground.
The structure seems to have grown out of the Earth's crust. Although only a small part has been excavated, it can still be inferred that this thing is frighteningly large.
"You mean this thing is the admission ticket?"
Shi Qiang walked to the window and scanned the building from top to bottom. The entire building looked like a huge, hollowed-out polygonal sphere, and it was impossible to tell what it was used for.