Chapter 33: The Fast Track to Development
In Gu Hang’s plan, the Wasteland Society is intended to serve as the heavy industrial production center of his domain.
Its location is favorable, being close to Garbage Town, the future source of raw materials and energy, and it already has some mineral resources.
The production line for Alloy and Plastic Steel is there, and once Denison Henry, the merchant, brings back the Hot Ash Stone Generators, Gu Hang plans to establish a power plant in the Wasteland Society.
With the development of heavy and energy industries in the Wasteland Society, the current workforce of merely eight hundred people is certainly insufficient.
Gu Hang has been reallocating workers initially meant for the expansion of the Governor’s camp and the construction of the ‘airport’ to the Wasteland Society to meet the manpower needs of the alloy factory.
However, this labor pool has its limits, and the Governor’s camp itself also requires personnel.
Production needs people, and military expansion requires people.
Gu Hang’s demand for manpower is very high.
Attracting population from outside is essential, which is why he specifically tasked Denison Henry with promoting and bringing in people.
Of course, those recruited from outside Revival City might not necessarily be qualified industrial personnel.
Not to mention the refugees, even the people from the Wasteland Society and the former slaves brought down from the starship are not very qualified.
Literacy rates are a significant issue.
Illiterates might be able to do laborious work, but it’s challenging for them to grow into skilled workers.
However, this is a solvable problem.
Gu Hang has already mandated the establishment of night school classes in both the Wasteland Society and his direct camp.
The first step is to eradicate illiteracy, followed by basic skill training, experience summarizing, and transmission.
There are indeed many in the Wasteland Society who are willing to learn and improve.
These individuals need not be overly worried about; given the opportunity, they will strive to advance.
But not everyone is motivated.
Currently, they can live on the surface, need not worry about safety, have enough food, clothing to keep warm, and it is heard that there will be electricity and heating in the future… Such treatment is enough to satisfy them.
They lack the motivation to improve.
Gu Hang definitely doesn’t want this.
If no one works hard, how can I expand production and rebuild the world?
Thus, Gu Hang introduced a policy: the Work Points Allocation System.
Work points are awarded based on job performance, and these points determine the distribution of resources and benefits.
If one wants to eat well, live well, and dress well, and even allow their closest family members to live a good life, they must work hard.
Moreover, some technical job categories have been established at the worker level.
By passing assessments, one can become a skilled worker, earning higher work points than regular workers.
The requirement to become a skilled worker is to study diligently.
Additionally, although attending school doesn’t earn work points, it does provide a free dinner, which saves on rations and is also a good deal.
With both tangible upward incentives and real increases in food rations, the night schools in the Wasteland Society and the Governor’s camp have been widely welcomed.
However, the issue of teachers is not so easily solved.
Currently, the only option is to use the few literate individuals among the servants brought down from the Quintet starship as teachers.
The so-called professional technical training is essentially the experience and tips that some of the more quick-witted workers have accumulated over time, summarized and disseminated.
Due to the lack of qualified teachers, expecting to train excellent students is unrealistic.
Gu Hang understands this limitation and aims to do the best he can within the given constraints.
Regarding the previously mentioned work points, Gu Hang had considered whether to establish a currency system.
The circulation of goods in the wasteland is extremely chaotic.
There is some currency—Revival Coins issued by the Alliance, along with currencies from several other major forces. However, these currency systems are not only chaotic but also cumbersome to exchange, and some distant settlements might not even recognize certain currencies.
The most common form of trade in the wasteland remains the primitive barter system.
Gu Hang’s influence is currently not large enough to issue his own currency without significant effort to promote it.
Using other currencies could easily lead to internal destabilization due to external pressures.
Thus, he decided not to issue currency for now but to implement an internal ‘work points’ system as a motivational tool.
Work points are earned through production; consumption of work points grants housing and rations, essentially a simple prototype of currency under a planned economy.
Gu Hang does not intend to maintain a planned economy indefinitely, but its proportion will remain significant.
The method of concentrating efforts on major tasks is, in Gu Hang’s view, a highly successful strategy during the development phase.
While the goal for the Wasteland Society is to develop into a heavy industrial center, Gu Hang envisions the Governor’s camp as a transportation hub and a light industrial center.
The core task of transportation is to maintain contact with the massive treasure trove in the sky, the Quintet.
When selecting the camp’s location, Gu Hang chose a flat, open area primarily for this purpose.
The textile machines and related technology that Gu Hang tasked Denison Henry to acquire are part of the light industrial plan.
In addition to textiles, the food industry is also being developed.
The synthetic starch manufacturing machine brought down from the Quintet has already begun operation under the guidance of technicians who came down with the ship.
Additionally, a new synthetic starch production line is being set up, relying mainly on components brought down from the starship.
The alloy factory in the Wasteland Society has also received orders to produce some qualified parts as per the technicians’ requirements.
For parts with particularly high requirements in terms of craftsmanship and materials, Gu Hang will produce them using the finished black boxes of Alloy and Plastic Steel.
Of course, there are still some core components that the current industrial capabilities of his forces cannot produce.
The technicians from the starship are, at the Governor’s request, attempting to tackle these technologies to see if there are any feasible solutions.
There is quite a bit of hope.
The industrial base at the Governor’s camp started from scratch but has developed rapidly, primarily due to advanced black technology materials.
Even if the Alloy and Plastic Steel produced by the Wasteland Society is considered subpar, the Alloy and Plastic Steel produced from finished black boxes is of the highest quality.
However, until the technology is fully mastered, the scale of the synthetic starch production line cannot be further expanded.
Nevertheless, the current production capacity is already quite sufficient.
As long as there are enough raw materials and the production line operates at full capacity, it is more than enough to ensure that all of Gu Hang’s current personnel are well-fed.
There is even a considerable surplus capacity, which can be used to stockpile food and even for export sales.
All of Gu Hang’s plans are just waiting for Denison Henry to bring back the first batch of goods and people to start getting on track.
The merchant from Garbage Town did not keep him waiting long and soon returned.
Both the population and supplies were absorbed by Gu Hang’s forces.
The two major industrial centers, along with the Manban River Valley Manor that has gradually resumed agricultural production, have set the overall productivity of the Governor’s forces on a rapid development track.