Chapter 374: Someone Always Pays for War_1

As the second fleet of the Trisolarans traveled further and further away, re-entering the speed of light, the Second and Sixth Legions at the front lines began to retreat at full speed.

The war had ended, and the industrial production of the Solar System State began major adjustments.

Factories only completed the warships that had already been started and then shut down.

Rediaz had once joked that the Solar System State wouldn't need to build another warship for three hundred years.

With over fifty thousand warships of various types and a military force surpassing ten million in number, humanity had the most powerful space military force in its history!

Over the past year, workers had been working overtime non-stop, with no time to rest; now, the Governing Council of the Solar System State would grant them a month of paid leave.

As for the unused warship parts in the factories, they were all turned over to the logistics division of the defense department for use as reserve parts.

When their vacation was over, and the workers returned to work, they would start building new models of civilian warships.

Previously, the Solar System State did not dare to civilianize its most advanced technology, but now that the war was over, it was time to let the people enjoy the benefits brought by the most advanced technology.

It was estimated that spacecraft equipped with new nuclear engines would be able to reach Jupiter from Earth in just twelve days, while the current journey generally required thirty to over forty days.

Other factories involved in military production also gave their workers paid holidays, and after the holidays, most would begin to shift towards civilian production.

Only a few factories, such as those producing J135 and J145, as well as the Neptune factory producing military nuclear fuel, continued operating, but for the coming month, they too would receive double or triple pay.

In addition, compensation for martyrs' families had been distributed since the month following the "Second Battle."

At Jiang Yu's request, the amount was set very high, equal to the wages the martyrs had earned while alive.

Beneficiaries spanned two generations: spouses or husbands and children; for unmarried, childless martyrs, their parents and siblings were the beneficiaries.

During the war, the Solar System State's industrial production consumed a massive amount of resources; although the finances of the Governing Council weren't heavily burdened under military control, the loss for the Solar System State was real.

This war did not bring significant gains, yet it brought the heavy burden of compensation for the martyrs.

While the Solar System State negotiated with the PDC and Fleet International, Rediaz, as the great steward of the Solar System State, discussed the matter with Jiang Yu.

Both agreed that the bulk of this loss and burden should be passed onto the PDC and Fleet International, with a smaller part placed upon the war criminals.

Someone always had to pay for the war.

After Sophon started living a reclusive life, Zhuang Yue began to take over the pseudo-military forces from her hands.

The pseudo-military forces amounted to over eight million able-bodied laborers, all of whom were convicted of crimes against humanity and faced thirty to fifty years of labor reform.

Some were assigned to harsh positions, such as miners in the Main Asteroid Belt and Kuiper Belt.

Or to dangerous ones, like hydrogen and helium mines close to the Gas Giant Planet.

Or to exhausting ones, like space construction workers.

Similar positions would all be filled by war criminals.

Of course, there would be certain policy benefits for technical and scientific talents.

Today's labor force was highly intelligent. Though these positions were arduous, basic safety guarantees existed, and they did not have to toil directly, so the situation would not lead to massive deaths of prisoners like in history.

As Jiang Yu said, everyone had to be responsible for their choices. Back then, these people had been eager to join the pseudo-military instead of the Resistance Army, so they had to face the bitter consequences of that choice.

It was better for the pseudo-military forces to end up in Zhuang Yue's hands than in those of the PDC.

Now, PDC and Fleet International's people are cursing the Solar System State while sparing no time to scold the puppet army. If the puppet army falls into their hands in the future, they'll have no choice but death!

Even though nearly everyone had applied to join the puppet army at some point, now that the Trisolarans have left, the people of PDC and Fleet International will never forgive them.

The reason Rediaz was able to deal with the puppet army through labor reeducation was mainly that, although the puppet army had suffered heavy losses, they hadn't caused much in the way of personnel casualties to the highly automated First Legion, so there was not much hatred towards the puppet army.

As for whether PDC and Fleet International can bear the brunt of the Solar System State's losses, that will depend on whether they can step up to the challenge.

The property confiscated earlier counts as the first compensation, but those assets are not enough to cover the war damages of the Solar System State.

If they're able to meet the compensation Jiang Yu set for them, well and good, but if not, they shouldn't blame the Solar System State for being ruthless.

As Jiang Yu had anticipated, under sufficient pressure given to PDC and Fleet International, Cheng Ping, an official from the PDC headquarters in Australia, seized the opportunity to become the new rotating chairman of PDC.

Upon taking office, he immediately recognized the existing territories of the Solar System State.

Then, Cheng Ping rented the southern parts of Africa and South America from the Solar System State as regions to alleviate the population pressure in Australia.

He also leased space construction equipment from the Solar System State and purchased a large amount of space industrial products, preparing to build large colonies on the Moon and Mars to fully relieve Australia's population pressure.

Last, he bought large quantities of food and power generation facilities from the Solar System State, paying with natural resources.

Upon hearing Cheng Ping's actions, Rediaz and Jiang Yu knew that PDC's time was not up yet.

PDC might not have much territory left on Earth, but when the Solar System State was still weak, PDC had secured a vast amount of territory on the Moon and Mars. Now was the time to cash in on those old assets.

The intelligence department immediately provided Cheng Ping's resume, which revealed him to be a Common Era person who was a PDC employee before hibernation.

After being awakened, he continued to work for PDC.

A few years earlier, Cheng Ping had sharply criticized PDC's corruption and negligence, but after facing resistance, he began to tolerate in silence, biding his time until the hardliners gained public support, allowing him to pursue his ambitions.

Cheng Ping sent a new negotiating representative to Desert North Farm. Rediaz hit it off with the new representative and immediately agreed to a batch of food aid.

Rediaz laughed and said, "Your new chairman is a man of courage. The Wallfacer and I both like such people."

The representative replied politely, neither servile nor overbearing, and then sighed, "Population has now become PDC's biggest pressure.

"Although the birth rate has been declining over the past half-century, the population still only dropped by over a billion in over sixty years."

Rediaz nodded in agreement, "We also think that Earth's population should be between four and five billion for optimal health.

"It's not that we lack the food to feed so many people; it's that the main workforce is no longer human.

"The huge production power and demographic dividend that came with the population are gone, and instead, it's the high-end technology dividend that's driving everything.

"In such a state, a large population becomes cumbersome.

"By comparison, the Solar System State is like a healthy thin person, whereas PDC is like a bloated patient suffering from obesity."

The PDC representative found much truth in these words.

Rediaz suddenly shifted the topic, "Now, the Solar System State is willing to help you lighten the burden. Citizens of Chinese and Venezuelan nationality can return to their homeland to live, but they must submit to the management of the Solar System State."

The PDC representative immediately realized that this was Rediaz's ultimate goal in the negotiation.

He then remembered that these two countries were the birthplaces of the Solar System State's Wallfacers and Governors, their ancestral homelands.