Chapter 1659: Chapter 1659

1659: Chapter 1655: War Engine 1659: Chapter 1655: War Engine “Father, I have settled down in the Eastern Country Ancient City, and now I’m working at a ship company in the Development Zone.

We mainly provide auxiliary equipment for warships; the Easterners have not hidden anything from us….”

Letter after letter was sent to the north; radio communication made their contact quite frequent.

From the moment they were accepted, Lu Ping’an’s duty to “appease” was accomplished.

He needed to build a network of connections; the rest would be completed by themselves.

If you indeed transfer a high-level official originally from the Sakura Kingdom, even if you offer him a high position, in the end, he is just a figurehead.

In contrast, a young person who has proven his ability and “loyalty” from the grassroots level has the chance to gradually enter the higher echelons.

Only those who truly understand the field appreciate the preciousness of this acceptance.

And only those who truly understand the History of Eastern Country know how to deal with internal conflicts and talent selection for long-term national harmony.

It’s not just the foreign refugees who enjoy this treatment; actually, residents from the Foreign Domain have enjoyed it for several years, especially the locally born hybrids and naturalized foreigners.

“The Eastern Country is really powerful, it is powerful and prosperous in every aspect.

The Ancient city under my jurisdiction was upgraded to a directly-administered city just three years ago, previously it was merely a countryside of a state.

But simply due to a good geographical situation, it has already become an industrial base for heavy industries, with at least seven hundred enterprises in the entire industry chain, employing over a million workers—every day, new ships are being tested on the river….”

In a way, such “exaggeration” is indeed necessary to facilitate a stable situation.

But what they talk about is also the most crucial reality at present.

In the past, many said that technological innovation and the advancement of the times would eventually make human resources and mass-tactic warfare meaningless, turning war into a pure economic and technological competition….but reality has shown that this ideal state is always close to truth yet cannot be fully achieved, at least Lu Ping’an doesn’t think he’ll see it in his lifetime.

Looking back, and at the present too, regardless of how advanced technology and science are, they still require an industrial supply chain for production.

And the supply chain needs businesses, production lines, and a large amount of human resources…

Human resources include low-end skilled ordinary workers, high-quality technicians, high-quality engineers, designers in various specialties, etc., all of which cannot just be shouted into existence or settled via short-term training, but require educational institutions, job opportunities, and delegated organizations to foster over a long period.

The “automobile” industry has always been seen as the core of a nation’s industry, not only does it generate value on its own, but more importantly, it has the volume to lead countless businesses and employ countless talents.

And those high-quality industrial human resources can also become the keystones of other industries.

“That year, choosing the Saphire people for the automobile (land Flying Boat) industry was indeed the correct decision….”

That year, the Saphire people chose this industry out of necessity, as this industry could accommodate the most workers, potentially minimizing their people becoming homeless refugees.

Initially, a Development Zone was packed; the number of jobs related to the entire industry rose from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, and in recent years it has even surpassed a million….

This has also resulted in the Ancient city’s unique living style; many people live in the city, while others commute to the Development Zone and heavy industrial areas in the suburbs for work.

Naturally, they harbored a large number of related employees, assembly line designers, ordinary workers, technicians, maintenance personnel, etc., even surrounding vehicle traders and repair parts sellers pulled out a massive number of jobs.

With these personnel, alongside the escalation of the War on Mercury 42, and as Lu also helped his hometown find new economic growth points—arms trade, they once again welcomed an explosive period.

Not to mention the far-off, shipbuilding, still selling best on Mercury 42, is also a heavy human industry requiring a large number of professionals rather than slave labor…

Those automobile industry professionals can easily adapt to new environments and positions after just a bit of training.

These are real manifestations of economies of scale—when you can attract professionals on your side, have cheap utilities, have access directly to the sea, then those new high-quality projects naturally choose your city, especially now that it is a directly administered city, able to offer the best conditions in terms of taxes and land use.

That’s just the soft attraction…

Some industries have stringent upstream and downstream requirements, some industrial products need clean steam produced by power plants, some battery production needs a by-product of a specific electrical reprocessing, and some designs for electrical devices/small cars need plenty of cheaply-sourced components.

The result of cluster effects and scale effects is that the victors keep rolling a snowball bigger every day, while the losers plead with all their might and nobody comes to aid.

The population of the Ancient city has exploded over the years, with constant investment from external projects; the managers of the Ancient city can even afford to be choosy…

And the root of all this rise stems from the resolute and bold gamble by the previous leadership team, but even more so because they were lucky to draw a top-tier SSR—Lu Ping’an.

Without Lu Ping’an, the direct jurisdiction city quota wouldn’t have come so easily, let alone the orders from Mercury 42, and the most attractive spot in this city for quality population has always been his Rebirth Commerce and “Forest Land”…

The proportion of Extraordinary individuals here is the highest in the nation, with countless people coming here daily to transition jobs, and a portion of them stay in this increasingly developed city.

This, is only the past.

“In the upcoming war period, it is actually a new round of development for our Ancient city…”

The orders for arms are making a killing; the profit is probably much higher than selling medicines.

The shipbuilding industry can produce warships, and the automobile industry can be converted to produce war tanks; the Ancient city that has become a central heavy industrial base, naturally wants a thick slice of the new era’s major orders…

especially as Lu Ping’an is currently quite effectively using face-saving Fruits in both the military and official sectors.

With orders, there is work, businesses have the necessity and desire to expand, and the wages and treatments for the workers keep improving, thus elevating the happiness index of the people.

In a sense, Lu Ping’an indeed has thrived his hometown by his own efforts…

“I can only offer some help, fundamentally it is still the city’s desire for change and willingness to take bold risks…”

In the past, accepting the Saphire people brought numerous social issues and elements of instability, even making people doubt if it was the dumbest decision they had ever seen in their lifetime.

But looking back now, without the foundational Development Zones established back then that allowed the city’s industrial workers to complete the technological transition for the new era, the subsequent development opportunities would naturally be missed.

The implication of Lu Ping’an’s words is that his help is merely a “fertilizer/catalyst”; if there is no flowerpot and no person wishing to plant flowers, no matter how hard one tries, it’s useless; he merely helped by going along with the momentum.

Now, however, it is already time for a bountiful harvest.

In today’s Jianghu, it is filled with various types of warships and civilian ships; here, more than twenty shipyards have produced triple-digit types of ships.

And this, is the foundation for the future war.

The decisive battle did not erupt three years ago, because under the conditions at that time, humans who were not proficient in naval battles couldn’t possibly win, they could only use the self-harming “Poison Sea Tactic” to forcefully create a buffer zone and delay the timing of the decisive battle.

In three years, numerous domestic industries have relocated, including drones, mechanical soldiers, war puppets, ships, war tanks, and a series of war weapons have all been preliminarily equipped and are ready to enter the battlefield at any time.

Just looking at a few shipyards mainly operated by the City Lord of the Ancient city, the ongoing production of “Big Black Fish” gates is enough to give the Foreign Invaders something substantial to handle.

Daring to accept foreign refugees and Alien Races, is because now the Eastern Country has the confidence; they show off these items to others openly, motivating morale, yet also establishing authority.

At this moment, the war machine of the Eastern Country has been fully activated…

the production line will continuously produce war resources, this is the lifeline that will sustain the war until victory.