<h4>Chapter 349: nning Ten Steps Ahead</h4>


    <strong>Trantor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio <strong>Editor: </strong>Nyoi-Bo Studio


    It was now 20X8.


    In this particr year, a total of four “Artificial Suns” were put into operation, each of them generating 15 thousand megawatts of power. Together with the previous two “Artificial Suns” with power of 10 thousand megawatts on thend of the Great Z, the number of “Artificial Suns” had increased to six. They had abined power generation of 80 thousand megawatts which ounted for about 55% of the country’s total power generation capacity.


    There was also the third-generation nuclear fission power generation which made up 15% of theprehensive power generation and another 17%prising of hydraulic, wind, sr, and geothermal power generation.


    The total proportion of clean energy had increased to 87%.


    Traditional thermal power generation was left with only a 13% share. It had not beenpletely eliminated because it was still essential in certain industrial production.


    Correspondingly, the price of domestic electricity had also slumped by a significant margin. The tariff rate for ordinary residents was 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, and cheap industrial electricity was provided at 20 cents and 15 cents per kilowatt-hour. 15 cents was the lowest price avable. The tariff rate for urban indoor agriculture was apparently at 20 cents per kilowatt-hour. The government was currently supporting this industry to save for traditional agriculturalnd.


    In the northwestern desert, electricity would only cost 15 cents per kilowatt-hour. The intention here was to encourage individuals or enterprises to contribute to environmental protection.


    Regardless of that, after April 20X8, the capitalists who had swarmed into the northwestern desert had almost all withdrawn as they were unable to stick it out any longer.


    No future.


    There was indeed no future at all.


    Rather than investing billions of dors in the desert, it was better to specte in buildingnd in first and second-tier cities in the eastern region. Once indoor agriculture had be widespread, a wide span of agriculturalnd had been cleared. With policies getting better and better,rge numbers of houses could once again be built.


    In recent years, the country was also frantically encouraging childbirth. In many ces, authorities were not only giving out money, they even introduced a policy called “A free house along with a second child”. This was literally a free giveaway! One would only have to pay for the renovation.


    Many areas truly went the whole nine yards to increase their poption.


    The policy was sessful. The poption which originally had a negative growth rate was now in a state of equilibrium, providing much relief to the upper levels of the poption pyramid.


    Poption growth would directly trante into economic growth. The root cause of the stagnation of the economy of many countries was their insufficient poption Once a country’s poption stop growing, their economy would begin to stagnate.


    If there was a negative growth in poption, the economy would begin to shrink. As the number of consumers dwindled, no matter how fast the technology of a country was developing or how high their productivity was, with no one spending money, they would all be merely decorations.


    Therefore, poption would definitely be the most important issue that all countries would confront after reaching a certain stage in their development. Nothing could be achieved without having a high enough poption!


    “Giving free houses” was just the beginning and definitely not the end. In the future, there might even be “18 years free education”, “free medical care”, or even “free car”, “free money”—people would be offered anything to make them willing to have a child!


    Was this really possible or was it all a pipe dream? Chen Jin, however, thumped his chest and guaranteed everything would be possible in the future.


    Since the beginning of 20X2 six years ago, the number of deaths that urred in the Z nation annually had begun to exceed the number of births. In the beginning, it was only a few hundred thousand. But in the past two years, there were more than one million... all these bring about a loss in poption!


    With ordance to this trend, fifty yearster, the total poption of the Z nation was estimated to only be at half of the peak period, leaving only six to seven million people.


    Indeed, the people at the bottom of the hierarchy were justmbs and leeks. There were many ways to harvest and use them. Ordinary people have no ability to decide their own destiny. They could only follow the trend, obey all kinds of arrangements, and resign themselves to adversity.


    Only in the case of childbirth could make their own decisions.


    To make or not to make.


    To make one or two.


    The decision was entirely in their own hands.


    So, whenmbs were going missing and leeks were not growing, who would be the ones panicking the most?


    Therefore, this world would always be dynamically bnced. One’s generation may be ssified as “inessential”, but after several generations, every child would truly be the future of a country.


    But there was one rule in poption: once it goes down, it would never rebound.


    None of the countries that had fallen into stagnation or negative growth could pull back their poption growth rate. It was almost irreversible.


    No country had seeded in getting out of this predicament for the time being. No matter how good the welfare benefits that a country may provide, their people would still choose to enjoy their own life.


    After a few decades, with the development speed of science and technology on Earth, no technical problems would exist for earthlings to enter the era of the Star Colony. But the problem was that the’s poption had been reduced by half. With more room for living and with each person having two suites on average, Earth alone would suffice for all of mankind. Why would interster colonization be necessary?


    Except for a few adventurers, who would want to settle down and live in a strange alien? At most, people would travel to the moon and stay in space hotels for a few days. Most people would not consider immigration. What ce would be morefortable than Earth?


    If the poption issue was not tackled, even the meaning of advancing forward in science and technology would be lost. But in Chen Jin’s handsy the key to undoing this deadlock!


    Besides, it was not that difficult to solve it. He could take a two-pronged approach to this matter. One strategy would be to introduce life-prolonging medical procedures, which would increase human life expectancy to over 200 years old. This would greatly reduce the mortality rate. Secondly, technology for extracorporeal pregnancy would be introduced. This would imitate maternal conditions in a nutritionpartment, provide nutrition to the fetus, and let the baby be “born” from the artificial womb. This would eliminate women’s fear of having babies and avoid any forms of damage to their body. Moreover, by preserving egg cells in cold storage, one could have a child whenever they wanted to, even if one had been through the menopause. This would ensure an increase in the birth rate.


    Once these two technologies be widespread, the poption problem that was thought to be “irreversible” would be solved.


    With the negative poption growth issue resolved and the economy experiencing re-growth, it would be necessary for science and technology to continue moving forward.


    Chen Jin’s act of investing huge sums of money in the desert would gradually not be seen as “being whole-heartedly for environmental protection” and “really doing it for the future of mankind”.


    “Now, the desert area in the hands of Xing Hai Technologies has increased to 500 thousand square kilometers. The entire Taklimakan Desert, Gurbantunggut Desert and the other deserts in the western region are all controlled by Xing Hai Technologies.”


    “After twenty years of transformation, these deserts will be flourishing with greenery and will have be an oasis that can amodate humans.”


    “By then, I will shift all of Xing Hai Technologies’s dozens of research centers and hundreds ofboratories there, transferring over more than 200,000 technical talents. We will build ten technological cities, each amodating up to 100,000 high-quality citizens. A million people will live there in total.”


    “We will then build another 20 immigrant cities, each with a poption of 500,000. The number of immigrants will total 10 million.”


    “I’ll also have to build a veryrge spaceport and arge electromaic orbitalunch center in the Tianshan Mountains. In the northwestern deserts, I’ll have to create a technology center and private space activity center.”


    “Then I’ll do begin to deal in real estate and attract people to buy houses there. Of course, it is okay if people are not interested in buying them. But if they want to enjoy the services of life-prolonging medical procedures, they can onlye to the northwestern desert and receive treatment at Xing Hai Hospitals. People will have toe if they wish to extend their life. If the patient is a local immigrant, they will be prioritized for treatment with its price halved.”


    “If I turn this desert into a ‘life charging station’, would youe?”


    “In theter phases of the n, I’ll develop space tourism and space medical services, and people shall walk into the sea of stars from this very desert.”


    The perception that outsiders had of Xing Hai Technologies were all wrong. They could only perceive one or two small steps ahead of them and draw false judgments out of it. Chen Jin, however, had already nned out ten steps into the future.