Chapter 95: The Nation's Development Direction

"Xiao Qin, regarding the future development direction of our country, what are your thoughts."

When those words were spoken, Zhang Yunfeng and Cheng Haitang both turned to look at Qin Hao.

The question is enormous, large enough to crush anyone's shoulders.

But Qin Hao no longer felt the usual constriction.

After a few seconds of silence, he finally spoke:

"Luo Lao, I'm just an ordinary person, my vision may not be that far-reaching, so let me just babble from my own feelings."

He first gave himself a preface, then shifted the tone.

"I think our future lies in the cosmic starry sky; the petty disputes on Blue Star are nothing but resource issues."

But beyond Blue Star lies the boundless sea of stars, where there are resources and space beyond our imagination—that is the true future."

Luo Lao

He and Zhang Yunfeng exchanged a glance, each seeing a hint of approval in the other's eyes.

"Therefore, I think the first thing we must do is lift everyone's gaze from the ground beneath their feet to the starry sky."

Qin Hao continued:

"We have to start from the children; the education system must change, integrating interstellar navigation, planetary science, aerospace technology and the like into basic education."

We cannot let children, when they mention space, only know zodiac fortunes, or when they talk about planets, only think of sci‑fi movie aliens.

We must cultivate their cosmic view from a young age, so they know that our future lies in that dark yet glittering starry sky."

Zhang Yunfeng listened and nodded continuously: "This proposal is good; thought is the forerunner of action, and education is the foundation for building societal consensus."

"Thought alone isn't enough; we need food to eat."

Qin Hao shifted his tone, becoming more pragmatic,

"The second point is a major economic transformation; our goal should be interstellar mining. The Moon holds abundant helium‑3, and the asteroid belt contains countless precious metals."

With our technology, we should bring those resources back, which is the true inexhaustible supply.

By centering on space mining and space construction, we can drive the development of materials science, artificial intelligence, bio‑engineering and a host of related industries, forming a new economic cycle,

while other traditional industries can gradually become auxiliary.

"Next, we will liberate labor."

A hint of seasoned reflection colored Qin Hao's tone,

"I once tightened screws on an assembly line for over ten hours a day, repeating the same motion tens of thousands of times, feeling less a person and more a component of a machine."

Such tedious, repetitive, dehumanizing work should be handed to intelligent robots.

Free people to pursue more creative, meaningful endeavors.

to engage in art, research, exploration, and enjoy life."

"And those border‑defending soldiers, firefighters, anti‑drug police, and so on—they work too hard and face great danger; such tasks should also be replaced by robots."

"And the liberated labor force, combined with the massive resources brought back from space, will elevate our productive capacity to an unprecedented height."

Qin Hao spoke more fluidly, and the blueprint in his mind grew clearer.

"By then, we will have the ability to provide the most comprehensive livelihood security for all citizens."

At that point, Qin Hao's gaze dimmed for an instant, touching a memory deep in his mind.

"I grew up in an orphanage, never knowing what a home feels like. So I think the state should ensure every citizen has a house of their own—not too big, but warm enough."

When I was a laborer, I fell ill once and almost lacked the money for treatment.

So I know the despair of lying in a hospital bed, staring at a medical bill.

Our healthcare should be free for all, allowing everyone to afford treatment and live with dignity."

"And food, clothing, travel… these basic needs, before overwhelming productive capacity, are no longer problems."

"Isn't the goal of our nation's struggle simply to let every compatriot enjoy a good life and live as a human?"

These words, though lacking ornate diction, struck straight to the heart.

Luo Lao and Zhang Yunfeng fell silent.

The state certainly knows these issues; it was just difficult to achieve before.

Cheng Haitang had been sitting quietly beside them; now, watching Qin Hao's profile, his eyes showed a look of satisfaction.

The young man he had watched grow all this way now possessed the vision and scope to shape the country's future.

"Then comes the military."

Qin Hao reined in his emotions, his tone becoming fervent,

"Our army can no longer be content with being a strong nation on Blue Star. Future defense will have its borders not on the national frontier but across the entire Solar System."

We must begin forming a true space force, with a space fleet at its core.

Our warships must be able to cruise lunar orbit, and our soldiers must be able to land on Mars.

Future wars will start in orbit and end in orbit. Whoever controls space controls everything on Earth in the future."

"Ying Jiang's recent failure is the best example. No matter how large their aircraft carrier, in front of laser weapons it is merely a target; we cannot follow their old path."

Finally, Qin Hao raised a deeper issue.

"Of course, taking steps that are too big can easily tear the egg."

He said candidly.

"Rapid technological advancement and dramatic social restructuring will inevitably bring a host of new contradictions."

For example, after robots massively replace human labor, how do we re‑employ the liberated workforce?

Or, with greatly extended lifespans, how will the social pension system cope?

Furthermore, when material needs are vastly satisfied, how should people's spiritual world be filled?

We must begin pondering these questions now and find solutions. Technology is cold, but the human heart is warm.

We cannot, on the road to the sea of stars, lose what makes us human.

Having said that in one breath, Qin Hao picked up the tea that had grown somewhat cold, took a big gulp, and calmed his agitated mood.

The office was silent.

The expressions on Luo Lao's and Zhang Yunfeng's faces went from initial listening, to midway approval, to final contemplation.

After a long while, Luo Lao let out a long sigh, looked at Qin Hao, his eyes complex.

Zhang Yunfeng sighed:

"The points you raised—education, economy, livelihood, military, and social issues—are all being addressed."

"You can think of these; you probably already have a preliminary plan in mind, right?"

At that moment, Luo Lao suddenly smiled, looking at Qin Hao.

Qin Hao nodded under everyone's gaze: "Yes, I have some immature ideas, but I think they're feasible."

Zhang Yunfeng became interested and pressed further:

"Let's hear it; we really want to know how you plan to solve these problems."

Qin Hao set down his teacup and began slowly.

The labor liberation I just mentioned would let everyone escape dull, repetitive, dangerous work. I recalled an old movie called I, Robot.

Inside, the NS-5-type robots possess strength and speed far beyond humans, and they can continually learn and evolve via the central mainframe.

Most importantly, they were programmed with the Three Laws of Robotics, born to serve humanity.

I plan to copy this technology, set up a full production line, so that factory workers, construction workers, even domestic helpers could be replaced by them—wouldn't that liberate humanity?

And for high-risk posts like border defense, anti-drug, and firefighting, we could replace them with the combat robots from Terminator—they'd be perfect for the job.

When those two movie names came up, the three of them felt a bit embarrassed.

Because none of them had seen the films, they naturally weren't sure what was being referred to.

Looks like we need to catch up on those two movies.

Zhang Yunfeng laughed heartily, easing the atmosphere.

Qin Hao chuckled along, then steered the conversation back: "But regarding the military matter I just mentioned, I have a more direct idea."

Oh?

As soon as military was mentioned, Zhang Yunfeng's interest spiked again.

We just discussed that the future national defense border lies in the Solar System. To guard such a vast territory, laser satellites alone aren't enough; we must have our own space fleet.

But starting from scratch—designing hulls, overcoming engines, solving life-support systems—this process would take too long; even ten or twenty years might not yield combat capability, and by the time we built them, the opportunity would have passed.

Luo Lao and Zhang Yunfeng nodded slowly.

So we still need to take a shortcut: directly copy a few small spacecraft from Independence Day and dismantle them for study.

Besides the energy shield and power system we've already copied, it has one more crucial technology indispensable for reaching space—the anti-gravity system.

Anti-gravity!

As soon as that word was spoken, the three simultaneously realized how vital this technology is.

And Qin Hao's tone grew serious,

Our current astronauts, after spending months on a space station, must undergo lengthy rehabilitation upon return to counteract muscle atrophy and bone loss.

This is the inevitable effect of zero gravity on the human body; we can't possibly build a space force where soldiers, after each mission,

would have to all go to a rehab center and lie there for half a year—what combat effectiveness would that be?

But anti-gravity technology can directly create a stable artificial gravity field inside a spacecraft.

That means soldiers aboard the ship would live just as they do on the ground—able to carry out normal routines, training, and daily life.

Only then can we sustain long-duration, long-distance interstellar voyages; this is the foundation for building a truly combat-ready space fleet.

These words earned strong agreement from all three.

After all, training a qualified astronaut is costly.

Moreover, one must meet stringent physical standards—not just anyone can qualify.

Zhang Yunfeng slapped his thigh in excitement:

This is great! I've been worrying about how to pick the best from nationwide pilots and then spend three to five years putting them through ultra-high-intensity astronaut training.

Your step here kicks open the biggest barrier: with anti-gravity spacecraft, any physically fit ordinary pilot,

even ordinary soldiers, with just a little training, could become qualified space warriors—manpower would no longer be an issue!

"That's exactly what I mean." Qin Hao nodded.

We can't keep training space soldiers like we raise precious giant pandas; we need them to be trainable and deployable on the same scale as ordinary soldiers.