To the vast majority of Star Alliance citizens, Pri Minister Du Peng of the Star Alliance was a political figure they encountered more frequently than Chancellor Bai Zhongqi. Despite the fact that the pri minister was not elected by them, but directly appointed by the Star Alliance Council (by Bai Zhongqi), Du Peng's capability in handling affairs, his firmness with stubborn and clever local state governnts, and his consistently gentle and refined personal image, made him quite popular among the people.
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Chancellor Bai rarely made public appearances, the last ti he gave a formal speech was at the post-Earth Defense War ceremony to mourn the deceased and celebrate the victory. Du Peng, on the other hand, frequently appeared in dia news, often involved in various Star Alliance national and civic issues, from the widespread adoption of universal supply policies to the transfer of family industries, his influence was evident in many of the Alliance's actions.
Even Bai Zhongqi had a great deal of respect for a workaholic like Du Peng, who worked almost twenty hours a day, resting only four hours each day.
By comparison, Bai Zhongqi still controlled the direction of the Star Alliance's developnt and expansion, but gradually vanished from the public's view. After the people of Iridium Star beca one of the Alliance's groups, many Earthlings even mistook Bai Zhongqi for the spiritual leader of the Iridium Star people. After all, Bai Zhongqi wasn't so trivial that the textbooks would say the Chancellor gives Supre Commands daily, even controlling how many carrots are produced by the Star Alliance public economy departnt.
After devising his Compulsory Conscription Law, Xiao Yu went directly to et with Du Peng.
"Pri Minister, at the last war preparation eting, the Chancellor proposed that we aim to build the Universe Army up to eight million strong, yet currently, we just barely exceeded three million, and over half of the positions are still unfilled. Over the past three months, we have observed a declining trend in the number of volunteers signing up for service. If this trend continues, it will be absolutely detrintal to the expansion plans of the Universe Army," Xiao Yu started by pulling out the big card of Bai Zhongqi, which forced Du Peng to take the matter seriously.
Du Peng didn't have many interactions with Xiao Yu, who used to appear as nothing more than a profligate figure and with a strong family background at that, so Du Peng didn't hold him in high regard. But since Xiao Yu took command of the Universe Army and managed better results than Xu Lanzhou, Du Peng had begun to see him in a new light.
"The situation on Earth is not entirely unexpected; in most old era developed countries, joining the military is the last resort, and it still takes brainwashing-style patriotic education to make it happen. Like in the Lighthouse Country, where joining the military ans fighting abroad unless the country is truly invaded. Now the Star Alliance offers people too many life choices, and young people want to experience various things. Every profession is accumulating talent, so the competition is also quite fierce. Commander Xiao, I think it will take a few years for the conscription on Earth to stabilize. For now, I would suggest that you focus more on our other Administrative Stars."
Du Peng's recomndation was indeed sensible. The Star Alliance now had a total of five fully institutionalized Administrative Stars, of which the populations of Lieque Star and Taoran Star could be ignored as too small, barely in the millions. The populations of Erald Sea Star and Lingge Star, however, were considerable: Erald Sea Star, now including Earth immigrants, had over three hundred million people, and Lingge Star had a population of 2 billion.
Xiao Yu replied, "The conscription work on Erald Sea Star and Lingge Star is going smoothly, thanks to His Majesty's foresight in establishing a training center on Lingge Star. The developnt level there is even slightly higher than on Earth, and there are far fewer countries, making it easier to organize and control. After sufficient training and learning, it is not difficult for the Lingge people to join the army. By comparison, Earth's problems could potentially beco phenonally bad. I believe the social issues on Earth are not only reflected in our inability to recruit for the Universe Army; more and more scholars and observers are starting to worry about the issue of the large unemployed population. Perhaps they won't beco destroyers of social stability, but it is clearly a very inefficient phenonon."
At that mont, Du Peng sighed softly, saying, "It won't work to apply the experiences of Iridium Star directly to Earth. The people of Iridium Star, after thousands of years under the United Empire system, are very accustod to being born to contribute to the United Empire and the Chancellor. Labor is a glorious duty. On Earth, maybe China, as a nominally socialist country, still has so cultural remnants, but most other countries lack this concept. Not only the forr developed countries but many forr developing countries are also showing signs of non-employnt. After the citizen supply policy was implented, the public in so countries started to be idle, doing nothing, which is heartbreaking."
As he said this, his expression was one of regret, but his eyes also held a hint of disdain for these people.
Xiao Yu keenly sensed the mood of the Pri Minister, who, despite seeming approachable and friendly on the surface, was at his core sowhat Iridium-First. Following the transition, the ethnic identity of the Iridium Star people almost ceased to exist. The original Iridium Star people were now settled throughout the Star Alliance. Iridium Star seed to have beco a tale of yesterday; even Chancellor Bai seldom ntioned Iridium Star anymore, focusing instead on the Star Alliance.
Du Peng nostalgically cherished everything about Iridium Star, although he now wielded astonishing power, things he never dared dream of before.
"Our implentation of the Compulsory Conscription Law is also a good way to solve non-employnt. The Universe Army is a large lting pot that can instill correct values in many citizens. We make the rule that any Star Alliance citizen who has not engaged in any full-ti or part-ti work for three consecutive months will stand a certain chance of being drafted into the Universe Army."
Du Peng, of course, was aware of the risks and benefits of such a asure. Anything compulsory is bound to stir controversy. But looking at how people from various countries in the Star Alliance were living superior lives without the desire to even start the Deep Sleep System for learning — spending their days watching soap operas at ho, skateboarding, or gambling — it was pure waste of life.
Star Alliance community correction had no good root solution for such widespread non-employnt and laziness, yet if the Compulsory Conscription Law could have so effect, it might not be a bad idea.
Du Peng held further discussions with Xiao Yu, and, along with their staff teams, they promptly drafted more details and implentation thods. Once Du Peng considered it mature enough, he submitted it to Chancellor Bai Zhongqi. As for the nominal power structure of the Star Alliance Council, Du Peng was in no hurry to make it public.
Over half the mbers of the Star Alliance Council were bionic humans placed by Bai Zhongqi, so showing it to them had no substantial effect. The final decision to say yes or no still rested with the Chancellor.
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