The second area to show results was the fishing industry.
Under the guise of the military, Che Zhen established the "Jiang Ye Star Military Supplies Reserve Company," with himself as the owner, but with 80% of the shares belonging to Jiang Ye.
The company purchased ten small fishing boats equipped with fully automated, truly unmanned fishing technology.
The fishing intelligent bacterial colony manipulated the vessels remotely via signals and sensors to catch fish.
In the first few days, the results were poor, with each boat catching only one-fifth the amount of fish compared to other private companies.
However, after a week, for reasons unknown, the intelligent bacteria seemed to have a breakthrough.
The fishing output soared, with each boat catching five times the amount of fish per day as equivalent fishing vessels from other private companies.
Jiang Ye even reviewed the backend data logs, trying to understand how the intelligent bacteria achieved this.
But after a long time, he couldn't figure it out. The data logs suggested it was purely good luck, with the fishing boats encountering large schools of fish shortly after setting out. While good luck could explain a day or two, consistently high catches for many days made luck a difficult explanation.
Jiang Ye typed to inquire with the fishing intelligent bacterial colony, "How are you able to catch so many fish?"
Intelligent Bacteria: "We can sense the movement of fish schools."
Jiang Ye: "How do you sense them?"
Intelligent Bacteria: "Talent."
Jiang Ye was at a loss. He didn't know if these bacteria genuinely possessed some special ability or if they were unwilling to disclose their methods. As they absorbed more knowledge, these intelligent bacteria had become quite shrewd, understanding the value of keeping secrets, and might be deliberately avoiding the topic.
Since the intelligent bacteria excelled at fishing, Jiang Ye invested heavily again, purchasing over sixty more fishing boats and deploying them to ports on various continents for large-scale fishing.
The private fishing enterprises complained bitterly.
They could previously catch enough fish in the nearshore waters, but the intelligent bacteria's unmanned fishing boats passed through, leaving the waters barren and making it impossible to catch enough large fish. Their survival space was severely squeezed.
To survive, the private fishing enterprises sold their small fishing boats at a loss, added money to upgrade to larger ocean-going vessels, and ventured into more distant waters for fishing.
This was soon followed by a violent incident. Two rival private companies engaged in a shootout at sea using homemade firearms. After an hour and a half of fighting, both sides suffered over twenty casualties, with decks stained with blood.
Jiang Ye, furious, went to the police station to interrogate the sailors involved in the skirmish.
Unexpectedly, the sailors' first words doused his anger like a bucket of cold water.
"Commander, we need to eat! We need money to support our families! There's only so much sea area we can fish in. If the other side takes it all, what will we eat?"
Only then did Jiang Ye realize that the intelligent bacteria's fishing had become too aggressive, kicking other fishermen out of their livelihoods.
In reality, the daily earnings from the fish caught were insignificant to Jiang Ye; they were pocket change he wouldn't even notice.
But for the fishermen, it was their sustenance. The size of the fish in their nets directly determined whether they would eat meat or vegetables that day.
After careful consideration, Jiang Ye convened a meeting with all the fishing company owners. They demarcated fishing zones for each company, agreed not to cross boundaries, and to refrain from further conflict. The situation finally calmed down.
This incident also served as a wake-up call for Jiang Ye. He ordered Feng Zhi Shuang to begin calculating the income of residents in all cities.
In this era, most money flowed online, with every cent clearly accounted for.
The per capita daily income across Jiang Ye Star was 460 yuan.
Considering the high cost of living at this time, this was actually a very low income level. After deducting expenses for food and daily necessities, there was almost nothing left.
The savings situation made it clear: the average savings was 0 yuan—not because no one saved money, but because some people had loans while others had savings. When offset, the final figure was 0.02 yuan, which rounded down to zero.
Income levels also varied greatly between cities.
Binhai City and Petrochemical City were the wealthiest, with per capita daily incomes of 2,688 yuan and 2,140 yuan respectively, and average savings of 130,000 yuan and 80,000 yuan.
The poorest, Cream City and Frozen Water City, had per capita daily incomes in the single digits, at 9 yuan and 7 yuan, with savings in the negative.
The reason for such low average incomes was primarily that the cities had just been established, and the residents were mostly refugees from other planets. Few enterprises had set up shop, and there was no entrepreneurship. It was a barren landscape, and people survived by farming, eating whatever grew in their fields. The only income earners were the resident military and police, and a handful of traveling models, writers, and online workers, whose numbers were pitifully small.
Jiang Ye asked Feng Zhi Shuang, "Is this situation normal? Should something be done?"
Feng Zhi Shuang was quite confident, "You don't need to worry about this. Although the data looks grim, the actual situation is quite good. In the few months you were away, the planet's population has multiplied several times over. New cities have sprung up on the wastelands. With such a dense influx of impoverished populations, it's a miracle we haven't experienced famine or riots. The data is temporary. I have a comprehensive economic promotion plan, and I expect the per capita daily income to reach nearly a thousand yuan within six months, with an employment rate of over ninety percent."
Jiang Ye: "Good. If the data is still bad in six months, bring your head to me!"
Feng Zhi Shuang: "Are you serious?"
Jiang Ye: "Just kidding. Why would I really want your head? Send me your plan, I'll take a look."
Feng Zhi Shuang: "Certainly."
Feng Zhi Shuang's plan was extensive, spanning over a hundred thousand characters, with charts and data as vast as the sea, and complex formulas writhing like snakes.
Jiang Ye studied it diligently for an entire night and finally breathed a sigh of relief. At least on paper, this economic plan seemed very reliable. It detailed a step-by-step approach from factory construction and resource extraction to supporting enterprises and attracting assets from other planets, with timelines precise to the day.
He decided to let Feng Zhi Shuang proceed for now, keeping a close eye on the situation, and only intervening if absolutely necessary.
...
That evening, Jiang Ye was at home watching a movie.
The film was titled "Mill," a documentary released last year that detailed the Mill people, with ratings close to perfect on major websites.
Movies in this era had declined significantly, holding a status similar to Chinese opera during Jiang Ye's childhood. While it had a certain number of fans, it was no longer the most prosperous form of entertainment.
However, as someone from an older time, Jiang Ye was still happy to watch a film when he had the chance.
The documentary was an astonishing 28 hours long. Documentaries in this era often exceeded ten hours, which made viewers drowsy. Jiang Ye couldn't understand why things had evolved this way; wouldn't it be better to break them down into episodic series?
After watching for just over an hour, the video suddenly paused.
An audio file was sent over.
The sender was "Intelligent Bacteria Music Laboratory."
Jiang Ye froze, then realized that the intelligent bacteria must have composed their first piece of music!