An hour later, the personnel from Jing City had briefly and clearly introduced the situation in Jing City.
Lu Heng also asked a few questions from time to time, gaining a preliminary understanding of the situation in Jing City.
"It seems that the work you did in the early stages was quite thorough."
"When the zombies first broke out, we realized that we had to build a city wall to stop the zombies' advance on humanity."
Elder Fei was one of the first to realize this, so when someone proposed this plan, he decisively adopted it and ordered its immediate execution.
"However, the burden on the city became heavier later, and we are now finding it difficult to sustain."
As the capital, Jing City began to accept survivors from nearby areas after the safe perimeter wall was initially established.
However, humans accustomed to their current state, once they obtained a safe living environment, gradually began to adopt a defensive posture.
Every day, those survivors waited for relief supplies distributed by Jing City to live on. Even though these supplies were dwindling and many people could no longer eat their fill, they still chose to hide in their abandoned residences.
"What is the proportion of these useless people here, and what is their number?"
"Cough, cough, you mean ordinary people?" The person who had just introduced the situation to Lu Heng coughed awkwardly.
Seeing Lu Heng nod, the person smiled awkwardly again and said to Lu Heng, "Ordinary people account for sixty percent of Jing City's total population, approximately two hundred thousand people."
This number was indeed not small. "So many idle people, and you've been supporting them until now?"
Lu Heng found the approach of Jing City difficult to understand. It was understandable that at the beginning of the apocalypse, as the former capital, they would want to help the surviving humans through a temporary difficult period and provide some food and other supplies.
However, the situation of the apocalypse was clearly not something that could be overcome in a short period.
Continuously supporting these people who could not support themselves was a too heavy burden.
Elder Fei stood up from his seat and said to Lu Heng with a hint of shame, "This is the responsibility of Jing City. In peacetime, the taxes paid by the people supported us and the entire country, and we should not abandon them in times of crisis.
If this has caused a burden to Wuming City, we will compensate in other ways. However, if Wuming City does not wish to participate, we will not morally coerce Wuming City."
The supplies in the apocalypse were found by those who dared to face the zombies, risking their lives in abandoned cities filled with zombie activity.
As the leadership of Jing City, they had an obligation to be responsible for the living supplies of ordinary people, but they had no reason to demand that others do the same.
They also knew that the world had changed and could no longer demand the same things from others as in peacetime.
"Elder Fei, please sit down. Supplies are not the issue. I'm saying that these ordinary people should not be so content to enjoy supplies that others have exchanged with their lives."
Lu Heng was now very disgusted with those who comfortably accepted charity from others. While one or two instances of relief might be acceptable, these people in Jing City had already survived safely for over a year.
For such a long time, these people were still receiving free supplies distributed by the base daily, which was becoming unacceptable.
"We will also arrange some work for them, but there are really not many things they can do now."
Elder Fei sat down again. He rubbed his temples wearily. There were indeed many things to deal with every day, and he was just an ordinary elderly person, already feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
"Well, some changes are still needed. Have you considered letting them go out to obtain crystals themselves, and then exchange them for supplies?"
Most bases were doing this now. Lu Heng had never encountered a situation like Jing City's.
The apocalypse did not support idlers; the current society had completely become a world of survival of the fittest.
In other regions, ordinary people without special abilities had no other way out except to be enslaved.
"This, if we drive those people out now, it would undoubtedly be sending them to their deaths for nothing. This..."
Most of the zombies now were level two or above. Putting aside whether these ordinary survivors dared to face zombies, it was impossible for them to fight zombies with weapons.
Having lost the initial advantage in resisting zombies, they now had no ability to fight them.
But what Lu Heng said, continuously supporting these people was indeed a burden, and Jing City could no longer bear it.
"If these people can't kill zombies, let them do labor."
Since they couldn't be warriors, they should do some basic work.
Wuming City was planning to resume production, and these ordinary people could be employed in some simple manual labor.
Lu Heng would no longer waste crystals or magic crystals to upgrade these people. As zombies were continuously slaughtered, crystals would become increasingly scarce.
And magic crystals, as objects not belonging to this world, were still best kept away from the general public.
"What kind of work?"
The only thing Elder Fei could think of was farming.
However, farming required not only vast land but also ensuring the safety of the land's surroundings.
But securing vast tracts of land was difficult.
"I remember there are no areas very close to Jing City suitable for planting, so these people can be arranged to do some production work, such as producing clothing and fabrics, which are basic jobs."
It should not be difficult to secure an industrial production zone near Jing City, so these people could be arranged to do some of the most basic survival work.
Besides the food humans needed daily, issues like clothing and warmth also needed to be resolved.
More than a year into the apocalypse, clothing and other knitted items in many areas, apart from those collected, were not well preserved. Due to moisture and other reasons, they could no longer be used.
"This is indeed possible, but someone needs to be arranged to teach them specifically. Not everyone can operate production equipment. Also, this equipment requires a large amount of electricity, and electricity cannot be restored yet..."
What Lu Heng said was indeed a way, but it was still difficult to implement, and the electricity problem was somewhat difficult to solve.
The original electricity, besides coal and gas power generation, the most important source of electricity was still those dams.
There was also the issue of raw material supply for power plants and the restoration of long-distance power transmission.
"These will have to be restored sooner or later. We can also help clear some zombies from the power lines this time.
Furthermore, the entire country must now unite and launch a counterattack against the zombies."
Constantly being in a passive situation, killing zombies daily for supplies was too passive.
For humanity to restore its former life, the pace of eliminating zombies must be accelerated.
"These all need to be refined. We need to conduct a detailed analysis, but what City Lord Lu said this time is indeed a problem that needs to be taken seriously."
Elder Fei agreed with the solutions proposed by Lu Heng. What Lu Heng said about work for ordinary people was just an example, but the direction was correct.
Although Jing City could not abandon those people, those people could not continue to be parasites, and Jing City could not continue to support them for free.
"Alas, it's still not enough supplies."