Wasteland Border Inspector-Chapter 261 - 118: The Wanderer’s Might, Outer City Plan! (Part 4)

The scale of Happiness City is not yet able to support such a complex layout, but first building an Outer City as a transition is entirely feasible.

However... Cheng Ye frowned slightly again.

The difficulty with using work as relief has never been about "work" or "relief" itself, but rather how to ensure fairness.

With hundreds of thousands of people working simultaneously, how can we measure each person’s contribution?

Some places are built quickly, others slowly. What if everyone wants to squeeze into the prime areas?

Or to be more practical, the terrain outside the Buffer Zone varies, with safe areas near the defense line and naturally dangerous areas farther away.

Everyone wants to squeeze into the safe spots, but who will build in the dangerous zones?

"Inspector Cheng, if you have any suggestions, please tell me. I will note them down and submit them for the station chief’s review."

Jiang Chuan said, suddenly inspired, "The station places great importance on nurturing the younger generation of inspectors. If you can make a contribution in this matter, you can definitely waive many conditions for promotion in the future."

Hmm?

Ding Yishan glanced at Jiang Chuan in surprise and then shook his head with a smile.

Sitting in the office chair, he really thinks of himself as the station chief?

But this is good too, having him say these things to Cheng Ye is smoother than speaking himself.

"Let me think..."

Realizing this might be another test for promotion, Cheng Ye cleared his mind and his brain worked rapidly.

As with the previous conversation with Towns, without more information, this is another discussion on paper.

And the key to discussions on paper is to show a big-picture view.

As long as the big picture is grasped, the details can be slowly refined and perfected with collective effort.

The microphone suddenly fell silent.

After a full four or five minutes, Cheng Ye finally began to speak thoughtfully, "Jiang Chuan..."

"Inspector Cheng, please speak. I have a pen in hand; just tell me and I’ll write it down."

"Okay."

Cheng Ye began, "The draft for constructing the Outer City can be implemented, but two questions must first be clarified: First, whether to build an Outer City structure similar to the Buffer Zone or a distribution structure similar to Firewood. Second, in the distribution system during construction, should resources be distributed based on labor or progress?"

The two consecutive questions exceeded Jiang Chuan’s knowledge.

He instinctively turned to look at Ding Yishan, only to see Ding Yishan also deep in thought. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

After more than ten seconds, Ding Yishan gestured for him to press the mute button, "Ask him about the pros and cons of the two structures, and the pros and cons of the distribution system."

"Understood."

Jiang Chuan quickly relayed the questions, and this time Cheng Ye’s response was both swift and clear.

"A structure similar to the Buffer Zone for the Outer City will lead to a division between the core area and the peripheral area, which involves serious allocation conflicts. If the first batch of migrants is assigned to the safe and convenient core area, later arrivals can only go to remote peripheral areas, and fairness is out of the question. It can easily spark inter-regional conflicts that would be impossible to suppress."

"In contrast, a distribution structure similar to Firewood can avoid this. Each area is a relatively independent core area without clear hierarchical divisions. The terrain differences and safety distance issues encountered during construction can also be balanced through resource allocation. For example, reducing the resource quota for areas near the defense line and offering additional rewards to areas farther away can guide personnel towards the periphery and promote balanced construction of the entire Outer City, avoiding the situation where one side is saturated and the other is desolate."

"As for the distribution system..."

Cheng Ye slowed down a bit, "The advantage of labor-based distribution is its intuitiveness; it is clear who does more or less work, and can maximally stimulate individual enthusiasm. But its downside is also apparent: Outer City construction is not a solo effort; building a wall requires collaboration between mixers, brick carriers, and scaffolders. If everyone focuses only on their labor, it can easily lead to disjointed efforts, reducing overall efficiency."

"Progress-based distribution is the opposite, more suitable for teamwork. For example, assigning a particular construction group a zone and having them complete a section of the defense wall within three days, distributing resources per capita upon completion, with bonuses for exceeding expectations. This encourages teamwork but can also encounter problems. If someone shirks in the group and there is no adequate supervisory punishment system, it can easily lead to one person’s laziness burdening the entire group, slowing overall progress."

"And this is particularly difficult to measure. If we delegate supervisory authority, they may only want strong individuals, excluding women, children, the elderly, and weak, creating new inequities. If we reclaim supervisory authority, the scale of tens of thousands of people will make the workload unmanageable."

Jiang Chuan’s pen scratched across the paper.

What Cheng Ye said was very straightforward. He could understand it, but thinking deeply was somewhat strenuous.

There seems to be no perfect choice, as each option has its unsolvable troubles and issues.

"Then... is there a compromise?"

After finishing taking notes, not waiting for Ding Yishan’s prompt, Jiang Chuan couldn’t help but ask.

"There is!"

This question was very simple for him, the proponent of new ideas, to address seamlessly.

Cheng Ye shifted his tone smoothly, "Establish a zonal contract system, assign specific zone tasks to individuals, make them responsible for gains and losses, and concurrently define clear goals and set tiered rewards and penalties, holding them directly accountable for the results!"

...