The Troubles of a Vast Land with Sparse Population

Reflecting on this, Xu Mochen felt a sense of relief. Compared to the Douluo Continent in the novels, the pace of civilization on the Sun Moon Continent was undoubtedly many times faster. A unified nation without external enemies, open-mindedness, a relatively advanced system, a comprehensive education system, and a foundation in industry, commerce, and Soul Tool technology—all these factors made it much easier for his research products and favorable policies to be accepted and promoted.

One must realize that the development of technology is not about building castles in the air. If he had been born on the Douluo Continent, it wouldn't be difficult to develop one or two Soul Tools, but to quickly establish a complete industrial system across the entire continent? He might as well wash up and go to sleep; it would be nothing but a pipe dream.

What was the situation on the Douluo Continent? Judging by the first and second novels, the Douluo Continent at that time was still in a state of fragmentation, with various nations stuck in a feudal stage and conservative ideology permeating the entire society.

Under the influence of traditional, backward thinking and the severe stratification of Martial Soul quality, Spirit Masters with powerful Martial Souls—fearing that ordinary people and low-level Spirit Masters might threaten their status—would do their utmost to prevent them from possessing powerful Soul Tool weapons. Low-level Spirit Masters, in turn, would fear that ordinary people might gain powerful productivity and combat capability, potentially obstructing the popularization of industrialization and the development of Soul Tool technology.

Furthermore, the education level on the Douluo Continent was polarized. The right to education was essentially held by Spirit Masters and nobles, and what was taught was mostly ancient texts, aristocratic etiquette, and physical training for Spirit Masters—things that contributed almost nothing to the progress of Soul Tool technology. This destined any attempt to promote industrial development on the Douluo Continent to be fraught with difficulties.

Recalling that the novels mentioned the Douluo Continent once had Soul Tool research, only for the technology to be lost for various reasons, leaving behind few artifacts—mostly storage-type Soul Tools—it was no longer a surprise.

However, this did not mean the Sun Moon Empire was a monolith. The Ten Great Families each had their own spheres of influence, their infighting had never ceased, and other small-to-medium-sized new nobles and merchants were not exactly quiet either.

After the God-Emperor War ended, many remnants of the church and high-ranking old nobles had escaped. Their descendants and other anti-royalist factions might be lurking in the shadows, waiting for a chance to strike a fatal blow to the imperial family.

Xu Mochen had Mo Wuying focus on monitoring the Ten Great Families because he knew clearly that they played a vital role in the development of the Sun Moon Empire. As long as there were no major issues with them, those petty villains hiding in the dark, plotting to overthrow the empire, would find it difficult to achieve anything.

Conversely, if the Ten Great Families were to take advantage of the late Emperor's recent passing to act recklessly, it could easily affect the stability of the empire and even shake the foundations of its rule.

Thinking of this, Xu Mochen couldn't help but shake his head with a wry smile. It wasn't that he didn't want to hide the news of the late Emperor's passing from the Ten Great Families; it was simply that their roots were too deep. With their connections and intelligence networks, learning of the Emperor's death was child's play.

However, considering that the Ten Great Families were, after all, members of the pro-royalist faction back then—and their interests were fundamentally different from the remnants of the "God Cult"—plus some maneuvering within the royal family, there was no need to worry about the news leaking in the short term. But hiding it was not a long-term strategy; Xu Mochen had to strengthen his rule and establish his prestige during this period.

Casting aside the unnecessary thoughts in his mind, Xu Mochen stopped dwelling on them and picked up a copy of Detailed Introduction to Soul Tools from the bookshelf, while his Smart Brain simultaneously began to operate at high speed.

The following afternoon, Sun Moon Royal Soul Research Institute.

"So, the Crown Prince met with Mo Wuying last night?" In the laboratory on the top floor, Kong Dehan showed little surprise upon hearing the name. "This Mo Wuying has always come and gone without a trace. As the late Emperor's personal bodyguard, his skills are formidable, and his loyalty to the late Emperor is beyond question. Very well, with him protecting the Crown Prince, I can rest a little easier."

Kong Dehan then waved his hand. "Enough, let's not talk about him. Today, let's begin our preliminary study of Soul Tools." He looked at Xu Mochen. "I wonder how much the Crown Prince knows about Soul Tools?"

Hearing this, Xu Mochen recalled the knowledge he had absorbed the previous night. Fortunately, thanks to the Smart Brain, he had transformed from a novice into a genius who had mastered a vast amount of knowledge about Soul Tools in just one night.

Xu Mochen did not feign modesty and began to explain in detail: "Soul Tools, as the name suggests, are objects that use soul power as energy to guide and drive functions. There are many classifications; in terms of manufacturing, they can be divided into standardized Soul Tools and custom Soul Tools."

"Generally, the secondary components of standardized Soul Tools can be manufactured by ordinary workers without soul power, but the production of key components and core parts requires professional workers with soul power. Due to the large production scale and the simplicity of technology and manufacturing conditions, standardized Soul Tools are mostly produced using assembly-line methods."

"Custom Soul Tools are different; they often require one or several Soul Tool Masters to complete the entire process. The manufacturing process and conditions are complex, making it difficult to form effective assembly lines. This is why custom Soul Tools are so precious..."

"In terms of usage, they can be divided into civilian and military Soul Tools. Among military Soul Tools, weapons are often classified from level one to nine based on their power and efficacy, though this is not absolute. True grading requires analysis based on specific circumstances and uses. Historically, the earliest recognized military Soul Tool dates back to 1364 years before the Sun Moon Calendar..."

As Xu Mochen spoke fluently and eloquently, Kong Dehan's expression shifted from calm to approval, then to surprise, then to bewilderment, until he was so shocked his jaw dropped, and finally, he became completely numb.

He never expected that the Crown Prince would not only be outstanding in politics and cultivation talent but also possess such profound knowledge of Soul Tools! And the Crown Prince was only six years old! Shouldn't a six-year-old child normally be at a playful age?

Even though he himself was hailed as a super prodigy in his youth, compared to the Crown Prince, it was like the difference between clouds and mud! Heavens, was the Crown Prince truly a gift from the heavens to the Sun Moon Empire?

Xu Mochen, however, paid little attention to Kong Dehan's expression. After a moment of thought, he said, "Grand-uncle, I must say, although the industrial level of the Sun Moon Empire is rising steadily, the scale of our industry is so vast that a large portion of the population must be diverted to agricultural production."

"Coupled with the fact that the Sun Moon Empire possesses a vast territory of over 8.6 million square kilometers, even with a large population of about 150 million, it actually averages only a dozen people per square kilometer!"

"And that's just theoretical data. In reality, due to the severe population imbalance between large and small towns, over seventy percent of the population is huddled into large and medium-sized cities that occupy less than ten percent of the empire's total area. This makes the labor shortage in most regions of the Sun Moon Empire even more severe than the theory suggests!"

"The lack of manpower in both the agricultural and industrial systems has caused many fields to become barren for lack of cultivation, and many workshops to be abandoned for lack of workers. This is undoubtedly causing a huge impact on the production of the Sun Moon Empire!"

Kong Dehan looked helpless when this was mentioned. "I understand these situations, but they are currently unavoidable. Although the Sun Moon Empire has been enacting laws to encourage childbirth with various preferential policies in recent years, the public generally believes that having many children is a burden that affects their work and life."

"Furthermore, due to the vast land and sparse population, as well as policies like the abolition of slavery, the wages and benefits for workers and farmhands in the Sun Moon Empire are generally good. They don't have to worry too much about their old age, which means they don't need many children to support them, further exacerbating the labor shortage."

To be honest, although the advanced agricultural tools produced by the Sun Moon Empire have liberated some labor, most of these tools still rely on human power. The few that rely on water or wind power are difficult to popularize due to natural conditions.

Therefore, compared to the massive labor gap required for industrial development, the small amount of labor liberated from agriculture is merely a drop in the bucket. Yet, one cannot simply ignore agriculture. After all, a shortage of industrial labor is manageable, but a shortage of agricultural labor could lead to a decline in food production, causing widespread famine and a lack of industrial raw materials, which would affect national stability.

Of course, it wasn't as if no one had thought of using Soul Tool machinery as production tools. Soul Tool Masters had indeed developed several machines powered by soul power. But currently, all Soul Tools in the Sun Moon Empire required Spirit Masters to operate them. The population of the empire was already sparse, let alone the number of Spirit Masters.

The total number of Spirit Masters in the entire Sun Moon Empire was only about 700,000, and a large portion of them were occupied by the military and other armed forces. This made the average Spirit Master worker a hot commodity for major groups; they were usually responsible for producing key components. Asking them to work as ordinary laborers? Keep dreaming!

Moreover, to keep these machines running, soul power had to be injected constantly, and the amount required was quite large. Even if several low-level Spirit Masters did nothing but focus on injecting soul power, they couldn't guarantee the machines would run for long periods. This caused these Soul Tool machines to become failed products disconnected from reality, left to gather dust in corners.

"Actually, the reason this situation occurred is that the development of Soul Tool machinery in the Sun Moon Empire has gone down the wrong path," Xu Mochen offered his own insight. "In fact, it is not only Spirit Masters who can provide the soul power required for machinery. There is another substance on the Sun Moon Continent that can provide the energy needed: Soul Coal."

Soul Coal is a general term for coal on the Sun Moon Continent, but compared to the coal on Blue Star, it contains rich soul power energy. Unlike the soul power of a Spirit Master, the energy within Soul Coal is purer and has a large capacity, perfectly meeting the energy requirements of Soul Tool machinery.

"Provide energy with Soul Coal? Does the Crown Prince mean burning Soul Coal as the kinetic energy source for Soul Tool machinery?" Kong Dehan frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and said, "I have considered this method, but I found it wasn't as simple as imagined. In fact, the temperature of the energy gas produced by burning Soul Coal is too high, which easily leads to the Soul Tool machine overheating and being destroyed."

"And if water cooling is used, while it can significantly reduce the temperature of the energy gas, it also leads to a large loss of soul energy, leaving very little energy for the machine to utilize, making it unsuitable for use and promotion."