As conspiracy theories multiplied and distrust of robots gradually spread through society, Xi Yan knew it was time to act.
Naturally, Xi Yan did not believe no one was driving this.
Ashes contacted their inside man in the Resistance Organization, their buddy Song Zhong. Sure enough, the organization secretly opposed to Xi Yan's tyrannical dictatorship was behind it all.
Without military power, they could only try to undermine his authority through public opinion.
But how could Xi Yan possibly let them have their way?
Once the time was ripe, Ashes made them physically disappear that very night, while Song Zhong prepared to head to a new urban district to bait another trap.
There were probably some disloyal people in the Ministry of Culture, too. If they refused Enqin and Loyal Orange, apparently they wanted a Purple Egg instead.
On Xi Yan's orders, the Ashes agents swaggered into the Ministry of Culture, dragged out the traitors spreading harmful information in front of the employees, executed them on the spot, then announced a pay raise for everyone as compensation.
A heavy stick followed by a sweet carrot thoroughly intimidated these cultural workers, making it clear that the Marshal only wanted citizens to see the news he wanted them to see.
As for robotics, Xi Yan paid no attention to what society or the citizens thought. He ordered the rapid construction of Robot Assembly Plants and the immediate mass production of robots.
Large numbers of robotic laborers would fill basic positions on the Ring World and Amat Eiro II, replacing some of the population in simple jobs.
Power generation and agricultural work, for instance.
The flesh-and-blood people they replaced would go to work at the Mining Stations of the various Stellar Bases, supervising automated mining machinery.
There were power-generation jobs, too. Ultimately, only