Fraud in local council elections involves a large number of voters and specific candidates, and it is necessary to investigate the collection, verification, counting, and statistics of ballots, as well as to dispatch the influence of intricate interest relationships. After the intervention of the Federal Security Inspectorate, martial law control measures were adopted at stations, docks, and gates, and the personal freedom of relevant personnel was also restricted, and the social order in Lorraine seemed to have returned to the wartime state, but this special situation did not cause social panic, but gave Lorraine people the opportunity to punish the evil and seek justice. Many of the frauds or crimes in other incidents were revealed, leading to a regional campaign to "clean up the malignant" campaign, and every result of this campaign was a victory that the people were happy to see and rejoice.

Soon after, the Ministry of Safety and Supervision announced that the acting governor of the provisional government of Lorraine, Brynders, had not found any violations of the law or other misconduct during the examination, and although he had a certain degree of negligence in the local council elections, he was able to take the initiative to report and cooperate with the investigation to avoid the situation from deteriorating. With the "return" of Brynders, the Provisional Government of Lorraine took back some of the management from the Ministry of Security and the Army, but the officials of the Provisional Government were not all as industrious as the acting governor, and many were brought to court for new and old accounts. The Provisional Government was already short of manpower, and this was even more serious, coupled with the backlog of previous affairs, Blinds was overwhelmed, but he did not have the right to recruit regular staff, so he had to hire helpers in the name of hiring consultants and recruiting interns. Since most of the local talents and talents are under investigation, he can only turn to experts, scholars and students of colleges and universities for help.

During this special period, Professor Aisha Yang came to Lorraine again, and her status was changed to that of a geogeological consultant specially appointed by the Provisional Government of Lorraine. In the absence of the former head of the mine management department and some of the technical backbones, she and two other professors were responsible for providing administrative advice, which was then signed directly by Blinds, so that mining exploration and new mining in the Lorraine area could continue.

Although Professor Xiao Yang changed his role this time, he couldn't hide the "little tail" behind him. Upon arrival in Mason, she sent a letter to Weiss, briefly explaining the reason for her visit and her current situation, and saying that she was busy with work in Lorraine and did not have much time to take care of the little candy, and that Nizi was eager to go to the Château de Clumberg-Hayssen to find her friends, and if it was convenient, she hoped to "store" her for a while.

For this young beautiful woman with high intelligence, high education and good looks, Weiss does look a little greedy, "gluttony" comes from "love", but it is not the love between men and women, but the "love" for the widow of the soldier, and the "cherished love" for her daughter Little Candy. If the two of them could collide with each other, and if there was a belief in each other, Weiss would have the courage to overcome all kinds of objective obstacles, but it is too early to say this. Of course, even if it was just as a friend, he was not stingy to help her with this, anyway, in the winter, when the public school was closed, the Lord and his wife hired a very good tutor for the children in the castle, and the children of all sizes could learn and have fun at the same time, and let the little candy stay for a while would not delay the preschool education of the high-IQ family.

So, Weiss visited her and talked openly and honestly to Professor Yang about Little Candy, and made it clear that she didn't have to have any psychological burden for this, especially not to worry about work. The mother and daughter are also accustomed to a brief separation, the mother silently prepares the luggage for the daughter, and the daughter is full of longing for the upcoming reunion with her friends. After personally sending the Apple-faced girl to Somsonas, Weiss stayed with him for two days, giving her selfless love as he did to Kemp, allowing her to compensate for the lack of paternal love.

In this cold winter season, the free Lorraine Canal was completely suspended due to freezing, but the canal industrial zone did not lose its vitality, especially those factories that introduced and assembled equipment earlier, technicians and workers are in full swing to carry out product trial production, inspection, and then adjust the parameter configuration of equipment and molds. On good days, these factories trucked in ores and raw materials, and shipped semi-finished and finished products for the market.

It is precisely because of the devastation and tribulation of war that Weiss and his comrades-in-arms cherish the time of peace even more, and devote themselves to work with the mentality of seizing the day and seizing the day. Just this winter, the Klumberg-Hazen-Laureus Automobile Manufacturing Plant was successfully rebuilt in Comerson, the first production line began to produce four-cylinder gasoline engines for light trucks and agricultural machinery, and the Clumber-Hazen-Laurence Agricultural and Forestry Machinery Plant and Machinery Research Institute on the north bank of the Free Lorraine Canal have also completed plant planning and are in the process of plant design and facility preparation......

After settling the little candy, Weiss returned to Mason, but due to Professor Yang's status at this time, he did not have much contact with him, but talked to Brooks, whom he did not want to see often, and got a special pass from him to leave Lorraine, and then set off for the southeast of the Union, to a city called Mercard. The city, like the city of Austria to Grumman, is the main production area of the Star Group and the Commonwealth's flight industrial base. During the war, more than half of all combat aircraft were transported to the front from the production line here. In addition, there are aircraft test sites and flight training grounds in the best conditions for the federal army.

Weiss came here not only to negotiate business, but also to visit the most ironclad old iron. This person is his "good friend" during his time at the Barston Military Academy, the legendary flying ace of the Union Army in the war, and also the daughter of President Leiboyd, Nicolas Leibold. After the war, she retired from active duty, as her father wished, but did not leave her beloved flying career. She is now the First Technical Director of Star Group's aircraft manufacturing plant and the head of the 1st Reserve Flight Regiment of the Federal Flying Force.

Since the end of the war, Nikolai has been to McCad, and has written to Weiss every month, and he is overjoyed that he has finally been hopefully delivered. After a reckless and teasing greeting, Nikolai complained to Weiss that it was not as comfortable as he imagined, and that although President Leibold had no right to interfere in the normal management of the company, he used his personal connections to get the management of the Star Group to give verbal instructions, prototype flight tests, new aircraft tests, and simulated combat ...... All these dangerous projects are forbidden for the technical director himself to get on the horse, and there are only a few training planes every month. However, boring is boring, at least you can touch the aircraft every day, and you can integrate your talents and ideas into the development of federal aviation, which is much more meaningful than those jobs that "have more money and less things to do close to home".

"We also want to establish an aircraft production line, the first stage of development, is relatively simple, lightweight, the main use is agricultural aircraft, that is, used to sow seeds, spraying pesticides, this modern way, is very beneficial to the improvement of agriculture. The second stage of development is the civil air transport industry, that is, passenger transportation, fast freight, and some high-level charter flights. "I'm really tired of the drive from Somnas to Mason, the road is rough and difficult, and when it's urgent, people are about to fall apart." ”

Nikolai listened very carefully, and after Weiss finished speaking, she smiled: "The third stage of development is the ability to transfer to the dual-use system at any time, right?" ”

Weiss laughed: "It depends on whether our technology is good enough." What's the use of having ideas if technology is lagging behind? You can't use old and slow planes to fight! ”

"Hmm...... What you're talking about is exactly what I'm doing. Nikolai said with a smile on his eyebrows, "Give me the project, and I will be your chief designer and technical director, and you can receive a symbolic little salary." Belch...... How much money do you have in place? Are you planning to buy a ready-made production line or build your own? ”

In Weiss's view, this old iron is the top pilot in the federation and the pioneer of the first to participate in the development and design of aircraft, and he is impeccable in terms of technology, but whether he is good at the construction and operation of the factory, it is not certain. This is like a general on the battlefield, some are good at charging into battle, some are good at strategizing, and some are good at preparing grain and grass, each with its own characteristics and strengths. In order to figure this out, he tentatively asked, "How much can I build an aircraft production line?" ”

"Before the outbreak of the war, we built a production line that could produce about a dozen planes a month, and I remember that the cost of that line at that time was 4 to 50,000 crowns, which is about 600 gold crowns! At the current price, it should increase by two or three times, and it should not exceed 2,000 gold crowns. Then again, your industrial alliance has metallurgy, foundry, power industries, and a lot of things are ready-made, and in fact only need an assembly line with pipeline production capacity. To meet the first stage requirements you mentioned, another 1,000 gold crowns should be enough. Oh, by the way, we have an old production line that is idle because there is no value for improvement, and it may be sold, and I will help you ask about it! ”

Speaking of this, leaving aside official business for the time being, the two talked about dinner, and after a full meal, Nikolai took him around the factory area, and then went to the military flight training ground on the next wall. Here, in the shed hangar next to the runway, there are beautiful and clean planes, mostly biplanes, but also some triplanes and monoplanes, and in terms of fuselage materials, they are all fabric skins - although metal skins are stronger and more physically stressful than fabrics, they are not very usable until the big problem of weight is solved.

Thinking of this, Weiss asked Nikolai: "Have you noticed a new metal material, aluminum?" ”

"I know that thing." Nikolai replied without hesitation, "I heard that the Lummer Group has mastered the commercial aluminium smelting process, which is much lighter than steel, has better toughness, and is not bad in hardness, and if it can be applied to the field of aircraft manufacturing, it can greatly improve the performance of existing aircraft." ”

Weiss originally wanted to sell some guanzi and show off his skills, but now it seems that Nikolai is indeed at the forefront of the technology of the federal aviation industry, and it will not be wrong to ask her for help, at least in terms of technology.

"At the end of the war, we had an advantage over the Norman Empire for about two years in terms of aircraft and flight technology, which was also our greatest technical and tactical advantage on the battlefield. Whether or not the Normans will provoke a war in the future, they will do their best to close the gap in this area, and at the same time, find a way to maintain their leading position in warship technology - thanks to the Wessexians, who have more than enough to do and more than lose, the Normans control sixty percent of the world's star source stone production, while we have less than forty percent. ”

Weiss was generally aware of these concerns, but he did not have such detailed data as Nikolai. After listening to such a comparative analysis, he felt more and more that vigorously developing the aviation industry with aircraft technology as the core is an inevitable way for the Federation to deter its fierce enemies, which also highlights the importance of aluminum alloy technology.

Nikolai took Weiss to a hangar with a sliding door and told him: "After the war, we have finalized a new fighter, and behold what a beautiful line it is!" When it is not moving, it is a delicate work of art, flying into the blue sky, it is a whistling eagle. ”

Since the end of the war, Weiss hadn't used his special vision for a long time, and this was the right time to evaluate the Federation's new warhawk. From a normal field of view, many of its fuselage parts are made of metal, coupled with the circular fairing in the nose, which makes it appear more modern, and from the combat readings, it is indeed better than previous fighters, but it has not yet reached the point of exponential improvement.

After observing for a while, Wei Si said: "The power and protection have been enhanced, and the firepower configuration has not changed much?" ”

Nikolai shrugged: "You did get to the point, weaponry is what we struggle with the most. If the machine gun is replaced by a machine gun, there is less ammunition and less accuracy; If you increase the number of machine guns, although the firepower is increased, the weight is increased a lot, and the reliability is correspondingly reduced. ”

Weiss stood on her left hand side, resting his right elbow on her left shoulder, a gesture that was very appropriate for the height and relationship between the two men. He said unhurriedly: "Under the current technical conditions, it is already very powerful to be able to achieve this level. In the final analysis, the solution to these end-of-life problems depends on the development of technology, especially metal materials and engine technology. I have a hunch that in the next three to five years, there will be a big breakthrough in both technologies. ”

"So, I should help you get some sponsorship so that you can speed up the research and development of materials and power?" Nikolai said half-jokingly.

Weiss smiled: "For us, funding is not a problem now, the main problem is that our foundation is too weak, many projects are starting from scratch, and it will inevitably take a long time to accumulate before entering the first-class ranks." Nowadays, it is the big groups like Longmaier and Star that are really leading the development of these two technologies. In other words, the key, in fact, is with you, not in the remote Lorraine. ”