In view of the imminent arrival of the first congress of the Lorraine Industrialists' Union, Weiss returned to Mason as quickly as possible after negotiating business in Austria. Here, several initiators rented a hotel in the center of the city, and they issued more than 400 invitations to join the association based on the last gathering of old comrades, and later issued more than 300 at the request of their partners, but the actual attendees were still much more than the invitations they sent, so that the hall of the hotel, which was large enough to accommodate 800 people, was packed with participants. Of course, on such a scale, it is not possible to express opinions like a round table, but to follow parliamentary rules for discussion and voting. After several days of heated discussions, everyone sought common ground while reserving different places and listed the organizational system and operating rules of this industrial alliance alliance, and the participants voted for 19 members of the alliance committee, 7 of whom received the highest number of votes served as directors, and Weiss served as the chairman of the board of directors. Under the organization of the Union Committee, the General Assembly voted on the 33 rules of the Union of Lorraine Industrialists - in essence, it was a civil society in the nature of a chamber of commerce, but the members were closer to each other because of the comrade-in-arms.

After the structure and rules of the alliance have been determined, the final agenda item of the conference is to finalize the direction of future development. The discussion once again focused on whether the mining and processing of minerals in Lorraine should rely on rail or river transportation. Most of the participants agreed with the canal expansion plan, but as Weiss expected, although the alliance had more than 1,000 members, the funds they could raise were far from enough to support such a huge project, and a considerable number of people were cautious about supporting the river expansion plan, especially the construction of a series of canals. In many people's preconceived notions, this kind of gigantic project should be driven by the government, not by civil society. In fact, before this congress, Weiss had already received an accurate statement from the Provisional Government of Lorraine that it would not be possible for them to come up with funds to build public facilities beyond the basic livelihood of the people within three to five years, and that the limited funds must be used to ensure the food, clothing, and medical needs of the common people.

After the successful conclusion of the first congress of the Union of Lorraine Industrialists, Weiss took the train to the capital Villefranche. There, he met his sister Bella in a hurry and headed straight for Ulster University of Technology. This university is the equivalent of the military Basston Military Academy, and has a pivotal position in the federal science and engineering academic circles, and it not only teaches and educates people, but also has a number of first-class science and engineering research institutions in the Federation.

In addition to the transportation problems that plagued the Lorraine Industrialists Union, Weiss also formulated a transformation strategy of "one main line and two veins" for the Clumber-Heisen family, the main line is the manufacture of dual-use machinery and equipment, which in peacetime mainly takes the mineral and agricultural equipment line, producing excavators, tractors, motorcycles, and agricultural aircraft, and once entering the armament period, it can quickly change the production of various types of military vehicles and combat aircraft; One of the two lines is the smelting and synthesis of new metal materials, especially in the later stage of the second industrial revolution, which has very high economic and military value of light metal materials - aluminum alloys, and the other is the development and production of power engines, focusing on diesel engines and lightweight aero engines that can be used in vehicles. In terms of technology accumulation, Weiss has set a two-legged route, one is to cooperate with universities and research institutions to gradually master the "core technology", and the other is to cooperate with local enterprises in Lorraine, such as the Lawrence automobile manufacturing plant, and strive to form basic productivity in the short term.

Located on the northern outskirts of Liberty City, Ulster University of Technology is a comprehensive polytechnic university of the size of a small town. It is made up of nine top-level faculties and a number of research institutes. In the Federation, almost everyone knows about this university. A large part of the strength of federal industry is due to the first-class scientific and technological level, which is due to the cultivation of a number of elite talents at Ulster Polytechnic University. Weiss came here, not hoping for the adventure of "stepping on the iron shoes and finding nowhere to find it, and it takes no effort to get it", but to take the true scriptures with sincerity and the mentality of worrying about the world.

The university does not have towering walls or barbed wire, but is a completely open campus. Walk the tree-lined paths here. There was a sense of déjà vu, but it was very different from Patton's, and it brought back Weiss's more distant memories of school. Although he came with a clear goal, when he first arrived, he still put down his baggage and walked around the campus. There are many buildings with unique appearances, well-manicured flower beds, open-air lecture spaces, and many teaching places with the smell of books. Energetic students came and went, seemingly unaffected by the war and the post-war depression.

Walking through this beautiful campus, Weiss was a little moved, if there were no thrilling experiences, and there were no heroic battles, he was willing to be an ordinary person and strive to come to this institution of higher learning for further study. However, all this has become impossible after that war, and that strong heart is destined to do something.

After wandering around the university for a long time, Weiss found the office building of the School of Geography and Geology. Stones of various shapes and textures are placed all over the outside of the office building, as well as miniature landscapes of mountains and rivers. Entering the office building, there was neither a secretary blocking the way, nor a doorman checking it, so he walked and looked and asked, and soon came to an ordinary door. There was a knock on the door and a deep voice was heard: "Please come in!" ”

Weiss pushed the door open and entered the room. An old gray-haired man with neatly combed hair sat behind a large desk piled high with books and scratch paper, studying a map with a pencil case magnifying glass.

"Hello, Professor Yang!" Weiss greeted him in a polite tone.

Behind the table, the old man glanced up at him, saw that it was an unfamiliar face, and lowered his head again: "Wait a moment." ”

After more than ten minutes, he finally finished writing on the map, and then raised his head again: "Oh, sorry, sir, what did you just say?" ”

Weiss had been standing still, the quality of the soldier allowing him to stand still for a longer period of time, and he smiled: "I should be the one who should say sorry...... You should be Professor Alfred Young! ”

"Yes, it's me." The old man rubbed his hands together and walked from behind his desk to Weiss.

"My name is Long Clumber Hazen, I'm from Lorraine, and I'm here because I have a mutually beneficial cooperation here and I want your support. Specifically, I'm going to sponsor your research and ask you to help us with some exploration and design. "Weiss gets straight to the point.

Hearing that the sponsorship came, the old man did not. There is no joy in it, but there is no look of disgust either. He hooked his head and looked at Weiss through his reading glasses, his expression not disgusting or questioning, but pure scrutiny.

"Clumber-Haisen...... Oh! I remember, we have heard about you - brave Lorraine guerrilla fighters! Lead the people of Lorraine in their perseverance against the enemy! It's you? ”

This last question mark was probably a bit of a surprise that Weiss left the army so quickly.

"That's right, it's me, I've just returned to Lorraine from demobilization and want to take my family and my old comrades in arms to do something tangible for Lorraine—for our Federation. Of course, these things are beneficial to both public and private interests, so I took the liberty to seek technical support. ”

The old man nodded: "It's mining ore, do you need us to help explore?" ”

Weiss laughed: "You're only half right, we are not only going to mine ore, but we are also going to build canals to make it easier to transport goods." Mining ore is not just about mining ordinary iron ore and coal mines, we want to discover something new, such as aluminum, for making aluminum alloys. Besides. We are also ready to make use of these efficient transport and better materials to make a career in machine building. ”

Weiss presented his ideas succinctly, but with a different emphasis than Uncle Rudolph's.

The old man was obviously interested in the rhetoric, after all, he was tired of hearing the clichés of the past. He led Weiss to the small coffee table next to his desk, where there were only two small rattan chairs. Before coming, Weiss also inquired that Professor Alfred Young was the top and most talented professor at Ulster University of Technology, and had been the dean of the School of Geography and Geology for more than a decade. If it is not speculation, then no matter what the identity of the visitor is, he will not invite you to sit down, but simply talk about business and send the visitor to the assistants to deal with.

Weiss's ability to sit down on a wicker chair shows that the old man is at least psychologically not repulsive to himself, and as for whether it is a bonus for the role of a guerrilla hero or a bonus for his own image of a promising youth, or both, he does not need to delve into it so much.

The old man didn't pour him tea, so the two sat and chatted.

"Lorraine, I spent a lot of time there many years ago, and there were several mines that I had explored with my students when I was a teaching assistant. Of course, that was many years ago, and then commercial exploration showed more efficiency, and slowly, people preferred to hire specialized exploration companies. If I were you, I should also go to those professional exploration companies. They don't spend a lot more than they give us sponsorship, and they're much easier to deal with, unlike we tend to focus too much on academic stuff. ”

The old man was so straightforward that Weiss thought he was an interesting person. It is said that good-looking skins are the same, and interesting souls are one in a thousand. "If we are planning to do some short-term business and just want to be a rich mine owner, then we can go to those commercial exploration companies to cooperate," he said with interest. I and my aspiring comrades-in-arms have formed a business organization called the Lorraine Industrialists Alliance, and we hope to use our efforts to change our own lives and the lives of Lorraine people, so I am here to ask you and your protégés to conduct a more comprehensive and objective survey of Lorraine, to see if those mines can be mined without destroying the geographical environment as much as possible, and which canals we are trying to renovate will bring as much benefit to the local people as possible. Those can lead to long-term damage, and that's something we want to be able to think about. Moreover, in the eyes of commercial exploration companies, Lorraine is already a place with little potential for development. In the eyes of true technologists, no area is a wasteland. ”

Hearing Weiss's statement, the old man laughed: "You are such an interesting person. This is the first time I've heard someone look at environmental issues in a holistic way, and I'm curious to know how much budget you have in place to take into account the ecology of Lorraine – or most of Lorraine. But if you tell me that this is a plan of a few thousand gold crowns, and that all you want is to build three or five canals and find seven or eight new mines, then what you are saying is not true. ”

Weiss said very seriously: "You don't have to worry about the channels of money, we have basically finalized a large plate of tens of thousands of gold crowns, which is enough to support us to make a relatively direct and systematic transformation of the river transportation system in the east, south and southeast of central Lorraine." Of course, this will be done step by step, and we will use one of the canals as a pilot to revise and refine our plan. As for the mines, we don't want to dig all over the place, but we want to focus on a certain area based on academic research, and build a track from the new mine to transport it to the nearest river. In this way, these projects are truly sustainable, rather than going anywhere. ”

The old man looked at Weiss with the same hooked expression again, and after looking at it for a while, he probably felt that Weiss's expression did not have the pompousness of a layman, nor the arrogance of a low-level person, and he said to Weiss with a serious expression: "In this case, I can tell you clearly that the cooperation between us can be carried out, and the sponsorship can also expire in batches." I can deploy the best assistants and the best students to help you, because I think your plan is a brand new, very promotable, and developmental plan. What you pay attention to is comprehensiveness, comprehensiveness, and ecology. Unlike those who only saw economics in the past. ”

"I am very honored to have your approval." Weiss replied pertinently.

"So be it! Tomorrow this time, you come here again, and I will introduce you to the selected lead professor. If all goes well, they can leave next month, or, depending on your schedule. ”

"The sooner the better, of course." Weiss said with a smile.

"No matter how fast it is, it has to conform to our rules." The old man said solemnly, "No matter how much you give in sponsorship, I can't make any student suddenly interrupt his studies to participate in your project, you must combine teaching and field research." Do you understand? ”

"Yes, of course." Weiss replied earnestly and calmly, "All our actions, whether commercial operations or technical research, must respect and follow the laws of science, step by step, from the surface to the inside, and most importantly, ...... Knowledge and action are one! ”

The old man hooked his head, and glanced at Weiss for the third time, this word was not only a familiar ancient saying in Weiss's former world, but also the spiritual guidance of the outline of the whole country to seek practical results in all affairs, although the conversion into Ulster may not be so expressive, but it is enough to make the old pedant secretly admire it in his heart.