After Strauss agreed to Lyon's proposal, the approximate date of the wedding was quickly set, tentatively on the first weekend of the spring of 1926. So Comrade Lyon can also enjoy a single life for about half a year.

The complicated affairs did not let Leon go because he was about to say goodbye to his singleness, and life was as busy as ever.

After the marriage was finalized, Leon hurried to Essen, where he was to visit the German arms magnate Gustav Krupp and discuss the issue of new artillery for the army and navy. Now that Lyon no longer travels by train, Lufthansa has arranged a special plane for Lyon as a special plane for Lyon.

Berlin is 531 kilometers away from Essen in a straight line, and it used to take more than 8 hours by train, but now it takes just over 2 hours by special plane.

Located in the heart of Germany's Ruhr industrial region, Essen plays an important role in German industry, but its fortunes have been tortuous.

In 1922, the Compensation Commission demanded that Germany deliver a total of more than 13.86 million tons of coal to France and Luxembourg in the first 11 months of 1922 as compensation for the defeat, but by this time Germany's industrial capacity had been greatly destroyed by the Allied powers, so Germany delivered only 11.7 million tons in 11 months.

At the end of 1922, the Compensation Commission declared that Germany had not fulfilled its obligation to deliver for that year.

On January 11, 1923, despite the opposition of Britain and the United States and other countries, France and Belgium sent troops to occupy the entire Ruhr industrial area under the pretext that Germany had not fulfilled the delivery obligations of the previous year and needed to send a working group to supervise the production of the Ruhr industrial area.

For a time, the voice of protest in Germany was loud, and the then German Chancellor W.C.J. Cuno ordered passive resistance, announced that he would not cooperate with the French and Belgian occupation authorities, recall the ambassador to Paris and the minister to Brussels, and stop paying all reparations to France and Belgium.

The miners and railway workers of the occupied territories fought with strikes or sabotage, and all rail and water transport from Germany to France and Belgium was paralyzed.

The Franco-Belgian occupation authorities immediately took coercive measures to control the management, production and distribution of coal, to prohibit the export of commodities from the occupied territories and to impose taxes and other customs duties. All Germans who participated in the passive resistance, including their families, were arrested, imprisoned, fined, deported, and even executed.

By mid-June, Germany was on the verge of collapse due to the loss of the Ruhr industrial area and the payment of huge subsidies to the occupied areas, which led to a severe economic crisis in the country.

Prime Minister Cuno had to announce his resignation on 12 August and was replaced by G. Strasmann.

Immediately after taking over as chancellor, Streesmann announced the cessation of passive resistance and supported the negotiations between the Rhine-Westphalian Coal Syndicate and the International Industrial and Mining Control Delegation and the Fabiruhr Regional Control Committee.

On 23 November, an agreement was signed, stipulating that the Coal Syndicate would resume deliveries of coal and coke to the Entente countries as compensation in kind, with France and Belgium receiving 18 per cent of total coal production and 35 per cent of total coke production.

In this way, France achieved its goal of plundering and controlling the Ruhr industrial area. It was not until 1 September 1924, when the Franco-Belgian occupation forces began to withdraw from the industrial zone, that Essen returned to German arms. When Fabi occupied Essen in early 1923, the Krupp family, which had its origins, moved the entire Krupp company out of Essen and did not return until recently.

The plane slowly landed at Essen Airport. As soon as he got off the plane, Lyon didn't make many stops and went straight to the famous Hugel villa of the Krupp family.

The Krupp family had already learned in advance that Lyon would be visiting, so they carefully prepared lunch and had Gustav himself stand at the door to greet them.

Leon's car soon came to the door of the villa, and Leon in the car saw Krupp standing straight at the door at a glance, he got out of the car with a smile, and shook hands with Krupp who greeted him.

After shaking hands, Krupp invited Leon into the villa and said with a smile: "I learned that you are coming, I specially asked Beta to prepare food, and I will stay at my house for lunch today." ”

Since Leon has been secretly developing armaments, he has always had a relationship with Krupp, who is an arms magnate, like friends.

Leon laughed and said, "Well, I've never tasted Madame Beta's craft." ”

The two sat down on the sofa in the living room and chatted about some homely things.

"I heard that you are going to marry the daughter of General Strauss's family, when is the time set? Didn't she come over today? Gustav said curiously.

"We're probably going to get married on the first weekend of next spring, and you'll definitely be coming to our wedding when that happens." Leon said happily, "Sophia has gone to Italy, saying that she wants to ask the Pope to officiate at our wedding." ”

"Oh, haha. Okay, I'll be sure to come then. Gustav smiled heartily.

"Dad, General Leon, Mom says lunch is ready!" A 20-year-old boy ran over and told the two to go to dinner.

"This is little Alfred, right? He really looks like his great-grandfather. Leon looked at the boy in front of him and said with a smile.

Alfred Krupp, son of Gustav Krupp.

Alfred Jr.'s great-grandfather, the founder of the Krupp Arms Company, was also named Alfred Krupp, which shows the high hopes that Gustav had for him.

Speaking of which, we have to talk about Gustav's background and the Krupp company, Gustav's original name was Gustav von Pollan Onde Harbach, a diplomat in the Second German Reich.

In 1902, Berta Krupp's father, Friedrich Krupp, the second president of the Krupp Arms Company, committed suicide after being caught up in a scandal, leaving the young Beta alone. At that time, everyone thought that the young Beta could not control the huge Krupp company alone, so Kaiser Wilhelm II personally chose a husband for Beta in order to prevent the Krupp company from falling into the hands of political opponents, and then selected the young Gustav.

The two were married in October 1906 with the blessing of the Kaiser, and Gustav took on the surname Krupp at the Kaiser's behest. Gustav did not disgrace the surname Krupp either, and during World War I, he led the Krupp Arms Company to supply thousands of artillery pieces to the war-torn empire, and also developed famous artillery such as the "Grand Beta" and the "Paris Cannon".

After the war, the Krupp Arms Company was dismantled by the Entente countries for many important machines, and even Gustav himself was convicted of war criminals, which dealt a huge blow to the Krupp Company and Gustav.

However, the Krupp company did not go out of business, because in 1902 the Vickers company, which specialized in the manufacture of artillery shells for the British, leased the patent rights to the new type of shell fuse from the Krupp Arms Company, which the British used to kill many German soldiers on the battlefield.

As a result, Vickers had to pay a large sum of money after the war to Krupp, which had provided the patent for the fuse, based on the number of German casualties.

Regarded this as a disgrace, Gustav vowed to wash his stains off himself with the blood of England and France, and with this money, together with a grant from the Weimar government, he was able to restore the production strength of the Krupp company in just one year after the war, which is why he strongly supported Lyon's secret arming of Germany.

"The dog is really not as good as my grandfather, he is too naughty now." Gustav said, looking at his son.

Although he said so, anyone could see the pride in his eyes.

"General Leon, I adore you the most! You are a hero of Germany! Alfred said as he looked at Leon with a twinkle in his eyes. He, like all young people in Germany today, thinks that Lyon is the greatest man in Germany, and that it is he who leads Germany back to life.

Leon smiled and said, "I just did what I had to do, and the future of Germany depends on all Germans." ”

"Leon, since Alfred admires you so much, let him follow you, and it's best to let him go to the barracks to practice." Gustav suggested.

"Yes, it's just that being a soldier is hard." Leon patted Alfred on the shoulder and continued, "Let's eat first, we'll have to talk about artillery in the afternoon." ”

"Yes, let's go eat first."