Coming to the "Colas Award" award ceremony, the rich academic atmosphere brought a great touch to Roland.

"Technology is the primary productive force", if magic is also included in the broad scope of technology, this sentence is also applicable in the world of Vares. Roland feels that it is not enough to have only one "Colas Prize", and that it is very necessary to rely on the University of Colasburg as a talent and education base to invest in the establishment of a large-scale laboratory, set up a number of research groups, and concentrate human, material and financial resources to promote those major scientific research projects related to the national economy and people's livelihood, and strive to achieve breakthroughs as soon as possible.

This kind of national effort to drive technological progress is not uncommon on Earth. The "Manhattan Project" of the United States during World War II, the space program of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and even the explosive progress made by Germany in the chemical industry in the 19th century are inseparable from the government's strategic planning and huge investment in related fields.

Roland believes that the Far East already has a talent base to promote the technological revolution, and if the government is laissez-faire and relies solely on scholars to bring their own dry food to conduct research, and the scientific research industry lacks incentives, technological breakthroughs will inevitably be delayed. The establishment of a large research base requires a huge investment, and the government does not have the budget to do so, so Roland has to make other plans.

After coming to the central bank to check the accounts, Roland found that the two funds he founded had good returns. This year, the sovereign wealth fund still has a balance of more than 3 million gold tales after deducting various expenditures, which is barely enough to start as a scientific research base.

Roland talked to Katya and Antron about his plans, and they both agreed, and Antron drafted a proposal and sent it to the cabinet for consideration.

At a cabinet meeting two days later, His Majesty Rudolph and most of the ministers voted in favour of Roland's proposal, with the exception of the Minister of Justice, Maynard Oliver, who objected.

From a legal point of view, Mr. Maynard first pointed out that the "sovereign wealth fund" is the asset of all the people of the Far East, and the central bank invests with the people's deposits, and the profits obtained belong to all the people. In order to avoid the loss of national assets, sovereign wealth funds have always adhered to a prudent investment style, preferring to make less or even no money than to take too many risks.

Based on these principles, Maynard argues that it is reasonable to use sovereign wealth funds to invest in infrastructure, because citizens can benefit directly from public services, and it is reasonable to use them to award prizes to talents from all walks of life, because the recipients of the "Kolas Prize" do indeed make great contributions to society. These inventions in the field of technology and knowledge have positive externalities, and it is reasonable for all people to benefit from their achievements, and it makes sense to reward them appropriately.

However, the formulation of government-guided industrial policies and the investment of huge sums of money in research in areas with an uncertain future are not a good reason to use sovereign funds.

"It is possible to reap the benefits of investing heavily in research projects, but it is also possible to prove to be a detour and end up with wasted energy. Using sovereign wealth funds to invest in research projects with uncertain prospects is tantamount to passing on huge risks to the entire population, which is inconsistent with the sovereign fund's principle of seeking to avoid risks, and I therefore oppose His Highness Roland's proposal. ”

Listening to Maynard's righteous and stern rebuttal, Roland couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Before the crossing, he was not less exposed to this neoliberal ideology on the university campus. He knew that Maynard was absolutely selfless, and that his opposition in person was only a different idea, and that such an opposing "Hayek" was needed in the Far Eastern Cabinet, and he was also self-aware that he did not intend to start a verbal argument with the lawyer-turned-justice minister.

According to the principle of the minority obeying the majority, Roland could have completely ignored Maynard's dissenting vote, but out of respect for the Minister of Justice, and perhaps the element of persuasion by the other party, he took the initiative to revise the proposal and replaced the sovereign fund with the "Kolas Family Fund" to invest in scientific research bases.

The family foundation is a private commercial institution, and how to use the money is entirely up to Roland alone, without the need for cabinet authorization, and the investment risk is mainly his personal responsibility, and Mr. Maynard certainly has nothing to say.

Roland took 3 million gold from the family foundation as start-up capital, and planned to establish a "Köras Laboratory" named after himself at the University of Krasbourg, with several research groups, all of which are of great strategic significance.

There are four key research groups in the first batch of "Kolas Laboratory", which are led by Jack, Duvalin, Leonid and Nikita.

Jack's research group focuses on "magic crystal alchemy", and the collaborator is his old partner, Kafta, the vice president of the Military Technology Research Institute.

The research group has two research directions, one is "magic crystal purification" and the other is "magic crystal compounding".

As we all know, the magic crystal is the most important industrial energy source in the world of Vares, and the energy density of the magic crystal increases geometrically with the purity, and Jack's job is to use alchemical skills to try to remove the impurities in the magic crystal and increase the energy density.

The content of natural magic crystal ore is very small, and the purity of the commonly used industrial magic crystal is about 10%, and the 20.5% purity magic crystal created by the "Weinstein laboratory" is the current world record, which once caused a sensation in the industry and was called "a milestone in the revival of magic crystal alchemy".

Jack's research group can only make magic crystals with a purity of about 18%, which is still far from the world-class level, and has to increase investment to catch up.

The idea of "magic crystal compounding" is diametrically opposed to the purification of magic crystals, and new compounds are made from magic crystals and other metals or minerals. These compounds often have special physical or alchemical properties and have the potential to be used in a wide range of industrial and even military applications.

The research group in charge of Duvalin focuses on "astral alchemy", which is, to put it bluntly, the study of "astroplasmic compounds".

Master Duvalin has already achieved two outstanding achievements in this field, the recently invented "Star-Cotton and Linen Fiber" can be used to process high-strength cables and military and police stab-proof clothing, and the "Star-Wood Pulp Colloid" is a new elastic material, suitable for the manufacture of drainage and gas supply pipes.

In addition, the compounds of star mass and iron powder are also the results of this research field, which directly contributed to the birth of "tires".

The third research group funded by the "Kolas Laboratory" is chaired by the Mithril Mechanic Leonid, and the research institute is located in the North Bay, and the collaborators include high-level mechanics such as Matvey, Sukhoi, and Morozov, and the main direction is to use the relevant theories of "magic construction" to design and manufacture a new generation of military vehicles powered by magic steam engines and suitable for driving on highways......

These terms are very difficult to say, and Leonid simply reduced his work to one sentence when he reported to Roland - the development of an "automatic carriage"!