Zhuang Jiaxiong was letting his imagination run wild when he saw Wu Youping walk into the office with a gust of cold wind, saying a single word "Go," and then stepping out first. Although Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't know what happened, he hurriedly got up to follow.

Wu Youping walked in a hurry. Zhuang Jiaxiong watched his step carefully, following Wu Youping for quite a distance without time to ask any questions. The two entered another large compound and saw the snow in the courtyard swept clean, so there was no need to worry about slipping.

Passing through the courtyard and pushing open the door, he saw nearly a hundred people sitting in the large room. Sitting in the front row was Xu Jia. Zhuang Jiaxiong knew this Section Chief was a young official with a very important position in Siping. Seeing a row of five Second Lieutenants wearing Beiyang Army uniforms next to him, he guessed this meeting was not ordinary.

Wu Youping introduced simply, "This is Comrade Zhuang Jiaxiong; he has passed the political review."

Zhuang Jiaxiong noticed that many people looked at Statistics Section Chief Xu Jia, and many expressions relaxed.

Without further conversation, Wu Youping pulled Zhuang Jiaxiong to sit in the last row. He saw soldiers and officials on both sides of the aisle. The metal badges on their chests proved their identity as Civilization Party members. The strange youths looked at Zhuang Jiaxiong with surprise and curiosity in their eyes. Wu Youping ignored them and prepared to take notes for the class with Zhuang Jiaxiong.

Some attendees in the front row turned their heads. Before anyone could speak, the main door opened, and a tall soldier walked in. Everyone hurriedly faced forward. A young officer in the first row stood up and shouted, "Company, attention!"

Amidst the rumbling sound of chairs colliding, Zhuang Jiaxiong stood up with Wu Youping and the others. Everyone greeted in unison, "Good day, Principal."

"Good day, students. Please sit down," the young soldier in front ordered.

Sitting back in his seat, the Fujian youth Zhuang Jiaxiong finally saw that this tall youth had a square face, was clean-shaven, and looked very young and spirited. The military uniform he wore was obviously of a higher rank than a Second Lieutenant. A thought popped into Zhuang Jiaxiong's mind.

Before Zhuang Jiaxiong could ask Wu Youping, the young soldier already spoke. "Comrades, a British merchant ordered 100,000 collar badges, to be shipped within a month. The thread and fabric have been transported here. This is a test of our industrial policy execution capability."

Zhuang Jiaxiong had already guessed that the lecturer must be Governor He Rui. Just as he was marveling at He Rui's youth, he heard He Rui continue, "100,000 collar badges, the processing fee is one silver dollar for a thousand, which means 100 silver dollars. This money is very little to us, but the government's industrial policy prioritizes not making money, but promoting industrial development, promoting production and consumption..."

Thinking He Rui would talk about some Siping governance content, Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't expect He Rui to really be talking about Siping governance content, but the content was similar to the documents Zhuang Jiaxiong had read before, yet obviously much more profound.

Wu Youping was writing furiously. Zhuang Jiaxiong could only use his skill of reading without full understanding to take notes furiously as well.

"Industrial policy refers to the policy of developing a certain or a certain type of industry. Industrial policy must be combined with reality. Just like this collar badge processing, the raw materials of cloth and thread are transported by British merchants, and the processed collar badges are sold abroad; we only undertake the production process."

After speaking, He Rui wrote "Raw Materials," "Production," and "Sales" on the blackboard. After writing, he listed the ownership of each link for foreign merchants' processing with supplied materials, and the ownership of each link for the processing of military uniforms and bedding for Siping troops.

"For the military uniforms we process ourselves, the raw materials, processing, and sales market are all domestic. For foreign orders, the raw materials and sales market are in foreign markets; only the production link is in Siping. Speaking of attracting investment earlier, this 'business' [Shang] includes the sales channels provided by merchants. We do not have the ability to open domestic and international markets outside Siping ourselves, so we must use the commercial channels provided by merchants."

Zhuang Jiaxiong's family sold tea both domestically and abroad, so he already had this market awareness. Now it was just clarifying the terminology, not adding new knowledge. Just as he felt He Rui's course was a bit strange, he heard He Rui continue, "Obtaining profits through commercial channels is using economic interests to prompt Siping people's production mode to develop from a small-peasant economy to a small-market economy. Is this our industrial policy?"

The students gave their own opinions one after another; some said yes, some said no. Zhuang Jiaxiong felt he had fallen into an indescribable state, feeling that both yes and no made sense. But out of habit, Zhuang Jiaxiong shouted loudly, "No."

This northern dialect with a Fujian flavor caused quite a few people to look back. He Rui glanced at Zhuang Jiaxiong and continued the lecture.

"Industrial policy is to establish a stable capacity for continuous production; this is a subjective action. We execute industrial policy to build, maintain, and develop such production capacity. Historically, when the Great Powers invaded, wanting to open up the sales of foreign goods in China, from a policy level, it was to implement their industrial policy. We boycotted foreign goods and fought foreign invading armies. Although the Manchu Qing and the Republic of China had no industrial policy, our Siping does. We must learn to understand the work we have to complete from the perspective of industrial policy. This way, we won't fall into a paradoxical situation..."

Zhuang Jiaxiong became more and more fascinated as he listened. From initial confusion and incomprehension, to feeling some explanations were baffling, to finally feeling suddenly enlightened and his horizons widened.

He Rui ended today's class after two sessions. Zhuang Jiaxiong looked at several pages of notes, wanting to savor them again, but was called away by Wu Youping to leave the classroom.

Arriving at the entrance of the headquarters, Zhuang Jiaxiong felt his heart racing, expectant yet uneasy. About to face the knowledgeable and visionary Governor of Siping, Zhuang Jiaxiong didn't know what to say.

When they met, He Rui exchanged simple greetings with Zhuang Jiaxiong and then said, "I've seen your file. You studied mechanical processing. I want to ask, how much do you understand about weapon and equipment processing?"

Unexpectedly being asked this question right off the bat, although excited, Zhuang Jiaxiong thought more carefully for a while before answering, "Governor, in China's weapon production, Tianjin has the highest level. They should have complete factories there."

He Rui thought for a moment and answered, "You listened to my class. Do you have an impression of the production method of 'processing with supplied materials' and 'two ends abroad' [raw materials and markets abroad]?"

Zhuang Jiaxiong hurriedly answered, "Yes!"

"Based on such a production method, can you envision a weapon processing factory?"

Zhuang Jiaxiong was stunned. Thinking for a while, he still felt there were many problems, so he asked, "Governor, weapon production requires very professional technology and many professional workers."

"Correct."

"...Governor, weapon production requires a lot of professional equipment."

"Yes."

Hearing He Rui answer so readily, Zhuang Jiaxiong felt He Rui couldn't possibly misunderstand how complex it was to build a weapon production factory. At a loss, Zhuang Jiaxiong looked at Wu Youping and saw Wu Youping taking out a notebook.

Now Zhuang Jiaxiong suddenly remembered He Rui's words just now and hurriedly answered, "Governor, if foreign merchants propose the weapon processing flow and requirements for equipment, I can talk clearly with them."

After speaking, Zhuang Jiaxiong felt very incompetent and added dejectedly, "I can only do this much."

"Doing this much is enough for the current stage," He Rui replied.

Zhuang Jiaxiong was stunned. Considering for a moment, he realized He Rui's meaning was actually to use the supplied-material processing model of uniform processing to build an arsenal. For a time, Zhuang Jiaxiong couldn't figure out whether the young Governor in front of him was too bold or knew nothing about arsenals.