"Five minutes is five minutes, please speak." The strange old man lives up to his name, and he doesn't have much respect for His Royal Highness the Prince.

"Let me introduce myself first, in Lower Roland Kolas, from Kolasburg, this lady is my friend Nikita Andreyevna Romanova, from Lighthouse Mountain, and I would like to ask you to come out of the mountain to preside over the national transport construction work that the Far Eastern government is planning." Roland went straight to the point and explained his intentions.

"National transportation construction?" Matvey tilted his head to look at Roland, his voice smelling of gunpowder: "What's the matter with me?" ”

"The top priority of transportation construction is railway construction, the only existing railway trunk line in the Far East was completed under your leadership fifteen years ago, after the Far East got rid of imperial rule, under the leadership of the new government ushered in the opportunity of rapid development of the national economy, but inconvenient transportation has become the biggest bottleneck restricting economic development, it is necessary to lay a railway network throughout the country, connecting towns and villages, for which huge capital and manpower need to be invested, and the problem of capital is not difficult to solve in my opinion, In contrast, we are more eager for talents with experience in the construction and management of railways, and the Minister of Industry Zinovi and Mr. Sukhoi of Baiou Port have recommended you to me, Mr. Matvey Wittgenstein, I have come to Seltown this time, not only on behalf of myself, on behalf of our government, but also on behalf of millions of compatriots living in remote villages in the Far East, please go out to preside over the construction of transportation in the Far East, only convenient transportation can change the poor and closed living conditions of the villagers. ”

Within five minutes, Roland finished his sincere words in one breath, and looked at the old man opposite who was still expressionless with anticipation.

Matvey was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly sneered twice, and said lightly: "Your Royal Highness, I am touched by your sincerity, but I'm sorry, I have no intention of interfering in this matter, so you should ask for another wisdom." ”

"Hey! Matvey! His Royal Highness Roland graciously invited, you old stubborn refused ruthlessly, it was too much! Mr. Mayor was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

Nikita also sank her pretty face, and couldn't help but scold this strange old man for not knowing how to lift.

Roland hurriedly squeezed her hand to stop her from saying nasty words. Still looking at Matvey earnestly, "You have the right to refuse, but can you tell me the reason for refusal?" ”

"It's rare that you can be so humble as a prince, and come thousands of miles to visit me, a bad old man, as for me, I won't go around in circles with you, and it's better to say some things clearly in person." Matvey crossed his arms over his chest and looked haughty.

"Please, I'll listen."

"There are two main reasons why I refuse your invitation," Matvey cocked a finger, "first of all, because I am a lot older after all, and my energy is not as good as when I was young, and I really don't want to leave my hometown to work hard, and besides, I have lived in seclusion in my hometown for many years, and I have long forgotten the rules of officialdom, and I don't want to get involved in politics. ”

"Mr. Matvey, you don't have to worry about officialdom, I will try to make it easy for you......"

Roland was interrupted before he could finish his sentence. The strange old man raised his second finger and opened his mouth as if no one was around.

"The first reason is not the most important, the key is the second one, your government of Kolas has been established for more than half a year, I have heard a lot of rumors about the new government in this small country town, I also subscribe to two newspapers published by Krasburg, every weekend the postman will send me the newspapers that he has accumulated for a week and send me letters, I have seen all kinds of policies to benefit the people introduced by the new government, the implementation of agricultural and educational reforms, and the vigorous development of the country's manufacturing industry, I also appreciate these ideas from the bottom of my heart, If I were to evaluate the performance of the new government over the past six months, I would give it a very high score. ”

"Since you have a high opinion of the Kolas government, why don't you go out of the mountains to work for the government?" Nikita asked, puzzled.

The old man smiled bitterly and said faintly: "You have indeed done a good job, but this is meaningless, the new government of the Far East is like a seedling that grows hard in the desert, if you are given enough time, such as ten or twenty years, it can indeed grow into a towering tree, but your time is running out, once the empire launches an expedition, this young seedling will die tragically under the invasion of the storm and iron hooves." ”

"In other words, your old man is not optimistic that the new government will be able to stay in power in the Far East for a long time?" Roland asked without hesitation.

Matvey nodded: "The industrial base of the Far East, especially the military industrial base, is too weak, no matter how hard you try, it is impossible to grow in a short period of time to the extent that it can compete with the powerful Yashan Empire, young man, I can see that you are a person with dreams and ambitions, change to a better environment, maybe you can succeed, but in the Far East, under the threat of the arrival of the imperial army at any time, your dreams are too extravagant, and it is likely to end in shattered dreams, if the Kolas regime collapses under the suppression of the imperial army." , any railway construction plan will come to naught, and it will cause my old man to be unlucky, if you are me, are you willing to risk losing your head to wade into this pool of troubled waters? ”

"Mr. Matvey, I must admit that your fears are very reasonable, the military strength of the new government in the Far East is indeed very weak, but the victory or defeat of the war does not depend on the comparison of military strength on paper, the more important factor is the will of the people, and besides, we do not need to meet the imperial army, and there is still a lot of room for manoeuvre in the field of diplomacy......"

Roland tried to convince Matvey, but the strange old man was impatient to listen to him.

"I'm just a bad old man with technology, and I don't understand or be interested in diplomatic rhetoric," he took out his pocket watch and shook it at Roland, and Matvey said sorry unapologetically, "It's time, I need to rush to teach the kids, don't waste your time with me, do whatever you have to do." ”

This strange old man is really weird, he didn't even bother to say "goodbye", picked up the canvas tool bag and walked away.

"Damn old fellow, you don't know how to lift!" Ferdinando looked at the old man's slightly hunched back, and his eyes were almost on fire with anger.

"The empire is too strong, we are too weak, the reality is so cruel, and there is nothing to be done by being looked down upon." Roland smiled wryly.

Arrogant people can't stand the arrogance of others, Nikita is very angry with Matvey's attitude, turned her head and asked Roland: "He is not the only warlock in the world, why do you have to invite this strange old man out of the mountain, and suffer this wronged anger in vain." ”