Shao Yaoguang had lunch in the restaurant downstairs at noon.

Now let alone leaders at their level, even senior officials and cadres at the lower level, their daily food and drink are supplied by individuals or enterprises that have been cooperated with for a long time, which is the so-called "special supply". This does not mean how good the special supply is. In fact, it is mainly considered from the perspective of safety. Companies that have been cooperated with for a long time will not be suddenly infiltrated by someone, and then cause a shocking case.

After a simple lunch, Shao Yaoguang ordered another cup of tea and smoked a while, and then, under the guidance of the secretary and the guard, he took a carriage and headed towards Dingyuan along the historic Highway No. 1.

The construction of Highway 1 has actually been 60 years since its construction. At that time, it was still a barren grassland, with the Dayu River winding beside it, and there were some sparse woods not far away, which made it difficult to see. Later, in order to connect the colonial stronghold of Dingyuan Township, the original East Coast people launched the construction plan for Highway 1. In that wilderness, the gravel and yellow sand of Highway 1 used to pave the road, and it was simply hardened, and instantly became the road with the largest transportation volume on the East Coast.

Today, Highway 1 has been continuously widened and renovated, and it can be said that it is no longer the same as before. On both sides of the road are densely packed with houses, shops, factories, and road pavements are paved with asphalt. One is the by-product of the coking plant, and the other is that the vehicles transported back to the road from Huaiyuan Island (Trinida Island) have also undergone tremendous changes: the most common mules and horses of that year have disappeared, and are replaced by heavy trucks driven by tall Sharmas. Of course, there are also many privately owned four-wheeled carriages, which are not surprising in the capitals where dignitaries can be seen everywhere.

However, carriages are carriages after all. People have long been used to how luxurious and cool your vehicle is. What attracts the most attention now is actually a new thing called bicycles. In fact, this kind of bicycle has appeared many years ago. It was a mixed structure of wood and iron. People straddle on it and touch the ground with their feet to push the vehicle forward. It is worth mentioning that the bicycles at that time did not have brakes, so it is very dangerous to ride this kind of bicycle downhill.

Qiang Xiaoman, a famous financial broker on the east coast, likes new things like bicycles. As soon as he was released, he bought a car to ride, swaying around with his feet all day long, and was ridiculed by many children in the big courtyard. However, even though he was ridiculed, Qiang Xiaoman really got into the bicycle. He spent money to invest in the factory that produces bicycles, and took the initiative to participate in the daily operations of the factory, constantly coming up with ideas to help the factory improve bicycles.

R&D is undoubtedly very costly. But Qiang Xiaoman was very persistent and kept investing money in it, eventually increasing his shares to more than 60%, and Yiyue changed from a small shareholder to a controlling shareholder. However, the company he invested in, called BMW Bicycle Factory, came to his rescue. Their latest new generation of bicycles have been sought after by the market. They sold hundreds of vehicles in Dongfang County alone, and have begun to slowly turn losses into losses.

This new bike uses a crank and connecting rod to the rear wheel, so you can now pedal the ground and let the bike move forward. Moreover, the rear wheel of this bike is equipped with a brake device, so you will no longer feel like you have to fly when going downhill, and you don’t have to worry about falling into a mess.

Shao Yaoguang sat in the carriage, quietly watching these slow-moving bicycles, and secretly lamented in his heart that the development of the East Coast is really changing with each passing day. Driven by the appropriate system, with uninterrupted investment of funds and driven by profits, various new technologies and new things are constantly emerging, and the entire society has entered a fast lane of development, and the degree of industrialization is constantly advancing in depth. This may also be the fundamental reason why the East Coast Republic can travel around the world and even call for wind and rain.

The carriages drove steadily and quickly on the wide asphalt road. It took only about two hours before they arrived at the famous Dingyuan Army Officer School. Dingyuan Army Officer School is the only military academy on the east coast that trains middle and lower-level officers (lieutenants). It has six departments: infantry, cavalry, artillery, labor, baggage and intelligence. It is directly under the jurisdiction of the Army Department and is a holy place in the minds of the army officers.

Today, Shao Yaoguang came to Dingyuan Military Academy not to inspect the teaching of this school, but to visit a special group currently studying in the school, namely 50 students from Northern Italy.

Half of these students came from Venice, and the rest were mainly from Pona, Tuscany, Milan and other places. Most of them were between 20 and 30 years old, which was in their prime. As the chairman of the Executive Committee of the East Coast Republic, Shao Yaoguang was very clear about the ins and outs of these 50 future officers who came to the East Coast. To put it simply, the East Coast is helping the northern Italian countries to cultivate modern military talents and reform their bloated and backward military system to improve their combat effectiveness as soon as possible.

This study abroad plan was of course also the result of the discussions between the East Coast government and the northern Italian states. The Italians' industry and commerce were quite good and wealthy, but they have always been short-lived in military and political terms. They have been coveted and bullied by Spain, France, Austria and other countries for two centuries. Of course, among these countries, the army of the Republic of Venetian, with a population of more than 2 million, is relatively capable. After all, they have been fighting the Ottomans on the Dalmatia coast and Greek coastal islands for a long time. The military tradition is not bad, and their combat effectiveness is also good. The previous tragic war with the Ottomans in Crete for twenty years is proof of it.

But Venice is a small country after all. After fighting with the Ottomans for so many years, although they gave them 400,000 soldiers and civilians, their family's assets were exhausted, and their national strength was greatly declining, and they no longer had the courage of the past. In other words, after comprehensive cooperation with the East Coast in recent years, they relied on acting as agents of East Coast goods and recovered a little bit of vitality, and the treasury finally didn't have to run away.

In the Northern Italy Federation that the East Coast people once imagined, Venice and Savoy were the thugs, and the army was mainly formed with these two countries as the main body. The two commercial cities of Thunaya and Luca were relatively wealthy, so as to provide funds, and considering that the navigation tradition of Thunaya was good, the federal navy could consider forming them with their people as the team in the future. As for Milan, because there is a large arsenal in Europe and a good industrial foundation, it can provide support as a federal factory, provided that the East Coast people help them get rid of the Spanish's control over them. The remaining small countries such as Tuscany, Palma de Modena have neither tradition nor too much money, and can only join the federal government as "ordinary people". There may not be many positions in the future federal seats.

There is no doubt that it is very difficult to convince the North Italian states to form a unified federation, but the East Coast government is working hard to implement this matter without hesitation. After using many means and playing a lot of tricks, it finally convinced Venice, Gena*ya and other countries to send 50 young soldiers to study abroad and learn various modern military knowledge. Unfortunately, the Principal of Savoy did not know what to do and rejected the proposal of the people of the East Coast. Even though they were beaten twice by the French in the past one or two years, and nearly 10,000 soldiers were lost, they did not have this idea. The East Coast people once speculated that the Principal of Savoy had signed a humiliating peace agreement with the French. Perhaps it was Paris that exerted influence that the country, which was still somewhat combative, finally chose to reject the East Coast.

But no matter what, without Savoy, this matter must continue. Not to mention, the East Coast people's study abroad plan is not only held for one year, but every year, and they want to try their best to cultivate more Italian military talents. At the same time, they also have to sign military purchase contracts with the northern Italian states, on the one hand, to take on work for their domestic military factories and boost the economy, and on the other hand, to enhance the military strength of the Italians. After all, they have learned new things, but they still use fire sticks, which is obviously inappropriate.

Shao Yaoguang was already involved in this matter when he was a contemporary prime minister and was very interested. After becoming the chairman this time, he was even more motivated and insisted on carrying out this matter. After he arrived at Dingyuan Military Academy, he did not waste much time and went directly to the training ground next to the school and carefully observed the training status of these 50 Italian colleges.

These people were organized into two platoons, and they were undergoing queue training. Of course, this is not something like walking one by one, but a kind of training with a school test nature. Several instructors were holding military sticks in their hands, and a person with a higher rank stood in front, conveying various simulated combat commands, such as "the enemy cavalry comes from the front", "the enemy cavalry comes from the rear", etc., which tests how these Italians are adaptable to the situation.

Shao Yaoguang looked at it for a while and felt that these Italians were OK. At least most of them knew to complete various tactical actions according to the infantry exercises. However, it was one thing on the training ground, but it was another thing to be afraid of fighting. Perhaps in a few days, when the military academy invited a serious cavalry unit to simulate training, even if they knew that these cavalry would not really rush over to them, these Italians would be frightened and panicked. You know, the Savoys were defeated by the French cavalry. The thousands of infantry who were waiting for battle were beaten by the French cavalry with less and more, and they were defeated with one blow. In the end, they paid the heavy price of 4,000 deaths. The Duke himself had to kneel and surrender to the French, which was a shame.

Venice has been peaceful for many years, and veterans who had combat experience were gradually dying. Last time the Ottoman Empire suffered a crushing defeat in Vienna, the Venetians took advantage of the situation to expand on the Dalmatian coast. As a result, after fighting for several months, they found that their combat effectiveness was not as good as before. I believe that if the Ottomans over there were already frightened birds, the Venetians might not have been able to gain much advantage on the Dalmatian coast.

"Venice and Savoy are all going downhill, a pity. The ones who can fight the most are all in this way, and the others cannot be counted on. It seems that this matter must be held fast and must be carried out persistently, otherwise it will be of little success." Shao Yaoguang thought: "Of course, this matter must be coordinated with political aspects. Northern Italy has been divided for so long, and each country has its own small abacus, which is also a troublesome thing, alas."

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Chapter completed!