Needless to say, the benefits of being able to get a loan from Switzerland are not to mention, in fact, because this loan is mainly used for trade with Italy, it is also a lot of benefits for Italy. It is no exaggeration to say that it is the Haitang State that pulled Italy out of the fire pit of economic collapse.

In the process, the Haitang Kingdom also gained benefits and high prestige in Italy. Several of Haitang's brand-name products, such as instant noodles, have even overshadowed the pasta limelight and are almost household names. So much so that Italy was very friendly to the Haitang state, and in the decades after the war, the two countries maintained very close relations, and the closer the relationship, the deeper the economic cooperation, and gradually became an international political ally.

Italy in World War II was an agrarian country. However, this so-called agricultural country is evaluated from the perspective of Europeans and Americans, and if it is placed in the eyes of Chinese, it can be regarded as an industrial country. In fact, although there is a gap between Italy's industrial technology and that of the United States, it mainly refers to the gap in scale.

Before World War II, the measure of a first-class country's industrial capacity was whether it could build battleships. And Italy can build battleships, which means that the technology is actually not much worse, at least not backward in the generational class.

For example, in Italy's iron and steel industry, there are also internationally recognized as the most advanced level of 300 cubic meters of iron-making blast furnaces. Of course, what is more important is that it is cheap, only more than $600,000, while the United States needs $4.5 million.

Italy can also smelt rolled marine steel, and the cost of equipment is much cheaper than that of the United States.

And the 300 cubic blast furnace is the most advanced technology for Italy, but not the most advanced for the United States. However, according to Li Guang's memory, at the end of the twentieth century, China eliminated 300 cubic meters of iron-making blast furnaces. Although it is a few decades apart, it is the same 300 cubic blast furnace. There is definitely a gap in the technical indicators. However, in this era, there are no ten countries in the world to have a 300 cubic meter iron-making blast furnace, and Li Guang is still very satisfied. (A 300-cubic-cube blast furnace was capable of producing no less than 30,000 tons of iron a year.) ）

It can be said that the cooperation with Italy marks the real foundation of Haitang's steel industry. In just two or three years, Haitang has more than 200,000 tons of iron production capacity and 50,000 tons of steel production capacity. More importantly, a large number of industrial workers and technicians have been trained for Haitang. With the help of Italian engineers, Haitang initially mastered the design know-how of steel smelting and equipment, and from then on.

Italy doesn't have more than that. He also has a technology that is urgently needed in the Haitang Kingdom, that is, the synthetic ammonia industry. In this era, many people know the importance of nitrogen fertilizer to agriculture, but the cost is too high due to the limitations of ammonia synthesis technology. Most synthetic ammonia is used to make synthetic explosives. (The United States is post-war.) It was only about four or seven years that the explosives factory began to switch to nitrogen fertilizer production. China only started nitrogen fertilizer production in '72. ）

The Americans did not blockade this technological equipment to the Haitang Kingdom. But because of the war. Explosives are in such high demand that the equipment is prohibitively expensive. Italy's equipment and technology are cheap, and thanks to the fact that it once stood on the same front as the Germans, both the equipment and the process are all original German and quite advanced.

With this technology, whether it's explosives, which are in dire need now, or agricultural fertilizers of the future. There is a solution. Since then, the three major chemical fertilizers of Haitang agriculture, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, have been perfected.

For the people, trade with Italy has benefited more, and the most obvious is to promote the development of the two major industries.

The leather industry in Italy. Hundreds of years of technology have made Italy a famous brand in leather goods in this era and even in the 21st century. Li Guang once bought a pair of Italian leather shoes, which were expensive and grinning, but there are indeed things worth learning in terms of style and comfortable and durable wear. There are enough cattle here in Datang Island, there is no shortage of leather raw materials, and there is also a considerable industrial base. The merchants of Haitang did not need the guidance of the government at all, they were very keenly interested in this industry, they bought equipment from Italy, recruited masters, and quickly established one leather shoe factory after another.

As for the textile industry and garment industry in Italy, it is also an industry that the merchants of the Haitang Kingdom pay great attention to, and one after another textile mills and garment factories have sprung up on Datang Island.

Thanks to the cooperation with Italy, the largest group of civil arms dealers in Haitang, that is, the township enterprises that produce mortars and mortar shells, have found what they think is the most suitable and lucrative industry in Italy - bicycles.

Their production model is very similar to that of China's township enterprises in the 21st century, with meticulous division of labor and close cooperation. Bicycle production began during the war, and after the war, the bicycle industry began to grow by leaps and bounds, expanding the world in terms of quality and cost. So much so that in many countries, when people mention Haitangguo, the first thing that comes to mind is bicycles.

Later, under the guidance of Li Guang, a former traveler, Haitangguo's high-end bicycles formed several brands, firmly occupying the highest list of bicycle world brands.

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Although it is not as clear-cut, there are clearly different priorities for public and private investment. Private investment is almost always concentrated in the light industrial products and food industries, which have a short cycle and quick results. What's more, these industries require little capital.

Most of the government's investment is concentrated in heavy industry, or projects with long investment cycles and large capital needs. The military-led projects are industries and projects that are unlikely to yield benefits in the short term, but are vital to national defense and the country's overall competitiveness.

As a technical reserve, the government of the Haitang Kingdom established a civil ship design institute, which was almost entirely composed of Italian engineers. Li Guang gave several projects and also gave "ideas", large-scale (50,000 tons. The largest oil tanker during World War II was no more than 30,000 tons) oil tankers, large dry bulk carriers, large container ships.

These engineers who can design battleships are very powerful, at least better than the guys who once designed the aircraft carrier Indian Ocean in the Haitang Kingdom. In just two or three years, these three promising merchant ships have made breakthroughs, laying a solid foundation for the shipbuilding industry of Haitang Kingdom. After the end of the war, the shipping industry of all countries fell into decline, but the Haitang Kingdom stood out in the world shipping industry with these three types of ships.

But. No specific project can compare with the participation of the Italians to improve the quality of the workers and technicians of the Haitang Kingdom.

In the past four years, more than 20,000 Italian doctors, workers, engineers and technicians, as well as teachers and professors have been recruited in Haitang. In four or five years, that number has reached a staggering early 60,000s.

The direct impact was obvious, such as the entry of these Italians, and the production of shells in the Haitang Kingdom took a step forward. The production of mortars has doubled, and the production capacity of grenades, armor-piercing shells, anti-aircraft shells, bullets, etc., has quadrupled to more than 40,000 tons per year.

Even more obvious is the hydropower station of Haitang Kingdom. The bridges, the port terminals, and the design of Chang'an's urban facilities, as well as the several iconic buildings to be built, are all with the participation of Italians.

If there were no such people, I am afraid that the Haitang Kingdom would not have a similar occasion to hold a founding ceremony after Japan's surrender. And the level of architecture of the Italians is worthy of recognition. Definitely not below Germany, Great Britain and the United States, and some of these skills and experience are even higher than them. For example, dealing with the rainy season on Datang Island. The Italians have experience with the Venetian water city. The design of the sewer plan, the standard is quite high. Moreover, with the artistic cells of the Italians, several landmark buildings in Chang'an City, the combination of Chinese and Western, the beauty has been spread for a long time, adding a lot of color to Chang'an City.

Isn't there such a saying? War is a man's business, and the Italians are artistic. It's still good to engage in design and production.

According to the experience of Haitang, this sentence can be believed.

The most important result of the close interaction with Italy is: The arrival of these Italians has cultivated a large number of talents for the Haitang Kingdom. Under the government's initiative, Haitang implemented a strange master-apprentice education system, in which every Italian engineer and technician was equipped with one or two apprentices who had graduated from primary or secondary school. As for high school graduates, it is rationed to professors.

This ancient way may seem anachronistic, but the effect is obvious. The Chinese people are diligent and modest, polite and thoughtful, and the Italian engineers and technicians are full of gratitude and give them their advice. This ancient method has trained more than 200,000 grassroots engineering and technical personnel for Haitang in just a few years.

One year, Li Guang once sighed: If there were no such people, the things that Haitang Kingdom snatched back from Japan and Germany could only be used as scrap iron and returned to the furnace. When the formal education system of Haitang Kingdom plays a role, I am afraid that even the best equipment will become scrap metal.

Cultivating a person is too long. In the foreseeable future, there will be no fifteen to twenty years, and the talent echelon of Haitang Kingdom will still be in a state of eternal tension.

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The third stop of Premier Yuan's visit was Saudi Arabia in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia was not a normal country at this time, its diplomacy was under the protection of the United States, it was not qualified to enter into independent treaties with foreign countries, and at the same time Britain had considerable control over it.

And Premier Yuan's trip was not to sign any diplomatic treaty with Saudi Arabia, but to create some favorable conditions for the merchants of Haitang Kingdom.

For such a country, the style of Haitang has changed and become amiable. Premier Yuan met with Saudi Arabia's King Ibn Ibn Brown. Saudi Arabia has done enough respect in courtesy, and even gave the Saudi king an American-made passenger plane as a gift.

The interior of the airliner was extremely luxurious and in the style of Is-Ran, and the Saudi king's excitement was palpable.

The requirements of the Haitang Kingdom are not excessive, it is nothing more than to give preferential tax policies to the merchants of the Haitang Kingdom, if there is a custom "offense", please ask the king to take care of one or two, and the Haitang Kingdom will also strictly restrain it, and so on.

Haitang has grain in China, and Saudi Arabia also needs it, so this part of the agreement can easily be passed.

In a place where the text is not very conspicuous, but it is clearly stated: Haitang requests Saudi Arabia to assist the work of Haitang oil exploration personnel and enjoy equal treatment with personnel from other countries.

It is important to know that Su Zizi has obtained a quarter of Saudi Arabia's oil exploration rights in the name of an American company, but in essence, this asset belongs to the Haitang government. If it is an American exploration, it is estimated that there will not be many conflicts, but the Tang people directly explore, even if the technicians are still from the United States or Italy, contradictions are estimated to be indispensable.

In the event of a conflict, as long as the Saudis are not on the side of the United States, then the rest is to rip off. Diplomatic nonsense, with the importance of the Tang Kingdom today, is no longer very afraid of the United States.

For the Saudi king, it was already very uncomfortable to be sandwiched between the United States and Britain, and now the addition of an amiable and not strong Haitang State does not seem to be necessarily a bad thing. So, it passed again.

So far, Premier Yuan Ye has achieved the goal of visiting Saudi Arabia, and if there is a conflict with the United States or Britain in the future, at least he will not lose points in Saudi Arabia's attitude. The meat is eaten bite-by-bite, and being able to do this is already a great progress, and even the degree of smoothness is beyond expectations. (To be continued......)