Roland received a letter from Colossa in early May.

In his letter, Corofa invited him to attend the World Expo in Bethlehem in early August. Roland wrote back that it didn't matter if he went or not, but hoped that the Kingdom of Kolas would send a delegation to the fair.

To do so would be tantamount to blatantly breaking the international social order under the leadership of the Assanian Empire, and of course it would be a great risk, and Roland did not think that Corofer would dare to send an invitation letter to inform Foreign Minister Quintilian and Commerce Minister Yevgenia about it, and he turned his head and went to other things.

However, the international situation took a sharp turn in the following months, and the Imperial Army, which was feared by the Far Easterners, still did not cross the natural boundary of the Zhuolang River, which was tacitly accepted by both sides, but the Empire was in tension with Feizhen and Hailan in the colonies, and a military conflict could break out at any time. Shortly thereafter, the Canaanite diplomat, Lord Ruben Schulte, visited Krasburg again, and after a secret conversation with Kuntilian, he invited the delegation of the Kingdom of Kolas to the Bethlehem Expo in an unofficial manner.

The Minister of Commerce, Yevgenia, gathered the business elite of the Far East and assembled a strong delegation to Bethlehem. This was the first time that the Kolas government had attended an international event, and of course it wanted to show its best side to international friends, but unfortunately the delegation was still unable to obtain formal international status, and could only merge with the North Sea Federation. The Canaanites also put a lot of thought into the exhibition seats prepared by the Canaanites, and the label is "North Sea Federation and Far East Joint Booth".

Anyone with a discerning eye knows that the relationship between the North Sea Federation and the Kingdom of Kolas is unusually close, the two are called independent of each other, and in fact have secretly formed a military, political, economic and cultural community, and it is completely possible to regard the North Sea Federation as a special province of the Kingdom of Kolas. Or according to Roland's own understanding, the North Sea Federation is to the Kingdom of Kolas what Hong Kong was to the mainland of the motherland 97 years ago, a vital external port.

With the help of the North Sea Federation, the Kolas government can quietly bypass the Empire's economic blockade and engage in international trade. Of course, this is mainly because the only imperial authorities who really want to blockade the Far Easterners are the only ones who want to blockade the Far Easterners, and the other sovereign states are just joining in the fun and playing soy sauce on the sidelines, and the Canaanites are even generally sympathetic to the plight of the Far Easterners, and have the courage to support their younger brothers, which can be seen from the unprecedented prosperity of border commerce between the two countries. This time, the Canaanite authorities invited the Far Easterners to the Bethlehem World Expo, which was another blatant provocation against the imperial authorities.

Politics and diplomacy aside, from a business point of view, the Expo was an impressively success. Prince Glova showed his outstanding talent as the chief planner of the event, but the biggest winners of the fair were the Far Easterners.

The soaps, mercury mirrors, public watches and new horse-drawn carriages exhibited by the Kingdom of Kolas were collectively on the list of "Top Ten Famous Products" selected by this expo, and were also hailed as the four most acclaimed masterpieces of this expo. As soon as the list was released, journalists from various countries in Bethlehem rushed to interview the Far Eastern delegation, and the beautiful and dignified prints of Mrs. Yevgenia appeared on the front pages of newspapers and magazines in various countries, and the name of "Queen of Far Eastern Commerce" spread far and wide.

The four Far Eastern commodities mentioned in the report, soap and mercury mirrors, have long been exported overseas, and the international community is not surprised that they have won the award. The "Volkswagen Watch" and the carriage with familiar star tires and suspension systems are new and have attracted more attention.

The low price of the "Volkswagen Watch" is shocking, and after the World Expo, overseas orders flew to the Karon Industrial Zone like snowflakes, and the mailbox outside Isabel's office was stuffed every day, but the upper class society that controlled the guidance of public opinion was very disdainful of the Volkswagen watch, believing that this thing was a "bargain" designed by the Far Easterners for the small citizen class like the mercury mirror, so it showed a strange phenomenon of "sapplauding but not applauding" in the markets of various countries.

In contrast, celebrities from all over the world have a much more positive evaluation of the Far Eastern carriage, almost a voice of praise. An influential local newspaper in Bethlehem even published an article claiming that "Far Easterners have creatively invented a variety of new technologies to improve horse-drawn carriages", and praised the familiar star tires, calling them a "revolution on wheels"!

Roland also noticed these flattering reports, but he was not satisfied with this, and clearly realized that the horse-drawn carriage would one day be obsolete by automated vehicles.

Long before Mrs. Yevgenia brought the new carriage to the world at the World Expo in Bethlehem, Roland convened Morozov, Kafta, Duvalin and Jack's uncles and nephews, as well as Wittgenstein and his sons, to discuss the future of the next generation of road transport.

When Roland made the seemingly absurd prediction that "the age of the carriage will end in the near future", everyone did not show much surprise, but nodded in agreement after careful consideration.

"It's no secret in the industry, since the day the magic train was born, the age of horse-drawn carriages has sounded the death knell, but we can't guess when this curtain will fall completely, and what the road vehicles that will replace horse-drawn carriages will look like in the future." Matvey sighed softly.

Leonid turned his head to look at his father, his eyes unusually bright.

Roland smiled: "Leonid, there are no outsiders here, just say what you have to say, don't be afraid of angering your father." ”

Mithril Warlock stood up with a good-natured laugh and said, "I can't agree with my father, in fact there is no fog in the future of road traffic, and the route of technological innovation is very clear, since we can apply the magic steam engine to the railway, what reason is there to stop us from loading the steam engine on the carriage and making it free from the traction of the horses and gallop on the road on its own?" ”

The genius warlock's passionate prophecy won a round of applause. Matvey also smiled wryly and applauded his son's speech, although he knew that if he put an engine on the horse-drawn carriage, it would only become a runaway "crazy horse", and that there were no railroad tracks on the road as a guide. There are a lot of similar technical problems, which are far from being as simple as the son imagined. But he also admits that this idea is worth trying, and he can't pour cold water on his son in front of everyone.

"A magic steam car that can speed on the road...... The idea sounds attractive, Leonid, if you were asked to lead this research and development, would you have the confidence to complete the task? Roland stared at the Mithril Warlock with anticipation in his eyes.