Chapter 73: Visiting Italy

After confirming that the power laboratory and the engine research laboratory were both operating in an orderly manner, Yu Kaluo finally breathed a sigh of relief and decided to personally travel abroad to attract talent to join Spain.

Come to think of it, since Yu Kaluo became the King of Spain, he had not yet left Spain.

At present, the situation in Spain has tended to stabilize, and with the two bigwigs Primo and Serrano sitting in charge domestically, there is naturally no need to worry about any accidents occurring in Spain.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yu Kaluo decided to return to Italy, on one hand to launch a diplomatic visit to the Italian government, and on the other hand to take the opportunity to attract a batch of Italian technical talent and scientists to go to Spain.

The reason for choosing to go to Italy is, first of all, that the King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II, is Yu Kaluo's father, which to a certain extent will help Yu Kaluo's talent attraction plan.

Although Italy's overall illiteracy rate is high, the majority of those dragging down the level are those farmers in Southern Italy.

If one only looks at the industry, economy, and education situation in the Northern Italy region, one can only say that the reforms of the original Kingdom of Sardinia were still very successful, which is also the reason why the Kingdom of Sardinia eventually unified Italy.

Compared to the corrupt and autocratic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the more enlightened and powerful Kingdom of Sardinia also received more support from those who supported Italian unification, including Italy's true god of war, Garibaldi.

Yes, another purpose of Yu Kaluo's trip to Italy is to poach some military talent from Garibaldi.

The current Qiaodi has been promoted to the commander of the Royal Guard Regiment, and his military capabilities also make Yu Kaluo very satisfied.

In fact, many talents have emerged from the Redshirt Army established by Garibaldi, and many people later rose to high positions as members of parliament or even cabinet ministers in Italy, and it is not unheard of for some to reach the rank of Prime Minister.

If a few talents could be attracted to pledge loyalty to Yu Kaluo, the number of usable people in Yu Kaluo's hands would also be more abundant.

Considering the successful reforms of the Kingdom of Sardinia, when Primo heard that Yu Kaluo was going to Italy for a visit, he not only did not refuse but also requested that Yu Kaluo take a group of officials with him to learn from the advanced experience of Italy's reforms.

Italy is, after all, a great power, so there must be places worth learning from for Spain. Moreover, Italy is actually not weak in terms of industry and economy; it is just that the per capita was dragged down after integration.

Italy is even quite powerful in terms of military industry, and the Italian Navy's research, development, and manufacturing capabilities are also top-tier in Europe, far surpassing the current Spain.

Just like that, Yu Kaluo's original delegation expanded rapidly from a scale of less than 200 people to over 500 people.

In order to protect the safety of Yu Kaluo and the entire delegation, the number of accompanying troops also changed from a hundred-man scale of the Royal Guard to a force of over 300 soldiers.

After all, it is a King taking a large group of officials for a formal diplomatic visit, and the Spanish government attaches great importance to this.

Spain's navy, which was not large to begin with, dispatched more than half of its strength to be responsible for escorting the cruise ship carrying the King and a large number of officials.

On the other side in Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II also received the news of Yu Kaluo's request for a diplomatic visit.

There was certainly no reason to refuse such a request; Vittorio Emanuele II decisively let the government agree to Spain's diplomatic request and ordered the government to prepare for the reception of Yu Kaluo.

Yu Kaluo was originally an Italian prince and is now the King of Spain, so the etiquette for receiving Yu Kaluo naturally cannot be low.

Looking at the smile on the King's face when he heard the news that Spain was coming for a diplomatic visit, the current Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza immediately understood the etiquette for receiving Yu Kaluo.

Need he ask? Everything must be done according to the highest standards.

Another familiar and uncomfortable sea voyage. The sailing speed of ships in this era is by no means fast, and the feeling of bumping and swaying on the sea makes Yu Kaluo feel somewhat irritable.

The good news is that Spain and Italy are not far apart, so such an uncomfortable sea journey actually does not take long.

Rome.

The port of Rome was exceptionally lively on this day. Italian Prime Minister Giovanni and Crown Prince Umberto waited at the port in person for Yu Kaluo's arrival, giving full respect to Yu Kaluo and Spain.

Watching a cruise ship slowly approach the port under the escort of Spanish warships, Crown Prince Umberto's mood was slightly complicated.

He did not expect that this younger brother of his, who had been sickly since childhood, would become a king earlier than him, while he himself still has to wait for an unknown amount of time to become king.

However, as the eldest son and Crown Prince, Umberto's future throne is still quite stable. Complicated as his mood was, he did not have too much jealousy toward Yu Kaluo.

After the cruise ship stopped steadily, the Royal Guard was the first to disembark from the ship, standing in formation to wait for Yu Kaluo.

Yu Kaluo also slowly stepped onto the port under the gaze of the crowd, followed by several Spanish officials.

Prime Minister Giovanni and Crown Prince Umberto walked up quickly, showing the etiquette of a host: "Your Majesty Kaluo!" "Kaluo!"

"Brother Umberto! Prime Minister Giovanni!" Yu Kaluo also walked up with a smile and began to exchange pleasantries with the two.

"Prime Minister Giovanni, there is no need to be so formal. For me, returning to Italy is like returning home," Yu Kaluo said with a smile.

The many Italian officials following behind Prime Minister Giovanni proved the Italian government's attitude of attaching importance to Yu Kaluo, and Yu Kaluo was quite happy about this.

If he were to poach some talent in Italy, he imagined the Italian government would not mind too much, right?

After all, Italy's population is much larger than Spain's, and the education situation in Northern Italy is also much better than in Spain, so they should not attach too much importance to some ordinary talent.

Moreover, besides being the King of Spain, Yu Kaluo is also the noble Duke of Chablais of Italy.

This is also a characteristic of European nobility; although a King's title is far greater than a Duke's, a King can also concurrently hold the title of Duke.

Before Spain completed its reforms, the titles of the King of Spain were also quite complex.

Yu Kaluo's predecessor, Queen Isabel, possessed an extremely long list of noble titles. These included not only the titles of King of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and others, but also many titles of Duke and Count.

However, since Queen Isabel, the ruler of Spain has only held the title of King of Spain, and all other titles have been integrated into it.

Prime Minister Giovanni did not admit that it was he who prepared the grand welcoming ceremony, but instead pushed all the credit to King Emanuele and Crown Prince Umberto: "These were all ordered by His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince; I am merely acting on their behalf."

"But I still want to say, respected Your Majesty Kaluo, welcome back to Italy."

Second update, requesting support!

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(End of this chapter)