Prince Mikhail likes talented young people, especially young people from "humble" backgrounds like Vishniak and Boris. Such young people can bring great success as long as they are given a chance to show their talents.
income.
Generally speaking, such young people have no background, so they don't have to worry about the exchange of interests of the family behind them. When they grow up, they may not be the wings of the family, especially since they have a close relationship with Leonid, which is even more perfect.
Soon, Duke Mikhail's eyes became much softer when he looked at Vishnyak and Boris, and the aggressive pressure disappeared. This made Vishnyak and Boris even more relaxed, and they talked while talking.
They were even more calm and measured, which undoubtedly made Duke Mikhail feel better about them.
For a moment, Li Xiao, who was supposed to be the protagonist, seemed to be forgotten. However, Li Xiao was not in a hurry, and still had enough time to eat and drink, looking very contented.
After a long time, Prince Mikhail felt that he knew Vishniak and Boris well enough, and then he turned to this relaxed and comfortable person.
"Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I heard from Leonid that you have great experience in improving the combat effectiveness of the 748th Regiment?"
Li Xiao smiled slightly and replied very "humbly": "It's not just my experience, it's just my humble opinion. And it's not just for the 748th Regiment, but it has an effect on the entire army."
"oh?"
Duke Mikhail sat up slightly and seemed to be interested in someone's big words. He asked slowly: "Is there such a good way?"
Li Xiao snorted in his heart: [Old fox!]
But he still smiled and replied: "Yes, there is! And it's very simple!"
Prince Mikhail asked: "Then I am all ears to listen to your opinion, Your Excellency the Grand Duke? Can we talk about it?"
"Of course." Li Xiao asked slowly: "Your Excellency, Duke, what do you think are the key factors that affect the combat effectiveness of the army?"
"Haha!" Mikhail openly laughed twice and asked: "Your Excellency, are you testing me? Yes, I'm afraid an old guy like me can't stand in the eyes of you young people."
"That's not true. I'm just a fledgling boy. My experience in the army can't be compared with yours. I just want to take this opportunity to discuss with you and verify whether my theory is correct. I still need to ask you to correct me!"
【Little Fox!】
Duke Mikhail also cursed secretly in his heart. He did it on purpose just now, but Li Xiao did not fall for it and resolved his trap without any humiliation.
"That's great!" Duke Mikhail laughed again and said, "Let's discuss it together! I'll just throw some ideas out there first!"
"To put it bluntly, the key factors that affect the combat effectiveness of the army are nothing more than equipment and people! If the weapons are good enough, the combat effectiveness will be stronger, and if the soldiers are more elite, the combat effectiveness will naturally be higher."
Li Xiao nodded: "I agree." After a pause, he asked again: "What do you think of the combat effectiveness of our army? How does it compare with our European counterparts?"
Duke Mikhail smiled slightly and said: "I will not brag or expose my own ugliness. What do you think, Your Excellency, the Grand Duke?"
This was another pitfall! But Li Xiao immediately avoided it: "I personally feel that there is still room for improvement in the combat effectiveness of our army."
Grand Duke Mikhail glanced at Li Xiao again. He was surprised by the other party's impeccable performance. It seemed that such a test was meaningless, so he smiled and said, "I also hope that our young man will be as good as possible!"
Li Xiao nodded and said: "Yes, I all hope that the soldiers will be as strong as possible. But improving the personal qualities of the soldiers to make them stronger, faster, and more hard-working will undoubtedly cost too much!"
Duke Mikhail immediately knew what Li Xiao meant. It is indeed not easy to improve the quality of soldiers. Although Russia has abundant serf resources, there are not so many serfs with stronger bodies. Even if there are, these precious resources
Owners and greedy serf owners would not let them serve in the military, but chose to stay on their own farms as cattle and horses.
Most of the serfs who were thrown out for military service were those who were not in good health or peaceful enough. Such soldiers had too many problems with their strength, speed and consciousness, and were not good enough.
And if you want to make these guys outstanding, you must invest a lot of money and time. The problem is that Russia may not be short of time, but it is really short of money. What's more, to the tsar and ministers, serf soldiers are just gray animals and
Cannon fodder is simply not worth such a huge investment!
It is obvious that taking this approach to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops is absolutely unfeasible in Russia. Maybe a few Guards troops can do it, but for the others, there is no chance of just sleeping.
Duke Mikhail immediately knew what Li Xiao wanted to say next. If he was not good enough, he could only use weapons. Equipping him with better and more powerful weapons was undoubtedly a good way to improve his combat effectiveness.
Of course, there are also pitfalls here. Duke Mikhail immediately pointed out: "Your Excellency, Grand Duke, are you ready to recommend new weapons to me? By the way, you seem to have been getting along well with Grand Duke Constantine recently, and you are also planning to recommend it to me."
Do I recommend the new steamboat?"
After a pause, Duke Mikhail said in a slightly teasing tone: "Haha. But I am from the Army, so I am beyond the reach of the Navy, and those gold-swallowing behemoths are too expensive, and I can't afford them!"
Li Xiao didn't take it seriously, and he replied with a smile: "You misunderstood, how could I recommend those to you? What I want to recommend are some gadgets! They are cheap, but have immediate results!"
Duke Mikhail was stunned. He was very doubtful about this. In his understanding, cheap goods are generally not good, and good goods are not cheap. But Li Xiao said it was cheap and the effect was obvious, which is very interesting.
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He immediately urged: "You said, I am very interested in cheap and good things!"
Li Xiao had no idea. He smiled and said to Duke Mikhail: "Your Excellency, I brought a small gift to you. Can you allow me to show it to you?"
Only then did Duke Mikhail notice the long box that Li Xiao brought. He was a little amused at first, thinking that the Grand Duke Li Xiao was too shabby and that the gift box was so simple. But now it seems that there is another story.
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He immediately said: "Of course, I can't wait!"
Li Xiao continued: "Do you have a shooting range or garden in your house? The actual display effect of my gift is more obvious, so that you can clearly feel its benefits!"
Duke Mikhail immediately rang the bell to summon the butler, and ordered the target to be prepared in the garden. Then he looked at Li Xiao with some deep meaning and said: "Grand Duke, I really hope you will not disappoint me!"