Chapter 569: The Demonic Mist Returns Again

Five months later, Daxia's first satellite was launched into space, and Shao Quanzhong heard the shortwave broadcast from the sky - the Marshal's training song.

A year later, Daxia had launched its third satellite, this time with a living creature inside - a stray dog that Yali adopted on the streets of Hailing.

Ever since Yali started a dog food company, she has really become interested in adopting stray dogs.

In fact, there are still many people starving in the world. Only the carefree and well-fed princess can show such overflowing love - she is truly destined to be a princess.

Yali originally thought that her dog would die immediately, however, a week later, the barking of a dog was still heard on the radio waves in the sky.

Unfortunately, this satellite was not designed with a return device. Although the sacrificed dog has no shortage of dog food, it may die from lack of oxygen after wandering in space for a long time.

These launches were all secret. The satellite launch was due to Tan Yaoxun's willfulness and Shao Quanzhong's promise. Since they had built an intercontinental missile, Shao Quanzhong allowed him to be willful for once.

With no pressing space competitors, Daxia has no intention of showing off its space achievements.

In fact, intercontinental missiles and satellite launches are two sides of the same coin. If one project is successful, the other will no longer have technical difficulties.

According to Tan Yaoxun's idea, his "Wanhu Plan" would be considered a success only if he could send people to space and return them safely. But now he is still a long way from achieving this goal, and it is not worth bragging about.

Shao Quanzhong had no intention of making this achievement public. He was not interested in making false claims. Daxia was already powerful enough, and there was no need to show off.

…………

November 1892, 11, YMCA International Training School, Springfield, Massachusetts.

Snowflakes were falling outside, and it looked like it was going to be a sleet. The gym was bustling with activity, as an unprecedented ball game was being held.

Ten strong young men were playing on the court, and next to them, their physical education teacher James Naismith was acting as the referee with a whistle hanging around his neck.

The world's first basketball game began.

Teacher Naismith was worried about these students. The weather was getting colder, with occasional rain and snow, and outdoor football and rugby games were greatly restricted.

These young men were full of energy and demanded intense exercise to consume it, so Naismith invented the game of basketball.

The world's first basketball game was very simple. There was no dedicated basketball, so a football was used instead. There was no basket, so two wooden barrels hung on the beams served as a substitute.

There were two ladders on the beams of the house. Every time a goal was scored, someone would climb up the ladders and take the ball out of the barrel...

The simple conditions did not affect the enthusiasm of the boys. After a game, the boys shouted and exclaimed that it was a great pleasure.

"Teacher, the basketball you invented will definitely become very popular in the future. It will be no problem for it to become an Olympic sport."

"A football game lasts 90 minutes, but it's so slow that you can't score many goals. This British invention is just boring. Basketball, invented by the teacher, will definitely become a favorite of us federal people."

"Teacher, we have to fight again."

Naismith waved his hand. "I've exercised enough. If you haven't played enough, let's talk about it tomorrow. I haven't voted yet. It will expire tomorrow. I have to go vote for Harrison."

Several students wiped their sweat and walked out with the teacher, laughing, "Teacher, we can't agree with your point of view. We all want to vote for Cleveland."

Naismith was stunned. "Garfield has left a legacy for the people. Otherwise, how would you get the money to play basketball? Why don't you vote for his successor but for his opponent?"

The students collectively said, "Tsk, you are out of date, Teacher. Cleveland also claimed that he would inherit Garfield's legacy."

"Garfield was not afraid of power and dared to confront Marshal Shao. But when it came to Harrison, he was scared. We really couldn't stand his cowardly look."

"Cleveland said that the men of the Federation are not afraid of power and are brave enough to fight. He promised that if he gets promoted, we will never be so cowardly. He wants to make the Federation great again."

Naismith shook his head. “You are too young. Can you believe the promises of politicians?”

"Cleveland might be fooling around, but Harrison is really no good. All the broadcasts said that he was such a coward at the Pan-American Conference that he had to serve tea to Shi Laosan and Chen Cheng. When did we become so cowardly?" "That's right. America is our America. I support us being tough. Cleveland's temperament shows that he is a real man of our Federation."

Naismith couldn't convince the students and shook his head anxiously, "Mr. Harrison is playing a big game. He needs to be patient when necessary. Why don't you understand?"

"Cut it, it's just like football. We like basketball, the feeling of scoring goals and the excitement. Besides, Harrison is too short, he definitely can't play basketball."

The students threw their sportswear over their shoulders and staggered away.

Looking at their backs, Naismith looked worried. Cleveland has captured the hearts of the federal people. I always suspect that his speech is a performance...

Originally, Cleveland was a serious lawyer and a noble man, but his image changed drastically since he ran for office.

He deliberately wore unkempt clothes, spoke with a rustic Texan accent, and occasionally said "shit" or something like that, looking like a country bumpkin.

Needless to say, the common people bought into this, and the rednecks quickly recognized him. Moreover, the federals were very straightforward and did not understand Harrison's strategy of keeping a low profile.

The future of the Federation - Will the Federation still have a future?
The next day was the day to make the final decision, but Harrison's wife suddenly became seriously ill, and Harrison had to cancel his final speech at the last minute.

Cleveland showed great grace and did not give a speech, and the result came out in the silence of the media - Cleveland won the election.

This result is generally accepted by the people. There is absolutely no trickery, no secret soldiers passing through, and no cheating by the vote counters.

After all, it seemed like those pesky vampires didn't show up at all this time.

They had disappeared for a long time, and the old federal people had forgotten the fear they controlled. Most of the young men who had grown up had never heard of the legend of vampires.

…………

On March 1893, 3, Cleveland was sworn in as the 4th President of the United States.

As soon as he took office, he made a surprising move: he dismissed 10 officials in one go and replaced them with his own people.

One hundred thousand, one hundred thousand, this is going to be a big move. The rednecks are very excited, I like this kind of vigorous and decisive action. Those officials who are dithering should be removed, anyway, it is none of my business.

Then, Cleveland announced a large-scale military expansion, with army spending increasing from $4872 million to $9199 million; and navy spending increasing from $2610 million to $5882 million.

Establish a two-ocean fleet, start building the 60,000-ton Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier, and begin designing a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier, in an effort to catch up with Daxia.

This is good, this is good, it boosts your morale.

Next, Cleveland signed the Chinese Labor Restriction Act, which banned Chinese workers from entering the country for ten years.

Sure enough, he is not afraid of power. The rednecks gave him thumbs up. He is a tough guy! Is he going to fight Daxia next? I want to bring my own dry food to join the army.

Cleveland is just acting. They are not stupid. They will not really start a war when they are not sure of the outcome.

But his think tank was well aware of the public sentiment, and Cleveland changed his stance and announced in a radio speech that he would consider annexing the Maple Leaf Country, Mexico, and Australia, and considering purchasing Greenland from Denmark. He also immediately signed an order to admit Utah into the federation.

I like expanding territory, and the rednecks once again give it their all.

After a series of dazzling performances, Cleveland announced that in order to stabilize the economy, the federal government would switch from the silver standard to the gold standard.

Ordinary people don't understand this. What is the standard? Some people who know the business say that the US dollar can be exchanged for gold in the future, which makes it more valuable. Well, that's good.

Switching to the gold standard requires spending money to buy a large amount of gold for storage. What should the government do if it doesn’t have that much money?
Cleveland ordered the government to borrow heavily from bankers and appointed Morgan and Belmont as financial advisers.

Morgan had already transformed into an industrialist. He had just partnered with Edison to start General Motors and had already cleaned himself up. No one doubted his appointment - didn't Garfield also appoint Rockefeller and Carnegie as consultants?

After Morgan took office, the first thing he did was to call Alfonso and said, "Old man, we can start taking action."

(End of this chapter)

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