Rise of Empires: Spain

Chapter 21: The Four Elements of Reform

Carlo knew that Spain was quite backward at the time, but he did not expect that Spain's development in all aspects could be so far behind.

As of the beginning of this year, Spain's estimated population was 16.6 million. Why such a rounded figure? Because at that time, the Spanish government was simply unable to conduct a detailed population census; this was merely a rough estimate based on local birth and death records.

The critical issue is that Spain has an illiteracy rate exceeding 70%. This means that out of a population of 16.6 million, at least 11.6 million are illiterate.

Poor education levels, coupled with the chaotic situation in recent years, have resulted in Spain having one of the lowest per capita annual incomes in Western Europe, at only 87 pesetas, or a little over 3 pounds.

Although the lives of ordinary people in all European countries were not easy during this era, exploitation by factory owners and oppression by capitalists were commonplace.

However, an annual income of just over £3 is clearly an extremely unhealthy level, as the average annual income in the UK exceeds £9, and other European countries also maintain an income of over £6 to £7.

Spaniards earn on average only half or even a third of what citizens of other countries earn, which is why the people rebelled against Queen Isabella—because Spaniards were truly struggling to survive.

Looking at these data, Carlo couldn't help but feel extremely troubled.

Carlo had thought Italy was in pretty bad shape, but he was surprised to find that they were no match for Spain.

Except for the illiteracy rate, where Italy and Spain are evenly matched, Italy surpasses Spain in every other aspect.

Carlo now has only one thought: to push through Primo's reforms as soon as possible and improve Spain's dire situation first.

Spain today is far from being able to revive; even the continued existence of the kingdom is questionable. Queen Isabella, though driven out, left Carlos with an extremely poor Spain.

Facing a Spain that is almost rotten to the core, this is no longer something that can be saved by simply focusing on development.

At the cabinet meeting a few days later, Carlo sat at the head of the table, quietly waiting for Primo's proposal on reform.

Primo was well-prepared for this reform. His cabinet nominees were primarily reformists, with the only two not-reformists, Serrano and Carlo, both expressing their support for the reforms.

Secondly, Primo had been preparing for reforms since becoming prime minister. He combined Spain's current situation with a wealth of successful reform experiences from abroad before finally formulating a comprehensive reform plan for Spain.

He handed the plan to Carlo and said to him very solemnly and seriously, "Your Majesty, this is the Spanish reform plan that I and dozens of officials have written after a long period of investigation and research.The following is the initial plan for the reform. Please take a look."

The initial reform plan was actually quite simple, consisting of only four categories: agricultural, educational, industrial, and military reforms.

"Prime Minister Primo, please explain your reform plan in detail." Although he supported the reforms in his heart, that did not prevent Carlo from wanting to hear Primo's comprehensive reform plan.

Primo nodded, stood up, and introduced to all the cabinet officials: "Our initial reforms consist of only four aspects: agriculture, industry, education, and military reforms.

In agriculture, I plan to promote the reduction or exemption of agricultural taxes to increase the income of the agricultural population. At the same time, I will promote the export of grain to ensure that the agricultural population has sufficient markets for its grain.

In terms of industry, I believe we should restore Spain's industrial development in a short period of time and invest in new factories to build our own industrial zones.

Building factories can provide more jobs, which will also help us further increase per capita income.

Regarding education reform, I plan to build more literacy classes to reduce our illiterate population, but this requires a huge financial investment, so it is the third option for reform.

Finally, there are military reforms. I hope to expand our army to around 100,000 men and equip our troops with more artillery.

A sufficient number of artillery pieces had proven their effectiveness on the battlefield; whether for defense against foreign enemies or for maintaining order in Spain, enhancing the army's combat effectiveness was essential."

Before Carlo could even offer any opinion upon hearing Primo's reform plan, Army Minister Serrano, who was sitting to the side, couldn't hold back any longer.

Serrano stood up, looking at Primo with disbelief, and asked in surprise, "Prime Minister Primo, don't you know how many pesetas Spain's treasury has left?, Each of your reforms requires tens of millions of pesetas, and our government simply doesn't have the money. Frankly, if we can't prepare enough pesetas before implementing these reforms, this reform is destined to fail."

“Don’t we still have plenty of land?” Primo said with a calm smile as he looked at Serrano, who was offering a rebuttal.

In a monarchical country, the largest landowner is undoubtedly the monarch himself. Queen Isabella was a debauched and greedy monarch, so it's not surprising that the Bourbon dynasty owned the most arable land in Spain.

After driving out Queen Isabella, all the farmland that originally belonged to the Bourbon dynasty was confiscated by the Spanish provisional government, and this land was the basis for Primo's reforms.

Although these lands once belonged to the king, they certainly wouldn't have passed to Carlo along with the throne.

Carlo naturally understood this as well, and he had no intention of becoming a landowner, much less risk ruining his reputation for such a small amount of land.

Conversely, if Carlo supports using these lands to obtain sufficient funds for the government, this could become a topic of publicizing Carlo.

Seeing that Carlo had no interest in the land, Primo finally breathed a sigh of relief and explained to Carlo and Serrano, "The Bourbon family owns a vast amount of land, which is enough to provide sufficient funds for our reforms.

I plan to divide these lands into three parts, one of which will be distributed free of charge to Spanish farmers so that they have enough arable land to grow food.

Another portion was sold to capitalists and farmers, accumulating enough funds for our reforms.

The remaining portion will be nationalized and can be leased to farmers at a low price for cultivation."

“I support your idea, Prime Minister Primo.” Carlo nodded, having no objection to the proposal to divide the land into three parts:

"Furthermore, I have another suggestion to raise funds for the reforms: why don't we try issuing government bonds?"