Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 110: Industrial Aid

Things turned out exactly as Carlo had anticipated. For these hot-blooded young men who were about to graduate from the military academy and enter the army, nothing was more exhilarating than making their country greater.

Carlo’s personal attendance had already thrilled these military academy graduates immensely, and under this surge of passion, the excitement and fervor in the young men’s eyes could no longer be contained, as if they were ready at any moment to lay down their lives for the greatness and rise of Spain.

Of course, things hadn’t reached that extreme.

Carlo’s purpose was to ensure these excellent graduates from the Royal Military Academy firmly remembered their mission and to whom they should pledge their loyalty.

When putting on a show, one must do it thoroughly, so Carlo certainly wouldn’t stop halfway. Before the end of this relatively brief graduation ceremony, Carlo personally conferred army ranks in the Spanish Royal Army on more than 400 military academy graduates and personally awarded their graduation certificates.

Graduates who performed exceptionally well in school could obtain the rank of captain, while the remaining graduates all received the rank of lieutenant.

Don’t underestimate the rank of lieutenant; in the Spanish Army, they generally serve as platoon-level military commanders.

These more than 400 graduates started their military careers as platoon leaders or deputy platoon leaders, with considerable potential for the future.

Although it’s unlikely that several generals would emerge from these 400-plus people, a significant portion could still climb to the threshold of field officer, that is, major.

But to grow from an officer into a general, besides seniority, certain merits are also very necessary. Carlo was full of expectations for these officers emerging from the Royal Military Academy and would naturally fully support their promotions in the army.

As long as they didn’t cause trouble in the army and steadily accumulated their own seniority and merits, no one would block their rank promotions.

After the graduation ceremony ended, Carlo personally inquired about the future assignments of these more than 400 military academy graduates.

Considering the future development of his own Guard, Carlo selected a dozen or so particularly promising talents from these more than 400 military academy students and promoted them to join the Guard for growth.

Although the Guard’s current scale was only one regiment, as the military force Carlo could currently control, it would definitely undergo expansion in the future.

For now, they certainly couldn’t serve as platoon leader-level officers in the Guard, but it would allow them to accumulate some seniority and experience.

When the Guard undergoes expansion in the future, it would be the time for these young officers to truly lead troops. The Guard would definitely expand to at least the scale of one division in the future, and selecting some military academy graduates in advance was preparation for the officer vacancies after the Guard’s future expansion.

The military academy graduates who achieved excellent results and obtained the opportunity to serve in the Guard naturally had faces full of excitement.

Compared to the ordinary Royal Army, the Royal Guard was clearly the more elite force. Every expansion of the Guard involved meticulous selection within the army; it could be said that every soldier in the Guard was an elite among elites.

Moreover, as King Carlo’s personal guard, the prospects of joining the Guard were definitely much better than staying in the Royal Army.

Although the Royal Military Academy wouldn’t forcibly brainwash every military academy student, various subtle ideological influences were constantly at work.

These military academy graduates had already deepened this impression through long-term studies at the academy, so pledging loyalty to His Majesty the King was naturally a matter of course for them.

Of course, for the remaining military academy graduates who couldn’t join the Guard, Carlo also offered encouragement.

Carlo stated that no matter which army they served in, they were preparing for Spain’s greatness. Whether the Royal Guard or the Royal Army, there was essentially no difference; both were excellent Spanish armies he could trust.

Seeing that this subtle brainwashing was indeed effective, Carlo even planned to adopt such brainwashing methods throughout Spain’s entire education system, gradually instilling in Spain’s next generation the eternal belief in loyalty to the monarch and love for the country.

Loyalty to the monarch and love for the country, of course, meant loyalty to the king first, then love for the country of Spain. The order was very important, after all, Carlo didn’t want his layout to ultimately benefit the government.

Of course, such brainwashing couldn’t be implemented all at once in all schools. It could start with pilot programs in a few places, then slowly expand to the entire national education system, achieving infiltration from points to the whole.

While Carlo was preoccupied with the graduation ceremony of the first batch of graduates from his Royal Military Academy, on the Spanish Government side, Prime Minister Primó was also constantly paying attention to the upcoming contacts with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Since the two countries’ royal families had chosen a marriage alliance, the two countries’ governments would naturally draw closer in subsequent diplomacy.

Franz Joseph I still held great prestige in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and through the marriage alliance between the two royal families, Spain also had the possibility of obtaining much support from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Without much thought, Prime Minister Primó instructed the Spanish diplomatic ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to strengthen ties with the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Government and, as much as possible, promote the initial cooperation agreement between Spain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Compared to Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was naturally a country with stronger industry and more developed economy. Prime Minister Primó certainly wouldn’t miss this good opportunity; he not only planned to seek some industrial technology aid from the Austro-Hungarian Empire but also intended to borrow some funds from the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s private capital to help Spain’s industrial development.

Simply put, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would provide money and technology to help the Spanish Government develop industry and economy.

Would the Austro-Hungarian Empire agree to this? In fact, it was highly likely they would.

After all, the industrial technology aid and financial support weren’t given for free; Spain would also have to give something in return.

First was the loan interest, which was indispensable; the Austro-Hungarian Empire was basically unlikely to provide Spain with an interest-free loan, as they also had to consider the attitudes of domestic capital in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The current Austro-Hungarian Empire faced competition with Russia on the Balkan Peninsula and naturally wanted to pull in more allies.

Although Spain wasn’t that powerful, it still had some role to play, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally wouldn’t reject an alliance with Spain.

Under negotiations between the two governments, the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Government and the Spanish Government quickly reached a cooperation agreement.

Prime Minister Primó also reported this already achieved cooperation agreement to Carlo, eliciting Carlo’s repeated praise.

One had to sigh that the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s economy and industry were vastly superior to Italy’s. Just in terms of funds, the Spanish Government had borrowed more than 120 million krone from the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s private capital.

The krone was the official currency of the Austrian Empire, with an exchange rate against the Spanish peseta of approximately 1:This loan from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, converted to Spanish peseta, amounted to as high as 6 million, equivalent to one-third of Spain’s total fiscal revenue last year.

Of course, this funding wasn’t so easy to borrow. The annual interest on the loan was about 1%, with a repayment term of 15 years. If repaid exactly at the 15-year term, the cumulative interest on this loan would reach around 60 million peseta.

Although the interest was somewhat high, the good news was there were no additional extra conditions. The Spanish Government only needed to repay this loan and all interest within the stipulated time, and it would basically be a win-win.

Of course, if the Spanish Government couldn’t repay the principal and all interest within 15 years, the annual interest would rise to 5% after 15 years, and an additional 5 million peseta in late fees would be required for each year delayed.

This requirement was also normal; after all, those capitalists in Austria didn’t want their money to ultimately go down the drain.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Family had stepped in, it was still money from their own pockets, so taking precautions was very necessary.

Carlo had never worried about this point. 6 million peseta was indeed a large sum of funds. Adding the interest of up to 60 million peseta, the Spanish Government would need to repay a cumulative 6 million peseta after 15 years.

But considering inflation and Spain’s economic development over the next 15 years, such interest wouldn’t amount to much.

With 6 million peseta invested, the returns to the Spanish Government would absolutely far exceed this funding.

Carlo never thought the Spanish Government couldn’t repay this funding; it might even be cleared within the next few years.

After all, large-scale infrastructure construction brought extremely rapid economic development to the country. Spain’s total fiscal revenue last year was just over 300 million peseta, and it would definitely grow this year, reaching over 400 million peseta not being a big issue.

Under sustained good economic growth, the Spanish Government wouldn’t lack money much after a few years, at least domestic development wouldn’t need to rely on foreign funds.

In addition to this 6 million peseta in financial aid, the Spanish Government also signed an aid treaty with the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Government on industrial technology.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire would provide the Spanish Government with steel smelting technology, chemical technology, and some military technology over the next five years to help develop Spain’s industry.

In return, Spain’s progress in these three technologies over the next ten years would also need to be shared with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for joint research by the two countries.

At the same time, the Spanish Government signed a trade agreement with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, using reduced tariffs to encourage import and export trade between the two countries and strengthen economic ties.

Spain’s overall grain yield naturally couldn’t compare to the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s, but it had the advantage of a smaller population, with per capita resources not less than the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s.

Plus a long coastline with abundant aquatic resources. Each year, it could export some grain to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, exchanging for foreign exchange income to purchase other technologies from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also strengthening economic exchange between the two countries.

First update of 3,000 words, seeking support!