Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 128: Cabinet Meeting

Carlo was also paying attention to the Primó Government, which had been taking nonstop actions during this period. Although both pieces of legislation had achieved very good results, the promulgation of such legislation was bound to cause dissatisfaction among some entitled beneficiaries.

The sensation caused by one piece of legislation might not be great, but when several pieces of legislation were stacked together, the resulting influence was incalculable.

Fortunately, the second piece of legislation had little impact on the nobles. The old aristocrats held vast amounts of land in their hands, and they had not yet transformed into capital-style new aristocrats.

The new aristocrats did not have much funds in their hands; they were mainly participating in the operations of the Royal United Bank to obtain dividends from the Royal United Bank.

Carlo had gone all out to win over these new aristocrats. The royal family held 75% of the shares in the Royal United Bank, with the remaining 25% of shares partitioned among the Noble Consortium.

The shares of the Noble Consortium were divided into several portions. If new aristocrats wanted to participate in the Noble Consortium, they needed to spend funds to purchase shares in the united consortium.

All future investments by the united consortium would generate dividends, which would then be distributed to the nobles behind the consortium according to the proportion of shares.

Of course, to prevent some new aristocrats from lacking sufficient funds to purchase shares in the Noble Consortium, Carlo also offered certain rewards to the new aristocrats.

For example, all the nobles enfeoffed after Carlo’s ascension to the throne, though they did not have much land, would directly obtain some shares in the Noble Consortium.

Although the value of the shares rewarded to them at the beginning was not too high, totaling only around a few hundred pesetas, with the development of the Noble Consortium, the value of such shares would eventually rise to thousands or even tens of thousands of pesetas. After these new aristocrats had accumulated some wealth, they could also purchase shares in the Noble Consortium, increasing their share proportion and naturally receiving more dividends in the future.

Do not underestimate the Noble Consortium, which currently was not yet large in scale.

The Royal United Bank had already become a juggernaut enterprise in the Spanish banking industry; even the Spanish National Bank, assembled by the government at great expense, could not compare.

Of course, the main reason was also that the Spanish National Bank had started too late. The Royal United Bank had already become a giant in the Spanish banking industry before the Spanish National Bank was established, and it was now the largest bank consortium in Spain.

Compared to the Royal United Bank, the Spanish National Bank was smaller in scale. But compared to other banks in Spain, the national bank was still a juggernaut.

The Royal United Bank and the Spanish National Bank were not only the top two bank giants in Spain; their combined user numbers and total deposits also accounted for about eighty percent of all bank users and deposits in Spain.

Of course, more than fifty-five percent of that eighty percent was in the Royal United Bank, while the national bank’s users and total deposits were only about twenty-five percent.

But the remaining banks in Spain combined had user numbers and deposits of less than twenty percent, which also showed from this aspect that the Royal United Bank and the national bank had already formed a monopoly on the Spanish banking industry.

The formation of monopoly giants was a necessity of era development and something every country could not avoid.

For Spain, having two giants monopolize the banking industry was much better than having all sorts of small and medium-scale banks blooming everywhere.

The two banks with official natures would receive more support from the public, and these two banks could also attract more user deposits, thereby more effectively utilizing civilian funds in Spain to develop Spain’s economy.

Although the two official banks had some selfishness in developing themselves to varying degrees, they would not shrink back in the face of the greater cause of national development.

If the government lacked funds, it could have the two banks with official natures purchase national debt, which at least could temporarily alleviate the government’s funds crisis without issue.

If civilian funds were all dispersed among those large and small private banks, not only would it be very troublesome to gather them, but small-scale banks were also prone to bankruptcy.

Monopoly giants might not be suitable for Spain’s future development, but for Spain, which was currently in a state of devastation waiting to be revived, they were the best choice for development.

Spain’s development was not all smooth sailing, and the development of various industry sectors would also face many problems.

On June 3, 1872, during a routine meeting of the Spanish Cabinet Government, the government discussed the problems currently faced in Spain’s development.

Carlo, who had not attended a cabinet meeting for a long time, reappeared at the Spanish Cabinet Government’s meeting and listened to the Cabinet Government’s discussion on this meeting.

The reason Carlo appeared at the cabinet meeting was actually because of Prime Minister Primó’s invitation. Why? Because currently, only Carlo had spare money to focus on developing certain industry sectors, which was also why Prime Minister Primó invited Carlo.

Under the maid’s service, he put on the white king’s military uniform sewn by the royal family’s exclusive tailor, donned the military rank of Spanish Marshal, held the king’s custom longsword, bid farewell to Queen Sophie, and then Carlo headed to the government to attend the meeting with a confident smile on his face.

Carlo found it hard not to be confident. Becoming the king of the great European power Spain at less than 19 years old, and now at 21 having preliminarily mastered certain power—whoever it was would wear a confident smile.

The good news was that 19th-century nobles and kings had shed the noble robes of the 17th and 18th centuries, changing to wear more handsome and simpler military uniforms.

With military ranks, a series of medals, and sword knots attached, the military uniforms worn by kings and nobles were actually more stately than the previous robes, appearing more majestic and handsome.

Anyway, Carlo quite liked wearing such a military uniform. Apart from wearing the king’s formal dress on necessary occasions, Carlo preferred going out in military uniform.

First, the military uniform was not so bulky; second, it was damn handsome. As king, Carlo could also customize his military uniform according to his own ideas—whatever was the handsomest.

Entering the government’s meeting room, the cabinet members were all respectfully waiting for Carlo.

The moment the guards pushed open the door, all the cabinet members stood up and very respectfully greeted and saluted Carlo.

Carlo smiled and nodded, walking under everyone’s attention to the head seat at the conference table and slowly sitting down.

No matter who was the boss of the government, as long as the king attended the government’s meeting, the head seat had to be reserved for the king.

After all, the king was the theoretical highest ruler of a country; even the current Spanish Government had to serve the king.

Power was power, status was status; they were different.

Once everyone was present, the Cabinet Government’s meeting officially began. Prime Minister Primó, as the government’s leader, naturally had to set a discussion topic for this cabinet meeting.

Second update, seeking support!