Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 129: Technical Schools

Prime Minister Primó first reported the recent work results of the government to Carlo, then extended the meeting’s discussion topic to the current problems existing in the government, that is, Spain’s lack of technical talent during industrial development.

In fact, it is not just Spain; any country that wants to develop industry will face the problem of lacking technical talent.

Industry is not something that can be built simply by accumulating money. In addition to requiring a large amount of advanced technology and equipment, it also needs technical talent with a certain knowledge reserve.

Even the most basic smelting of steel has quite strict requirements for the technical level of steel workers. The technical level of workers not only determines the quality of steel, but also determines work efficiency and safety levels.

Carlo had long anticipated the matter of Spain lacking technical talent.

Although some talent gaps have currently been addressed through the construction of universities and the attraction of foreign talent, the gaps in technical talent, especially skilled workers, have not been filled much.

When Spain’s industrial scale was not large before, such gaps were still acceptable. But now Spain’s industrial scale has gradually taken shape in long-term development, so the gaps in skilled workers must be taken seriously.

Spain’s reserves of technical talent and skilled workers are only enough to meet the needs of a small Seville Industrial Base. For the currently under-construction Barcelona Industrial Base, the existing technical talent in Spain is completely insufficient.

Compared to the Seville Industrial Base, the Barcelona Industrial Base is not only much larger in scale, but also completely different in importance.

The Seville Industrial Base can provide about 30,000 jobs at most, but the first phase of construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base can provide about 100,000 jobs. If all three phases of construction of the Barcelona Industrial Base are completed, the entire industrial base is expected to provide more than 500,000 jobs, which also means that the gap in technical talent is similarly as high as hundreds of thousands.

Hundreds of thousands of talent gaps are not easy to fill, and a great price must be paid to build related technical schools, specifically to cultivate technical talent beyond university students.

“Your Majesty, the development difficulties currently faced by the government are these. They are not very obvious yet, but after the Barcelona Industrial Base is completed, our gaps in technical talent and skilled workers may reach more than 50,000, and it is highly likely to affect the development of the Barcelona Industrial Base.” After reporting the current work progress of the Spanish Government, Prime Minister Primó said respectfully to Carlo.

“Does the government currently have any good solutions?” Carlo nodded and asked.

“Yes.” Prime Minister Primó nodded and replied: “We can establish related comprehensive technical schools to help us specifically cultivate the needed technical talent.

However, because we need a large amount of technical talent in the short term, establishing related comprehensive technical schools currently still has certain difficulties.”

In fact, if it were just about building comprehensive technical schools, the government alone could easily accomplish it.

But the problem is that Spain’s demand for technical talent is not as simple as thousands or tens of thousands; they are gaps of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

Under such huge gaps, it is difficult to achieve relying solely on the government’s power. Even if the government could build so many technical schools, it would waste too much energy and funds in this area, thereby neglecting development in other directions.

The best way is to cooperate with the royal family. The royal family possesses sufficient funds, after all, the Royal United Bank has become Spain’s largest bank.

Prime Minister Primó invited Carlo to this cabinet meeting precisely because he knew this, to invite Carlo and the royal family to join the construction of technical schools as much as possible, so that Spain can make up for the lack of technical talent as soon as possible.

Of course, Carlo also knew Prime Minister Primó’s thoughts. However, the royal family definitely would not waste large amounts of funds to help the government build technical schools for nothing; at least some interest exchange must be achieved.

Carlo’s goal is not only to help the government build technical schools, but also to let the royal family take the lead in the construction and popularization of technical schools and claim the primary credit.

When a large amount of technical talent is cultivated from the schools in the future and enters jobs in factories and enterprises, these people will also be grateful to the royal family, after all, it was the royal family that gave them the opportunity.

Without the royal family building technical schools to help them master a crucial technical ability, they absolutely could not take on some higher-requiring technical positions, and their income naturally could not increase significantly.

Prime Minister Primó was actually aware of some of Carlo’s demands. No matter how Carlo cooperates with him in reforms, it cannot change the fact that Carlo is a young king.

Young kings all have ambition; there is no young king who does not want to grasp power in his own hands and point fingers at the government’s work.

Although Prime Minister Primó understood this, he would not stop Carlo’s actions and demands. For Prime Minister Primó, Spain’s current reforms and development are the most important; other things are secondary.

Moreover, Carlo’s progress in cultivating his own confidants and forces and slowly grasping power would take at least several years. In these few years, Carlo would fully support Prime Minister Primó’s reforms as much as possible, which is also what Prime Minister Primó is most willing to see.

As for Carlo wanting more power a few years later, it actually has little to do with Prime Minister Primó.

Prime Minister Primó is almost 60 years old; he will not worry about things several long years from now. Moreover, with the support of Grand Duke Serrano and the royalists originally loyal to the Bourbon family switching sides, it is only a matter of time before Carlo obtains some power in the government and army.

Currently, in the entire Spanish Government, the only one who can prevent Carlo from grasping power is Prime Minister Primó himself, but Prime Minister Primó will not do so.

Because Prime Minister Primó profoundly and clearly understands that the stability of the Kingdom of Spain largely depends on the current monarchy.

If Spain becomes a republican country, there would not be so much tolerance between the various factions. Rather than letting radical republicanism destroy Spain, it is better to let Carlo regain power.

At least from observations over these few years, Carlo does not seem like the incompetent monarch Queen Isabella was; at least he is a relatively qualified king.

Moreover, even if Carlo wants to take over power in the government and army, it will not be smooth sailing.

Other parties may not be willing to see a king with sole power; even if Carlo possesses some power, he will be restricted by parliament and the government.

This is another reason why Prime Minister Primó is at ease. If Carlo’s own ability is not too strong, the opposition from these parties will be enough to ensure that Carlo’s power is not too great, and Spain remains a constitutional monarchy, so there is naturally no need to impose too many restrictions on Carlo’s grasping of power.

If Carlo can grasp sole power amidst opposition from many parties and other forces, and deeply win the trust and love of the public, then it can also prove that Carlo is a king with quite excellent ability.

Since that is the case, what reason does Prime Minister Primó have to stop Carlo from grasping power.

“The gaps of hundreds of thousands of technical talent are indeed not easy to fill.” Carlo nodded, pretending to be deep in thought, and only spoke after a moment: “

Facing the major difficulties in Spain’s development, the royal family cannot stand idly by. How about this: I will allocate a portion of funds from the royal family’s property to establish the Madrid Comprehensive Technical School, and build as many branch schools as possible.

The construction requirements for comprehensive technical schools do not need to be too high; as long as they can cultivate technical talent in related fields for us. For enrollment in technical schools, restrictions can also be relaxed; as long as one has primary school education, they can apply for our comprehensive technical schools, and after graduation, they can obtain education level equivalent to senior high school.”

This help must definitely be given, after all, the stronger Spain becomes, the more benefits Carlo can obtain.

As for the role and contribution of the royal family in building technical schools, with Prime Minister Primó in charge, he will naturally understand Carlo’s intentions.

Moreover, Carlo himself possesses a large number of newspaper offices as public opinion institutions; with some large-scale propaganda, the public will naturally know who contributed greatly to building the technical schools.

Hearing that Carlo nodded and was willing to let the royal family fund the construction of technical schools, the expressions of some cabinet members looking at Carlo also changed slightly.

Prime Minister Primó’s cabinet government follows the principle of reforms first, and indeed quite a few cabinet members support the monarchy and Carlo.

But at the same time, there are also some in the cabinet government who oppose the monarchy, or at least do not think highly of the monarchy.

This is mainly due to the influence of the Bourbon Dynasty, Queen Isabella, and her father on Spain; Spaniards experienced a full 50 years of dark rule.

Carlo being able to nod so decisively and agree to the royal family funding it clearly exceeded the expectations of some cabinet members.

After all, during Queen Isabella’s reign, not only was she unwilling to waste the royal family’s money on such things, but she would even use government funds to handle royal family matters.

Although this cannot directly change the attitudes of certain cabinet members, at least it lets them know that Carlo is different from the previous Queen Isabella.

This is also one of Carlo’s purposes. Although after Prime Minister Primó steps down, the majority of the current cabinet government members will bid farewell to Spain’s core political arena, some will continue to strive in Spain’s political arena, even aiming for the prime minister position.

What Carlo needs to do is change some people’s views on Spain’s monarchy, and screen out some talents he can utilize from them as much as possible, turning them into his helpers.

First update of 3,000 words, seeking support!