Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 158: Achievements Of The Five-year Plan

Spain’s equipment purchases and talent attraction efforts have been carried out with great fanfare, also attracting attention from many European countries.

However, for the Spanish Government, this no longer matters. These talents and equipment to be introduced can contribute to Spain’s development, so there is naturally no need to worry about the reactions of these countries.

More importantly, powerful countries in industry and economy such as Britain, France, and Germany are still unable to extricate themselves from the quagmire of the economic crisis at this time.

While countries with relatively weaker industry and economy such as Portugal and the Netherlands cannot pose too great a threat to Spain.

Precisely because of this, after receiving protests from some countries, Spain’s talent attraction efforts not only showed no restraint but instead intensified.

The Spanish Government also publicly stated that Spain’s talent attraction efforts all comply with the laws and regulations of various countries. Spain offers salaries within the normal range to these technical talents and scientists, and also welcomes these countries to offer the same salaries to compete with Spain.

To put it bluntly, Prime Minister Primó is convinced that the European countries, amid the economic crisis, cannot afford too great a cost to retain domestic talents.

For countries plagued by the economic crisis, the most important thing at present is to rectify the domestic economy and save those large companies and enterprises on the verge of bankruptcy, rather than focusing on those few poached talents.

For the major countries, the poached talents are ultimately only a minority. Would they really fight Spain to the death over these poached talents? Of course not.

As for the small countries, their actions are really just protests. Especially for Portugal, which has suffered the most serious talent losses, they even have to consider the attitude of the Spanish Government when protesting—who made Spain their neighbor? How exaggerated is Spain’s talent attraction? From the outbreak of the economic crisis to now, only a little over three months have passed, and the royal family’s expenses on talent attraction have already exceeded 3 million pesetas.

It must be known that this is only the expense for talent attraction, and only the royal family’s expenditure. If the total number of talents introduced by the government is added, the cumulative number of talents introduced by Spain has exceeded 2000 people.

Unfortunately, however, more than half of these over 2000 people are ordinary engineers and technical personnel. The research-oriented talents that Carlo most eagerly awaits number less than

Among these less than 500 research talents, those who have obtained the title and treatment of second-level academician number less than Although some people have not been given too high-level titles and treatment due to just arriving, this is ultimately only a minority.

According to the information from the Royal Intelligence Agency, it would already be very good if 20 of these less than 500 research talents ultimately obtain the title of third-level academician.

However, they are still research talents. Even if their abilities are not as excellent as imagined, Carlo welcomes them greatly.

After these talents have mostly all arrived in Spain, Carlo personally attended the welcome banquet held for them, expressing a warm welcome for their arrival.

The expenses for talent attraction are ultimately a minority; the expenses for purchasing equipment and enterprises are the majority.

In these three months, the Spanish industry department has purchased a total of more than 30 companies of various kinds, with funds spent exceeding 80 million pesetas.

The plan to purchase enterprises is still ongoing. In the coming months, the industry department’s buying spree will continue, and the scale will only grow larger.

Amid the dark clouds of the economic crisis, some major events in Europe are also worth noting.

First, before the outbreak of the economic crisis, German Emperor Wilhelm I, Prime Minister Bismarck, and Marshal Moltke visited the Russian capital Saint Petersburg and signed a secret military agreement with the Russian Government.

Although Carlo is unclear about the specific content of the military agreement signed by the two countries, based on the historical direction of the Three Emperors Alliance, the agreement signed by Germany and Russia at this time should be something like a joint defense treaty.

As mentioned before, Austria, which has become the Austro-Hungarian Empire, is continuously aligning its diplomatic policy toward Germany.

This is also unavoidable. After Prussia won the German domination, the newly established German Empire has become an unstoppable juggernaut.

Rather than competing with the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire might as well turn its gaze to Southeast Europe and expand its sphere of influence on the Balkan Peninsula.

The military agreement between Germany and Russia makes the Austro-Hungarian Empire the most anxious, not Britain and France.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire also has Spain as an ally, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst. Spain’s strength is not too powerful either, and it cannot help the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the hegemony over the Balkan Region.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire needs a powerful ally like Germany, or at least to prevent Germany and Russia from continuing to draw closer, maintaining the existing situation in the Balkans to meet the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s needs.

At this time, the conflict between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia is not yet that intense, after all, the places both sides are eyeing belong to another country, the Ottoman Empire.

On the handling of Balkan Region issues, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire maintain the same attitude, that is, to solve them collaboratively.

Not long after the outbreak of the economic crisis, Russian Emperor Alexander II publicly visited the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Taking this opportunity, the two emperors of Russia and Austria formally signed the《Xingbolong Agreement》, which is also a reaffirmation of the two countries’ attitude toward collaborative problem-solving.

Because the entire agreement has only one theme: when facing a third country’s aggression that endangers peace in the European region, the agreement parties（namely Russia and Austria） should immediately discuss common action guidelines.

To put it bluntly, it is mutual compromise between the two countries to cope with other countries’ intervention in the situation on the Balkan Peninsula.

Russia is mainly guarding against the British in this agreement, while the main purpose of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is to ease the situation and prevent the Austro-Hungarian Empire from being diplomatically isolated.

The two countries each have their own purposes; this agreement is more like a certain compromise between the two countries based on their respective interests, rather than a true alliance treaty.

But no matter what, the easing of relations between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at this time is a good thing for both sides.

However, the signing of this agreement instead made Germany somewhat uneasy. At this time, Germany’s diplomatic system was established by Prime Minister Bismarck, and his main diplomatic system was to isolate France and establish a conservative alliance treaty among the three monarchies of Germany, Austria, and Russia.

The drawing closer of Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire instead caused Germany to worry, because Germany is also afraid that Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire will bypass it, which would directly bankrupt Germany’s anti-France alliance system and cause Germany to suffer a new diplomatic crisis.

It must be known that the predecessor of Germany, Prussia, had hostile relations with Austria. With Germany’s growing strength, the Russians will certainly also worry about the threat from Germany.

If the original alliance to isolate France turns into an alliance to isolate Germany, that would be a big joke.

Precisely because of this, after the agreement between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was signed, the German diplomatic department immediately took action, stating that Germany is also willing to join this agreement to jointly maintain peace in Europe among the three countries.

Because Germany and Russia had just signed a military secret agreement the previous month, the two sides are currently in a honeymoon period.

Russia does not oppose Germany joining this agreement, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not expressed clear opposition.

Precisely because of this, after some negotiations, Germany also publicly joined this agreement, and the first Three Emperors Alliance was formally established.

However, because the essence of this agreement is a certain compromise between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire regarding their own interests, the validity period of the agreement is also very short, only two years.

Although the Three Emperors Alliance was successfully formed, such a Three Emperors Alliance is not stable, and the alliance relationship is very likely to break due to an accident.

Although Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire each have their own ulterior motives, the German Government at this time is very satisfied. In the view of the Germans, if the relationship between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire becomes too stable, what is the point of Germany’s role as the intermediary?

The reason Germany joined this agreement is to seek the identity of mediator of the agreement, controlling the relationship between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire to maintain a delicate balance.

Anyway, no matter what other countries think, the Three Emperors Alliance was rapidly established just like that.

The Russians breathed a sigh of relief; they can focus on dealing with the conflicts with the British. The Austrians also breathed a sigh of relief; the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s diplomatic crisis was smoothly resolved, and its interests on the Balkan Peninsula were guaranteed.

The Germans also breathed a sigh of relief. After the establishment of the Three Emperors Alliance, France was smoothly isolated outside and naturally became the main target of the Three Emperors Alliance.

Carlo paid attention to the entire process of the establishment of the Three Emperors Alliance. However, for Spain at this time, the Three Emperors Alliance is not suitable for Spain to participate in, and Carlo has no intention of participating.

The three participants of the Three Emperors Alliance each have their own ideas, and such an alliance is not stable. History has indeed proven that the first Three Emperors Alliance only lasted two years, and the second Three Emperors Alliance Treaty signed in 1881 only lasted 6 years.

In the final analysis, with the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia have turned their gaze to the Balkan Peninsula. This is a conflict that cannot be eased at all and will only become more intense with the weakening of the Ottoman Empire.

Moreover, Britain and France will not allow such an alliance to exist, so the disintegration of the Three Emperors Alliance is inevitable; it is only a matter of time.

When the Three Emperors Alliance Treaty was formally signed, the time had come to the end of October

In the more than two months that followed, Spain still maintained the decision of buying and poaching, purchasing a large number of various factories and enterprises from European countries and digging up thousands of talents.

Although a lot of funds were consumed, it did indeed bring great progress to Spain in terms of talent reserves. Currently, Spain may not catch up with other great powers in Europe in terms of talent reserves, but it has far surpassed small and medium-sized countries such as Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Even compared to a low-tier great power like Italy, Spain is actually in a leading position in terms of talent reserves.

The time came to the end of December Because the new cabinet government election will be held next year, the ministers of various departments still attach great importance to the annual report meeting for this year.

If Prime Minister Primó chooses to continue running, they can only set their sights on the cabinet minister seats. But if Prime Minister Primó abandons the election, they have hope to strive for the position of Prime Minister of Spain, which is second to none, relying on the political achievements and reports in hand.

Even for the current Spain, the actual power of the prime minister position is much greater than that of the king. As long as the prime minister is willing, he can even easily sideline the king and control the entire parliament.

At the annual summary report meeting, various departments prepared detailed report information, summarizing even the smallest political achievements in the reports.

Carlo naturally would not miss such an important meeting. The annual summary report meeting was held in the parliament, and Carlo sat calmly in the main seat of the parliament amid the gazes of the parliament members with different attitudes.

A few minutes later, the entire report meeting officially began.

It was still Prime Minister Primó who first set a broad tone.

“Your Majesty the King, fellow members of Parliament. 1873 is a very important year for us. Under the government’s efforts, Spain’s overall industrial environment has seen relatively significant growth.

According to the cabinet government’s estimate, as of today, our country’s total population has officially broken through 75 million, an increase of at least 300,000 compared to last year.

Our gross national product for the whole year is approximately 861 billion pesetas, with a growth rate exceeding 9% compared to last year.

Although the economic crisis broke out across Europe in May, Spain was not affected too severely. To cope with the possible reduction in imports and exports caused by the economic crisis, we formulated various plans and achieved relatively good results.

It can also be seen from the economic growth rate that the government’s plans are very successful. We are also the only country in the world with positive economic growth amid the economic crisis, and the growth rate is even higher than before the economic crisis.”

Speaking of the positive economic growth, Prime Minister Primó’s report received applause from all parliament members.

Carlo was the one who took the initiative to applaud. After Carlo took the initiative to applaud, other parliament members, even if they did not intend to applaud, had to act in coordination.

After waiting for a little over a minute until the applause subsided, Prime Minister Primó continued the summary report: “

Benefiting from our positive economic growth, our government’s total fiscal revenue for the whole year has also seen a significant increase.

According to the finance department’s tally, for the whole year of 1873, our country’s total fiscal revenue is 1 million pesetas, an increase of 2 million pesetas compared to last year.

However, in order to cope with the impact of the fiscal crisis on Spain, the government’s various constructions have also significantly increased the proportion of fiscal expenditure.

For the whole year of 1873, our total fiscal expenditure reached 3 million pesetas. Of which, regular fiscal expenditure is 7 million pesetas, and external operations expenditure is 6 million pesetas.

Although the fiscal loss for the whole year is close to 200 million pesetas, the foreign factories and enterprises purchased by the government’s external operations can greatly help our industrial growth.

It is expected that in the next few years, Spain’s industry and economy will ignore the impact of the economic crisis and achieve significant development at an extremely fast speed.

The government will next formulate a detailed new five-year plan, dedicated to Spain’s comprehensive development and industrial construction in the next five years.

Currently, the first five-year construction we launched in 1869 has achieved significant success. In this nearly five years, our industry, agriculture, railway, education, and economic construction have all achieved complete success.

Since the launch of the five-year plan, our total population has increased by approximately 15 million, steel output has increased by over 400,000 tons, and the total economy has grown by over 2 billion pesetas.

Our fiscal revenue has risen from less than 300 million pesetas in 1868 to nearly 550 million pesetas in 1873, a difference of over 250 million pesetas, close to the total fiscal revenue of

We have increased investment in railways. As of now, Spain’s total railway mileage has exceeded 7400 kilometers, only less than 100 kilometers away from our initial target of 7500 kilometers.

Before the five-year plan began, our total railway mileage was less than 5400 kilometers. In five years, we have built a total of over 2000 kilometers of railway mileage, and will continue to increase investment in railways in the future.

In the next five-year plan, Spain will usher in a total railway scale of over 10,000 kilometers. Perhaps after the completion of the next five-year plan, we can proudly declare that Spain has built a powerful industry and economy, and we are a powerful country!”

Because Spain’s cabinet election is held in February, this also means that there are less than two months left until the cabinet turnover.

Precisely because of this, this year’s annual summary report meeting is not just the report meeting for 1873, but also includes the contributions made by the Spanish Cabinet Government from February 1869 to February 1874, these five years.

It is worth mentioning that Prime Minister Primó mentioned the government’s next five-year plan multiple times at the five-year plan report meeting, which actually represents one thing: Prime Minister Primó has decided to continue running for cabinet prime minister.

If he decided to abandon the election, Prime Minister Primó would not talk about any next five-year plan at all. After all, the five-year plan is formulated by the cabinet government. If he does not run for cabinet prime minister, whether the second five-year plan is implemented and the specific content of the second five-year plan have nothing to do with Prime Minister Primó.

Upon learning the news that Prime Minister Primó will continue to run, many parliament members showed disappointed expressions, but quickly concealed them.

Prime Minister Primó continuing to run is the normal thing. After all, under Prime Minister Primó’s reforms, Spain has already been on the right track, and the second five-year plan will only be simpler compared to the first five-year plan.

As the greatest meritorious official in promoting the reforms, Prime Minister Primó suddenly abandoning the cabinet prime minister position at this moment would be the strangest.

It can be foreseen that Prime Minister Primó, relying on the huge prestige from the successful reforms and the rapid expansion of the Progressive Party over the past five years, will easily obtain the majority of votes and serve as the prime minister of the next cabinet government.

But there is also a problem worth considering, which is Carlo’s growth over these five years.

In 1869, Carlo had just come to Spain, and plus being a teenager, it was normal that he could not wield great power.

But five years have passed, and Carlo has turned 22 this year. A young king in his twenties, does he really have no demand for power?

Prime Minister Primó, who still holds great power, and Carlo, who has sat firmly on the throne in Spain and may make more demands on his own power, this also makes the expressions in the eyes of many parliament members more complex, constantly shifting between the impassioned Prime Minister Primó talking about the plans and Carlo, who is steadily sitting in the main seat of the meeting with a smile and no other expressions.

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