Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 160: Splitting The Ministry Of Industry

As time entered February 1874, the atmosphere of the Cabinet election also became increasingly heated.

However, for something like Cabinet elections, the results were actually predetermined long before the election. Prime Minister Primó’s Progressive Party still occupied the majority of seats in Parliament, which also meant that Prime Minister Primó would 100% become the Prime Minister of the new Cabinet Government.

The facts indeed turned out as expected.

Prime Minister Primó successfully won election as Prime Minister of the second Cabinet Government with over 81% of the vote, securing re-election.

Spain’s House of Representatives had a total of 208 seats, with the Progressive Party occupying 106 seats, accounting for over 51%.

The Liberal Party, which supported reform, occupied 42 seats, accounting for over 20%.

The votes held by just these two parties already exceeded 148, far surpassing the 60% of votes needed to become Cabinet Prime Minister.

The Conservative Party controlled by Cánovas was the second largest party in Spain’s House of Representatives, holding a full 52 seats, accounting for 25% of the total seats in the House of Representatives.

Currently, the seats in Spain’s House of Representatives were basically controlled by these three major parties, with only 8 seats belonging to Independents and other parties.

This also led to a result: even if Prime Minister Primó did not participate, the position of Cabinet Prime Minister would only be selected from among the Progressive Party, Liberal Party, and Conservative Party. Considering that the Progressive Party’s seats already exceeded half of the total seats in the House of Representatives, in the election of the next Cabinet Government, whoever could succeed Prime Minister Primó as the Progressive Party Leader would have the possibility of relying on the Progressive Party’s support to become Spain’s new Prime Minister.

After Prime Minister Primó successfully secured re-election, he quickly submitted the list of ministers for the second Cabinet Government to Carlo.

As early as before, Carlo had already communicated with Prime Minister Primó and demanded the positions of Minister of Industry and Minister of Agriculture.

For the Spanish Cabinet Government, among the various departments of the Cabinet, there were three most important departments: Defense, Finance, and Industry.

The current Minister of Defense could only be competently filled by Serrano. This was not due to considerations of ability, but rather Serrano Grand Duke’s prestige in the army and the need for checks and balances.

Even if the Minister of Defense position could not be held in Carlo’s hands, it at least had to be controlled by a figure who remained neutral between Prime Minister Primó and Carlo.

The reason Serrano Grand Duke was competent was not only his prestige in the Spanish military sufficient to rival Prime Minister Primó, but also that his relationship with Prime Minister Primó was not close, only a cooperative relationship.

If Prime Minister Primó’s subordinates controlled the Defense Department, that would truly mean controlling both Finance and the army, enough to threaten Carlo’s royal power.

Therefore, no matter the situation, Carlo could not concede the Minister of Defense position, and could only let Serrano Grand Duke continue to serve until the Spanish military cultivated new excellent generals.

Serrano Grand Duke was also happy with this. Spain’s Minister of Defense commanded the navy and army, wielding considerable power.

Being able to continue in the powerful position of Minister of Defense was naturally much better than retiring early. Although Serrano Grand Duke had already turned 63 this year, this did not mean he was willing to bid farewell to power and retire early.

Prime Minister Primó was unwilling to give up the Minister of Industry position, but faced with Carlo’s demands, he was helpless.

Although Carlo’s attitude appeared to be merely consultative, Prime Minister Primó knew clearly that he could not refuse.

Refusing would of course have no immediate consequences, but it would absolutely destroy the previous good cooperation between prime ministerial power and royal power in Spain. Future reforms and Spain’s development plan that Prime Minister Primó wanted to promote would also inevitably not receive Carlo’s strong support.

After much deliberation, Prime Minister Primó ultimately agreed to Carlo’s demands, appointing the previous Minister of Agriculture Cánovas as the Minister of Industry in the new Cabinet Government.

However, this created a new problem: what to do with the position of the previous Minister of Industry Manuel Ruiz Soríaya?

Ruiz was no small figure; he was the second-in-command of the Progressive Party and highly likely to take over the Progressive Party after Prime Minister Primó’s retirement.

Being able to manage one of the three major departments, the Ministry of Industry, was also sufficient proof of Ruiz’s prestige within the Progressive Party. It could even be said bluntly that even without Prime Minister Primó, Ruiz could enter the Cabinet Government relying on his influence in the political arena, or even compete for the Prime Minister position.

The Finance Minister would of course still be held by Ewald, whom Prime Minister Primó trusted greatly, which also meant that Ruiz could only seek other positions in the second Cabinet Government, with no relation to the three major important departments.

Although Prime Minister Primó had a headache, he could only do his best to solve the problem for Ruiz and avoid issues within the Progressive Party.

After much thought, Prime Minister Primó finally came up with a solution: on the basis of the existing Industry Department, split it into the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transport as two separate departments.

Currently, Spain’s Industry Department was very large, managing a wide variety of businesses. Previously, because Spain’s industry was not large, it was perfectly normal for the Ministry of Industry to comprehensively manage all industry-related businesses.

But the current situation was different from before. Spain’s industry had already achieved significant growth, and the improvements brought by the two industrial bases to industry were visible to the naked eye.

Moreover, with the continued emphasis on industrial development in the future, the Industry Department managing so many businesses was clearly overwhelmed, inevitably neglecting certain areas of development.

Splitting off the departments related to railway and road construction as well as transportation to form a separate Transportation Department was very necessary.

Although this appeared to be finding a department for Ruiz to take up a post, it was actually an idea Prime Minister Primó had several years ago.

Just as the Interior Department had previously been split into the Public Security Department and the Livelihood Department, with the development of the Spanish Nation, changes to the various departments of the Cabinet Government were also very necessary.

Thinking of this, Prime Minister Primó no longer hesitated and instructed his subordinates to submit a report on Cabinet Government reorganization to the House of Representatives.

Soon, after the Cabinet election, the House of Representatives welcomed another fairly large meeting.

Concerning the restructuring of Cabinet departments, the Members of Parliament in the House of Representatives still paid great attention. After all, every additional Cabinet department meant one more Cabinet member.

The gap between a minister in an ordinary government department and a Cabinet Minister was very large. Cabinet Ministers, also called Cabinet Ministers, could participate in Cabinet Meetings and propose their own decision-making and advice.

While ordinary government departments were equally important, if they had no qualification to attend Cabinet Meetings, they were destined to have no great power.

The previous Cabinet departments plus Prime Minister Primó only had 10 people, making it very difficult to enter a Cabinet department.

Even if the Cabinet departments only increased by one, it would improve the chances of joining the Cabinet in the future, which was also the focus of attention for these Members of Parliament.

With such thinking in mind, the House of Representatives passed Prime Minister Primó’s Cabinet Government restructuring report with an extremely high vote rate, successfully splitting the Industry Department into the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Transport, increasing the Cabinet seats to

Before Prime Minister Primó submitted the plan to the House of Representatives, he had already shown the entire plan to Carlo in advance and reported his complete thinking.

In fact, Carlo had also envisioned splitting the Industry Department, setting up the Transportation Department separately to specifically manage road and railway construction within Spain.

Prime Minister Primó proposing the split of the Industry Department at this time, although it appeared to be for the development of the Industry Department, was actually still finding a suitable placement for the former Minister of Industry Ruiz, as well as weakening the importance of the Industry Department.

After all, the leaders of the two major departments of Industry and Agriculture next would both be Carlo’s confidants, plus Serrano Grand Duke who was more inclined toward the Conservative Party, meaning Carlo’s influence in the Cabinet Government was already not low.

Prime Minister Primó doing this was also very normal, after all, he had to ensure his own influence over the Cabinet Government, which was also the fundamental condition for him to promote reforms.

If he could not even control the Cabinet Government, how could Prime Minister Primó talk about promoting reforms and improving the development of the entire Spanish Nation?

Such a proposal was clearly the best way to respond to Carlo’s demand for the Minister of Industry position. It satisfied Carlo’s needs, ensured his subordinates would not be dissatisfied, and at the same time further increased his control over the Cabinet Government—a win-win-win.

Carlo naturally would not oppose Prime Minister Primó’s plan, as there was no reason to oppose it. Moreover, splitting the Industry Department at this time did have benefits; it merely meant that the areas under the Industry Department in Cánovas’s hands were fewer, and the power in his hands smaller.

The House of Representatives’ opinion no longer needed consideration; this was a plan proposed by Prime Minister Primó and would not be rejected by the House of Representatives.

A few days after the House of Representatives announced approval of the plan to split the Industry Department, Cánovas, appointed as the new Minister of Industry, came to the Madrid Royal Palace to seek an audience with Carlo.

Before coming to the Madrid Royal Palace, Cánovas had given it careful thought. He understood that seeking an audience with Carlo would not change any results, but coming at this time versus not coming clearly led to two different outcomes.

“Your Majesty.” The moment he saw Carlo, Cánovas very respectfully performed a Spanish-style noble salute to Carlo, with an attitude that was extremely sincere and submissive.

“Is it about the splitting of the Industry Department?” Carlo smiled and nodded, gesturing for Cánovas to sit on the luxurious sofa nearby.

After receiving Carlo’s indication, Cánovas dared to sit down. However, during the process of sitting, he was extremely careful, only sitting half his buttocks, presenting the appearance of a highly submissive loyal vassal.

Carlo was quite satisfied in his heart with Cánovas’s displayed submissiveness. What Carlo valued was precisely that Cánovas could see his own identity clearly and promptly side with Carlo and the Royal Family—this was what a noble and Royalist Party member should do.

After all, nobles and the King were originally bound together for survival. If the King were gone, where would the nobles have any reason to exist?

Although Spain had an extremely large number of nobles, there were not many nobles who could be heavily relied upon. Nobles like Prime Minister Primó and Serrano Grand Duke were basically self-made, having obtained noble titles through their own abilities.

As for those who relied on title inheritance passed down for many generations, even hundreds of years, there were capable people among them, but most had utterly dismal abilities.

Even capable nobles might not be loyal to Carlo. After all, these nobles were all native Spanish factions, rooted in Spain for at least a hundred years, and certainly would not prostrate themselves to Carlo just because he became King of Spain.

This was also the reason Carlo heavily employed new aristocrats and continuously conferred new titles. Compared to these old aristocrats, Carlo trusted the loyalty and abilities of new aristocrats more.

As for these Spanish old aristocrats with their complex power entanglements, if they did not obstruct Spain’s path forward, Carlo naturally had no desire to interfere with them.

But if someone created trouble on Spain’s path forward, Carlo would also let them know how supreme the King’s power was over nobles.

Since the King possessed the power to confer noble titles, he naturally should also possess the power to strip noble titles. Although Carlo had not much used the power to strip titles, this did not mean he lacked such power.

Spain’s nobles had already lost control over the army; even stripping some nobles of their titles would not need to worry about nobles inciting civil war.

It was merely that Carlo still needed the influence among nobles; before completely controlling Spain, Carlo would not take the initiative to act against the nobles.

After hearing Carlo’s question, Cánovas first nodded, then said somewhat restrainedly: “Your Majesty, regarding Prime Minister Primó splitting the Industry Department, what is Your attitude?”

Cánovas understood that his position as Minister of Industry was given by Carlo. Faced with the Industry Department being split, he certainly could not remain silent; reporting to Carlo was very necessary.

Although Cánovas also knew that Carlo definitely had his own sources of information and might have learned of the Ministry of Industry being split even earlier than him.

But so what? Whether he could learn the news in advance was Carlo’s matter, but whether to report and inquire about Carlo’s attitude was Cánovas’s own affair.

If he did not report, Carlo might not question it. But the problem was that Cánovas wanted to advance! He did not want to stop at the Minister of Industry position.

As the saying goes, an official who does not aspire to be Prime Minister is not a good official. If he could launch an assault on that supreme seat of power for officials, who would be willing to continue idling away the years in their current position?

Since he wanted to advance, he naturally had to consider Carlo’s attitude. After all, relying solely on the Conservative Party’s strength was insufficient; perhaps only Carlo could change this situation.

As for defecting to Prime Minister Primó, Cánovas had not considered it at all. Cánovas still greatly recognized conservative ideology and did not particularly like Prime Minister Primó’s overly radical reforms.

Moreover, Prime Minister Primó already had Ruiz under him as a successor, who was the second-in-command of the Progressive Party and the rising star of Spanish politics.

Even if Cánovas could defect to Prime Minister Primó’s side, his status would not surpass Ruiz’s. Defecting midway would also not gain Prime Minister Primó’s trust, which made Cánovas never consider defecting to Prime Minister Primó’s side from the beginning.

“Prime Minister Primó has reported the matter of splitting the Industry Department to me, and I did not oppose this plan,” Carlo said. “Overall, splitting the Industry Department is beneficial for the government’s development.

After the Transportation Department becomes independent, it can also more properly manage the construction of Spain’s roads and railways, as well as various transportation work.

The only possible loss is for the Industry Department, but for you, it may not necessarily be a bad thing.”

In history, Cánovas served as Prime Minister of the Spanish Kingdom Government during Alfonso XII’s rule, but did not have particularly outstanding political achievements.

His total six terms as Prime Minister added up to less than 12 years, with the longest being from 1875 to 1879 in history, only four years.

The reason he became Spain’s Prime Minister and was elected multiple times was actually due to his relatively conservative views and support for royal power.

During Cánovas’s tenure, he enacted Spain’s new constitution, abolishing universal suffrage and replacing it with limited voting rights.

He canceled freedom of religious faith, assembly, and association, and imposed strict restrictions on newspaper publication systems. From these systems and policies, it can be seen that Cánovas was indeed a conservative, with his policies more like conservative policies under a monarchical absolutism system, rather than an enlightened government after revolution and republic.

The final result was also very clear. The two Alfonso Kings not only failed to stop Spain’s continued weakening trend, but thoroughly severed any connection with the seats of the great powers.

If Spain around 1868, before the revolution erupted, still qualified to claim to be a great power nation, then after experiencing two Alfonso Kings, Spain could not even reach the threshold of the top ten.

The reason Carlo said that splitting the Industry Department might not be a bad thing for Cánovas was actually precisely because he considered his conservative ideology.

Railway development was very important for Spain’s future, and road construction could be said to directly relate to Spain’s economic and industrial growth.

While industrial development only needed to steadily grow within a certain framework, combined with the Five-Year Development Plan proposed by Prime Minister Primó and the industrial bases already prepared for construction, ensuring stable industrial growth was no problem.

As for the issue of Spain’s development after Prime Minister Primó retired and Cánovas took over in the future, Carlo was not too worried for the time being.

After all, by then the power Carlo mastered would definitely far exceed the present, and Cánovas would still only need to carry out stable development within the development plan set by Carlo to achieve very good results.

The greatest problem in Spain’s development had already been resolved mostly by Prime Minister Primó, which was also why Carlo admired Prime Minister Primó.

No matter whether prime ministerial power would conflict with royal power in the future, Carlo would not kick Prime Minister Primó when he was down.

Of course, for Prime Minister Primó and Carlo, the best outcome would be to change governments after the end of the second Prime Minister term, handing power over to Carlo.

This way, there would be no conflicts between the two, and Prime Minister Primó could preserve his reputation under Carlo’s protection, becoming one of the few politicians who could retire successfully after reforms.

Five thousand two hundred words, two-in-one chapter seeking support!