Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 57: Guba Ping

May 1870 was very ordinary, but for Carlo it was a time of great delight.

Following the successful establishment of the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Carlo received another piece of good news: Duke Serrano had dealt with the Cuban Rebellion, and the army was already on its way back to Spain.

This relieved Carlo greatly; he no longer had to worry about Cuba breaking away from Spanish control due to some accident.

As one of the few Spanish colonies with positive profit, Cuba’s importance was still very high. Besides providing a steady stream of funds and income during the early stages of Spanish reform, it could also serve as a positive asset in the future to exchange for Spanish colonies with greater potential.

In Carlo’s future plans for Spanish colonies, colonies in Africa were the most important, particularly Morocco in the Northwest Africa region.

Because it was separated from the Spanish Mainland only by a small strait, controlling Morocco would make localization quite easy.

Only colonies that could be localized were truly territories that could be held; after all, the colonial era wouldn’t last much longer.

Carlo had no great ambition for the colonies; what they could provide were resources Spain urgently needed, and in the future, they could become colonies of the mainland—that was truly what Spain wanted.

Spain’s current volume couldn’t control too many large colonies, or else rebellions in the colonies would be enough to exhaust Spain.

This time, when Serrano went to quell the rebellion in Cuba, Carlo had also spoken with Serrano and indicated that, if necessary, some power could be granted to Cuba in exchange for Spain’s control over Cuba. It must be known that this Cuban War of Independence had historically lasted nearly ten years, costing the Spanish Government nearly 700 million pesos in funds.

Carlo did not want to see the current Spanish Government spend all that money on suppressing the rebellion in Cuba; the best approach was to make certain compromises with the Cuban government and delay as long as possible.

Carlo’s purpose was simply to guarantee that Cuba would not have problems in the next decade or more.

As for whether Cuba would launch another independence war more than a decade later, that would be for whatever country took over Cuba at that time to consider.

Serrano had indeed done just that. Having previously served as Governor of Cuba, Duke Serrano knew the situation in Cuba like the back of his hand.

Which forces could be won over and which needed to be dealt with first required no extensive investigation for Duke Serrano, naturally making the suppression of the rebellion far more efficient.

By employing the strategy of winning over one faction while suppressing another, Duke Serrano quickly brought stability to the chaos in Cuba, and this large-scale Cuban Rebellion finally came to an end.

Of course, the army of over 5,000 that accompanied Serrano to Cuba also played a crucial role. Without this army, certain forces in Cuba might not have cooperated so readily with Serrano’s actions.

In summary, after agreeing to political reform in Cuba and granting more power to certain forces, the Cuban War of Independence officially ended, and Serrano led the army back to Spain.

For Carlo, it was finally time to prepare lavish rewards for the army and cultivate a new batch of nobles loyal to him.

After Primó quelled the Carlist faction rebellion earlier, Carlo had wanted to grant him the ducal title, and the corresponding victory celebration was already in preparation.

However, due to various events causing delays, it was postponed until May, coinciding with the end of Serrano’s suppression of the rebellion.

Carlo immediately decided to combine the two victory celebrations into one and grant titles to both Serrano and Primó at the same time.

Since Serrano was already a duke, Carlo decided to elevate him to Grand Duke to secure Serrano’s loyalty.

Primó would also be granted the title of duke, becoming a pivotal figure among the Spanish aristocracy.

Elevating Serrano to Grand Duke was a choice Carlo had considered for a long time. Compared to Primó, Serrano leaned more toward the conservatives and held a pro-monarchy stance.

To put it simply, although both Serrano and Primó could be called Carlo’s left and right arms, Primó’s loyalty was more to Spain; he chose loyalty to Carlo only because Carlo was the King of Spain.

Serrano was different. Serrano’s political stance leaned more toward the pro-monarchy faction, and his loyalty to Carlo was no less than his to Spain.

Moreover, Serrano’s prestige in the army was no less than Primó’s. If he could secure Serrano’s absolute loyalty, Carlo’s status in Spain would be thoroughly stabilized.

Even if he lost Primó’s support in the future, Carlo wouldn’t need to worry about his throne being unstable; at least he would have the qualifications for political struggle with Primó or the next Prime Minister.

Otherwise, relying solely on his identity as an outsider and the Royal Guard of over two thousand men, what right would he have to contend for power with the next Prime Minister?

Carlo was not naive enough to think that all Prime Ministers would respect the throne as much as Primó did. Moreover, part of Primó’s respect for Carlo stemmed from his desire to promote Spanish reform, which could not be done without the King’s support.

Therefore, regardless of his current relationship with Primó, it was very necessary to plan ahead for the future and prepare to gradually take more power into his own hands.

Carlo had not come to Spain to be a figurehead. To realize the ideals and ambitions in his heart, he must form a certain influence in the government, at least to be able to intervene in government decisions at key moments.

Serrano’s returning fleet set sail on May 22, and it would take at least until June to reach Spain.

This was actually good, as it gave Carlo more time to prepare the elevations for Serrano and Primó, as well as rewards for the many meritorious officials who had established merit in suppressing the rebellion.

The good news was that, although Spain’s aristocratic class still enjoyed considerable privileges, the lowest barons and viscounts actually had no special rights.

Aside from the titles being hereditary, these two titles were more honorary in nature, with no jurisdiction over the land they received.

Granting titles to such new aristocrats did little harm to the country; it merely required giving away some land.

But compared to other European countries, Spain did not lack land, not to mention that Africa still had vast tracts of land not yet partitioned by the great powers, which could be perfectly used to grant to new aristocrats.

In the future, whether these new aristocrats established large farms or invested in other industries, they would contribute to Spain’s economic development.

Moreover, compared to Spain’s traditional nobles, these nobles personally granted by Carlo would clearly have higher loyalty, and they would also hold military merit awarding titles in even higher regard.

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