Chapter 122: The Development of Royal Industries

Carlos currently does not hold much power within the Spanish government; Spain's executive, legislative, and military powers are essentially concentrated within the government and the parliament.

Doing so has both pros and cons for a monarch like Carlos. The downsides are obvious. Carlos will not possess significant power, nor will he be able to develop the country of Spain exactly as he wishes.

However, there are benefits as well. First and foremost, Carlos can remain independent of the government and parliament, avoiding being caught up in any unexpected fallout.

Whether it is reform or a military victory, Carlos, as King, can still claim a small share of the credit. But if a reform or a war fails, the primary responsibility will naturally fall upon the government and parliament, and it will not have much to do with Carlos or the royal family.

Even if the royal family adopts a certain posture under appropriate circumstances, those accidents will basically not affect the status of the royal family, and the public will naturally not blame a royal family that has little power and no influence over the government.

For those monarchs who are inclined toward maintaining the status quo and lack great ambition, having little power is actually quite fine.

But for a monarch as ambitious as Carlos, such a situation is not necessarily a good thing.

More importantly, the current development of the Spanish government is somewhat distorted.

During the reign of Queen Isabella, although power was concentrated in the Prime Minister, the King held the power of appointment and dismissal, which could greatly limit the Prime Minister's power.

But in the current Spanish government, although it appears on the surface that the cabinet government and the parliament share power, in reality, the parliament cannot supervise or restrict the cabinet government at all.

The political party that wins the majority of seats in parliament has the power to form the Spanish cabinet government, which has led to Prime Minister Primo controlling the entire cabinet government while simultaneously controlling the majority of seats in the Spanish parliament.

It is no exaggeration to say that the current Spanish government is Prime Minister Primo's one-man show. As long as a policy is decided by the cabinet government, it will not face much opposition in parliament. And laws enacted by parliament are quickly pushed through by the cabinet government.

If it were not for the fact that Minister of Defense Serrano controls Spain's military forces, I fear Serrano would have achieved a rare feat—seizing control of the military, the government, and the law all at once.

This is also the reason why Prime Minister Primo's reforms have been very smooth so far. The cabinet government is composed of reformists promoted by Prime Minister Primo, and most of them are also members of the Progressive Party to which Prime Minister Primo belongs.

The Progressive Party also holds the majority of seats in parliament, and the Liberal Party is very supportive of the reforms. Although the Conservative Party opposes the reforms, the problem is that they are not in power, and coupled with the fact that Carlos has publicly supported the reforms, there is no resistance to the reforms in either the government or the parliament.

However, such a situation must eventually change. Prime Minister Primo is capable, and he is loyal to the royal family.

The reason he holds power is, to a greater extent, to push forward Spain's reforms. But such immense power is not suitable to be bestowed upon every Spanish Prime Minister.

For Carlos, it is precisely because he wants to see the success of the reforms that he allows Prime Minister Primo to possess such great power.

Every Prime Minister after Prime Minister Primo will not be able to possess such great power, and even Prime Minister Primo, after the reforms are successful, will have to relinquish a portion of his power.

Prime Minister Primo certainly understands his own situation; "merit so great it overshadows the master" is not just a saying. Although Carlos, by publicly supporting the reforms, can also gain a certain amount of credit and public favor after the reforms succeed, this ultimately cannot compare to the immense prestige gained by Prime Minister Primo, who is the one actually pushing the reforms forward.

If Prime Minister Primo, having successfully pushed through the reforms, still held onto such significant power, I fear that even if Carlos could sit still, the members of the Royalist Party would not be able to.

However, the success of the reforms is still a long way off for the current Spain. Through this honeymoon trip, Carlos has seen with his own eyes the changes across Spain; although overall things are changing for the better, there is still a large gap compared to other European powers.

One of the main goals of this trip is the Seville industrial base, which was established by the Spanish government previously.

Although the importance of the Seville industrial base is currently lower than that of the Barcelona industrial base, it is also one of the few medium-to-large industrial bases in Spain to date.

More importantly, the Seville industrial base is the first industrial base officially launched and built since Carlos became King, and it also has commemorative significance for Carlos.

Of course, besides inspecting the construction and production situation of the industrial base, there is another purpose for coming to the Seville industrial base: to check the construction progress of the steel mills and other factories under the royal industries within the industrial base.

Speaking of royal industries, the only person in charge at the beginning was Butler Luo Lun. But by now, Butler Luo Lun also has several talents under his command responsible for managing royal assets; they hold various industries and assets, and all of these added together constitute the total wealth of the royal family.

If asked to state exactly how much the royal family's assets are, Carlos truly would not know. Although it has only been two or three years since arriving in Spain, the development of royal assets can no longer be simply described as rapid.

The Royal Union Bank alone is enough to rank the Spanish royal family among the top 5 wealthiest families in Spain, not to mention that the royal family also holds 45% of the shares in the National Bank established a year ago.

These two banks ensure that the development of royal industries no longer lacks capital, as it is very easy to borrow sufficient funds for development from the two banks.

The two super-large official banks have also directly reorganized Spain's banking industry. Although they did not directly target those small and medium-sized banks for suppression, these small and medium-sized banks are completely unable to resist the expansion of the two large banks.

The current Royal Union Bank has established a total of 26 bank branches across 15 of Spain's mainland regions, and the total number of bank depositors exceeded 310, 00 at the beginning of the year, with total savings funds reaching over 85 million.

Of course, with the expansion of the bank and the continuous increase in users, the average deposit scale per user is bound to see a significant decrease.

Currently, the average deposit per person in the Royal Bank is only about 270 pesetas, while the average income per person calculated by the government in 1872 has already exceeded 107 pesetas; the average deposit is roughly two and a half years of average annual income.

These data points can explain two things: first, Spain's average annual income is constantly growing. The policies of agricultural tax reduction and the abolition of the tithe are definitely important reasons; the increase in income for farmers, who make up the majority of Spain's population, is actually the truly good news for Spain.

Moreover, with the subsequent construction of industrial bases and state-owned factories as well as private factories, the number of workers and the income of workers will also increase in the future.

This will also drive the growth of Spain's per capita income and simultaneously become a booster for Spain's economic growth.

As long as Spain's infrastructure and other industrial construction do not stop, the corresponding growth in average annual income and the economy will likewise not stop.

Although it cannot catch up with the pace of other powers in a short time, it is already a significant improvement compared to Spain a few years ago.

The average annual income of Spaniards before the revolution was less than 87 pesetas, and this data did not even account for a large number of low-income people; the actual situation would only be lower.

And now the average annual income has exceeded 107 pesetas; although only 4 years have passed since 1868, the per capita income has increased by at least 23%.

This rate of increase is still relatively slow because the main factor driving the increase in per capita income is still the growth of farmers' income.

The subsequent growth in workers' income will be a greater driving force for the increase in per capita income, and the changes it can bring will be even more obvious.

According to the Spanish government's estimates, by around 1875, Spain's average annual income will be able to increase to at least 145 pesetas. By 1880, it will be able to increase to over 160 pesetas, which is already almost double that of 1868.

By around 1880, the various reforms pushed by the Spanish government will also be basically completed, and Spain, whether in the field of industry or economy, will be able to proudly call itself the first country below the powers, or in other words, the gatekeeper of the powers.

Those stronger than Spain can naturally possess the qualification to vie for the status of a power. Those weaker than Spain are naturally not worthy of being called a power.

The good news is that Carlos has already begun his own plans for African colonies. This also means that after Spain's future reforms are completed, it will not miss the great opportunity to carve up Africa due to the slow progress of reforms.

African colonies are still very important. Not only is there a large indigenous population that can serve as free labor, but the vast resources of the colonies can also be utilized by Spain.

Except for the relatively major problem that the African population is mostly Black, the African colonies can basically only bring benefits.

After all, the African natives are still very backward, and most African tribes have no ability to resist the colonization of European powers.

Italy's colonization of the Abyssinian Empire was an accident after all, and they did indeed succeed in the end. As for other parts of Africa, those natives can only tremble helplessly under the steel guns and cannons of the powers.

Carlos's arrival caused a sensation throughout the Seville industrial base. More than one-third of the factories in this industrial base were established by the royal family, and the factories naturally also publicized events regarding Carlos.

The workers in the royal factories enjoy easier work requirements than those in other factories and can earn more income than those in other factories, which naturally makes these workers grateful to Carlos, the true owner of the factories.

In a situation where working hours in other factories are generally as high as 14 hours or more, working hours in royal factories are basically kept at around 12 hours, and there is a fixed holiday every month; such work is simply what other workers outside dream of.

And for Carlos, who provides such a working environment, the workers naturally have no other thoughts; there is only endless gratitude and curiosity about this young King.

3, 00 words in the first update, seeking support!

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(End of chapter)