Chapter 127: 《Land Leasing Act》

Gao Da was quite satisfied with the current pace of Spain's development.

By the end of 1870, the total length of Spain's railways was already infinitely close to 6, 00 kilometers.

By the beginning of this year, the total length of Spain's railways had already surpassed 6, 40 kilometers.

This also means that in the three and a half years from the latter half of 1868 to the first half of 1872, the total length of Spain's railways increased by over a thousand kilometers.

Although the average length of railway built per year was only about 300 kilometers, for the Spanish government, this was already a significant improvement.

After all, from the birth of the railway until the latter half of 1868, the total length of Spain's railways was only about 5, 00 kilometers.

Spain's land area is in no way inferior to other European powers (on the mainland), and coupled with the fact that there is relatively little flat terrain within the country, there is an even greater need for railways to strengthen economic exchanges between various regions.

Currently, with Ma Deli as the center, Spain has built a large-scale railway loop. The capital cities of major regions, including some important cities, are all included in the planning of the railway loop.

The next goal for the Spanish government's railway construction is to incorporate more cities into the railway construction plan, allowing the Spanish public to conveniently travel to other cities by rail, and of course, this also includes the transportation of goods.

The construction of railways can strengthen the importance of Ma Deli in Spain, while simultaneously strengthening economic exchanges and stability between various regions.

As the center of the Iberian region, the advantages of Ma Deli have become prominent. Starting from Ma Deli, it only takes a few hundred kilometers to reach any city in Spain.

Even for the relatively remote Barcelona in the northeast corner of Spain, the distance to Ma Deli is only a little over 600 kilometers.

Looking at the current speed of trains, a train from Ma Deli to Barcelona only needs a little over a day to arrive. If the time spent stopping at stations is not counted, the current speed of the train only needs 20-plus hours to reach Barcelona.

Under such circumstances, no matter which region of Spain experiences unrest, the army located in Ma Deli can arrive within a day, which is also the reason why Spain remains a unified country even in later generations.

No matter how arrogant the separatists in Catalonia and the Basque region may be, the Spanish people are located in the center of the entire country and can go to the rebellious areas to suppress the rebellion at any time.

Even if the Portugal region is added, Ma Deli still remains at the center of the entire Iberian Peninsula; this is the geographical advantage of Ma Deli and also the reason why Ma Deli could become the capital of Spain.

At the end of April 1872, the first phase of the Spanish government's reforms was declared a success, and the reforms smoothly entered the second phase.

On May 1st, a certain member of the Liberal Party submitted the "Land Leasing Act" to the Spanish Parliament, requesting the government to enact a law stipulating that the rent for land leasing must not exceed 40% of the land's annual income.

The purpose of this act is to guarantee the rights and interests of those farmers who lease land, so that they do not face a situation of not having enough to eat after being exploited by nobles and landlords.

This act was aimed squarely at the nobles and the church who own land, and Prime Minister Primo naturally understood the risks involved.

Therefore, it was the Liberal Party members who proposed this act, not the Progressive Party to which Prime Minister Primo belongs.

If the proposal of this act leads to the dissatisfaction of a large number of nobles, Prime Minister Primo will convene an emergency meeting to have the Parliament repeal this act.

Also, to prevent a radical reaction from the nobles, Prime Minister Primo changed the rent limit from not exceeding 30% of annual income to 40%. This rent level is not much different from the 40%-50% rent that the nobles originally demanded from the farmers, and the purpose was to prevent a fierce reaction from the nobles.

Of course, in addition to introducing this act, Prime Minister Primo was also well-prepared in advance.

First, he and Duke Serrano, as the most powerful representatives among the Spanish nobles, persuaded a portion of the nobles to agree to this act.

Another thing was to request Gao Da to come forward and persuade a portion of the nobles to agree to this act, in order to divide the entire noble class.

In general, there are still too many nobles in Spain. These nobles hold a large amount of land in their hands, which has caused an extremely serious impact on Spain's future development.

In a situation where it has already affected Spain's development, the government naturally cannot ignore this situation. If these nobles are allowed to continue holding such vast amounts of land, Spain's subsequent development will be very seriously affected.

Of course, as the most influential force in Spain, Prime Minister Primo naturally could not deal with the nobles too aggressively.

First of all, Prime Minister Primo did not intend to completely take back the land of these nobles. The government would only persuade a portion of the nobles to voluntarily sell their land to the government, and the government would purchase this land at a price higher than the market price as a reward for these nobles.

Secondly, this is a test of the nobles. If successful, it can ensure that landless farmers can also have a portion of guaranteed income when leasing land, at least having enough to eat will not be a problem.

But if it causes strong opposition from the nobles, this matter will also have room for maneuver, so as not to cause a strong conflict between the nobles and the government.

When Gao Da learned of Prime Minister Primo's plan, he also had a massive headache.

After thinking it over, it was not appropriate for Gao Da to express his position directly on this matter. If he stood on Prime Minister Primo's side, he would undoubtedly offend a large number of Spanish nobles.

But if he stood on the side of the Spanish nobles, he would not only offend Prime Minister Primo but also disrupt the progress of Spain's reforms.

Gao Da naturally understood the harm caused by the large amount of land held by the Spanish nobles, and naturally wanted to take back the land in the hands of the nobles as much as possible.

However, as the greatest noble, the King naturally could not stand up and directly oppose the noble class. After receiving the request from Prime Minister Primo, Gao Da indicated that he would let the loyalist Duke Yakobo provide friendly suggestions to a portion of the Spanish nobles, while he himself would not come forward.

Gao Da would not offend a large number of Spanish nobles at such a time. Although many of these nobles have become pests to the country, they are indeed Gao Da's greatest supporters at present.

At the very least, he must wait until he has completely mastered the power of the country and reduced the influence of the nobles on the army as much as possible before attempting to take action against some of the nobles.

And for now, it is better to stay as far away from Prime Minister Primo's reforms as possible. The current nobles are still quite influential, and there are a large number of nobles serving in the government and the army; this is also the reason why Prime Minister Primo, even while holding the power of the military and government, has to be careful in testing the nobles rather than directly taking action.

Although he expressed support for Prime Minister Primo's reforms, Gao Da also put forward his own requirements, which was that after the nobles strongly opposed it, Gao Da would come forward to convene the Spanish Parliament and forcibly repeal this act.

This is considered Gao Da's backup plan, used to declare to the nobles that Gao Da has nothing to do with this incident.

The current King still very much needs the support of the nobles, and Gao Da will not destroy the good relationship with the nobles unless it reaches a point where he must make a choice.

As expected, after this act was proposed in the Parliament, it immediately received the attention of a large number of nobles.

In Spain, the higher the noble title, the more land that noble controls.

The nobles who are large landlords naturally do not want to see the government enact this act to reduce land rent for farmers, because this truly concerns their own income.

Although the nobles could still maintain 40% of the land rent after the act was enacted, their income was reduced by at least 20% to 30% compared to before.

To prevent noble unrest, Prime Minister Primo mobilized the original revolutionary army to garrison Ma Deli and personally found Duke Serrano to persuade him.

Compared to power, Duke Serrano did not value land as much. Like Prime Minister Primo, he was a noble who was enfeoffed, not one who inherited his title.

Although he has become the pinnacle among the Spanish nobles and possesses the title of Duke, Duke Serrano's land assets are not much; instead, his shares in the Royal United Bank are the bulk of his income.

There is also the new-style nobility that Gao Da enfeoffed earlier. Although the new-style nobles also possess a portion of land, compared to the old-style nobles, their land is not even a fraction of the amount.

They are not repulsed by this act; after all, it does not have a major impact on their interests.

Under the influence of Prime Minister Primo and Duke Serrano, although the nobles as a whole expressed dissatisfaction with this act, there were still quite a few nobles who agreed with it.

Although most nobles possess a large amount of land, this does not mean that all nobles are big tycoons.

In fact, there are countless noble families in Europe that are poorly managed every year, and there are even more nobles who have to sell their property because of bankruptcy.

There are indeed many nobles in Spain, but Spain's economy is just like that; the nobles who can truly become wealthy are those great nobles.

Counts and Barons are actually not very rich, and their assets could potentially go bankrupt at any time due to poor management.

Under the government's policy of purchasing land at high prices, there are also many nobles who are in urgent need of funds due to bankruptcy who have taken the initiative to sell their land to the government.

Prime Minister Primo was also in urgent need of nobles taking the initiative to sell land to show their stance, so he increased the purchase price of the land to 1. times the market price.

To prevent nobles from temporarily purchasing land from farmers and then selling it to the government to earn the price difference, the Spanish government also enacted the "Land Trading Act," stipulating that land in the hands of farmers can only be sold to the government, and the government will provide a price above the market price to ensure that farmers do not lose money when selling land.

Of course, if they are not at their wit's end, most farmers are not willing to sell their land. Farmers rely on land to eat; if even the tools for eating are gone, how are they supposed to live on?

Those who truly sell land, besides the landlords who have a lot of land, are those farmers who can no longer make a living from farming.

With these nobles who took the initiative to sell land standing up, the noble class that was originally angry about this act was divided into two, forming a split.

Moreover, this act is not that harsh for the nobles; income has indeed decreased, but it has not decreased by too much.

At least the reduced income is not enough to make the nobles unite to oppose the government. After all, the current government is not what it was a few years ago; Prime Minister Primo's reforms have greatly increased the farmers' support for the government, and nobles and farmers are still in frequent contact, so they naturally know how popular the current government is.

Coupled with the fact that Marshal Serrano and Prime Minister Primo themselves, as members of the nobility, did not oppose this act, some nobles saw something more profound in it.

Perhaps such an act was only submitted to the Parliament because of Prime Minister Primo's support? If Prime Minister Primo and Duke Serrano both support this act, what can they do?

Including Duke Yakobo, who also persuaded some nobles under Gao Da's instruction, led to the act being voted on in Parliament for several days, and during this period, the nobles did not have too fierce a reaction.

And after learning that the nobles did not have a fierce reaction, Prime Minister Primo finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although the nobles must still be dissatisfied, at least it did not develop to the point of inciting unrest.

As long as the nobles do not have any major moves next, after the act is passed by the Parliament, the nobles will only be able to accept it with a grimace.

Moreover, this act is not only aimed at the nobles but also at the church, which also possesses a large amount of land.

If Prime Minister Primo still had some regard and worry for the nobles, he did not have such a good temper for the church.

The large amount of land held by the church also harmed Spain's development, and this land is also a target that the Spanish government wants to take back.

With the abolition of the tithe before and the act to limit land rent after, the church's income has been greatly restricted.

Prime Minister Primo's mobilization of the army also took into account the defense against the church. If the church cannot bear such losses and ultimately chooses to launch a rebellion to resist the government, then things will develop in the direction that Prime Minister Primo most wants to see.

A large number of troops will resolve the church's rebellion in a short period of time, and the government will have a legitimate excuse to take back the church's land.

Of course, because it simultaneously affected the interests of the nobles and the church, Prime Minister Primo also knew that there was a very small possibility of causing the church and the nobles to unite to resist the government.

However, after the nobles were divided, it was difficult to form a monolithic block to resist the government; after all, the nobles also have their own interest considerations.

During the reign of Queen Isabel, the nobles almost completely controlled the army. The vast majority of middle and high-level officers in the Spanish army were held by nobles, and the Royal Army was a private army led by nobles.

But after the revolution, the number of high-level nobles in the army had already decreased a lot. Many noble officers in the army had previously joined the Carlist rebellion, and they were also eliminated by the government.

And the suppression of the rebellion gave birth to a large number of new-style nobles; these nobles are different from the old-style nobles, and they support the government's policies.

Coupled with the large number of officers trained by the Royal Military Academy, this has greatly reduced the influence of the nobles on the army.

Unless it truly reaches the point of greatly harming the interests of the nobles, such as the government forcibly taking back the land of the nobles, etc., otherwise the nobles are not willing to directly resist the government.

After all, resisting the government is not without a price. If the assembled army cannot defeat the government army with an overwhelming advantage, for these Spanish nobles who launched the rebellion, the result might be catastrophic.

There are quite a few smart people among the nobles. Although admitting this act will lose a portion of their interests, at least the final result is still good, and most of the income can still be retained.

If they take a risk and launch a rebellion to resist the government, if the rebellion fails, they might not even be able to keep their noble titles.

With the noble class remaining silent, the church became the lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Faced with either selling land or having land income reduced, the church bishops led by Archbishop Pedro also knew that they had to make a choice.

4, 00 words, second update, seeking support!

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(End of this chapter)