[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-144":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365072,4632,"Chapter 144: Christmas","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-144",144,"\u003Cp>Time slipped away quietly, and soon it was Christmas of 1872.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This year’s Christmas at the Wang Gong would be much livelier, as the Wang Gong had welcomed its mistress, Queen Sophie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da himself was indifferent, but to prevent Queen Sophie from being bored in the vast Wang Gong, he decided to host a large court banquet to make the Madrid Wang Gong lively for Christmas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Banquets were not only an important means of social interaction for noblewomen, but also one of the ways for nobles to strengthen their exchanges.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of which, apart from a few nobles like the Duke of Jacopo, there were many Spanish nobles Gao Da had not seen for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was quite necessary to use this court banquet to connect with the nobles and deepen their bonds; after all, the nobles were also Gao Da’s support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, the reason for everything ultimately boiled down to the fact that the number of people in the Spanish royal family was too small. The entire royal family consisted of only the King and the Queen, so holidays were indeed very monotonous.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, Gao Da had never mistreated himself in terms of living standards. Although there were only two people in the royal family, the total number of servants in the entire Wang Gong reached over a hundred, and there were more than ten chefs responsible for cooking, capable of preparing delicacies with different flavors from various European countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The clothes that Gao Da and Queen Sophie usually wore were also specially made for the royal family by private tailors, with each garment costing up to hundreds of pesetas, and some expensive gowns even costing over ten thousand pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To prepare for this grand court banquet, more than a dozen chefs proficient in the cuisines of various European countries were all mobilized to specifically prepare a variety of exquisite delicacies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After several years of development, Gao Da’s wine industry had also become a relatively well-known enterprise among Spanish wine estates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, with Gao Da as the King personally advertising it, it invisibly raised the status of this wine. Although the brand sold to commoners was not the Royal Winery brand exclusively for the royal family, the production sites all came from the royal estates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The high-end Royal Winery had now become one of the main choices for nobles’ banquets. After all, this was the King’s industry, and the nobles had to give some face one way or another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if most of these nobles owned their own red wine industries, bringing out a bottle or two of Royal Winery wine at a banquet could not only please His Majesty the King but also directly demonstrate the level of expenditure for the banquet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The selling price of Royal Winery wine was relatively expensive, just like Moutai in later generations; regardless of whether it tasted good or not, the price was set there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Precisely because of its high selling price, the wine produced by the Royal Winery was still quite popular among the groups of Spanish nobles and capitalists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even because of the shared location on the Iberian Peninsula, the wine from the Royal Winery was also quite popular among the Portuguese noble groups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also because of Queen Sophie, a considerable amount of Royal Winery wine was exported to the Austro-Hungarian Empire every year, and it also received favorable reviews from the nobles of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, as one of the top ten wine-producing regions of later generations, the taste and yield of Spanish wine were relatively excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stimulated by the wine industry, Spain also saw many more grape plantations, which had begun cooperating with the royal estates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to farming, the income from growing grapes was higher. However, the royal estates had relatively strict requirements for the variety and quality of grapes; grapes of inferior variety and quality could only be used in cooperation with those small red wine estates to produce wine brands aimed at commoners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da’s winery also had a red wine brand focused on cost-effectiveness, called the Iberian Estate. The quality of wine from the Iberian Estate was significantly worse compared to the Royal Winery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether in terms of wine quality or packaging, there was a world of difference compared to the wine from the Royal Winery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, lower quality and packaging also meant lower prices. The cheapest bottle of Royal Winery wine cost over a hundred pesetas, and a single bottle of wine was equivalent to a Spaniard’s annual income.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the selling price of Iberian Estate wine was generally under 10 pesetas, with some ultra-low-priced wines even costing 2-3 pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the market for even lower-priced inferior wine, Gao Da did not intend to get involved for the time being. After all, it was impossible for the royal estates to cover the entire Spanish red wine market, so it was better to set his sights on the more profitable mid-to-high-end market.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the inferior wine market had a larger sales volume, the profit per bottle was very low, relying entirely on volume.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Currently, the Royal Winery occupied more than 50% of the Spanish high-end wine market and was very common at the banquets of nobles and capitalists.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Iberian Estate’s wine occupied about 35% of the mid-to-low-end market, and the rest of the market was occupied by a dazzling array of other Spanish wine brands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The wine market alone brought millions of pesetas in fiscal revenue to the Spanish government and even drove the employment of tens of thousands of people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with the fame of Spanish wine boosted by high-end red wine exports, the Spanish government attached great importance to the development of grape cultivation and the wine industry, even specifically promulgating corresponding support policies to encourage the public to grow grapes and providing certain tax cuts for the red wine industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Spain, much of its land could be used to grow grapes and produce Spanish-style wine with unique flavors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This could effectively promote the development of the grape industry; compared to simply growing grain, the income from growing grapes was significantly higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the bad news was that there was a country to the north of Spain that was even more famous in the grape industry, and that was Falanxi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Falanxi wine was the true bestseller in Europe, even causing a scramble among the vast majority of European nobles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, there were certain historical reasons for this. During the period when Falanxi was at its strongest, the language used for European noble diplomacy was Falanxi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When nobles provided elite noble education to their children, besides learning their own national language, the primary foreign language they learned was Falanxi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Along with the spread of the Falanxi language, Falanxi wine also became a bestseller throughout Europe. Although Falanxi had been in continuous decline, the love of nobles from various countries for Falanxi wine had not diminished much.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There were even legends about Lafite in later generations; although most of the Lafite on the market were counterfeit products, being so famous proved just how vast and well-known the Falanxi wine industry was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Spain also possessed one of the world’s top ten wine-producing regions, it was clearly unable to compete with Falanxi in terms of wine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even leaving Falanxi aside, Italy, across the Mediterranean to the east, also possessed one of the world’s top ten wine-producing regions and was also a competitor for Spanish wine exports.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon, the Spanish nobles received the news that His Majesty the King would hold a large court banquet at the Wang Gong on Christmas Day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the personal invitation of His Majesty the King, these nobles naturally had no reason to refuse. Of course, no one would refuse an invitation from His Majesty the King. After all, this was not only an opportunity for the King to draw closer to them, but also an opportunity for them to draw closer to the King.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This large-scale court banquet invited the vast majority of Grand Dukes and Dukes near Madrid, which could be considered a high-level gathering of the Spanish noble class.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Including Prime Minister Duke Primo and Minister of Defense Grand Duke Serrano, the nobles participating in this banquet were either those with high influence in the noble class or high-ranking officials with prestige in the government and military.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, Antonio Cánovas del Castillo and Jovellar Soler were also among them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cánovas was the current Minister of Agriculture of the cabinet government and also a main leader of the Spanish Conservative Party. While Jovellar Soler was only an ordinary member of parliament, because he had shown a loyal attitude to Gao Da early on, he was also heavily used by Gao Da.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, there were only so many seats in the Spanish parliament, most of which were held by Prime Minister Primo, so members like Jovellar Soler who supported Gao Da were still quite important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just like the previous low-rent housing proposal, if Gao Da had anything he wanted to submit to parliament, he could let Jovellar Soler submit it on his behalf, avoiding the risks he would otherwise have to bear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, members of parliament not only had the power to elect the cabinet government but also the power to run for the cabinet government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the future, after Prime Minister Primo and Grand Duke Serrano gradually withdrew from the Spanish political arena, the next cabinet government was destined to be born from the election of parliamentary members.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, these existing members of parliament were very likely to be members of the next cabinet government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this was on the condition that they were still members of parliament at the time of the next cabinet government election.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the Spanish Constitution, various regions elected a certain number of members based on population proportions to jointly form the Spanish Senate, which was the so-called parliament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Senators were elected every 3 years and theoretically could have unlimited terms. As long as they had the support of the local Spanish people, they could serve as members of the Senate indefinitely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the current cabinet of the Spanish government was elected in February 1869, the election time for the next cabinet government would be five years later, in February 1874.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the time came in February 1874, members of the Senate could voluntarily run for the position of Prime Minister, and the final candidate for Prime Minister would be determined after a vote by all members of the Senate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although there was no political party requirement for running for Prime Minister, the member running for Prime Minister had to be either an independent member or the actual leader of a certain party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Party members had no right to run for Prime Minister; they could only help the leader of their party run for the position of Prime Minister, and subsequently obtain cabinet minister seats during the cabinet formation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the Prime Minister was the leader of the Spanish government; if one could not even serve as the top leader in a political party, wouldn’t the position of Spanish Prime Minister, being one person below ten thousand, be even more difficult?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The requirement that a party member must be a party leader to run was actually a screening of the prestige of the Prime Minister candidate. Only with sufficient prestige could one suppress the entire cabinet government; a Prime Minister with little prestige would instead make the cabinet more chaotic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although independents did not have this requirement, in reality, it would be even more difficult for independents to run. If running as a party leader, one could still use the power of the entire party to help oneself campaign.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if it were an independent, one could only rely on oneself, and the difficulty would definitely increase exponentially.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the Spanish Constitution, the person who obtained more than 60% of the votes in the Senate would be the Prime Minister of the Spanish government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one could obtain 60% of the votes through one’s own efforts or those of one’s party, such a Prime Minister would have complete freedom to form a cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if one could not obtain 60% of the votes relying solely on one’s own party, one could also unite with other parties, and as long as the combined votes reached 60%, it would also work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the Prime Minister position obtained through a coalition would also have too many restrictions. After all, others would not help one run for Prime Minister unconditionally, and there would certainly have to be some concessions when forming the cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Spanish Constitution stipulated that if it was impossible to obtain more than 60% of the votes through coalition cabinet formation, the individual or party leader who obtained the most votes would become the Prime Minister of Spain, but other parties and independents would obtain the power to run for other cabinet seats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In other words, if 60% of the votes could not be obtained, all cabinet seats in Spain would be obtained through elections, rather than being appointed after the Prime Minister was elected to form a cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Anyway, regardless of which way the cabinet government was established, the cabinet government was required to swear allegiance to Gao Da as the King.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This step was a convention of absolute monarchies, the purpose of which was to show the cabinet government the supreme power of the King and let them understand who the master of the country was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason Prime Minister Primo retained this convention was mainly to protect Spain’s monarchy and stability. After all, since he chose the monarchy as the main body of the government, the monarchy and he were linked together.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more stable the monarchical Spain was, the more energy the government led by Prime Minister Primo would have to promote Spain’s reforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Conversely, if the monarchical system of Spain was not stable, as a supporter of the monarchical system, Prime Minister Primo naturally would not have much energy to promote reforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cabinet government was elected by the Senate, and the governors of major regions were also elected by the regional parliaments, including various cities and towns, which basically all went through the election process.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Senate and major regional parliaments also had the power to impeach officials; Spain’s current political system was more like a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, with power basically concentrated in the parliament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A more similar one was the British political system, or rather, when Spain formulated its constitution, it largely referred to the provisions of the British Constitution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Britain at that time was the undisputed strongest country in the world and also the representative of constitutional monarchy, so referring to the British Constitution was very common.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da, as the King of Spain, was relatively special in the Spanish political system. His nominal power was very great, but it required very high influence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one had no influence in the political arena and the military, the power was more like a nominal one, which basically could not be exercised.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",2519,"2026-06-25T09:27:12.995Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","6bf4572340852e598ced49c8a0705e626cef1425efa3bc3d206ed3dfcab51762","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-145","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-143",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]