Chapter 182: The Establishment of the Congo Territory

The birth of little Hu An Fernand was, for Gao Da, the final step in integrating himself into this world.

Having a child of his own gave Gao Da a sense of belonging in this world, and he was sincerely willing to strive for himself, for his wife and child, for all his family, and for all the Spanish people.

Making Spain great again would no longer be a slogan, but a goal that had to be realized, a milestone concerning the royal family's own interests.

In the first month after little Hu An Fernand was born, Gao Da stayed by the side of Lady Sophie and the little one almost every moment.

Lady Sophie's body also recovered its health under the meticulous care of Gao Da and the servants; this was the benefit of a natural birth, that recovery was relatively quick.

However, recovery is recovery, and Gao Da was not foolish enough to be in a rush to engage in pleasurable activities with Lady Sophie after only a month.

In any case, Gao Da had two little maids to enjoy, so Lady Sophie's body should naturally be nursed back to health first.

For the development of the Spanish royal family itself, the more children Gao Da had, the better. This could not only prevent the royal family from facing a situation of having no heirs in the future, but also allow the royal family to branch out and control relatively important positions through some royal members.

At present, the royal family's assets had reached hundreds of millions of pesetas; as long as there was no reckless extravagance, these assets could never be squandered away.

Under such circumstances, the more children Gao Da had, the more manpower there would be to effectively manage these assets. Compared to outsiders, capable royal family members managing these enterprises were clearly more reassuring.

In some cases, the Spanish princes even had the opportunity to become kings of other countries through the method of electing kings, allowing the Savoy Dynasty to branch out in more countries.

If the Savoy family had previously been just an ordinary royal family in the northern region of Italy, then the current Savoy family already possessed two major powers, Italy and Spain, becoming one of the most prominent noble families in Europe at present.

Although not comparable to long-established and famous families like the Habsburgs or the Saxe-Coburg and Gothas, they were already considered quite renowned among the ranks of European royalty.

The birth of little Hu An Fernand seemed to have brought good luck to Gao Da; Spain's colonial actions in the Congo region also became very smooth, with colonial outposts expanding to over 150 in a short period, almost covering the fertile Congo Plateau that had been discovered.

The good news was that this plateau in the upper reaches of the Congo River was very suitable for growing food and possessed a certain development value.

At present, the number of Spaniards living here was close to a thousand, and if the army was included, there were nearly 3, 00 people living near the Congo Plateau.

The railway running through the Baka people had been completed, which also greatly facilitated the transport of supplies from the Guinea colony to the Congo Plateau.

The person in charge of the colonial team sent by Spain to the Congo and the commander of the garrison regiment stationed in the Congo, Manuel, discussed and unanimously believed that the current Congo already possessed the conditions to establish a territory; Spain's sovereignty over the Congo was already deep-rooted, and other countries could not deprive it, nor could they refute the fact that Spain had already occupied the Congo.

When this news was sent back to Spain, it happened to be a month and a half after Prince Hu An Fernand was born.

Because an agreement had already been reached with the government regarding the handling of the Congo region, and coupled with the fact that the colonization of the Congo was currently going smoothly.

Therefore, after consulting with the cabinet government, Gao Da decided to publicly announce Spain's rule and sovereignty over the Congo as soon as possible, and to establish the Congo Territory, directly under Gao Da's rule.

On July 14, 1875, the Spanish government officially announced to the outside world that Spain had established more than 150 colonial outposts in the upper reaches of the Congo River basin, officially completing the occupation of the plateau in the upper reaches of the Congo River basin.

Spain would rely on these 100-plus colonial outposts to establish the Congo Territory, with the ruler of the territory being the King of Spain, Gao Da.

This news once again became the front-page headline in Spain, with a level of fervor second only to the birth of Gao Da's eldest son a month and a half ago.

Of course, this was within Spain. Outside of Spain, the fervor of this news was even more outrageous than the birth of Gao Da's son; it was not only closely watched by the royal families of various countries but also sparked discussions among many Europeans.

The attitude of the Spanish people toward this was naturally one they were happy to see. Although the establishment of the Congo Territory did not have much to do with them, who would not want to see their country expand its territory and the land area of their country become larger and larger?

Besides, establishing colonies was, to a certain extent, also beneficial to the Spanish people.

The establishment of colonies meant that the Spanish government could obtain a large amount of cheap raw materials from the colonies, and could also reasonably utilize the local natives; after all, this was hard-won free labor.

Although the Spanish government had long abolished slavery, what was the difference between them and slaves if these local natives were given some food and extremely low wages?

It was nothing more than a nicer name, but for those capitalists, they had countless ways to squeeze these natives and make them their free labor.

If one were to say who was most shocked by Spain's establishment of the Congo Territory, it was perhaps Portugal, which had been encroaching on the Congo Kingdom for a long time.

It was perfectly fine to say that Portugal was the country closest to the Congo, and even Portugal's West African colony was established by seizing the land of the Congo Kingdom.

Sailing down the river from the Congo Territory just established by Spain, at the river mouth, one could see the long-weakened Congo Kingdom and Portugal's West African colony.

That Spain could establish a territory in the upper reaches of the Congo River behind Portugal's back shocked the Portuguese, and they were even completely baffled.

The Portuguese did not even know when Spain had discovered the land in the upper reaches of the Congo River; after all, they had been operating in the Congo for a long time and had never been able to penetrate deep into the Congo River to discover new land.

One must know that at this time, the progress of European countries' colonization of Africa was only a negligible few percent, and there was only one truly large-scale colony, which was the Cape Colony established by the British in South Africa.

Apart from the Cape Colony, colonies like Portugal's West African colony and Mozambique colony were more just simple colonies formed by the combination of some outposts along the coast.

Except for these areas, the colonial expansion of European countries into Africa basically stopped near the coast, or rather, at those few excellent ports.

There were many reasons for this; first and foremost were the various viruses and diseases on the African continent. These viruses blocked the footsteps of explorers and indirectly caused the mineral resources and fertile land of the African continent to not be discovered by European colonists.

There was also the difficulty of colonizing the African continent, and a considerable part of the African region indeed did not have much value for colonization.

Coupled with the fact that the populations of European countries had not yet experienced explosive growth, it ultimately led to the colonial development of Africa by European countries remaining at a relatively preliminary scale; almost no European country penetrated deep into the interior of the African continent to colonize, as this was seen by most people as not cost-effective.

Take Spain's colonization of the Congo as an example. Don't look at the fact that Spain obtained a large piece of land, but the price paid was also not small.

Whether it was organizing exploration teams or subsequently building railways and establishing colonial outposts, Gao Da's expenses were not low. Maintaining the Congo Territory subsequently also required a constant stream of expenditures; for a long time, the revenue brought by the Congo Territory would be negative growth, and it would remain in a state of loss for a long time.

This situation might have to wait until the mineral resources within the Congo were developed on a large scale and transported to the ports by rail before it could be improved.

Fortunately, the railway from the Congo to the Guinea colony had been built almost to completion, and perhaps the Congo colony bringing positive returns to the royal family was something that could happen within a few years.

Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire successively expressed their congratulations to Spain on the establishment of the Congo Territory; because of the kinship between the two countries and the Spanish royal family, the Italian and Austro-Hungarian governments were also in a honeymoon period with the Spanish government, and the relationship was still relatively close.

Coupled with the fact that the Congo River basin had no conflict of interest with either country, their congratulations to Spain were also sincere.

Especially the royal families of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire; Victor Emmanuel II and Franz Joseph I both personally sent congratulatory telegrams, clearly supporting Spain's establishment of the Congo Territory.

In fact, other countries did not have many reasons to oppose the establishment of the Congo Territory. Because Spain had indeed established more than 150 colonial outposts, and there was sufficient evidence to prove that Spain was the earliest explorer and colonist to arrive in this land.

Under such circumstances, it was difficult for other countries to interfere with Spain's colonial behavior. After all, the closest to this area were the Portuguese, but even the Portuguese had not discovered this land.

The remaining countries were one further away than the other, so what could they do? Could they come from thousands of miles away to interfere with Spain's colonization?

Even the British, who had always been wary of Spain, remained silent after Spain announced the establishment of the Congo Territory.

For the British, the Congo Territory was not a matter of too much urgency for the time being. Even if this land had many resources and a huge area of arable land that could be developed, it would take a long time to develop and utilize.

Perhaps by the time Spain fully developed this land, the British could still obtain this land through other means, or get a piece of the pie in this land.

The British did not attach importance to this, and as the British's little brother, Portugal naturally had no way either.

More importantly, Portugal had only recently reached some cooperation with Spain, which also left them with no way to deal with Spain.

King Luis I of Portugal could only helplessly strengthen the colonial efforts in the Congo, striving to control this land in the lower reaches of the Congo River as much as possible within Portugal's West African colony before Spain's colonial forces moved south.

After announcing the establishment of the Congo Territory, Spain's colonial development of the Congo had already entered the open.

Almost on the same day, the Spanish government dispatched more colonial teams and construction teams to help the newly established Congo Territory build more perfect railways and strengthen the connection between the Congo Territory and the Guinea colony.

Because the Congo Territory was located on the African continent, the outlet to the sea still had to rely on the ports of the Guinea colony. This also led to the railway from Guinea to the Congo Territory becoming a very important traffic artery; before the railway from the Congo Territory to the Congo River outlet was built, the railway here would directly concern the survival of the Congo Territory.

At least in the short term, the Congo Territory could not achieve self-sufficiency and needed to transport a large amount of supplies from the outside to make up for the consumption of the colonists in the colonial outposts.

Fortunately, there were also many local native tribes, and these natives could also serve as free labor to help Spain better develop the local land.

After the Congo Territory was established, this vast plateau land in the upper reaches of the Congo River became territory that truly belonged to Gao Da.

However, Gao Da did not have the brutal ideas of King Leopold II of Belgium in history. Belgium could not control such a vast land as the Congo at all, which led to the Belgian royal family's policy having only one theme, which was to try every possible means to squeeze the Congo and earn profits from this land of the Congo to transport back to Belgium.

But for Gao Da, Spain had sufficient strength to control the Congo. At least before the colonial system completely collapsed, Spain had enough time to control this land and operate some areas worth developing.

When developing these areas, the local native population was still very useful. They were natural free labor that could help Spain more effectively build railways, reclaim farmland, and mine local mineral resources, etc.

It was even possible to use the method of natives managing natives to shift the hatred of the local natives to a portion of the vested-interest natives, thereby reducing the hatred of the local natives toward the Spanish.

But then again, no matter what the policy for developing the Congo was, the ultimate beneficiaries were only the Spanish.

These local natives would be forever excluded from Spain's national gates, and they could never become citizens of Spain.

For Gao Da, when these natives had exerted all their usable value, it would be the time for Spain to abandon them without hesitation.

In order to prevent Spain from being blackened one day in the future, Gao Da could only start from himself, resolutely preventing the black population from entering Spain, and resolutely preventing the Iberian Peninsula from being stained by ink.

Almost on the same day that the establishment of the Congo Territory was announced, Spain once again strengthened the construction of the navy.

Of course, what was being built this time was not ironclad warships of several thousand tons or even nearly ten thousand tons, but auxiliary warships of various tonnages, used to form an ocean-going fleet with ironclad warships as the main combat force.

After the Royal Guaninzo Shipyard received the private shipyards purchased from the UK, it had sufficient design drawings and related materials for these small and medium-sized warships.

The auxiliary warships mainly built this time included 7 coastal patrol ships with a standard displacement of 1, 50 tons, 3 cruisers with a standard displacement of over 3, 00 tons, and 1 main cruiser with a standard displacement of 4, 50 tons.

Among them, the coastal patrol ships and cruisers were relatively conventional; although the design referred to the British approach, it was generally the mainstream construction concept of European countries at present.

The only thing that was relatively special was the main cruiser with a displacement of 4, 50 tons. Calling it a cruiser, in fact, it was no different from some ironclad warships with smaller tonnage.

It was just that this cruiser gave up a certain amount of armor thickness, and under the premise of smaller tonnage, it was instead equipped with main ship-borne guns of the same caliber as the Renaissance-class ironclad warships, allowing its firepower to be at the same level as the ironclad warships.

Such a cruiser was fully capable of joining the main fleet battle, and even by relying on the powerful firepower equivalent to an ironclad warship, it could play a certain role in naval decisive battles.

In addition to these three types of auxiliary warships worth mentioning, there were also coastal gunboats of several hundred tons, inland river patrol boats, etc., which did not need to be mentioned; they were almost essential for the fleet.

The good news was that because the tonnage of these warships built was not large, even though a total of 11 warships of over a thousand tons were built, the total cost was only a little more expensive than building one ironclad warship.

This was precisely one of the reasons why ironclad warships were expensive; after all, one could not rely solely on one ironclad warship to form a fleet, and a large number of other warships for other purposes were needed to jointly form a mixed fleet formation.

The news of Spain starting to build warships again was popular in the country for a while, but it received almost no attention abroad.

After all, these were auxiliary warships supporting ironclad warships; after Spain built ironclad warships, it would definitely build these small warships with other purposes.

However, after this, the Spanish Navy completely stabilized its seat in the top five in the world. Although it was impossible to improve to fourth, the world's fifth navy also proved Spain's previous foundation.

Gao Da would certainly not be satisfied with the achievements currently made by the Spanish Navy. According to the scale of Spain's existing colonies, the current fleet scale could certainly not meet Spain's actual needs.

The mainland and the South Morocco colony could share a fleet, but it could only cover these two regions. For Cuba, which was separated by an Atlantic Ocean, or Guinea, Congo, and other regions, which were separated by a small half of Africa, it was difficult for the mainland's fleet to exert influence.

Not to mention the Philippines, which was almost separated by half the earth. It would have been fine if it were the previous Philippines, as the area was not that large, and the Spanish government did not attach that much importance to the Philippines.

But now, the East Indies colony had already gained a firm foothold on the island of Kalimantan, and subsequently, there would even be a colonial plan for the island of New Guinea.

This also made the East Indies urgently need a small-scale fleet to protect the safety of the colony's coast, and at the same time, it could better help the colony carry out colonial development work, as well as defend against the British and Dutch who existed in this region.

Calculating this way, Spain needed at least two fleets to meet actual needs. But for Spain's current financial ability, maintaining a fleet of considerable strength was already a bit strenuous, and a real large-scale expansion of the navy might have to wait until several years later.

5, 00-word two-in-one chapter, seeking support!

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(End of this chapter)