Chapter 223: The Compromise Plan

The Cuba colony is far too important to Spain, which is why the cabinet ministers were shocked and surprised when they heard the Minister of Colonial Affairs, Frank, suggest that the Cuba colony might not be that important after all.

Just how important is the Cuba colony?

In 1876, the Spanish government's total fiscal revenue was 793. million pesetas, a new high for Spain in the last decade.

The revenue brought to Spain by the Cuba colony reached 58. 7 million pesetas, accounting for 7. % of Spain's total fiscal revenue.

The reason the proportion seems low is, firstly, that the Spanish mainland has experienced relatively good development in recent years, and fiscal revenue has climbed steadily along with the mainland's growth.

Secondly, when Grand Duke Serrano last quelled the rebellion in Cuba, he signed a tax agreement with the local Cuban people, allowing the Cuba colony to retain more tax revenue locally, which is what bought the Cuba colony its temporary stability.

58. 7 million pesetas is definitely not a small sum, and the Cuba colony is the only colony among all those held by Spain where the net income exceeds 20 million pesos. (The peso is the currency of Spanish colonies, equal in value to the mainland's peseta.)

Compared to Cuba, the Philippines colony, which has a larger area and more people, only provided Spain with 12 million pesetas in revenue last year, which also shows the importance of the Cuba colony.

For the Spanish government, giving up the Cuba colony means abandoning nearly 60 million pesetas in revenue; how could such a proposal not shock the cabinet ministers?

Since he had already put forward the proposal, Minister Frank naturally would not back down halfway. He first nodded to Grand Duke Serrano, who had kindly reminded him, and then continued to express his point of view:

"Gentlemen, I certainly know that the Cuba colony can bring us nearly 60 million pesetas in revenue every year. But at the same time, we should also consider the harm that continuing to hold the Cuba colony brings us.

Although Cuba only has a population of one million, both the white and black people in Cuba are opposing our rule. The last time I went to Cuba, even the slaves on the plantations were shouting for autonomy and independence.

Facing such a Cuba, are we to continue suppressing them forever? The reason the last suppression only cost 50 million pesetas was mainly because the tax bill caused a portion of the plantation owners to side with us.

But the appetites of these plantation owners will change sooner or later; either we continue to concede, or we must continue to send troops to suppress the rebellion in Cuba.

If every suppression of a rebellion requires spending tens or even hundreds of millions of pesetas, is the income from the Cuba colony really still that important?

And don't forget, the Cuba colony is right at the doorstep of the Americans. The chaos in Cuba definitely has something to do with the Americans.

Unless we are prepared to fight a war with the United States, we had better leave this trouble to other countries. If we can exchange it for a colony of equal value, it would not be a heavy loss for us.

Cuba's sugar and tobacco industries can indeed earn a large amount of revenue, but Cuba is not irreplaceable in these two industries."

After Carlo gave Minister Frank this arduous task, Minister Frank had carefully prepared his rhetoric to ensure he could persuade these cabinet ministers, or at least have enough reasons to prove his point of view was correct.

For Spain, Cuba is the last remaining colony in the Americas and the final witness to the former Spanish colonial empire.

Not only is the Spanish government unwilling to lose the Cuba colony, but the Spanish people are also unwilling to lose this colony they have held for hundreds of years.

Even if Minister Frank could prove his point was correct, it would be very difficult to get the cabinet ministers to agree to abandon the Cuba colony.

After all, if they gave up the Cuba colony now and something went wrong, they would be the ones to take the blame. If they don't give up the Cuba colony now, even if Cuba declares independence in the future, it would have nothing to do with the current cabinet government.

For the cabinet ministers, when considering issues, they must first consider the impact on themselves, and only then consider the impact on Spain.

Getting them to agree to abandon the Cuba colony is absolutely very difficult.

Carlo cast his gaze around; some of the cabinet ministers were carefully thinking about the points raised by Minister Frank, while others seemed to be lost in thought, appearing not to care about what Minister Frank was saying.

Seeing that no one stood up to support his point of view, Minister Frank paused and then continued: "The biggest disadvantage of the Cuba colony for us is that it is too far from the Spanish mainland.

Once a rebellion occurs in the Cuba colony, we need to cross the ocean to quell it. If we could obtain a colony closer to the mainland and implement a long-term localization strategy, perhaps we could directly turn it into our own territory.

There are still vast areas of land in Africa that have not been explored, and we could also exchange for African colonies from other powers. For us, African colonies are closer and more convenient for our management."

Although the warship technology of various countries is constantly upgrading, the current speed of ironclad ships is only about 13 knots, which is about 24 kilometers per hour.

The Spanish mainland is about 7, 00 kilometers away from the Cuba colony, and this is only the straight-line distance between the two. Crossing the Atlantic certainly cannot be done in a straight line, as there are no supplies along the straight-line route.

The straight-line distance is as high as 7, 00 kilometers, which also means that the journey from the Spanish mainland to the Cuba colony would take at least nearly 10, 00 kilometers.

For Spain, rushing thousands of miles to Cuba to deal with a rebellion is a quite difficult process, and the military budget for quelling the rebellion would also increase manifold.

After all, Spain is no longer the Empire on which the sun never sets, and continuing to hold the Cuba colony is not entirely a good thing for Spain.

Minister Frank grasped the problems of the Cuba colony to put forward his point of view, which is indeed the current risk of Spain colonizing Cuba.

Spain is not very afraid of the Americans alone, because at this time, the impression the United States gives Europeans is the prosperity of the East and the chaos of the West.

The eastern United States is the earliest colonized region, and it is also the most developed and densely populated region in the United States.

Although the United States does not ban guns, the order in the eastern United States is relatively safe and prosperous compared to the West.

But the American West appears quite chaotic. The "Wild West" is not just a name; gangsters, criminals, stowaways, and gold prospectors together make up the Wild West, where gunfights happen from time to time, and gang shootouts are countless.

Apart from this little impression, the impression the United States gives Europeans dates back to the colonial period over a hundred years ago.

The Americas are full of gold mines, which has made a large number of gold prospectors try every possible way to go to the United States to pan for gold.

Relying on gold mines, the United States has absorbed a large population, and every year tens or even hundreds of thousands of European immigrants cross the ocean to the United States, where there are more opportunities, to survive, including stowaways and laborers from all over the world.

As a country that became independent from a colony, the United States is quite lucky. They don't even need to pay much attention to population development; every year, a large number of immigrants and stowaways come to the United States.

But they are also unfortunate. These immigrants come from every country and region in the world, and the United States is one of the few countries in the world that has gathered white, black, and yellow people.

The white people in the United States are basically descendants of European immigrants, many of whom have only recently come to the United States.

Most of the black people were slaves brought to the United States from Africa during the slave trade era; they gained the status of free citizens after the Civil War and are already bona fide American citizens.

The composition of yellow people is even more complex, most of whom are stowaways from Asia or gold prospectors attracted by gold mines.

In California, in the American West, there is a city called San Francisco. This was originally land discovered by the Spanish, which attracted a large number of stowaways and gold prospectors.

Yellow gold prospectors called San Francisco "Gold Mountain," implying that gold was piled up like a mountain here, to describe the massive gold mines of San Francisco.

Later, Melbourne in Australia was also called "Gold Mountain" because it possessed a large number of gold mines. To distinguish between these two Gold Mountain cities, San Francisco, which was the first to be called Gold Mountain, was called "Old Gold Mountain," and the later Gold Mountain, Melbourne, was called "New Gold Mountain."

The policy of the United States at this time is still in a period of low-key development; they have not sought too high an international influence, which has led European countries to generally look down on the United States.

Of course, the strength of the United States at this time is indeed not strong, which is also one of the reasons why European countries look down on the United States.

After the Minister of Colonial Affairs, Frank, finished expressing his point of view, the cabinet meeting fell into silence.

Not a single cabinet minister stood up to express their point of view, whether in agreement or opposition.

The Deputy Prime Minister, Ceng Bei, pretended to look at Carlo's expression a few times before standing up, looking at everyone in the cabinet, and then said: "Minister Frank, what you said has some truth. But the Cuba colony is too important to us, and no matter how it is handled later, this is not something that can be completed in a short time.

I suggest that we can leak some information to observe the attitude of the public. If the public supports the exchange of the Cuba colony, we can naturally follow public opinion, so as not to cause public dissatisfaction.

If the public opposes giving up the Cuba colony, we can treat the leaked information as a rumor and clarify it to the public in time.

What do you think, gentlemen?"

The reason the cabinet ministers were slow to express their views was actually that they were worried that if the news of abandoning the Cuba colony leaked, it would bring trouble upon themselves and cause them to be attacked by the public.

Do not underestimate the patriotism of the Spanish; they can cheer when the country gains a new colony, and they can also angrily denounce it when the country loses a colony.

Without sufficient certainty, they would not put themselves in danger; after all, this is a major event concerning their future political careers.

Hearing Ceng Bei's proposal, Grand Duke Serrano nodded and also stood up, saying: "Minister Ceng Bei's proposal is good; I think this is the most appropriate choice at present.

Regarding the Cuba colony, we must fully consider the opinions of the public. If the public is willing to give up the Cuba colony, then we should naturally give up the Cuba colony.

But if the public is unwilling to give up the Cuba colony, then we can only fight for public opinion and for Spain.

Gentlemen, before testing public opinion, I hope you will keep it strictly confidential. This matter concerns the entire cabinet government, and I do not want any information to leak outside the plan."

As he spoke, Grand Duke Serrano looked at the several cabinet ministers from the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party, and the meaning in his words was already quite clear.

In the cabinet departments, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are both from the Conservative Party, so for now, there is only a need to worry about whether the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party will leak the news.

As for the Conservative Party, only a fool would take the initiative to leak the news. After all, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister are both from the Conservative Party; creating trouble for the cabinet government is equivalent to creating trouble for the Conservative Party.

Sensing Grand Duke Serrano's gaze, the several cabinet ministers from the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party hurriedly nodded, indicating that they would keep it strictly confidential.

Although Grand Duke Serrano's position as Prime Minister is more symbolic, the person truly responsible for the cabinet's work is Deputy Prime Minister Ceng Bei.

But no one dared to ignore Grand Duke Serrano's opinion; besides the fact that Grand Duke Serrano is highly valued by Carlo, another reason is that Grand Duke Serrano, as the Minister of Defense, holds the military power.

Although Grand Duke Serrano's influence in the political arena is not as great as that of the former Prime Minister, his resume is equally brilliant.

Prime Minister Primo served as a colonial Viceroy, and Grand Duke Serrano also served as a colonial Viceroy. Both were from the military, and their military resumes are equally brilliant.

And come to think of it, Grand Duke Serrano and Prime Minister Primo are the creators of the current Spanish government; it was they who led the troops to overthrow the rule of Queen Isabella.

With Grand Duke Serrano still holding military power, other cabinet members dare not ignore his opinion.

Just then, Carlo suddenly coughed twice, and then rarely expressed his opinion in the meeting: "I also think Minister Ceng Bei's proposal is good; let's do it."

Since Carlo had expressed his opinion, the other cabinet ministers naturally would not have any proposals. Everyone is not stupid; they all know who is in charge of the current Spanish government.

Carlo would not easily make a final decision, but as long as Carlo made a decision, even Grand Duke Serrano and Minister Ceng Bei could not stop it.

A king who controls the Senate already has quite enormous power. Not to mention that Carlo also gained military power by forming the Spanish Military Committee; with military power in hand, Carlo has completely gained power, and it is no exaggeration to say that he holds all the power.

The discussion of the cabinet meeting ended like this, but Carlo was quite satisfied with the direction of development.

Carlo did not intend to give up the Cuba colony immediately; having Minister Frank express the view on abandoning the Cuba colony this time was actually a precautionary measure for the cabinet ministers.

The Cuba colony will have to be abandoned sooner or later; Cuba, separated by an Atlantic Ocean, is not in Carlo's plan.

Future Spain will expand more toward Africa, especially the Northwest Africa region and the area near the Congo territory; these two areas are the lands that Spain truly wants to expand into.

If the remaining lands can be exchanged for equivalent benefits, Carlo does not mind carrying out an exchange.

Lands like Morocco can be localized in the future; in other words, this is land that Spain can permanently control.

And lands like Cuba will sooner or later become independent. Even if Carlo replaces the residents of Cuba batch after batch, as long as there are residents born in Cuba, the concept of "Cuban" will never disappear.

It is better to take the opportunity to squeeze out the last bit of benefit from Cuba, then sell Cuba to other powers, and cause some trouble for the Americans.

Hawaii has not been annexed by the United States at this time, so it can also be used to trip up the Americans.

The United States can create conflicts for Spain in Cuba, and Spain can likewise create problems for the Americans in Hawaii.

Anyway, Spain does not need to worry about the threat of the United States at this time; the United States does not have the strength to cross the ocean to attack Spain.

It has been less than 20 years since the American Civil War, and the conflict of the North-South division has not been eliminated within the United States.

Although the Civil War liberated a large number of plantation slaves in the United States, these black slaves did not significantly change their status after gaining the status of free citizens.

Racial discrimination still exists in later generations, let alone in 1877, more than 100 years ago.

At this time, the United States was still practicing a system of racial segregation; it was impossible for black people to step into white cities.

Black people could never find the easy jobs that white people could find; they could only do bottom-level work, which was not only tiring but also paid much less than white people.

Black people could only serve as police in black cities and could not get promoted. White police could deal with black people at will, just by finding a seemingly reasonable excuse.

And when black police faced white criminals, even if the white criminals were heinous, the black police had no power to arrest them.

Even black police could not enter white residential areas; such disparate treatment is also a hidden danger in the United States.

To put it bluntly, the United States is just masking its domestic problems due to rapid development. There are not a few problems within the United States, and they are even more serious than in Spain.

The population of Spain is all white, and the Catalans and Basques who do not truly recognize Spain only account for a very small proportion.

The United States is a country where three races—black, white, and yellow—all exist; it possesses a large number of black people, and these black people are likewise a factor of instability for the United States.

Unless the United States can completely resolve the problems existing between black and white people, or eliminate one of the two, the problems of the United States will exist forever.

In times of peace and prosperity, such problems naturally do not matter, and it is even impossible for them to cause national chaos. But in times of instability, such problems are fatal to the United States and could even potentially cause the division and civil war of the United States.

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

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(End of chapter)