Chapter 248: The Third Five-Year Development Plan (Happy New Year!)

Cánovas, who had successfully become the new Prime Minister, possessed immense power, but he did not become arrogant because of it.

He knew who had bestowed his power upon him, and he also knew that his power could easily be taken back. The day after being elected Prime Minister of Spain, Cánovas went to the Royal Palace in Madrid to request an audience with Carlo and to ask about Carlo's stance on the appointment of cabinet members.

Both Cánovas and Carlo understood that Carlo himself did not care who exactly the cabinet ministers were. However, Cánovas had to fully respect Carlo's opinions, as this was a manifestation of loyalty.

As expected, Carlo was quite satisfied with Cánovas's arrival. But when Cánovas asked about Carlo's stance on cabinet members, Carlo indicated that he would not interfere with the government's decisions.

The meaning of this was simple: Cánovas had full authority for appointments. Of course, before appointing cabinet ministers, Cánovas also had to be clear that the people he appointed must possess sufficient loyalty to Carlo.

Carlo indeed did not care about the selection of cabinet ministers, because Carlo already possessed sufficient power to deal with a cabinet government that was not under his control.

Fortunately, Cánovas was indeed loyal enough, and Carlo did not want to frequently replace the cabinet government, as that would only cause the political situation in Spain to become chaotic.

After Cánovas became the Prime Minister of Spain, the first thing Carlo did was to appoint Grand Duke Serrano as the Deputy Prime Minister of Spain.

The role of Grand Duke Serrano was also very clear: to stabilize the situation for Cánovas, who was serving as Prime Minister for the first time.

Although Cánovas was also of noble birth, his title was only that of a minor Count. A Count was not bad in the European noble system, and in the Middle Ages, they were powerful lords who possessed their own territories.

But in Spain, a relatively special country, a Count was as pathetic as an honorary title and had no presence at all.

Even though the previous noble rebellion had led Carlo to abolish hundreds of titles, the number of nobles in Spain was still as numerous as the hairs on an ox.

In an era where Dukes walked everywhere and Marquesses were as common as dogs, a Count really did not count for much. If it were not for Carlo's strong support, Cánovas would never have gained the support of the Conservative Party, and it would have been even more impossible for him to become the Prime Minister of Spain in such a short time.

Since Cánovas was holding the important position of Prime Minister for the first time, having Serrano, who was a Grand Duke, back him up was very necessary.

Additionally, this was very likely the last time Serrano would serve as a cabinet minister. Born in 1810, Grand Duke Serrano was already 69 years old this year, which would have already reached retirement age in the later generations over 100 years later, let alone in this era where the average life expectancy was only about 40 years.

Because Grand Duke Serrano was advanced in age, Carlo did not intend to continue letting him serve as the Minister of Defense of Spain.

Although Grand Duke Serrano's ability and loyalty were sufficient, it was obviously too cruel to make a 69-year-old man responsible for a very busy and complex department.

Grand Duke Serrano's position as Deputy Prime Minister was more of a nominal post, which was also to take care of his health. During his time as Deputy Prime Minister, Cánovas had already been practically handling the government affairs of the Spanish cabinet, and it would only be more handy after becoming Prime Minister.

Although Carlo did not intend to let Grand Duke Serrano continue to serve as the Minister of Defense, he still needed to hold a high-ranking military position to stabilize order.

Among the several high-level military officials on the Spanish Military Committee, Carlo intended to promote the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army, Evan Bradley, to be the new Minister of Defense of Spain, have Chief of Staff Marc Antonio Fletcher succeed Evan as the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army, and have Grand Duke Serrano succeed Marc as the Chief of Staff of the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

Although the Commanders-in-Chief of the Army and Navy and the Chief of Staff all held the rank of General, the power and importance of these positions were different.

The Minister of Defense was naturally the highest position in the Spanish military and also the position with the greatest power. The rank of the Minister of Defense was generally Marshal, overseeing departments such as the Army and Navy Command, the General Staff, and the Logistics Department.

Below the Minister of Defense, the status of the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army was higher than that of the Chief of Staff, and the status of the Chief of Staff was higher than that of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.

As for the reason, it was Spain's different levels of emphasis on the Navy and Army and the time of the establishment of the General Staff.

Carlo letting Grand Duke Serrano serve as the Spanish Chief of Staff was also to let him enjoy the rest of his life in this relatively leisurely position during peacetime.

Although he no longer served as Minister of Defense, the title of Deputy Prime Minister plus Chief of Staff was actually higher in status than that of Minister of Defense.

After learning of Carlo's order, Grand Duke Serrano did not have the slightest objection and accepted Carlo's order very readily.

Since Carlo had already made a decision, the election of the Spanish Military Committee naturally had no obstacles.

The Military Committee originally only had seven people, and Carlo had already gained the support of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, the current Prime Minister, the current Minister of Defense, and the current Commander-in-Chief of the Army, which was already five votes, so it naturally passed smoothly.

Although his position was demoted to Chief of Staff, Grand Duke Serrano's rank of Marshal would be retained. Evan, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army who was promoted to Minister of Defense, would be awarded the rank of Marshal in the near future, and he would also officially take over the Spanish Ministry of Defense.

In addition to Grand Duke Serrano serving as Deputy Prime Minister, Carlo also simultaneously appointed Menotti to serve as the Minister of Royal Affairs of Spain.

Menotti was the eldest son of Garibaldi, and after arriving in Spain, he performed quite excellently and had previously been awarded the title of Count by Carlo.

By making him the Minister of Royal Affairs, Carlo also wanted to train his abilities. In the future, whether serving as the Minister of Colonial Affairs or becoming a Viceroy of a colony, it would be a very good destination.

Choti, who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, and Menotti, who served as the Minister of Royal Affairs, could be considered to have successfully revived the Garibaldi family in Spain.

As the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guard, Choti had long been awarded the title of Count by Carlo, and he and his younger brother Menotti were also among the nobles in Spain most likely to be awarded the title of Duke.

The future of the Garibaldi family could be described as brilliant, which also made Garibaldi himself, who was far away in Italy, very gratified.

After learning that both of his sons had been awarded the title of Count and were both in high positions in the Spanish government, he was completely relieved and repeatedly instructed his two sons to serve Carlo wholeheartedly, keep to their own duties, and maintain their loyal attitude.

Garibaldi naturally understood how important the trust between a King and his subordinates was. He did not want his sons to be foolish and be suspected by Carlo because of some wrong choices.

As a noble, betraying the King was asking for trouble. In a situation where one had an extremely bright future, the best choice was to follow the King's footsteps closely and let the King see one's loyal side.

Of course, Carlo's trust in the two was also worthy of their loyalty. If Carlo had not had much trust in the two from the beginning, Garibaldi would not have been willing to let his two sons go to Spain at the same time.

The adjustment of a series of important positions in the cabinet government made Spain very busy, and major newspapers were also constantly paying attention to the changes in important positions in various cabinet departments.

Cánovas, who had consulted Carlo, was also planning his own cabinet government. Since he already knew that Carlo would not participate in the appointment of cabinet members, Cánovas had to submit the candidates for the ministers of the nine cabinet departments himself.

These ministerial candidates were not submitted randomly; they had to ensure that their political philosophies were basically the same as Cánovas's, and they also had to possess quite good abilities, and it was best if they were also people from the Conservative Party.

Among the nine departments of the cabinet, the first to be determined was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which would still be held by the Marquess of Everton. The Marquess of Everton was an old-school Spanish noble who had previously clearly expressed his support for Cánovas, and Cánovas still needed his help very much.

And Hovi Llar Soler, who was in the same Conservative Party as Cánovas, was promoted to the position of Minister of Industry, which was also one of the easiest positions to build political achievements.

Ewald continued to serve as the Minister of Finance; the Progressive Party he belonged to still had a certain reputation in Spain, and Cánovas could not completely ignore the opinions of the Progressive Party.

The remaining cabinet positions also had changes to a greater or lesser extent, and the Conservative Party clearly occupied the majority of the positions in the Spanish cabinet government.

Although he appointed nine cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Cánovas was quite sensible. He had no intention of monopolizing power; the government he formed was more for serving Carlo, with the goal of better executing the orders issued by Carlo.

As long as he could satisfy Carlo, at least in the next Prime Minister election five years later, he also had a great probability of being re-elected.

The current Cánovas only held the title of Count, but if he served as the Prime Minister of Spain for ten years, he would at least be able to get a title of Duke when he retired in the future.

Although the title of Duke was not that noble in Spain, at least he would be a member of the top-tier nobility. Cánovas's children would also have a brighter future in the future, whether they continued to enter politics or engaged in business or other industries, they would have rich connections and assistance.

Of course, what Prime Minister Cánovas valued was gaining Carlo's trust. Spain was ultimately a monarchy, and the opinion of the King of Spain was the most important in Spain.

If Cánovas could gain Carlo's trust by virtue of high-level cooperation, his children would also gain a brighter future.

For Cánovas, if the family could be carried forward in his own hands, it would definitely be a thing to be proud of.

Becoming the Prime Minister of Spain was already a big step, which also made Cánovas more confident in achieving his goals.

Even if he could intermarry with the Spanish royal family in the future, Cánovas's family might rank among the most prominent noble families in Spain, accompanying the House of Savoy to become the very top of the Spanish ruling class.

With the cabinet government officially formed, the biggest task for the new cabinet government was to discuss Spain's third five-year development plan.

The first two five-year development plans had achieved complete success, and formulating another five-year development plan had become the expectation of everyone in Spain from bottom to top.

After all the cabinet ministers of the new cabinet government swore allegiance to Carlo, Carlo immediately convened a cabinet meeting and requested that the cabinet government come up with a brand-new third five-year development plan in a short time.

The first two five-year development plans were more like laying the groundwork for Spain, and the next development plan was the key to Spain's complete take-off.

Precisely because of this, Carlo put forward requirements regarding the third five-year development plan at the meeting, specifically mentioning railway mileage, total industrial scale, heavy industry and military industry, and agricultural production, etc.

In the first two five-year development plans, Spain's economic development was quite rapid. A large part of the reason for this came from Spain's emphasis on railway development.

The benefits of building railways naturally went without saying; the large-scale construction of railways on a national scale also allowed Spain's industry and economy to achieve synchronous growth.

Originally, when Prime Minister Primo proposed the second five-year development plan, the goal was to increase Spain's total railway scale to over 11, 00 kilometers before 1879.

This data had already been completed in the middle and latter part of last year. By the end of December 1878, Spain's total railway mileage had officially exceeded 11, 00 kilometers and was constantly moving towards the milestone of 12, 00 kilometers.

After discussions by the members of the cabinet, the goal for railway mileage in the third five-year development plan was officially determined.

Spain's population was generally concentrated in the coastal plain areas and around Madrid, which also meant that the construction of railways did not need to take into account every part of the territory.

Regarding the railway mileage requirements in the next five-year plan, the cabinet's attitude was relatively clear, which was to abandon the radical construction method and stabilize the railway mileage at around 13, 00 kilometers.

Because the current railway mileage had already exceeded 11, 00 kilometers, this also meant that Spain only needed to build less than 1, 00 kilometers of railway in the next five years, with an average of less than 300 kilometers of railway built per year.

This data was only half of the railway mileage built by Spain each year in the second five-year development plan, which was also the most distinctive part of the third five-year development plan.

Of course, this did not mean that Spain was going to slow down the development of railways across the board.

What was being slowed down was only the railway construction in the mainland; the railway construction in various colonies still needed to be accelerated to ensure that the materials of the colonies could be quickly transported to the Spanish mainland, while at the same time increasing the control over the various colonies.

The railway construction in the mainland was not without other tasks. Because of Spain's many mountainous areas, railway construction was quite difficult, and the time and funds consumed were much more than those countries with more plains.

Coupled with the reason that the technology was not very mature, some railway lines had become fragile under frequent railway transportation.

One of the tasks of Spain in the third five-year development plan was to comprehensively renovate the existing railway lines and, in some busy areas, change single-track railways into double-track railways to increase the transportation capacity of the railways.

A single-track railway was one railway, while a double-track railway was two railways side by side. As can be seen from the literal meaning, the transportation capacity of a double-track railway was at least twice that of a single-track railway.

It is worth mentioning that in the calculation of railway mileage, the mileage calculated for single-track railways and double-track railways was the same.

This also meant that in the case where the length of both the single-track railway and the double-track railway was 100 kilometers, the calculated railway mileage would also be 100 kilometers; the double-track railway would not be calculated twice.

What Spain had to do was to increase the proportion of double-track railways, especially on some busier railway lines, to turn the railways into double-track railways as much as possible to increase the transportation capacity of the railways.

The future population of Spain would still grow, and Carlo did not want to wait until the future when the population of Spain reached tens of millions to renovate the railway lines.

Currently, there were two busiest railway sections in Spain, which were the railway from Madrid to Barcelona and the railway from Madrid to Seville.

Carlo's expectation for Madrid and Barcelona was not a small city with a population of 500, 00, but a large city with a population of at least 2 million or more.

Although this goal was still far away for the two cities, Spain's railway construction had to take this phenomenon into account.

Spain was receiving many immigrants every year, and many of these immigrants were arranged to industrial strong cities like Madrid and Barcelona.

This also caused the population of the two cities to climb continuously. Currently, the population of Madrid had exceeded 550, 00, and the population of Barcelona had also exceeded 460, 00, making them the most dazzling twin cities in Spain.

No other city below them could compare with these two cities; for a larger city like Seville, the population was only about 150, 00.

Precisely because of the large population of Madrid and Barcelona, coupled with the fact that both cities had quite huge industrial scales, this led to the railway line between the two cities becoming one of the busiest railway lines in Spain.

The biggest task for the Spanish transportation department in the next five-year development plan was to change all the railway lines between these two cities into double-track railways and, as much as possible, be responsible for more cities around the railway lines, such as Zaragoza, etc.

In addition to having certain requirements for railway mileage, the third five-year development plan also stipulated a series of issues and development directions, including industrial scale, total steel production, and the education situation of the population.

It was expected that by the end of the third five-year development plan in 1884, Spain's population would reach at least 21. million, and the total steel production would reach 300, 00 tons and 750, 00 tons respectively, with a total steel production exceeding 1 million tons.

Besides this, the third five-year development plan also mentioned the foreign debt currently owed by the Spanish government.

Although Spain's fiscal revenue was climbing steadily, the government's fiscal expenditure was also growing continuously. Considering that Spain still had a relatively large amount of foreign debt that needed to be repaid, in the next five years, Spain had to save fiscal expenditure as much as possible while taking into account its own development, and the saved money would be used to repay foreign debt.

The earliest debts that needed to be repaid were those of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but these were basically low-interest and interest-free loans, which were relatively easy to repay.

The repayment time for the French debt was longer, and the Spanish government could consider repaying the French debt after its own economic development was better.

Anyway, France was big and had a large business, so it did not lack this little bit of funds. If the loan was repaid to France, the French might lend this money to other European countries again, and among them, there might even be Spain.

It would be better to keep this money in hand; at least for the next several years, this money could accelerate Spain's development speed and let Spain's economy and the government's revenue continue to maintain a relatively high growth rate.

5, 00-word two-in-one chapter, asking for support!

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(End of this chapter)