Chapter 258: Lanfang Conflict

After seeing the pro-natalist policies formulated by the Andalusia region, Gao Da immediately decided to have other regional governments follow suit to increase Spain's population growth rate as much as possible.

The policies formulated by the various regions do not conflict with those set by the Spanish government; citizens can even enjoy double the subsidies.

Doing this can also strengthen the public's willingness to have children; if there are benefits to having children, it is believed that most people will still be willing to have them.

Gao Da is quite satisfied with the policies formulated by the Andalusia region, and by extension, he is also quite satisfied with the work of the Andalusia regional government.

Naturally, the performance evaluations for the Andalusia regional governor and several government officials are excellent; they will have an easier time obtaining promotions, and Spanish newspapers will also heavily publicize their achievements to help them gain more public support.

Gao Da does not count on the regions with populations under one million for now, but for regions with populations over one million, it is very necessary to imitate the Andalusia region's pro-natalist policies.

The total population of these regions with over one million people accounts for more than half of Spain; if the birth rate can be maintained at around 4%—5%, Spain's annual number of newborns could exceed 400, 00.

Added to the constant stream of foreign immigrants and indigenous people who join Spanish nationality, it is no problem for Spain's annual net population growth to reach nearly 500, 00.

With this rate of population growth, Spain has hope of reaching 30 million people before 1900 arrives, which is the only way to gain enough of a voice in the Great War.

At the same time, there is no need to worry about Spain's pro-natalist policies being imitated by other countries. This is because other countries do not place such a strong emphasis on population, nor are they willing to spend so much capital just for population growth.

While the various regional governments within Spain were constantly formulating pro-natalist policies and subsidies to execute Gao Da's orders, a conflict was underway on the island of Jialimandandao, thousands of miles away from the Spanish mainland.

As the third-largest island in the world, the situation on Jialimandandao is quite chaotic and complex. Not only are there conflicts between colonialists on the island, but there are also conflicts between the indigenous people of the island.

After the Lanfang Republic obtained support from Spain, its development speed was truly in a league of its own, and its strength soon surpassed the Sarawak Kingdom in the north and the Kutai Sultanate in the east.

The strength and prosperity of the Lanfang Republic made the Dutch green with envy; if not for Spain's forceful intervention, the vast lands of South Jialimandandao should have belonged to the Dutch long ago.

The most fertile land on Jialimandandao is the land of the Lanfang Republic; because of the cultivation by industrious Chinese, the grain output here is several times that of the surrounding indigenous countries, and the Lanfang Republic is also a famous grain-producing area in the region.

Unfortunately, this grain-producing area has already been controlled by Spain, and every year a large amount of grain is transported from Jialimandandao to the Philippines to provide for Spanish colonialists and the local indigenous people of the Philippines.

The Zhaowadao occupied by the Dutch also has a high grain output, but Zhaowadao possesses a large number of indigenous people, and the grain on Zhaowadao is not even enough to be divided among these indigenous people.

If the Dutch want to accelerate the colonization of the East Indies, they must have sufficient grain output to support colonial troops and immigrants.

After much thought, the Dutch finally set their sights on the Lanfang Republic. Of course, they dared not openly invade the Lanfang Republic, which had Spanish support, so they chose another way: encouraging the indigenous people to invade the Lanfang Republic, while simultaneously testing Spain's attitude.

The Dutch also knew the news about the Lanfang Republic training a new army. To strengthen the combat effectiveness of the indigenous people, the Dutch gathered over ten thousand muskets through various means and handed them over to the Kutai Sultanate and the Sarawak Kingdom.

Relying on a large indigenous population and these ten thousand-plus muskets, these two indigenous countries still had high hopes of posing a threat to the Lanfang Republic.

If Spain did not support the Lanfang Republic, then the Dutch could naturally take the opportunity to intervene and restore their control over the Lanfang Republic.

If Spain chose to support the Lanfang Republic, it would not matter, because due to the need to mobilize troops to support the Lanfang Republic, Spain would certainly reduce its investment in New Guinea.

In this way, the Dutch could gain an advantage in the colonization of the island of New Guinea and be the first to establish their own colony.

No matter what the Spanish chose, the Dutch would not lose out. As long as the Dutch did not actively join this conflict, Spain would have no reason to declare war on the Netherlands.

If Spain forcibly invaded a Dutch colony, the British would not stand idly by. It is precisely because of this that the Dutch dared to safely plot against the Lanfang Republic, even knowing that behind the Lanfang Republic was Spain, a powerful great power.

Unknowingly, it has been five years since the Spanish military advisory group arrived in the Lanfang Republic.

During these five years, the Lanfang Republic has also developed quite rapidly, with its population even exceeding 4. million.

Of course, this data includes the local indigenous people, Chinese, and all other immigrants. If only the main ethnic group of the Lanfang Republic, the Chinese, were counted, the population of the Lanfang Republic would actually still be less than 600, 00.

But it is these fewer than 600, 00 Chinese who have cultivated a vast expanse of land, keeping the Lanfang Republic's grain output consistently in first place among the various countries and indigenous forces on Jialimandandao.

Much of the land on Jialimandandao is uncultivated wasteland that neither European colonialists nor local indigenous people have any interest in, yet these Lanfang people have an obsession with land reclamation.

The Lanfang Republic generally has only two types of population: one is the gold panners specifically panning for gold near gold mines, and the other is the farmers living around villages, towns, and cities.

If it were not for the Lanfang Republic lacking chemical fertilizer technology, and the fact that all agriculture relies on human labor, I am afraid the grain output of the Lanfang Republic could have been significantly increased.

This is also the reason why the Dutch have their eyes on the Lanfang Republic; aren't this group of people who barely resist and are industrious better than those indigenous people who are lazy and do not like to work?

As the head of the Spanish military advisory group stationed in Lanfang, Luo Suo learned of the conflict that broke out between the Lanfang border and the local indigenous people at the first opportunity.

Because Lanfang is too far away from the Spanish mainland, Luo Suo, as the head of the military advisory group, has the authority to make his own decisions.

Once the Lanfang Republic is invaded, Luo Suo has the right to decide for himself whether to help the Lanfang Republic or remain indifferent.

Of course, according to Spain's current foreign policy, the attitude of the Spanish government is clearly to protect the Lanfang Republic.

But if facing a strong enemy, such as when the British choose to help the Dutch invade the Lanfang Republic, Luo Suo can remain neutral to avoid Spain also being involved.

But clearly, the British have no energy to manage the affairs of Jialimandandao at this time. Both the Anglo-Afghan War and the Zulu War have just ended not long ago; although the British did not send many troops, the military expenditure spent was not small at all.

If there is nothing particularly important, the British will not break out into conflict with other great powers at such a moment.

After all, the British have many enemies in various places; once the British fall into a bitter struggle, there will certainly be many people who will kick them while they are down.

Luo Suo naturally understands the importance of the Lanfang Republic to Spain. After learning that the Lanfang Republic had broken out in conflict with the local indigenous people, Luo Suo expressed Spain's attitude to the Lanfang Republic, which is that Spain supports the Lanfang Republic in fighting against the indigenous people.

The Lanfang Republic, having obtained support from Spain, no longer hesitated; after all, their purpose in training 20, 00 new troops was not to put on a show, but to protect the safety of the Lanfang Republic.

Facts have proven that the Lanfang Republic's decision to dispatch troops was the most correct choice.

Because after the conflict broke out in the border area, the two indigenous countries had already been secretly mobilizing troops to invade the Lanfang Republic.

By the time the Lanfang Republic's new army arrived near the border, they happened to run into the indigenous army that had crossed the Lanfang Republic's border.

Both sides understood their purpose for coming to the border, and at the first moment of their encounter, both sides launched a fierce attack.

The Lanfang new army has undergone five years of training; although they have not participated in a real war, their combat effectiveness is not something these indigenous people can compare to.

The results of the encounter between the two sides were also very clear: the Lanfang army only suffered a few hundred casualties, while they beat the indigenous army into a rout, with casualties reaching at least several thousand.

When the battle results were sent back to the Lanfang government, Luo Suo could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. The Lanfang new army was trained under his responsibility; if the performance of the new army was not very good, wouldn't that prove his ability was not up to par?

Fortunately, the performance of the Lanfang new army was quite good, and facing the indigenous army, it could be described as an easy crushing. This also proves that the training method imitating the Spanish Army is very effective, and the Lanfang people can also be trained into an army with powerful combat effectiveness.

Although the Lanfang Republic achieved victory in the conflict, the necessary reporting could not be omitted. Luo Suo sent the conflict between the Lanfang Republic and the indigenous people, as well as the battle results of the encounter, back to the country in the form of a telegram, and requested the next steps from the Spanish government.

Because the distance between the two places is very far, by the time Spain received the telegram, several days had already passed since the outbreak of the conflict.

The outbreak of this conflict was actually a good thing for Spain, because it proved that the colonialists, including the Dutch, had not given up on Lanfang.

If the Lanfang Republic were not attached to Spanish rule, it would be possible to be annexed by the Dutch at any time.

This can also let the Lanfang people understand that only by obeying Spanish rule can they preserve their country and regime.

The current Philippines does not have enough troops to suppress the Lanfang people, so the Spanish government must ensure the stability of Lanfang.

Once a rebellion occurs within Lanfang, the Spanish government would only be able to mobilize troops from the more distant African colonies or the mainland, and doing so would waste a long time.

As long as the Dutch still have ideas about the Lanfang Republic, the Lanfang people will have to submit to Spanish rule.

As long as Spain occupies the dominant position, it can obtain more benefits and advantages from Lanfang. Currently, the only railway in the Lanfang Republic was invested in and built by Spanish capital; although the ownership belongs to the Lanfang Republic, Spanish capital also has the right to collect tolls on this railway for 30 years.

There are many such collaborations, for example, the grain exports of the Lanfang Republic are mostly purchased by Spanish capital from the Lanfang Republic first, and then sold to other countries and regions.

This has also led to Spanish capital almost firmly controlling the economy of Lanfang; the status of the Spanish in the Lanfang Republic is extremely high, and Luo Suo's influence in the Lanfang Republic is naturally also extremely high.

In order to strengthen control over the Lanfang Republic, Spain can be said to have stopped at nothing.

The good news is that the first batch of international students sent by the Lanfang Republic to Spain has successfully graduated, and the second batch of international students is also about to graduate.

As Gao Da vigorously develops Spain's education industry, some of Spain's universities also have a good reputation in Europe.

This has also allowed Spanish universities to receive many study abroad applications, many of which are from European students, but there are also many from Asia and the Americas.

The international students at this time are different from those of later generations; the "gold content" of international students is still very high. Spain does not have any "diploma mill" universities; as long as it is a university that the country focuses on developing, it requires students to master sufficient knowledge and possess a certain ability to work with their hands.

Especially famous science universities like the Royal Academy of Sciences attach great importance to the cultivation of student talent. It can be seen from the fact that these students can join the Royal Academy of Sciences for research upon graduation that the Royal Academy of Sciences attaches equal importance to students' theoretical knowledge and practical ability.

It is precisely because of this that the international students cultivated by Spanish universities all have a certain level of ability.

Currently, the first batch of Lanfang international students sent to Spain has successfully returned, and they have become talents highly valued by the Lanfang Republic, being entrusted with important tasks as soon as they returned to the Lanfang Republic.

If one were to talk about who is most valued at present, it might be Wu Yuansheng, the international student who graduated from the Royal Military Academy.

Luo Suo carefully selected in the Lanfang Republic and finally chose fewer than ten people to study at the Madrid Royal Military Academy.

And Wu Yuansheng is the representative figure among them; because of his excellent performance at the Madrid Royal Military Academy, he was once received by the vice-principal of the military academy and invited to stay and serve in the Spanish army.

But because of his attachment to Lanfang, Wu Yuansheng finally chose to return to Lanfang, and the Spanish side did not stop him.

Wu Yuansheng and others who had just returned to Lanfang were immediately given important roles by the Lanfang government; these few military academy international students all obtained the position of regiment commander plus the rank of major.

Especially Wu Yuansheng, because his performance was too outstanding, his military rank was additionally promoted to lieutenant colonel by the Lanfang Republic, serving as the actual leader of the Lanfang new army.

(End of this chapter)