Chapter 26: The Great Expansion of Royal Industries

While the reforms and construction in Spain were in full swing, Xiang Kaluo was already deploying his own media empire.

As early as his time in Italy, Xiang Kaluo had already had Luo Lun acquire newspapers in Spain, though they were kept at a very small scale.

Now that he had become the King of Spain, it was time to expand these newspapers and establish a high-influence media organization like the Italian Sun.

The concept behind the name "Italian Sun" was excellent, and because of the previous extensive promotion of the monarchy, the Sun already had a certain level of popularity in Spain, so Xiang Kaluo naturally copied the name directly.

In October 1869, the Spanish Sun was officially established in Ma Deli, becoming Xiang Kaluo's first major industry in Spain.

The development potential near Ma Deli was no worse than that of northern Italy, and Xiang Kaluo's expectation for the new Spanish Sun was for it to become a major newspaper with a daily circulation of 20, 00 within two years.

In addition to the Spanish Sun, which was used to build his reputation, Xiang Kaluo also had Luo Lun quietly acquire more than ten small newspapers to expand the number of outlets in his media empire.

These newspapers were scattered across various parts of Spain, allowing them to influence more Spanish families.

Beyond the media layout, Xiang Kaluo also officially began a major expansion of royal assets.

To realize the plans in his heart within a Spain beset by internal and external troubles, sufficient funds were indispensable.

Although newspapers could earn a little pocket money, it was merely a drop in the bucket for the high-spending Wang Gong.

The former lands and most of the property of the Bourbon dynasty had been confiscated by the government; aside from taking over the Ma Deli Royal Palace and a few other castles and estates, Xiang Kaluo had not obtained many valuable industries or lands.

Currently, the income from these industries of Xiang Kaluo's was barely enough to maintain the expenses of the Wang Gong, and this was even without Xiang Kaluo having formed a Royal Guard.

Whether for the formation of the Royal Guard or for future reforms and expansions of greater scale, investing in more industries was essential.

For the first step of the royal asset expansion, Xiang Kaluo set his sights on the food and wine industries.

Food, naturally, goes without saying; it is a necessary material for humans to maintain a normal life, a consumable, and basically never lacks a market.

As for wine, its status in the West goes without saying. As an alcoholic beverage sought after by the upper classes and indispensable to the lower classes, wine had no trouble selling in Europe; banquets among the nobility alone could consume vast quantities.

In later generations, Spain would be the world's third-largest wine-producing region, and it was inherently very suitable for the development of the wine industry. The wine produced by Xiang Kaluo's wineries would basically have no trouble selling; after all, a king's private winery is naturally more prestigious than those ordinary ones.

In mid-October 1869, United Food was officially founded in Ma Deli. Xiang Kaluo acquired a flour mill in Ma Deli and prepared to expand it into a food processing plant based on that mill.

What should he produce?

Xiang Kaluo actually already had a plan in mind, which was something similar to the fast food of later generations.

It wouldn't be very complicated, just two large slices of bread with some minced meat and jam in the middle, focusing on being affordable and good quality.

On this point, food industry practitioners of later generations had already blazed many trails, and Xiang Kaluo had many ways to reduce food costs while making the portions look sufficient and the taste good.

As for the food safety issues that everyone in later generations talked about, there were no concerns in this era.

Of course, as a king, Xiang Kaluo could not treat the lives and safety of the Spanish people as nothing. All products under United Food could at least guarantee there would be no fatal toxicity; at most, it would be a stomach ache caused by food quality.

A low-priced food with both meat and vegetables, he believed, would be welcomed in Spain, where incomes were not high.

Xiang Kaluo could also take the opportunity of running a food factory to set a benchmark for Spanish enterprises. When the workers of Spain were all envying the welfare system of the royal enterprise's employees, that would be the time to promulgate the Spanish Labor Law.

Although the Labor Law would gain the favor of the workers, it would have to contend with those big capitalists and factory owners.

Without absolute certainty or the support of a large number of workers, Xiang Kaluo did not intend to push for the promulgation of the Labor Law in the early stages.

After all, those big capitalists were also part of the support for the monarchy; for Xiang Kaluo to oppose those big capitalists before he had mastered his own power would be equivalent to digging his own grave.

The United Food factory was thus quietly established. It would still be some time before it officially went into production, and Xiang Kaluo did not intend to publicize his food factory before it generated good feedback.

Compared to the food factory, Xiang Kaluo put more effort into promoting his wineries.

Fortunately, several of Queen Isabel's wineries had been well preserved and were not distributed to farmers as land.

After all, what was truly valuable about a winery were the grapevines planted there; the value of the land was actually not as great as one might imagine.

Also because Xiang Kaluo had voluntarily given up those lands, Primo finally decided to hand over the few wineries left by Queen Isabel to Xiang Kaluo, at least to ensure the royal family had some income.

This also greatly facilitated Xiang Kaluo. After all, if he wanted to start a wine processing plant from scratch, it would not only require a large amount of time but also a large amount of capital investment.

Just cultivating his own grapevines would require a long time, or purchasing finished grapevine seedlings would also require a lot of capital investment.

Now that he had a few finished wineries and vineyards, Xiang Kaluo only needed to give these wineries a makeover and establish his own private wine brand.

For his wine enterprise, Xiang Kaluo intended to split it into two parts.

The first wine enterprise was named Royal Winery; the wine sold in the future would carry the name of royal supply and reserve, focusing on mid-to-high-end wine, with the target audience being those wealthy big capitalists and nobles.

The name of the second wine enterprise would not have the word "Royal," named Iberia Estate, and the red wine launched would focus on cost-effectiveness, with the target audience being those ordinary Spaniards who didn't have much money.

Through a strategy of dual-pronged approach in both high-end and low-end markets, he could ensure that Xiang Kaluo's wine industry could occupy the Spanish market share at a very fast speed.

Relying on the Spanish market, Xiang Kaluo could advance to attack and retreat to defend, and could also take the opportunity to seize more of the European wine market, thereby quickly realizing the profit plan for the wine industry.

The earning power of the wine industry was stronger than that of newspapers; if he could seize a considerable part of the Spanish market, he could ensure that when he formed the Royal Guard, he wouldn't be unable to even afford the equipment.

First update, asking for support!

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(End of this chapter)