Chapter 270: The Ambition of Portugal

Under the heavy capital investment of the Spanish government, the West Africa development plan is proceeding quite smoothly, with railway construction and immigration work unfolding in an orderly manner.

In these two or three months at the end of the year, Spain has migrated over 50, 00 people from the mainland and other regions to the three West African colonies; such a scale of immigration is unprecedented for Spain.

At a rate of 50, 00 immigrants every three months, the three West African colonies can receive a combined total of approximately 200, 00 immigrants per year, which is already one-fifth of the total population of the Cuba colony.

If calculated by population, Spain only needs five years to recreate another Cuba colony. With so many immigrants, the construction of the three West African colonies will surely proceed quite smoothly.

The reason why over 50, 00 immigrants were relocated in less than three months relies on the efforts and cooperation of all parties.

First is the Cuba side; the total number of Cubans willing to head to other Spanish colonies is in the thousands.

Although this is less than one percent of Cuba's total population, for the Spanish government, a few thousand people is not a small number.

Before handing over the Cuba colony, the colonial government transferred these thousands of people to the South Morocco colony, and then from the South Morocco colony to the three West African colonies.

For these Cubans who voluntarily moved to other Spanish colonies, Gao Da is also quite generous. For those who want to be plantation owners, Spain can provide them with land, and will also provide them with low-rent local indigenous labor to help them clear land and build plantations.

As for those who are less willing to engage in agricultural work, they can also build small workshops in the colonies. The Royal Union Bank and the National Bank of Spain will enter all Spanish colonies, and there will be certain support and encouragement policies for these immigrants who bring their families to the colonies.

Cuba's population is one aspect, and the other indigenous populations in Spain's various colonies are another. With the progress of Spain's assimilation work for the Moroccans, a considerable portion of the population in the South Morocco colony has already initially mastered Spanish, and many have also converted to Catholicism.

Regardless of whether they truly converted to Catholicism, they have no power to refuse any decisions made by the Spanish government.

The population of South Morocco has plummeted to less than 500, 00; apart from some extreme Muslims who died from labor, most of the population loss is due to Spain's immigration policy.

From the establishment of the South Morocco colony until now, Spain has introduced at least 300, 00 immigrants into the Morocco region.

The regions these immigrants headed to are diverse; some were transferred to the Spanish mainland, and others went to other Spanish colonies.

Among the 50, 00 immigrants received by the three West African colonies, nearly 20, 00 are Moroccans alone.

The remaining immigrants mostly came from the Congo territory and the Guinea colony, and the Spanish mainland also contributed several thousand immigrants.

As for the reason why Spaniards are eager to immigrate, it is not that they can no longer survive in Spain, but that the immigration policy promulgated by the Spanish government is too attractive.

The combined area of the three West African colonies is still quite large, especially the Gambia colony, which is more suitable for agricultural development.

The colonial affairs department has also promulgated different immigration encouragement policies based on the situation of the West African colonies, including free land, agricultural tax cuts, free ship tickets, and low-interest loans.

Especially the great nobles of Spain, they are still very interested in building plantations.

This era has a characteristic, which is that mechanized agricultural planting in various countries is only in the initial stage, and most countries are still small-scale peasant economies.

Coupled with the fact that chemical fertilizer technology is not mature, it leads to low grain yields in countries around the world; except for countries with large plains, few countries can achieve self-sufficiency in grain.

Even in countries with higher grain yields, there is still the phenomenon of people not having enough to eat and starving to death.

Spain is relatively better in this regard because, due to the abolition of various miscellaneous taxes and the reduction of land rent, farmers can keep enough grain to eat their fill.

Looking at the whole of Europe, because of the insufficient grain production in many countries, international grain prices are still relatively high.

After the European countries enter a peaceful stage, the population of each country will also usher in a period of explosive growth.

During this period, grain prices will only be high, not low, which is also the reason why Spanish nobles are keen on farming.

Of course, they do not only grow grain; vegetables, fruits, olives, grapes, and other crops are also within the scope of planting for Spanish noble plantations.

In summary, whatever makes money, the Spanish nobles plant it. If they are not sure what makes money, they plant all grain; anyway, grain is not hard to sell.

It is worth mentioning that Spain is a major exporter of agricultural products in Europe, and also a major importer of grain in Europe.

This does not conflict. The reason why Spain has become a major exporter of agricultural products in Europe is the production of vegetables and fruits in Spain.

Including olives that can be used to extract oil, and grapes that can be used to make wine, these belong to fruits and are also the main agricultural products produced by Spain.

Spain is the largest olive producer in Europe, and also a major producer of grapes and wine in Europe. Spain exports a large amount of agricultural products every year, using the money from exporting agricultural products to buy a large amount of grain.

Yes, currently Spain's grain production can no longer meet the needs of the more than 20 million people in the country.

This is also something that cannot be helped; for a country where most of the land is mountainous, meeting the grain needs of the entire population is really too difficult.

Unless the country's population is small, but Spain's population has experienced more than ten years of growth and has reached the scale of 20 million, which is definitely not small when looking at the whole of Europe.

Although there is still a large gap compared to the great powers, looking at the whole of Europe, there are not many countries with a population of over 20 million; apart from the few great powers, only the Ottoman Empire has a population of over 20 million.

However, the Ottoman Empire is not considered a European country. The Ottoman Empire also has a mocking title, which is the Sick Man of West Asia.

From this aspect, it can also be seen that Europeans do not think the Ottoman Empire is a European country. This also means that in the eyes of Europeans, the only countries with a population of over 20 million are the great powers.

Although the Gambia colony is more suitable for agricultural planting, because the current scale of the colony is not large, Spain's goal is only to provide a portion of grain supplies to the mainland.

The influx of a large amount of grain will also affect Spain's grain prices and reduce the income of Spain's vast farming population. Therefore, the grain production of Gambia also needs to be controlled.

Or rather, except for a small portion provided to the Spanish mainland, most of the grain production of the Gambia colony must be exported, or further processed before being exported or sold domestically.

Regarding the construction of the Gambia colony, the initial goal of the Spanish government is to increase the grain production of the Gambia colony to about 200, 00 tons, which is one-twentieth of the grain production of the Spanish mainland.

Although there is only a grain production of 200, 00 tons, it is no problem to support a population of about 1 million. The grain produced by the Gambia colony will be fully provided to the South Morocco colony, the Mount Shizi colony, as well as the Huang Jinhaian and Guinea.

It is worth mentioning that because the Gambia colony is closer to Africa, theoretically, the land yield per mu of the Gambia colony is higher than that of the Spanish mainland.

Especially in terms of rice planting, because the sunlight is more sufficient, the land in Gambia can achieve two or even three harvests a year.

While Spain's rice can only achieve one harvest a year, only a small part of the areas with more sufficient sunlight can achieve two harvests a year.

Compared to one harvest a year, two to three harvests a year is at least twice the gap in grain production. This is also the reason why Gao Da is optimistic about the Gambia colony becoming an important grain-producing area for Spain; this land can be said to have occupied the right time and place, and it only lacks a large number of immigrants to promote human harmony.

With the progress of the West Africa development plan, time finally jumped from 1880 to 1881.

For the Spanish government, 1881 is about to face new challenges. Spain's goal is to obtain Portuguese Guinea, Portuguese Jin Shaoer, Portuguese Weida, and Portuguese Sao Tome and Principe from Portugal in the new year.

The area of these colonies is not large, but they are all located around the colonies that Spain has already mastered. Especially Portuguese Guinea and Portuguese Jin Shaoer, if Spain's Gambia colony wants to expand, the Portuguese colonies are almost the only choice.

After all, to the north of the Gambia colony is France's Senegal colony; if one does not want to have a conflict with the French, one can only set their sights on the Portuguese.

Of course, the Gambia colony can also expand inland. But the problem is, the British Gambia colony was built along the river, and the whole colony is more like a rectangle.

If it continues to expand inland, the east and west of the colony will be infinitely elongated, while the north and south will only be a few dozen kilometers.

It would be fine if there is no conflict with France, but if a conflict with France breaks out, the French army will move south from the Senegal colony at any time and cut off the connection between the east and west at any point in the Gambia colony.

This point still needs to be prevented in advance; although the French will likely not take the initiative to attack, the necessary precautions must be taken.

If it can merge with Portuguese Guinea, the Gambia colony will become a square-like shape, and there will be no risk of being cut off.

As for the previously unmentioned Portuguese Sao Tome and Principe, these two colonies are not on the African continent, but are located in the Gulf of Guinea, facing Spain's Guinea colony across the sea.

Although both are called Guinea colonies, the Portuguese Guinea colony is located at the westernmost bulge of Africa, while the Spanish Guinea colony is located at the inner corner of Africa's "7" shape, with a distance of more than 2, 00 kilometers between the two.

If Sao Tome and Principe can be taken, Spain can also strengthen its influence in the Gulf of Guinea while protecting the coastlines of the various colonies in the Gulf of Guinea.

Although the scale of these colonies is not large, wanting to get these colonies from the hands of the Portuguese is undoubtedly very difficult.

As a former colonial empire, Portugal also has its own pride. Spain can only obtain these colonies through interest exchange; if it wants to take them by force, it will only damage the relationship with the Portuguese.

Gao Da's preliminary plan is to obtain these Portuguese colonies through a method similar to colonial exchange.

If the colonial exchange method fails, Gao Da will consider other methods.

Anyway, Portugal is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, right in front of Spain. For Spain, Portugal is a piece of fat meat on the chopping block; how to eat it is only a matter of time, and Portugal cannot escape.

After New Year's Day, Spanish Prime Minister Canovas found the Portuguese diplomatic ambassador to Spain and talked about the situation of the two countries jointly developing colonies.

Because Portugal and Spain jointly developed the New Guinea island, in terms of colonial development, Portugal and Spain still have a relatively good relationship.

After talking for more than half an hour, Prime Minister Canovas finally shifted the topic to topics related to African colonies, and directly revealed the colonial exchange agreement related to the secret treaty between Spain and the UK.

When the Portuguese diplomatic ambassador heard that Spain used the Cuba colony to exchange for the three British West African colonies, the Portuguese diplomatic ambassador first showed a surprised expression, and then felt some regret and remorse.

Regret what? Of course, it is regret that Portugal did not get the news in advance and failed to obtain the Cuba colony from Spain's hands.

Regardless of the shortcomings of the Cuba colony, Cuba is still a very valuable colony at this time. That Spain could give up the Cuba colony was something Portugal did not expect, and it was even more unexpected that the British only used three worthless West African colonies to exchange for a complete Cuba.

It is because Spain has a large family and a big business, coupled with the development of the Congo territory in Africa, that it has the capital to give up the Cuba colony.

Portugal could not do this; firstly, there are not many colonies in Portugal, and secondly, the Portuguese public would not accept the government's active abandonment of colonies.

Although somewhat surprised by the Spanish government's choice, the Portuguese diplomatic ambassador could only express an affirmative attitude towards this. He is not stupid, and naturally understands the truth that if he raises different opinions, he will definitely offend the Spanish government.

Let alone whether the Spanish government is right or wrong, the Portuguese side definitely has no say in this. If the Portuguese ambassador talks too much, wouldn't it be looking for trouble for Portugal itself?

After chatting for another period of time, the topic was finally shifted to the Congo territory and the land south of the Congo territory.

Canovas first stated that after Spain obtained the three West African colonies, it was unable to carry out a new round of colonial actions on the land south of the Congo territory.

Immediately after, Canovas seemed to have thought of a good idea and proposed to the Portuguese diplomatic ambassador that the two sides reach a compromise similar to the New Guinea island regarding the colonization of the Congo Basin.

Spain will completely abandon the colonization of the land south of the Congo territory and support Portugal's colonial actions on these lands.

In return, Portugal will transfer the few colonies in the West Africa region to the Spanish government to help the Spanish government better carry out the West Africa development plan.

Of course, to show Spain's sincerity, Portugal can first carry out colonial expansion on the land south of the Congo territory, and after achieving certain results, then transfer the West African colonies to Spain.

For example, the Lu Enda Kingdom in the east of Portuguese West Africa, which is the land closest to the Congo region controlled by Portugal, the Portuguese government can colonize it first, and then transfer the West African land to Spain.

The reason for proposing the "receive goods before payment" proposal is that Spain is not afraid of Portugal breaking the contract at all.

It is believed that the Portuguese government should also have self-knowledge; in the face of the excessive strength gap between Portugal and Spain, unilaterally tearing up the treaty will only make Portugal perish faster.

If it is a war caused by Portugal unilaterally tearing up the treaty, the UK also has no good reason to help Portugal, at least it cannot preserve all of Portugal's interests.

This is exactly the reason for the Spanish government's confidence; as long as the Portuguese side reaches a relevant agreement with Spain, the Portuguese government can only comply and has no other choice.

Hearing Prime Minister Canovas's proposal, the Portuguese diplomatic ambassador was stunned for a moment, and then began to think carefully.

If the two most important colonies for Spain before were Cuba and the Philippines, then for Portugal at this time, the two most important colonies are Portuguese West Africa and Portuguese Mozambique.

The Portuguese West Africa here is not the scattered colonies of Portugal in West Africa, but the colony established by Portugal after annexing the Congo Kingdom in the lower reaches of the Congo River.

The southern region of Spain's Congo territory is located exactly between Portuguese West Africa and Portuguese Mozambique. According to what Spain said, although Portugal paid the scattered colonies in West Africa, it has the hope of connecting the Congo region and Mozambique to establish a larger Portuguese African colony.

(End of chapter)