Chapter 287: Drought and Disaster Relief

Gao Da was quite satisfied with the test results of the new automobile and decided to officially launch the commercialization of the vehicle.

Although the current automobile still has various shortcomings, all things considered, it can already replace the role of a horse-drawn carriage in certain situations and is more efficient than a carriage.

Furthermore, with the promotion of assembly-line production, the cost of automobiles will also see step-by-step reductions. The current automobile is not something commoners can afford, but ten or more years into the future, who can guarantee that the selling price of an automobile won't drop to a range acceptable to commoners?

After all, the price of an automobile before and after the release of the Model T was worlds apart. Being able to sell over 15 million units also proves that the Model T was not a vehicle that only nobles and capitalists could afford to drive.

Although it is out of reach for most commoners, some citizens with relatively high incomes can still save up enough money to buy one.

Especially those citizens who work in transport and passenger services; theoretically, using an automobile to carry passengers and cargo earns more money than using a horse-drawn carriage.

Although automobiles consume fuel, horse-drawn carriages also consume fodder. Moreover, fuel prices in this era are not high; the main lighting method used by the public, oil lamps, uses kerosene refined from petroleum.

However, before launching the automobiles, the automobile company still needs to make more thorough preparations.

Gao Da's goal is to sell automobiles simultaneously in the capitals or major cities of the great powers of Europe, which also means the automobile company's production capacity must keep up.

Based on the current automobile cost of 12, 00 pesetas, the final selling price of the automobile will be at least 15, 00 pesetas or more.

Even if the cost of the automobile is reduced to below 10, 00 pesetas through assembly-line production, the final selling price of the automobile will not be lower than 12, 00 pesetas.

This method of calculating the selling price only considers the domestic market in Spain and does not calculate the freight costs and tariff costs brought about by cross-border transportation.

An automobile that sells for 15, 00 pesetas in Spain might sell for as high as 18, 00 or even 20, 00 pesetas abroad.

After all, the automobile factory needs to make money, and the cost increases brought about by various transportation costs and tariffs can only be spread across every automobile, to be borne by every user.

In any case, the users who can afford to buy an automobile at this time are either rich or noble; for these groups, an increase of a few thousand pesetas in the cost per automobile is nothing and is completely acceptable.

As long as Spanish automobiles can demonstrate their excellence in terms of speed, safety, and stability, they can easily occupy half of the current automobile market.

Other automobile companies without government support that rely on hand-built automobiles cannot be mentioned in the same breath as the Spanish automobile company, not to mention that Spain's engine laboratory is still researching and updating newer types of engines every year to improve engine stability and efficiency.

According to the current selling price and profit of the automobiles, as long as 10, 00 automobiles can be sold, Benz's automobile company can obtain a net profit as high as tens of millions of pesetas.

As the largest shareholder of the automobile company, Gao Da can also receive a return of tens of millions of pesetas.

One must know that, up to now, the funds Gao Da has invested in the automobile company total less than 15 million pesetas, and the average annual research and development funding invested in the automobile company and the engine laboratory is just over 1 million pesetas.

As long as 10, 00 automobiles can be sold, Gao Da can guarantee that all the funds he invested in automobiles and engines will be recovered with a small profit.

On this basis, the more automobiles sold, the more money Gao Da can earn.

This is also why it is said that making money in this era is too easy. There are many industries similar to automobiles that only require some capital investment to obtain huge returns; as long as the capital is strong, such investments basically will not lose money.

As a transmigrator, Gao Da naturally knows which industries are suitable for investment, and coupled with the immense power he holds as the Emperor, Gao Da's investments have become very simple, with every investment bringing huge income to the royal family as a return.

Although the current assets of the Spanish royal family cannot compare to those royal families that have accumulated wealth for hundreds of years, considering that Gao Da has only been the King of Spain for a dozen years, being able to possess such vast assets is already quite astonishing.

Give Gao Da another dozen years to develop, and it is not impossible for the Spanish royal family to become the wealthiest royal family in Europe, or even the wealthiest family in the world.

Having watched the entire automobile testing process, Gao Da walked out of the automobile factory quite satisfied. Before leaving, he did not forget to instruct Benz a few times, telling him not to forget to ensure quality and quantity while promoting assembly-line production, as the quality and stability of the automobiles are the key.

In order to increase the popularity of the automobiles and let the public know that there is a means of transport called an automobile that has surpassed the horse-drawn carriage in terms of efficiency and speed, Gao Da decided to hold an automobile expo in Spain, just like the previous tram expo, to promote the automobile as a product.

Of course, how to better showcase his products at the automobile expo is something Benz should consider.

Gao Da basically does not ask about the subsequent sales of the automobiles; he only looks at the sales reports submitted by the automobile company every so often to understand exactly how much money his company has earned.

Gao Da had not enjoyed many days of leisure after returning to the Wang Gong when Prime Minister Cánovas came to report urgently that a relatively serious drought had appeared in the Spanish interior, which might even affect the agricultural harvest in parts of the interior.

The Spanish interior is mountainous and generally grows grapes and other crops rather than grain.

Such a drought will not overly affect Spain's grain harvest, but it will have a relatively serious impact on Spain's main agricultural exports, especially products like grapes.

Upon learning that a relatively serious drought had appeared in the interior, Gao Da did not hesitate at all and ordered the government to do its utmost to save the disaster-stricken areas; now is the time for the water conservancy facilities previously built by Spain to play their role.

Because of Spain's geographical location and environment, Spain is one of the countries with the least rainfall on the European continent.

Drought is quite common for Spain; it is just that it is not as serious as this year.

Especially in the Spanish interior, every summer, it is as dry as a desert, which is also the greatest flaw and limitation of Spain's geographical environment.

It was precisely because Gao Da understood the characteristic of Spain's low rainfall that he had ordered the government to vigorously build relevant water conservancy facilities several years ago.

Especially in areas with less rainfall, large-scale water conservancy facilities must be built to ensure the living and agricultural water needs of the public during droughts.

The good news is that the population in these drought-stricken areas is not large, and generally, several towns share one water conservancy facility, which is basically enough to ensure that local water usage is guaranteed.

The agricultural harvest in drought-stricken areas concerns the income of local farmers, so it must be saved. Even if the government pays a greater price for this, it is better than letting these people suffer heavy losses leading to bankruptcy.

Under Gao Da's orders, the government quickly took action, and one government decree after another was issued to the areas where the drought was relatively serious.

The morning at the end of midsummer carried a hint of coolness, but at this moment, Antonio could not be happy at all.

He and his wife had eaten breakfast early and walked out the door. A few hundred meters to the east of their home were the fields they had cultivated for generations, which were now planted with grapevines covering the hillsides, looking quite spectacular.

Looking at the grapes hanging all over the grapevines, there was not a hint of joy on Antonio's face; instead, he looked somewhat heavy-hearted.

For a grape grower like him, these grapevines covering the mountains and plains were more important than his own life. Watching the sun gradually climb overhead and feeling the warm wind blowing in his face, a hint of despair emerged in Antonio's heart.

"When will such dry days end? It hasn't rained for more than three months; how are my grapevines supposed to survive?" Antonio muttered to himself, holding the yellowing, withered grape leaves in his hands, with tears flashing in his eyes.

"Let's water the grapevines first, Antonio. Let's ensure this year's harvest first; at least we won't go hungry." Antonio's wife reminded the despairing Antonio in time.

Antonio stood up numbly, nodded belatedly, and carried the shoulder pole with his wife toward the water source one kilometer away.

The so-called water source was once a lake; although its area was not large, because the rainfall was sufficient, it could guarantee the water usage of the surrounding farmers.

But since the drought began, the lake's area had become smaller and smaller, eventually evolving into the current small oval lake less than 20 meters long and less than 10 meters wide.

Although it looked quite large, one must know that there were at least a hundred households within a few kilometers, and the daily water usage for each household was an astronomical figure.

Not to mention that all these residents were farmers, and the irrigation water needed for planting could not be provided by the small lake in front of them.

Antonio, who was walking toward the lakeside with his head down, was suddenly grabbed by his wife. He looked up and happened to see the terrified look in his wife's eyes.

"What's wrong? Sandy?" Antonio looked at his wife.

"Look! There are two groups of people there; heavens, they are fighting!" Following Sandy's exclamation, the two groups of people gathered by the lake were like a street brawl, one holding a sickle and the other a hoe; for a moment, it was quite lively.

"Damn it, how is this supposed to let me get water?" Antonio did not care about the two groups fighting; he was more concerned about how he could get water in the current chaotic situation. This concerned whether his grapes could be harvested and whether the grapevines could survive in this dry environment.

There were many other farmers with the same thoughts as Antonio. Many people gradually gathered around the lake; some joined the fighting sides in the brawl, some watched the excitement from a hundred or two hundred meters away, but more were anxious, holding buckets and wanting to get water.

As more and more people gathered, the abnormality here soon attracted the attention of the patrolling police.

Gao Da had very high requirements for public security in Spain; even in such remote rural areas, there would be police from the town patrolling on horseback.

Of course, to ensure the safety of the police, all police were equipped with firearms, though they were all low-power pistols.

Bang! Bang!

Two consecutive gunshots made the crowd instantly quiet down. The two groups fighting also stopped their hands in unison and looked toward where the shots came from.

"What's going on? Damn it, who can tell me what happened here? Are you bastards trying to stage a war here? Are you trying to make me lose my job? Assholes!" Patrolman Blake walked up with an angry face and went straight to the leaders of the two fighting groups.

As a senior patrolman in the town, Blake was relatively familiar with the people in these surrounding villages. The two groups fighting in front of him came from two different villages, and the reason for their fight was precisely because of competing for the water source.

This lake was the public water source for the whole town, but because the water volume of the lake was constantly decreasing, this led some people to want to take the lake as their own, only letting people from their own village take water.

This obviously angered the public, which was also the reason for the two groups gathering to brawl.

Under Gao Da's deliberate promotion of bullfighting activities, Spaniards had also more or less picked up some combative character.

Especially in such a sweltering climate, the violent attributes in a person's character would also be infinitely magnified.

Sheriff Blake looked at the two groups of people who had stopped fighting; everyone had more or less been injured on their faces, and a few guys who were more seriously injured only then felt the pain; perhaps their bones were broken.

"Damn it, you idiots!" This was not the civilized era of later generations, and the temper of someone who could be a patrolman naturally would not be too good.

Sheriff Blake was famous in several surrounding towns; he was not only good at fighting, but his marksmanship was also exquisite.

More than a dozen years ago, a group of robbers came to the town, specializing in plundering remote farmers.

Sheriff Blake chased after this group of robbers for several days, eventually executing all the robbers by shooting at the cost of being seriously injured.

This also led to Sheriff Blake being promoted by the municipal government to Sheriff, responsible for managing the garrison and public security of this town.

Upon learning that the reason for the two groups fighting was precisely because of competing for the water source, Sheriff Blake was furious, but he still explained to everyone watching: "From today on, you don't have to worry about the water source problem.

His Majesty the King has already learned of the drought and ordered the government to deal with the drought situation in all places at all costs. The municipal government has passed the proposal to open the sluice gates to release water, and the town's irrigation canals will have water tomorrow."

"Sheriff Blake, is what you said true? Will the canals have water tomorrow?" Hearing Sheriff Blake say that the sluice gates would be opened tomorrow, the onlookers could no longer care about gossip and one after another excitedly walked up, surrounding Sheriff Blake.

"Damn it, would I lie to you? This is the personal order of His Majesty the King, conveyed by the cabinet government to the major regional governments, and then by the major regional governments to the municipal governments.

Who would dare to fake an order at such a critical juncture? Guys, His Majesty the King cares about us, and we must reduce the worries of His Majesty the King, right?

From now on, I don't want to see any behavior of competing for water sources. Everyone must queue up according to need to take water; once there is any phenomenon of cutting in line or competing for water, then I will have to consider whether to cancel his qualification to take water.

His Majesty the King will not abandon us, provided that we are law-abiding good citizens, right?" Sheriff Blake looked at the crowd gradually closing in, first took a step back to get himself out of the encirclement, and then explained slowly.

Although he knew that these guys in front of him were all local residents, he could not guarantee whether there were any people with ulterior motives taking advantage of the chaos to snatch his pistol.

Although Spain does not prohibit firearms, it does not have large-scale circulation of firearms either. Generally, the rifles that can be used by the public, apart from small-caliber pistols, are only hunting rifles approved for use in the wild.

Entering the city requires handing over firearms; after all, the Spanish government does not want to see the public engaging in full-scale armed brawls within its cities.

Generally, one can buy small-caliber pistols or hunting rifles in official weapon stores, as long as one has the status of a legal Spanish citizen and has no criminal record.

But when buying bullets, not only is there a quantity limit, but every time one buys bullets, one also needs to report the purpose of the bullets purchased last time.

The purpose of doing this is precisely to reduce the occurrence of shootings. Normal hunting or self-defense is permitted, but if one maliciously uses firearms to attack others, under such weapon control, one can also quickly identify the store that sold the weapon.

Apart from official weapon stores, any private weapon store is prohibited; at least on the surface, they are not allowed to exist.

This point is linked to the political achievements of officials in major regions and municipal governments. Once a shooting occurs in a city or region, and it is found that the firearm was purchased from a non-official weapon store, then the officials of that region will be severely punished.

Doing this can also effectively reduce the circulation of weapons and lower the occurrence of shootings in Spain.

Back to the scene, upon confirming that there would be enough water tomorrow, the public present all cheered immediately.

The reason for their argument was precisely because of the decrease in water resources; now that it was confirmed there would be enough water, they naturally would not fight anymore.

"Long live His Majesty the King!"

Because the order to ensure water in drought-stricken areas at all costs was issued by Gao Da, this led the public present to cheer for a while and then immediately shout slogans like "Long live His Majesty the King."

These farmers' gratitude toward Gao Da was sincere; it was precisely because of Gao Da's order that their year's hard work was guaranteed not to be in vain.

Having enough water can ensure the ripening of grapes and ensure that the grapevines will not wither and die. The grape harvest concerns their income this year, and the survival of the grapevines concerns their hard work over several years.

It was Gao Da who ensured that their income would not suffer too much loss; how could they not be grateful to Gao Da?

Letting everyone cheer for a while to vent the emotions of the past few months of drought, Sheriff Blake then pressed his hands down and began to resolve the conflict.

"Since the water resource problem has been solved, this gathering to brawl is not a big deal."

Since you are two groups of people fighting, just take care of the injured on your own sides. Fortunately, the injuries of you fellows are not serious, and I can protect you.

If someone dies because of the brawl, I won't be able to protect you then.

Alright, let's just disperse like this. Everyone is a neighbor in the same town; there is no need to be so aggressive.

If you really have energy to spare, why not join the army and vent it on others? What is there to show off about by throwing punches at your own compatriots? We should throw punches at the country's enemies; only then can we repay the kindness of Your Majesty.

It is just that I am old, otherwise I would also join the army. I heard that the income in the army is even higher than that of the police. If the young men in your families want to join the army, none of you should stop them." Sheriff Blake first defined the responsibilities for the two groups of people fighting, and only then did he smile and mediate the conflict between the two sides.

In fact, there was no real conflict. Since there was no conflict of interest, the two groups could naturally shake hands and make peace.

After a few words from Sheriff Blake, the anger between the two groups from the fight turned into gratitude toward Kaluo, and even some longing for being a soldier.

On one hand, they truly wanted to join the army to repay Kaluo's kindness. On the other hand, the welfare and benefits of the Spanish army were indeed truly high.

Kaluo knew well the principle that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Since becoming the King of Spain, he had already repeatedly increased the income and various welfare benefits of the Spanish army.

Why was Prime Minister Primo's revolution able to succeed? Besides the fact that Queen Isabel and her government were too corrupt and chaotic, it was also because the vast wealth extracted by Spain from its colonies and the mainland flowed into the pockets of nobles and clergy, and had nothing to do with the commoners at all.

The middle and high-level positions in the army were firmly controlled by the nobles, and these nobles deducted the soldiers' income in various ways.

Under such circumstances, it was only natural for the army to turn toward the revolutionary army. This was also the reason why Queen Isabel's government collapsed rapidly at the time and was eventually driven out of Spain by Prime Minister Primo.

This could be considered a lesson learned, making Kaluo understand how important it was to guarantee soldiers' income.

The Imperial Guard naturally goes without saying. As the army directly under the royal family, the welfare and benefits of the Imperial Guard had always been the highest among all Spanish armies, and the loyalty of the Imperial Guard was also extremely high.

It is no exaggeration to say that they would execute all orders issued by Kaluo without hesitation, even if it meant carrying out some suicide mission, they would not have the slightest hesitation.

Under Kaluo's efforts over so many years, the Imperial Guard had long since become an army completely loyal to the royal family, and also an army that Kaluo could completely trust.

Although Kaluo's direct army was only the Imperial Guard, because the military academy had trained a large number of officers over the years, Kaluo also had considerable influence over the Royal Army of Spain.

The reason why soldiers' income grew continuously was, on one hand, because of the increase in Spanish per capita income, and on the other hand, because Kaluo had repeatedly requested the government and the parliament to increase soldiers' income.

This point had long been publicized to the whole country through newspaper media, and the soldiers of the Royal Army were also very clear about it.

Although Kaluo had not yet mastered the control of the army, by virtue of Kaluo's influence in the army, it was no problem to issue orders directly to the Royal Army in special circumstances.

Precisely because of the high income and high benefits of the Spanish army, most Spaniards were not resistant to joining the army, and even hoped that they could enter the army to obtain more opportunities to serve the country.

Upon hearing Sheriff Blake ask them not to stop their sons from joining the army, a large group of farmers smiled one after another and said: "How could that be, Sheriff Blake? If that kid is willing to join the army, we would be too happy to stop him."

Seeing that the emotions of the crowd had been stirred up by him, Sheriff Blake nodded with satisfaction and finally said: "Alright, you bunch of fellows, line up one by one to get water.

After the sluice gate is officially opened tomorrow, you won't need to line up one by one to get water anymore. Remember what I said; I don't want to see brawls happen again.

After all, I also need to achieve political results, don't I?"

Amidst the laughter of the crowd, Sheriff Blake left on horseback with a police officer, and the crowd followed Sheriff Blake's instructions, lining up one by one to get water in an orderly manner.

"Anthony, what do you say about letting little Anthony join the army in a few years?" Anthony's wife, Sandy, naturally heard what Sheriff Blake had just said, and Sandy was clearly very willing to let her son join the army.

"No, Sandy." Anthony shook his head and then said: "I hope more that he can get into the military academy and become a glorious officer.

Your Majesty values us so much, how could we not try every possible way to repay Your Majesty's kindness?

I didn't have the chance to enter the army, but little Anthony still has hope. If he can get into the military academy, being an officer in the future can also help us escape the situation of being farmers for generations.

I heard that military academy graduates are company commanders as soon as they graduate, managing dozens of people under them. Little Anthony has inherited my intelligence, and I believe he will definitely be able to get into the military academy and become a great officer in the future."

The couple talked and laughed, sweeping away their previous despair, and seemed full of hope for life.

6600-word two-in-one chapter, please support!

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(End of this chapter)