Chapter 297: Population Problem

After the cabinet report meeting, Gao Da also had a relatively clear understanding of Spain's current development.

In terms of industry, although Spain's industrial scale cannot be compared with Great Powers like Britain, France, and Germany, it can be mentioned in the same breath as old-line Great Powers like the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, and its comprehensive strength cannot be underestimated.

In terms of population, Spain's total population is also constantly climbing. Although the total population scale cannot be compared with European Great Powers, it is also slightly ahead in terms of population growth rate, and sooner or later it will be able to further narrow the gap with European Great Powers.

It is worth mentioning that Spain's several colonies in Africa also showed their own attractiveness.

The populations of the West African colony, the Gold Coast, and the Congo territory are all constantly growing, and tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of immigrants come to these regions every year, looking for more opportunities to get rich and survive.

In order to attract immigrants, these colonies can be said to have gone all out, offering various conditions to introduce population.

All Europeans willing to go to these colonies can get a large piece of land for free. As long as they cultivate the land they get for three consecutive years, they can obtain the sovereignty of these lands.

Of course, they can also choose not to want land and convert it into other conditions. In addition to welcoming ordinary immigrants, the colonies also welcome the entry of domestic and foreign capital and various company enterprises.

In addition to engaging in agricultural planting on the land in Africa, Spain also engages in large-scale planting of tobacco, sugarcane, rubber, and other crops on the land in Africa.

Tobacco and sugarcane naturally go without saying; when they were in Cuba, these two things were the characteristic industries of Cuba, and also made Cuba one of the most developed regions in the Americas.

The rubber industry has also taken shape. Because the Royal Benz Automobile Company has been sold to major European Great Power nations, this has led to a clear increase in the rubber consumption of various countries.

Currently, various countries mainly rely on natural rubber trees to obtain rubber, but in the future, with the increase in rubber demand, it is also very necessary to artificially plant rubber trees and establish rubber industrial parks.

After the report of the third Five-Year Development Plan ended, the Spanish cabinet government was also discussing the goals for the fourth Five-Year Development Plan.

In addition to conventional domestic development, the development of Spain's various colonies also has its own tasks.

The West African colony focuses on developing agriculture, Guinea plants tobacco, and the Congo territory harvests rubber.

These three industries are all needed by Spain, and are also basically profitable for colonial planting.

Gao Da also participated in the cabinet government's meeting on formulating the fourth Five-Year Development Plan and put forward his own requirements.

First is the population aspect; Gao Da hopes that Spain's population can be further improved in the next five years, preferably being able to cross the threshold of 25 million.

25 million people is not much compared to other European countries, but it is definitely not a small number. Even if a war breaks out with other European Great Powers, 25 million people can allow Spain to mobilize an army of nearly 2 million, and an army of such a scale is enough to participate in a world war.

What's more, in addition to the army that Spanish people can arm, Spain can also organize colonial armies from the colonies.

If you count the indigenous people in the colonies that can be utilized, the army that Spain can mobilize will reach the level of 3 million to 5 million, which is almost the number of troops dispatched by various countries during World War I.

This also means that even if a conflict or even a war breaks out with other European Great Powers, Spain has enough confidence to win the war.

Unless it is facing a situation of one against two or even one against three, Spain today is not afraid of any Great Power.

Of course, in terms of naval warfare, it is still necessary to consider the powerful navy of the British Empire. But if it is on land, whether it is Britain or France, Spain is not afraid at all.

Gao Da's second requirement is that he hopes the cabinet government can enrich Spain's industries, comprehensively build an industrial system, and comprehensively promote Spain's economic improvement.

Establishing industry is not just about engaging in heavy industry; light industry and chemical industry must also be improved simultaneously. Steel production represents heavy industry, but this is not the whole of industry.

Spain's arable land still has a large gap in yield per mu compared to countries like Britain, France, and Germany that possess large plains; in order to make up for such a gap, Spain can only make more efforts in chemical fertilizers and mechanization.

Gao Da's requirement for the Spanish government is to use chemical fertilizers as much as possible to increase Spain's grain yield per mu, indirectly improving the income of Spanish farmers.

Coupled with Spain's agricultural layout in the West African colony, it can ensure that Spain does not lack grain under any circumstances.

In the future, whether it is war or economic crisis, as long as there is enough grain, the Spanish government can respond calmly.

At the meeting, William, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, also mentioned a problem, and that is how to deal with the countless African indigenous people in Spain's colonies.

If following Spain's old tradition of colonization, for these indigenous people who are neither obedient nor assimilable, the priority is definitely to adopt the method of slaughter.

But the problem is, Africa is an extremely vast land, and there are countless indigenous people on this land.

It is difficult to completely solve the indigenous people in the colonies just by relying on the method of slaughter, and it will also make the Spanish people and these indigenous people full of hatred, inciting more intense resistance emotions among the local indigenous people.

It is best to find a way that will not make the local indigenous people seriously dissatisfied, and at the same time can reduce these indigenous people as much as possible.

After the discussion of the cabinet ministers, the Spanish government finally adopted the method of population export to solve the indigenous problem in the colonies.

The so-called population export is actually trying every possible way to transport these indigenous people out.

Where to transport them? There are many destinations. Whether it is other regions of the African continent or other regions outside Africa, they are all choices that Spain can make.

Anyway, as long as they are not in Spain's colonies, no matter where these indigenous people are, Spain can accept it.

Because Gao Da expressed his hatred for the color black very early, this also led to the fact that all the ministers of the Spanish government uniformly have an attitude of hating black.

After the population export plan was proposed, not a single cabinet minister opposed it, and they all agreed to the method of transferring these African indigenous people to other regions.

Of course, population export cannot be rushed for a moment. Some colonies still need to retain a large amount of indigenous labor, so as to ensure that the development of the colonies will not be restricted due to the lack of labor.

By then, they can slaughter them after utilizing these laborers, or drive them to further places.

Anyway, no one cares about the life or death of these indigenous people; as long as it is not too excessive, other countries will not offend the Spanish government for these indigenous people.

Like the Belgian King who was forcibly interfered with by European countries in history, in addition to the fact that what he did was indeed too cruel, it was also because Belgium itself was not powerful, which caused the interference of European countries.

The Belgian King Leopold's rule in the Congo was quite cruel; not only did he not treat the local indigenous people as human beings at all, but he also slaughtered millions of Congolese and cut off the hands of millions of Congolese without ever setting foot in the Congo in his life.

In the few years that Belgium obtained the Congo, the population of the Congo dropped by one-third, which is also the reason for the intervention of European Great Powers.

After all, as Europe gradually developed, the Great Powers all disguised themselves with a gentleman's face. The cruel behavior of the Belgians would remind people all over the world of the once equally cruel side of the European Great Powers; isn't this destroying the disguise of other countries?

After determining the immigration plan for population export, Gao Da put forward an idea, and that is to transport population to the United States across the ocean.

Compared with other European countries, the United States is definitely a relatively special existence. After the Civil War ended, the United States had already recognized the human rights of black people in name, and all black people living in the United States were also Americans.

This also led to many black people still yearning for the United States, but only after they arrived in the United States did they realize that the so-called human rights were just empty words.

The high-ranking officials of all organizations and institutions were white people, and even most black people were segregated in a small area; they could not step into the cities where white people were at all.

The reason why Gao Da proposed to transport a large number of black people to the United States was also to completely disrupt the situation in the United States.

At this time in the United States, white people still firmly hold the right to speak. But with the increase of the black group, the contradictions within the United States are destined to become more and more intense.

One must know that black people are not a trouble-free ethnic group at all. This ethnic group is lazy and gluttonous, and they always want to obtain income in more convenient ways.

The so-called convenient ways are robbery and theft, which is also an important reason why black people are unpopular until later generations.

Once the number of black people in the United States increases, similar robbery and theft incidents will also become more and more frequent. As an immigrant country, the United States gathers three major races: black, white, and yellow, and each race has a considerable number.

Once the conflict between black and white people triggers more intense racial discrimination, this is very likely to be the arrival of another civil war.

Regardless of whether the United States will break out into a civil war because of this, as long as the political situation in the United States becomes more chaotic because of this, it is quite worthwhile for Gao Da.

Although the British did not regard the United States as a serious threat, if the United States broke out into a civil war itself, I believe the British would not mind taking advantage of the fire.

If the Americans give themselves an opportunity, Gao Da will try every possible way to promote an intervention war against the United States, striving to split the United States into several countries.

Of course, even if there is no phenomenon of split and civil war within the United States, the chaos of the political situation will make them have no time to take care of other things.

As long as the United States has not experienced the intervention of World War I and World War II, Gao Da has enough time to lay out World War I. In World War I without the intervention of the United States, Spain will become the biggest winner.

After all, compared with the Great Power nations of the two major military groups in history, Spain is the one that has no intense conflict with both sides.

This also allows Spain to have more possibilities. For Gao Da and Spain, the best situation is to remain neutral in the early stage, first make a big profit by selling grain and weapons, and then stand on the side that is about to win in the later stage of the war and enjoy the fruits of victory.

Although doing so is not glorious, it can ensure that Spain obtains the greatest harvest in the war.

In the situation where European countries have suffered heavy losses, as long as Spain's losses are not large, it is a matter of course that Spain's right to speak increases.

This is simply a perfect script; now it is waiting for France and Russia to react to the formation of the Triple Alliance, and then conclude the Franco-Russian Alliance under the pressure of the Triple Alliance, forming a situation of confrontation between the two major military groups in Europe.

Speaking of the indigenous problem in Africa, Gao Da also put forward a question he was relatively interested in, and that is the assimilation situation of the Moroccans in the South Morocco colony.

When the South Morocco colony was just established, the entire colony had a population of nearly 1 million. These populations were all Moroccans, that is, white people.

After clearing out the extreme resistance elements among the Moroccans, the remaining people were all targets for Spain's assimilation.

Now that so many years have passed, Gao Da is also curious about the situation of the South Morocco colony and where the remaining Moroccans have gone.

Hearing Gao Da's inquiry, William, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, was clearly well-prepared and answered without any hesitation: "Your Majesty, currently our assimilation of the Moroccans in the South Morocco colony is quite smooth.

More than 500,000 Moroccans have left the South Morocco colony; these people have joined our nationality in various ways, they have generally mastered Spanish, and they believe in Catholicism.

Among them, nearly 100,000 people were transferred to the mainland and dispersed in major regions. The remaining 400,000 people were transferred to various colonies, among which the Congo territory obtained more than 200,000 Moroccans.

According to our attention to these Moroccans who have obtained nationality, they have not shown a posture and thought of resistance after entering a new life.

From this, it can be inferred that our assimilation of Moroccans is quite successful. By the time these Moroccans give birth to the next generation, those children will be pure-blooded Spaniards."

Gao Da nodded, quite satisfied with this data.

After clearing out those extreme resistance elements, the population of the South Morocco colony was only less than 800,000.

Among these 800,000 people, 500,000 have already been assimilated; such an achievement is quite good. If you look at this data, Spain can at least assimilate half of the remaining millions of people in the Kingdom of Morocco.

This is actually the reason why Spain wants to colonize Morocco. In addition to being able to obtain a large area of land in Morocco, it can also obtain millions of Moroccans.

As long as they are taught Spanish and forced to believe in Catholicism, they will not be much different from real Spaniards.

Then disperse these Moroccans who have converted to Catholicism to Spain and the colonies; even if they still have resistance emotions, they cannot have any impact on Spain's situation.

"How is our population introduction plan for the Americas region being executed?" Gao Da continued to inquire.

At that time, because of the lack of population, Spain formulated two major plans to increase the mainland population.

The first plan was to assimilate the hundreds of thousands of Moroccans in the South Morocco colony as much as possible, and the second plan was to introduce a large number of Spanish-descended and mixed-race population immigrants from the Americas that Spain had once colonized to Spain.

Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and other medium and large countries in the Americas were once Spain's colonies. Even the United States has some places that once belonged to Spain, and these places also possess a large number of Spanish-descended immigrants and mixed-race population.

As long as relatively generous conditions are offered, there are still some among these people who are willing to return to Spain's embrace. After all, after becoming independent from Spain, although some countries have indeed embarked on the road of rapid development, there are also some countries whose economy is a mess and political situation is quite chaotic, which is not necessarily better than the Spanish colonial period.

The matter of population introduction is also the responsibility of William, the Minister of Colonial Affairs. William continued to report: "Your Majesty, as of now, we have introduced about 200,000 immigrants from the Americas region.

If you count the Cuba region, the number of immigrants we have obtained from the Americas region has exceeded 400,000. According to the willingness of the population of various countries in the Americas to immigrate to Spain, we can still obtain immigrants from various countries in the Americas in a steady stream, which will also be an important source of our population growth."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 298 =====