Chapter 328: Good Economic News

In fact, the growth in the scale of exports of wine and various agricultural products shows that Spain's economic situation has been getting better and better; it can be said that it is experiencing a relatively prosperous era.

Precisely because of this, Spain's per capita income has been climbing continuously, and the living standards and quality of life of its residents are no longer at the lower levels of Europe.

The improvement in residents' living standards and quality of life has significantly enhanced Spain's appeal to immigrants, which has also resulted in many immigrants and tourists coming to Spain every year.

Perhaps they are attracted by the scenery of Spain, or perhaps they see more good opportunities to make money in Spain; in any case, many people choose to stay in Spain, abandoning their previous original nationalities.

These continuously arriving people not only stimulate Spain's local population growth but also promote the improvement of Spain's economy.

Not many days after listening to the Royal Enterprise development report from Steward Luo Lun, Gao Da attended a cabinet government meeting again to hear the cabinet government's report on various government developments in 1885.

Although Spain mobilized tens of thousands of troops to launch an attack on the Sokoto Caliphate in 1885, such small-scale operations did not affect Spain's economy and industrial production.

According to the cabinet government's rough estimates, for the entire year of 1885, Spain's Gross National Product reached the staggering level of 1. 767 trillion pesetas, an increase of about 7% compared to last year.

In an environment of such high economic growth, according to statistics from the Department of Livelihood, Spain's per capita annual income has also grown to 212. 7 pesetas.

This per capita annual income is calculated by including all the elderly and children who cannot produce, which also means that the actual income level of Spain's adult labor force is even higher.

Take the current working class in Spain as an example. The income levels of workers in the two major cities of Ma Deli and Barcelona are the highest, reaching 287. 3 pesetas and 253. 7 pesetas respectively.

Because the Barcelona industrial base has many apprentices and low-level skilled workers, the income level of workers in Barcelona is slightly lower than in Ma Deli.

However, with the improvement of these workers' technical skills, the income level of Barcelona workers is also growing continuously. Moreover, Barcelona itself is a large city, and the income level of these workers is only second to Ma Deli when looking at the whole of Spain.

It is worth mentioning that in the general environment of Spain's continuously growing per capita income, the salaries of Spanish soldiers are also constantly increasing.

Currently, according to the proportion of military expenditure by the Ministry of National Defense, it can be calculated that the per capita annual income of Spanish soldiers is approximately 287. 2 pesetas.

Among them, general-grade officers have the highest annual income; the lowest brigadier general has an annual income of 1755 pesetas, and the highest general has an annual income exceeding 3525 pesetas.

The income of field-grade officers is lower than that of general-grade officers, but the number of field-grade officers is much larger than that of general-grade officers. It is worth mentioning that the field-grade officers in the whole of Spain show a pattern of having many majors and colonels, but fewer lieutenant colonels.

Many officers whose seniority or ability does not reach that of a brigadier general are forced to remain at the rank of colonel. The reason for the large number of majors is that those lieutenants and captains who graduated from military academies earliest have achieved promotion in rank based on a certain amount of seniority and military merit after experiencing several or even more than 10 years of military career.

Although these graduates from the Royal Military Academy can quickly obtain promotion in rank within a few years after graduation, generally being able to be promoted to the rank of major at around 30 years old.

But the next step up, lieutenant colonel, is a small threshold; one must either accumulate enough seniority or establish certain merits to be promoted.

This has also led to many field-grade officers without military merit being stuck at the rank of major, which is also the reason for the formation of the pattern in Spain where there are many majors and colonels, but fewer lieutenant colonels.

Officers with the rank of colonel can receive an income of 1025 pesetas per year, which is exactly 5 times the per capita annual income of Spain.

And the income of the lowest-ranking field-grade officer, the major, is relatively low, with a salary of only about 775 pesetas.

As for the most numerous company-grade officers, their income is actually several times the per capita annual income of Spain. The highest-ranking captain can receive an annual income of 575 pesetas, and the lowest-ranking warrant officer also has an income of 425 pesetas per year.

The income of non-commissioned officers is the lowest among all officer levels in Spain. The annual income of a second-class corporal is only 300 pesetas, and for every rank promoted thereafter, the annual income increases by about 25 pesetas.

In fact, it can be seen from the standard salary of officers that even the lowest-level second-class corporal has a higher income than an ordinary soldier.

As long as one can obtain a promotion in rank, even if one is stuck at the rank of first or second-class corporal for a lifetime, the income is still much higher than being an ordinary soldier.

What's more, officers have more welfare subsidies, and all kinds of welfare subsidies added together can increase their income by about 20% to 30%.

In this way, the income gap between officers and ordinary soldiers is completely widened, which is also the reason why Spain's military academies are popular.

Whether it is the ordinary military academy that high school graduates can apply for or the training military academy that ordinary soldiers can apply for, they can obtain promotion in rank in a short period of time.

For example, the military academy that these ordinary high school students apply for, once they graduate successfully, they can at least obtain the rank of lieutenant. The new annual salary corresponding to the rank of lieutenant is 525 pesetas, and the actual income after adding various welfare subsidies can even exceed 600 pesetas.

May I ask, with such an income, how could those soldiers who joined the army not be grateful to Gao Da?

You must know that their ability to have such a high income is inseparable from Gao Da's repeated efforts.

The income of Spanish military soldiers has had three increases, large and small, in the more than 10 years since Gao Da was crowned King of Spain.

It is precisely these three increases in soldiers' salaries that have made the Spanish soldier profession the dream profession of all Spaniards, and this is also the reason why Spaniards actively sign up to participate when the army recruits.

In fact, it can also be seen from the number of applicants and the number of admissions to Spain's military academies each year how popular the military academies are.

In 1885 alone, the total number of applicants for Spain's military academies exceeded 2000. These applicants all initially met the admission standards of the military academy; those who did not meet the standards did not even have the qualifications to apply.

What is the total number of admissions for Spanish military academies? Less than 500 people.

This actually also means that the proportion of all high school graduates who meet the admission conditions of Spanish military academies and can be admitted to Spanish military academies is less than 25%.

This proportion is enough to prove how fierce the competition for Spain's military academies is, and it can also prove how excellent those students admitted to Spain's military academies are.

Of course, the efforts of these high school students to apply for military academies will not be in vain. As long as they can successfully be admitted to the military academy, their guaranteed future annual income will be more than two or three times the annual income of ordinary Spaniards.

Even if they can only pass through the accumulation of seniority, it is no problem to mix into a field-grade officer at the major level in the future. The income of a major is already the sum of the annual incomes of 4 ordinary Spaniards, which is definitely an unimaginable wealth for ordinary Spanish families.

It is precisely because of the high income of officers that it is attracting a large number of Spanish youths to yearn for a military career at every moment.

Of course, all the above income levels of officers are estimates of the total income of the Royal Army officers of the National Defense Force; there is a certain difference between the income of naval officers and the income of Imperial Guard officers.

Because of the special nature of the military branch, the income of naval officers will be higher than that of army officers. However, because Spain currently values the army more than the navy, the income of naval officers is at most about 10% higher than that of army officers.

The income of the Imperial Guard officers directly commanded by Gao Da is also about the same as that of naval officers, and the income of all officers of the same rank is about 10% higher than that of army officers.

Because all salaries of the Imperial Guard, from generals down to ordinary soldiers, are the responsibility of the royal family, this also leads to better welfare benefits for the Imperial Guard compared to the ordinary army.

Of course, the Imperial Guard is not without its disadvantages. Because the Imperial Guard only has the establishment of one reinforced division, the development prospects of the Imperial Guard's senior officers are lower than those of the Royal Army's senior officers.

But then again, the first batch of local officers currently trained by Spain are only in the ranks of field-grade officers, and not many people can reach high positions such as division commander.

For these local Spanish military academy graduates, even if the development prospects of Imperial Guard officers are lower, they are more willing to go to the Imperial Guard to serve.

In addition to the fact that the salary and welfare benefits of the Imperial Guard are more generous compared to the ordinary army, there is also the fact that the Imperial Guard is personally loyal to the King they love, and after joining the Imperial Guard, they are the King's confidants.

Don't look at the fact that the Spanish army is also called the Royal Army, but the treatment of the Royal Army and the treatment of the Imperial Guard are worlds apart.

Good weapons and equipment are equipped by the Imperial Guard first, and the bullet consumption of Imperial Guard soldiers is also several times that of ordinary army soldiers.

After all, Spain's Royal Army has a scale of 175, 00 people, and such a huge number leads to the ammunition consumption of the army being an astronomical figure.

If there is no certain control, the ammunition consumption of daily target practice alone would be enough to squander the military budget of the Ministry of National Defense.

Compared to the Royal Army with as many as 175, 00 people, the Imperial Guard division with only 15, 00 people does not have so many worries.

Although the wealth in the hands of the royal family cannot compare to the government, the government's money is not all invested in military spending. In the case of only needing to take care of the 15, 00-person Imperial Guard division, Gao Da can even manage to let the Imperial Guard division soldiers conduct target practice unscrupulously.

If it weren't for worrying that their bodies couldn't take it under the condition of continuous target practice, Gao Da would really consider letting the Imperial Guard division soldiers consume hundreds of bullets in each target practice, so that everyone could practice precise marksmanship.

Currently, the Imperial Guard division soldiers have target practice twice a week, with each person consuming 25 bullets each time for training.

It's not that Gao Da is stingy; it's mainly because the firearms of this era are different from the fully automatic rifles of later generations, and the firing speed of breech-loading guns is very slow.

An Imperial Guard soldier who wants to finish all 25 bullets basically needs a minute and a half to do so.

Coupled with the damage to the body caused by the recoil of the firearms, consuming 25 bullets per training session is a relatively reasonable number. It can allow soldiers to improve their target practice experience without causing them to get injured due to frequent shooting.

Of course, time consumption is also an important consideration. The Imperial Guard division has 15, 00 people, and these 15, 00 people need to conduct target practice twice in a week.

How to reasonably arrange for all soldiers to conduct target practice is a problem that Imperial Guard officers need to think about in detail.

Back to Spain's economy. Because of the significant increase in Gross National Product, Spain's total fiscal revenue last year, which was 1885, also reached a new high of 1. 021 billion.

Even though the total fiscal expenditure was also 1. 862 billion pesetas, the Spanish government's fiscal surplus last year still reached 115. million.

However, because of the need to repay debts, the Spanish government's actual surplus was only 15. million, and that 100 million pesetas was all used to repay foreign debts.

After several years of foreign debt repayment, more than half of the debt that Spain has owed for so many years has been repaid.

If 100 million pesetas can be taken out every year to repay the debt, it is expected that by around 1890, the Spanish government will be able to pay off all debts and truly achieve a debt-free state.

In fact, for the current Spanish government, if they want to quickly pay off this debt, they only need to slightly reduce military spending and fiscal expenditure, and there is hope to repay all debts within the next two years.

But there is no need to do so. The remaining debt is not much, and time is not urgent; just slowly repaying 100 million pesetas every year is fine.

Listening to the government's report on fiscal-related news, Gao Da also felt some emotion for a moment.

At this time, the Spanish government's finances are obviously much better than when Gao Da first became King of Spain.

It must also be admitted that Prime Minister Primo's reforms have made outstanding contributions to Spain. If it weren't for Prime Minister Primo's reforms that allowed all walks of life in Spain to burst with vigorous vitality, where would Spain get such huge fiscal revenue at this time?

The reason why Spain's economy can achieve a rapid take-off is mainly because various infrastructure constructions have stimulated economic growth. The rapid growth of the worker group has also allowed Spain's per capita income to continuously increase, and people are more willing to consume after having money, and consumption has once again stimulated economic growth.

Such a virtuous cycle has allowed Spain's economy to achieve rapid development in the past 10-plus years and successfully reach the current quite excellent level.

Of course, it was also Prime Minister Primo's reforms that liberated Spanish farmers. Even farmers without land, because of the reduction and exemption of land rent, have also significantly increased their income.

Coupled with the fact that Gao Da and the Spanish government have put a large amount of farmland into the market in the past 10-plus years, these farmlands have returned to the hands of farmers in the form of leasing or selling.

The farmland in the hands of Spanish farmers is increasing, and their income is naturally climbing step by step.

(End of this chapter)