Chapter 334: 1889

The development of events left Gao Da disappointed. Although the French pointed their finger directly at the British who controlled the Suyishiyunhe during this conference, the relationship between Britain and France did not deteriorate rapidly, and there was even less possibility of a war breaking out.

This also meant that Gao Da's plan to annex Morocco during a British-French war had fallen through. As long as no conflict or war broke out between Britain and France, it would be impossible for Spain to annex Morocco.

Since nothing happened, Spain could only pretend that it had done nothing and quietly wait for the final result of this conference.

After months of negotiations, the various countries participating in the conference finally had a relatively clear treaty regarding the free navigation of the Suyishiyunhe, and they agreed to sign this treaty in Constantinople.

On October 29, 1888, led by France, European countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Netherlands, Russia, the Ottoman Empire, and Portugal formally signed the "Convention of Constantinople" in Constantinople, declaring the Suyishiyunhe an international canal open to free navigation by all nations, which should not be controlled by any single country.

The British were quite angry about the "Convention of Constantinople" signed under French leadership, but they were helpless.

If the British expressed any opposing opinion or attitude at this moment, it would be equivalent to confirming that Britain's ownership of the Suyishiyunhe stood in opposition to these signatory countries.

One must know that all European powers except Britain had signed the "Convention of Constantinople," which also meant that as long as the British dared to oppose this treaty, Britain would stand against the entirety of Europe.

The British government was smart; after the various countries announced the signing of this treaty, they did not react at all.

The British government adopted an attitude of ignoring, not responding, and pretending it did not exist, acting as if nothing had happened at this conference, so the signatory countries had no reason to interfere with Britain's control over the canal.

If they wanted to obtain control of the canal from British hands, they could only do so through war. Don't be fooled by how readily these countries signed the treaty; if they really had to fight a war against the British, it is estimated that few countries would be willing to participate.

Unless super powers like Germany, France, or Russia were willing to step forward, only if they shouldered the pressure would other European countries perhaps consider a war with Britain.

Clearly, because it was the French who led the signing of the treaty, if anyone were to step forward, it would certainly have to be the French.

There were indeed irreconcilable contradictions between Britain and France, and according to normal logic, it was possible for the French to step forward and start a war with Britain to seize control of the canal.

But clearly, the France of this time was not the France of the European hegemon stage before the Franco-Prussian War. During that period, because France was a monarchy, Emperor Napoleon III could easily push the entire country to wage war and commit the nation's material resources, finances, and all its armies.

But currently, it was in the republic stage, and whether it was the President or the Prime Minister, it was not so easy to launch a war.

Moreover, it was a war against the most powerful power, Britain; for any period of France, launching such a war required deep deliberation.

After a period of deep deliberation, the French government ultimately decided not to plan for a conflict with the British.

This also led to the "Convention of Constantinople," which originally had great benefits for European countries, becoming empty talk to a certain extent, as many contents of the treaty could not be effectively guaranteed.

Of course, because there were many countries that signed the treaty, Britain did not dare to recklessly violate the contents of the "Convention of Constantinople."

Because there was no action from Britain or France after the treaty was signed, Gao Da could only disappointedly turn his gaze back to the development within Spain.

It is worth mentioning that after the completion of Spain's political plan reform, the work reports submitted annually by each state and municipal government to the cabinet government and parliament became much thicker.

Because the cabinet government and parliament could decide the fate of government officials at all levels, this led to a relatively positive work attitude among governments at all levels.

What was more obvious was that the growth data in the three aspects of Spain's population, industry, and economy were much better; clearly, a considerable number of officials had achieved political results.

Among them, the most obvious was the population growth of Spain's twin cities, Madrid and Barcelona.

As the capital and most populous city of Spain, at the beginning of 1889, Madrid officially announced that its population exceeded 1 million, becoming Spain's first city with a population of over one million.

This was a milestone absolutely worth remembering in history, and it was also a great achievement that had never appeared in Spanish history.

Gao Da personally summoned the Mayor of Madrid at the beginning of 1889, not only praising his work achievements in recent years but also promising not to treat the country's meritorious officials unfairly.

Although Barcelona's population scale was slightly smaller than Madrid's, in terms of population growth rate, it was not inferior to Madrid at all.

According to the report from the Barcelona municipal government at the end of 1888, the total population of Barcelona reached 884,900, infinitely close to the scale of one million people.

It can be expected that Barcelona will become Spain's second city with a population of over one million within the next two years, and the gap in population and industrial economic scale between the twin cities and other Spanish cities will become wider and wider.

For Spain, such a problem is inevitable. Originally, the population gap between these two cities and other small and medium-sized cities was already large, and coupled with the ten or twenty years since Gao Da became King of Spain, the development speed of these two cities had been far ahead, ultimately leading to more and more people in the twin cities, while the population growth speed of other cities clearly could not keep up with Madrid and Barcelona.

In the short term, the more people in the twin cities, the better it is for Spain. The Barcelona industrial base has hundreds of thousands of jobs, yet Barcelona only has 880,000 people, which is clearly quite unreasonable.

Currently, many people work in Barcelona but are still not permanent residents of Barcelona. Many of these people will eventually choose to join the Barcelona household registration; after all, this is where they work, and they will likely take root here in the future.

As the capital of Spain, it is only natural for Madrid to attract a large number of immigrants. For most countries in the world, the capital is basically the largest city in the country.

Unless there are geographical location or other factors causing trouble, the development of the capital is absolutely among the best or even absolutely leading among all cities in the country.

Madrid does indeed have certain troubles in terms of geographical location, and it is almost impossible to become a city with millions of people like London or Paris.

The cabinet government and the Madrid government also have their own plans for the development of the capital; in the future, the population growth rate of Madrid will be lowered, and the total population of Madrid also needs to be controlled at around 1.5 million; any more would cause traffic congestion.

This also means that within the next 10 to 20 years, Barcelona will surpass Madrid to become the most populous city in Spain.

Considering Barcelona's industrial base and its geographical advantage of being located by the sea, Barcelona might not only surpass Madrid in population but also comprehensively surpass Madrid in industry and economy.

Of course, no matter how developed Barcelona becomes, only Madrid can be the capital of Spain. Madrid is located in the center of the entire Iberian Peninsula, and its geographical location is quite important.

Even if Portugal or Morocco were annexed in the future, Gao Da would not consider the issue of moving the capital. It is worth mentioning that the current Mayor of Barcelona has long since changed. Baron Angelo Orcajo, whom Gao Da had always favored, was finally promoted by Gao Da to Mayor of Barcelona after serving as the head of the Barcelona industrial zone for nearly 10 years.

The population explosion in Barcelona also took place during his tenure. In the few years since becoming Mayor of Barcelona, Barcelona's population has increased by nearly 200,000; such political achievements are quite excellent.

If it weren't for the fact that the cabinet election was still far off, Gao Da would even have wanted to promote Baron Angelo to Minister of Industry or other cabinet positions, allowing him to experience better growth and training in the cabinet government.

For Gao Da, Baron Angelo is a potential candidate for the next Prime Minister.

He is of noble birth, and his loyalty to the royal family can still be guaranteed. More importantly, Baron Angelo Orcajo's family had long since fallen into decline, which also meant that he was no longer a member of the traditional nobility.

Gao Da is already considering granting him a Count title, firstly to recognize his political achievements in the industrial zone and Barcelona, and secondly to promote him as a member of the new nobility, allowing him to completely separate from the old noble forces.

Because the old nobility possess large tracts of land, their ideas are more conservative, and their loyalty to the royal family is not as high as imagined.

After all, Gao Da, this King, is an outsider, and it would be a ghost if the loyalty of these local nobles to an outsider King were high.

But the new nobility is different. Although the issue of an outsider King still exists, because these new nobles were all personally promoted by Gao Da, their loyalty to Gao Da will be higher, and they are more worthy of trust.

More importantly, because the new nobility does not have too much land and other traditional assets, their ideas and strategies will not be so conservative, making them more suitable for Spain during Gao Da's reign.

Although the current Conservative Party has occupied half of the Spanish parliament, Gao Da has not completely banned the Liberal Party and the Progressive Party, one of the reasons being that Gao Da is not very willing to let the Conservative Party hold power completely.

The Conservative Party is a strengthening for the royal power, but for the emerging Spain, it is not necessarily a good thing for the Conservative Party to hold power completely.

Compared to the conservative-leaning Prime Minister Canovas, Baron Angelo, after a certain amount of training, might be able to become a more excellent Prime Minister.

The reason why Gao Da is scouting for candidates for the next Prime Minister is actually because of Prime Minister Canovas's old age.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the cooperation between Gao Da and Prime Minister Canovas is still quite smooth. Since Count Canovas became Prime Minister in 1872, Gao Da has truly obtained the power of the King in a real sense and has continuously deepened the reforms that Prime Minister Primo did not complete.

11 years have passed, and Prime Minister Canovas can be considered to have great power in Spain.

But no matter how much Gao Da trusts him, the tradition established by the constitution cannot be broken.

For Prime Minister Canovas, after the end of this cabinet Prime Minister term, he will have no chance to wait for the next Prime Minister election.

There are still three years left until the end of this Prime Minister term, plus the 5-year term of the Prime Minister in the intervening term, which is a full 8 years.

Prime Minister Canovas was born in 1828, and this year he is already at the advanced age of 61. If he waits another 8 years, he will be 69; even if he could be elected as cabinet Prime Minister at that time, what energy would he have to handle the government's numerous political affairs at such an age?

When Gao Da was carrying out reforms related to the government, he was also constantly emphasizing the necessity of rejuvenating government officials at all levels.

For Spain and Gao Da, the future Spain does not need a 69-year-old Prime Minister.

This also means one thing: after Prime Minister Canovas's term ends, Gao Da must choose an official he trusts to serve as the Prime Minister of the new cabinet government.

In addition to being trusted by Gao Da, this official also needs to have a certain ability. Clearly, Baron Angelo Orcajo is a very suitable candidate.

Of course, besides him, Gao Da also has backup candidates.

The current Minister of Industry, Hoviliar Soler, is a member of the Conservative Party and the nobility, and Gao Da also trusts his loyalty quite a bit.

However, compared to Baron Angelo and Prime Minister Canovas, Hoviliar Soler's ability is weaker.

However, Minister Hoviliar Soler has a high reputation in the Conservative Party; if Baron Angelo cannot successfully serve as Prime Minister, Minister Hoviliar Soler is a very good backup choice.

Besides Minister Hoviliar Soler, the current Minister of Defense, Evan Bradley, is another choice.

Evan Bradley is suitable for playing the role of Grand Duke Serrano, that is, the nominal Prime Minister, controlling the government and stabilizing the situation in the short term.

Evan Bradley has served as Minister of Defense for three consecutive cabinet governments and has an extremely high reputation in the military; there is no problem at all in controlling the government in the short term.

And Minister Evan Bradley's loyalty is extremely high; for Gao Da, this is also a candidate who can be trusted.

From these few backup candidates, one can also see Gao Da's attitude in choosing the Spanish Prime Minister, which is loyalty first, ability second.

Anyway, Spain's development is controlled by Gao Da, and the Prime Minister's ability is not that important. On the contrary, the Prime Minister's loyalty to Gao Da is; only by ensuring the Prime Minister's loyalty to Gao Da can Spain's situation be stabilized.

Gao Da does not want to encounter an ambitious Prime Minister. This would not only threaten Gao Da's royal power but also affect the reforms and development that Gao Da has carefully laid out in Spain for a long time.

For Gao Da, unless he can encounter that kind of Prime Minister with extreme ability and unique vision, Gao Da will not delegate power excessively.

The Spanish Prime Minister will have his own power, but this power cannot interfere with the royal power. During Gao Da's reign, the division of power between the royal power and the Prime Minister's power has always been like this.

Only when Gao Da reaches his old age will he consider re-dividing power, in order to prevent descendants with insufficient ability from leading the entire country into the abyss; only then will the royal power be weakened.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 335 =====