Chapter 344: Saint Primo High School

While the war in the Balkan Peninsula was raging, in Spain, Gao Da was also carrying out new reforms.

Rather than calling it reform, it was better to call it some small planning for the future.

The "future" here was not for Gao Da, but for the next heir to the throne, Prince Juan Fernando.

Prince Juan Fernando was born in May 1875 and was about to turn 14.

As mentioned before, the little guy was quite serious about his studies, and his grades in all subjects were excellent, receiving high praise from the teachers Gao Da had specially hired.

As he reached the age of 14, the preliminary education Gao Da had prepared for him was completed, and next, he needed to undergo higher-level advanced education, while accompanied by training in military and political capabilities.

Regarding the education of the subsequent heir to the Spanish throne, Gao Da had his own ambitions and plans.

In order to avoid the subsequent Spanish kings becoming mediocre monarchs like those of the Bourbon dynasty, the few years from when the heir to the throne turned 14 until he came of age would be the most important educational stage.

Gao Da spared no cost in hiring famous teachers from all over the world, and even created certain scenarios for him to exercise his abilities.

In addition to the heir to the throne's own abilities being very important, whether the next King of Spain could gain his own support during this period was also quite important.

A king who wanted to manage his country properly could clearly not do it alone. He must have a certain number of capable subordinates to handle the country's numerous government affairs.

Gao Da had considered this point for a long time and finally decided to establish Saint Primo High School, allowing Prince Juan Fernando and future heirs to the Spanish throne to exercise their abilities there and find their future helpers.

Saint Primo High School would integrate the previous Royal Knights, recruiting talented young people from the noble groups to cultivate them, allowing them to become the princes' study companions.

Integrating the power of the nobility was something Gao Da had to do, and it was also something the future King of Spain had to do.

At any time, the nobility was the king's greatest support and also the most loyal and reliable class.

Times were different now. Gao Da had been the King of Spain for 20 years, and the Spanish native nobility could only choose to be loyal to Gao Da; the previous Bourbon dynasty had become a thing of the past, and the remnants of the Bourbons could not be restored in Spain.

From the movements of these old-style nobles, it could also be seen that they were gradually aligning with Gao Da and the Spanish royal family.

Gao Da proposed the West Africa Development Plan, and these old-style nobles used a large amount of manpower and material resources to develop African land.

The nobles also sensibly sold some of their land on the mainland to the government and the royal family, which allowed the Spanish mainland's per capita arable land not to decrease on a large scale while the population exploded.

Although even today a large number of nobles still held a considerable portion of Spanish land, it was already much better than the situation when Gao Da first became the King of Spain.

Gao Da does not covet holding all the land of these nobles in his own hands; after all, for the old-style nobility, these lands are the foundation of their survival.

As long as the rent for these nobles' land was not too harsh, it could ensure that Spanish farmers had enough income to maintain food and clothing.

Precisely because of the sensibility of these nobles, Spain's African development plan became very smooth.

Spain's large-scale industrial construction began in Gao Da's reign, which led to the fact that apart from the official capital led by the royal family and the government, Spain's private capital was not very strong.

At this time, the nobility became a quite important support; the wealth they held was quite large, and after being invested in African development, it was quite important for the construction of African colonies.

For these sensible nobles, Gao Da naturally would not be stingy.

If there were nobles willing to concentrate their energy on developing African land, Spain was willing to purchase their land on the mainland at a price higher than the market price.

If they were unwilling to sell, they could also adopt the method of land-for-land exchange.

For land in different colonies, the ratio of land-for-land exchange was also different.

The land with the lowest value was the land in the South Morocco colony; 1 acre of Spanish mainland land could be exchanged for 10 acres of South Morocco colony land.

As for the more fertile land in the West Africa colony, the exchange ratio for Spanish mainland land could only reach 1:3, that is, 1 acre of Spanish mainland land for 3 acres of West Africa colony land.

Although this land exchange ratio was not very high, the advantage was that the African colonies had a large amount of free labor.

After these nobles exchanged their land to the African colonies, they could recklessly exploit and squeeze the local African natives, and no one cared about the life or death of these African natives.

The grain produced on the land could be chosen to be transported to Spain or other European countries for sale, or it could be chosen to be sold to official grain trading companies at market prices.

On this point, Gao Da would not cheat his own people; the prices given by the import and export companies were quite reasonable and would definitely not let these nobles who were deeply involved in the colonies lose money.

In other words, these nobles went to the colonies to develop land, and they were doing almost a business that was sure to make a profit without losing.

Those who wanted to obtain large-scale land at once could choose the land exchange method. Using Spanish mainland land to exchange for large tracts of already cultivated farmland, and then hiring some African natives who cost almost nothing, they could conduct their own plantation business.

If they felt that land exchange was not cost-effective, they could also obtain enough funds by selling land and then cultivate farmland in the African colonies themselves.

Still the same sentence, precisely because the African colonies had enough labor, these nobles had more choices.

When the first batch of nobles who went to the African colonies made money, the remaining nobles naturally would not hesitate and joined the wave of making big money one after another, investing in the development of the African colonies.

As of May 1889, the total amount of land exchanged by these nobles had exceeded 1 million acres, which converted to over 4,000 square kilometers of land.

Because the land in the West Africa colony was the most fertile and most suitable for agricultural planting, most of the land exchanged by the nobles was in the West Africa colony.

Through the 1:3 exchange ratio, the nobles quickly mastered over 12,000 square kilometers of land in the West Africa colony; these lands were full of plantations or farms, each of which was a place of labor for African natives.

This was also the reason for the rapid growth of agricultural production in the West Africa colony. These 12,000 square kilometers of land were equivalent to 3 million acres, 1.214 million hectares, or 18.21 million mu.

How exaggerated was such a large area of arable land?

This meant that the grain production in the West Africa colony had hope of exceeding Spain in the future, and even the so-called "future" was not far away.

It is worth mentioning that the current grain yield per mu in the West Africa colony was higher than that of the Spanish mainland. One reason was that the West Africa colony could achieve two or even three harvests a year, which also made the grain yield per mu two or three times higher.

The second was that the West Africa colony made extensive use of chemical fertilizer technology, and coupled with the fact that the entire colony was traversed by rivers, there was no shortage of water for irrigation.

The land on the Spanish mainland was relatively water-deficient, and coupled with the large number of mountainous areas, the grain yield per mu on the Spanish mainland was actually lower than that of other European countries.

The land in the West Africa colony made up for this defect very well, and the grain yield per mu had already reached more than twice that of the Spanish mainland.

Under such circumstances, these 18.21 million mu of land could easily produce nearly 1.5 million tons of grain.

Such grain production had already exceeded one-third of Spain's mainland grain production, and this only calculated the land in the West Africa colony controlled by the nobles.

Of course, the actual grain production of the land controlled by the nobles would not be so exaggerated; after all, it was impossible for all these lands to be used for cultivating farmland.

Whether it was buildings, roads, or other water conservancy facilities, etc., all would consume a large amount of land area.

However, what could be determined was that after the land in the West Africa colony mastered by the nobles was fully cultivated, the grain production could still be increased to the level of one million tons, which was one-quarter of the Spanish mainland's grain production.

According to the estimate that 4 million tons of grain was enough for 20 million people to eat, this 1 million tons of grain was also enough for 5 million people to eat.

In addition to the land mastered by the nobles, many immigrants also cultivated a large amount of land, as well as the land cultivated by the Spanish government through the West Africa Development Plan; these lands added together could also provide nearly one million tons of grain production.

According to Spain's current total grain production, adding all grain, vegetables, and fruits together, the annual grain production could feed at least 35 million people.

This actually meant that even if Spain's agricultural scale did not have much growth in the next few years, there would not be any grain crisis in Spain.

The nobles made big money in Africa, and they naturally gathered more unitedly around the royal family and Gao Da. Gao Da naturally would not refuse the nobles' allegiance, which was also the reason why Gao Da wanted to integrate the power of all nobles to be used as much as possible for himself and the future heir to the throne.

The source of the name of Saint Primo High School mentioned earlier was obviously the former Spanish Prime Minister, Primo.

Although Prime Minister Primo's reputation was not that good—after all, he single-handedly promoted reforms that had a profound impact on Spain, harming the interests of many classes.

But for Gao Da, Prime Minister Primo's ability and loyalty were worthy of affirmation. This high school, which would cultivate royal family members and noble members, was named after Prime Minister Primo, which also represented Gao Da's expectation, hoping that this high school could cultivate more talents like Primo.

Ability was important, and loyalty was also important.

Gao Da's vision for such a high school had passed through his mind many times, and after confirming his plan, the education department also acted accordingly.

This high school would be built with funds from the royal family, inviting the most famous teachers and experts from all over Spain and even all over Europe to teach the students of the high school rich cultural knowledge and relevant theories.

In addition to normal cultural courses, the high school also opened courses related to politics and military affairs, cultivating students' interest and ability in these two aspects.

If it was determined that they had certain talent and interest, once they graduated from Saint Primo High School, they could go to corresponding universities for further studies to deepen their corresponding professional abilities.

To put it bluntly, this high school was to cultivate political and military talents for the heir to the Spanish throne.

Studying together from the high school stage could also allow the heir to the throne and the nobles to cultivate deeper feelings and strengthen their loyalty.

For the nobles, they naturally would not miss the opportunity to let their children study with the future king.

The nobility and the king were "prosperous together and damaged together." Only by gaining the king's full trust could the nobles let go of their hands and feet to exert their abilities.

This could also be considered as cultivating a team for his son, Prince Juan Fernando, in advance. According to the little guy's age, by the time his classmates had certain abilities and entered the high levels of the country, it would be about time for Gao Da to abdicate and let the younger heir steer the country.

By then, the new king would have his own confidants in the political and military circles, and he would not have to worry about being sidelined by the Prime Minister and the Parliament.

If he were a monarch with great talent and bold vision, he could naturally gradually control the government and the army through his own abilities, and then realize his ambitions and goals.

If he had no ability or ambition, he could also maintain a certain influence through his confidants, letting the throne be passed down safely, without having to pay too much attention to government and military affairs.

This was almost another trump card Gao Da left for the future heir to the throne.

The reason why Kaiser Wilhelm II in history was sidelined in the middle and late stages of World War I was, on one hand, that the influence of the Junker nobility at that time was already extremely huge, and Wilhelm II could no longer suppress it.

On the other hand, it was because his grandfather and father passed away one after another in a short period of time, and Wilhelm II had not yet cultivated enough influence and prestige before he ascended the throne in a hurry, so he naturally did not have such high control over the government and the military.

Sure enough, after the news of the establishment of Saint Primo High School spread, the Spanish nobles found excuses to seek an audience with Gao Da one after another, wanting to stuff their children into the high school.

On one hand, they had the opportunity to become classmates with the future King, and on the other hand, this was also a good opportunity for the children of the nobility to expand their own relationship network.

Such a high school, those who could enter were either nobles or children of high-ranking officials. At most, some capitalists donated money to enter, but those who could donate money to enter were a minority after all.

Most students had deep family backgrounds, and letting their children enter and become classmates with them was definitely more beneficial than harmful.

The school was chosen at a manor on the outskirts of Madrid, and the advantage was that it could be opened without too much renovation.

This place was not far from the Madrid city area, and because it was located in the suburbs, the place was quite large, allowing students to cultivate their hobbies during breaks, such as equestrianism, archery, etc.

There were 4 months until the start of school from May to September, which was completely enough for the education department to get this school up and running.

The lack of teachers in the early stage was not a big problem; at worst, they could draw teachers from Spanish universities and other high schools, and then slowly hire teachers from abroad to fill the vacancies.

Anyway, after 20 years of development in the Spanish education industry, there was no shortage of excellent teacher talents.

In order to cultivate students' hobbies and abilities regarding politics and military affairs, Gao Da even intended to let military generals come over every once in a while to give lectures to the students, telling interesting stories in military life, and cultivating the patriotic feelings of these noble children.

Students of this age were quite hot-blooded, and by slightly cultivating their patriotic feelings, they could grow into hot-blooded patriotic teenagers.

Letting them be fanatically patriotic was better than having other hobbies; noble children should serve the country, and establishing meritorious service could also allow their family's titles to be passed down.

The news of the establishment of Saint Primo High School spread, immediately causing enthusiastic registration from a large number of nobles.

According to the news reported by the high school principal appointed by Gao Da, hundreds of children from over a hundred noble families had already submitted registration information, which also meant that this year's enrollment for the noble group was full.

Saint Primo High School would certainly not be like ordinary high schools; the number of high school students enrolled each year would not exceed 200.

Among them, about 160 spots were for nobles, over 10 spots were for children of non-noble high-ranking officials, and the remaining 20-30 spots were prepared for the children of those capitalists.

The reason why some spots were still prepared for capitalists was mainly to obtain some operating funds for the school from the hands of capitalists.

Although it was just a high school, the annual operating expenses of Saint Primo High School were at least hundreds of thousands of pesetas.

After all, the most elite education was being conducted here, not only to teach students ordinary cultural courses, but also to cultivate their hobbies in politics, military affairs, and even other aspects.

Don't say, Gao Da even prepared monthly target shooting training for these students. For the European noble group of this era, equestrianism and target shooting training were must-learns.

Even in many countries' noble groups, there was a phenomenon of dueling; in the internet of later generations, one could actually query the dueling videos of nobles of this era.

Once a conflict occurred between two nobles, and the conflict could not be resolved, the nobles would invite each other to a duel.

The content of the duel was almost that two nobles stood within a range of 10 meters, each holding a revolver, and then seeing who could kill whom.

Generally, such close-range duels did not have good results; only a very small number of lucky ones could kill the other side without being hit by the other side.

After all, the distance was within 10 meters; as long as it was a noble who had been slightly trained in shooting, it was hard to say they couldn't hit someone.

The noble who won the duel would also win the final argument; whether it was a dispute over land or property, the person who won the duel would get it.

Although dueling was a life-and-death matter, the noble group of this era did not reject dueling. Nobles even took dueling as an honor and looked down on those who were timid in duels.

After Gao Da vigorously developed bullfighting activities, the dueling method of Spanish nobles also changed from firearm dueling to bullfighting dueling.

Once an irreconcilable conflict broke out between nobles, the nobles would make an appointment to go to the bullring and use bullfighting to decide a winner.

Although bullfighting was also equally dangerous, compared to close-range firearm dueling, the survival rate was much higher.

And bullfighting activities could also cultivate the warlike and brave spirit of the nobility; apart from allowing the nobles to have a greater probability of survival, there was not much difference between bullfighting duels and the previous firearm duels.

After all, it was the first enrollment of Saint Primo High School, and Gao Da ordered the high school principal to carefully select from these noble children who registered, selecting those noble children who were truly capable and talented to join the high school.

This was the first screening condition, and the second screening condition was to select the children of grand dukes, dukes, and marquises as much as possible.

There was no way; the number of noble groups in Spain was really too large, and counts and barons with lower titles basically could not get respect.

Just the high-ranking noble titles like grand duke, duke, and marquis, the number of Spanish nobles who possessed them added up to hundreds.

In such a situation, if Saint Primo High School's enrollment had to take care of counts and barons, those 200 enrollment spots were clearly not enough.

(End of chapter)