Chapter 361: Warship Orders and the Development of Cola

During their time in Spain, the Portuguese royal family first toured Spain's urban construction projects, followed by a visit to the Spanish battleship construction sites.

Princess Maria Pia was filled with admiration for Spain's rapid development. The last time she visited Spain, Madrid had not been as prosperous as it was now.

According to the Spanish officials hosting them, Madrid's population had now reached nearly 1. million, making it the most populous city on the entire Iberian Peninsula.

One must realize that the entire population of Portugal was less than 5 million. A single small city like Madrid possessed over one-fifth of Portugal's population, which illustrated the vast gap between Spain and Portugal.

Perhaps losing the Portuguese throne was a good thing for Princess Maria Pia. Without the throne, their family remained distinguished European aristocrats with close kinship ties to both the Italian and Spanish royal families, and they would have no trouble living out the rest of their lives in wealth.

However, Carlos I, having once tasted the sweetness of the throne, did not think so. He believed the Portuguese Republican Party's rebellion had been too sudden, and that the Republican Party had only stolen power because the Portuguese government had been caught completely unprepared.

As long as he could obtain support from outside forces, Portugal could still restore the monarchy, and the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha could still be restored to power.

Carlos I was quite confident regarding the restoration of the throne. His two uncles were the kings of Spain and Italy, respectively, and both of these countries were European great powers with formidable strength.

Furthermore, the Portuguese royal family belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a distinguished family that also controlled the thrones of Belgium and Bulgaria.

Added to the help from Britain, defeating a small Portuguese Republican Party should be an easy task.

After seeing the strength of Spain's economy and industry, Carlos I could not wait to send a request to his uncle, Carlos, hoping his uncle would help him return to the throne.

Regarding Carlos I's request, Carlos did not explicitly refuse.

After all, Carlos had no reason to refuse; a refusal that was too decisive would make it look like Carlos had ulterior motives regarding the turmoil in Portugal.

Of course, Carlos would absolutely not express an attitude of explicit support either.

Spain had previously stated that it would remain neutral during the Portuguese turmoil; it was impossible for Carlos to slap his own face, let alone violate the regulations he had previously declared.

Not having received an explicit attitude of support from Carlos, Carlos I felt slightly disappointed. He could also sense Carlos's coldness toward him, as if the two were merely strangers.

For Carlos, that was indeed the case. Before this meeting, Carlos had never even met his nephew, Carlos I.

Compared to Spain's national interests, this bit of kinship was not that important. Furthermore, Carlos I had already chosen Britain over Spain, so naturally, there was no need for Carlos to consider any kinship ties.

If annexing Portugal could make Spain more powerful, Carlos would annex Portugal without hesitation.

As for people like Carlos I, if they were sensible, Carlos would ensure they lived the rest of their lives without worry for food or clothing.

But if they were not sensible, they would become enemies to Carlos, and naturally, there would be no need to consider their attitude.

Realizing that obtaining Spanish support was hopeless, Carlos I felt there was no need to continue staying in Spain.

One week after arriving in Spain, he proposed his departure to Carlos, intending to head east to Italy to seek the support of his other uncle, Umberto I.

It just so happened that Princess Maria Pia could also return to Italy, firstly to pay respects to her father, Vittorio Emanuele II, and secondly to visit most of her relatives in Victoria.

Carlos naturally would not stop them and arranged a luxurious cruise ship to send their family off to Italy in one piece.

Regarding the Portuguese royal family's act of coming to Spain for refuge, Carlos did not forbid Spanish newspapers and media from reporting the relevant news.

On one hand, the act of sheltering a neighboring royal family could add a bit of prestige to the Spanish royal family. Although most European countries were monarchies, some of those kings could not guarantee their own thrones were stable.

If they encountered any crises in the future, they could choose to seek refuge in a great power like Spain, which was definitely a good thing for those European kings whose thrones were not stable.

Sure enough, as such news was gradually reported by newspapers in other European countries, Spain's act of accepting the Portuguese royal family was praised by the European aristocracy.

Although this improvement in reputation could not bring Carlos any practical benefits, it could play an unexpected role in certain situations.

As time reached August 1892, Spain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire reached a new agreement.

This agreement was related to the navy, and the main content of the agreement was the three battleships the Austro-Hungarian Empire was purchasing from Spain.

Ever since the theory of sea power won the support of various European countries, the importance placed on naval construction by the major powers had reached an incomparable height.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was naturally the same; they also possessed a not-insignificant coastline and naturally wanted to develop and build their own navy.

But current main naval warships were changing with each passing day; ironclads were already behind the times, and European countries were all researching their own battleships.

In terms of warship design and construction, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's capabilities were inferior to those of Italy and Spain.

Considering the risk that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's coastline could be blockaded by Italy, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire's main warships were built by Italy, it would likely increase the possibility of this risk. Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire found Spain, intending to purchase the currently popular Monarch-class battleships from Spain.

Of course, Spain's progress in battleships was also the reason the Austro-Hungarian Empire had its eyes on the Monarch-class battleships.

Because the Monarch-class battleships had obtained comprehensive improvements compared to ironclads, the cost of such a battleship was also quite expensive.

According to the cost estimates provided by the Royal Guanizo Shipyard and the Valencia United Shipyard, the cost to build one Monarch-class battleship was approximately 20. 5 million pesetas, and the internal price the shipyards offered the Spanish government was as high as 22. million pesetas.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire would certainly have to pay a higher price to purchase Monarch-class battleships. After multiple consultations between the diplomatic delegations of both sides, it was finally decided that the sale price for each Monarch-class battleship would be 23. 5 million pesetas.

For one battleship, the Spanish shipyards only earned 2. million pesetas, or about 100, 00 pounds; such a price was indeed already quite favorable.

After all, one had to consider the current scarcity of battleships. Don't look at how European countries were all burying their heads in building battleships; currently, the countries that could actually build battleships for the Austro-Hungarian Empire were only Britain, France, and Spain.

Germany and Italy might also be able to build battleships, but their own navies did not yet possess battleships, so naturally, they could not spare the energy to build battleships for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire ordered three battleships at once, which also ensured that the Royal Guanizo Shipyard and the Valencia United Shipyard would not lack orders for the next few years.

Combining the Spanish Navy's construction progress, the Spanish side and the Austro-Hungarian Empire finally agreed that the lead ship of these three battleships would officially begin construction at the end of this year, with completion expected in mid-1894. The remaining two battleships would both begin construction within 1893 and be officially completed before the arrival of 1895.

According to this construction schedule, these three battleships could enter service in the Austro-Hungarian Navy as early as 1896, and at the latest by 1897.

Such a schedule could not be called very fast, but it was definitely not slow.

After all, the French had been working on their own battleships for several years and they had not yet entered service; the time for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to possess battleships would definitely not be too long after other great powers, and maintaining its status as a naval power was still no problem.

Yes, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's naval construction plan only consisted of these three battleships.

The remaining small and medium-sized auxiliary warships of various types could be built within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and these warships pieced together could also keep the Austro-Hungarian Navy ranked in the world's top eight.

As for a higher naval ranking, that was not the Austro-Hungarian Empire's pursuit.

Currently, the country with major conflicts and competition with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was Russia, and Russia's army was extremely powerful. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had to focus primarily on the development of its army to rival the threat Russia posed to it.

In terms of the navy, since they had Italy as an ally, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was not that important.

After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had no overseas colonies, and its basic foundation was only Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and other regions located on the mainland.

For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the demand for the army was truly greater than the demand for the navy, which could be considered a special case among the major European powers.

Germany was previously in such a state as well, but as Germany's overseas colonies grew larger and larger, combined with considerations of Germany's own strength, their demand for the navy was also constantly expanding.

The order signed with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also Spain's only order regarding battleships.

There was no help for it; countries with a demand for battleships basically had the capability to build their own battleships. And those countries without the capability to build their own battleships did not have much of a demand for battleships.

Take Portugal as an example. Even if Portugal purchased one or two battleships, it would not be able to make their naval strength rank in the world's top eight.

Once the navy commissioned two battleships, the annual naval military expenditure would also increase significantly. One or two battleships had no great use and yet required huge funds to operate and maintain, which for small and medium-sized countries looked like a deal that was not very cost-effective.

Italy might be the country most likely to purchase battleships from Spain, but the Italian King Umberto I clearly possessed greater ambition; he rejected the navy's request to purchase warships from Spain and stated that Italy should develop its own shipbuilding industry and should possess the capability to build its own battleships, rather than purchasing them from other countries.

Italy's several major naval shipyards were also researching their own battleships, and currently, according to some intelligence reported by the National Security Intelligence Agency, Italy's battleships seemed to already be under construction.

It was just that compared to Spain, Italy's battleship construction progress was much slower. It would be good if Italy's first battleship could be officially completed by the end of 1893; official service might have to wait until 1894 or even 1895, which was already about the same as the service time for the battleships Spain was building for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

One must know that Spain was building multiple battleships at the same time, which was why the battleship service time was forced to be pushed back to 1895.

From this aspect, one could also see Spain's current naval construction experience; because of several previous naval development plans, Spain's naval shipyards indeed possessed a quite good level.

As time reached the summer of 1892, the Coca-Cola and Pepsi companies that Carlos had previously established also became the biggest beneficiaries of this season.

According to the report from Butler Luo Lun not long ago, these two cola companies had already become Spain's most famous beverage enterprises; they had also sponsored bullfighting competitions in different cities and bundled them with local bullfighting tickets for sale, winning the favor of many spectators.

In the city of Madrid alone, the number of colas sold in a single day reached as high as 200, 00 bottles.

Currently, the cost of one cup of cola had been reduced to about 0. 2 pesetas, and the retail price of cola had been reduced to 0. pesetas per cup, which almost everyone could afford.

Even if the profit of one cup of cola was only 0. 8 pesetas, just from the daily sales in the city of Madrid alone, the total sales volume reached over 40, 00 pesetas, and the net profit reached 16, 00 pesetas.

Don't look at 16, 00 pesetas as not much; this was only the daily sales volume for one city. Although only summer was the peak sales stage, sales in other seasons could also be maintained at at least 100, 00 bottles, which could be considered a quite good scale.

Currently, in the city of Madrid alone, the annual net profit of the two major cola companies combined could exceed 3 million pesetas.

Expanding the scope to the whole of Spain, the combined net profit of the two cola companies had already exceeded 12 million pesetas, equivalent to a 7, 00-ton class cruiser.

This was not all. A flavored beverage with a unique taste like cola was bound to be favored by the younger demographic.

This era had no other beverages, nor was there any common knowledge that carbonated drinks were harmful to health.

For most young people, having a cup of iced cola in the sweltering summer was already an unimaginable happy time.

It was precisely because of this that Coca-Cola and Pepsi were also warmly welcomed in the international market.

Both cola companies had established branches in countries like Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and Russia, pushing their products to Europe and even the world.

The United States naturally also had branches of the two colas. It is worth mentioning that similar drinks were also born in the United States, only the names were no longer Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

For the two cola companies that had already become giants, similar local beverage enterprises in the United States were naturally just small ants.

Through the method of price-cutting competition, the two cola companies quickly occupied most of the American beverage market and successfully caused local similar beverage enterprises to quickly go bankrupt.

Although these branches opened in different countries all had different capital and aristocratic cooperation, the headquarters of the two cola companies could still occupy nearly half of the shares.

Don't look at how the cola companies' income of over 12 million pesetas a year in Spain was already exaggerated; in reality, the income brought by the foreign market was even more.

The income brought by the foreign market had already exceeded 25 million pesetas, which also made the annual net income brought to the Spanish royal family by the two major cola companies reach an exaggerated level of 37 million pesetas.

Of course, since they were two cola companies with different tastes, there would inevitably be competition.

For the Spanish market, Coca-Cola, with more bubbles, was more popular. For every 100 bottles of cola sold in the Spanish market, at least 60 bottles were produced by the Coca-Cola company.

Of course, the remaining nearly 40 bottles of cola were all produced by the Pepsi company.

Under the price competition of these two major beverage enterprises, even if a similar type of cola company was founded, it was destined to be unable to persist in a price war for too long.

(End of chapter)