[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-379":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365307,4632,"Chapter 379: Morocco Railway and Food Reserves","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-379",379,"\u003Cp>It is not that Gao Da is stingy with the fiscal budget, but rather that Spain has far too many construction needs in 1896, and each of these projects requires a massive amount of fiscal expenditure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most important of these projects is the construction of the Morocco railway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a colony to be localized, the construction of railways and roads in Morocco is naturally necessary. Regarding the so-called Morocco railway, the Department of Transportation has already formulated a clear construction plan after several months of planning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The starting point of the railway is Ceuta, the northernmost city in Morocco, and it possesses two railway lines heading south and east.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The southern line will pass through cities such as Tangier, Larache, Ksar el-Kebir, Kenitra, and Salé, before reaching Rabat, the original capital of the Kingdom of Morocco.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Rabat, there is an eastern branch line, while the main southern line continues through Mohammedia, Casablanca, El Jadida, Safi, and Marrakesh, finally reaching Agadir, the capital of the former South Morocco colony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The route heading east from Ceuta will pass through Tetouan to the south, continue east through Al Hoceima, Melilla, and Nador, before reaching the eastern Moroccan city of Oujda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The railway then cuts southwest from here, passing through Taza, Fes, and Meknes, before returning to Rabat, the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco; this railway is also the eastern branch line of Rabat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to estimates by the Department of Transportation, the total length of these two railway lines is expected to be between 1,700 and 1,800 kilometers, requiring a considerable sum of capital to complete the construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da has reviewed the funding reports provided by the Department of Transportation. Even though the labor costs required for Morocco as a colony are lower, the mountainous nature of the Moroccan region will also increase the cost of railway construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Calculating at a cost of approximately 20,000 pesetas per kilometer of double-track railway, this nearly 1,800-kilometer railway will require at least 36 million pesetas in funding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, it will take at least three years to build this railway, which means Spain only needs to allocate 12 million pesetas annually, which is fully sufficient for the construction of the entire railway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>12 million pesetas is not a major expenditure for the current Spanish government, and Gao Da agreed to the Department of Transportation's railway construction plan almost without hesitation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, in addition to the railway construction plan, the Department of Transportation has also prepared a construction plan for roads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, road construction in this era is relatively simple, and the cost is naturally relatively low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although cement roads already exist in this era, they are mostly used only in parts of city blocks. For one, the cost of cement is high, and laying cement roads requires a large amount of labor; these must all be calculated into the cost of road construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Secondly, the demand for the use of cement roads is also relatively low. With the continuous expansion of the automobile market, people do indeed need a flatter, firmer, and more solid road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cement roads are, of course, the optimal choice, but their high cost is not suitable for most regions. Compared to cement roads, gravel-paved dirt roads are actually more popular.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, the construction cost of such roads is relatively low. Second, such roads are also relatively sturdy, and automobiles have no issues driving on them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such roads can also accommodate both horse-drawn carriages and automobiles, and are the first choice for European countries when building roads.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even within Spain, there are not many roads built with cement, and they are mainly concentrated in the urban areas of large cities like Madrid and Barcelona.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In some more prosperous city streets, wealthy municipal governments have built wide roads using cement. The stretch of road from the Royal Palace in the center of Madrid to University City is entirely paved with cement.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nowadays, when building thousands of kilometers of roads in Morocco, the first choice is definitely gravel-paved dirt roads, followed by ordinary dirt roads; cement roads are absolutely not an option.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to the road construction in Morocco, Gao Da clearly attaches more importance to the railway construction in Morocco.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because it is separated from the Spanish mainland by the sea, most of Morocco's resources can be transported to northern ports by rail, and then quickly shipped to the Spanish mainland through those northern ports.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also means that once the Morocco railway construction is completed, Spain's control over the entire territory of Morocco will be infinitely strengthened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Morocco possesses a variety of mineral resources; while reserves of coal and iron ore are not particularly vast, it possesses as much as 50 billion tons of phosphate rock, accounting for 71% of the world's reserves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In addition to being used to manufacture chemical fertilizers, unprocessed phosphate rock powder can be spread directly into the soil, which can improve soil fertility to a certain extent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The main source of this type of fertilizer is quite important to Spain. The land on the Spanish mainland lacks fertility, while the land in the West African colonies can increase food production through fertilizers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that Morocco has been occupied, it can be considered that Spain's agricultural production has completed a closed loop. Morocco's phosphate rock can be made into large quantities of fertilizer and transported to the Spanish mainland and African colonies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The food produced in the West African colonies can be transported to other colonies and the mainland to supply the consumption of over 30 million Spaniards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, vegetables and fruits produced on the Spanish mainland can be exported in exchange for a certain amount of foreign exchange income, making Spain's finances more affluent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging from the phosphate rock reserves in the Moroccan region, Spain will not have to worry about fertilizer production for a long time to come.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as there is no shortage of fertilizer, Spain's agricultural production will be guaranteed, and there will naturally be no concerns regarding food production.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Speaking of issues regarding food production, the most important one is the growth of the Spanish population.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After annexing Morocco, the Spanish population ushered in a new round of explosion. Counting only the population with Spanish nationality on the Spanish mainland, the total number of Spaniards has broken through 31.19 million.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The biggest problem for Spain caused by the surging population is the pressure on food. Fortunately, Spain has reclaimed a large amount of arable land in the West African colonies for agricultural planting; otherwise, relying solely on food from the Spanish mainland would not be enough to feed more than 30 million people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the mainland population is constantly surging, even though Spain has developed the West African colonies, it is only barely able to meet the food needs of the domestic population.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also means that Spain cannot become a food-exporting country, but it also does not need to import food; it is basically able to achieve self-sufficiency in terms of food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To prevent natural and man-made disasters from reducing food production and forming a nationwide famine, Gao Da decided to establish a certain amount of food reserves across Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The food reserved throughout Spain must at least ensure that all Spaniards can eat for more than half a year, so as to calmly cope with some natural disasters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As one of the driest regions in Europe, Spain has quite a few natural disasters related to drought. This point still needs to be guarded against early; otherwise, once a large-scale drought breaks out, the impact on agriculture and the economy will be irreparable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Gao Da proposed the requirements related to food reserves, the Minister of Agriculture, after several days of careful consideration, submitted a plan for food reserves to Gao Da.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the population on the Spanish mainland has risen to over 31 million, to reserve enough food for the entire nation to eat for half a year, at least 4 million tons of food must be reserved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a large food reserve is a burden for the government; Spain also needs to build a large number of granaries to store this food, and also bear the loss of food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If this food is piled up in warehouses, it will definitely rot or mold. Even if the phenomenon of rotting and molding can be reduced through certain storage methods, it cannot prevent the loss of food stored for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead of storing such a large quantity of food, it would be better to change the idea of food reserves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Food in the West African colonies can be harvested twice or even three times a year; can't this food planted in the fields be counted as reserves?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the current food production in the West African colonies, this food planted in the fields can also be regarded as a food reserve of nearly 2 million tons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also means that Spain only needs to reserve 2 million tons of food to meet Gao Da's requirements, with food reserves enough for the whole nation to eat for about half a year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Coupled with the production of vegetables and fruits on the Spanish mainland, it can even exceed Gao Da's requirements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doing so can also reduce expenditures on food reserves; the only drawback is that when the Spanish government needs food, it still needs to carry out the process of harvesting and transferring in the colonies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gao Da thought about it and felt that this was a good method.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, if one were to simply reserve more than 4 million tons of food, the cost of purchasing this food alone would be a huge expenditure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every few years, the reserved food needs to be put into the market, and then new food needs to be purchased as reserve food. The intention of doing this is to consume the old grain that has been hoarded for several years faster and hoard new grain to avoid the rotting of food.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were the release and purchase of 4 million tons of food, this would definitely be a major project. But if it is reduced by half, the process of releasing food into the market and purchasing it every few years can also save a lot of effort.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If 4 million tons of food were to be reserved, calculated based on mostly wheat, a small amount of corn, and some other mixed grains, the price of 1 million tons of food is between about 70 million and 80 million pesetas, so the price of 4 million tons of food would be close to 300 million pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the reserved food can be sold again, using such a large sum of money for food reserves is no small pressure on the government's finances. If it is reduced to 2 million tons, the Spanish government only needs to pay about 150 million pesetas to complete the work of food reserves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although 150 million pesetas is not a small amount, it is acceptable to the Spanish government. After all, the benefits of food reserves are obvious; it can allow the Spanish government to calmly cope with natural and man-made disasters, natural disasters, and various accidental wars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, although the agricultural department has decided to reserve more than 2 million tons of food, the work of food reserves will not be completed within one year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 2 million tons of food reserves will be completed in three years, which also means that only about 660,000 tons of food need to be reserved each year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this way, the funds the government needs to pay for food reserves each year are reduced to only about 50 million pesetas, and it only needs to pay for the first three years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Subsequent food reserve work can be fully funded by obtaining income from releasing old grain into the market, using the money from selling old grain to purchase new grain; food reserves will not need much money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spreading the 150 million peseta fiscal budget over three years can effectively alleviate the fiscal pressure faced by the government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This can also be considered a good thing for this year's finances; at least various departments can have enough fiscal budget to carry out their own work, without worrying that this or that work will affect their budget.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the food reserve work took away a budget of 50 million pesetas, the frequency of various government departments seeking to see Gao Da became higher and higher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There is no way; the annual fiscal budget is limited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last year, Spain's fiscal revenue reached 1.4462 billion pesetas, which also brought this year's total fiscal expenditure share to 1.4212 billion pesetas, which can be considered a new high for total fiscal expenditure in recent years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem is that the three major departments of national defense, education, and industry have already taken away a considerable portion of the fiscal budget.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this basis, the fiscal budget increased for various departments was not much to begin with. Only a few months have passed this year, and the medical department has taken away a budget of 15 million pesetas, and the Department of Transportation has taken away another 12 million pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This has already made the ministers of various departments feel the urgency; they did not expect the agricultural department to take away a budget as high as 50 million pesetas without a word.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These fiscal budgets that were taken away are all additional, adding up to as much as 77 million pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You must know that compared to last year, the fiscal expenditure share this year has only increased by less than 30 million pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although last year's budget increased by more than 20 million pesetas due to the outbreak of war, this year's fiscal expenditure has only increased by 50 million pesetas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fiscal budgets taken away by the medical department, the Department of Transportation, and the agricultural department have already reached 77 million pesetas, which also means that the fiscal budgets of some departments will definitely be affected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the impact will certainly not be too great, the ministers of various departments are unwilling to have their department's fiscal budget cut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were a few years ago, it would be fine, because the term of the cabinet ministers had just begun, and even if the department's fiscal budget were cut, it would not actually be that important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this year is different. The term of this cabinet government began in 1892 and will naturally end in 1897.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now there is less than a year left before the end of this cabinet government's term; if the department's fiscal budget is cut this year, it will be basically impossible to achieve any major achievements.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It would be good enough for the departments whose fiscal budgets have been cut to barely complete their work, let alone consider more things on this basis.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If there are no sufficiently outstanding political achievements, for the cabinet ministers, the possibility of them staying in their positions or going further will be even more slim.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Prime Minister of this cabinet government is Hu An, a Prime Minister from the military.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Prime Minister Hu An has a high degree of loyalty to Gao Da, anyone with a discerning eye can see that Prime Minister Hu An's term is only for this session.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A military Prime Minister in power for a long time does not have much benefit for the current Spanish government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The disadvantages are obvious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, the Prime Minister's power is too high. Because Prime Minister Hu An was born in the military, after he served as Prime Minister, he had already completed the achievements of the previous Prime Minister, that is, possessing extremely high prestige in both the military and political circles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it were a republic, it would naturally be a good thing for the national president to have great prestige. But the problem is that Spain is a monarchy, and the ruler of the country is Gao Da, the King, not Prime Minister Hu An.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is not a good thing for the Prime Minister to have too much say, and even if Gao Da does not suspect him, it does not mean that such a situation can last long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Secondly, there is the awkward relationship between the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Hu An is the Prime Minister of the cabinet, this is only in terms of power. In the daily handling of government affairs, it is more the Deputy Prime Minister, Luo Suo, who handles government affairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Prime Minister Hu An is more for the purpose of transition; if he maintains the position of Prime Minister for a long time, it is easy to arouse the dissatisfaction of others, including Deputy Prime Minister Luo Suo and more cabinet ministers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, there are only so many positions in the cabinet; someone needs to go down so that someone can come up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the position of Prime Minister remains unchanged, this also means that there are actually only a few positions for cabinet ministers to compete for.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially Deputy Prime Minister Luo Suo. Having already become the Deputy Prime Minister, it is definitely impossible for him to accept becoming an ordinary cabinet minister again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If climbing further to become Prime Minister cannot be realized, then he can only accept staying in the position of Deputy Prime Minister, or seek other special cabinet positions such as Speaker of the House of Representatives or Minister of Justice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Speaker of the House of Representatives is also a cabinet member, they are not under the command and leadership of the Prime Minister. The House of Representatives represented by the Speaker is instead the leader of the cabinet government, which is also the reason for the special nature of the position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the Minister of Justice, they are in charge of the judicial power of the Spanish government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three carriages of political power include legislative, judicial, and executive power. As the master of the country, the King of Spain possesses all three of these powers, which naturally goes without saying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The cabinet government and the parliament represent executive power and legislative power respectively, and the remaining Minister of Justice, who commands the Spanish judicial department, represents Spain's judicial power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Minister of Justice is affiliated with the Spanish House of Lords and is the head of the Judicial Court belonging to the House of Lords.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Supreme Court of Justice also includes: the Royal Court, the National Court, and the Military Court; among these, the Royal Court and the Military Court are quite special, as they only target the Spanish royal family and military personnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The National Court is open to all Spaniards and is the highest court in Spain, representing the supreme judicial power of Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Furthermore, in each state and municipality, there also exist state courts and municipal courts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a party is not satisfied with the verdict of a municipal court, they may appeal to the state court for a retrial. If they are still not satisfied with the verdict of the state court, there is one more opportunity to appeal to the National Court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, what is special is that the state court must retry the case upon the first appeal; this is also to ensure the impartiality of the judiciary.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for a second appeal due to dissatisfaction with the state court, the National Court, which represents the highest judicial power in Spain, does not necessarily accept it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The National Court will review the legality and reasonableness of the case; if it determines that there are no issues with the trial of the case, it will refuse to accept the appeal and will uphold the original verdict of the state court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Doing this is also to reduce the workload of the National Court. If all those death row inmates were dissatisfied with the state court's sentencing, wouldn't that mean the National Court would have to manage all cases in the country?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only those cases where the National Court, after review, determines that there is a problem with the verdict will be retried for a third time at the National Court.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The third trial conducted by the National Court is also the final trial; regardless of what the result is, the party can only choose to accept it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is precisely because of the special nature of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Minister of Justice that Deputy Prime Minister Hovelia Soler could choose these positions when unable to advance further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Minister of Justice do not have much presence in the cabinet, no one dares to ignore their influence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The former of these two positions is elected by the House of Representatives, and the latter is elected by the Senate; both represent the highest power of the Spanish Parliament.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 5-day task of 10,000 words per day has been successfully completed, and from now on, there will be a guaranteed minimum update of 5000 words every day. If the update does not reach 5000 words, the author will need to make up for it with 10,000 words the next day. This can be considered an update commitment; I humbly beg for everyone's support!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of this chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",3560,"2026-06-25T09:27:14.599Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","8d61792cdda4f0d94eb7edfd535e7e867d821a3a0dc556d8c0e14cd143f21539","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-380","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-378",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]