Chapter 407: Cost Problem

Although Spain already possessed the blueprints for a dreadnought, the specific construction work was very troublesome.

The construction cost of a Monarch-class battleship was only 22.5 million pesetas, but regarding the construction of this new battleship, the Navy Department expected to invest 35 million pesetas in funds, and would later decide whether to add investment based on the construction situation of the warship.

The good news was that because the Navy Department had not built a battleship for several years, the budget for building this new warship was still very sufficient.

It did not even need the government to divert funds from other places; the Navy itself could afford the 35 million pesetas construction funds.

Spain attached great importance to the construction of the new battleship, even going so far as to directly close the entire Royal Guanizo Shipyard for this purpose.

Starting from April 1901, the Royal Guanizo Shipyard announced to the outside world that it would carry out long-term expansion work, with the expansion time lasting from April 1901 to June 1902, during which any outside visitors were temporarily declined.

It was not just prohibiting the entry of outside visitors; even the various materials entering the shipyard needed to be strictly reviewed before they could enter.

Regardless of whether other European countries would be suspicious because of this, before other countries possessed dreadnoughts, Gao Da would not relax the confidentiality work regarding dreadnoughts.

While Spain's new warship was being built, the Asturias industrial base was also being built in full swing.

The construction of the industrial base did not need to be kept secret, and Gao Da also personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Asturias industrial base and inspected several northern Spanish states, including Asturias, Galicia, and Castile-León.

It had to be admitted that Spain's governance of the two autonomous regions of the Basque Country and Catalonia was still very good.

After the Basque Country and La Rioja, the two Basque regions, were merged into Navarre, the proportion of Basques in the state of Navarre had become lower and lower.

As Madrid's population reached the upper limit set by the municipal government, more immigrants were transferred to Navarre and Catalonia.

This also led to a population explosion in the state of Navarre, and the Basques no longer had any say.

Because the proportion of Basques was not dominant, it was also quite difficult for the Basque political party to obtain seats in the state legislature of Navarre.

The seats they held could not influence the policies of the Navarre state government, and at most, they could only ensure that the state government's policies would not discriminate against the Basques.

Unable to strive for an advantage in the state legislature, these Basques naturally could not enter the higher-level Spanish Congress.

In this way, the threat of the Basques was greatly reduced. Nowadays, it was not so easy for the Basques to want to make trouble for independence; if they wanted to engage in an armed uprising, the Spanish army stationed in the state of Navarre would teach them how to behave anytime, anywhere.

The same was true for the Catalonia region. Although Catalonia was not merged with other regions, its core part, Barcelona, was separated as a state-level administrative region.

Although the remaining state of Catalonia also had a large population, these people came from all over Spain, and the core Catalans actually did not have many.

From this point, one could also see that Spain's method of dealing with the Basque region and the Catalonia region was the same, which was to achieve a high degree of control over the two regions by reducing the proportion of Basques and Catalans.

As long as the majority of the population living in these two regions were Spaniards, as ethnic minorities, the Basques and Catalans naturally could not incite the entire region to independence and could at most seek more rights and guarantees for themselves.

Gao Da naturally would not give them special treatment, but he would not actively discriminate against them in terms of welfare benefits.

For Gao Da, as long as the Basques and Catalans were obedient and obeyed the rule of the Spanish government, then they belonged to his subjects.

As long as they were his subjects, they could naturally enjoy Spain's welfare policies and various preferential treatments, and the Spanish army would also protect them.

Upon learning the news of Gao Da inspecting several northern states of Spain, the people of several states in central and southern Spain also called on the King to come and inspect, and they were very much looking forward to seeing the King they loved with their own eyes.

Gao Da naturally would not let the people down. In the second half of 1901, Gao Da started a one-month national inspection work.

For this national inspection, Gao Da brought his eldest son, Juan Fernando, who was 27 years old and was time to appear in various public places.

Speaking of which, Prince Juan Fernando had also been married for 5 years. In the 3rd year of their marriage, which was July 1900, Princess Louise finally confirmed her pregnancy.

This could be considered great news for the royal family; it not only represented that there was one more royal family member but also represented that Spain was likely to welcome a third-generation heir to the throne.

In April of this year, Princess Louise gave birth to a princess for Prince Juan Fernando. Gao Da excitedly named his eldest granddaughter Anna and immediately conferred her the title of Duchess of Avila.

Gao Da had no requirements for grandsons or granddaughters; in Gao Da's view, whether it was a grandson or a granddaughter, they were all his descendants and should be treated equally.

Moreover, Prince Juan Fernando and Princess Louise were still very young; as long as they took good care of their bodies, they could have several more children in the future.

As long as one of these children was a prince, there would be no problems with the succession to the Spanish throne.

Gao Da's eldest daughter, Sophia, also found her other half in 1900, who was the Count of Flanders, Albert of Belgium.

Although Albert was only a count, he was the grandson of the former King of Belgium, Leopold I, and the nephew of the current King of Belgium, Leopold II.

Because Leopold II himself had no sons, Count Albert was the actual heir to the Belgian throne and had hope of inheriting the Belgian throne after Leopold II passed away.

For such a son-in-law candidate, Gao Da was generally quite satisfied.

Although Belgium was not a powerful country, because it was located in the Low Countries, its economy and industry were quite good.

Compared with great power countries, although it was not much, compared with non-great power countries, Belgium's economy and industry could already rank in the forefront.

More importantly, Count Albert and Princess Sophia really liked each other, which was the most important thing for Gao Da.

In the second half of 1900, Belgium held a grand wedding ceremony for them. Gao Da also prepared a generous dowry for Princess Sophia and took the opportunity to show Spain's powerful strength.

After solving the marriage of his eldest son and eldest daughter, the next turn was Gao Da's second son, Martin.

Prince Martin was born on October 12, 1879, and was not even 22 years old yet. For the marriage of his second son, Gao Da was not that anxious.

After all, the reason why Prince Juan Fernando's marriage was urgent was that as the heir to the Spanish throne, he had to determine his marriage early and have his own descendants.

The passing of the throne was passed down generation after generation; having an heir was very important for royal family members, which represented that the succession of the throne would not be interrupted and represented that the royal family would not die out.

Prince Martin was not even 22 years old, not to mention Prince Alexander and Princess Christina, who were younger than him.

Prince Alexander was born in January 1884 and had just turned 18. Princess Christina was born in July 1885 and had not reached adulthood yet, so the marriage naturally did not need to be anxious.

Compared to princes, the marriage of princesses did not need to be anxious at all. ===== CHAPTER 408 =====