Chapter 407: The Cost Issue

Although Spain already possessed the blueprints for dreadnoughts, the actual construction work was extremely troublesome.

The construction cost of a single Monarch-class battleship was only 22. million pesetas, but the naval department expected to invest 35 million pesetas into the construction of this new type of battleship, with subsequent funding to be decided based on the progress of the warship's construction.

The good news was that because the naval department had not built any battleships for several years, the budget for building this new type of warship was still quite sufficient.

There was not even a need for the government to divert funds from elsewhere; the navy itself could afford the 35 million pesetas in construction costs.

Spain attached great importance to the construction of the new battleship, even going so far as to seal off the entire Royal Guarnizo Shipyard for this purpose.

Starting from April 1901, the Royal Guarnizo Shipyard publicly announced that it would undergo long-term expansion work, with the expansion period lasting from April 1901 to June 1902, during which time any outside visitors were temporarily declined entry.

It was not just the entry of outside visitors that was prohibited; even the various materials entering the shipyard required strict inspection before they could be admitted.

Regardless of whether other European countries might become suspicious because of this, before other countries possessed dreadnoughts, Karlo would not relax the confidentiality work regarding them.

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

The construction of the industrial base did not require secrecy, and Karlo personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Asturias industrial base and also inspected several northern Spanish provinces, including Asturias, Galicia, and Castile and León.

It had to be admitted that Spain governed the two regions clamoring for autonomy, the Basque Country and Catalonia, quite well.

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

As the population of Madrid 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 province 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 parties to win seats in the Navarre provincial parliament.

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

Unable to gain an advantage in the provincial parliament, these Basques naturally could not enter the higher-level Spanish Congress of Deputies.

In this way, the threat from the Basques was significantly reduced. It was no longer so easy for the Basques of today to stir up independence; if they wanted to stage an armed uprising, the Spanish army stationed in the province of Navarre would teach them a lesson at any time and in any place.

The same logic applied to the Catalonia region. Although Catalonia was not merged with other regions, its most core part, Barcelona, was separated and made into a provincial-level administrative district.

Although the remaining Catalonia province also had a large population, these people came from all over Spain, and there were actually not many of the most core Catalans.

From this, one could see that Spain's method of dealing with the Basque region and the Catalonia region was the same: that is, by reducing the proportion of Basques and Catalans, it achieved a high degree of control over both regions.

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

Karlo would certainly not give them special treatment, but he would also not actively discriminate against them in terms of welfare and benefits.

For Karlo, as long as the Basques and Catalans were obedient and submitted to 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.

After learning the news of Karlo's inspection of the northern provinces of Spain, the people in several central and southern provinces of Spain also appealed one after another for His Majesty the King to come and inspect, as they were very much looking forward to seeing their beloved His Majesty the King with their own eyes.

Karlo naturally would not let the people down. In the middle to late part of 1901, Karlo began a one-month national inspection tour.

For this national inspection, Karlo brought along his eldest son, Juan Fernando, who was already 27 years old; it was time for him to appear in various public places.

Come to think of it, Prince Juan Fernando had also been married for a full 5 years. In the third year of their marriage, which was July 1900, Princess Louise finally confirmed she was pregnant.

This could be considered great news for the royal family; it not only meant that there was one more member of the royal family, but it also meant that Spain was very 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. Karlo excitedly named his eldest granddaughter Anna and immediately conferred upon her the title of Duchess of Ávila.

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

Furthermore, Prince Juan Fernando and Princess Louise were still very young; as long as they took good care of their health, 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.

Karlo's eldest daughter, Sophia, also found her other half in 1900, namely Albert, Count of Flanders of Belgium.

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

Because Leopold II had no sons of his own, Count Albert was the de facto heir to the Belgian throne, with hopes of inheriting the Belgian throne after Leopold II passed away.

Karlo was generally quite satisfied with such a candidate for a son-in-law.

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

Compared with the great powers, although it did not count for much, compared with non-great powers, Belgium's economy and industry were already able to rank at the forefront.

More importantly, Count Albert and Princess Sophia truly liked each other, which was the most important thing for Karlo.

In the latter part of 1900, Belgium held a grand wedding ceremony for them. Karlo also prepared a generous dowry for Princess Sophia and took the opportunity to display Spain's powerful strength.

After resolving the marriages of his eldest son and eldest daughter, it was then the turn of Karlo's second son, Martin.

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

After all, the reason Prince Juan Fernando's marriage was more 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 by generation like this; having an heir was very important for members of the royal family, as it meant that the succession of the throne would not be interrupted and that the royal family would not die out.

Prince Martin was not even 22 years old, let alone Prince Alexander and Princess Cristina, who were even younger than him.

Prince Alexander was born in January 1884 and had just turned 18. Princess Cristina was born in July 1885 and had not yet reached adulthood, so there was naturally no need to worry about her marriage.

Compared to princes, there was absolutely no need to worry about the marriages of princesses.