Chapter 452

Although the Anglo-Spanish War only lasted for a few months, and Britain and Spain tacitly limited the scale of the war.

But this war still caused Spain's total fiscal expenditure for the whole year of 1904 to climb continuously, very rarely far exceeding the total fiscal revenue for the whole year.

This phenomenon was already very rare for the current Spain. Ever since Prime Minister Primo completed the reform, the total fiscal revenue of the Spanish government had always been more than the expenditure; in other words, Spain's finances were in surplus every year.

According to the statistics of the financial department, Spain's total fiscal revenue for the whole year of 1904 was about 1.6109 billion pesetas, while the total fiscal expenditure was as high as 1.7864 billion pesetas, and the fiscal deficit reached an exaggerated 175.5 million pesetas.

Although the fiscal deficit looked a bit exaggerated, neither Gao Da nor the Spanish government had any worries about last year's financial situation.

On one hand, Spain obtained huge reparations after the war, and the share of these reparations was far lower than the expenses Spain invested in the war.

On the other hand, the military expenditure spent by Spain could also effectively stimulate economic growth. Whether it was the cost invested in the navy to build battleships, or the cost invested in the army to purchase weapons and equipment and distribute them to soldiers, they would eventually flow back to society.

Whether it was the navy's battleships or the army's weapons and ammunition, they would increase the consumption of steel. Steel would affect more industries and could promote the prosperous growth of various industries in Spain.

The money distributed to the soldiers naturally did not need to be mentioned; this money would eventually be consumed, and would also stimulate the growth of Spain's economy.

Don't look at the fact that the total fiscal revenue in 1904 was lower compared to 1903; this lower part would definitely be made up for this year.

Currently, several months had passed in 1905, and the Spanish financial department also had a certain estimate for the total fiscal revenue for the whole year this year.

According to the estimate of the financial department, the total fiscal revenue for the whole year this year should reach a new high, and the total fiscal expenditure would also be significantly reduced; after all, the war had already ended at the end of last year.

Although the war affected the fiscal revenue and expenditure of the Spanish government, for the annual per capita income of the Spanish public, this war did not cause any impact.

Within the year 1904, Spain's annual per capita income officially exceeded 400 pesetas. By the beginning of 1905, Spain's annual per capita income had already reached about 406 pesetas, and it was still growing continuously.

Although compared to those old-brand great powers that had achieved success in the first industrial revolution, there was still a deficiency, but as the saying goes, "not enough to compare with the top, but more than enough to compare with the bottom"; for those countries with relatively poor economies among the great powers, or countries that could not be counted as great powers, Spain's annual per capita income was already quite good.

At least the Portuguese next door were already very envious; their original annual per capita income level was less than half of Spain's, and currently it had even dropped to nearly one-third.

Plus, last year's war caused the lives of most of Portugal's population to be affected; if not for the large amount of grain and other supplies exported by Spain to Portugal, I am afraid that most of the Portuguese still could not eat their fill, let alone other material needs.

Currently, the Portuguese public could only pin their hopes on the cooperation between the Spanish and Portuguese governments. According to the disclosed news, capital led by the Spanish royal family would invest in building factories in many regions of Portugal, helping Portugal build its economy better and expand its industrial scale.

Portugal's area was not small, but there were not many that could serve as pillar industries. Although Portugal possessed large plains, Portugal's grain production was only a fraction of Spain's.

There were three goals for Spanish capital to invest in Portugal; the first goal was to invest in the textile industry, which could be considered the only industry with a bit of a foundation in Portugal.

The second goal was to invest in the grape industry, including wine production, assembly, and sales, etc., all of which were counted within the grape industry.

The third goal was Portugal's timber industry. Only these three industries were barely suitable for investment; the remaining industries did not have much investment value, and Portugal's population was not enough to support more industries.

It was not without a price for Spanish capital to invest in Portugal. First, in order to facilitate the investment of these Spanish capitals, the Portuguese government also needed to open up authorization regarding railway operation and construction.

These railways connecting the newly invested industries were almost all built by Spanish capital, and in the long time to come, these railways would naturally also be operated by Spanish capital.

This kind of method was a bit like the United Fruit Company in the United States; it was actually achieving disguised economic infiltration through controlling industries plus railways.

Although this method was placed on the table, the Portuguese government had no way to deal with it. If they refused Spain's investment, they were actually harming the interests of the Portuguese.

After all, these invested enterprises would prioritize hiring Portuguese in the future; for the Portuguese, this was not only a large number of job opportunities, but could also significantly increase their work income.

The continuous growth of Spain's annual per capita income was precisely because of the continuous investment and construction of various types of enterprises and factories, which gave the Spanish sufficient job positions and more income than originally achieved.

Currently, the Portuguese also had the opportunity to achieve the goals that the Spanish had once achieved; the Portuguese naturally did not want their beautiful life to be blocked, even if the one blocking it was the Portuguese government.

Spain only used more than half a year to make the Portuguese successfully realize how happy the Spanish were.

With a large amount of capital pouring into Portugal, Portugal's economic environment was also well improved. In these more than half a year, many factories invested by Spanish capital were successfully built, and a large number of Portuguese workers were recruited.

Because of carrying political tasks, Spanish capital was also quite generous. The annual income of these Portuguese who successfully entered Spanish factories could easily double, which also made those Portuguese who did not enter Spanish factories envious.

Especially after a large number of factories invested by Spanish capital were built, how to enter these factories to work had already become a problem that many Portuguese were distressed about.

Fortunately, the recruitment requirements of Spanish factories were not harsh; for most Portuguese, they were still very easy to meet the recruitment requirements of Spanish factories.

These Spanish factories also had no requirements for the workers' academic qualifications; after these workers officially entered the factories, regarding the problem of their relatively low academic qualifications, the factories could also send them to Spain for short-term technical training, helping them master some technical knowledge related to their own positions more quickly.

Of course, because the training was done domestically, Spanish was certainly used during the training process. In order to master these technologies more quickly, these workers certainly also had to learn Spanish.

The gap between Portuguese and Spanish was not large, and many Portuguese could understand what the Spanish said. Under these circumstances, it was very easy to let these Portuguese learn Spanish, and even illiterates could easily master Spanish for communication.

In these more than half a year, Spanish factories had successfully recruited tens of thousands of Portuguese workers. At the same time, tens of thousands of Spanish workers also went to Portugal to take up positions in these newly established factories in Portugal.

These Portuguese workers still needed more skilled Spanish workers to train and teach knowledge, which could also disguisedly transport some Spanish to the Portuguese region.

Throughout 1905, the factories invested and built by Spanish capital and those Portuguese workers who successfully entered Spanish factories to work became the hottest news topic in the entire Portugal.

A large number of Portuguese poured into the cities where Spanish factories were located; they also hoped to be selected by Spanish factories, enter these factories to work, and earn several times their usual income.

Unfortunately, the number of workers recruited by each factory was limited; although Spanish factories cumulatively recruited tens of thousands of Portuguese workers, for Portugal, which had a population of millions, these job positions were ultimately just a drop in the bucket.

In a situation where there were many wolves and little meat, many Portuguese citizens also developed complaints about the government. If the Portuguese government were a bit more promising, they would not have to count on factories invested by foreign capital to provide job positions for themselves.

The complaints about Portugal's current situation and the envy of the Spanish caused a large number of Portuguese citizens to have more fantasies.

If a monarch like Gao Da could also be born among the Portuguese citizens, could Portugal also achieve a revival similar to Spain's?

The Portuguese's requirements were not excessive; as long as this king could stabilize Portugal's political environment, let Portugal usher in a golden development period similar to what Spain had previously possessed, and let the Portuguese's annual per capita income increase several times, the Portuguese would be satisfied.