Chapter 59: Five-Year Plan

The victory banquet Gao Da prepared for Serrano and the others was equally grand, but the specific scale was not quite as extravagant.

Although there was a large amount of fine food, most of it came from Spain, with only a small amount of Italian cuisine incorporated into the mix.

The wine was even from Gao Da's private winery, focusing on the concept of self-production and self-consumption.

Many nobles attended the banquet. To show the importance he placed on meritorious officials like Serrano, Gao Da specially invited several Spanish Grandees and Dukes, including the Duke of Yakobo, to grace the occasion.

After a joyous victory banquet concluded, the next major event became the conferral ceremony in July.

Because this was the first time titles had been conferred since Gao Da took the throne, the Spanish government attached great importance to it. Especially since the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Army were among those being honored this time, government officials dared not show the slightest slack.

Compared to the officials' hurried preparations, Gao Da and the two protagonists of the ceremony were quite relaxed at this moment.

Upon learning that Prime Minister Primo had been assassinated, Serrano was first shocked, then breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Prime Minister Primo safe and sound.

Serrano also understood that for Spain at present, Primo was extremely important. Only Primo had the ability to push forward this reform, and his importance was far greater than his own.

"Has the mastermind behind the scenes been found?" Duke Serrano asked.

The mastermind behind the scenes was not just assassinating Prime Minister Primo; they were trying to destroy Spain's future. With countries around the world becoming increasingly powerful, if Spain did not keep up with the trend to promote revolution and accelerate industrial and economic development, the gap between it and the great powers would only grow wider.

"Not yet, but I believe there will be results soon," Primo said with some helplessness.

Although he had extorted a large amount of land and nearly 8 million pesetas in funds from the church, the feeling of being plotted against was not pleasant.

If he found out who was behind the planning of this assassination attempt, Prime Minister Primo would not mind sending them to meet God.

"So what is your next plan? Continue to push for reform?" Serrano asked curiously.

"Of course." Primo nodded and replied, "Spain is in a terrible state in every aspect; we must seize the time to carry out reforms.

At the same time, we need to make large investments in industry, agriculture, medical care, education, and so on, including the construction of railways and roads.

Heavens, I don't even know how long the government's finances can support this; it is simply a bottomless pit."

If it were just building one industry alone, the burden on Spain would not be that great. But in Primo's plan, he wanted to build industry, agriculture, education, medical care, and transportation all at once, and the financial pressure required was unimaginable.

"Prime Minister, I think it is necessary for us to formulate a detailed plan," Gao Da interrupted at this moment. "If we lay out so many industries at once, it will be a huge burden on our finances, perhaps even completely unbearable.

Although we can obtain funds through foreign loans, this method not only carries high interest but also comes with some additional conditions.

If possible, I hope we can subdivide the tasks of reform and construction into stages and complete them one stage at a time."

"Your Majesty, could you elaborate?" Primo became interested at this point, his curious gaze fixed tightly on Gao Da.

"It is just a personal thought of mine," Gao Da said with a smile. "For example, we could set a five-year period and formulate a five-year development plan.

During these five years, we can set small goals for every industry and then use the five years to complete them.

Perhaps a single small goal is not enough for Spain to achieve massive results, but by accumulating them, it can have a huge impact on Spain.

Perhaps one five-year plan cannot complete Spain's reform, but two or even three five-year plans will certainly bring some new changes to Spain.

As long as we devote time and energy to completing the five-year plans, perhaps after two or three of them, Spain will return to the ranks of the great powers. Isn't that the goal of our reform?"

Whether in the development of other European countries or in Primo's reform plans, there was no such concept as a multi-year plan.

The reason was simple. The terms of cabinets in European countries were not the same, and there were significant differences in the choice of governing strategies.

Prime ministers like Bismarck served for decades. But for prime ministers in Britain and Italy, their terms were much shorter, sometimes even less than a year.

Under such circumstances, formulating a five-year development plan was too difficult. Because the development plan might not be completed before the cabinet ministers had already been replaced batch after batch.

With the constant turnover of high-level government officials, which government would actually abide by a development plan formulated at the beginning?

But such a situation could be avoided in Spain. With the prestige of Primo and Serrano, it was easy to control the majority of seats in the Spanish parliament.

Even Gao Da could not influence them; as long as they were willing, they could stay in high positions indefinitely.

Under such circumstances, a five-year development plan had no impact on Primo. Because the Spanish Prime Minister five years later would still be Primo, unless some accident happened during this period, such as an assassination.

This also eliminated another reason for the birth of a five-year plan: the current government worrying that the next government would reap the fruits of their labor.

Because it was difficult to ensure they would stay in the position of Prime Minister for a full five years, European politicians rarely formulated long-term development plans.

Otherwise, the development plan they worked so hard to promote would likely become a wedding dress for others, and the results would be enjoyed by the next government.

"Brilliant, Your Majesty, what a perfect proposal." Primo's interest was fully piqued, and he said to Gao Da with a smile, "I still need to discuss the specific five-year plan with the government, but the general idea is indeed suitable for Spain right now.

Once the details of the first five-year plan are finalized, I will submit the plan to you, Your Majesty."

Primo was not obsessed with developing all industries at the same time, which made Gao Da breathe a sigh of relief.

If Primo were too radical and wanted to complete all reforms in a short time, Gao Da really wouldn't know what method to use to stop him.

The outcome of radical reform is usually not very good, and reforms that are too hasty and without any preparation often do not have very good results.

Second update, seeking support!

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(End of chapter)