Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 182: Carlo's Day

When the first telegram from Andrew, the regimental commander of the military advisory group stationed in Lanfang, was sent back to Spain, the date had already reached July 28, 1875, exactly two months since the birth of Prince Juan Fernando.

Since the birth of his first child, Carlo’s mood had become incredibly wonderful, and he wished he could stay by his child’s side every moment.

But unfortunately, the political affairs Carlo needed to handle were increasing. From the full moon celebration of Prince Juan Fernando, Carlo’s daily free time did not exceed five hours.

The main reason for this was that Carlo had begun to engage with more government matters, exerting his influence as King of Spain over the government.

Some important documents from various government departments required Carlo’s personal review and approval before they could be passed, and major constructions and projects even needed his personal signature.

This was a manifestation of the king’s power, and also Prime Minister Primó’s concession to Carlo. Although neither side had said it explicitly, a tacit understanding had formed regarding the transition of power.

Prime Minister Primó was letting Carlo engage with more government affairs, while Carlo was carefully cultivating his own forces, preparing to take over the new government after Prime Minister Primó’s second term as prime minister ended.

Although Prime Minister Primó had restricted his power in the early stages, Carlo would not do something like killing the donkey after it had outlived its usefulness. For Spain, Prime Minister Primó certainly had merit, and it was great merit.

If not for Prime Minister Primó’s promotion of reforms in Spain at all costs, Spain’s development could not have been so rapid.

Although some royal power was sacrificed in the early stages, the overall upward development of Spain in exchange was something Carlo was willing to see. Regarding Prime Minister Primó’s whereabouts after his term ended, Carlo already had a draft in mind. Like Grand Duke Serrano, Prime Minister Primó would also be granted the title of Grand Duke and enjoy his later years in Madrid.

Gradually engaging with more political affairs was a good thing for Carlo, but it also meant that his previous leisurely life no longer existed.

In the past, Carlo had plenty of time each day to arrange freely, whether it was touring mountains and rivers, going out hunting, or arranging lavish gatherings and banquets, all depending on his mood.

But after starting to engage with more political affairs, Carlo’s daily free time did not exceed five hours, and in the most extreme cases, there was hardly any free time for entertainment.

After getting up at eight-thirty in the morning, Carlo had one and a half hours for washing up and dining. Breakfast was ordered the day before, and Carlo could enjoy cuisine from various places in Europe, even from around the world.

In terms of food, Carlo never treated himself poorly. The Madrid Royal Palace had as many as over 20 cooks, from European countries and various places around the world.

It was no exaggeration to say that as long as cuisine existed in the world, it could be enjoyed in the Madrid Royal Palace. Unless it was ingredients that were not easy to transport, or seasonal cuisine.

From 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., it was time for Carlo to meet with government officials and other personnel. If there were no urgent matters, it could also be used to handle political affairs.

The one and a half hours from 11:30 to 1 p.m. was Carlo’s lunch time. Usually, Carlo would choose to have lunch with Queen Sophie, and sometimes dine with certain officials.

The one and a half hours from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. was nap time, and the four hours from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. were used to handle political affairs, attend meetings, and various other activities.

After 6:30 p.m. in the evening, Carlo would have his personal time. But if there were not many political affairs that day, or few meetings and government officials to meet, closing time could even be advanced to three or four in the afternoon.

Although such days were very busy, Carlo was quite satisfied. After all, this represented the growth of power in his hands, completely different from the previous idle days.

On the afternoon of July 28, when Carlo received the telegram from Andrew, he was handling not many political affairs.

So-called political affairs were actually some matters reported from various cabinet departments. After discussion by the cabinet government, preliminary solutions had been reached, just waiting for Carlo’s signature and approval.

Carlo finished all the political affairs in a short time, then focused on reading this telegram from Lanfang.

The task Carlo gave to Andrew was to form an army of more than 20,000 people in the Lanfang Republic, giving the Lanfang Republic sufficient strength to resist the colonial wars of the Dutch.

According to Andrew’s investigation results on the Lanfang Republic so far, the Lanfang Republic had sufficient capability to form an army of 20,000 people, and the army formation had already begun.

According to Andrew’s estimate of the current situation, the army formation work had hope of completion within three months, and possessing certain combat effectiveness within half a year.

After discussions between Andrew and the Lanfang Republic internally, among this army of 20,000 people, the proportion of Lanfang people would account for half, that is, just over 10,000 people.

The remaining less than 10,000 would be filled by local indigenous people. Although these indigenous people were not very reliable, with an equal number of Lanfang people to suppress them, there was no need to worry about problems in the army.

Anyway, the Dutch armies were composed almost the same way. True Dutch people were actually few, and most Dutch colonial armies were mixed formations of Dutch, mixed-race people, and local indigenous people.

The proportion of true Dutch soldiers was definitely less than half, and in some unimportant armies, only the mid-to-high-level officers were Dutch, while all other mid-to-low-level officers were composed of local indigenous people.

Compared to such Dutch colonial troops, the Lanfang Republic New Army having half Lanfang people already had a much higher proportion than the Dutch army.

Although these New Army were equipped with already outdated muzzle-loading rifles, for the colony of Borneo, it was sufficient.

“Reply to Andrew that the formation of the Lanfang army does not need to be too rushed, but a small-scale army should be drawn out as soon as possible to prepare for subsequent colonial work in New Guinea. Menotti has some experience in this aspect, and the early work of exploring and colonizing New Guinea can be entrusted to him.

In addition, during the formation process of the Lanfang army, officers favorable to Spain should be cultivated as much as possible, exerting more influence over this army.

I hope this formed army is pro-Spanish, which is also the key point of their army formation work.” After reading the entire telegram sent by Andrew, Carlo issued his order to the guard.

“As you command, Your Majesty.” The guard respectfully nodded and went to convey Carlo’s order.

After handling the matters of the Lanfang Republic, Carlo’s political affairs for the whole day were almost dealt with.

After thinking for a moment, Carlo called Butler Loren and inquired about the current development status of the royal property.

Speaking of which, the last time Carlo understood the scale of the royal property was before the economic crisis. After the economic crisis, Carlo instructed Butler Loren to purchase excellent bankrupt foreign assets at discretion and develop other royal industries as much as possible, and then paid little further attention to the royal property.

The main problem among them was that the royal property was enormous. Simply put, the amount of money the royal family possessed was countless, already so much that Carlo could not spend it all.

Yes, it was that exaggerated. Calculated by the annual expenditure of the royal palace, even without any profit, the royal property could sustain at least a hundred years.

The expenses of the royal palace were divided into three main parts: maintenance of the royal palace buildings, salaries of royal palace personnel, and annuities of royal members.

As one of the three major palaces in Europe, the daily maintenance cost of the entire Madrid Royal Palace was a huge sum. According to the funds currently required for annual maintenance of the Madrid Royal Palace, Carlo’s average annual expenditure in this aspect was nearly 1 million pesetas.

But this was only a small expenditure. The hundreds of servants and maids, guards, sentries, and other positions in the palace cost over 2 million pesetas annually.

Then there were the annuities of royal members. Although there were currently only three royal members, their annuities were not small.

When Carlo was in Italy before, the annuity he received on average each year was about 260,000 lira. Carlo thought at the time that this was already a considerable sum, worth nearly 10,000 pounds sterling, absolutely an astronomical figure in this era.

But after becoming King of Spain, Carlo realized that this amount was far from enough to spend. Plus, with the constant expansion of the Spanish Royal Family’s property, Carlo had raised the annuities for royal members multiple times.

As King of Spain, Carlo could receive an annuity of up to 1 million pesetas annually, which was also the highest annuity share among Spanish royal members.

As Carlo’s wife, Queen Sophie could receive an annuity of up to 800,000 pesetas annually. These annuities could be spent at Queen Sophie’s discretion, which also confirmed how extravagant the lives of European nobles and royals were in this era.

Little Juan Fernando, although just a two-month-old child, could still receive an annuity income of up to 500,000 pesetas annually according to the royal members’ annuity regulations.

Fortunately, the Spanish Royal Family had only three people in total, and the annual expenditure on annuities was only 3 million pesetas, which was less than 100,000 pounds sterling converted, just a drop in the bucket for the royal property.

The annuities of Spanish royal members being higher than those of Italian royal members was actually not strange.

After all, the Italian Royal Family was a huge family, while the Spanish Royal Family was just a small branch of the Italian Royal Family, and the number of people determined the gap in annuities between the two sides.

Carlo only needed to pay annuities for his own family, while Vittorio Emanuele had to pay annuities for the huge Italian Royal Family. The gap and expenditure between the two were worlds apart.

Fortunately, the House of Savoy had operated the Kingdom of Sardinia for a long time, and the family’s wealth was considerable. Especially after the unification of Italy, the House of Savoy’s property expanded again, making the Italian Royal Family’s property and per capita property of royal members no longer mid-to-lower level among European royal families.

“Your Majesty.” Butler Loren was waiting outside Carlo’s office. Hearing Carlo’s summons, he hurried in and waited respectfully for Carlo’s orders.

“Butler Loren, tell me about the recent development of the royal property. How are our enterprises developing? What is the scale? Currently, what level has the total value of the royal property reached?” Carlo smiled and gestured for Butler Loren to sit, while raising his questions.

Butler Loren’s loyalty was completely reliable, and Carlo regarded him as his absolute confidant, feeling very at ease with him.

Butler Loren took out a thick ledger and introduced the Spanish Royal Family’s property situation to Carlo in detail: “Your Majesty, after the economic crisis broke out, we used over 120 million pesetas to purchase excellent foreign enterprises, and have currently achieved very good results.

Our steel mills have been well expanded. Currently, the total steel production from steel mills controlled by the royal family accounts for nearly two-fifths of Spain’s total steel production.

Under your instructions, we have also increased investment in the experimental zones. This year, our total expenditure is as high as 170 million pesetas, of which over 35 million pesetas have been invested in various research and experiments in the Royal Academy of Sciences and the experimental zones.

According to the current research progress of the Royal Academy of Sciences, some projects have hope of making certain progress this year, even obtaining certain research results.

In terms of automobiles, the value of the automobile company and engine company we invested in has reached 5 million pesetas and 3 million pesetas respectively. This year, the research and development funds invested in automobiles and engines are as high as 2 million pesetas and 7 million pesetas respectively.

Mr. Benz reported that the automobile you saw last time now has a second-generation experimental model, expected to manufacture finished products within this year.

The stability and speed of the finished products will see certain improvements, and the appearance will also have some changes. This is also based on progress in the engine aspect, thereby promoting changes to the entire automobile.

In terms of electricity experiments, the electricity laboratory is currently exploring electricity storage equipment. The electricity laboratory has deeper research on the generation and use of electricity. This year, the research and development funds invested in the electricity laboratory have broken through 3 million pesetas, making it the project with the highest research and development funds in the entire experimental zone.

Compared to the 170 million pesetas expenditure, the total income of all royal enterprises remains at a relatively stable level. Last year, our income was about 230 million pesetas, with a net profit of 60 million pesetas. In the first half of this year, our income has already reached 133 million pesetas, and there is hope of achieving a new record in income.” Butler Loren respectfully reported on the various enterprises and project research of the royal investments, as well as the total income and expenditure status of the royal industries.

In fact, from the income and expenditure situation of the royal enterprises alone, it can be seen that after this long development, the royal family’s major enterprises have become leaders and juggernauts among Spanish enterprises.

Especially in military industry and heavy industry, the enterprises controlled by the royal family have taken the lion’s share of Spain’s industries. As long as Carlo stamped his foot slightly, Spain’s military industry and heavy industry sectors would tremble.