As soon as the two decrees of free literacy education and agricultural tax reduction were promulgated, Spaniards surprisingly found that the King above their heads didn’t seem so much of an eyesore.
At least during Queen Isabella’s era, the government would not proactively propose tax cuts for agriculture, much less start any free literacy education.
But for Carlo at this moment, the troublesome matters had just seen one solved.
As early as during the Spanish Revolution, the colony of Cuba took the opportunity to launch a war of independence, occupying multiple cities, holding a so-called constituent assembly, and electing a president.
This was unacceptable to Spain, because Cuba was the most valuable among all Spanish colonies, and one of the few colonies that could bring positive income.
If the Cuban colony were lost, not only would the Spanish government’s annual financial revenue drop by a large chunk, but it would also be a blow to the prestige of Carlo, the new King, and the new cabinet.
The current Kingdom of Spain’s government was gradually getting on the right track; it was time to deal with the restless Cuban colony and create more revenue for the Spanish government.
At this time, there were not many Cuban rebels, and they lacked advanced weapons and equipment.
For the Spanish government, apart from needing to cross the Atlantic for long-distance combat, there were no major problems to overcome.
Thus, the first relatively large-scale war since Carlo became King was officially launched.
Minister of Defense Serrano led 5,500 soldiers in a massive expedition to Cuba to quell the rebellion, striving to eliminate the Cuban rebels to the greatest extent.
This suppression war, which was actually not very large in scale, was also an opportunity for Carlo.
Carman Esposito and Andrew Rosso would also join this suppression war as low-ranking officers.
Carlo’s expectation of them was to establish certain merits during this suppression, which would also facilitate Carlo’s subsequent promotion and appointment of them.
The more capable Ricciotti was kept in Madrid by Carlo to command the 500-man royal guard.
There was no helping it; Carlo’s safety was something that needed more guarantee, and a trusted subordinate had to be responsible for the security of the royal palace.
Carlo trusted Serrano’s personal military abilities.
More importantly, Serrano had served as the Governor of Cuba for three years from 1859 to 1862 and was quite familiar with the situation in Cuba.
Sending him to Cuba to quell the rebellion was the most suitable choice, and the choice with the greatest hope of solving the Cuban issue in a short period and ensuring Cuba would not rebel again anytime soon.
As for the long-term future, it was not within Carlo’s consideration.
Because to Carlo, these Spanish colonies scattered around the world were actually a burden to Spain.
Cuba was a whole Atlantic Ocean away from Spain, but separated from the United States by only the Straits of Florida.
The United States, having won the Civil War, already possessed the potential to become a world hegemon, and its comprehensive national strength was continuously improving.
For Spain, having its most valuable colony right on the lips of the Americans destined that Spain would not be able to hold onto Cuba.
Rather than that, it would be better to voluntarily abandon Cuba at an appropriate point in time in exchange for other colonies that weren’t as valuable but could be firmly held in their grasp.
The same applied to the Philippines.
In Carlo’s future plans for Spain, both Cuba and the Philippines needed to be abandoned; Spain’s colonial base lay in Africa.
However, precisely because Cuba was one of the few Spanish colonies that could bring positive returns, getting the public to agree to lose Cuba would be very difficult.
At least until Carlo possessed enough prestige to withstand such a loss, or until a good opportunity presented itself, Spain would not engage in colonial swaps.
On September 22, 1869, Carlo saw off the expedition to Cuba led by Serrano in Madrid, and personally promised all Spanish soldiers that upon their triumphant return to Madrid, he would hold a celebration banquet for them and grant land and noble titles to those with major merits.
The granting of nobility through military merit was still very attractive to soldiers, and it was one of the most effective opportunities for the lower-class masses to climb up the ladder.
Including Serrano himself and Prim, they were both representative figures of receiving nobility through military merit.
Although Spanish soldiers did not have such grand ambitions as becoming a duke or a marquis, striving for some land and financial rewards was perfectly fine.
After seeing Serrano off and just returning to the royal palace, Carlo quickly received a report from the guards that Prime Minister Prim requested an audience.
Ever since Carlo fulfilled his promise and firmly supported the reforms, Prim’s attitude toward Carlo had become extremely respectful, and he was willing to cultivate a monarch-minister relationship that would be praised.
This was also good news for Carlo.
Just like now, Prim would consult Carlo’s opinion on many occasions and was willing to leave certain matters for Carlo to decide.
Although Prim was not like Garibaldi, lacking any ambition for power and status, he was not an arbitrary dictator either.
Carlo was also happy to see this kind of cooperative relationship.
Riding on Prim’s coattails to gain some reform prestige, slowly cultivating his own trusted followers in the government and army, and preparing to take over the country after Prim—this was Carlo’s plan.
“Your Majesty, this is the proposal regarding industrial construction, please approve it.” The moment he saw Carlo, Prim presented an industrial proposal that had been prepared well in advance and got straight to the point.
“Are we starting industrial construction right now?
Prime Minister Prim, if I remember correctly, our government doesn’t seem to have that much money to build industry, does it?” Carlo was somewhat surprised by the speed of Prim’s reforms.
The reforms in education and agriculture had been going on for less than a month; why start industrial construction immediately?
For Spain, which was currently in desperate need of government funds, launching so many projects all at once was not a good thing.
Carlo could understand Prim’s eagerness for success, but if purely pursuing speed led the Spanish government into a bankruptcy crisis, the losses would outweigh the gains.
“The first phase of industrial construction is expected to require 55 million pesetas.
I plan to issue about 25 million pesetas of industrial national bonds in batches, and the remaining 30 million pesetas can be obtained by borrowing from foreign capital.
As long as we can push forward industrial construction, our economic situation will improve in the next few years, and Spain’s terrible situation can be comprehensively improved,” Prim explained.
Queen Isabella’s government only cared about its own enjoyment, disregarding the country’s development.
This caused Spain’s construction in all aspects to stagnate for a long time, even experiencing regression.
The only good news was that the former government, regardless of development, did not borrow heavily from the outside world.
The current Spanish government could still obtain a portion of project startup funds through borrowing.