Hearing Prim explain the funding preparations for industrial construction, Carlo finally nodded and asked: “When is the industrial construction prepared to start?
In what direction is our initial construction target set?” “I plan to establish a small industrial base in Seville, Andalusia, and increase our steel production.
After increasing steel production, we will invest in railway construction.
It is expected that within the next five years, the railway mileage will be increased to over 6,000 kilometers, connecting all regions of Spain—east, west, south, and north,” Prim replied.
Do not underestimate just building railways; the boost it provided to industry was massive.
The steel rails needed for railways required steel mills to work overtime to increase steel production, which could drive the development of a series of subsidiary industries.
Spain possessed significant reserves of coal and iron ore resources in Andalusia, which was also quite convenient for industrial development.
Although most of Spain’s coal mines produced lower-quality coal, carrying out initial industrial production was not a problem.
After all, the total steel production of various countries in this era was not much, nowhere near the exaggerated levels of tens of millions of tons seen in later generations.
Currently, the strongest industry belonged to the British Empire, but British steel production was only around 300,000 tons, not yet at such an exaggerated scale.
However, Spain’s steel production was even less.
Because industrial construction had been neglected during Queen Isabella’s rule, Spain’s annual steel production so far was only at the thousand-ton level—a pitiful 2,000 tons.
Although part of the reason was that Spain lacked excellent iron ore and coal reserves, for a second-rate European country with a population of over 16 million, such an industrial level was still far too shabby.
“Once our steel mills are put into massive production, we have hope to increase steel production to over 10,000 tons within the next five years.
At the very least, our steel production needs to meet the needs of domestic industrial construction.
A Spain without industry is incomplete,” Prim said.
Building 1,000 kilometers of railways in five years might seem very slow, but for Spain, with its incredibly pitiful steel production, it was not easy.
In the nearly 30 years from 1840 to 1869, Spain had only built 5,000 kilometers of railways, a construction speed that lagged far behind countries like Britain, France, Germany, and the United States.
Spain was mountainous internally.
To better strengthen connections between various regions, building railways was absolutely necessary.
This could not only strengthen the Kingdom Government’s control over various regions but also accelerate population mobility and economic exchange between regions.
“I approve your plan, Prime Minister Prim.” Hearing Prim’s complete explanation, Carlo nodded and approved the Prime Minister’s plan without any hesitation.
Obviously, this industrial plan was very necessary for Spain.
Although the investment was not massive, it was a good start for Spain’s industrial development.
“Your Majesty, there is one thing that perhaps only you can accomplish.” Hearing Carlo approve the industrial plan, Prim first nodded with a smile, and then quickly presented another request to Carlo.
“Oh?
What is it?” Carlo asked curiously.
“Whether we are building industrial bases or laying railways, we need a massive number of laborers.
But Your Majesty, you also know that the black laborers we purchased from Africa are not very restless; they are also a destabilizing factor in Spain.
Compared to these lowly black laborers, I feel that bringing in foreign white laborers is a more suitable choice.
When I went to Italy previously, I found that a massive agricultural population in Italy was choosing to emigrate overseas.
If possible, could we get in touch with the Italian government to bring in a portion of Italian immigrants and laborers?
Doing this would not only solve our laborer shortage problem but also accelerate our industrial construction.
I believe it is very necessary to try,” Prim said.
To carry out industrial base construction and lay railways, one had to prepare a massive number of laborers as a workforce.
This was very difficult for Spain to achieve.
Although Spain had a massive agricultural population, these agricultural people were scattered across the vast Spanish territory and all had their own land; it was impossible for them to cross half of Spain just for a laborer’s meager income.
But these peasants in Italy were different.
They could barely survive in Italy anymore, which was why they chose to emigrate overseas.
Since that was the case, why not find an opportunity to attract a portion of Italian immigrants to come to Spain, while filling the gap of Spain’s laborer shortage?
You must know that the majority of Italy’s agricultural population was located in southern Italy, an area that until recently was under the rule of the autocratic Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
These peasants had experienced long periods of autocratic monarchic rule and were much easier to govern than those black laborers and republican elements.
This was also one of the reasons Prim set his sights on Italian laborers.
Steadfast laborers who could work hard without causing trouble would be welcomed anywhere.
Hearing Prim say this, Carlo was somewhat surprised.
Because bringing in Italian laborers was originally part of Carlo’s plan; this was also beneficial to Carlo’s rule.
After all, Carlo was born into the Italian royal family.
These Italians coming to Spain would definitely not oppose Carlo’s rule, and compared to native Spaniards, Italians would feel closer to Carlo.
For such a request that was entirely beneficial to him, Carlo naturally would not object.
“For the development of Spain, I am of course willing to do this,” Carlo said with a smile.
“If the government is ready, then our industrial construction can begin immediately.
I will handle the matter of the laborers.
I hope our industrial construction will proceed as smoothly as expected.” Prim nodded, saying very respectfully: “As you command, Your Majesty.” At the end of the day, Carlo simply had too few people under his command.
Currently, the only ones he could use were Ricciotti and Loren.
Ricciotti needed to command the royal guard, so the only one who could go to Italy to negotiate the laborer issue was Loren.
Fortunately, this was not a major issue; Italy was not short of a few thousand or ten thousand laborers.
Coupled with the good father-son relationship between Carlo and Victor Emmanuel II, signing an agreement to import laborers with Italy would not be a problem.
Sure enough, Loren’s entire journey took only a little over ten days to bring back a “Laborer Importation Agreement” for Carlo.
Carlo’s requirements were not high; bringing in a few thousand to ten thousand laborers from Italy each year in the early years could meet Spain’s development needs.
Once Spain’s construction yielded certain results, and the living standards and incomes of the public continuously climbed, it would naturally attract Europeans who could no longer survive in their hometowns to immigrate to Spain.