Chapter 104 Labor Policy

As time entered 1871, one thing that attracted the attention of the Spanish and many European royal families was the marriage of King Carlo of Spain.

Now Carlo has firmly established his throne in Spain, and he is about to turn 20, which is the age for European aristocrats to get married.

As the King of Spain and a member of the Savoy Dynasty, there are many European royal families who want to conclude a marriage with the Spanish royal family, including the royal families of the great powers.

Firstly, Spain's geographical location is indeed important, and secondly, Spain's comprehensive national strength is not bad, which is considered the first echelon below the great powers.

What's more, Carlo is the son of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy. In fact, concluding a marriage with the Spanish royal family is also concluding a marriage with the Italian royal family.

Because Carlo's mother Adelheid has passed away, the European royal family took the initiative to find Carlo and Carlo's father Vittorio Emanuele II.

Seeing letters from different European royal families and several photos in the letters, Carlo's head was almost big.

Some princesses of the right age were fine, but how come there were even little girls who had just turned ten? Look at the letter sent to him by his sister Princess Maria Pia, which actually recommended Portuguese princesses.

Carlo rubbed his brows and wrote back to his sister, saying that he had no plans to marry Portugal for the time being.

Putting aside other things, the current marriage between Portugal and Spain is simply impossible. The British absolutely do not want to see Portugal and Spain unite. A unified Iberian Peninsula will be a powerful enemy of Britain in the western Mediterranean.

As the saying goes, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. The relationship between the Portuguese and the Spanish has never been so friendly. In the 60 years from 1580 to 1640, Portugal was briefly jointly ruled by Spain, and the two sides also established the Iberian Alliance.

But this union was obviously not as smooth as the union between the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon more than 100 years ago. The Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon united to create the powerful Kingdom of Spain, while the union of Spain and Portugal made the people of the two countries begin to hate each other.

Besides, marrying a Portuguese princess is not the same as Carlo's own interests. Even if he can form an alliance with Portugal, the disadvantages to Spain will far outweigh the advantages.

Britain will definitely nail down the alliance between Portugal and Spain, which will not only make the Spanish government miss the golden opportunity for development in vain, but also make the Portuguese and Spanish people more conflicted under the constant provocation of the British.

Because of Queen Victoria's hemophilia, Carlo's marriage partner excluded the British royal family from the beginning.

Among all the European powers, there are only three countries that can marry Carlo, namely Germany, Austria and Russia.

If Carlo must choose, Carlo would rather choose Germany for marriage. Germany itself does not have too many problems, and its performance in the First World War in the future will also be very strong.

On the contrary, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia have many contradictions in their domestic problems, and they are basically irreparable.

However, after the end of World War I, Germany, Austria and Russia all abolished the monarchy, so the shortcomings of Austria-Hungary and Russia were not so great.

Among these three countries, Carlo would definitely give priority to Germany, Austria-Hungary as a backup, and Russia as the last choice.

Germany and Austria-Hungary will be stronger in industry, and their military technology can also help Spain to achieve practical and effective improvement.

In addition to having a larger population and richer resources, Russia is far inferior to Germany and Austria-Hungary in industry and economy.

In fact, before the outbreak of World War I, the first alliance was the Three Emperors Alliance between Germany, Russia and Austria. But why did it eventually evolve into the Franco-Russian Alliance? Because the French have firmly grasped the economic lifeline of the Russians through continuous financial assistance.

But there is a problem at present, that is, the Hohenzollern family and the Habsburg family do not seem to have too many princesses of the right age to marry Carlo.

Fortunately, Carlo is not in a hurry at this time. He can choose the candidate he likes while waiting for news from the royal families of other countries.

In February 1871, the Spanish government approved another major project, which was to build a railway throughout the entire South Morocco colony.

Because there were no railways in Morocco, this section of the railway needed to be fully invested and constructed by the Spanish government, with a total length of more than 300 kilometers.

The starting point of the railway is Agadir, the capital of the South Morocco colony, and the end point is the southernmost city of Tantan, passing through small cities such as Tiznit and Guelmin.

In order to strengthen the control of the internal areas of the South Morocco colony, this railway also has a branch, from Agadir to the east, passing through Grudente and Tata, basically connecting all the larger cities and towns in the colony.

Because it is a colonial railway, the Spanish government did not plan to bid for this project, but invested in its own construction.

The good news is that the South Morocco colony has millions of Moroccans, all of whom can serve as laborers to build the railway.

And part of the Moroccan compensation can also be invested in the construction of the railway. The total length of 300 kilometers of railway will not cost too much money. This railway is generally a sure win.

After the railway is built, all resources in southern Morocco can be easily transported to Agadir by rail, and then shipped to Spain through the port.

Morocco's mineral resources are relatively rich, after all, most of it is mountainous. And southern Morocco also has a lot of mineral resources, including phosphates that can be used to make fertilizers.

Speaking of phosphates, an uninhabited area in the south of southern Morocco, which later became Western Sahara, also has quite rich phosphate reserves.

According to the agreement reached between the Spanish and British governments in the last contract, the British government will not prevent Spain from colonizing the Western Sahara region, which also means that the entire Western Sahara region is basically in Spain's pocket.

It is actually easy to understand that the British agreed to Spain's colonization of Western Sahara. After all, Western Sahara is a region mostly composed of deserts. Not only is the population sparse, but the overall economic value is also very low.

If this area can be used to attract the attention of the Spanish government and temporarily prevent Spain from expanding to northern Morocco, it will be acceptable to the British.

What the British really care about are areas with rich mineral resources and fertile land. They can naturally give up areas like Western Sahara.

For Spain, both South Morocco and Western Sahara are of great significance.

The rich phosphate mines in these two regions can allow Spain to vigorously develop the chemical fertilizer industry and quickly popularize the use of chemical fertilizers.

Although the land in Spain has too many inherent disadvantages, the large-scale use of chemical fertilizers can also increase the overall crop yield in Spain.

Increasing crop yields means being able to feed more people, which is a good thing for the Spanish government.

In Carlo's future plan, Spain's population must be at least more than 20 million before it can return to the confidence of the great powers.

If you want to dominate your own destiny and avoid becoming a pawn on the world chessboard, Spain must have at least 30 million people and have the world's top five industries and economies.

This is still a huge challenge for Spain at present. It may take decades to achieve this goal.

At least in the first decade, it is basically invisible. It would be great if Primo's reforms could be completed within ten years. If Spain wants to be strong, it may have to rely on the opportunities of the future Boer War and World War I.

The Spanish government does not intend to take a soft attitude towards the colonial policy of the southern Moroccan colony.

Although Moroccans are white, they are not orthodox Europeans and are destined not to become the main ethnic group of Spain.

Except for a small number of Moroccans who can be assimilated or willing to accept Spanish rule, the remaining Moroccans are treated as ordinary African natives.

In addition to creating a steady stream of economic benefits for the Spanish government, they have no other value.

However, compared with a small number of black natives, the treatment of white Moroccans is a little better.

Although Moroccan white workers also have to do those more tiring jobs, their working hours can be limited to 12 hours, and they can get 2 meals a day.

Those black workers work more than 14 hours a day, and their food is only one meal of black bread that barely fills their stomachs.

The so-called black bread is made of flour mixed with sawdust and bran. The production cost is extremely low. It is the food provided to the natives by most European countries.

Of course, there are also many capitalists who will provide it to factory workers. After all, for capitalists, how to reduce factory expenses is the most important thing. As for whether such black bread will kill people, what does it have to do with the factory?

Prime Minister Primo can also understand Carlo's disgust with black people. Such an attitude is not surprising in this era, and Prime Minister Primo himself has no good impression of black people.

It is precisely because the two people with the highest power and status in the Spanish government hate black people very much that the colonial policy of South Morocco is like hell for black people.

Since the railway officially started construction in February 1871, an average of at least two-digit black workers died at their posts every day, and the number of black workers who died every day is still increasing.

Perhaps it will not take long before the South Moroccan colony will become a pure land with only white people, and black people will completely disappear from this area.

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