Chapter 137 French Visitors (two chapters in one)

Compared to those guys removed from the army, the officials kicked out of the officialdom are much more pitiful.

The government will not provide them with any jobs, and even some officials with extremely serious corruption will be held accountable for their previous responsibilities.

However, the effect is also visible to the naked eye. The rectification of the officialdom has made all Spanish officials feel insecure. Not only has the phenomenon of corruption been reduced a lot, but the administrative efficiency between the cabinet government and the regional governments has also been significantly improved.

If the decrees issued by the cabinet government before still need several weeks to be promoted in various places, now it only takes a week at most to see the implementation of the decrees in various places.

In fact, the mayors of various regions and cities cannot help but cooperate. After the promulgation of the performance appraisal bill, the promotion of any bill may affect their performance appraisal.

Unless they really don't care about their future in the officialdom, they have to pay attention to the various tasks issued by the cabinet government and try to improve their performance in compliance with regulations.

After all, Spain is a small country, and it is easy to review the appraisal of officials in various regions and cities.

In other words, if an official wants to falsify his performance evaluation, even if he can hide it from the department that is doing the evaluation, he may not be able to hide it from the review of the cabinet government and the parliament.

Prime Minister Primo also explained in advance that anyone found to have falsified or cheated in the performance evaluation will be treated as a crime endangering national security. Not only will he be dismissed from office, but all his property will also be sealed.

Although Prime Minister Primo only gave a verbal warning, it still attracted the attention of many Spanish officials.

There is no way. Since becoming prime minister, Primo has been vigorous and decisive in his approach.

The reform has raised the butcher knife to both the nobility and the church. Spanish officials do not think that they have a status comparable to the nobility and parliament, so they naturally dare not challenge the authority of Prime Minister Primo.

If they bump into Prime Minister Primo's butcher knife, they will really be courting death. What Prime Minister Primo lacks most at present is a chicken to kill for the monkeys to see. Many officials understand this truth.

Why did the church remain silent when faced with the impact of government reforms on itself many times? Because the Catholic Church in Spain does not want to be the chicken.

Prime Minister Primo must have great courage to promote reforms, which also means that the first force on the butcher's knife of Prime Minister Primo will be punished more harshly and cruelly than imagined.

While Prime Minister Primo was cutting into the officialdom, Carlo also expanded the size of his Royal Knights at the same time.

The so-called Royal Knights are actually special forces specially provided to noble children to improve their personal abilities and resumes.

The members who can join the Royal Knights are basically Spanish noble children, that is, members of the forces who naturally stand on the side of the king.

Carlo attaches great importance to the training of these noble children. If these guys are more capable, they can help themselves in the future.

Carlo not only invited outstanding professors from the Royal Military Academy of Madrid to work part-time in the Royal Knights, but also carefully prepared their own experience for each knight of the Knights.

The current Royal Knights is simply an elite education place for noble children, training them to become the excellent senior officers Carlo needs.

In the Royal Knights, in addition to receiving military and cultural courses of various levels, they also have to learn aristocratic etiquette courses, art courses, riding courses, swordsmanship courses, religious courses and other knowledge.

At present, the number of knights in the Royal Knights has exceeded 100, most of whom are sons of dukes and archdukes, and only a small number of sons of marquises and earls can squeeze in.

There is no way, such elite aristocratic education has to bear a lot of financial expenses, and it is naturally impossible to provide it to all aristocratic children at present.

All the nobles in Spain add up to thousands of people, if not tens of thousands, and all the noble children may exceed tens of thousands.

Even if there are not many people under the age of 20 who can receive education, there must be at least a few thousand people.

If all these thousands of people are provided with elite aristocratic education, the funds required are more than that of maintaining a division of the Guards.

At present, for Carlo, of course, he still tries to limit the number of knights as much as possible and give priority to training the sons of dukes and archdukes.

However, in the future, the number of the Royal Knights will still be expanded on a large scale. Because the number of new aristocrats will increase in the future, and the foundation of these new aristocrats is not that strong.

The old nobles in Spain can afford the cost of raising their children, because they have sufficient resources and can afford any expenses for raising their children.

But the wealth of the new nobles is far less than that of the old nobles, and they will lag behind in the education of their children.

The new nobles are equally important to Carlo. Since the new nobles are unlikely to be able to afford the education expenses of the elite nobles, Carlo can only expand the scale of the Royal Knights as much as possible and include the children of the new nobles in the training system of the elite nobles.

And compared with the children of the old nobles, the descendants of the new nobles will be more loyal to Carlo.

After all, the titles of the old nobles have nothing to do with Carlo. It is just because Carlo is the king of Spain, so they can only choose to be loyal to Carlo.

But the new nobles are different. The titles of the new nobles come from Carlo's fiefdom. Everything they have is granted by Carlo, so their loyalty to Carlo will naturally be higher.

And they have no choice compared to the old nobles. The old nobles still have a lot of property to be rich, but if the new nobles do not stay by the king's side, they are just small landlords with noble titles, and there is no comparison with the property of the old nobles.

The Royal Knights generally recruit noble children over the age of 12. They will receive a four-year elite aristocratic education in the Royal Knights and experience more than 2 years.

After completing all the education and experience, they will be arranged to serve in the Guards or the Royal Army, or engage in other professions.

But no matter where they work, their future potential will not be low. The nobles also know this, so they not only have no rejection of the establishment of the Royal Knights, but also try their best to squeeze their sons into the Royal Knights.

Of course, those who are squeezed in are generally the second sons and the sons who are later in the order. The eldest son will definitely inherit the title in the future, and the second son will have less property, so it is better to join the Royal Knights to find more opportunities.

Although the Royal Knights are more about military training, they will not ignore the cultural education of noble children.

If there are noble children who are not suitable for military work but more suitable for civil work, Carlo does not mind training them in the direction of officials.

Anyway, after these noble children enter the army or officialdom, they will also strengthen the influence of the royal family on these places.

This is the advantage of the European aristocratic system. No matter how high the status of the nobles is, they still have to be loyal to the king.

Because the aristocratic system will be gone without the king, the king and the nobles are highly bound, and the king is the largest noble in the aristocratic system.

After this military reform, the size of the Spanish army will be even larger. The local army and the colonial army alone add up to nearly 150,000 people. If the guards are added, it will even be close to 170,000 people.

The military expenditure of such a large army can be maintained, but the pressure on the logistics department will also double.

Carlo also wants to strengthen the training of various troops, and the consumption of bullets and shells will increase in the future. Under various factors, it is necessary to make certain changes to the logistics system in the army.

If the traditional logistics system is used, it is highly likely that it will not be able to meet the current combat needs of the troops.

The transportation of artillery shells alone is enough to give logistics a headache, not to mention that the breech-loading rifle has a faster firing rate, and the consumption of bullets will also increase several times.

There is not much that can be done at present. We can only strengthen the logistics management system in various places as much as possible, and do a good job in transportation to meet the needs of local troops for weapons and equipment.

Fortunately, the expansion of the army takes a long time, and coupled with the time required for the production of weapons, logistics still has a long time to change.

In addition to expanding the scale of the Royal Knights, Carlo also established the Royal Pharmaceutical Company, which specializes in biotechnology research and drug development.

In order to promote the establishment of this company, Carlo spent a lot of money to hire many top experts in biology and medicine from all over Europe and invited them to work in Spain.

The chips for the invitation are full of sincerity. In addition to the income higher than the original salary, there is also a house in Madrid, a certain share of the pharmaceutical company, etc.

Although the shares given to them are not many, the Royal Pharmaceutical Company will definitely be a large enterprise in the future, so the value of a small share will not be low in the future.

It is precisely because of such generous rewards that it has indeed attracted several top biological and medical experts in Europe.

In addition to letting them work in the Royal Pharmaceutical Company, Carlo also let them serve as honorary professors at the Spanish Medical School to cultivate more biological and medical talents for Spain.

The current medical technology is still too backward, which leads to a low survival rate of newborns and affects the growth of the Spanish population.     A considerable number of newborns born every year will die from various diseases. These are the future population of Spain, so it is naturally better to save them if they can.

Carlo's requirement for the pharmaceutical company is to engage in as much research and development work in medicine as possible. No matter what type of medicine it is, what can be studied should be studied first, and what can be manufactured should be manufactured.

In the short term, Carlo did not consider making the pharmaceutical company profitable. Even in the long term, Carlo did not think about how much income the pharmaceutical company could generate.

The main purpose of establishing a pharmaceutical company is strategic. By planning the research and development of certain important drugs in advance, Spain can maintain its world leading position in the field of medical technology.

What Carlo did not expect was that at the end of September 1872, the Spanish government welcomed an unexpected guest.

Yes, this guest was the famous Adolphe Thiers, the first president of the French Third Republic and the current supreme ruler of France.

Of course, the reason why Thiers was famous in Europe was not only because he suppressed a certain movement, but also because he personally signed a diplomatic letter to pay Prussia 5 billion francs in compensation.

Perhaps the citizens of Paris did not expect that the actions they launched because of their opposition to the government's weakness towards Prussia would eventually make the government even weaker towards Prussia.

Of course, the French government also has an extremely tough side. It's just that the toughness of the Third Republic was shown to the movement of the Parisian citizens. Through the cruel and bloody suppression, Thiers successfully became famous throughout Europe.

How cruel was the scene of the suppression at that time? French newspapers once reported the scene of the massacre: "A blood channel poured into the Seine from a barracks, and hundreds of meters of river water were polluted, presenting a narrow and long blood river."

Yes, it was the famous Seine River.

This suppression of the Parisian citizens lasted for a whole month, with more than 30,000 people being massacred and more than 100,000 people being exiled and imprisoned.

However, although the movement of the Parisian citizens was suppressed, the French government was still quite chaotic.

Many governments and media in various countries are not optimistic about the French Third Republic, because the republican system does not last long in France.

The power of the French royalist party is extremely powerful, so powerful that it can easily destroy the power of the republic.

However, the royalists are also divided into several factions, namely the orthodox faction supporting the Bourbon dynasty, the Orleans faction supporting the Louis Philippe dynasty, and the Bonapartists supporting the Bonaparte family.

If these royalists unite, they will occupy the majority of seats in the French National Assembly, and can easily restore the French empire through the National Assembly and re-establish an empire.

But unfortunately, the three royalist factions support different families, and there is only one emperor in France, which also means that there can be no compromise between the three royalist factions.

It is worth mentioning that Thiers also calls himself a royalist. On the one hand, he wants to restore the French empire, and on the other hand, he is afraid that giving the French people an emperor will lead to renewed opposition from the French.

It is precisely because of the fierce contradictions between the supporters of the republic and the monarchy, coupled with the dissatisfaction of many French people with the government's cowardice to the former Prussia, which is now Germany, and the cruelty of suppressing the revolution, that the internal situation of France is now very chaotic.

In order to suppress the French revolution, Thiers can be said to have gone all out. He enacted a law requiring all those who propagated a certain doctrine to be sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison, and also closed down all trade unions, abolished the freedom of publication and association.

In order to repay the 5 billion francs of indemnity promised to Prussia, the Thiers government issued a large amount of national debt, and each time it was issued in excess.

Coupled with a large amount of loans to capitalism, so far, the 5 billion francs have been repaid by the French government for the most part.

This is quite exaggerated. 5 billion francs is not a small number, it is an astronomical figure for the Spanish government.

According to the fiscal revenue of the Spanish government, it will take at least 20 years to repay such an indemnity. Even if the national debt is continuously issued and the capital is continuously borrowed from the private sector, it is impossible to repay it within 15 years.

But the French government did it, which also proves one thing, that the development of French capital and the scale of industry and economy are still very large, which is also the reason why France has become a superpower.

However, although the French government can gather 5 billion francs in a short period of time, it does not mean that 5 billion francs is not important to them.

The French government has incurred a large amount of national debt, and the heavy economic burden has also fallen on the French people.

At the same time, capital has also gained a lot of power by lending to the government. France has gradually transitioned to capitalism, and the impact on France's future development is extremely far-reaching.

Let's talk about Thiers' visit to Spain.

This matter was quite sudden, and even Prime Minister Primo only learned about it the day before Thiers arrived in Spain.

When Carlo learned the news, Thiers was about to arrive in Madrid.

Fortunately, Carlo did not have to come in person, and Prime Minister Primo's identity and status could come forward to greet President Thiers.

Although Carlo was a little caught off guard by the arrival of the French president, he knew his intention after thinking carefully.

There is no way, the current situation has developed somewhat beyond the expectations of the French government.

A closer look at the current development of the European situation is undoubtedly fatal to France. First of all, France has completely failed in the competition with Prussia, and the position of the European land hegemon has fallen into the hands of the Germans.

Secondly, the policy of isolating France proposed by German Prime Minister Bismarck seems to be taking shape.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia are discussing certain things, which makes the French a little anxious. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia reach a certain compromise, the biggest contradiction on the European continent will become the German-French contradiction.

And the Austro-Hungarian Empire is constantly showing goodwill to Germany. Does this also mean that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will get closer to Germany?

The Germans will certainly not reject the Austro-Hungarian Empire's goodwill. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire can also be a good help in isolating France.

At the same time, Italy was an ally of Prussia before Germany was established, and the Germans did not give up Italy as an ally.

The royal families of Spain and Italy are from the same family, and they have an alliance with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two sides are in a marriage relationship.

Considering the worst angle, the Germans are very likely to form the four major alliances of Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain, including Germany, to completely isolate the French in Western Europe.

If the Germans really achieve this, then the French will not have to talk about development. To the north of France are the three Low Countries, where Britain, France, and Germany also have influence, so it is impossible for France to dominate alone.

Among all the neighboring countries, the only neutral country left is Switzerland, and the route to colonize Africa to the south may be cut off by Spain and Italy.

The French must do everything they can to avoid the Quadruple Alliance, otherwise France's future development will suffer a devastating blow.

Among the Quadruple Alliance, Spain is currently the best to contact.

Why do you say that? The Austro-Hungarian Empire is actively approaching Germany, and it is impossible for France to win over the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Italy is an ally of the Germans, and at the same time, because of the recovery of South Tyrol in the south, it has eased the conflict with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Instead, the French stand on the Savoy region ceded by Italy. Look at the family name of the Italian royal family, isn't it Savoy!

Under such circumstances, it is extremely difficult to win over Italy, and Italy's colonial direction in Africa happens to conflict with France.

Although the only remaining Spain is an ally of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and a family of the Italian royal family, fortunately it has little relationship with Germany.

For now, as long as the alliance between Spain and Germany can be avoided, at least France can ensure that it will not be completely blocked through Spain.

Another good news is that the British will also prevent Spain from colonizing Morocco, and Spain needs a strong ally to help itself.

The Germans may not be willing to offend Britain for Spain, but the French don't care so much.

France itself is already difficult to protect, so naturally it has to do everything possible to win over Spain, so as to break the blockade route set by the Germans against France.

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