Chapter 23 Agricultural Tax Reduction Act

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, our people no longer have the funds to buy our national debt." Hearing Carlo's proposal, Primo gave a bitter smile and reminded Carlo.

"No, Mr. Prime Minister, our national debt is not issued to ordinary civilians." Carlo shook his head and explained with a smile: "

We can issue debts similar to educational national debts, and use interest rates higher than banks to attract capitalists and factory owners to buy.

We don't need to set the scale of issuance too high, perhaps 10 million pesetas is enough for our initial education needs.

This batch of national debt will be 100% used for education reform, which can not only reduce the number of illiterates in our country, but also benefit those factories that need some knowledge reserves.

After our first batch of national debt is repaid on time, it will become much easier to issue such national debt in the future. At least for us now, this is a more reliable means than borrowing, and it can also allow the government to bear less interest."

Capitalists are all profit-seeking. The interest rate of national debt is higher than that of banks, which will definitely attract some capitalists to buy national debt.

If specific special bonds are issued for education and other reforms, it will also make the capitalists who buy bonds feel more at ease.

After all, one thing that capitalists worry about is what the government will do with these funds. Investing in industries such as education is definitely better than the government and the nobles' squandering. At least capitalists don't have to worry about the government not having enough funds to repay the bonds in the future.

"You can try." After thinking for a long time, Primo finally nodded and decided to give it a try.

The first batch of bonds does not need to be issued too much, and it can be used to test whether this method can raise funds for the government.

It is good to raise funds, but even if it cannot, the government will not suffer too much loss.

Finally, after discussion in the cabinet, it was unanimously decided to set the issuance of the first batch of education bonds at 8 million pesetas, or 307,000 pounds.

Although this amount of money is not much, a number of literacy classes dedicated to eliminating illiteracy can be built. Literacy classes do not even need a complete school institution. Just find a house to put some tables and benches, and get some books to teach simple elementary school knowledge to the Spaniards.

As soon as the news that the government was going to issue education bonds came out, it immediately caused a sensation in Spain.

Many Spaniards are still willing to see the government's efforts in education, which at least proves that the current royal government pays more attention to civilians than during the Isabel period.

Even farmers are willing to see the country's investment in education. Even if they cannot enjoy the benefits brought by education reform, it does not mean that their children cannot enjoy it.

However, although they support it, there are few people willing to buy education bonds.

Although the first batch of bonds was issued in an amount of only 8 million pesetas, only 200,000 were sold in two days of issuance, less than 10,000 pounds.

Carlo, who realized that this was a good opportunity, would naturally not miss such an opportunity. On the third day of the issuance of the bonds, Carlo publicly expressed his subscription to 3 million pesetas of education bonds.

3 million pesetas of bonds are actually not much, only more than 100,000 pounds, less than half of the bonds issued this time.

But Carlo's active subscription to bonds as a king has a different meaning for the Spaniards.

Although it is impossible to support Carlo because of such a small matter, many Spaniards still have a better impression of Carlo and are willing to give Carlo enough time to show his excellent monarchy.

At least Carlo has shown a side that is far different from Queen Isabel, and the Spaniards have patience with Carlo.

After Carlo took the lead, the capitalists' actions finally became more frequent.

It took almost a week, and most of the 8 million pesetas of national debt were finally sold, and the government also had the funds to initially promote educational reform.

In mid-September 1869, many literacy classes sprang up in Madrid like bamboo shoots, and they adopted voluntary registration and free learning.

As long as you are a citizen of Spain, you can sign up for literacy classes to participate in learning. Book fees and tuition are free, but you must attend literacy classes at least once a week.

The literacy class still takes into account the actual situation of a large number of ordinary people. In Spain in 1869, there was no specific working time.

In other words, when encountering black-hearted capitalists and factory owners, the working hours of Spaniards have never been less than 12 hours, and even up to 13 or 14 hours.

Not to mention the weekend, it is not easy to take a leave when you are sick, because the capitalists are unwilling to reduce the output of the factory due to the employees' leave, which will eventually affect the speed of making money.

As for work-related injuries, they have nothing to do with this era. Not to mention being injured at the work station, even if you die at the work station, there will be no compensation.

The various welfare and treatment policies in later generations are all fought for by workers and laborers all over the world in the long process of oppression and resistance.

The literacy campaign in the education reform is in full swing, and it still has a great impact on Spain.

After all, it is a free literacy campaign, and the Spanish are still very willing to participate in literacy classes. And Carlo also moved his own little thoughts in the literacy class, that is, the literacy classes in Spain only use Spanish, and will not use Catalan and other various regional languages.

The purpose of doing this is also to reduce the sense of division between the various regions of Spain and Spain. Assimilating a nation should start with language. It is very important to speak Spanish in Spain.

The good news is that today's Spain has been integrated for hundreds of years, and most people are not opposed to a complete Spain.

Now the independence and nationalism in various regions are still a small part, which will not have much impact on the unification of Spain.

While the literacy campaign was going on, Primo also launched a reform of agriculture.

Although the fiscal revenue of the Spanish government is not high, this did not prevent Primo from reducing agricultural taxes.

On September 27, 1869, when the literacy campaign was still talked about by the Spaniards, the Spanish cabinet government had submitted a brand new "Agricultural Tax Reduction Bill" at a new meeting of the House of Representatives.

This bill caused a stronger sensation in Spain than the literacy campaign, because the vast majority of the population in Spain are agricultural populations, and tax cuts are really good for them.

As expected, the House of Representatives unanimously voted to pass the bill with a vote of more than 70%, and the cabinet government also announced that tax cuts would be implemented starting in 1870 to actually increase the income of the agricultural population.

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