Carlo knew that Spain was quite backward at this time, but he had not expected every aspect of Spain's development to lag so far behind.
As of the beginning of this year, Spain's estimated population stood at 16.6 million. Why such a neat number? Because the Spanish government was simply incapable of conducting a detailed census. This was merely a rough estimate based on birth registrations and death records from various regions.
Most fatal of all, Spain's illiteracy rate exceeded seventy percent. This meant that, out of its population of 16.6 million, at least 11.6 million people were illiterate.
Poor educational standards, coupled with the chaos of recent years, had pushed Spain's average annual income per capita to the lowest level in Western Europe: only 87 pesetas, or a little over three pounds.
Although the common people at the bottom of society in every European nation had a hard life in this era, with exploitation by factory owners and oppression by capitalists being commonplace,
an annual income of just over three pounds was clearly an extremely unhealthy figure. Britain's annual income per capita exceeded nine pounds, while other European nations remained above six or seven pounds.
Spaniards earned, on average, only half—or even a third—of what citizens in other countries made. That was why the people had rebelled against Queen Isabella: the Spanish truly could not go on living.
Looking at such figures, Carlo could not help but feel a terrible headache coming on.
Carlo had originally believed Italy's situation was already dreadful, but compared to Spain, it was not worth mentioning at all.
Aside from Italy and Spain being dead even in terms of illiteracy, Italy crushed Spain in every other respect.
Carlo had only one thought now: hurry up and push Primo's reforms forward, and improve Spain's terrible situation first.
Spain could forget about revival at this point; whether the kingdom could continue to exist at all was already a question. Though Queen Isabella had been driven out, she had left Carlo with an exceptionally terrible Spain.
Faced with a Spain that was rotten to the bone, this was no longer something that could be saved merely by burying their heads and focusing on development.
At the Cabinet Meeting a few days later, Carlo sat at the head of the table, quietly waiting for Primo's reform proposal.
Primo had made thorough preparations for these reforms. The cabinet government he had nominated was basically composed of Reformists. The only two who were not Reformists, Serrano and Carlo, had both expressed their support for reform.
Furthermore, Primo had been preparing for reform ever since becoming prime minister. Taking Spain's current circumstances into account and drawing upon numerous successful reforms abroad, he had ultimately drawn up a comprehensive reform plan for Spain.
He handed the document to Carlo and said solemnly, "Your Majesty, this is Spain's reform plan, written after long-term investigation and study by dozens of officials and myself.
"The following is the initial reform plan. Please review it."
The initial reform plan was actually quite simple. There were only four categories in total: agricultural, educational, industrial, and Military Reform.
"Prime Minister Primo, please explain your reform plan in detail." Although Carlo supported reform in his heart, that did not stop him from wanting to hear Primo's complete plan.
Primo nodded, rose to his feet, and introduced it to all the cabinet officials. "Our initial reforms cover only four areas: agriculture, industry, education, and Military Reform.
"In agriculture, I plan to promote reductions in agricultural taxes in order to raise the incomes of the agricultural population. At the same time, we will promote grain exports, ensuring that the grain produced by agricultural households has sufficient markets.
"As for industry, I believe we should restore Spain's industrial construction within a short period and invest in new factories, establishing industrial zones of our own.
"Building factories can provide more jobs, which will also help us further raise average income per capita.
"For educational reform, I plan to establish more literacy classes to reduce our illiterate population. However, this will require an enormous investment of funds, so it is the third priority of the reforms.
"Finally, there is Military Reform. I hope to expand our army to around one hundred thousand men and equip our forces with more artillery.
"An ample number of artillery pieces has already proven its worth on the battlefield. Whether to guard against foreign enemies or stabilize order in Spain, improving the army's combat strength is necessary."
Upon hearing Primo's reform plan, Carlo had not yet had time to offer any opinion when Serrano, the Secretary of State for War seated nearby, could no longer hold himself back.
Serrano stood up and stared at Primo in disbelief, asking in astonishment, "Prime Minister Primo, do you have any idea how many pesetas remain in Spain's treasury?
"Every one of your reforms requires tens of millions of pesetas, yet our government simply has no money. Forgive my frankness, but if we cannot prepare enough pesetas before these reforms are implemented, this reform effort is destined to end in failure."
"Do we not still have plenty of land?" Primo looked at Serrano, who had raised the objection, with a calm smile.
For a monarchy, the largest landowner in the country was naturally the monarch himself. Queen Isabella had been a lustful and greedy ruler, so it was hardly surprising that the Bourbon Dynasty possessed the most arable land in Spain.
After Queen Isabella was driven out, all the farmland that had originally belonged to the Bourbon Dynasty was confiscated by the Spanish Provisional Government. Those lands were what Primo intended to rely on to carry out the reforms.
Although those lands had once belonged to the king, they certainly would not pass to Carlo along with the throne.
Carlo naturally understood this as well. He had no desire to become a landlord, much less ruin his reputation over such a small amount of land.
On the contrary, if Carlo supported using those lands to exchange for sufficient funds for the government, it could instead become one of the subjects used to promote him.
Seeing that Carlo had no designs on those lands, Primo finally breathed a sigh of relief and explained to Carlo and Serrano, "The House of Bourbon possesses enormous lands. Those lands are enough to provide sufficient funding for our reforms.
"I plan to divide these lands into three parts. One part will be distributed free of charge to Spanish farmers, allowing them to possess enough farmland to grow grain.
"Another part will be sold to capitalists and farm owners, allowing us to accumulate sufficient funds for our reforms.
"The remaining part will be taken into state ownership and rented to farmers for cultivation at low prices."
"I support your idea, Prime Minister Primo." Carlo nodded, having no objection to the proposal of dividing the land into three parts.
"Furthermore, I have another proposal for raising funds for the reforms. Why don't we try issuing government bonds?"
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