The Four Elements of Reform

Carlo knew Spain was quite backward at the moment, but he hadn't expected its development to lag so far behind in all aspects.

As of the beginning of this year, Spain's estimated population was 16.6 million. Why such a round number? Because the Spanish government at the time was completely incapable of conducting detailed census work; this was merely a rough estimate by the Spanish government based on local birth and death registrations.

What was worse, Spain's illiteracy rate was over seventy percent. This meant that out of the 16.6 million population, at least 11.6 million people were illiterate.

The poor educational standards, coupled with the chaotic situation in recent years, had led to Spain having the lowest per capita annual income in Western Europe, only 87 pesetas, which was a little over 3 British pounds.

Although the lower classes of all European countries had a tough time during this era, exploitation by factory owners and oppression by capitalists were common occurrences.

However, an annual income of just over 3 pounds was clearly an extremely unhealthy level. The per capita annual income in the United Kingdom exceeded 9 pounds, and other European countries maintained levels above 6 to 7 pounds.

Spaniards earned on average only half or even a third of the income of citizens in other countries. This was also why the populace rebelled against Queen Isabella, because the Spanish people truly couldn't go on living.

Looking at these figures, Carlo couldn't help but feel a splitting headache.

Carlo had originally thought Italy's situation was bad enough, but he never expected it to be completely insignificant compared to Spain.

Except for the illiteracy rate, where Italy and Spain were neck and neck, Italy could crush Spain in all other aspects.

Carlo now had only one thought: to quickly push forward Primo's reforms and improve Spain's dire situation first.

At present, let alone achieving revival, it was questionable whether the kingdom could even continue to exist. Although Queen Isabella had been driven out, she had left Carlo with an extremely terrible Spain.

Facing a Spain that was practically rotten to the core, mere quiet development could no longer save it.

A few days later, at a cabinet meeting, Carlo sat at the head of the table, quietly awaiting Primo's reform proposals.

For this reform, Primo had prepared thoroughly. The cabinet government nominated by Primo were basically all reformists. The only two who were not reformists, Serrano and Carlo, had both previously expressed their support for reform.

Secondly, ever since Primo became Prime Minister, he had been preparing for the reform. He combined the current situation in Spain with extensive references to successful reform experiences from abroad, ultimately formulating a comprehensive Spanish reform plan.

He handed this plan to Carlo and said to him, with great solemnity and seriousness, "Your Majesty, this is the Spanish reform plan that dozens of officials and I have written after a long period of investigation and research.

The following is the initial reform plan, please review it."

The initial reform plan was actually quite simple, consisting of only four categories: agricultural, educational, industrial, and military reform.

"Prime Minister Primo, please elaborate on your reform plan." Although he supported the reform internally, this did not prevent Carlo from wanting to hear Primo's complete reform plan.

Primo nodded, stood up, and introduced to all the cabinet officials, "Our initial reform has only four aspects: agricultural, industrial, educational, and military reform.

In terms of agriculture, I plan to promote the reduction of agricultural taxes to increase the income of the agricultural population. At the same time, we will promote the export of grain to ensure that the agricultural population has ample sales channels for their produce.

In terms of industry, I believe we should restore Spain's industrial construction in a short period and invest in new factories, building our own industrial zones.

Building factories can provide more job opportunities, which will also help us further increase per capita income.

Regarding educational reform, I plan to establish more literacy classes to reduce our illiterate population. However, this will require a huge financial investment, thus it is the third priority for reform.

Finally, there is military reform. I hope to expand our army to around 100,000 men and equip our troops with more cannons.

A sufficient number of artillery pieces have proven their worth on the battlefield. Whether for defending against foreign enemies or stabilizing order in Spain, enhancing the army's combat effectiveness is necessary."

Upon hearing Primo's reform plan, before Carlo could even offer any opinion, the Minister of War, Serrano, who was sitting beside him, couldn't help himself.

Serrano stood up, looked at Primo with disbelief, and asked in astonishment, "Prime Minister Primo, do you even know how much pesetas are left in the Spanish treasury?

Every one of your reforms requires tens of millions of pesetas, and our government simply doesn't have the money. To be frank, if we cannot prepare enough pesetas before implementing the reforms, this reform is destined to end in failure."

"Don't we still have a lot of land?" Primo looked at Serrano, who had raised an objection, with a calm smile.

For a monarchical state, the largest landowner domestically was undoubtedly the monarch himself. Queen Isabella was herself a debauched and greedy monarch, so it was not surprising that the Bourbon Dynasty owned the most arable land in Spain.

After Queen Isabella was driven out, the arable land that originally belonged to the Bourbon Dynasty was confiscated by the Spanish Provisional Government. This land was Primo's leverage for implementing reforms.

Although this land once belonged to the king, it would certainly not be inherited by Carlo along with the throne.

Carlo naturally understood this, and he had no intention of becoming a landlord. Furthermore, he would never tarnish his reputation for the sake of this land.

On the contrary, if Carlo supported using this land to raise sufficient funds for the government, it could become one of the topics for promoting Carlo.

Seeing that Carlo had no interest in the land, Primo finally breathed a sigh of relief and explained to Carlo and Serrano, "The Bourbon family possesses vast lands, which are sufficient to provide adequate funding for our reforms.

I plan to divide these lands into three parts. One part will be distributed free of charge to the Spanish farmers, allowing them to have enough arable land to grow crops.

Another part will be sold to capitalists and large farm owners to accumulate sufficient funds for our reforms.

The remaining part will be nationalized and can be leased to farmers at a low price for cultivation."

"I support your idea, Prime Minister Primo." Carlo nodded, having no objection to the proposal of dividing the land into three parts. "And I have a suggestion that can raise funds for the reform: why don't we try issuing national bonds?"

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