Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 104: Chapter 95: Progress in Government Work

swiftly passed, and 1871 followed.

Carlo attended the Spanish Government’s meeting summarizing the year 1870 and inquired about the progress on industrial and economic development.

From the government work report submitted by Prime Minister Prim, one can also see the specific differences in Spain’s development during the Primor Government and the Provisional Government periods.

During the Provisional Government period, Spain’s total railway mileage reached 5,400 kilometers.

This railway mileage figure is not much different from Italy’s 5,700 kilometers, although it cannot match the 10,000-kilometer railway mileage of the UK, France, Germany. However, it is still decent.

So the question arises, why did Spain’s 5,400 kilometers of railway not lead to the economic takeoff of Spain?

The real reason is that the width of Spain’s railway tracks is inconsistent with other European countries, turning Spain’s railway into a channel for domestic economy and material transport rather than an international trade line.

Even though Spain’s railway track width is consistent with Portugal, Portugal is ultimately a small country, and for Spain’s economy to take off, it must accelerate economic exchanges with other countries.

Since Prime Minister Prim officially took office, the Spanish Government has placed great emphasis on railway construction.

From mid-1869 to the end of 1870, Spain built over 500 kilometers of railway lines, edging the total railway mileage closer to 6,000 kilometers.

For the Spanish Government, such a railway construction speed already far surpasses previous rates. From the advent of railways to 1869, Spain only built 5,400 kilometers of railway, but under Prime Minister Prim, 500 kilometers of railway was built in just one year, marking one of Prime Minister Prim’s achievements.

Of course, besides railways, roads are also a significant component of Spanish Government construction.

In the past year and a half, the Spanish Government built a total of 4,132 kilometers of roads, with over 1,500 kilometers of these being four-lane main roads.

There are always regions that railways cannot reach, making road construction quite necessary. With the advent of automobiles, the importance of roads will only continue to rise.

The future importance of road construction will not diminish for the Spanish Government, and roads and railways will be among the Spanish Government’s main construction goals in the future.

Carlo also focused on the educational situation in Spain.

When Carlo first arrived in Spain, over 70% of the population was illiterate. Up to now, over a million people have received literacy education, reducing the illiteracy rate by at least 5%.

It is estimated that within the next four years, Spain’s illiterate population should reduce by about 15% to 20%. Before 1880, the goal is to reduce Spain’s illiterate population to below 40% of the total population, and before 1900, to below 10% of the total population. This is Carlo’s long-term target.

The ultimate grand vision is undoubtedly to achieve zero illiteracy within Spain. Only by fully realizing free primary education can the youth of Spain face society with enough knowledge to become technical workers and other professions needed by the country.

As more of the population receives education, ensuring that all school-age children receive education beyond primary school will secure sufficient enrollment sources for universities.

The saying that “education should start from a young age” holds truth. If one doesn’t even receive primary education, how can one skip middle and high school and directly apply to university?

Speaking of universities, currently, all universities combined in Spain enroll over 4,000 students annually.

However, among these 4,000, fewer than 1,000 choose to major in physics and chemistry. There are far too many students engaged in literature and arts within Spanish universities, even with more enrollments in architecture and engineering than in physics and chemistry.

Spain clearly does not need so many students in literature and arts. The next step is to reform some universities, either transforming them into comprehensive universities or directly converting them into science universities, integrating literature academies together, with maybe one or two universities being sufficient.

Achieving such integration is quite challenging as most universities in Spain are private institutions, with very few government-established universities.

The only aspect that affords Carlo some relief is that Spain’s population was steadily increasing in 1869 and 1870.

In 1868, the population growth rate was the lowest in nearly a decade, partly due to the revolution, and also because many Spanish farmers were unable to bear the expenses of raising children in the face of the government’s harsh taxes. Since having children and being unable to afford their upbringing was impractical, the best option was not to have them.

However, after the revolution erupted, the population growth rate returned to normal levels.

Although it’s impossible to accurately calculate Spain’s entire population, based on population changes across regions, one can roughly estimate that Spain’s current population exceeds 16.8 million.

In the entire year of 1870, Spain’s population increased by at least 150,000. If it weren’t for the undeveloped healthcare causing a high infant mortality rate, the population growth figures could be doubled.

The issue of low infant and toddler survival rates is a major challenge currently faced by all European countries.

It’s a common issue not only among ordinary civilians but also among aristocrats and the Royal Family.

For instance, Carlo’s father, Vittorio Emanuele II, lost two sons early, with one living only a few days.

Overall, Carlo is relatively content with his transition to this world. The only dissatisfaction is with the extremely backward state of medical technology compared to the future, which is utterly poor.

While the Industrial Revolution granted European countries formidable power, it did not yield significant progress in medical technology.

Although breakthroughs in biology and medicine continue to emerge across countries, the fact that European life expectancy remains below 40 years sufficiently proves the poor medical environment of this era.

Of course, the average life expectancy of 40 years in Europe cannot be entirely blamed on the poor medical environment. After all, the majority of European civilians suffer under the exploitation of capitalists, working over ten hours a day, and living to around 40 years is already quite commendable.

Currently, Spain lacks a specific work hour system, but some Royal Family enterprises have clearly stipulated that workers should not exceed 12 hours of work per day.

As a King, Carlo naturally cannot recklessly exploit those workers.

Besides clarifying that daily work should not exceed 12 hours, Royal Family enterprises provide employees with one day off per month to alleviate long-term accumulated fatigue and exhaustion.