Chapter 748 Saint Prim High School

While the war on the Balkan Peninsula rages on, over in Spain, Carlo is also enacting new reforms.

Rather than calling it reform, it’s more like some small planning for the future.

This future is not meant for Carlo, but for the next heir to the throne, Prince Juan Fernando.

Prince Juan Fernando was born in May 1875, and he’s about to turn 14.

As previously mentioned, the young lad is quite serious about his studies, and his grades are excellent, earning high praise from the teachers specially hired by Carlo.

As he reaches the age of 14, the basic education Carlo prepared for him is now complete. Next, he needs to undergo a higher level of advanced education, along with training in military and political capabilities.

Carlo has his own ambitions and plans for the education of the future heir to the Spanish throne.

To prevent the future King of Spain from becoming a dull monarch like those of the Bourbon Dynasty, the years from when the heir turns 14 until their adulthood will be the most crucial educational phase.

Carlo spares no expense in hiring renowned teachers from around the world, even creating certain scenarios to help them hone their abilities.

Apart from the heir’s own capabilities being crucial, the ability of the future King of Spain to gain his allies during this period is also quite important.

A king cannot manage his country well relying solely on himself. A sufficient number of capable subordinates is necessary to handle the numerous governmental affairs.

Carlo has pondered over this issue for a long time and finally decided to establish Saint Prim High School, where Prince Juan Fernando and future heirs can cultivate their abilities and find their future allies.

Saint Prim High School will integrate the former Royal Knight Order, enrolling talented young individuals from the nobility to be groomed as companions for the princes.

Integrating the power of the nobility is something Carlo must do, as well as something the future King of Spain must do.

At any time, the nobility is the greatest support for a king and the most loyal and reliable class.

Times have changed. Carlo has been King of Spain for 20 years now, and the local Spanish nobility can only choose to pledge allegiance to Carlo. The previous Bourbon Dynasty is now a thing of the past; Bourbon remnants cannot stage a comeback in Spain.

One can discern from the movements of these old nobles that they are gradually aligning themselves with Carlo and the Spanish Royal Family.

When Carlo proposed the West African development plan, these old nobles mobilized a large amount of manpower and resources to develop the land in Africa.

The nobles astutely sold some of their land in the homeland to the government and royal family, which ensured that even with a population boom in Spain, the per capita arable land did not decrease significantly.

Though to this day, a large number of nobles still control a significant portion of Spanish land, things have improved considerably compared to when Carlo first became King of Spain.

Carlo doesn’t aspire to take all of this noble land into his hands since, for these traditional nobles, this land is also their fundamental means of survival.

As long as the nobles don’t excessively raise the rent on their land leases, it can ensure that Spanish farmers have enough income to sustain themselves.

It is precisely because of the prudence of these nobles that Spain’s African development plan has proceeded very smoothly.

The great industrial construction of Spain began under Carlo’s reign, which also led to Spanish private capital not being particularly robust, aside from the official capital headed by the royal family and government.

At this point, the nobility becomes quite an important support; they control substantial wealth, which is crucial when invested into the development of the African colonies.

For these discerning nobles, Carlo naturally won’t be stingy.

If any noble is willing to concentrate on developing African land, Spain is willing to purchase their homeland land at a price higher than the market rate.

If they are unwilling to sell, they can also opt for a land exchange.

The land exchange ratio varies depending on the colony.

The lowest land value is in the South Morocco Colony, where one acre of Spanish homeland land can be exchanged for 10 acres of land in the South Morocco Colony.

As for the more fertile land in the West Africa Colony, the exchange ratio of Spanish homeland land can only reach 1:3, meaning 1 acre of Spanish homeland land is exchanged for 3 acres of land in the West Africa Colony.

Although such a land exchange ratio isn’t particularly high, the advantage is that the African colonies have a wealth of free labor.

Once these nobles exchange their land for territory in the African colonies, they can exploit and oppress the local African natives without restraint, and no one cares about the fate of these natives.

The crops produced from the land can be shipped to Spain or sold in European countries, or they can be sold to official grain trading companies at market prices.

In this regard, Carlo will not shortchange his own people; the prices offered by import-export companies are quite reasonable and will not cause these nobles who toil in the colonies to incur losses.

In other words, when these nobles head to the colonies to develop land, they are practically engaging in a guaranteed profit venture.