Empire Rising: Spain

Carlo was also paying attention to the continuously active Primor Government during this period. Although both legislative measures achieved significant success, the enactment of such laws was bound to arouse dissatisfaction among some vested interests.

A single legislative measure might not cause much of a stir, but when several measures accumulate, their impact could be immeasurable.

Fortunately, the second legislative measure had little effect on the nobility. The old nobility held large amounts of land and had not yet transformed into capital-driven new nobility.

The new nobility, however, did not possess substantial funds and mainly participated in the operations of the Royal United Bank, thereby receiving dividends from it.

Carlo went to great lengths to court these new aristocrats. The Royal Family held 75% of the shares in the Royal United Bank, with the remaining 25% divided among a consortium of noble families.

The consortium’s shares were further divided into several portions. If any new noble wished to participate in the consortium, they would need to invest funds to subscribe to the consortium’s shares.

All future investments by the consortium would produce dividends, which would be distributed to the noble families behind the consortium according to the proportion of shares held.

Of course, to prevent some new nobles from having insufficient funds to purchase consortium shares, Carlo also provided certain incentives to the new nobles.

For example, all nobles ennobled after Carlo’s ascension, even though lacking substantial land, would directly receive some shares from the noble consortium.

Initially, the value of the shares rewarded to them was not very high, totaling only a few hundred pesetas. Yet, as the noble consortium developed, these shares’ value would eventually rise to thousands or even tens of thousands of pesetas.

These new nobles, after accumulating a certain amount of wealth, could also purchase shares in the noble consortium, increasing their shareholdings, and naturally, future dividends would also be higher.

Do not underestimate the currently not very large noble consortium.

The Royal United Bank had already become a colossal enterprise in the Spanish banking sector, surpassing even the newly established Spanish National Bank assembled at significant governmental expense.

Admittedly, one of the main reasons is that the Spanish National Bank started too late. The Royal United Bank had already become a giant in the Spanish banking industry before it even began and had now become the largest financial group in Spain.

Compared to the Royal United Bank, the Spanish National Bank was smaller. But when compared to other banks in Spain, the National Bank was still a behemoth.

Both the Royal United Bank and the Spanish National Bank were not only the top two banking giants in Spain but also accounted for eighty percent of all bank customers and deposits in Spain.

Of course, over fifty-five percent of these were in the Royal United Bank, while the National Bank had only about twenty-five percent of the customer base and deposits.

All remaining Spanish banks combined accounted for less than twenty percent of the market, underscoring the monopoly status of the Royal United Bank and the National Bank in the Spanish banking industry.

The formation of monopolistic giants is a necessary development of the times and something every country cannot avoid.

For Spain, having these two giants monopolize the banking industry is much better than having a proliferation of various medium and small-sized banks.

The two official banks would enjoy more public support and attract more deposits, enabling them to effectively utilize Spain’s private capital to develop its economy.

Although both official banks perhaps harbored some self-serving interests in development, they would not back down in the face of national development imperatives.

Should the government face a funding shortage, it could have these two officially oriented banks subscribe to national debt, at least temporarily alleviating the government’s funding crisis.

If private funds were completely dispersed among various private banks, gathering them would be cumbersome, and small-scale banks would be prone to bankruptcy.

While monopolistic giants might not be suitable for Spain’s future development, they were the best choice for Spain, which was currently in need of comprehensive revival.

Spain’s development was not smooth sailing; all industries would encounter numerous challenges.

On June 3, 1872, at a routine meeting of the Spanish Cabinet Government, the government discussed the current issues facing Spain’s development.

Having not attended a cabinet meeting for a long time, Carlo returned to the government’s meeting and listened to the cabinet’s discussions.

Carlo’s presence at the cabinet meeting was actually due to Prime Minister Prim’s invitation. Why? Because presently, only Carlo had extra funds to focus on developing certain industries, which was also why Prime Minister Prim invited Carlo.

Dressed by a maid in the royal court’s custom white military uniform, with the rank of Marshal of Spain and holding a custom-made royal sword, after bidding farewell to Queen Sophie, Carlo headed confidently and smilingly to participate in the government meeting.

Carlo had every reason to be confident. Becoming the king of a European power like Spain before the age of nineteen and now, at twenty-one, having gained some control over power, who wouldn’t wear a confident smile?

The good news was that the 19th-century nobles and kings had discarded the robes of the 17th and 18th centuries in favor of more handsome and simple military uniforms.

With military ranks and a series of medals and tassels adorned, the military uniforms of kings and nobles appeared more imposing and handsome compared to the previous robes.

Carlo particularly liked wearing military uniforms. Besides donning the royal dress suit for necessary occasions, Carlo preferred wearing a military uniform when going out.

First, the uniform was not cumbersome; secondly, it was truly handsome. As a king, Carlo could customize the uniform according to his style, ensuring maximum impressiveness.

Upon walking into the government’s conference room, the cabinet members were respectfully waiting for Carlo.

As the guards opened the door, the cabinet members all rose, respectfully greeting Carlo.

Carlo smiled and nodded, taking his time to walk to the head of the conference table where he leisurely sat down under everyone’s gaze.

No matter who leads the government, as long as the king attends a government meeting, the head position must be reserved for the king.

After all, the king is theoretically the highest ruler of a country, and even the current Spanish government must serve the king.

Power is power, and status is status; these are not the same.

Once everyone was present, the cabinet meeting officially commenced. Prime Minister Prim, as the government’s leader, naturally set the theme for this cabinet meeting.