Empire Rising: Spain

Since the nobility could amass large tracts of land during this period, they naturally could also engage in corruption through various means.

The former American Colonies provided Spain with a wealth of gold and silver, but only a portion of these resources made it into the coffers of the Royal Family and the government; much of it became the private property of the nobility and the Church.

Among these assets, there surely were properties obtained legally by the nobility and the Church, but to say all were earned entirely by legal means might not be accurate.

In any case, this legislation indeed affected a large number of the old nobility, as they were the most likely candidates to embezzle millions of pesseta from the government.

Although a million pesseta might not seem much to the Spanish Government, it was still a substantial sum of nearly forty thousand pounds, quite valuable in this era.

Converted into gold, it amounted to a whopping 290 kilograms, almost half a ton of gold.

As the foremost of the nobility, Carlo naturally also noticed the impact of this legislation on the old-style nobles.

However, Carlo could not simply stand by, as these nobles were ostensibly still loyal to the Royal Family, and Carlo could not just disregard them.

Taking advantage of the opportunity presented by a shareholders’ meeting of the Royal United Bank, Carlo held discussions with many of Spain’s major nobles, addressing the recently announced "Spanish Officials’ Performance Assessment Act" and the handling of past corruption cases.

Carlo secretly expressed his true attitude towards this legislation, but also provided protection to the nobles.

Carlo stated that nobles who had embezzled more than a million pesseta in the past only needed to make an unrequited donation of one million pesseta to the Royal United Bank, and Carlo would overlook their past misdeeds.

The reason for making such donations to the Royal United Bank was because it was co-founded by the Royal Family and the nobility.

These corrupt nobles donating to the Royal United Bank still ultimately benefited the Royal Family and the nobility.

Carlo’s decision was supported by other nobles, as most of them stood to gain without having to do anything.

As soon as one noble donated to the bank, the nobles were entitled to distribute 250,000 pesseta based on their shares. If more nobles made donations to the bank, the remaining uninvolved nobles would receive even more funds.

During the meeting, it was clear that several nobles had ideas, but they would not express their willingness to donate to Carlo in public.

Indeed, after the meeting ended, several nobles approached Carlo privately, expressing their willingness to cleanse their previous sins through donations.

But most nobles remained unmoved. After all, noble wealth has been accumulated over hundreds or even thousands of years, not just by one generation of nobles.

Most of the individual corrupt funds from the nobles did not reach a million pesseta, and Carlo could not settle accounts with those who had passed, from the previous generation of nobles.

Nonetheless, the eventual result aligned with Carlo’s expectations. This incident also served as a wake-up call to these old-fashioned nobles, making them realize that the current Kingdom of Spain was not the same as the former Kingdom Government, and the Royal Family could not allow these traditional nobles to exploit the lower class of Spain arbitrarily.

Prime Minister Prim evidently placed more emphasis on the implementation of the Officials’ Performance Assessment Act.

Following the Spanish Parliament’s passing of this law, Prime Minister Prim requested that each regional government devise the performance assessment of all regional officials within a month and submit it to the Parliament and the government-established officials’ assessment department.

Assigning appropriate tasks to all the officials within the regions became the primary responsibility of each regional governor. Successfully accomplishing this became their merit, while failure would naturally lead to deductions.

The Spanish Government’s assessment of all officials commenced from the day the legislation was enacted.

Prime Minister Prim had no patience for officials who were both incompetent and unethical. Swift elimination from the government was Prim’s agenda for those lacking capability while indulging in rampant corruption.

To motivate the officials, Prime Minister Prim also instructed the performance assessment department to establish specific reward and penalty systems.

While poor performance in the assessments would lead to government penalties or even removal from office, earning good grades could increase one’s salary, accumulate merits, and lead to promotion.

Accumulating military merits could confer a title, and similarly, accumulating merit could also confer a title. Knowing that mere promotions or salary increases couldn’t attract all Spanish officials, Prime Minister Prim specifically sought Carlo’s approval to clarify that accumulating merit could also provide opportunities for ennoblement.

Even those born as commoners, establishing significant merit in their position, coupled with consistently excellent administrative assessments, would have the chance to be ennobled.

As long as one worked diligently throughout their life and did not commit any significant errors, earning a baron’s title was relatively straightforward.

The situation now was different from before; nobility was indeed common in Spain, and a baron was no longer a rarity.

In fact, in Spain, even the title of Earl seemed like an honorary title, becoming ubiquitous.

There were even quite a few dukes, which was why Carlo often found the old-style nobles troublesome, as there were simply too many of them in Spain, an astonishing number.

Ennoblement and promotions did not hold much allure for the high-ranking nobles; after all, they were already at the pinnacle among Spanish nobility, with little room for advancement in rank.

Only those like Prime Minister Prim and Duke Serrano, who held the highest positions in Spanish politics and military, could further advance from their current state and have room for elevation in rank.

For most dukes, holding onto their family’s existing assets and making further progress was already commendable.

As for the higher title of Grand Duke, acquiring it requires accumulating significant merits, which is no easy feat.

To inspire a large number of officials born as commoners, Prime Minister Prim also assigned many relatively simple tasks, such as lowering illiteracy rates in various places and promoting the use of Spanish on a larger scale—tasks which were accomplished with some effort.

These tasks weren’t just free rides for achieving merit, but they were definitely tasks that could be completed easily.

Take reducing illiteracy rates, for example; it was something the government was vigorously promoting. As long as local officials weren’t foolish, actively cooperating with government policies would inevitably reduce illiteracy rates.

As for promoting the use of Spanish, it primarily targeted the officials of Catalonia and Basque.

Officials seeking merit would have to enforce the use of Spanish in these regions, reducing the application of local languages.

Previously, it was the Spanish Government confronting these nationalists, but next, let the governors of Catalonia and the Basque Country handle these matters.

Nationalists advocating the use of local languages would endanger the merit of various local officials, making it necessary for them, even if reluctantly, to reduce the application of local languages in their regions for their career prospects.

Most of the region’s officials were from the local nationality, and through this method, it could engender opposition between the local nationalists and the officials, reducing the threat of local separatism through division.

The administrative reforms sparked a significant stir, but in reality, only a small proportion of officials were affected.

From July to August 1872, the assessment department seriously dealt with at least two hundred officials, including mayors and heads of minor government departments.

Fortunately, after Prime Minister Prim took office, he conducted a major reshuffle of the Cabinet, with all current Cabinet ministers supporting reform from either the Progressive Party or the Liberal Party. Although these individuals might not be particularly loyal to Carlo, their competence was undeniable, at least not linked to incompetence.