Empire Rising: Spain

Moreover, Spain’s economy is booming, with government revenue rising year by year, naturally there is no shortage of funds for weaponry upgrades.

Even if the government can’t allocate much money, the Ministry of Defense can complete the upgrade through its annual budget over the next few years.

Carlo has always placed great importance on the military, and military spending has consistently accounted for about a third of the government’s financial expenditures. Even as government revenue has substantially increased in recent years, military spending has not fallen below a quarter of the total government expenditure.

With such a sufficient military budget, the Ministry of Defense is only filled with joy in the face of the birth of the new rifle, with no concerns about the budget.

Since the rifle has passed the Ministry of Defense’s assessment, the next important task is negotiating the procurement price and deciding how many rifles and bullets the Ministry of Defense should purchase.

Due to the close collaboration between the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Military Factory, negotiations proceeded smoothly and the final results were quickly generated.

Before the negotiations, the naming of the rifle sparked debates between the Ministry of Defense and the Royal Military Factory.

In the end, Carlo made an executive decision to name the rifle after its primary developer Maxim and add the year, hence named Maxim M1884 Rifle.

This new rifle, according to naming conventions, was called the Maxim M1884 Rifle, abbreviated as the 84-Type Rifle.

Thanks to the ample military budget, the Ministry of Defense plans to directly order 300,000 Maxim M1884 Rifles and 50 million rounds of bullets from the Royal Military Factory, thoroughly rearming the Spanish Army with the new rifles within the next two years.

The Royal Military Factory was ecstatic to receive this order, representing a steady inflow of orders for the next two years, allowing the factory to work overtime to earn money.

However, this was not without bad news. With the advent of the new rifle, the original Vitali M1872 Rifle quickly lost its value, meaning its production became unnecessary.

If the Spanish Army fully transitions to the Maxim M1884 Rifle, nearly 300,000 Vitali M1872 Rifles can be decommissioned.

Disposing of so many rifles and matching bullets will be a significant challenge, requiring sales at lower prices to countries in America and Asia for swift handling.

Fortunately, Spain’s colonial army of 138,000 troops can postpone rearming with the new rifles.

This means at most only 150,000 Vitali M1872 Rifles need urgent disposal, a task that is not overly difficult especially given the current trend of accelerated colonization by various nations; the weapon market remains quite large.

Since smokeless powder is not yet widespread, both Vitali M1872 Rifle bullets and black powder bullets retain considerable value in other countries.

If European nations gradually equip smokeless powder rifle bullets, the outdated design of these rifles and black powder bullets will greatly diminish in value.

This necessitates that Spain seize the timing gap and sell the soon-to-be-replaced weaponry as early as possible.

For Carlo, there aren’t that many issues to worry about. The weaponry upgrade for the Royal Army is under the Ministry of Defense’s purview, and while the Royal Family handles the Guard Army’s weaponry, Carlo certainly won’t personally manage these matters.

Nonetheless, Carlo is willing to promptly facilitate the weaponry upgrade for the Guard Army.

After the Ministry of Defense signed an order for 300,000 rifles and 50 million rounds of bullets with the Royal Military Factory, Carlo also instructed Steward Loren to sign an agreement with the factory for 20,000 rifles and 2 million rounds of ammunition for the Guard Division’s weapon upgrade and routine training.

Carlo isn’t stingy when it comes to the Guard Division. The rifles and bullets spent now will transform into combat power, crucial for protecting the Royal Family and his safety.

To Carlo, the stronger the Guard Division’s combat power, the more secure the Royal Family’s safety and status become.