Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 23: Chapter 22: Agricultural Tax Reduction Bill

“Your Majesty, if I may speak frankly, our people no longer have the funds to purchase our government bonds.” Hearing Carlo’s proposal, Prim gave a wry smile and reminded Carlo.

“No, Prime Minister, our government bonds are not aimed at ordinary civilians.” Carlo shook his head and explained with a smile:

We can issue bonds similar to educational bonds, attracting capitalists and factory owners to purchase them with interest rates higher than the banks’.

We don’t need to set the issuance size too high; perhaps 10 million Pesseta will be enough to meet our initial educational needs.

This batch of bonds will be 100% used for educational reform. This will not only reduce the illiteracy rate in our country but also benefit factories that require a certain level of knowledge.

Once our first batch of bonds is repaid on time, issuing such bonds in the future will become much easier. At least for us now, this is a more reliable method than borrowing and will burden the government with less interest.”

Capitalists are profit-driven; bonds with interest higher than the banks’ will surely attract some capitalists to buy them.

If a specific special-purpose bond is issued for reforms like education, it will also reassure the capitalists purchasing the bonds.

After all, what capitalists worry about is what the government will do with these funds. Investing in education is definitely better than government and nobility squandering the funds. At least capitalists don’t need to worry about the government not having enough funds to repay the bonds in the future.

“We can try it.” After much consideration, Prim finally nodded, deciding to give it a try.

The first batch of bonds does not need to be issued in great numbers and can be used to test whether this method can help the government raise funds.

Raising funds would, of course, be ideal, but even if we can’t raise funds, the government doesn’t stand to lose much.

After discussion by the Cabinet, it was unanimously decided to set the issuance of the first batch of educational bonds at 8 million Pesseta, equivalent to 307,000 Pounds.

Though this amount is not large, it can establish several literacy classes specifically aimed at eradicating illiteracy. Literacy classes do not even require complete school structures; just find a house, set some tables and chairs, and bring in some books to teach Spaniards simple elementary school knowledge.

The news of the government’s issuance of educational bonds caused a sensation in Spain as soon as it was announced.

Many Spaniards are inclined to support the government’s efforts in education, at least proving that the current Kingdom Government values the common people more than during Isabel’s reign.

Even farmers are willing to see national investment in education. Even if they cannot benefit from the educational reforms, it doesn’t mean their children cannot.

However, while support is high, those willing to buy educational bonds are few.

Although the first batch of bonds was only set at 8 million Pesseta, only 200,000 were sold in two days, not even totaling 10,000 Pounds.

Realizing this was an opportunity, Carlo was naturally not going to let it pass. On the third day of the bond issuance, Carlo publicly stated that he would subscribe to 3 million Pesseta of educational bonds.

million Pesseta in bonds is actually not a lot, only tens of thousands of Pounds, not even half of the bond issuance.

But Carlo, as the King, taking the initiative to subscribe for bonds, held a different significance for the Spaniards.

While this small gesture will not make everyone support Carlo overnight, many Spaniards’ perceptions of Carlo improved, and they became willing to give him enough time to demonstrate himself as an excellent Monarch.

At the very least, Carlo has shown a side vastly different from Queen Isabella, and the Spaniards now have patience for Carlo.

After Carlo took the lead, the actions of the capitalists finally picked up pace.

After about a week, over half of the 8 million Pesseta bonds were sold, and the government also obtained initial funds to push for educational reform.

In mid-September 1869, literacy classes sprouted like bamboo shoots in Madrid, adopting a voluntary sign-up and free learning approach.

As long as one is a citizen of Spain, they can sign up for these literacy classes. Textbooks and tuition are free, but attendance in a literacy class at least once a week is mandatory.

The literacy classes also considered the actual circumstances of many ordinary people. In 1869 Spain, there was no specific length of work.

In other words, faced with exploitative capitalists and factory owners, Spaniards rarely worked less than 12 hours a day, often reaching thirteen or fourteen hours.

Forget about weekends off; even requesting sick leave is difficult since capitalists are unwilling to see factory output reduced, affecting their profit speed.

As for occupational injuries, they had nothing to do with this era. Even dying at the workplace would not warrant compensation.

The various welfare policies seen in later generations were won by workers and laborers worldwide through a long process of oppression and resistance.

The literacy campaign within educational reforms carried out extensively and had a significant impact on Spain.

After all, it is a free literacy campaign, and Spaniards willingly participated in the literacy classes. Carlo also had his little ideas in these literacy classes, which is that only Spanish would be used, not Catalonia or any other regional languages.

The purpose of this is to reduce the sense of division between various parts of Spain. Cultural assimilation should start with language; in Spain, one should speak Spanish, which is very important.

The good news is that Spain has been united for hundreds of years, and most people do not reject the idea of a united Spain.

The independence and nationalist parties in various regions are still a minority, and this does not significantly impact Spain’s unity.

While the literacy campaign moved forward, Prim also started reforming agriculture.

Although the Spanish Government’s revenue is not high, this does not prevent Prim from reducing agricultural taxes.

On September 27, 1869, while the literacy campaign was still being enthusiastically discussed by Spaniards, the Spanish Cabinet Government submitted a brand-new “Agricultural Tax Reduction Bill” in a new House of Representatives meeting.

This bill created more of a sensation in Spain than the literacy campaign, as the vast majority of Spain’s population are agricultural, and tax reduction has tangible benefits for them.

As expected, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly with more than 70% support to pass this bill, and the Cabinet Government also announced the start of tax reductions in 1870 to effectively increase the income of the agricultural population.