Empire Rising: Spain

The final choice of the Lanfang Republic, naturally, was to submit to Spanish rule.

At least by submitting to Spain, there is still a choice. Without Spain’s support, the only outcome awaiting Lanfang is extinction.

“Wu, the diplomat, you have made the right choice.” Inside the Madrid Royal Palace, Carlo smiled contentedly as he reached a preliminary agreement with Wu Yongxiang regarding cooperation between Spain and Lanfang.

As Wu Yongxiang is the plenipotentiary representative of the Lanfang Republic, signing the cooperation treaty only requires his signature.

As for whether the Lanfang Republic would breach the treaty, Carlo was not concerned at all.

Before the Lanfang Republic defeated the Dutch, they were constantly under colonial pressure from the Dutch East Indies.

And the timing of their defeat of the Dutch was completely decided by Spain. As long as Carlo was willing, the Lanfang Republic could continue to exhaust the Dutch indefinitely.

On February 12, 1875, Spanish Prime Minister Prim and Lanfang’s plenipotentiary representative Wu Yongxiang signed the document of the Sino-Spanish Friendly Cooperation Treaty in the presence of several media witnesses, leaving precious image records.

Most media outlets were not interested in the Lanfang Republic. They were curious as to why Spain would choose to sign a cooperation agreement with such an unrecognized and powerless republic.

In terms of interested countries, perhaps only the Netherlands cared.

Because theoretically Lanfang falls within the Netherlands’ colonial realm, they were even nominally subjected to the Dutch East Indies Colony.

However, by the time the Dutch received the news, several days had passed since the signing of the cooperation treaty.

No matter how dissatisfied the Dutch were, they could only swallow their grievances.

After all, Spain’s size and comprehensive strength overwhelmed the Netherlands, unless the Netherlands was still the United Kingdom governing Belgium and Luxembourg, otherwise, it could not compare to Spain.

But then again, if the Low Countries were still united, there might not even be a need for competition between Spain and the Dutch, as powerful nations would intervene to dissolve the union themselves.

Located within the angle formed by England, France, and Germany, it was destined that this region could not harbor a true powerhouse in the real sense.

Forget a superpower at the level of global powers, even a regional power is not allowed to exist.

Simply put, England, France, and Germany would not allow a nation in the Lowland Region to emerge that is more powerful or threatens them.

When Prime Minister Prim learned that Carlo had concluded cooperation talks with the representative of the Lanfang Republic, he expressed no opposition.

After all, such cooperation was beneficial to Spain, and most clauses in the cooperation agreement could help Spain colonize the Kalimantan Region better.

However, regarding the loyalty of the Lanfang Republic, this newly acquired vassal state, neither Carlo nor Prime Minister Prim fundamentally trusted it.

Simply put, the Netherlands preferred to eliminate this country and fully annex the territory of the Lanfang Republic. While Spain hoped to control the Lanfang Republic, and in the process of resisting the Dutch, obtain assistance from a country with over four million people and a relatively developed agricultural sector.

It must be admitted, Southeast Asia’s land is naturally suitable for cultivating crops.

Because it’s tropical, the rice planted here can be harvested twice or even thrice per year, increasing grain yields several times compared to temperate regions.

Even though the Lanfang Republic only has a population of four million, the food they produce is sufficient to feed over fifteen million people for more than a year.

This is beyond exaggerated, making the agriculture of the Lanfang Republic the cornerstone of the entire nation, and a major source of economic income.

For Spain, the grain output from the Lanfang Republic can effectively fill the food shortage in the East Indies, namely the Philippines region.

Letting the Lanfang people provide sufficient food for Spain, Spaniards can focus their energy on higher-value crops like rubber or other industries.

Of course, the greatest role of the Lanfang Republic to Carlo and Spain is not supplying food and resisting the Dutch but serving as a client state to provide more troops for Spain.

Indeed, Carlo had no intention of abandoning the Lanfang Republic. In Carlo’s future strategic plans for Spain, the Lanfang Republic would serve as Spain’s permanent client state, helping Spain expand its territory and build a prosperous empire.

Don’t be misled by the current four million population of the Lanfang Republic, it stands behind a populous nation.

The reason the population is currently only four million, aside from the Dutch’s constant colonial oppression, is also because this populous nation hasn’t entirely declined.

Once the Lanfang Republic builds significant fame, it will certainly attract more population, allowing its populace to exceed ten million.

A country with a population of ten million will significantly expand Spain’s military capacity, enabling army formations ranging from tens of thousands to even hundreds of thousands.

With such a vast army, face-offs with the Dutch East Indies Colony and the British’s longed-for India could cause substantial threats.

Of course, Carlo wouldn’t be foolish enough to truly compete with the British in India. Whether one could or could not win aside, Spain’s stature isn’t enough to suppress such a large nation.