Empire Rising: Spain

Similarly, due to Ferdinand VII’s brutal and dictatorial rule, his reign led Spain to lose the vast majority of its colonies in America, completely plunging from a mighty colonial empire into an abyss.

During the establishment of Ferdinand VII’s dictatorship, constitutionalists and republicans within the army had once staged an uprising. Ferdinand VII directly surrendered to the army and openly swore allegiance to the liberal constitution before the constitution, but then reneged, using foreign forces to quell the domestic uprising.

After Napoleon’s failed restoration, France restored the rule of the Bourbon family. Ferdinand VII, also of the Bourbon family, in order to ally with France, did not hesitate to use various means to deliberately weaken Spain’s military, to reduce opposition forces within the army, and facilitate the French army’s intervention in Spanish rebellions.

In addition, Ferdinand VII forcibly amended the succession law, leading Spain into the decades-long Carlist Wars.

This rebellion caused Spain to lose great opportunities for development and remained chaotic until before World War II. During this period, the Spanish-American War caused Spain to lose its only two large colonies, which directly led to Spain becoming a second-rate European nation, with little renown in later generations.

When people of later generations mention the great powers of Europe, they think of Germany, which single-handedly challenged all of Europe during the World Wars, the mighty British Empire of the Victorian Era, France, which swept across Europe during Napoleon’s time, the decaying yet numerically superior Russia, and the most unique Austria-Hungary Empire. But they do not think of Spain, the world’s first Sun Never Sets Empire.

Spain’s decline resulted from various reasons and cannot be entirely blamed on the Bourbon family. However, it is undeniable that during the decades under Ferdinand VII and Queen Isabella’s rule, Spain quickly fell from a mighty colonial empire to a second-rate nation with few colonies.

Ferdinand VII and Isabella II, these remarkable father and daughter monarchs, could certainly compete for the title of Europe’s most incompetent and inept father-daughter royal pair.

It was precisely because of the poor performance of this father-daughter duo that Carlo quickly gained the support of the Spaniards. In fact, the Spaniards did not ask for much. They just wanted a stable and peaceful developmental environment, along with a faint hope for the nation’s revival.

Since Carlo brought them this hint of hope, they were willing to hold onto this hope and fight for Spain in the hope of national revival.

During the nationwide anti-corruption and performance review, Carlo also reiterated the requirements related to the performance evaluations of officials.

Actually, performance evaluation is very simple, mainly examining the changes that occur in the department or city managed by the official during their term.

Whether it is industry, agriculture, economy, or education, as long as there is noticeable growth, it is considered the achievement of that official.

Although under such criteria, officials might overemphasize statistical data, for the current Spain, having data is better than no data.

At least in the short term, vigorously developing the industry, agriculture, economy, and education is advantageous. Spain’s development has not yet reached a bottleneck, and great development will only make Spain stronger in the current environment.

As the time neared Christmas, the land seized from rebellious nobles and officials involved in the rebellion began to be sold and leased in batches to farmers.

In different regions, the price of land varied greatly. In some fertile plains, the price of arable land was quite high.

But in mountainous or hilly areas, where the land was not fertile or quite barren, the price of arable land was relatively low.

The rent for the land was similar. Rent was not fixed and would change according to the past yields of the land, combined with local grain prices and farmers’ income.

The Land Lease Act also has relevant provisions regarding land rent. Whether it is more fertile or more barren land, the rent must not exceed a quarter of the income.

For farming families with an income below the average annual income, they can apply for agricultural tax rebates not exceeding 30%.

If it is a family member of the Royal Army, they can apply for a one-year land tax exemption plus a 3-year agricultural tax rebate not exceeding 25%. For those wounded or killed in action, the agricultural tax rebate can be extended to 10 years.

The treatment for the Royal Guard is somewhat better, but overall it is not much different.

In this era, there was no complete pension system, and the compensation given after a soldier’s death depended entirely on whether the rulers were willing to give it.

Carlo was quite generous about this, at least willing to give certain subsidies and compensation to soldiers who sacrificed for the country and the Royal Family.

The families of soldiers can also enjoy certain agricultural and commercial tax rebates. In short, being a soldier has many benefits, which also encourages Spaniards to join the military proactively.

Under such a system, Spaniards are indeed not averse to joining the army, and even hope to join the army for a chance to earn military merit and be awarded titles.

Even if they cannot obtain titles, gaining some land and financial subsidies is quite substantial, especially for those farming families; the more land they have, the higher their family income.

The land rewarded for military merit can opt to change locations. This allows for your land to be consolidated, making it easier to plant and harvest and saving a lot of trouble.

Carlo and the Spanish Government also encouraged those who received land rewards to merge lands through exchanging lands.

Such consolidated land is beneficial for future agricultural development, whether it be for using fertilizer technology or future mechanized agriculture, it’s much more convenient than scattered land.