Empire Rising: Spain

This not only can improve the educational level of the Spaniards but also effectively enhance the living standards of these child laborers.

After all, a completely uneducated illiterate child laborer and a technically skilled child laborer with primary education will definitely differ in terms of income.

However, child labor schools involve aspects that ordinary public schools do not, so Carlo only has some ideas and has not had the opportunity to implement them.

Compared to child laborers in the royal enterprises’ factories, those in private enterprises’ factories have significantly lower income and welfare treatment.

This is inevitable, considering the limited labor force provided by child laborers. Moreover, child laborers are more easily exploited compared to adult workers; their resistance is weaker, and many of them dare not resist under the intimidation of capitalists.

Capitalists are not the seemingly amicable business magnates seen on the internet in later generations; they are ruthless tyrants who devour people without leaving bones.

Carlo could only express helplessness regarding this. It is a common phenomenon in the large context of this era, and even if Carlo wants to rectify it, it cannot be completely cured.

But Carlo has made relevant regulations on certain bottom lines regarding child labor.

In Europe, child labor is quite extreme. To what extent? Factories run by capitalists even have a large number of child laborers under ten years old.

Yes, child laborers under ten years old. More precisely, there are a large number of children aged four to five, five to six.

The sources of these child laborers are varied. Some are from families that cannot afford the expenses of too many children, forcing them to send some to the factories to fend for themselves.

Another portion comes from various rescue homes, orphanages, and other institutions run by the Church.

Even in later advanced technological societies, there is the phenomenon of human trafficking, let alone in the era of 1876, where technology and relevant laws and regulations are very backward.

The phenomenon of human trafficking is common in European countries, and the life of the grassroots people in this era is indeed very miserable.

Ironically, while these capitalists frantically exploit child laborers for huge profits, they also disguise themselves as kind and benevolent gentlemen.

They donate to the Church, allowing it to establish more rescue homes and schools, gathering orphans and unwanted abandoned children.

These orphans are secretly transferred to the factories of the capitalists, becoming free labor under the capitalists’ long whips.

For these purchased individuals, capitalists show no mercy. For disobedient child laborers, the light punishment is corporal punishment, while the severe is to make them disappear through various methods.

The Spanish Government will sooner or later rectify these Church rescue homes and Church schools.

Even ignoring the underlying issue of human trafficking, the fact that these rescue homes and Church schools indirectly pass on knowledge predestines them to be banned or extensively rectified by the government.

It is well known that people are blind and easily influenced by public opinion. Among them, children are the most naive, as they easily believe what they learn. The capitalists and the Church use these methods to shape a distorted worldview for them.

This is entirely unacceptable to Carlo. Only the Royal Family and the government of Spain can use education for brainwashing, and actions by capitalists and the Church challenge the status of the Royal Family and the authority of the government.

Spain does not prohibit the existence of private schools, but they must comply with the regulation of the Ministry of Education. Relevant teaching materials must be approved by the Ministry of Education; what is taught cannot be arbitrary.

In public schools established by the government, from the primary level, there are a large number of ideological education courses. These courses do not forcibly brainwash students but subtly cultivate their loyalty to the King and patriotism, making them feel affectionate towards Spain, the Royal Family, and Carlo.

These newly enrolled students are like white sheets of paper. Even if Carlo does not write on them, someone else will sooner or later.

Instead of this happening, Carlo and the government should proactively write things beneficial to Spain’s development on these white sheets, cultivating a sense of national identity and pride in Spain, using the Royal Family as a bond to tightly link Spaniards from various regions together, jointly creating a large Spanish nation and a united Spanish state.

Binding the Royal Family and the state together has many benefits, such as ensuring the stable position of the Royal Family. Politicians, if they do not want the country to fall into a state of division, must preserve the Royal Family and use its legitimacy to control the unified state.

In this regard, it is quite similar to the British Royal Family. Even though the British Royal Family has lost most of its power in later generations, its role as a link between different regions of Britain is enough to prevent the British Government from taking action against it.

The British Government indeed can easily abolish the Royal Family, but doing so would result in Scotland and Ireland no longer being under England’s control, and the British Empire would fall apart.

Carlo’s goal is for the Spanish Royal Family to hold a similar status to the British Royal Family in later generations. Even without much power, the government cannot afford to underestimate the Royal Family.

As long as the succession of the throne does not fall into the chaotic situation seen in the Carlos Faction, the future Spanish Royal Family will become irreplaceable, and its position will remain stable, free from any risks affecting its status.

Time flies quickly, soon reaching the end of August 1876, marking the first year of the commencement of compulsory education pilot schemes for primary schools in both the Madrid Region and the Catalonia Region.

In the past few months, the Ministry of Education has rebuilt and constructed more than a hundred elementary schools, barely supporting the push for compulsory education in these two regions.

Although these schools are very rudimentary, they can still accommodate several hundred students with a bit of squeezing. Over a hundred elementary schools mean they can accommodate tens of thousands of students. Adding to the existing number of elementary schools in these regions, they barely satisfy the demand for compulsory education promotion.

As it is the first year of compulsory education promotion, the enrollment period for all elementary schools this year has been extended. From late August to late September, for a whole month, children willing to partake in compulsory education can go to the nearby schools to enroll.

Facts revealed that completely free compulsory education along with the provision of three daily meals is very appealing to the Spanish populace.

Since the primary schools started enrollment in late August, it took less than a week for the total number of enrolled students in all the elementary schools in Madrid to surpass ten thousand.

Whereas, combining the Madrid Region and Catalonia Region, in less than ten days, the number of enrolled students exceeded twenty thousand.

The enthusiastic participation of the populace in promoting compulsory education relieved both Carlo and the Minister of Education, Gerard Wilson.

Although compulsory education is completely free, and students are provided with three daily meals, there’s always the concern that some headstrong parents, focused only on immediate benefits, would prefer sending their children to factories rather than schools.

After all, sending them to school is cost-free, but it doesn’t generate income. If sent to a factory, even as child laborers, they could earn a considerable income due to the minimum income law issued by Spain.

Laws meant to improve the living standards of child laborers have unexpectedly become the reasons why some parents are unwilling to let their children attend school.

In the era without minimum income law, a grown male worker’s income was several times, if not abundantly more, than that of a child laborer.

But with the introduction of minimum income law, child laborers’ income has seen continuous growth, now nearly reaching half the income level of adult male workers.

The consequence of this is that many capitalists are no longer keen on hiring inexpensive child labor, since child laborers are not only entitled to holidays and rest time but their income is also not much less than that of female workers.

Because the combined population of the Madrid Region and Catalonia Region is barely over two million, this means that the peak period for student enrollment only exists from late August to early September.

By mid-September, there were already few students going to various elementary schools to enroll. Nonetheless, during this period, all the elementary schools in both regions managed to enroll more than 30,000 students in total, which is quite an achievement.