Empire Rising: Spain

The Hohenzollern Family was quite opulent. As a renowned royal family in Europe, the residence they prepared for Carlo was not just a few rooms, but a medium-sized estate located in the suburbs of Berlin.

The Spanish officials were also accommodated in another estate near Carlo’s residence, within a ten-minute walk.

Carlo was quite satisfied with the accommodations arranged by the German Government. However, he wasn’t very impressed with the German cuisine.

Having been in this world for so long, Carlo had developed a fairly clear understanding of European cuisine. Among the cuisines of various European countries, Italian and French cuisines could be ranked at the top.

Compared to the cuisines of other countries, Carlo still preferred Italian and French cuisines. Following them, Carlo also quite liked the distinctive cuisines of Spain.

Carlo would taste Spanish seafood paella from time to time, and Iberico ham was a delicacy he frequently enjoyed.

But apart from these, European cuisine wasn’t particularly appealing. In Austria-Hungary, the only distinctive foods Carlo found were schnitzel and apple strudel, the latter supposedly created for the Habsburg family by a chef.

As for the German specialties, they mainly included sausages, spätzle, and pork knuckles.

Fortunately, although these foods were not stunning, they were definitely not unappetizing either. Germany wasn’t an absolute culinary desert; at least compared to the United Kingdom, German food was presentable.

Besides those distinctive foods, the table also featured Konigsberg meatballs, cheese noodles, beef rolls, and sauerbraten horse meat, which were among Germany’s distinctive dishes.

For main courses, besides spätzle, you could also choose mashed potatoes or potato pancakes. Side dishes included beef soup and roast chicken, and there were plenty of desserts and cakes afterward, making it a rather sumptuous meal.

Carlo admitted that his taste had been spoiled by the chefs hired by the royalty, but luckily, the long journey left both Carlo and the officials a bit hungry, so they didn’t have the slightest aversion to the German food before them.

After enjoying a sumptuous meal, the welcome banquet was about to end. Carlo and the Spanish officials had traveled a long way, and the most important thing was to take the time to rest and then discuss affairs with the German officials the next day.

The German Government naturally understood this principle. After the banquet ended, they did not disturb Carlo and the Spanish officials, giving them ample time to rest.

With a dreamless night, time quickly came to the next day.

Although Carlo didn’t intend to fully lean towards Germany, some industrial cooperation could still be discussed. After all, Germany was a much stronger country from which Spain could learn a lot of experience.

Unlike Austria-Hungary, Germany was willing to support Spain in industrial areas but with preconditions.

The precondition was that Spain had to join the alliance organized by Germany, which aimed to isolate France.

At least for now, Carlo was unwilling to completely lean towards Germany. It was precisely for this reason that the negotiations between the Spanish and German governments regarding the alliance had reached a stalemate.

However, fortunately, both parties quickly stopped discussing this topic and turned to more superficial matters.

Carlo knew that without an alliance relationship, it was impossible for Germany to help Spain for no reason.

However, even if using funds to purchase Germany’s industrial equipment and related data, it would still be a good deal for Spain.

The German side, of course, would not break off relations with Spain. Although the German officials were not as enthusiastic as the first day they arrived, Crown Prince Friedrich still indicated that as long as German enterprises did not oppose it, the German Government would allow Spain and German companies to reach certain cooperation.

Germany’s private capital was quite strong, and they all had one thing in common: they would not take action unless there was a profit, and they would not show their eagerness unless they saw a clear advantage.

Although Germany did not oppose these enterprises reaching cooperation with Spain, if Spain wanted to obtain something from these German private enterprises, they would definitely have to pay more than the value of those things.

For this reason, the German Royal Family and government, including Crown Prince Friedrich, were not worried at all.

Even if the Spanish Government and German enterprises reached some cooperation, Germany would certainly be the profitable side in such cooperation.

German Prime Minister Bismarck was still somewhat regretful that he could not achieve the goal of completely isolating France through Spain. However, completely isolating France was indeed unrealistic, as France still held the power of a major power, ranking just after the UK and Germany in overall strength.

Suppressing France too hard might even bring the United Kingdom’s attention back to the European Continent’s situation. It would be better to maintain the current situation. After all, Germany had already gained the advantage in European continental domination through the Triple Alliance and did not fear a French counterattack.

After the negotiations between the Spanish and German governments fell into a stalemate, Carlo took the opportunity to propose a new suggestion: to visit Germany’s Ruhr District.

The Ruhr District, located on both banks of the Rhine River, was an extremely important industrial base in Germany, known as the industrial heart of Germany.

Carlo’s purpose in going to the Ruhr District was not only to observe its industrial development and allow Spanish officials to learn valuable experience in constructing industrial bases from Germany, but also to reach cooperation with some factories in the Ruhr District.